Another loss? - Wolves at Rockets GDT

[Crazysauce]

Hell yeah! Nice game from the boys. Kuminga just balling. Melo just doing whatever he wanted at the end and getting poke aways. Ayo just a beast.

[kekgeek]

Melo was just in control of the game in the 4th. It was beautiful.

Also it’s only 10 games but Kuminga might be making a run as the best wolves FA signing ever. He is playing high level winning basketball right now

[Q-is-here]

Nice to see Lamelo take over a game. They had no answer for him.

Yeah, they started sending two to the ball.

Houston is a top 10 defense statistically, but they seem vulnerable to mismatches and the Wolves hunted those big time in the 4th quarter with all those high screens, baiting them to switch the inferior defender on one of our guards.

[Jester1534]

Probably call of night by Finchy was subbing Clark in around 8-9 min mark when lamelo picked up 3 fouls in a row.

Houston was just constantly putting Ball and ayo into on ball screen actions to get him switched on van fleet or Durant.

He put Clark in it stop the bleeding and he rewarded Finch with a corner 3 too.

Ayo offense isnt what we needed in that moment it was clark team defense is what we need excellent call by finchy.

[Jester1534]

Nice to see Lamelo take over a game. They had no answer for him.

Yeah, they started sending two to the ball.

Houston is a top 10 defense statistically, but they seem vulnerable to mismatches and the Wolves hunted those big time in the 4th quarter with all those high screens, baiting them to switch the inferior defender on one of our guards.

I mean it was crap double team too out of Sengun how many times did ball split it right down middle 4-5. Nice that JK made them pay for leaving him in the corner.

[Q-is-here]

Probably call of night by Finchy was subbing Clark in around 8-9 min mark when lamelo picked up 3 fouls in a row.

Houston was just constantly putting Ball and ayo into on ball screen actions to get him switched on van fleet or Durant.

He put Clark in it stop the bleeding and he rewarded Finch with a corner 3 too.

Ayo offense isnt what we needed in that moment it was clark team defense is what we need excellent call by finchy.

Clark with 25 minutes off the bench! Man has he come on strong of late.

Cody Williams, we hardly knew ye.....

[rapsuperstar31]

We match up well with Houston. Like Denver, I'm not too concerned with Houston in the playoffs. They don't shoot enough threes, Thompson is invisible as a non shooter, and Smith isn't much of a threat on offense outside of his three point shooting.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe's 1st real next-day DAZN review of the Season:

- Last year, we heard a lot about the Timberwolves coaching talent when it came to replays. Did everything get shuffled when Nori left and Jeff Newton moved up the coaching ladder or something? It’s been a disappointing start to the season with challenges. The challenge on the Trey Lyles out of bounds play was odd. (1) It was NOT a high leverage play. (2) It was super early. (3) Trey Lyles hasn’t earned his stripes yet to force that challenge. (4) It was clearly off Lyles.

- Reed Sheppard had 3 steals in 4 minutes. (And very nearly a 4th) I feel like that’s statistically impossible.

- Ayo Dosunmu is an interesting player. He moves differently. He plays differently. And it’s just a different look than we’re used to. But, he’s elite at finishing with speed. I keep wondering how he’s getting the ball to the glass… and how easily he makes it look.

- McDaniels looked terrible shooting from distance. He also made some really bad passes early… even on no TOs. He kept getting into the lane and then seemed like he didn’t trust himself so he’d throw it way out top to start over. But damn… he’s a really good player. Despite the glaring issues early… still makes a bunch of his signature pullups and finishes 14 / 8 / 4 with efficiency.

- Of all the Timberwolves, Bones Hyland would be the one who I’d fear most if I was in a random run with him. (Even over Edwards) That guy is built to shoot off the dribble. I’m convinced he’d score 397 straight points in any pickup game I’ve ever played in. And he’d celebrate every bucket along the way. It’s like he saw Jamal Crawford as a kid and said… “Yep. I found my basketball hero.”

- I can’t recall a PG who’s as tight with his dribble one moment… and as loose with his dribble the next… than LaMelo Ball.

- I’m glad I don’t have to root for Alpert Sengun. It doesn’t seem like much fun. Boxscore savant though.

- I’m guessing rooting for Durant is a bit of a soul-less adventure, too. I mean the guy isn’t the most boring, dour player ever or anything. It’s just that his game is so good in such a specific way… that it’s almost robotic. I get the vibe that’s how his demeanor is as well, which is part of how he’s so consistent. He knows his spots. He knows the game. He knows exactly what’s going on. He’s seen it all, so nothing really gets to him… or inspires him. It’s just “business.” Rinse. Repeat. For 20 years.

- Marcus Smart. I believe Chris Finch was thinking (yelling) the same thing every non-Houston fan or non-Marcus Smart family member did when he flopped on the screen… “How are you people STILL falling for his gimmicks?” He’s reached the TJ Tucker point of his career now. It’s literally the only “positive” (ahem) thing he can bring to the court. Dillon Brooks is waiting in the wings to carry the torch for this type of veteran.

- Fun to see Ball take over late after an uneven first few weeks. His shooting. His scoring. His passing. His presence. All of them were on display when it was needed. The best part is that it certainly seems like there’s a lot more in the tank and that he’s still feeling out his role and teammates. Things like 3 fouls in 30 seconds. Or, more TOs than assists… again. But… his impact is obvious.

- Amen Thompson has hit a plateau offensively, or even a slight step back. An incredible defender. A great athlete. He's good at a lot of things. But, his limitations are pretty clear, too. I think it's all worth it even as he's about to make 3x or even 4x more money annually, but it'll come with more "Is that it?" questions too.

- Very nice win. It was weird, because I was planning on writing about how the Wolves are arguably the best 5 – 4 team in the league because all but one of their losses was a “good” loss while facing tough circumstances. Feels even better to appreciate the win. This team is playing with some legit intensity. I think the players deserve most of that acclaim… but I also think it can be a bit of an organizational culture thing.

[FNG]

Probably call of night by Finchy was subbing Clark in around 8-9 min mark when lamelo picked up 3 fouls in a row.

Houston was just constantly putting Ball and ayo into on ball screen actions to get him switched on van fleet or Durant.

He put Clark in it stop the bleeding and he rewarded Finch with a corner 3 too.

Ayo offense isnt what we needed in that moment it was clark team defense is what we need excellent call by finchy.

Clark with 25 minutes off the bench! Man has he come on strong of late.

Cody Williams, we hardly knew ye.....

Last year I kept track of the Wolves' extraordinary record when Clark played 15 or more minutes. I may have to do it again this season...we're 3-1, with the only loss on the road to the Spurs.

[FNG]

Just finished the DAZN replay...wow, what a win! A few thoughts:

-With Ant out, it's nice to have an alpha like Melo to take charge at crunch time. Yes, his turnovers have been an uncharacteristic problem this season, but I liked everything else about his game tonight. The 3 fouls on one possession were odd, but I thought at least one of them was a bad call. I don't think anyone pointed out in the GDT who he was guarding most of the day...Jabari Smith Jr! I thought it was a strange decision by Finchy (I would have had JK on him with Ball on Amen), but you can't argue with the results...Smith only took 4 shots, and finished with only 11/4. Melo's length gives Finchy the flexibility to do so many different things on defense.

-Houston was averaging 119 PPG coming into the game, and we held them to 107. So many contributed to the defensive effort, but I'm going to cite Rudy. Sengun was averaging over 23 PPG, and Rudy held him to NO buckets...he was 0 for 9 against Rudy and 5 for 6 against Joan. The defensive gap between our 2 centers is immense, but I continue to feel more positively about Joan...5 defensive rebounds in just 13 minutes (and some contested) and so active on the offensive boards. I've been saying the key to winning this season is to thrive in the Rudy minutes and survive the Joan minutes, and we followed the script nicely tonight...Rudy was a +11 and Joan close to breakeven at -2.

-Speaking of Sengun, I have to agree with Aussie...he is my least favorite player in the league. I don't know for sure, but my sense is his teammates don't like him either...I think he was the biggest problem in their collapse last season.

-Ayo was terrific tonight...21/6 and aggressive defense. His recognition that despite their length the Rockets are horrible rim protectors led to a tsunami of easy layups...so much fun to watch him beat his man off the dribble and corkscrew his way to the bucket.

-Jaden was 0 for 6 on threes and is now the only TWolf shooting less than 37% on threes...last year we had NINE players making less than 37%. And I'm not the least bit worried about Jaden beyond the arc, and he continues to be money in the paint...7 for 8 tonight.

-There will be a few games this season that would be L's without Bones' shooting...tonight might have been one of them.

-WTF with our free throw shooting this season...we're now at 63.4% for the season, over 7 percentage points behind the next worse team. Tonight Ball was 4 for 5, but nobody else made more than 50%! But again, I'm not worried...we're going to progress to a much better mean.