Wolves/Spurs Part II- Game Day thread

[Leado01]

We took over with great motion and movement on offense and great hustle on D.

I'm not 100% sure that I love so many sets being run through all the TOTK handoff action with the 5, but for some reason it gets good motion started.

Does everyone agree that Malik Beasley has been our most consistent (to the good) player this year?...we have a very good player at a fair price in Beasley.

[Lipoli390]

We took over with great motion and movement on offense and great hustle on D.

I'm not 100% sure that I love so many sets being run through all the TOTK handoff action with the 5, but for some reason it gets good motion started.

Does everyone agree that Malik Beasley has been our most consistent (to the good) player this year?...we have a very good player at a fair price in Beasley.

I agree.

[thedoper]

We took over with great motion and movement on offense and great hustle on D.

I'm not 100% sure that I love so many sets being run through all the TOTK handoff action with the 5, but for some reason it gets good motion started.

Does everyone agree that Malik Beasley has been our most consistent (to the good) player this year?...we have a very good player at a fair price in Beasley.

Beasley has been great. His energy is infectious. Him and Vando were working out leading into the season, it was fun to see their synergy on social media. If our whole team had their energy and pace we'd be exciting. Our players are all a strange mix of styles, I hope in time they find the right balance. There are some interesting matchup possibilities that are starting to emerge.

[Lipoli390]

This was a nice and really important win for the struggling Timberwolves. No doubt KAT is the best and most important player on this team by far. But tonight's game further confirmed some of my developing observations about this team as it relates to players other than KAT:

1. As leado noted, Beasley has been our most consistent player so far this season. I also think he's been our best overall player and our most important player to date.

2. Okogie isn't just a good defender; he's become a great defender and he's definitely our best defender by far. That play late in the game where he defended the shot in the paint without fouling was one telling example of how good he's become defensively. At the same time, he's become good enough on the offensive end so that he's not a liability. I'd actually say, he's a small plus on the offensive end because he's making good decisions with the ball and can get important buckets going to the hole. He's showing terrific body control and finishing ability on drives to the basket - something he was not very good at his rookie season.

3. Vanderbilt is emerging as another potentially elite defender and rebounder for a team that really needs interior defense and rebounding help even with KAT in the lineup. He's becoming a really important player and could be a real gem for this team down the road.

4. DLO's not worth a max contract or what we gave up to get him in my view, but if he's dialed in, making smart plays and hitting his shots, he's a big plus for this team. He played too much hero ball tonight and turned the ball over too much. But he was a key to tonight's win with his scoring and some nifty passes. He also brought it defensively in the 4th.

5. I'm losing faith in Culver. His shot remains broken and I don't see any major breakthrough for him in any phase of the game yet. And I haven't been all that impressed by his defense either.

6. Juancho wasn't terrible tonight, but I still don't see him as a net plus for this team.

7. Edwards struggled tonight trying to put the ball in the bucket. But I still liked his effort and the fact that he was attacking the basket. I didn't see anything from him tonight that set off any alarm bells. He looked like a rookie tonight and that's to be expected since his is, after all, a rooked and a young one to boot. He'll be fine.

[kekgeek]

This was a nice and really important win for the struggling Timberwolves. No doubt KAT is the best and most important player on this team by far. But tonight's game further confirmed some of my developing observations about this team as it relates to players other than KAT:

1. As leado noted, Beasley has been our most consistent player so far this season. I also think he's been our best overall player and our most important player to date.

2. Okogie isn't just a good defender; he's become a great defender and he's definitely our best defender by far. That play late in the game where he defended the shot in the paint without fouling was one telling example of how good he's become defensively. At the same time, he's become good enough on the offensive end so that he's not a liability. I'd actually say, he's a small plus on the offensive end because he's making good decisions with the ball and can get important buckets going to the hole. He's showing terrific body control and finishing ability on drives to the basket - something he was not very good at his rookie season.

3. Vanderbilt is emerging as another potentially elite defender and rebounder for a team that really needs interior defense and rebounding help even with KAT in the lineup. He's becoming a really important player and could be a real gem for this team down the road.

4. DLO's not worth a max contract or what we gave up to get him in my view, but if he's dialed in, making smart plays and hitting his shots, he's a big plus for this team. He played too much hero ball tonight and turned the ball over too much. But he was a key to tonight's win with his scoring and some nifty passes. He also brought it defensively in the 4th.

5. I'm losing faith in Culver. His shot remains broken and I don't see any major breakthrough for him in any phase of the game yet. And I haven't been all that impressed by his defense either.

6. Juancho wasn't terrible tonight, but I still don't see him as a net plus for this team.

7. Edwards struggled tonight trying to put the ball in the bucket. But I still liked his effort and the fact that he was attacking the basket. I didn't see anything from him tonight that set off any alarm bells. He looked like a rookie tonight and that's to be expected since his is, after all, a rooked and a young one to boot. He'll be fine.

Very good breakdown lip! Really fun game and a much needed win. I still don't believe the play in tournament is impossible but tonight was a good night to hopefully start piling up wins.

I want to give a little credit to Ryan. We are starting to see some Naz and Vanderbilt lineups what I think are huge to play bigger.

Thought it was Ricky best game of the year. He controlled pace.

Wolves ran a Rubio/Edwards/Okogie/Vandy/Naz what just played great D in the 2nd.

I want to give props to Ed Davis he has the best screener since KG for the Wolves. Makes sense now why Dlo had his best numbers with Davis with him with the Nets. He just creates so much space for him.

Dlo has his faults but it is nice having a guy who can make really tough baskets. Also like you mentioned he really competed on the defensive end tonight in the 4th.

Just a tibit read on social media that Kat was coaching Jaden McDaniels all night. Kat might be taking a legit leadership role and not a fake one.

Happy with the win and I have liked the wolves late game sets on offense these last 2 games

[mrhockey89]

Glad to see the Wolves finally pulled a win from the jaws of defeat (after yesterday doing the reverse), also great to see some defense, even if one of the Spurs top players was out.

Only one thing to add here. Is anyone else a big disappointed with Ant playing below the rim so much? I say this mostly because he was supposedly the most explosive leaper in the history of the combine measurements or whatever it was, yet we're seeing it play out more in his hangtime and mid-air shot adjustment rather than just dunking on people. I only care about this because it feels like a lot of the time he makes a shot at the rim much tougher than he needs to. Given how much he claims to be a football player and claims to love contact, I'm just surprised he doesn't take it out on the rim.

Is it just me?

[FNG]

Wow, finally some defense....and some tired Spurs legs I think. But that last couple minutes of defense was impressive. We held them to 19 points in the 4th.

Ryan's dilemma is that he has three flavors to choose from when it comes to his players: Offense, Defense or Neither. There is almost no one that is average to good at both and we have a couple of guys that just aren't that good at either, like Layman and I'd even say Edwards even though he may be good at Offense some day.

But tonight Vando took all of Layman's minutes and Okogie cut into Edwards minutes. Their Defense is better than the Layman/Edwards flavor of Neither. I really think we may have won because of it.

Yeah, I agree with this take. One of the things I like best is about Ryan is his substitutions. He's not locked into just one rotation system as the game progresses, but instead rides the hot hands and makes the right offense/defense decisions. Edwards had nice energy tonight, but it was clear there was a lid on the basket for him- Ryan was correct to hold him to 18 minutes. I ripped Juancho in the first half for his two air balled threes, but Ryan noticed that his defense on Lyles and his rebounding were actually quite good even as he was ineffective on offense. He stayed with him, and Juancho rewarded him in the 4th quarter with a clutch three and another clutch offensive rebound- and he ended up the night with a team-leading +16. But then Ryan also subbed Vando in for Juancho at the right times all night. Vando is a like a runaway truck on a steep Colorado mountain road out there, but mostly good things seem to happen when he is out there. He's young, so we have to accept the moments like tonight when he twice knocked a rebound out of a teammate's hands out of bounds, because he just brings so much positive energy to the floor when he is out there.

Great and much-needed win tonight, and I'll summarize with a sentence I've never uttered before. Pop got outcoached tonight.

FNG is 1-0 and offers to tee up the game day thread until his winning streak ends!

[TheFuture]

This was a nice and really important win for the struggling Timberwolves. No doubt KAT is the best and most important player on this team by far. But tonight's game further confirmed some of my developing observations about this team as it relates to players other than KAT:

1. As leado noted, Beasley has been our most consistent player so far this season. I also think he's been our best overall player and our most important player to date.

2. Okogie isn't just a good defender; he's become a great defender and he's definitely our best defender by far. That play late in the game where he defended the shot in the paint without fouling was one telling example of how good he's become defensively. At the same time, he's become good enough on the offensive end so that he's not a liability. I'd actually say, he's a small plus on the offensive end because he's making good decisions with the ball and can get important buckets going to the hole. He's showing terrific body control and finishing ability on drives to the basket - something he was not very good at his rookie season.

3. Vanderbilt is emerging as another potentially elite defender and rebounder for a team that really needs interior defense and rebounding help even with KAT in the lineup. He's becoming a really important player and could be a real gem for this team down the road.

4. DLO's not worth a max contract or what we gave up to get him in my view, but if he's dialed in, making smart plays and hitting his shots, he's a big plus for this team. He played too much hero ball tonight and turned the ball over too much. But he was a key to tonight's win with his scoring and some nifty passes. He also brought it defensively in the 4th.

5. I'm losing faith in Culver. His shot remains broken and I don't see any major breakthrough for him in any phase of the game yet. And I haven't been all that impressed by his defense either.

6. Juancho wasn't terrible tonight, but I still don't see him as a net plus for this team.

7. Edwards struggled tonight trying to put the ball in the bucket. But I still liked his effort and the fact that he was attacking the basket. I didn't see anything from him tonight that set off any alarm bells. He looked like a rookie tonight and that's to be expected since his is, after all, a rooked and a young one to boot. He'll be fine.

It has become apparent that Okogie is the heart and soul of this team. Beasley is a close second.

[FNG]

I guess I missed the best substitution Ryan made all night- putting Josh on the suddenly red hot Patty Mills when neither Ricky nor D-Lo were stopping him. Great move! This is a strange roster as many here have pointed out, but there are some interesting one-way talents to choose from. It's not an easy coaching job to make the right substitution at the right time with so few 2-way options, but Ryan handled the challenge like a veteran tonight.

And welcome back, Josh!

[FNG]

Vando/Rodman comparison is gaining steam from multiple sources- two guys with knowledge of their offensive limitations but who also think every offensive rebound should be theirs. High praise for this kid's potential. Now, if we can only keep him away from North Korea...