Minnesota Sports Forum

Alas, eff it up on the offensive end as well.

Q12543 wrote:Alas, eff it up on the offensive end as well.

Shocking right.

Quinn Snyder's pre-game speech to his players was probably this: "Guys, let them get up double digits, the earlier the better, then we got 'em."

But seriously, pretty good effort tonight on a back to back. They fought hard to the end. I mean c'mon, we are relying on players like Casspi and Rush to finish games at this point in the season. That's what its come down to. Could have really used Lavine in the end of this one.

We just desperately need a couple hard nosed vets in here to bring this team some strength and poise. Power forward needs to be the #1 target. Time to spend Glen.

Will point out one positve: it seems like Wiggins has gotten back to being more of a driver than a jump shooter as of late...he is so much better when he takes the ball to the hoop instead of settling for turnaround J's. His athletic advantage is so extreme he can glide around guys at will. Just needs the mindset to keep doing it every night.

Observations for those smart enough not to watch this and looking for the cliff notes version:

- Really interesting watching KAT. He is such a gifted scorer that you almost can't help but go to him nearly every time down the floor. He slung in a left-handed hook tonight that was just pure. He was making 3's. Hit his free throws. Dunking. But man, he is a massive liability on defense. Doesn't want to foul, so avoids hard challenges at the rim. Never steps in for a charge (again, worried about getting a block call instead probably). Spends so much time trying to dramatize contact on offense that he falls on the floor after a miss, leaving our defense in a 5 on 4 situation. Always a step late on rotations. Just awful defensively.

- Casspi played 38 minutes tonight. What is the world coming to? I know Dieng doesn't always match up well, but my God, Casspi might be one of the least productive players on the roster right now. I thought he could shoot 3's. How come he never takes them? Why isn't he ever open? What a disaster.

- The 3rd quarter was a barrage of 3's by Utah. I mean, you just scratch your head wondering how they got so many looks and nearly every one went in. 40 points given up. That was the game really.

- Wiggins has got to get rid of those long 2's. They are just horrific shots. I don't mind him pulling up at the elbow or just outside of it, but not one step in from the 3 point line. And the worst shot of all is that step back long 2, which is an 11 on a 10-point scale of difficulty. When he has it in him to go down hill though, he is the best Euro-stepper in the NBA. Man, he makes that move look easy. He just takes too many tough shots though.

- Rubio kept us in the game in the 3rd with his shooting. Weird.

- Bazz is gone after the season. I'm pretty disappointed Thibs couldn't get more out of him, as he definitely has the motor and toughness to go do some damage. But it's almost as if Thibs has frozen him out in the last month or two.

- I am not impressed by Favors at all. Yes, he bullied KAT around a bit on offense, but he was just terrible defensively. He seems like one of these guys that has decent box score stats, but just doesn't really move the needle much.

Mstermisty wrote:Quinn Snyder's pre-game speech to his players was probably this: "Guys, let them get up double digits, the earlier the better, then we got 'em."

But seriously, pretty good effort tonight on a back to back. They fought hard to the end. I mean c'mon, we are relying on players like Casspi and Rush to finish games at this point in the season. That's what its come down to. Could have really used Lavine in the end of this one.

We just desperately need a couple hard nosed vets in here to bring this team some strength and poise. Power forward needs to be the #1 target. Time to spend Glen.

Will point out one positve: it seems like Wiggins has gotten back to being more of a driver than a jump shooter as of late...he is so much better when he takes the ball to the hoop instead of settling for turnaround J's. His athletic advantage is so extreme he can glide around guys at will. Just needs the mindset to keep doing it every night.

Still, 25 points on 21 shots just doesn't get it done these days in the NBA. He still took too many tough, contested shots. You are right though that his ability to shift east-west while going north-south is unbelievable. He is such a handful going toward the rim.

I got the references Q. Nice work!!! The boys made a bitch's brew tonight.

Just finish the season with no more injuries.

I am all in on offering the 1st for Deandre Jordan if the Clippers blow it up.


Just worn down but I continue to watch.

Q the Wolves D wasn't that great but to me the reason they lost late was they missed shots that were good looks. Pretty simple.

I was noticing those times Yowms was still on the floor and it led to easy baskets. I'd be willing to give him a legitimate brake on a couple of those but one in the first half he had gotten up and didn't sprint back fast enough and Gobert got an uncontested dunk. Jim said someone should have recognized it earlier and I suppose they should have but it's tough playing 4-5. A couple of those times Yowns went to the floor was probably poor shot selection decision making.

I'll say this about Casspi in this game. It's one of the first games I think he has had some legit impact. He had some nice defensive plays at times good rotations. He got burned at times too but it seemed like nobody could guard Joe Johnson. Overall Casspi has been a disappointment but let's remember he hasn't played basketball for a few weeks and coming into a new team. I also think he is more of a complimentary guy who plays more within a team so he isn't going to assert himself too much. I liked how he got into it with Ingles a little bit there at the end.

Wiggins can make attacking the tim and scoring so easy it's insane and he was going against Gobert and other bigs quite a bit of that time. If he ever figures out how to mix his game up game in game out game to game to game he will be such a devastating scorer he will be tough to stop and then you have that Towns guy...

I agree with you about Favors to a certain extent Q. I see him sort of as a better version of Dieng. The NBA right now is so perimeter oriented a guy like Favors may struggle playing PF. I think Greg Monroe might be smart to opt in because I could see him getting more like Al Jefferson money than anything close to the near 18 million he can opt into. I don't think many teams are going to be offering up a much bigger role than he has either. The game really does seem to have changed.