Wolves vs. MAGIC GDT

[Q-is-here]

I love that the magic got back in the game and the wolves just shut the door

And it was the starters that did it, which is encouraging.

These guys aren't totally connected yet though. The Ant/Gobert pick and roll seems to result in a lot of switches, which usually results in this sequence: 1) Rudy rolls the little guy down, seals him off, and parks underneath the basket calling for the ball; 2) Ant totally ignores Rudy, instead feeling that he's the one with the mismatch with a big guarding him; 3) Ant takes a contested jumper.

At some point, either they need to agree that Gobert has to clear the hell out of the paint on switches and just let Ant go to work OR Ant needs to throw Rudy the ball down there every once in a while.

[Coolbreeze44]

I love that the magic got back in the game and the wolves just shut the door

And it was the starters that did it, which is encouraging.

These guys aren't totally connected yet though. The Ant/Gobert pick and roll seems to result in a lot of switches, which usually results in this sequence: 1) Rudy rolls the little guy down, seals him off, and parks underneath the basket calling for the ball; 2) Ant totally ignores Rudy, instead feeling that he's the one with the mismatch with a big guarding him; 3) Ant takes a contested jumper.

At some point, either they need to agree that Gobert has to clear the hell out of the paint on switches and just let Ant go to work OR Ant needs to throw Rudy the ball down there every once in a while.

If Rudy has a small on him, I'd get it to him as often as the pass can be connected Force the D to get out of the switching scheme and rely on fighting through screens. We have enough talent to win the chess match most nights.

[Lipoli390]

Oh boy, Rudy was not happy with Ant on that sequence. Missed him open twice, and then bricked a 3.

Old sticky hands strikes again.

Until he can play a balanced game he is going to be an enigma.

It was really just that one sequence, and it was bad, but he seemed to get it otherwise, tonight. If he plays like this regularly the rest of the way, the team will be aces.

I agree, Phenom. Ant had a few sticky-hand moments, but overall he was tremendous tonight. His stats speak for themselves - 35 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and only 1 turnover. Those are great numbers. And those 6 assists confirm that Ant was moving the ball really well almost the entire game. I'll add this. If there is one player on this team who should get a pass for hogging the ball at certain times in a game, it's Ant because of his unique ability to dominate the game. Every top team has a great player who does that from time to time. One thing to note is that Edwards has been rebounding well this season. That's important for this team's success.

I also think Q made a good point about Ant and Gobert getting on the same page. There are times when Ant needs to feed the beast inside. But there are other times when Gobert should just clear the hell out of the lane and give Edwards room to maneuver on dribble penetration. The key is the two of them getting aligned on when they choose one over the other in different situations. We can see the chemistry between KAT and Rudy developing. We need to see it develop more between Edwards and Gobert. Edwards is actually a really good passer.

[Lipoli390]

One fly in the ointment tonight is that the Magic out rebounded the Wolves by seven. A big reason for the Gobert trade was the team's poor defensive rebounding last season, which came to a head in the playoff series against Memphis. Unfortunately, that rebounding deficiency has continued through the first 15 games of this season. That's not sustainable if the Wolves expect to be at least a top 6 team in the West and advance beyond the first round of the playoffs. I'm not sure what the fix is, but Finch and the players have to figure out a fix.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

One fly in the ointment tonight is that the Magic out rebounded the Wolves by seven. A big reason for the Gobert trade was the team's poor defensive rebounding last season, which came to a head in the playoff series against Memphis. Unfortunately, that rebounding deficiency has continued through the first 15 games of this season. That's not sustainable if the Wolves expect to be at least a top 6 team in the West and advance beyond the first round of the playoffs. I'm not sure what the fix is, but Finch and the players have to figure out a fix.

Another fly in the ointment is that we were playing a G league team :)

[Porckchop]

There's a lot of young talent around the league. There's no reason to expect this team to steam roll any team. Brooklyn gave up 150 points to the Kings and no one in their starting lineup had 20 pts!

[FNG]

I usually watch the replay of the previous night's game the next morning, but after looking at the "starting lineup" Orlando rolled out last night, I think I can skip this one...anything less than a 30-point win wouldn't be good enough for me. I did check out the box score though, and I can see why there are so many positive comments in this thread...almost everyone except for the Mercurial Eyechart had terrific stat lines. So I'll join the choir and say that we did what we had to do...win on the road. But I also have to provide some perspective.

I came into this season excited about cheering for the only team in the league with three top 25 players. I predicted extraordinary interior defense, 50+ wins, breakout seasons from Ant/Jaden/Nowell, and improvement from DLo with the addition of Gobert. So far, only the first prediction seems likely. I'm not a charter member of the "a win is a win" club...sure, I like wins way more than losses, but wins against depleted teams like the Cavs and Magic tell me nothing. I get as excited about these types of wins as I do when my beloved Minnesota Gophers beat some hyphenated team in preseason. Show me you can beat a good team that is also healthy! Now we go to Philly and face a team missing James Harden. I don't want to have to rely on injured opponents to be successful like I did last year, because eventually you are going to meet a healthy good team in the playoffs and go home disappointed. DLo has shown me what he showed me last year...he can step up against teams missing their best players like he did against the G-League cavs and magic, but he turns into the Bad DLo when we play a real team. I want to believe in this team, but their performance through the first 15 games has been pretty uninspiring,

[AbeVigodaLive]

Oh boy, Rudy was not happy with Ant on that sequence. Missed him open twice, and then bricked a 3.

Old sticky hands strikes again.

Until he can play a balanced game he is going to be an enigma.

It was really just that one sequence, and it was bad, but he seemed to get it otherwise, tonight. If he plays like this regularly the rest of the way, the team will be aces.

I agree, Phenom. Ant had a few sticky-hand moments, but overall he was tremendous tonight. His stats speak for themselves - 35 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and only 1 turnover. Those are great numbers. And those 6 assists confirm that Ant was moving the ball really well almost the entire game. I'll add this. If there is one player on this team who should get a pass for hogging the ball at certain times in a game, it's Ant because of his unique ability to dominate the game. Every top team has a great player who does that from time to time. One thing to note is that Edwards has been rebounding well this season. That's important for this team's success.

I also think Q made a good point about Ant and Gobert getting on the same page. There are times when Ant needs to feed the beast inside. But there are other times when Gobert should just clear the hell out of the lane and give Edwards room to maneuver on dribble penetration. The key is the two of them getting aligned on when they choose one over the other in different situations. We can see the chemistry between KAT and Rudy developing. We need to see it develop more between Edwards and Gobert. Edwards is actually a really good passer.

This place still doesn't let us post from Twitter?

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1593325317158047751?s=20&t=O3E1pCM31s3I8_y1MgKaBg

Ant has passed to Gobert 4 times in 125 pick-n-roll situations.
And then there are plays like this...

https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1593054579561750534?s=20&t=vwX6jsIi8Jkl5jGhfKpW2g

The rub is that Rudy Gobert seems to be the only one who doesn't realize his lack of any post game is HIS fault. He whined about it in Utah (where he got the ball more) and now he's whining about it here already. These are the types of things the Wolves should have known about before mortgaging the future on the guy.

- Gobert who's willing to set picks and dunk and play exceptional defense while letting the better plays get the shots is a HUGE help for a team.
- Gobert whining and whining about his lack of touches on a new team even though he doesn't have the skills to do anything with those touches is toxic.

I'm sure it's even more pronounced because Towns is largely being uprooted from the post despite being light years better down there. Kudos to Towns though for seemingly not joining Ant and DLO on the "don't pass to Rudy" train. At least he's trying to make it work by feeding the ball to the big guy.

[Q-is-here]

Oh boy, Rudy was not happy with Ant on that sequence. Missed him open twice, and then bricked a 3.

Old sticky hands strikes again.

Until he can play a balanced game he is going to be an enigma.

It was really just that one sequence, and it was bad, but he seemed to get it otherwise, tonight. If he plays like this regularly the rest of the way, the team will be aces.

I agree, Phenom. Ant had a few sticky-hand moments, but overall he was tremendous tonight. His stats speak for themselves - 35 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and only 1 turnover. Those are great numbers. And those 6 assists confirm that Ant was moving the ball really well almost the entire game. I'll add this. If there is one player on this team who should get a pass for hogging the ball at certain times in a game, it's Ant because of his unique ability to dominate the game. Every top team has a great player who does that from time to time. One thing to note is that Edwards has been rebounding well this season. That's important for this team's success.

I also think Q made a good point about Ant and Gobert getting on the same page. There are times when Ant needs to feed the beast inside. But there are other times when Gobert should just clear the hell out of the lane and give Edwards room to maneuver on dribble penetration. The key is the two of them getting aligned on when they choose one over the other in different situations. We can see the chemistry between KAT and Rudy developing. We need to see it develop more between Edwards and Gobert. Edwards is actually a really good passer.

This place still doesn't let us post from Twitter?

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1593325317158047751?s=20&t=O3E1pCM31s3I8_y1MgKaBg

Ant has passed to Gobert 4 times in 125 pick-n-roll situations.
And then there are plays like this...

https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1593054579561750534?s=20&t=vwX6jsIi8Jkl5jGhfKpW2g

The rub is that Rudy Gobert seems to be the only one who doesn't realize his lack of any post game is HIS fault. He whined about it in Utah (where he got the ball more) and now he's whining about it here already. These are the types of things the Wolves should have known about before mortgaging the future on the guy.

- Gobert who's willing to set picks and dunk and play exceptional defense while letting the better plays get the shots is a HUGE help for a team.
- Gobert whining and whining about his lack of touches on a new team even though he doesn't have the skills to do anything with those touches is toxic.

I'm sure it's even more pronounced because Towns is largely being uprooted from the post despite being light years better down there. Kudos to Towns though for seemingly not joining Ant and DLO on the "don't pass to Rudy" train. At least he's trying to make it work by feeding the ball to the big guy.

I wasn't aware of that Ant-to-Gobert stat, but well, there you go. It's something we've all witnessed real-time while watching games.

I hear what you are saying Abe on Gobert's lack of a post game, but if he has his guy sealed 4 or fewer feet from the bucket, he can just dunk it. He's proven that many times. Ant doesn't need to get him the ball every time he calls for it, but it can't be 4 out of 125 either. That's insane.

BTW, the KAT post-game is one of the most unprofitable actions we've seen in the last few years. Yes, he can score in the post better than Rudy. No, it's not nearly as efficient as the other spots KAT operates from.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Oh boy, Rudy was not happy with Ant on that sequence. Missed him open twice, and then bricked a 3.

Old sticky hands strikes again.

Until he can play a balanced game he is going to be an enigma.

It was really just that one sequence, and it was bad, but he seemed to get it otherwise, tonight. If he plays like this regularly the rest of the way, the team will be aces.

I agree, Phenom. Ant had a few sticky-hand moments, but overall he was tremendous tonight. His stats speak for themselves - 35 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and only 1 turnover. Those are great numbers. And those 6 assists confirm that Ant was moving the ball really well almost the entire game. I'll add this. If there is one player on this team who should get a pass for hogging the ball at certain times in a game, it's Ant because of his unique ability to dominate the game. Every top team has a great player who does that from time to time. One thing to note is that Edwards has been rebounding well this season. That's important for this team's success.

I also think Q made a good point about Ant and Gobert getting on the same page. There are times when Ant needs to feed the beast inside. But there are other times when Gobert should just clear the hell out of the lane and give Edwards room to maneuver on dribble penetration. The key is the two of them getting aligned on when they choose one over the other in different situations. We can see the chemistry between KAT and Rudy developing. We need to see it develop more between Edwards and Gobert. Edwards is actually a really good passer.

This place still doesn't let us post from Twitter?

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1593325317158047751?s=20&t=O3E1pCM31s3I8_y1MgKaBg

Ant has passed to Gobert 4 times in 125 pick-n-roll situations.
And then there are plays like this...

https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1593054579561750534?s=20&t=vwX6jsIi8Jkl5jGhfKpW2g

The rub is that Rudy Gobert seems to be the only one who doesn't realize his lack of any post game is HIS fault. He whined about it in Utah (where he got the ball more) and now he's whining about it here already. These are the types of things the Wolves should have known about before mortgaging the future on the guy.

- Gobert who's willing to set picks and dunk and play exceptional defense while letting the better plays get the shots is a HUGE help for a team.
- Gobert whining and whining about his lack of touches on a new team even though he doesn't have the skills to do anything with those touches is toxic.

I'm sure it's even more pronounced because Towns is largely being uprooted from the post despite being light years better down there. Kudos to Towns though for seemingly not joining Ant and DLO on the "don't pass to Rudy" train. At least he's trying to make it work by feeding the ball to the big guy.

I wasn't aware of that Ant-to-Gobert stat, but well, there you go. It's something we've all witnessed real-time while watching games.

I hear what you are saying Abe on Gobert's lack of a post game, but if he has his guy sealed 4 or fewer feet from the bucket, he can just dunk it. He's proven that many times. Ant doesn't need to get him the ball every time he calls for it, but it can't be 4 out of 125 either. That's insane.

BTW, the KAT post-game is one of the most unprofitable actions we've seen in the last few years. Yes, he can score in the post better than Rudy. No, it's not nearly as efficient as the other spots KAT operates from.

While I don't disagree that the post-up is sorta dead for almost everybody... I meant it more from a player's perspective. They know just how limited Gobert is down there, especially compared to Towns.

But yes... Ant must pass more. DLO must pass to him more. Nowell needs to pass to anybody more.

And when he gets it, Gobert has to finish.