More Please! Wolves at Pacers GDT

[60WinTim]

Finally seeing the team in action against the Bucks was great, and I was not disappointed with the overall flow for preseason game one. Tonight is listed as a home game for the Pacers, but is being played in Ames, Iowa. Anyone making the trip?

Here's a blurb from SI's Charlie Walton on his take for who is trending up and trending down:

https://www.si.com/nba/timberwolves/ons ... m47nbvq3jq

Another guy I would highlight is Antonio Reeves. I thought he was terrific. I am going to pay more attention to him tonight when he finally gets in. Of course, i have no idea how he finds a roster spot, either with the team or on a 2-way. But maybe he finds his way to Iowa?

I think some of of the "panic" over Beringer's defensive rebounding is way overblown. Is he rebounding like Rudy? No. Can he improve? Yes. But he did have 5 defensive rebounds to go along with his 2 offensive rebounds, matching Rudy for a team high 7 rebounds in his 15 minutes. He's doing great for a 20-year old. And everything we've seen points to him be very serviceable in his second year.

The ball movement and pace have been fun to watch. Here's hoping that continues!

[FNG]

We will get more tonight, Tim...but more what? If we're looking to see more fun action from the starters, I think we'll be disappointed, because I think tonight will be all about the fringe players. So if you liked the second half Monday, you'll love tonight! I may tune in because I'm curious about what Cody Williams might bring.

But the main focus tonight has to be on Joan. He'll likely start at center, so I want to see if he can avoid fouling and allow Finchy to use him in a regular rotation. And then there's the defensive rebounding. Tim, you're correct that he did have 5 defensive rebounds. But how many of them were contested? My recollection is he got a lot of rebounds just because the Bucks were retreating on defense and he was the closest guy to the ball. I want to see him get some rebounds like Rudy does. One of the good things to see Monday was Jaden getting some contested rebounds...I think both he and Joan have a lot of upside in rebounding.

I also want to see a bounce back game from TJ. There are indications that Finchy prefers him handling the ball when both Ayo and he are out there (and Ball isn't). I'm hoping he starts TJ at the point to see if he can both score and distribute from a position above the break. How about a starting lineup tonight of Joan, Lyles, Clark, Ayo and TJ?

[60WinTim]

I had not seen any comments from Finch about his rotation plans tonight. I would assume he still wants a healthy does of the starters. Maybe just the first quarter?

Or did you see something about the starters resting?

[Q-is-here]

We will get more tonight, Tim...but more what? If we're looking to see more fun action from the starters, I think we'll be disappointed, because I think tonight will be all about the fringe players. So if you liked the second half Monday, you'll love tonight! I may tune in because I'm curious about what Cody Williams might bring.

But the main focus tonight has to be on Joan. He'll likely start at center, so I want to see if he can avoid fouling and allow Finchy to use him in a regular rotation. And then there's the defensive rebounding. Tim, you're correct that he did have 5 defensive rebounds. But how many of them were contested? My recollection is he got a lot of rebounds just because the Bucks were retreating on defense and he was the closest guy to the ball. I want to see him get some rebounds like Rudy does. One of the good things to see Monday was Jaden getting some contested rebounds...I think both he and Joan have a lot of upside in rebounding.

I also want to see a bounce back game from TJ. There are indications that Finchy prefers him handling the ball when both Ayo and he are out there (and Ball isn't). I'm hoping he starts TJ at the point to see if he can both score and distribute from a position above the break. How about a starting lineup tonight of Joan, Lyles, Clark, Ayo and TJ?

Yeah, Cody looked good in the first pre-season game. He gives Jaylen Clark competition for that 10th or 11th spot as a POA defender. Unfortunately his shooting might be worse than Jaylen's.

Finch is really leaning into the TJ/Ayo duo as the B-side to Ball/Ant. I like it in theory, but yet again these two guys were each a -5 in a pre-season game we won by a ton of points. They don't even have to win their minutes! Just don't lose them! I wouldn't have brought this up if Ayo hasn't been dogged by this issue for his entire career and Shannon was literally our worst net rating player in the regular season last year.

[Q-is-here]

I had not seen any comments from Finch about his rotation plans tonight. I would assume he still wants a healthy does of the starters. Maybe just the first quarter?

Or did you see something about the starters resting?

Yeah, I have to believe they play for a quarter or two Tim. I could see them getting shut down for the last couple of pre-season games.

[FNG]

I had not seen any comments from Finch about his rotation plans tonight. I would assume he still wants a healthy does of the starters. Maybe just the first quarter?

Or did you see something about the starters resting?

Yeah, I have to believe they play for a quarter or two Tim. I could see them getting shut down for the last couple of pre-season games.

Parker Fox said on the squad show podcast that he had heard Finchy wasn't going to use his starters much after the first game, but who knows what that means. I would think he would at least give Rudy a night off, and maybe Ball. I do note though that Vegas has the Wolves favored by 3 even though Indy has said they are playing their starters, so maybe Parker had bad info.

Yeah, Williams has not shot well in the pros, but he was 17 for 41 beyond the arc in his one year in college (42%)...considerably better than his brother! Too early to write him off as a shooter.

[Coolbreeze44]

Kraw said we would see the starters

[kekgeek]

The ball is moving and I love it.

Also Rudy is so freaking good at defense

[Coolbreeze44]

Ball and Ant is an insane duo

[kekgeek]

Happy Jaden made that 3. He passed up one earlier after missing his first 2. He needs to be confident in his shot