Minnesota Sports Forum

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 9:31 pm watching Jaden McDaniels realize that he's more than capable of doing this was the highlight of the night.

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 8:25 am Abe's Next-Day DVR Review after relishing in yet another Timberwolves win last night:

- Well, that was quite the Jaden McDaniels experience. The energy/activity was obviously higher than normal. Interestingly, Finch's interview after the game mentioned that they've been asking him to hit the boards for 250 games now. Good to finally see it. Is THIS the Jaden McDaniels we've been waiting for? Is it good for an entire series? A 20-game playoff run? 100 games annually? Eventually, we'll find out. For now... I'll enjoy one game that was pretty fun to watch. My favorite part was him just running and jumping and grabbing the rim after Conley's big corner three. He was like the hyperactive kid who just got on the playground for recess.

- Edwards made the basic, easy pass. And then he did it again. And then... again. If he buys in to that every game... we're going to be giddy. As he matures, he'll become better at picking his spots. Just a solid game despite not shooting well. And that's the sign of a very good player.

- The NBA clearly changed how it's calling games. And that clearly benefits the Timberwolves if it continues. McDaniels shoving Allen with two hands after he's picked is a foul 95% of the time if it happens early in the 1st quarter of a regular season game. It wasn't called yesterday. The Wolves are big. They're handsy. They TRY hard on D. If they're allowed to play physically consistently, this team could make a deep run.

(This does not include Towns. Although I liked that Booker got called for hooking him.)

- Still waiting for the Naz Reid game. He's been kinda meh for a brief spell here.

- Gobert is amazing on defense. The "can't play in the playoffs" take was always pretty lazy. He's putting it to sleep at this point. He's guarding a team that would seem perfect to exploit the "Gobert can't guard in space" take. He's doing... ummm... pretty damn good.

- Mike Conley diving out of bounds to save the ball was fun. I've always liked Conley since OSU even if his game leaves me sort of cold. (I really really like PGs, so the standards are high.) But damn. He's always been a good guy who just rolls with it... but has a highly underrated competitive streak that's more than endearing. Good bounce back game I think we should have expected.

- Good to see Michael Nori back on the halftime interviews. I was wondering why other asst. coaches were doing it later in the season. Nori was just saving his material. I used to skip all of halftime on the DVR. I tune in just for him now.

- This team is good. It seems to have the right mix of players. They seem to like each other. They try... HARD. And it has character to it. It's been fun.

- Two more games. The Suns are too talented. But they seem on the verge of collapse. Keep squeezing them defensively, suck the life out of them... and they'll implode. Obviously, how the game is called in Game 3 will dictate how that goes.

- Eric Gordon waiting a beat to throw a 3/4 court heave at the end of a quarter until it's after the whistle epitomizes what's wrong with some NBA players and maybe what's wrong with the Suns. His superstar teammates should have ripped him for that on the spot. Then again, Kevin Durant famously once said he refuses to take those shots to protect his stats.

I think every Wolves player on the roster is taking that shot (stats be damned) and that's why I'm confident the Timberwolves win this series.