Minnesota Sports Forum

kekgeek1 wrote:I'm happy our franchise player can't get the ball.

Fuck Saunders

It's truly pathetic. If you can't figure out a way to get kat 18 shots a night, you should be fired and replaced by someone who can. It should really be this teams top priority, to get kat a lot of shots. I'm fine with Beasley and edwards getting their shots, but when I see guys like Rubio, okogie, vando getting shots just because we're too lazy/stupid/selfish to get kat his shots, it just makes me want to give up on this team.

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:Edwards, Beasley, Rubio and Jmac all with more FGA then Kat. Got to love it.

I'm happy the system is building around Kat

If this is how Minnesota's going to use Karl-Anthony Towns, they need to trade him immediately. They're using him like he's Chris Bosh in Miami surrounded by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade... except the Wolves don't have two Hall-of-Famers, but rather Malik Beasley and a 19-year old rookie. Give him the ball. Feature him. Allow him to be a playmaker. He's so much more than a floor spacer.

You're absolutely right. I just can't understand what's going through Ryan's head.

Is he just this clueless or is he just too much of a pushover. I really don't know, kinda think it's both.

D-Mac wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:I'm happy our franchise player can't get the ball.

Fuck Saunders

It's truly pathetic. If you can't figure out a way to get kat 18 shots a night, you should be fired and replaced by someone who can. It should really be this teams top priority, to get kat a lot of shots. I'm fine with Beasley and edwards getting their shots, but when I see guys like Rubio, okogie, vando getting shots just because we're too lazy/stupid/selfish to get kat his shots, it just makes me want to give up on this team.

Some of it of course comes down to the players themselves. Ant had it going and was shooting a lot. Beasley wasn't but still was. No plays were run for Vando, anything he gets he does out of energy and hustle. Any shots JO gets are because he is left wide open or he makes a foolish drive into 3 players in the paint. Same for Rubio, he's left open quite a bit, he has to make teams pay for doing so and not letting the defense play 5 on 4.

KAT relies on the other players to get him looks, they didn't get him the looks. Sure coaching is part of it too, but I would say less of a factor as the defense simply leaving certain players open. They also double KAT often so it's up to others to beat them. They didn't.

Keep in mind the Lakers have probably the best defense in the NBA. They are big, strong, and smart, plus they can get away with a lot of clutching and grabbing that someone like Naz Reid or Vando could never get away with. Nothing is easy against them.

I thought Edwards got a little carried away in the 4th and may have missed a couple open guys. I mean, he is fun to watch and these kinds of games are encouraging, but as he becomes more and more of a focal point, he needs to start thinking more about how to use his driving ability to get open looks for KAT and Beasley.

Also thought Vando gave us another healthy dose of the full Vando experience....makes great hustle plays to keep a possession alive, then blows the finish or gives a cheap foul to someone. That shit has to get cleaned up if he really wants to be a full-time starting PF. He's still a solid backup on a good team IMO...Also just 21, so plenty of time to smooth some of the rough edges.

Q12543 wrote:Keep in mind the Lakers have probably the best defense in the NBA. They are big, strong, and smart, plus they can get away with a lot of clutching and grabbing that someone like Naz Reid or Vando could never get away with. Nothing is easy against them.

I thought Edwards got a little carried away in the 4th and may have missed a couple open guys. I mean, he is fun to watch and these kinds of games are encouraging, but as he becomes more and more of a focal point, he needs to start thinking more about how to use his driving ability to get open looks for KAT and Beasley.

Very well put Q. He got a little carried away and started to play DLO ball. He will learn.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Keep in mind the Lakers have probably the best defense in the NBA. They are big, strong, and smart, plus they can get away with a lot of clutching and grabbing that someone like Naz Reid or Vando could never get away with. Nothing is easy against them.

I thought Edwards got a little carried away in the 4th and may have missed a couple open guys. I mean, he is fun to watch and these kinds of games are encouraging, but as he becomes more and more of a focal point, he needs to start thinking more about how to use his driving ability to get open looks for KAT and Beasley.

Very well put Q. He got a little carried away and started to play DLO ball. He will learn.

I'm glad somebody finally called out the players along with Saunders.

There were multiple moments in that 4th quarter where Towns was ignored. The play where Vanderbilt ignored a wide open Towns behind the three point line right next to him to drive on LeBron James was the most egregious. There was another play later where Edwards ignored a wide open Towns behind the arc to take a contested two with two guys rushing at him.

And Beasley was in "get mine" mode, too.

Getting Towns good looks was a problem when the offense was created for him, surrounded by non shooters. Now that the team is being built with mostly gunners around Towns... it's been a very real concern for some of us. We saw it tonight.

You could see the visual frustration by Towns. And it was justified.

________

Edwards looked very good, sans the predictable heat checks. Per usual, it was a pass that got me all hot and bothered the most... it was late... and he found Rubio cross-court (possibly with his left hand)... it was very Harden-esque.



[Note: And then there were the three super soft foul calls on Towns... meanwhile as noted by somebody... Gasol and James were karate chopping and shoving Towns in the post. You have to use these guys creatively... unless they're simply bigger and stronger than everybody else. Towns is not as big as Embiid. Nor as respected by the officials.]

The strategic misses passing up Towns for worse shots was bad. But nothing may have been more of a violation of good basketball then Ricky passing up wide open strong side layups and running under the hoop out of a fear of missing. The fact that he wont even go for the simplest shot in basketball is troubling.

Camden wrote:I'm expecting a big game from A1 tonight. It's the Lakers. It's against LeBron James. It's Klutch Sports Group. The highlights will be all over ESPN. I expect this to be a game he plays very aggressively. And then people will make comments about Edwards and James hugging after the game saying that there's a passing of the torch. I know how this goes.

I'm catching up on the GDT after watching the replay this morning. Sometimes early posts don't age so well...this one did. What a game for Ant! I really dug the smile on his face after going right at the incredible LBJ successfully. The kid is now 18/5/3 in his last 10 on 45% shooting (35% threes). He's still only 19...really fun to project what he might be in 4-5 years.

Jester1534 wrote:I love the term crab dribble lol

I don't know from first hand experience, but some say penicillin is effective in controlling it...