Minnesota Sports Forum

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 7:28 pm Kek, I think Jaden's confidence is okay

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 7:06 pm Kuminga's shot looks horrible. That could be a problem.

FNG wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2026 12:25 pm I wasn't able to watch last night, so my comments and questions are box score review only.

1) Our starting backcourt plus Jaden were 12 for 17 on three's! Many are predicting these three are going to get so many open looks, and all three have the ability to knock them down...I guess we saw it last night! My question...Ant was 4 for 5 on threes, a nice turnaround from the previous game. Were at least some of these shots catch and shoots from Ball? That's where I think Ant can really take off if he uses Ball the way he should.
2) The Ayo and TJ mystery with respect to poor on/off continues, as both have been negative in the first two games. Ayo was close to neutral last season after some bad on/off years in Chicago, but only the injured Ant was more negative in the playoffs last season. I don't know if TJ will continue to be in the rotation, but Ayo is widely thought of as our 6th man. I continue to think his problem is his defense...it's not due to lack of effort or athleticism, I think it's because he still has a tendency to get lost on the defensive end (Ant suffers from this also). We need Ayo to be effective at both ends of the court for us to reach our ceiling as a team
3) I see that Cody didn't shoot well last night, but a couple podcasters have raved about his defense the first two games, and also how he handles the ball and runs the court. My hot take is he will replace TJ in the rotation if TJ doesn't pick up his performance.
4) It was good to see Joan with 5 defensive rebounds. My question is...were any of them truly contested rebounds? We've talked about the non-Rudy minutes a lot the past two seasons...despite Joan's enormous upside, my sense is this might be even a bigger issue this season. It's absolutely imperative that Rudy stays healthy most of the season...like he almost always does.

Last night was a loss, but that doesn't temper the enthusiasm I had after game 1. I think Indy is going to be very good this season, and to have our starters outscore their starters on Tyrese's return to Ames is a nice result.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2026 3:23 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2026 12:25 pm I wasn't able to watch last night, so my comments and questions are box score review only.

1) Our starting backcourt plus Jaden were 12 for 17 on three's! Many are predicting these three are going to get so many open looks, and all three have the ability to knock them down...I guess we saw it last night! My question...Ant was 4 for 5 on threes, a nice turnaround from the previous game. Were at least some of these shots catch and shoots from Ball? That's where I think Ant can really take off if he uses Ball the way he should.
2) The Ayo and TJ mystery with respect to poor on/off continues, as both have been negative in the first two games. Ayo was close to neutral last season after some bad on/off years in Chicago, but only the injured Ant was more negative in the playoffs last season. I don't know if TJ will continue to be in the rotation, but Ayo is widely thought of as our 6th man. I continue to think his problem is his defense...it's not due to lack of effort or athleticism, I think it's because he still has a tendency to get lost on the defensive end (Ant suffers from this also). We need Ayo to be effective at both ends of the court for us to reach our ceiling as a team
3) I see that Cody didn't shoot well last night, but a couple podcasters have raved about his defense the first two games, and also how he handles the ball and runs the court. My hot take is he will replace TJ in the rotation if TJ doesn't pick up his performance.
4) It was good to see Joan with 5 defensive rebounds. My question is...were any of them truly contested rebounds? We've talked about the non-Rudy minutes a lot the past two seasons...despite Joan's enormous upside, my sense is this might be even a bigger issue this season. It's absolutely imperative that Rudy stays healthy most of the season...like he almost always does.

Last night was a loss, but that doesn't temper the enthusiasm I had after game 1. I think Indy is going to be very good this season, and to have our starters outscore their starters on Tyrese's return to Ames is a nice result.

Man, dead around here. That's too bad given the excitement of the new faces and finally seeing some Wolves basketball again.

Here are my belated responses since I watched the game:

#1 - Yes, a number of those makes were catch and shoots whereas others he took off the bounce. It was a good mix.

#2 - Yeah, the Ayo/Shannon pairing has not given me much confidence. Their first stint was a disaster in that it was their offense that was really bad. They dug out of the hole they helped create in their second stint (which was later in the first half) with the offense igniting a nice run. But not so good again in the second half. Defensively both look like they are working hard, but as we know effort alone isn't enough on defense. I'm growing increasingly worried about the Joan/Ayo/Shannon bench trio.

#3 - Cody was not nearly as impressive last night in my opinion. His shooting is going to be a major impediment to contributing off the bench.

#4 - Yes, at least a couple of Joan's rebounds were in decent traffic. In fact, he had like three or four in a row at one point on missed shots by Indiana. Finch had Lyles play a little Center last night, a player I think he will gradually have to lean on more as the season progresses.