Minnesota Sports Forum

I did not get to watch the game,So i just can't blame one player (Kmart) for the loss,, But i did watch sport center and they showed pek missing some pretty easy shots down the strach to put the game away or win it.. Just saying... Win as a team lose as a team..

How the heck does Ricky not score in this game? To me this is the biggest reason we lost. Love looked like he wanted to cry and then go off and beat the heck out of a body bag or something. I don't think it was specifically Martin he was mad at even though that turnover clearly stood out. Love is clearly very sick of losing. The next 10 games will be very important to our long term future. We better show some signs of a turn around and go like 8-2 or 9-1. If we play 5-5 ball or worse things could unravel.

Squishypoo wrote:I did not get to watch the game,So i just can't blame one player (Kmart) for the loss,, But i did watch sport center and they showed pek missing some pretty easy shots down the strach to put the game away or win it.. Just saying... Win as a team lose as a team..

Pek missed two right hooks, but the K-Mart damage had been done. All the Wolves had to do was inbound the ball. Check. K-Mart protect the basketball and shoot FTs. Nope. K-Mart lost it and gave up the lead, game went into OT. It should have never even come down to a Pek right hook. Love and Pek did their damn job.

Martin had 6 TOs for the game. Every single one of them were as bonehead as it gets.

I don't think Love was out of line at all. He said the team failed to execute and protect the ball. He was then asked to identify specific players. Love responded by saying, "that's a loaded question." Love the said something to the effect that you all watched the game and can draw your own conclusions. I thought Live showed admirable restraint at a time when his emotions were understandably running high. Everyone in the room and anyone watching knew Love was talking about Martin in his comment about failing to execute and protect the ball. That's what elicited the reporter's unnecessary question that Love deflected.

Long -- you were working from the impression I left in my post in the game thread so i understand why you reached your conclusion. But I think you'd agree it wasn't bad if I could have conveyed what happened more clearly.

Actually, had Love called Martin out by name I still wouldn't be mad at Love. Martin's two boneheaded turnovers late, on top of his 4 other turnovers, were totally inexcusable from a 31 year old vet who was signed to give this team some vet leadership as well as shooting. We're lucky to have Love here and we'll be really lucky if he decides to stays.

Camden wrote:"I wonder if Love ever wonders why a college team with Love, Westbrook, Collison and Mbah a Moute couldn't win a championship. We got a clue tonight."

Westbrook barely played. He averaged nine minutes per game I think. The eventual national champion, and my Florida Gators, took them out in the Final Four. Al Horford and Joakim Noah were way too much for him, and even Greg Oden (healthy) in the title game. The reason UCLA lost was because they were the inferior team talent-wise. Florida had already won a ring together and had perfect role players to go with an extremely good college starting five. Best college basketball team of all time that 06/07 team was.

Yes, that Gator team was great, but you got the wrong year as Kevin Love was shopping for his prom tux as the Gators were beating Ohio State. It was the next year that I was talking about when Love was a freshman and Westbrook led the team in minutes. It's still astonishing to me that a team with 2 NBA all stars plus two guys who regularly contribute 20 minutes off the bench in the NBA couldn't win a championship. Maybe Love threw Westbrook under the bus to the media before the Memphis game :) ,

Jerry Zgoda said in his post game wrap up video that Love was clearly calling out Martin for his turnover. But there's no point in arguing this anymore because we clearly have different perspectives. Some of you think it's appropriate and helpful to the team for Love to use Zgoda to send a message to a teammate, and I think if Love had something to say to Martin he should have said it...to him, not Jerry. That's what leaders do.

Long -- While I disagree with you on this, I definitely see your point.

Turn over is a turn over. This team straight up is not deep enough, and has a bench player (Brewer) as a starter. Pek and Love are worth the money, and Martin shooting 7-12 is worth it too, plus Rubio only shooting 4 times but dishing out 12 assists is more then okay with me. But our bench is terrible, pitiful! I like Dante, always have, but we need crafty, efficient and players with tenacity coming off the bench. Barea needs to go, Shved does too, and Brewer needs to not start. Simple as that. Flip needs to make a move and Sending out Barea, Shved and getting a legit SF like a Deng is paramount! Why not start Luc and bring Brewer in as 6th man?

Slim -- I think you brought us back to the core problems with this team. But I still put last night's loss primarily on Martin. His turnovers -- 6 of them-- were largely mental errors that aren't acceptable from a 31 year old vet who is supposed to be a core starter and key ingredient to this team's success. On the other hand, I agree completely with your overall analysis.

slimcalhoun27 wrote:Turn over is a turn over. This team straight up is not deep enough, and has a bench player (Brewer) as a starter. Pek and Love are worth the money, and Martin shooting 7-12 is worth it too, plus Rubio only shooting 4 times but dishing out 12 assists is more then okay with me. But our bench is terrible, pitiful! I like Dante, always have, but we need crafty, efficient and players with tenacity coming off the bench. Barea needs to go, Shved does too, and Brewer needs to not start. Simple as that. Flip needs to make a move and Sending out Barea, Shved and getting a legit SF like a Deng is paramount! Why not start Luc and bring Brewer in as 6th man?

I've been screaming for Mbah a Moute to be a starter since we acquired him. If Brewer's not going to be hell off-ball like he's supposed to be, and he's shooting way too much, then he can find the bench again. Mbah a Moute knows his strengths and stays away from things he can't do, while also being a tenacious/smart defender and an underrated rebounder.