Minnesota Sports Forum

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 1:59 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 08, 2026 9:18 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 08, 2026 6:58 pm

You don’t play this poorly at this point in the season and then suddenly turn it on for success in the playoffs. This team is lost and there’s no sign that this current group with this head coach will turn things around. The Wolves started slow last season as they learned to play together. They then hit their stride, playing really well at this time last season and carried their high level play into the playoffs. That’s not what we’re seeing this season. Instead, we’re seeing a team that’s as likely to end up in the lottery as it is the playoffs. This is a team in need of a shake up. We didn’t shake it up with any major personnel moves at the deadline and I think that was the right call. The first step going forward is to shake things up with a head coaching change. If that doesn’t cut it, then this team will have to have its personnel revamped and Ant is the only player who shouldn’t be subject to a trade. I’d still look to build around Ant, Jaden and Naz, but I could see trading Jaden or Naz for the right return.

We should have taken a step back this season for a retool, which is what I’ve been saying for a while. This was the season to start developing Dillingham, Clark, Shannon and Beringer with an eye towards the next two seasons. Ant’s still very young but his contract is our runway and we have to retool while there’s still enough runway left. I think we might have waited too long, which means the Wolves will have to do what McHale did when he acquired Spree and Cassell. It almost worked but was short-lived with KG departing soon thereafter. Usually those desperation moves for older vets fail miserably. TC might have one last shot to avoid that fate.

Two years ago we did it. Got trounced if I remember right to end the season against Phoenix. We were in it for the 1 or 2 seed but laid an egg to finish 3rd. The Suns dominated us in the regular season and no one wanted that matchup, yet we amped it up and crushed them in the playoffs.

That's exactly who this team has been the last two years. Lays far too many eggs in the regular season yet shows up when it counts (minus the WCF's of course!).

Now the argument is that will regular season bad habits can carry over into the playoffs. Do we think we can turn it on again with a switch or are we playing with fire?

I actually think this team is playing way below it's talent/capability. I actually think we turn it around and finish the regular season relatively strong.

I get the history of the last two seasons. But this season feels different. We are absolutely playing way below our talent level in my view. I’ve referred to this team as playing at a level less than the sum of hits parts. I just get the sense this team isn’t going to suddenly turn it on the way we have the past two seasons. Note that two seasons ago, the team got on trade when KAT came back from his season-long injury. Last season, we got on track when Randle returned with a new approach to his game that blended better with his teammates and demonstrated consistent effort. What’s the catalyst this season? Ayo? We’ll find out but I don’t see this team turning things around without replacing Finch with the right head coach who can get through to these guys.

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 7:40 am

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 08, 2026 10:39 pm A combined total of 7 shots today for DDV and Jaden. That's not enough and Finch said as much. Ju and especially Ant have to get these guys involved. The lack of cohesion is screaming through the television.

Cool, I agree...but I will also say Donte and Jaden weren't getting shots for totally different reasons yesterday. Donte was working his butt off and making things happen...he just wasn't given many shot opportunities and missed the ones he got. But there was something off with Jaden. I'm used to see him moving on offense, but yesterday he was listless. He has a tendency to sulk on the court, and I think his inability to stop Kawhi got to him...Finchy saw it and actually turned to Ju for a while to try to stop Kawhi. I don't know if Jaden was hurt or sick, but he was not engaged in the game at all. Case in point: there's no way a guy that tall should only have 2 rebounds in 28 minutes.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 9:48 am

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 7:40 am

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 08, 2026 10:39 pm A combined total of 7 shots today for DDV and Jaden. That's not enough and Finch said as much. Ju and especially Ant have to get these guys involved. The lack of cohesion is screaming through the television.

Cool, I agree...but I will also say Donte and Jaden weren't getting shots for totally different reasons yesterday. Donte was working his butt off and making things happen...he just wasn't given many shot opportunities and missed the ones he got. But there was something off with Jaden. I'm used to see him moving on offense, but yesterday he was listless. He has a tendency to sulk on the court, and I think his inability to stop Kawhi got to him...Finchy saw it and actually turned to Ju for a while to try to stop Kawhi. I don't know if Jaden was hurt or sick, but he was not engaged in the game at all. Case in point: there's no way a guy that tall should only have 2 rebounds in 28 minutes.

Donte was on foul trouble, fouled out in only 24 minutes I believe. It seemed like the plan was to get Jaden the ball early, but i kept resulting in turnovers. Leonard was guarding Jaden in the first quarter, Ant tried to pass him the ball to him early and and it was stolen by Leonard. A few plays later Jaden had the ball and Leonard stole it from him again. Later in the quarter Leonard stole it from him again.

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:00 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 9:48 am

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 7:40 am

Cool, I agree...but I will also say Donte and Jaden weren't getting shots for totally different reasons yesterday. Donte was working his butt off and making things happen...he just wasn't given many shot opportunities and missed the ones he got. But there was something off with Jaden. I'm used to see him moving on offense, but yesterday he was listless. He has a tendency to sulk on the court, and I think his inability to stop Kawhi got to him...Finchy saw it and actually turned to Ju for a while to try to stop Kawhi. I don't know if Jaden was hurt or sick, but he was not engaged in the game at all. Case in point: there's no way a guy that tall should only have 2 rebounds in 28 minutes.

Donte was on foul trouble, fouled out in only 24 minutes I believe. It seemed like the plan was to get Jaden the ball early, but i kept resulting in turnovers. Leonard was guarding Jaden in the first quarter, Ant tried to pass him the ball to him early and and it was stolen by Leonard. A few plays later Jaden had the ball and Leonard stole it from him again. Later in the quarter Leonard stole it from him again.

Yeah, Jaden was not present either mentally or physically yesterday…getting totally destroyed by Kawhi at both ends of the court seemed to get to him.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:12 am

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:00 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 9:48 am

Donte was on foul trouble, fouled out in only 24 minutes I believe. It seemed like the plan was to get Jaden the ball early, but i kept resulting in turnovers. Leonard was guarding Jaden in the first quarter, Ant tried to pass him the ball to him early and and it was stolen by Leonard. A few plays later Jaden had the ball and Leonard stole it from him again. Later in the quarter Leonard stole it from him again.

Yeah, Jaden was not present either mentally or physically yesterday…getting totally destroyed by Kawhi at both ends of the court seemed to get to him.

And this is where Jaden needs further growth to truly become a second option on offense. He's grown immensely as a 3rd option, so long as Ant and Randle are attracting a ton of defensive attention. It means he can usually go one on one against a neutral or sub-par defender. But what happens when either an elite defender like Kawhi or an entire defense focuses more on him, as would be the case far more often if he became a #2 offensive option?

Guys can grow their offensive games well into their late 20s (see Jimmy Butler and Normal Powell), so I'm not ruling him out as being an eventual #2, but he's not there yet.

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:27 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:12 am

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:00 am

Yeah, Jaden was not present either mentally or physically yesterday…getting totally destroyed by Kawhi at both ends of the court seemed to get to him.

And this is where Jaden needs further growth to truly become a second option on offense. He's grown immensely as a 3rd option, so long as Ant and Randle are attracting a ton of defensive attention. It means he can usually go one on one against a neutral or sub-par defender. But what happens when either an elite defender like Kawhi or an entire defense focuses more on him, as would be the case far more often if he became a #2 offensive option?

Guys can grow their offensive games well into their late 20s (see Jimmy Butler and Normal Powell), so I'm not ruling him out as being an eventual #2, but he's not there yet.

We all know the value of Jaden McDaniels. We've seen his growth. We know his strengths and warts and all. He's a good to very good player who has improved and is key to the future of the franchise.

But just days after many Wolves fans were like "Oh not Jaden in any Giannis trade... hell no!" ...

He's posted this combined stat line over the past two games:

3 - 12 fg
8 points
3 reb
2 assists
1 stl
0 block
4 TOs
7 fouls

Those are bad numbers for a G-League, 2-way contract guy filling in as a last resort...

If we give the guy his flowers when he's doing well... we also have to acknowledge that the past two games have been absolutely terrible and unacceptable... and we should be ripping him a lot more than we are while we rip Randle, Edwards, Finch, et al.

Those are embarrassing numbers, which puts McDaniels at the forefront of what was wrong with the Wolves this weekend. A true potential #2 or #3 or even #4 just can't have those types of games where he completely disappears. The best NBA players force you to take notice of them on the court.

If we want to treat McDaniels as an untouchable player... we have to treat him as such when he performs woefully short of that.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 2:14 pm

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:27 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:12 am

And this is where Jaden needs further growth to truly become a second option on offense. He's grown immensely as a 3rd option, so long as Ant and Randle are attracting a ton of defensive attention. It means he can usually go one on one against a neutral or sub-par defender. But what happens when either an elite defender like Kawhi or an entire defense focuses more on him, as would be the case far more often if he became a #2 offensive option?

Guys can grow their offensive games well into their late 20s (see Jimmy Butler and Normal Powell), so I'm not ruling him out as being an eventual #2, but he's not there yet.

We all know the value of Jaden McDaniels. We've seen his growth. We know his strengths and warts and all. He's a good to very good player who has improved and is key to the future of the franchise.

But just days after many Wolves fans were like "Oh not Jaden in any Giannis trade... hell no!" ...

He's posted this combined stat line over the past two games:

3 - 12 fg
8 points
3 reb
2 assists
1 stl
0 block
4 TOs
7 fouls

Those are bad numbers for a G-League, 2-way contract guy filling in as a last resort...

If we give the guy his flowers when he's doing well... we also have to acknowledge that the past two games have been absolutely terrible and unacceptable... and we should be ripping him a lot more than we are while we rip Randle, Edwards, Finch, et al.

Those are embarrassing numbers, which puts McDaniels at the forefront of what was wrong with the Wolves this weekend. A true potential #2 or #3 or even #4 just can't have those types of games where he completely disappears. The best NBA players force you to take notice of them on the court.

If we want to treat McDaniels as an untouchable player... we have to treat him as such when he performs woefully short of that.

I won't disagree with anything you say here, and I agree he was listless yesterday. But this is a very efficient player who too often gets ignored on the offensive end. A two game stretch of bad basketball is notable, but not representative of the type of player he is. If you watched the 2nd half I saw a guy who was pissed off about what was going on. I watched possession after possession of him running down to his corner on offense, watching Ant or Julius try to play iso ball, and then run back to play defense, where he continued to work hard. I could read his mind, "if you want me to just play defense that's what I will do". Jaden doesn't talk about it or show much emotion outwardly, but he has an ego just like everyone else. He's also very confident in his own ability. But he's willing to play the game the right way. He keeps the ball moving and will defer to the teammate with the higher percentage shot. Not all his teammates do that. So I'm not going to condemn him for back to back poor outings, and he has every right to be pissed about his role in the offense.

60WinTim wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 2:33 pm

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 2:14 pm

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:27 am


We all know the value of Jaden McDaniels. We've seen his growth. We know his strengths and warts and all. He's a good to very good player who has improved and is key to the future of the franchise.

But just days after many Wolves fans were like "Oh not Jaden in any Giannis trade... hell no!" ...

He's posted this combined stat line over the past two games:

3 - 12 fg
8 points
3 reb
2 assists
1 stl
0 block
4 TOs
7 fouls

Those are bad numbers for a G-League, 2-way contract guy filling in as a last resort...

If we give the guy his flowers when he's doing well... we also have to acknowledge that the past two games have been absolutely terrible and unacceptable... and we should be ripping him a lot more than we are while we rip Randle, Edwards, Finch, et al.

Those are embarrassing numbers, which puts McDaniels at the forefront of what was wrong with the Wolves this weekend. A true potential #2 or #3 or even #4 just can't have those types of games where he completely disappears. The best NBA players force you to take notice of them on the court.

If we want to treat McDaniels as an untouchable player... we have to treat him as such when he performs woefully short of that.

I won't disagree with anything you say here, and I agree he was listless yesterday. But this is a very efficient player who too often gets ignored on the offensive end. A two game stretch of bad basketball is notable, but not representative of the type of player he is. If you watched the 2nd half I saw a guy who was pissed off about what was going on. I watched possession after possession of him running down to his corner on offense, watching Ant or Julius try to play iso ball, and then run back to play defense, where he continued to work hard. I could read his mind, "if you want me to just play defense that's what I will do". Jaden doesn't talk about it or show much emotion outwardly, but he has an ego just like everyone else. He's also very confident in his own ability. But he's willing to play the game the right way. He keeps the ball moving and will defer to the teammate with the higher percentage shot. Not all his teammates do that. So I'm not going to condemn him for back to back poor outings, and he has every right to be pissed about his role in the offense.

Agreed, Cool. If ANT is going to be "Lead Guard", he needs to a whole lot more to get others involved. Otherwise, we need a legit PG and keep ANT as "Scoring Guard".

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 2:37 pm

60WinTim wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 2:33 pm

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 09, 2026 2:14 pm

I won't disagree with anything you say here, and I agree he was listless yesterday. But this is a very efficient player who too often gets ignored on the offensive end. A two game stretch of bad basketball is notable, but not representative of the type of player he is. If you watched the 2nd half I saw a guy who was pissed off about what was going on. I watched possession after possession of him running down to his corner on offense, watching Ant or Julius try to play iso ball, and then run back to play defense, where he continued to work hard. I could read his mind, "if you want me to just play defense that's what I will do". Jaden doesn't talk about it or show much emotion outwardly, but he has an ego just like everyone else. He's also very confident in his own ability. But he's willing to play the game the right way. He keeps the ball moving and will defer to the teammate with the higher percentage shot. Not all his teammates do that. So I'm not going to condemn him for back to back poor outings, and he has every right to be pissed about his role in the offense.

Agreed, Cool. If ANT is going to be "Lead Guard", he needs to a whole lot more to get others involved. Otherwise, we need a legit PG and keep ANT as "Scoring Guard".

Tim you're exactly right. Ant is a shooting guard and there's nothing wrong with that, but he's not a lead guard in the mold of Harden who CAN get others involved. I've been saying we needed a point guard since the summer, so I totally agree.