Wolves@Cavs GDT

[kekgeek]

In the last 2 games the wolves have played 50 half court defensive possessions with Naz at center (not including 2 half court shots). The pacers/Cavs scored on 39 of those 50 possessions. 2 of those 11 stops were Allen/Jalen smith missing 2 FTs. So in Naz center lineups they are scoring points 78% of the time, could have gotten to 82% if hit a FT.

I don’t even really blame Naz here but yes it’s a huge problem because the wolves are not scoring at a 78% clip when Naz is at center.

Sure it could be small sample size but I did it last year also, they are just a terrible defensive team when Naz has to play center

[Lipoli390]

Tanner Anderson
@tannerscranium
Never forget, Scott Foster received 134 phone calls from Tim Donaghy between October 2006 and April 2007, the same period of time he was found guilty of fixing games. Foster was never investigated, although people in the NBA are dubious, just ask Chris Paul…

I’ve always thought it’s ludicrous to believe that the corruption among NBA officials was limited solely to Tim Donaghy. If you haven’t watched the Netflix documentary, “Flagrant Foul” about the Tim Donaghy situation, you should. I’ll never forget the playoff game between the Lakers and Kings. You can’t watch that game without concluding that officials were trying to dictate the result in favor of the Lakers. It wasn’t just Donaghy in that game.

NBA officials are paid between $200,000 and $600,000 per year. That’s a lot of money, but they spend most of their lives working among young men barely out of their teens making anywhere from $2 to $60 million per year with all sorts of additional perks and adulation. So there has to be a degree of envy among many officials. Further, the incredible sums of money riding on NBA games in the betting world has to present a huge temptation to these officials. I’m not suggesting they’re all corrupt. But I think it’s naive to believe that Donaghy was the only one who succumbed to the temptation. And even if it’s not money, the documentary on Donaghy provides compelling examples of officials deliberately making highly questionable calls to make a point or punish certain players they didn’t like or who offended them. Power tends to corrupt at least some people if not everyone. I don’t believe the NBA makes the effort required to effectively police the League’s officiating. To the contrary, I think the NBA tends to look the other way. And that leads to games like last night’s.

[FNG]

In the last 2 games the wolves have played 50 half court defensive possessions with Naz at center (not including 2 half court shots). The pacers/Cavs scored on 39 of those 50 possessions. 2 of those 11 stops were Allen/Jalen smith missing 2 FTs. So in Naz center lineups they are scoring points 78% of the time, could have gotten to 82% if hit a FT.

I don’t even really blame Naz here but yes it’s a huge problem because the wolves are not scoring at a 78% clip when Naz is at center.

Sure it could be small sample size but I did it last year also, they are just a terrible defensive team when Naz has to play center

It's a big problem, kek, and very clear while watching a game. But what would you do if you were Finchie (or Nori last night)? Would SloMo be a better option at defensive center than Naz? I don't know, but maybe. How would you work the big man rotations in KAT's absence?

[kekgeek]

I'm a big fan of Rudy and think his defense is the main reason we are going to have home court advantage in the first round. But his "money" gesture cost us a winnable game, and his post-game comments were nothing short of stupid. He's implying that Scott Foster had money on the Cavs last night. I agree that the reffing was horrible and impacted a Cavs win, but I also thought the reffing the previous night was just as bad and impacted a Wolves win...things balance out over time, and these two games are a good example of it. One went in our favor, and one went the other way...the two worst reffed games of the season in my opinion. But I can't believe that any ref would jeopardize his career by both betting on a game that he was working, and then making calls to turn the game his way...it's a preposterous thought. First of all, Foster didn't cost us the game last night...an entire team other than Naz shooting 1 for 19 on threes is what cost us the game. If non-Naz Wolves just go TWO for nineteen in the game, we win in regulation. Does Rudy somehow think Foster caused the Wolves to miss so many shots. If he had a bet on the game (which he did not...come on, people), he would have lost his bet while risking his career last night if the Wolves had shot anywhere near their normal shooting. Does Rudy also think that the refs also had a big bet on the Wolves in Indy the previous night? I suspect not.

Rudy is going to get a whopping fine, and might even get suspended for a few games, and he has moved down a couple notches in my opinion (and I'm sure he's quite concerned about that). Anybody who has reffed a basketball game knows how difficult it is...so much more difficult than umpiring a baseball game (I've done both). There are going to be bad calls in every game, and the only thing I know for sure: almost every homer fan is going to conclude that the refs are against their team. It's a reflection of the "victim" culture in our society (nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions...it's gotta be somebody else's fault), as well as an example of absurd conspiracy theories being so rampant.

Play the game, and stop it...just stop it.

So in general I agree with statement. However is there more juice behind Scott Foster stuff. Scott Foster got 28% of the player vote as worst ref in the league, no other ref for over 7%. I remember Dlo last year when with the lakers saying while mic up in the huddle while up 9 with 3 minutes left “we got to be ready y’all Scott Foster is reffing”. Then Chris Paul is 3-17 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster while being the favorite in 15 of them. Then finally he is linked to Tim Daughnety. In a season where Tim was rigging games he called Scott Foster 137 times that season, no other ref more than 13. Maybe they were friends but in a season where Daughnety admitted/found guilty of rigging games he called Foster 10x more times than any other ref in the league.

All of this is obviously circumstantial, but there is a little bit more juice behind the Foster issue. Even though I wish the wolves would just play basketball

[kekgeek]

In the last 2 games the wolves have played 50 half court defensive possessions with Naz at center (not including 2 half court shots). The pacers/Cavs scored on 39 of those 50 possessions. 2 of those 11 stops were Allen/Jalen smith missing 2 FTs. So in Naz center lineups they are scoring points 78% of the time, could have gotten to 82% if hit a FT.

I don’t even really blame Naz here but yes it’s a huge problem because the wolves are not scoring at a 78% clip when Naz is at center.

Sure it could be small sample size but I did it last year also, they are just a terrible defensive team when Naz has to play center

It's a big problem, kek, and very clear while watching a game. But what would you do if you were Finchie (or Nori last night)? Would SloMo be a better option at defensive center than Naz? I don't know, but maybe. How would you work the big man rotations in KAT's absence?

I don’t have a solution because I don’t think personal wise they do have a solution. They could run more of a scrambling D when Naz is at center. Or could run more zone. But it’s by far my biggest concern with the wines wolves at the moment

[FNG]

I'm a big fan of Rudy and think his defense is the main reason we are going to have home court advantage in the first round. But his "money" gesture cost us a winnable game, and his post-game comments were nothing short of stupid. He's implying that Scott Foster had money on the Cavs last night. I agree that the reffing was horrible and impacted a Cavs win, but I also thought the reffing the previous night was just as bad and impacted a Wolves win...things balance out over time, and these two games are a good example of it. One went in our favor, and one went the other way...the two worst reffed games of the season in my opinion. But I can't believe that any ref would jeopardize his career by both betting on a game that he was working, and then making calls to turn the game his way...it's a preposterous thought. First of all, Foster didn't cost us the game last night...an entire team other than Naz shooting 1 for 19 on threes is what cost us the game. If non-Naz Wolves just go TWO for nineteen in the game, we win in regulation. Does Rudy somehow think Foster caused the Wolves to miss so many shots. If he had a bet on the game (which he did not...come on, people), he would have lost his bet while risking his career last night if the Wolves had shot anywhere near their normal shooting. Does Rudy also think that the refs also had a big bet on the Wolves in Indy the previous night? I suspect not.

Rudy is going to get a whopping fine, and might even get suspended for a few games, and he has moved down a couple notches in my opinion (and I'm sure he's quite concerned about that). Anybody who has reffed a basketball game knows how difficult it is...so much more difficult than umpiring a baseball game (I've done both). There are going to be bad calls in every game, and the only thing I know for sure: almost every homer fan is going to conclude that the refs are against their team. It's a reflection of the "victim" culture in our society (nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions...it's gotta be somebody else's fault), as well as an example of absurd conspiracy theories being so rampant.

Play the game, and stop it...just stop it.

So in general I agree with statement. However is there more juice behind Scott Foster stuff. Scott Foster got 28% of the player vote as worst ref in the league, no other ref for over 7%. I remember Dlo last year when with the lakers saying while mic up in the huddle while up 9 with 3 minutes left “we got to be ready y’all Scott Foster is reffing”. Then Chris Paul is 3-17 in playoff games reffed by Scott Foster while being the favorite in 15 of them. Then finally he is linked to Tim Daughnety. In a season where Tim was rigging games he called Scott Foster 137 times that season, no other ref more than 13. Maybe they were friends but in a season where Daughnety admitted/found guilty of rigging games he called Foster 10x more times than any other ref in the league.

All of this is obviously circumstantial, but there is a little bit more juice behind the Foster issue. Even though I wish the wolves would just play basketball

I think Foster is one of the two worst refs in the league (I think we all know who the other one is). And I believe he sincerely dislikes Chris Paul (as many of us do) and that his dislike for him influences his calls. I can tell you as a guy who has reffed and umped hundreds of games, there are several calls every game that could go either way...there is no obvious "correct" call, but your job requires you to make one anyway. And I think it's human nature to make your decision in these rare instances where there is no clear call against a player you don't particularly like...or one who has publicly criticized your work. Nobody likes someone who calls you bad at your job. Chris Paul will continue to get unbalanced treatment from Foster, and unfortunately Rudy will now too. I also think that Ant is a guy who the refs give unbalanced treatment to because he is constantly criticizing them. It's just not smart, and I wish he would grow up and realize that.

I would like to see Foster fired. Not because he made 20 phone calls a month to a corrupt co-worker or because I think there is any chance he is betting on games, but because he is a ref who is criticized by players more than almost any other ref. He's a bad referee. But again, the lack of accountability by our Wolves for the loss last night is really disappointing to me. The refs were a factor in both of our last two games, one to our favor, and one not, but we only mention the refs in the game where their calls went against us. But thhey didn't give us a win in Indy or cost us a win in Cleveland. We won in Indy because we bullied them with our size and defense, and we lost in Cleveland because everyone other than Naz missed 18 out of 19 threes...that's a shooting percentage of 5.3%!!! Conspiracy theories are way too rampant today in my opinion (it seems that about one out of 100 are true, and this ain't one of them). as is a victim mentality and a lack of personal responsibility. I'm not a fan of either. I would love to hear some Wolves step up today and take responsibility for the loss...just say that if players other than Naz had made just 10.5% of their threes, we would have won the game in regulation...10.5%!!!

But that's just not who we are as a society these days...it's always somebody else's fault.

[Lipoli390]

In the last 2 games the wolves have played 50 half court defensive possessions with Naz at center (not including 2 half court shots). The pacers/Cavs scored on 39 of those 50 possessions. 2 of those 11 stops were Allen/Jalen smith missing 2 FTs. So in Naz center lineups they are scoring points 78% of the time, could have gotten to 82% if hit a FT.

I don’t even really blame Naz here but yes it’s a huge problem because the wolves are not scoring at a 78% clip when Naz is at center.

Sure it could be small sample size but I did it last year also, they are just a terrible defensive team when Naz has to play center

It's a big problem, kek, and very clear while watching a game. But what would you do if you were Finchie (or Nori last night)? Would SloMo be a better option at defensive center than Naz? I don't know, but maybe. How would you work the big man rotations in KAT's absence?

I don’t have a solution because I don’t think personal wise they do have a solution. They could run more of a scrambling D when Naz is at center. Or could run more zone. But it’s by far my biggest concern with the wines wolves at the moment

I don’t think there’s a solution to losing KAT’s defense. But so far, I don’t see losing KAT’s defense as the problem. We held the Cavs under 100 points last night. The problem last night was our offense - terrible perimeter shooting. Ant was obviously exhausted and sore, but we needed a little more offense from him or from someone else. If Ant had hit just one of his 7 three-point attempts the Wolves would have won - in spite of the suspect officiating and Rudy’s really dumb technical foul. And that’s against a really good team on the road. The previous night this team beat Indiana thanks to Ant’s incredible offensive performance. Our defense was good enough against the Pacers but Ant had to carry the team offensively almost entirely on his own.

Our defense has been very good overall in the two games since KAT went down. Other than the tendency to turn the ball over, this team’s Achilles heal all season has always been a lack of offensive firepower and offensive depth. Losing KAT exposes our Achilles heal even more. We have a lot of defensive depth with Rudy, Jaden, Ant, NAW, Slo Mo, and even Conley. So we can hold up on the defensive end without KAT for 20 games. But our offensive depth is comparatively very shallow - Ant, KAT, and Naz. Losing KAT’s defense is a problem, but losing KAT’s offense is a bigger problem and one that I don’t think we can overcome.

[Coolbreeze44]

Twitter (X) is going crazy today over the officiating last night. I knew it was bad, but the reaction has even surprised me. The call I have the most problem with is the one I think cost us the game. It was the phantom touch foul by Jaden on Garland with .2 seconds left on the shot clock that really cost us the game. You almost have to have an agenda to make that call in that situation. Of course Garland made all 3 free throws and put us in a hole we couldn't come back from.

[Q-is-here]

Twitter (X) is going crazy today over the officiating last night. I knew it was bad, but the reaction has even surprised me. The call I have the most problem with is the one I think cost us the game. It was the phantom touch foul by Jaden on Garland with .2 seconds left on the shot clock that really cost us the game. You almost have to have an agenda to make that call in that situation. Of course Garland made all 3 free throws and put us in a hole we couldn't come back from.

I actually think that was a legit foul Cool. I'll grant you that it was light contact, but if you plainly hit a guy's arm while early in his shot motion - even if it's a "touch" foul - they just gotta call that.

The one I was outraged by was the foul on Jaden on Jarrett Allen's roll to the hoop with 1:21 left in OT. It almost felt like the ref was anticipating contact and anything less than perfection from Jaden would deserve a whistle. Jaden came down a little bit with his arms, but it hardly did anything to slow down Allen. You let 'em play in that situation.

[Coolbreeze44]

Twitter (X) is going crazy today over the officiating last night. I knew it was bad, but the reaction has even surprised me. The call I have the most problem with is the one I think cost us the game. It was the phantom touch foul by Jaden on Garland with .2 seconds left on the shot clock that really cost us the game. You almost have to have an agenda to make that call in that situation. Of course Garland made all 3 free throws and put us in a hole we couldn't come back from.

I actually think that was a legit foul Cool. I'll grant you that it was light contact, but if you plainly hit a guy's arm while early in his shot motion - even if it's a "touch" foul - they just gotta call that.

The one I was outraged by was the foul on Jaden on Jarrett Allen's roll to the hoop with 1:21 left in OT. It almost felt like the ref was anticipating contact and anything less than perfection from Jaden would deserve a whistle. Jaden came down a little bit with his arms, but it hardly did anything to slow down Allen. You let 'em play in that situation.

Yeah, I didn't like either one of them. I guess as a general rule I don't like bailing out the offensive player, especially when they aren't under full control. The worst part is I think Jaden is being forced to play less aggressive and he's not getting around screens like he did last year. It's kind of messing him up