Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:

FNG wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:

FNG wrote:Outstanding win to get back to .500! Again we got lucky being 100% healthy with the Knicks missing Rose's scoring and Noel's defense (especially after their only other centers fouled out), but this game became a lot tougher when they announced Kemba was playing...I wasn't expecting that. I give the game ball to Chris Finch, who I think totally outcoached Thibs tonight. Some observations:

1) The sun will always rise in the east, and Thibs' teams will often fade in the 4th quarter. The 3rd quarter was a difficult one for us, but I thought we were going to win entering the 4th quarter. Seeing the Knicks missing three-pointers in the 4th quarter and not looking as effective on defense with their tired legs brought back some frustrating memories...nice to be on the other side of this one!

2) I've pointed it out before...DLo has had a turnaround season on defense, but he needs PatBev out there playing tough defense on their best guard so he can play free safety to be effective. Things got ugly after PatBev got his 5th foul...the Knicks announcers commented on DLo's "matador defense". I thought Finchy won us the game when he noticed how ineffective DLo was on defense, and substituted Pat in for him when we were down 5 with 7 to go. At that moment I said "we got this one".

3) I love how Finchy alternates Vando and Jaden on their best scorer every night. Both were very effective against Randle and forced him into a 6-15 night.

4) Second straight game where our bench has shown up big time. Nowell was obviously fabulous, but we are so much better when Beasley is knocking down shots.

Now it's on to Atlanta, where once again we face a team missing 2 starters. It's the back end of a back to back and Atlanta is favored by 2, but I think a smart gambler might be on the Wolves tonight. Injuries matter and again we're on the right side of that equation, and I like PatBev bothering TraeI like PatBev bothering Trae. Is tonight the night we go over .500 for the first time since 11/29?

Yes, that alone will be worth the price of admission. Trae has only faced PatBev twice and both those games were when he was a rookie. The rules have also changed and Trae can no longer cheat his way into free throws as easily, so I suspect PatBev will push the limit in being physical with Trae to test the officials. Can't wait to see this matchup.

Yep, it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch. Trae is a great player, but he doesn't often have a guy like Pat up in his grill for 35 minutes!

Last night made me appreciate Beverley even more. It's quite glaring how DLo's defense falls off a cliff when Pat isn't playing next to him. He looked like the DLo of old after PatBev picked up his 5th foul. I'm convinced that keeping Beverley healthy is essential to this team being successful.

Patrick Beverley often makes other players better on defense with his energy and aggressiveness on the ball, and that's true for D'Angelo Russell as it allows him to use his strengths on the defensive end off the ball instead of taking on the toughest guard matchup on a nightly basis.

Where we disagree is the notion that Russell's defense was bad last night. On the contrary, I thought he and most of the team defended well. I thought D-Lo and Anthony Edwards specifically had some bad calls go against them that led to Russell only playing 25 minutes with foul trouble.

Out of curiosity, can you recall a handful of plays off the top of your head where D-Lo's defense was bad or "fell off a cliff"? Perhaps I'm not seeing it and your memory can direct me to a few examples.

FNG wrote:From Jace Frederick's twitter:

"Last 2 minute report is out

KAT should've been called for two fouls in the last two minutes, including an offensive foul on his key bucket

DLo should've been called for a push on his near turnover"

This board might have blown up if this situation were reversed, and the Wolves lost a game because of calls the refs later admitted they missed. I get that almost all fans are going to evaluate foul calls through rose-colored glasses, but my experience has been bad calls by referees even out over the course of a season. Despite what most fans of every team believe, there's no conspiracy against them by the referees.

Let's thank the refs for admitting they gave us a road win we sorely needed!

Camden wrote:You can't (or shouldn't) call an offensive foul on Karl-Anthony Towns there after letting Julius Randle shove players with his off-arm all fucking night. Get a grip.

It's like umpiring in baseball. You might have a terrible strike zone as an umpire. You might call strikes three inches off the plate and mistakenly call balls that are right at the knees. All players and fans ask is that you keep it consistent and call the same game on both ends.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:I remember seeing the replay of the Towns drive on Randle and thinking that he "sorta, kinda wrapped Randle there" and then thinking... that not a single NBA star/starter/reserve would get called for that in that situation. Ever.

It would have been a terrible call to make. I don't remember seeing the Russell push. Or, whatever the third foul was.

FNG wrote:

Camden wrote:You can't (or shouldn't) call an offensive foul on Karl-Anthony Towns there after letting Julius Randle shove players with his off-arm all fucking night. Get a grip.

It's like umpiring in baseball. You might have a terrible strike zone as an umpire. You might call strikes three inches off the plate and mistakenly call balls that are right at the knees. All players and fans ask is that you keep it consistent and call the same game on both ends.

OK Cam...I'll take your rose-colored glasses opinion view on that play rather than the view of objective referees who watch and rewatch the final two minutes of every game and issue their mea culpa report. It's certain to be far more objective, and these Wolves-hating refs need to "get a grip" ;) .