Minnesota Sports Forum

Wig is struggling. Maybe its because of his back or he is just out of sync right now. Nevertheless, you need to keep play him and go to him. He Is still our most talented wing.

Seeing towns right now, 2-3 yes from now, he and wig will form a great 1-2 punch. Their games compliment each other very well.

I'm as disappointed in this loss as everyone here, but I think I come down where Tim landed. The Flip Saunders tribute was emotional and likely spurred the team to its sensational start, but the rest of the game we played like a bunch of drained guys. And who can blame them...it's been an emotionally draining week. And yet they still almost pulled it out despite a totally unconscious Damien Lillard...my God, he is a player. Curry-like tonight. I think we win this game without the horrible calls against KAT and Wig in the final minute...really a shame for the refs to negate that furious comeback. I'll be interested in how they respond Thursday against a pretty good Miami team that is 2-1 like we are. I think it's good that we have a couple nights off to shake off the emotional hangover. Thursday will tell us a lot about where this team is going to go this year.

Camden0916 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I am gonna defend Wiggins to a certain extent. He was very active tonight with 6 rebounds. If that tip counts it's a huge play that might have changed the outcome of the game. He is struggling in the post both making moves at times and hitting those jumpers. He really hurt us there but he wasn't fading into nothing tonight.

Defend his 5-17 from the field with C.J. McCollum and Allen Crabbe guarding him the entire night. He should have owned this game.

Notice I didn't defend his poor shooting which was a killer as he let the team in shot attempts. My point was the biggest critism of Woggins so far in his young career is him being passive and disappearing at times while he is in the game. He was not that in this game he led the team in shots playing only 23 minutes and added 6 rebounds. He looked ugly at times on offense and it's absolutely frustrating he didn't beat up CJ but he did the other things you want out of a good player to help you win when they have an off night. That's significant to me. His struggles on offense are concerning though. I have faith he will get on track.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

sjm34 wrote:Cool, Sam didn't design that play to Kevin. That's the same play Flip used ten times last season.

I think it is the only play we have for that situation!

SJ, it wasn't the play I had the problem with. It was the gutless jellyfish he ran it for.

See... I'm just the opposite.

Who else on the team has the chops to make a three pointer in that situation? The list is very very short. Unfortunately, every other coach in the L knows that too, so Martin isn't going to get (m)any clean looks in those situations. Just giving him the ball up top 25 feet away isn't going to cut it...

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

sjm34 wrote:Cool, Sam didn't design that play to Kevin. That's the same play Flip used ten times last season.

I think it is the only play we have for that situation!

SJ, it wasn't the play I had the problem with. It was the gutless jellyfish he ran it for.

See... I'm just the opposite.

Who else on the team has the chops to make a three pointer in that situation? The list is very very short. Unfortunately, every other coach in the L knows that too, so Martin isn't going to get (m)any clean looks in those situations. Just giving him the ball up top 25 feet away isn't going to cut it...

I agree. And actually, I thought Martin was pretty clutch last year when he played

longstrangetrip wrote:I'm as disappointed in this loss as everyone here, but I think I come down where Tim landed. The Flip Saunders tribute was emotional and likely spurred the team to its sensational start, but the rest of the game we played like a bunch of drained guys. And who can blame them...it's been an emotionally draining week. And yet they still almost pulled it out despite a totally unconscious Damien Lillard...my God, he is a player. Curry-like tonight. I think we win this game without the horrible calls against KAT and Wig in the final minute...really a shame for the refs to negate that furious comeback. I'll be interested in how they respond Thursday against a pretty good Miami team that is 2-1 like we are. I think it's good that we have a couple nights off to shake off the emotional hangover. Thursday will tell us a lot about where this team is going to go this year.

LST I was thinking of Curry also. The other guy that I also thought of was Arenas from when he was on top of his game. He was probably a little more dynamic going to the basket than Liliard but damn that guy was tough to guard. Pretty much as soon as he crossed the half court line it felt like he could hit any shot. His range was basically unfair and he was plenty quick enough to blow past you.

I never really understand how they call goal tend plays that are not obvious. I don't think I will ever get that because it doesn't seem consistent. Not joking. I know there has been a lot of talk about changing it to the way it's played internationally and that makes sense. It does seem like a hard call to make when it's close in game. I think in theory I like the NBA rule as is but I don't like the way it's been officiated.

Kyle Lowry came to mind as I was watching Lillard last night...

Somebody needs to post the article again about Martin's failures at crunch time.

Found it:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/10780682/nba-dissecting-minnesota-timberwolves-clutch-problems

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Somebody needs to post the article again about Martin's failures at crunch time.

I don't doubt the stats won't be pretty. The problem is that the Wolves have a dearth of other options for a last-second three pointer. They could draw one up for Rubio, Wiggins, LaVine, Muhammad, Bjelica or Towns to catch the defense off guard and get a better look... And I suspect they'll be doing so sooner rather than later... but none of them have proven to be consistent hitting that shot in the course of a game. So, there's a lot uncertainty putting the ball in their hands for a desperate three pointer.

It's a problem that will continue to plague this team this season... but they definitely need to begin looking at other options because throwing the ball out to Martin 25 feet away when everybody in the gym knows he's getting it isn't going to work. And Martin is gone anyway (I'm confident he gets dealt), so the Wolves have to start nurturing another end-game closer.

I just don't know who fits the description...