Minnesota Sports Forum

Let's face it, we don't exactly play an exciting brand of basketball. Last night especially was a grind-it-out win. Don't get me wrong....we need to do whatever it takes and last night was more similar to the pace you see in a playoff game. But I think crowd noise would be a lot different if we were raining 3's left and right and dunking on guys with outlet passes and fast break basketball.

Without Rubio and LaVine and Thibs' emphasis on keeping turnovers down, we are not going to be that kind of team. I think most folks are OK with that if it means we win a lot more games.

Q12543 wrote:Let's face it, we don't exactly play an exciting brand of basketball. Last night especially was a grind-it-out win. Don't get me wrong....we need to do whatever it takes and last night was more similar to the pace you see in a playoff game. But I think crowd noise would be a lot different if we were raining 3's left and right and dunking on guys with outlet passes and fast break basketball.

Without Rubio and LaVine and Thibs' emphasis on keeping turnovers down, we are not going to be that kind of team. I think most folks are OK with that if it means we win a lot more games.

I really liked last night's game. But I guess I am old school. I like seeing teams struggle then find a way to win. I don't think it was like the type of horrible ball movement we would see the last few years when Rubio would go on the bench. It was more physical with some good D to match some fairly decent offense. I do agree with the general premise that Thibs is trying to run a disciplined style ball that is uncommon in today's league. I think it's not a bad strategy if we can continue to improve execution on the defensive end.

Last night's game was the best I've seen from Towns maybe to date. He brought it on both sides of the ball. He mixed up his offense beautifully. There was a stretch of possessions' where he and Tyus went 4/4 in 4 straight PnR's and Towns did something different in almost every action. He didn't just float to the 3pt line every time. He rolled to the bucket and finished. He hit a couple 3's and he buried a mid-range jumper from just above the FT line. That's the offensive versatility he should bring every night to be unstoppable.

Defensively he was really good. He jumped out on some PnR's, he did a better job of not jumping out of his shoes on pump fakes so he was able to recover better while not fouling and they just in general did not get a lot of clean looks at the rim. It's no mystery our best defensive effort of the year comes when the anchor steps his game up and plays that well. We're easily a 50 win team if he plays like that every game. That guy is good enough to carry a team on his back. He still has room for improvement, but that's the kind of effort I'm looking from Towns to have faith in our future as contenders. Hats off to him. Now we just need every game to be on his birthday.

khans2k5 wrote:Last night's game was the best I've seen from Towns maybe to date. He brought it on both sides of the ball. He mixed up his offense beautifully. There was a stretch of possessions' where he and Tyus went 4/4 in 4 straight PnR's and Towns did something different in almost every action. He didn't just float to the 3pt line every time. He rolled to the bucket and finished. He hit a couple 3's and he buried a mid-range jumper from just above the FT line. That's the offensive versatility he should bring every night to be unstoppable.

Defensively he was really good. He jumped out on some PnR's, he did a better job of not jumping out of his shoes on pump fakes so he was able to recover better while not fouling and they just in general did not get a lot of clean looks at the rim. It's no mystery our best defensive effort of the year comes when the anchor steps his game up and plays that well. We're easily a 50 win team if he plays like that every game. That guy is good enough to carry a team on his back. He still has room for improvement, but that's the kind of effort I'm looking from Towns to have faith in our future as contenders. Hats off to him. Now we just need every game to be on his birthday.

Well said Kahns good breakdown. I really noticed his screen game and obviously the better defense everyone has noticed. He is putting up some nice stats basically having the best year of his career (not by a lot but some) and it doesn't feel like he has really got in a groove yet offensively.

This team has the potential to be scary good, once we get out of second gear. It's nice knowing that we can win games when two out of three of our star players have off scoring nights.

One thing that is really grinding my gears this season is the lack of ball movement around the perimeter on offense. We have four very good (if not elite) isolation players in Wiggins, Towns, Butler and Teague (could even throw in Crawford's name). But how much better would our offense be if we disect the opposition defense with ball movement, creating open shots and mis matches. Too often does Teague or Butler dribble around for 20seconds while the rest of the team stand in their positions not knowing what's going on, then the ballhandler is forced to shoot a low percentage shot as the shot clock expires. I also think our pick and roll/pop game is still very raw, although Jones and a Towns has some nice stretches last night.

At the end of the day we are winning games against good teams, whilst in my opinion not playing anywhere near our potential. I'll take it!

KiwiMatt wrote:This team has the potential to be scary good, once we get out of second gear. It's nice knowing that we can win games when two out of three of our star players have off scoring nights.

One thing that is really grinding my gears this season is the lack of ball movement around the perimeter on offense. We have four very good (if not elite) isolation players in Wiggins, Towns, Butler and Teague (could even throw in Crawford's name). But how much better would our offense be if we disect the opposition defense with ball movement, creating open shots and mis matches. Too often does Teague or Butler dribble around for 20seconds while the rest of the team stand in their positions not knowing what's going on, then the ballhandler is forced to shoot a low percentage shot as the shot clock expires. I also think our pick and roll/pop game is still very raw, although Jones and a Towns has some nice stretches last night.

At the end of the day we are winning games against good teams, whilst in my opinion not playing anywhere near our potential. I'll take it!

I agree with you Kiwi. I do think there are points in the game they really do move the ball well and I think that's what Thibs is looking for a lot of the time. It's about anyone being able to attack the defense at any given time. Sometimes an isolation makes sense if you have a clear advantage or you just need a bucket. These guys sometimes don't get when to do either one and that includes Butler. Part of what makes this team look good moving the ball or not is whether they are hitting 3 point shots. That's clearly been uneven and we don't get up enough of them. Some good news is the Wolves are 9th in 3 point percentage and FA signings Crawford and Teague are both shooting over 40% (paging Q). When those 3's aren't falling it bogs things down understandably and its likely to continue to be a problem. The real grind is when they slow down at eh end of the quarter and it drives me insane. Sure hold the ball and go to work with 14 or even 12 seconds left, but these possessions that basically start at 8 seconds are BAAAAAAAAAAADDDDD and drive me nuts. Right now the guy that makes me feel the best in those situations is Crawford. Last night there was a situation that Jim Pete was saying the Spurs had a foul to give and they would likely use it. Crawford had such a move and was quick enough he completely blew past guys to get a good look for the team. It was glorious. He also didn't wait for the defense to get all set up to make it happen. I'd rather have the team keep playing basketball to some extent late in games instead of this hero iso ball. Please make it end. The Wolves are the only basketball team in the world that do it with poor results. at least screen and rescreen to get a great matchup to exploit.

KiwiMatt wrote:This team has the potential to be scary good, once we get out of second gear. It's nice knowing that we can win games when two out of three of our star players have off scoring nights.

One thing that is really grinding my gears this season is the lack of ball movement around the perimeter on offense. We have four very good (if not elite) isolation players in Wiggins, Towns, Butler and Teague (could even throw in Crawford's name). But how much better would our offense be if we disect the opposition defense with ball movement, creating open shots and mis matches. Too often does Teague or Butler dribble around for 20seconds while the rest of the team stand in their positions not knowing what's going on, then the ballhandler is forced to shoot a low percentage shot as the shot clock expires. I also think our pick and roll/pop game is still very raw, although Jones and a Towns has some nice stretches last night.

At the end of the day we are winning games against good teams, whilst in my opinion not playing anywhere near our potential. I'll take it!

The offense is still finding it's way and figuring out a pecking order is gonna take time. When you have 4 guys used to being top 2 scorers on their teams it takes time for them to adjust to their new roles. The drive and kicks we saw at the end of the Spurs game is what I envision our offense to be at it's most effective. We haven't seen a ton of it yet so I think we'll get better as the year goes on.

KiwiMatt wrote:This team has the potential to be scary good, once we get out of second gear. It's nice knowing that we can win games when two out of three of our star players have off scoring nights.

One thing that is really grinding my gears this season is the lack of ball movement around the perimeter on offense. We have four very good (if not elite) isolation players in Wiggins, Towns, Butler and Teague (could even throw in Crawford's name). But how much better would our offense be if we disect the opposition defense with ball movement, creating open shots and mis matches. Too often does Teague or Butler dribble around for 20seconds while the rest of the team stand in their positions not knowing what's going on, then the ballhandler is forced to shoot a low percentage shot as the shot clock expires. I also think our pick and roll/pop game is still very raw, although Jones and a Towns has some nice stretches last night.

At the end of the day we are winning games against good teams, whilst in my opinion not playing anywhere near our potential. I'll take it!

I totally agree with you on the ball movement. We don't have enough of it, was watching some of the Philly/LA game last night. Apartemtly Philly is leading the league in passes per possession. It's not surprising at all. I haven't watch a ton of their games the past few years, when I have I've noticed they've adapted to today's game. Spread the floor, drive and kick, and make the extra pass. Hopefully at some point, Jim Pete doesn't have to comment on the 2-3 times a game one of our players actually makes that "extra" pass to get a guy a wide open 3. It happens far too seldom on this team. Our 3 pt % would increase if we were taking catch and shoot wide open looks.

Guys like Teague and Butler need to be better at taking open catch and shoot 3's when they present themselves, it's happened a lot where they are wide open and the try to make an "extra extra" pass and it F's the possession up. They pass the ball to a guy who's less open, When you have an open look, take it with confidence.

Bottom line, they need better ball moment I think, and some other agree it sounds like. I don't know who read the ESPN article on Kerr taking over the warriors, it was on their homepage a month ago. Prior to him getting there, they passed the ball the least in the league per possession. He addressed that right away and the rest is history.

How is Wiggy doing on the guy he's guarding? We throw a lot of stats around and his lack of consistent hustle is terrible, but is his man able to drive on him? Is Wiggy stopping 3 point shooters? Give me some eye test info.

thedoper wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Let's face it, we don't exactly play an exciting brand of basketball. Last night especially was a grind-it-out win. Don't get me wrong....we need to do whatever it takes and last night was more similar to the pace you see in a playoff game. But I think crowd noise would be a lot different if we were raining 3's left and right and dunking on guys with outlet passes and fast break basketball.

Without Rubio and LaVine and Thibs' emphasis on keeping turnovers down, we are not going to be that kind of team. I think most folks are OK with that if it means we win a lot more games.

I really liked last night's game. But I guess I am old school. I like seeing teams struggle then find a way to win. I don't think it was like the type of horrible ball movement we would see the last few years when Rubio would go on the bench. It was more physical with some good D to match some fairly decent offense. I do agree with the general premise that Thibs is trying to run a disciplined style ball that is uncommon in today's league. I think it's not a bad strategy if we can continue to improve execution on the defensive end.

I'm down with whatever works. But the casual fan is going to get make more noise/get excited with a faster paced brand of ball, that's all I'm saying. No question the priority is to win games.

I will say that the Tyus-KAT pick and roll flourish was pretty damn fun to watch. When you see two guys just pick apart a defense on four straight possessions like that....good stuff.