Minnesota Sports Forum

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:Watching last night's Wolves win. They started the game with cold shooting with great looks and down 11-0 and then went on a run to finish up the 1st quarter up 24-28. Patton scored 11 points. 3 at the FT line (3-4) Some on mid-range and long 2's with a smooth looking jumper. he had a couple plays at the rim where he caught less than idea passes and either finished or made a play and got fouled. His defense was a mixed bag but he did have a nice play where he doubled and had a good poke away. He had a couple poor plays that resulted in fouls.

The green jerseys they are wearing are kinda cool.

The 2nd quarter was good then the 3rd quarter happened and this game went the wrong direction. Both teams were pretty short handed. Not much else to say.

Trimble was pretty good offensively. Waspun had another solid game. Bryson had a Superman lob dunk on a pass from Brown and Bryson was the guy that poked away the ball to get the transition opportunity going.

I think you mis-spoke above Monster in calling it a Wolves win. The Iowa Wolves got beaten handily. Their defense was just awful in this game. I watched a small tidbit of it, but not enough to make any in depth observations. I still think Patton has a major motor problem and plays a lazy style of basketball. It's not a good sign, but alas, we will say he's young, needs time to develop, etc., etc.

Yes thanks Q I looked at the final score wrong when I started my report and forgot all about that and didn't change it. I woke up at 4am to register for a Marathon and couldn't go back to sleep so I started watching Wolves games. Wishful thinking I guess the Wolves have been on a roll though so...I was expecting a win! Lol

Amire Jefferson with a monster game last night - 28 points and 21 boards. I didn't see the game, but I did watch the highlights of his 28 points. Every single one came in the paint, including a short jumper. He has a real nose for the ball and a knack for using the other side of the rim to avoid getting his shot blocked (Taj is really good at this too).

But he's a non-stretchy 4 and I just don't see a big role for that kind of player on our roster right now. Still....seems like the kind of guy we need to keep around in case of injuries. He is producing big time.

Q12543 wrote:Amire Jefferson with a monster game last night - 28 points and 21 boards. I didn't see the game, but I did watch the highlights of his 28 points. Every single one came in the paint, including a short jumper. He has a real nose for the ball and a knack for using the other side of the rim to avoid getting his shot blocked (Taj is really good at this too).

But he's a non-stretchy 4 and I just don't see a big role for that kind of player on our roster right now. Still....seems like the kind of guy we need to keep around in case of injuries. He is producing big time.

I haven't watched the game yet but he is taking some Dieng range long 2's and making some. He looks pretty comfortable taking them. I was thinking about it watching the previous game is the difference with Jefferson compared to Dieng is if he pump fakes (both guys have a good fake) Jefferson actually has good handles and the nimbleness to really attack someone. Of course it's the G-league but yeah. Dieng can make some of those plays but...I think you know what I mean. Obviously Amile isn't the shooter Dieng is either cause well Dieng is pretty dang good when he is open from those spots. He is one of the few guys in the league that should be taking those long 2's. And of course now he is hitting corner 3's. The game really has evolved right?!?

I'll say this about Amile. If Belly went down again I think Jefferson might have a chance to guard some mobile 4's and that could have some value. It's nice that Gibson is a mobile 4 even if he doesn't give you the 3 point shooting. Last year really the only mobile 4 on the roster was Belly. Heck he was pretty much the only true PF on the roster. If we had another worthwhile wing or if someone proves to be one Wiggins has looked pretty good guarding guys like that this year which is an interesting development.

I'm finishing up the last Iowa Wolves game.

Patton started. He had maybe 2 good plays the whole game. other than that he was pretty terrible. They probably won in spite of him instead of him being any sort of asset. It was probably the worst game i have seen. Shawne Williams came in and they played better instantly. That dude's shot is looking pretty sweet right now. Some team that needs a floor spacing big for a couple 10 day contracts could probably do worse.

MIllsap who tends to iso too much looked more to play team ball. Having him coming off the bench is a nice thing.

Trimble wasn't to good in this game but I think his D was solid. The Wolves held the top scoring player in the G league Dentmon to a tough night 19 points on 4-18 shooting. To Trimble's credit he didn't force the issue he let other guys get up shots and that was a good plan.

This may have been the best all around game for Anthony Brown. He looked pretty good defensively and he took mostly good shots and made alot of nice passes. If he played like that every night I would say bring him up and play him at some point with the Wolves.

Jefferson put up some good stats but I don't think he was as good as those stats. he still had a pretty nice game obviously. the Legends bigs Warner and Motley (someone asked in the comments if they had a Motely crew fan section lol) had 46 points on 21-30 FG. Maybe they were really focused on not letting them go off from 3. that worked.

Bryson seems to be letting it fly more from 3. I like watching him play. He missed what would have been a monster dunk in the first half.

Wade Baldwin was pretty meh.

The Wolves did win this game. It was honestly hard to keep watching it felt like it was over with 8 mins left. Texas made a comeback to make it interesting I guess, but it really wasn't. The Wolves looked like the better team most of the game and they were adding in Millsap. Texas had a couple 2-way guys from other teams they were adding in. This one was on Twitch and its the first game I watched. Maybe the internet wasn't good where I was but I have never had as many issues with smooth video play on facebook live. I didn't like the experience becasue there was lots of pauses and stoppages. Again maybe the internet was REALLY slow. Commentators including the guy that has/had the 2 way 10 day website really liked it. Maybe I am getting old. lol

One last thought. I know it may be a hit to his pride but why not put Bazz down in the G-league for a couple games at least? I mean if either party was interested in him actually playing for this team this year? I mean the guy just doesn't play. Aaron Brooks took a bit to find his game after a long layoff and now he is at least serviceable. It just seems like something is going on with Bazz or both sides have decided to move on in some way. Maybe not. Its hard not to wonder.

The Wolves with a comeback 20 points down against the Canton Charge last night. It was an ugly game. Credit to Canton for making a late charge to make it somewhat interesting but with like 4-5 minutes left they had 10 points in the 4th quarter. The Wolves just didn't play well in the 1st half. They madecup for it in the 2nd.

Ho hum another ridiculously productive game for Amile Jefferson. He was battling Swanigan and Kendrick Perkins at times and did did his usual thing or better with 29-15-6. Q you will be interested that he took some long 2's in the first half and missed them all. That combined with the 2 times he was blocked may account for all his misses from the floor.

Patton had a bunch of fouls had a couple good moments but not much to write about here. He was clearly down after the last foul and he went out I felt bad for him.

Michael Bryson had a poke away steal and a windmill dunk that was pretty nice.

There were lots of gritty performances across the board. Everyone did their job to get this comeback win.

Anthony Brown continues to play better all around basketball. It wasn't all good because h did get the ball stolen from him late in the game by Swanigan but his passing has been much better as has been the Wolves overall during this nice period of play.

This team in fun tot watch play. Its a nice group of guys with various skills and it seems like everyone is really bought in having fun and pulling for each other.

Thanks for the report Monster. Amile Jefferson...man, that guy just keeps putting up monster numbers. I'm loving the assists he's starting to rack up too.

Q12543 wrote:Thanks for the report Monster. Amile Jefferson...man, that guy just keeps putting up monster numbers. I'm loving the assists he's starting to rack up too.

Yeah I mean the guy can handle the ball and he is comfortable all over floor and so he is finding guy. He gets a rebound and is bringing it up and you define ally aren't screaming "Get it to a PG!!!" He gets some of those assists getting an offensive rebound and passing it to the open shooter. I know he isn't what the Wolves need on the roster but it's kinda almost weird at this point they haven't given him a 2-way deal. Maybe he is the one holding out for more than that. A couple 10-day contracts would probably be about as lucrative at this point. It's kinda funny that he has looked so good offensively because you wouldn't have guessed that based on what he did in college or in the SL. You would expect above average defense (still not sure where he is in that respect) and some decent Offense. He looks like freaking 1st quarter Taj Gibson out there.

As for that last 2-way spot maybe they have their eye on someone else they think they can get when that deadline hits. Wolfson said they offered Jamil Wilson a 2-way deal but he declined because he figured he would get a better deal...he did...almost sorta.

Watching the Wolves latest game against the Drive.

It's just the first quarter but as underwhelming as Payton has been the last couple of games he has been good here. It's not perfect but he has had a couple nice post moves and stuck with a couple guards on switches and he flat out stole the ball from one guard on one of those possessions. He had a couple other good contests around the rim including a block. He got to the line 4 times and hit 3 of them. He took some long 2's which I'm not always a fan of but he has a good looking shot.

The former NBA scoring machine Marcus Thornton is playing in this game and it's interesting to see guys play him defensively. Waspun has made his life pretty difficult. It hit me today that's a Waspun at this level is basically a mini version of Kris Dunn (rookie year) although I think his shot actually looks better. Looking back at his college stats that clearly was something Waspun needs to work on. It looks better than the beginning of the year.

KJ McDaniels and Horford's brother Jon are also playing for the drive.

More to come...

The rest of the game was back and forth. The Wolves made a nice comeback late with some terrific blocks and just enough offense. They couldn't buy a bucket the first few minutes of the 4th and they were getting some good looks. They uncharacteristically turned the ball over more than the other team and missed FTs or they win this game.

Anthony Brown's defense seems to have taken a nice leap forward. He was really playing well most of this game all around. He did struggle when the Drive really ramped up their D but the whole team didn't seem quite ready for it but credit the Drive they were really playing with a ton of energy.

Patton was a mixed bag the rest of the way.

Trimble has been really solid lately. I think his defense has improved as well.

Monster -- As someone who's watched a lot of Iowa Wolves basketball this season, is there anyone on that roster who you think should get our other 2-way contract and, if so, who?