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Re: Wolves at Rockets GDT
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:26 pm
by FNG
Monster wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 1:11 pm
FNG wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 10:09 am
I've been on the road the past couple days so didn't watch this one, but I was really pleased when I looked at the box score. I suspected that Finchie has been as displeased with our play the previous five games as I have been, and that he probably gave the guys a tongue lashing after a dreadful performance against the Pelicans. If he ripped the team about their poor rebounding, it certainly must have gotten through to them, because they responded with a 52-38 butt-kicking against a pretty good rebounding Houston team...love it! This is a good rebounding team even without much of a contribution from Jaden, and there was no excuse for the Pelicans debacle.
I also have been lamenting the poor ball movement and horrendous assist to turnover ratio the past two weeks, so I was delighted to see 31 assists and only 14 turnovers. As I pointed out in Cool's thread, we are now 15-0 when we have more than 27 assists. Ant and KAT are still a problem (9 turnovers in this game) but I like seeing no turnovers with our two true PGs.
Obviously I'm a big JMac fan (as are Robson, Jon K, Jim Pete, and several on this board), so I was unhappy to see only 13 minutes for him in this game...especially when I note that many of them were during garbage time. I don't understand why Finchie doesn't trust him enough to give him 15-20 every night. He is productive when he is out there, and we all know we need to rest Bite Bite more. And look at what JMac did in his 13 minutes...3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, making his only three pointer, and an amazing +17! I think we underestimate what he brings on defense with his quickness and smarts. Robson tweeted how effective he is in defensive transitions by deeking into passing lanes without losing his position to blos up a fast break. We're undersized when he and Bite Bite are out there together, but it's fun to watch them on defense...it's a defensive clinic. Finchie simply needs to wake up and play JMac more.
SloMo has frustrated me this season with his poor shooting and forced passes to Rudy, but I agree with many who rave about his excellent on-ball defending. And it was nice to see his line in this game other that shooting...7 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals is excellent in only 18 minutes. That's the SloMo we need, along with better shooting.
This was a great bounce back win after 5 poor games. Yes, Dillon Brooks was out, but this is still a good Rockets team, and we thrashed them on their court. Let's hope we are out of our little funk. We're surprisingly favored in Dallas tonight, and I wonder if that is because of Luka's bad ankle. This will be a tough game if he plays.
Personally when watching the game I didn’t think to myself wow McLaughlin should have played more. McLaughlin was in the rotation, made his impact and it’s also worth mentioning NAW was excellent in this game.
Monster, good addition about NAW having a good game...his box score looks very good. I don't know if he had primary PG ballhandling duties during his minutes though. I still think he's ill-suited for that role, and that Finchie does him a disservice by not letting him play his natural position.
Also thanks for your view on JMac's playing time in this game. I had noticed that he had played 6 productive minutes at the start of the 2nd quarter, and I had assumed his other minutes were garbage time in the 4th. But after reading your post, I went back to the play by play on ESPN and saw he started the 4th also and must have been a factor in our blowout quarter. I also like seeing that Bite Bite only played 25 minutes. I still would sub in JMac for Conley about 8 minutes into the game if I were coaching.
Re: Wolves at Rockets GDT
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 8:20 pm
by Monster
FNG wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:26 pm
Monster wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 1:11 pm
FNG wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 10:09 am
I've been on the road the past couple days so didn't watch this one, but I was really pleased when I looked at the box score. I suspected that Finchie has been as displeased with our play the previous five games as I have been, and that he probably gave the guys a tongue lashing after a dreadful performance against the Pelicans. If he ripped the team about their poor rebounding, it certainly must have gotten through to them, because they responded with a 52-38 butt-kicking against a pretty good rebounding Houston team...love it! This is a good rebounding team even without much of a contribution from Jaden, and there was no excuse for the Pelicans debacle.
I also have been lamenting the poor ball movement and horrendous assist to turnover ratio the past two weeks, so I was delighted to see 31 assists and only 14 turnovers. As I pointed out in Cool's thread, we are now 15-0 when we have more than 27 assists. Ant and KAT are still a problem (9 turnovers in this game) but I like seeing no turnovers with our two true PGs.
Obviously I'm a big JMac fan (as are Robson, Jon K, Jim Pete, and several on this board), so I was unhappy to see only 13 minutes for him in this game...especially when I note that many of them were during garbage time. I don't understand why Finchie doesn't trust him enough to give him 15-20 every night. He is productive when he is out there, and we all know we need to rest Bite Bite more. And look at what JMac did in his 13 minutes...3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, making his only three pointer, and an amazing +17! I think we underestimate what he brings on defense with his quickness and smarts. Robson tweeted how effective he is in defensive transitions by deeking into passing lanes without losing his position to blos up a fast break. We're undersized when he and Bite Bite are out there together, but it's fun to watch them on defense...it's a defensive clinic. Finchie simply needs to wake up and play JMac more.
SloMo has frustrated me this season with his poor shooting and forced passes to Rudy, but I agree with many who rave about his excellent on-ball defending. And it was nice to see his line in this game other that shooting...7 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals is excellent in only 18 minutes. That's the SloMo we need, along with better shooting.
This was a great bounce back win after 5 poor games. Yes, Dillon Brooks was out, but this is still a good Rockets team, and we thrashed them on their court. Let's hope we are out of our little funk. We're surprisingly favored in Dallas tonight, and I wonder if that is because of Luka's bad ankle. This will be a tough game if he plays.
Personally when watching the game I didn’t think to myself wow McLaughlin should have played more. McLaughlin was in the rotation, made his impact and it’s also worth mentioning NAW was excellent in this game.
Monster, good addition about NAW having a good game...his box score looks very good. I don't know if he had primary PG ballhandling duties during his minutes though. I still think he's ill-suited for that role, and that Finchie does him a disservice by not letting him play his natural position.
Also thanks for your view on JMac's playing time in this game. I had noticed that he had played 6 productive minutes at the start of the 2nd quarter, and I had assumed his other minutes were garbage time in the 4th. But after reading your post, I went back to the play by play on ESPN and saw he started the 4th also and must have been a factor in our blowout quarter. I also like seeing that Bite Bite only played 25 minutes. I still would sub in JMac for Conley about 8 minutes into the game if I were coaching.
NAW played his usual role which IMHO he is better at than you give him credit for. Quite frankly NAW as a guy that plays as a combo guard type is nothing new for him he did it some in college and has been doing it much of his pro career. The difference now is he plays a very controlled game in that regard which is possible he may have learned from Mike Conley.
Let’s not forget that at times NAW’s ability to play PG allows Conley or other guys to play off the ball more which is a plus as well. It probably doesn’t hurt to have Conley not bring up the ball all the time for a couple reasons.
1. It tallows Conley not to have to bring up the ball and probably lets him take a bit of physical break. There are teams that do try and pressure the PG at times. Conley can just go down the court and probably just stand there on offense for a few seconds while someone else brings up the ball.
2. It keeps defenses from keying on him to start the possession. Instead he can cut meander around and get to different spots on the floor. Also you really don’t know who will actually be initiating offense any possession for the Wolves. Will it be Edwards? Conley? Maybe play through Towns on the perimeter to some extent? Maybe they will run a set play? When Anderson is in obviously he might be making plays too.
It’s worth remembering that the first full year with Finch started off with the defense being the surprise and the offense being meh. It was a few days or weeks into the new year and they started hitting their stride while the D did fall off a bit. There are plenty of pieces to make this team a pretty good offense. A better/more positively impactful guard like McLaughlin could really get the offense to take off. They don’t need to be one of the best in the league but let’s say the 2nd half of the year they become like the 12th best offense…that would be pretty good especially if the D keeps up and I think it will stay as a top 3 unit assuming there are no major injuries.