Minnesota Sports Forum

60WinTim wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 10:06 am

Monster wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 7:54 am Well that was quite the game. Somehow the wolves "found a way" to get this win.

I think for the most part the Gobert Anderson thing will blow over at least for this season or whatever is left of it.

Edwards was bad at times but the guy was trying to win the game even if some of it was ill advised. Especially in the 2nd half the guy was beat up and was pretty much everywhere.

McLaughlin had another good game. Not spectacular but he did good things out there.

Conley with another pretty good game.

With McDaniels out it's hard to feel optimistic and I guess that also means someone else is gonna need to step up or actually probably a couple guys. Rivers might actually get some minutes now and Prince is gonna be playing heavy minutes.

Prince replacing McDaniels is not a total bust, but it is pretty deflating to know McDaniels won't be around for the playoffs. Although there seems to be some talk that SloMo will replace McDaniels once Gobert returns. I don't know about that -- doesn't it imply a lot of minutes for Knight? I think I would rather rely on JMac, NAW and Nowell getting the extra minutes and have Kyle's minutes be more at the 4/5, thus reducing the need for big minutes from Knight. We won't find out tonight with Gobert missing, but we'll know more after that.

Nowell has to be healthy enough to play. I don’t know what his status is at this point.

One advantage of starting the game with Anderson as a starter is it means Conley can play off the ball some and it seems like he has a number of games where he gets rolling right away. Depending on matchups they could probably play Prince as a PF at times off the bench but they will probably mix and match a bit especially since in theory Townsnand Gober are gonna play A LOT in playoff games. Also playing Anderson as a starter would keep Prince in a somewhat more usual role coming off the bench. Prince will still probably play a lot.

Meanwhile the question is what other guys get minutes. Knight may see some time. The one thing Knight has going for him is his mobility. He is closer to a big SF in how he moves than a big ol center. I’m not suggesting he is awesome or whatever but he fits the scramble defense and is more switchable. Basically he is more like Naz in that he can guard guys on switches…and foul with the best of them! Lol

Or would you feel better about playing someone like Rivers some minutes? I know people aren’t thrilled with how he has played lately and I’m not either but he is a vet with playoff experience and against some players can defend fairly well. McLaughlin or NAW could he situational depending on matchups as well as the guys said before. The Wolves aren’t exactly flowing with awesome options but there are some benefits from playing certain players.

Heck maybe at some point they throw out Minott or Moore into a situation that might play to their strengths. Sometimes young guys show something unexpected in the playoffs. The way things are for the Wolves right now with injuries…you could argue why not give them a shot if they have shown any ability to perform. Moore has shown some ability in a couple games. Minott is super active and has length to go with it. I’m not getting my hopes up but yeah.

Ultimately if the Wolves can get into a playoff series I’m gonna sit back without grand expectations and hopefully enjoy someone surprise a bit with their play even if we don’t win the series. That could even be a vet player that we already expect to perform at a certain level. Prince has the game to be a big boast in that regard.