Let the games begin - Wolves at Miami GDT

[Phenom]

Nice start to the season. TJ and JK had some nice contributions. Loved seeing LaMelo run point. This is going to be fun.

[Q-is-here]

Nice start to the season. TJ and JK had some nice contributions. Loved seeing LaMelo run point. This is going to be fun.

Yeah, I thought JK played his role well, generally deferring except when a good opportunity to attack or open shot presented itself and doing his best on defense against Giannis. Shannon played well defensively, whereas his offense was OK at best.

[Jester1534]

Hyperbole of the night from a very drunk Friend

They hornets gave Magic Johnson to play with the second coming of Mj and Pippen lmao

82-0!!!!!

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe's 1st "I Don't Know if I Can Call it DVR Review After I Start Using DAZN Next Game" DVR Review of the Season:

- Edwards is NOT looking to pass. Gobert was open under the hoop. Another guy flashed wide open in the paint. Nope. Edwards was committed to his shot. Good thing he's a GREAT shooter. (as noted by others recently... he looks thicker, too... but I don't know if that's a good thing.)

- Hey! Lyles takes a charge. That might have been enough to tie for the team leader last year.

- Ayo leaves Hardaway for a 0.001% chance at a steal. So Hardaway hits a three wide open. That's all he does... don't take that risk.

- Beringer looks... ummm... let's just say a bit green.

- Shannon was mad after he dumped it to Beringer in the dunker's spot but Beringer was committed to jumping already. I think we're seeing a guy who just hasn't played a ton of basketball. He doesn't know what he's doing out there... yet?

- McDaniels is gonna be a borderline star, isn't he?

- The Wolves are making buckets. They have three very talented players who can get their shots. And make them.

- Will the Wolves have the first frontcourt that doesn't get a field goal over an 82-game season? The way perimeter players are ignoring them seal in the post... they might be. Beringer was literally under the bucket with his defender on his back and they still didn't give him the ball.

-----
Charles Barkley seems like a fun character. He's likable. BUT... has he just made $100M+ by just stating the same thing 3x or 6x. For example, he said the Wolves shoot too many threes. Cut to Barkley three minutes later... "they shoot too many threes." 30 seconds later... a bit slower this time... "they shoot too many threes." He's just constantly repeating himself.

It's not just on that show either. I stopped listening to him as a guest on a podcast a month or two ago because I found the repetition to be insufferable. Has this always been his thing... or is it an age thing?

If you haven't noticed it before... my apologies. You won't be able to shake it now.
-----

- Hate the start to the 2nd half. The first 5 shots were bad shots. Good thing Edwards is so good and hit a three on #5.

- Bam is taking it to Beringer. Two fly-bys... then an ankle breaker into a three. And Beringer finds himself next to Cody Williams on the bench.

- Edwards is yelling. And yelling. And then there's more yelling. But have I mentioned how good of a shooter he is? Not always good shots, but he's such a tough shot maker. Damn.

- Good to see the bench guys find Rudy a bit in the 2nd half to reward him a bit.

- I just watched full games from Kuminga... but I have no idea or opinion about him yet.

- And I might be even more confused about Ball. Obviously, he's good. But just how good? Is that just part of the Lamelo Ball experience?

- Nice job taking care of business. Giannis is obviously a monster. Bam can be good. But the rest of the team is pretty rough... very rough maybe.

[AussieWolf3]

The 45 points were nuts and the shooting was unspeakable, but how about the defense and rebounding for Ant? That's such a difference maker.

Love what we saw from the top 6 --- really liked what we say from JK --- TJ is gonna have a good year I think, and serve as a good 7th man, or a great 8th.

It's one game obviously but we're in trouble with the backup center spot. It would take an incredible amount of growth over an incredibly short period of time for Beringer to get to a point where we should feel comfortable with him as the backup.

I have literally never watched Lyles play before but that was very uninspiring and I'm pretty nervous amount how much they need from him

[FNG]

Opening night, and several of our favorite traditions have returned...the Tim GDT kickoff, the kekgeek grades, and the Abe DVR review. Will the Cool 2+1 and Lip live reports follow?

Abe, even if you can't DVR DAZN, I think they give you the option of watching the game either live or from the start....just like recording.

I'm in an AirBnB in Tucson that only has YouTubeTV, so I had to watch the game with a weird feed...no broadcasters (just crowd noise) and an odd camera angle from behind the basket. Maybe you guys have seen that before. I turned on WCCO to listen to Horton and it helped a little, but the radio was about 30 seconds behind the TV...a very challenging viewing experience!

[Monster]

I watched the game this morning. Here are some thoughts.

It was apparent in preseason too but Beringer is a guy that's not really a guy that's a reliable NBA player. He needs to play though and they don't have other options...which isn't a terrible thing if he improves. There was a possession or 2 where he did defend Bam very well completely stoning him where Bam was definitely looking to score on the drive. The activity and athletic about is there and we have all seen the talent. It would be nice to add some other sort of defensive big option on a 2-way or later in the year for the 15th player. I like how he moves the ball quickly in a lot of situations. It's pretty good for a very young player of his ilk.

Ayo was fantastic.

Lyes wasn't thrilling but did do a few things Jefferson kept talking about the bench not having size to guard the Heat frontcourt. I'm like dude they are probably bigger with the bench than the starters.

Kuminga did plenty of good things.

McDaniels also looked fantastic on offense.

TJ was absolutely a mixed bag and I don't know what he is either but I actually think he did a decent job of mixing up what he was doing out there. He is now a playmaker ball handler, attacker and also in theory a floor spacer. He will need to learn where to fit into those roles. He was doing all them in this game. He is a other guy that needs to play some actual minutes game after game to find what he can and can't or should do. I agree he had some positive defensive possessions which is a key for him to stay on the floor.

Overall an impressive win although Miami has some things to work on. I don't think Klay as a starter is gonna work but they have some other options.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I watched the game this morning. Here are some thoughts.

It was apparent in preseason too but Beringer is a guy that's not really a guy that's a reliable NBA player. He needs to play though and they don't have other options...which isn't a terrible thing if he improves. There was a possession or 2 where he did defend Bam very well completely stoning him where Bam was definitely looking to score on the drive. The activity and athletic about is there and we have all seen the talent. It would be nice to add some other sort of defensive big option on a 2-way or later in the year for the 15th player. I like how he moves the ball quickly in a lot of situations. It's pretty good for a very young player of his ilk.

Ayo was fantastic.

Lyes wasn't thrilling but did do a few things Jefferson kept talking about the bench not having size to guard the Heat frontcourt. I'm like dude they are probably bigger with the bench than the starters.

Kuminga did plenty of good things.

McDaniels also looked fantastic on offense.

TJ was absolutely a mixed bag and I don't know what he is either but I actually think he did a decent job of mixing up what he was doing out there. He is now a playmaker ball handler, attacker and also in theory a floor spacer. He will need to learn where to fit into those roles. He was doing all them in this game. He is a other guy that needs to play some actual minutes game after game to find what he can and can't or should do. I agree he had some positive defensive possessions which is a key for him to stay on the floor.

Overall an impressive win although Miami has some things to work on. I don't think Klay as a starter is gonna work but they have some other options.

I was very clear in my take on Dillingham from the jump. I thought he was a bust. And I wasn't really willing to see the other side because of (a,b,c,d,e,f, et al reasons).

While I've had reservations on Beringer... e.g., where others see incredible athleticism, I see a gangly guy largely out of control who only has one serviceable offensive skill (lobs) which will limit his overall ceiling. But I'm much more willing to go with guys much smarter than I am.

Those guys see something unique in the young, growing, learning Beringer. And they've been committed to the bit, so I'm cool hoping that what they see will pop sooner than later.

It's game 1... a game where the Wolves won by 25. But the frontline after Gobert was the one blinding spotlight of weakness yesterday. Beringer is young and mercurial. Lyles is older and limited. Both will get better and land somewhere in-between. After all, they can't get worse.

[Monster]

I watched the game this morning. Here are some thoughts.

It was apparent in preseason too but Beringer is a guy that's not really a guy that's a reliable NBA player. He needs to play though and they don't have other options...which isn't a terrible thing if he improves. There was a possession or 2 where he did defend Bam very well completely stoning him where Bam was definitely looking to score on the drive. The activity and athletic about is there and we have all seen the talent. It would be nice to add some other sort of defensive big option on a 2-way or later in the year for the 15th player. I like how he moves the ball quickly in a lot of situations. It's pretty good for a very young player of his ilk.

Ayo was fantastic.

Lyes wasn't thrilling but did do a few things Jefferson kept talking about the bench not having size to guard the Heat frontcourt. I'm like dude they are probably bigger with the bench than the starters.

Kuminga did plenty of good things.

McDaniels also looked fantastic on offense.

TJ was absolutely a mixed bag and I don't know what he is either but I actually think he did a decent job of mixing up what he was doing out there. He is now a playmaker ball handler, attacker and also in theory a floor spacer. He will need to learn where to fit into those roles. He was doing all them in this game. He is a other guy that needs to play some actual minutes game after game to find what he can and can't or should do. I agree he had some positive defensive possessions which is a key for him to stay on the floor.

Overall an impressive win although Miami has some things to work on. I don't think Klay as a starter is gonna work but they have some other options.

I was very clear in my take on Dillingham from the jump. I thought he was a bust. And I wasn't really willing to see the other side because of (a,b,c,d,e,f, et al reasons).

While I've had reservations on Beringer... e.g., where others see incredible athleticism, I see a gangly guy largely out of control who only has one serviceable offensive skill (lobs) which will limit his overall ceiling. But I'm much more willing to go with guys much smarter than I am.

Those guys see something unique in the young, growing, learning Beringer. And they've been committed to the bit, so I'm cool hoping that what they see will pop sooner than later.

It's game 1... a game where the Wolves won by 25. But the frontline after Gobert was the one blinding spotlight of weakness yesterday. Beringer is young and mercurial. Lyles is older and limited. Both will get better and land somewhere in-between. After all, they can't get worse.

The difference between Beringer and Dillingham being successful are pretty vast too.

Dillingham was undersized both overall length and and girth.

Beringer has plenty of physical tools in some cases definitely above average athletically.

Dillingham was young but had been playing basketball for years. Beringer while at some point he has to actually do something still has less experience with the game and is still really young.

Dillingham needed to be above average as a shooter/scorer and be able to do at least some playmaking whole not be an absolute traffic come on defense. Beringer can rebound and play decent defense and he would be useful...although if he isn't above average defensively he would be easily replaceable. Other than catching the ball Beringer doesn't HAVE to do much on offense.

It seems the belief in Beringer is even stronger than it was in Dilingham The fringe option at center is Rocco who is less ready than Beringer is. Lyles is the other option and he has looked okish at best but I would expect him to round into form a bit as my take is he is a guy that will play better once he knows his place in the system etc. last year the Wolves at least had Bones Hyland at the end of the roster. After Lyles who isn't gonna be defending the paint for any long stretches it's nobody. There isn't even a Garza type guy to go out there and do a bunch of whatever fun stuff. Timme was closer to that but another defensive big makes more sense. Maybe we will get one on a 2-way. If we don't that might show even more belief in Beringer.

In short Beringer is younger and has less things to overcome to be successful and the Wolves really believe in the guy.

Now I'm with you what I have seen from him so far this year is well below what I was hoping to see from him. I think it makes sense to throw him out there let him play see what he can't and can't do and see if he improves. I actually thought Rocco looked better in preseason than I was expecting. Still I would not feel great about him playing any minutes beyond a fill in for a couple games because we don't have anyone else. We are relying on Beringer for a legit backup role. Hopefully it works out. If not there will be some NBA vet we can pick up off the street (or maybe a younger guy with some experience) that will be able to help as a backup.

[FNG]

Anybody hear Jaden's post-game comments? I think his lack of filter (which started I think with his comments last spring about Denver's lack of defense!) is going to become very entertaining. Last night he was asked about why he signed the extension, and he talked about the difference between free agency and the draft...how you have no say in who drafts you. Then he said something like "I was hoping not to get drafted by the Wolves...they were bad as f#@k!"