Minnesota Sports Forum

It's got to the point where I am absolutely stunned when Prince misses a corner three

Camden wrote:

thedoper wrote:Prince has really become a valuable player for us.

In: Taurean Prince, Patrick Beverley, second-round pick, and space beneath luxury tax threshold to re-sign Jarred Vanderbilt

Out: Ricky Rubio, Juan Hernangomez, and Jarrett Culver

Pretty damn good.

And of course this being the Wolves, they fire the guy who made the trades to build this team!

Gerson was at the game tonight, I hope he feels like a fucking moron witnessing how much praise and adoration he watched slip away because he couldn't keep his dick in his pants

43-32 record

- 0.5 GB of sixth-seed Nuggets
- 2.5 GB of fifth-seed Mavericks
- 2.5 GB of fourth-seed Jazz

Wolves coming

Speaking of Gersson, he was sitting in the seat right behind me. I shook his hand and thanked him for building this team and for his leadership that has this franchise on a positive trajectory for the first time in a long time. He said he "built it for the fans here who have waited so long and deserve a winner."

I actually felt bad for him as he sat there. My wife reminded me after the game that he has no one to blame but himself. You'd think I'd know better than to tell my wife I feel sorry for a guy who cheated on his. :) But I still couldn't help feeling bad for him sitting there essentially by himself as he watched the team he built play so well while knowing that he can't bask in any of the glory that could have been his. He made moves I liked at the time and some moves I didn't, including the DLO deal. But nearly all his moves, including the DLO acquisition, have panned out. What I admire most about him was the leadership he showed while here. I told him that tonight. He wasn't afraid to make tough decisions - whether it was trading up to get Garland and missing, trading a lightly protected 1st and 2nd for DLO, telling H-Gomez he couldn't play in the Olympics and then trading him in a deal for Beverley, and hiring Chris Finch without a process and taking heat (unfair in my view) for not considering minority candidates. He appears to have ruffled some feathers along the way, but that's typically what leaders do. Something tells me that he would still be the Wolves' PBO in spite of his indiscretion if he had been a well liked go-along/get-along guy. But that sort of guy probably wouldn't have built the quality teach and coaching staff that Rosas left in his wake.

As for the game, there was a great vibe in the arena tonight - one of the best vibes I've experienced there in a long time. And I was really impressed with how the Wolves stepped up tonight to meet the challenge. This was a big, much-needed win. The team's defense on Luka was particularly impressive. They switched different defenders on him and they all performed exceptionally well. DLO was amazingly effective against him. Luka is way too good to stop, but the Wolves slowed him down and made him work really hard for everything he got.

Ant seemed a bit tired and maybe a little down tonight. He didn't have his typical energy or the familiar smile on his face. Not sure what it was. Maybe just the long season taking its toll physical and mentally. JMac was fantastic tonight. Finch said he was the Wolves player of the game. I can't disagree. And his teammates clearly love the guy, which you could see as he came to the bench after scoring his last bucket. But I'd consider giving Prince a share of the game ball. He kept making big plays on both ends. You can see his confidence and leadership on the floor. I don't know what it will take to re-sign him, but I've gone from counting the days until he's gone early in the season to considering him a high priority to retain.

Well, we have a four-game road stretch coming up. It starts with the red-hot Celtics. After then it's Denver, Toronto and Houston. The Wolves could easily end up 1-3 on this trip, but I'm hoping for 3-1 and expecting 2-2. Maybe the Celtics will be due for a loss on Sunday. What a great start to this trip that would be. Barring a let down, the Wolves would be set up for a tremendous finish to the season and potentially a 5th or even a 4th seed. But I'll be content if this team can beat Denver, Toronto and Houston before coming home for their final three. Go Wolves!

Nice clandestine game report there Lip. Thanks!

Great to get a nice win against a tough opponent. I felt like we actually played better the first three quarters of the Suns game. Dallas just missed a ton of shots. Luka definitely looked a bit hobbled. But I do really love the character guys on this team. Pat Bev, Jordan, Prince, Vando. They've given us the cushion to weather the games when KAT is in foul trouble, or when Ant and/or DLO are cold. And we were definitely better about protecting the ball last night, which has been a real problem for us. Those injuries had me worried. We could really use Beasley and McDaniels down the stretch here.

Maybe it's just in my DNA as a Wolves fan though, but there are a lot of things I'm still kind of worried about.
[list]
[*] DLO's defense has been looking more like last year's lately.
[*] Ant has shown some great flashes on the defensive end (and if he can make that consistent, oh my god, I'm so excited about that), but there are still times when he's making mistakes he shouldn't make.
[*] It feels like teams have been able to force Ant into the midrange game too much lately, and his finishing has been a little shaky (although I really like how his passing off the dribble is coming along).
[*] I don't get why we don't seem to have more obvious plays for KAT that don't involve him ultimately having to rely on dribbling to the basket from the 3 point line against a set defense. I mean, he's obviously super-talented at that for his size, but it feels like we should be able to get him those drives off of set plays so he doesn't have to deal so often with a man already on him defensively who knocks him to the ground. I swear, I still cringe and half expect an injury almost every time he drives to the basket with a set defense because of how frequently it ends up with him taking long strides on those legs and getting pushed a bit off to the side and going down on the baseline.
[*] This wasn't really an issue against Dallas last night, but thinking about the Suns game the other day, big centers still seem to kill us. KAT's clearly better defensively this year than before. But it just seems like every time we go up against a guy, not just Embiid and Jokic (they kill everybody), but guys like Ayton, Valanciunas, Adams, etc, guys like that just seem to kill us in the paint. I know Q and others have pointed out we should have prioritized getting a lumbering defensive center. I remember thinking it might be good to try to get a guy like Plumlee. It definitely feels like this is why. Those guys are not great to have on the floor much. But it feels like when you need to clog up the paint to stop an opposing big man, we just don't have that option. I really wish Naz could learn to play a bit more like that (as much as I love his finishing ability offensively).
[/list]

Still, I'm so excited we're winning games at this point of the season. God I want to see some real playoff basketball (with us playing) this year!

Can we all say it? This team is really fun to watch!

Do we all wish Ant turns into MJ in the next week? Sure. But damn this KID is really good and has a ton of growth available to him.
Are there things that could improve the team? Yup.

But let's be real here, did any of us really expect this level of competition from this lineup?

The Wolves are fun to watch again! And have been for a couple months.

Lip - Awesome write-up and thanks for sharing your encounter with Gersson. Let's not worry too much about him. Once he serves his time in exile, the indiscretions will be quickly forgiven and forgotten and some other franchise will hire him. Glad you are going to games again and sharing your insights!

Drew - I wouldn't exactly say I want a "lumbering" Center, but yes, I definitely want someone with legit size and physicality. That doesn't automatically have to equate to someone who is also slow afoot. But I get your overall meaning and Plumlee is the right sort of archetype - big, strong, active, vet experience. KAT can absolutely close out games for us at Center, but he needs to spend 15-20 minutes or so per game with a legit big man next to him.

D'Natagal - I agree that we need patience with Ant. Although he's seemingly lost some spark offensively over the past couple of months, he has continued to grow as a defender and play maker. He absolutely will not be the one-dimensional chucker a lot of worried about when he came out of Georgia. In fact, his shot making from a variety of distances may ultimately be where he needs the most work!

D'Natagal wrote:Can we all say it? This team is really fun to watch!

Do we all wish Ant turns into MJ in the next week? Sure. But damn this KID is really good and has a ton of growth available to him.
Are there things that could improve the team? Yup.

But let's be real here, did any of us really expect this level of competition from this lineup?

The Wolves are fun to watch again! And have been for a couple months.

I'll say again that Ant looked tired last night. We know he's been suffering from knee tendon issue and it's a long season that he's not yet accustomed to. Nevertheless, he still played well overall last night, scoring on dribble penetration, making some nice passes and playing some good defense. He's already established himself, in my view, as a really good two-way player. And as you suggested, he has a lot of improvement ahead of him.

lipoli390 wrote:

D'Natagal wrote:Can we all say it? This team is really fun to watch!

Do we all wish Ant turns into MJ in the next week? Sure. But damn this KID is really good and has a ton of growth available to him.
Are there things that could improve the team? Yup.

But let's be real here, did any of us really expect this level of competition from this lineup?

The Wolves are fun to watch again! And have been for a couple months.

I'll say again that Ant looked tired last night. We know he's been suffering from knee tendon issue and it's a long season that he's not yet accustomed to. Nevertheless, he still played well overall last night, scoring on dribble penetration, making some nice passes and playing some good defense. He's already established himself, in my view, as a really good two-way player. And as you suggested, he has a lot of improvement ahead of him.

I've really enjoyed the development of Ant. He doesn't have to score all the time to make a big impact. He makes the extra pass, rebounds his position, creates turnovers and can really lock down his matchup. I think he will be a force when he hits his prime and regarded among the best, if not THE best. He's been very impressive for his age 20 season.