Q12543 wrote:LST, Portland scored 25 points between 9:40 and 4:37 in the third. Again, that's 25 points in 5 minutes! We scored 10, which isn't bad.
So these aren't super long scoring droughts by us; these are flat out blitzkriegs by the opposing team that we haven't been able to put a stop to until the game is basically even again.
We just don't have the firepower on this team yet to match these runs offensively.
Haha, the lengths you will go to defend a point. Wow
I documented the Portland run in another thread after that game, so I remember it well. It's very easy to look up this stuff on the ESPN box scores. You should try it sometime.
It's really not that important, unless you're that anal by nature.
Q12543 wrote:LST, Portland scored 25 points between 9:40 and 4:37 in the third. Again, that's 25 points in 5 minutes! We scored 10, which isn't bad.
So these aren't super long scoring droughts by us; these are flat out blitzkriegs by the opposing team that we haven't been able to put a stop to until the game is basically even again.
We just don't have the firepower on this team yet to match these runs offensively.
Haha, the lengths you will go to defend a point. Wow
I documented the Portland run in another thread after that game, so I remember it well. It's very easy to look up this stuff on the ESPN box scores. You should try it sometime.
It's really not that important, unless you're that anal by nature.
I like analysis and digging into why things happen. You can call it anal; I call it fact-finding. If you don't like it, don't read it and move on.
Lots of anger on the boards lately over Rubio, Sammich, Wiggy...and all this without Cam getting involved! I think we're all expecting this team to do better with our young talent. I am too, but I think our expectations should be tempered a bit. Let's hope the picture is a little clearer toward the end of this season on what we need to make a big move next year whether it be new coach, a trade for a strong 3 and D guy or possibly neither.
KennyBania wrote:Lots of anger on the boards lately over Rubio, Sammich, Wiggy...and all this without Cam getting involved! I think we're all expecting this team to do better with our young talent. I am too, but I think our expectations should be tempered a bit. Let's hope the picture is a little clearer toward the end of this season on what we need to make a big move next year whether it be new coach, a trade for a strong 3 and D guy or possibly neither.
Good post. It's fun to converse and therefore process our thoughts and feeling on these topics though. We are a little over a quarter of the way through the season and so there is enough stuff to have some thoughts on all these topics but I don't think there is enough to be difinitive about some things we have questions about. I think a lot of us had our expectations raised based on the way this team played early on and how some of the young guys have showed out. Let's see how the next 10 or so game stretch plays out...but of course there will be plenty to talk about during that stretch. :)
BizarroJerry wrote:Lots of anger on the boards lately over Rubio, Sammich, Wiggy...and all this without Cam getting involved! I think we're all expecting this team to do better with our young talent. I am too, but I think our expectations should be tempered a bit. Let's hope the picture is a little clearer toward the end of this season on what we need to make a big move next year whether it be new coach, a trade for a strong 3 and D guy or possibly neither.
I'm not mad, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of what the heck is happening with these huge leads we give up. But I don't even know who to point the finger at other than the whole team. Rubio, Wiggins, KG, Martin, KAT....none are blameless when it comes to these big runs we give up and none are blameless when it comes to some of the late game miscues we've seen. It definitely lends credence to the idea of our "losing culture" seeping into their psyche.....But that's a pretty weak explanation as well.
TheSP wrote:Regarding not wanting Rubio taking shots, the fact he doesn't do it well typically means he's the only Wolf wide open. I'm no fan of Porkchop's non-stop ranting about Rubio, but he's not wrong that in late game situations his weakness is magnified into a team weakness. Rubio is IMO a net positive in every situation other than late in close games, but then that's a huge hole!
I think every team would be ecstatic to have their PG get wide open looks from 16 - 17 feet late in close games on the road.
Not being able to make them is a different discussion.
To discuss another point... I don't know why anybody using evidence to support their position would get ripped.
For example...
Poster 1: The Wolves are bad at [this]. But why?
Poster 2: Not really.
Poster 1: Here are some stats to support my original argument.
Poster 2: Wow. That's dumb of you to do all that work supporting your take. I'm still right.
I'll tell you this... I'm always more willing to give posters more credit when they'll do the work to substantiate their takes than the guys who throw out contrarian takes without supporting it with facts, stats or even anecdotal evidence and use insults as replies instead.
Keep up the good work Q. Evidence-based analysis like that does help us understand what's going on better.
And it reinforces what we've kind of been seeing. I feel like I watch a lot of quarters when I think our defense is generally pretty good, but there are definitely stretches when I feel like pulling out what little hair I have left on my head. It feels a little like bad defensive plays are contagious on this team, where you'll see stretches where you really notice guys not rotating quickly enough, ball-watching instead of boxing out, help defense a little slow, two guys going for the block leaving a wide open offensive rebound outback, guys not fighting through picks that well, not closing out on the hot shooter, stuff like that.
One other thing I've noticed that I don't have time to look up to verify, but I get the sense that we also tend to have stretches where we'll turn the ball over more frequently than usual. We're a middle of the pack team in terms of turnovers overall, but sometimes it feels like they are contagious. We had a few in that third quarter against Denver, and I remember a few of them in a row against the Clippers to start that game the other day. I wonder how much of that is defenses just getting a little more aggressive when they get a steal so they produce them at a higher rate in bunches, and how much of that might just be that sometimes our offense seems to have a collective brain fart.
Finally, FTs. We're a very good FT team, and maybe I notice this because we're a good FT team, but it feels like we've missed a couple crucial FTs down the stretch lately.
None of these things add up to anything to freak out about. And they suggest our recent downturn could be turned around pretty easily. But it's time to do it. We had 3 nice wins in a row there. We've got some more road games coming up so maybe that will help us!
As I am reading this thread, I am thinking that this was simply a case of a team getting hot, but I agree with Cool that we need to find ways to stop the bleeding. While Q pointed out two instances, and then stated we didn't have the firepower, wouldn't our game against Atlanta suggest the opposite. Or, at least point out that any team can go on runs. Isn't Wiggins going 3-4 reason to point out that he should have got more shots. Scoring 9-10 points in 5 minutes might not be an issue in and of itself, but it doesn't help the pace of the game when you are missing shots.
I myself, felt that this game was lost in the first half when the officials kept bailing out Faried, and basically turned what should have been a 30 point lead into a 15 at the half. I also don't understand Martin playing 40 minutes in a game when he was at best inefficient from an offensive standpoint. I think our coaches for the most part get too caught up in routines, rather than coaching the game in front of them. I am amazed at how little this team seems to go to the hot hand, or even worse, taking guys out when they are hot.
At the very least, this team is too young to have already stopped experimenting with line up changes. Start shuffling more line ups, particularly when we are playing poorly.
