Knock on Wood - Nets at Wolves GDT

[thedoper]

Seems like we have these games way too often. If they are not going to play hard for Finch he needs to go

It's really not Finch's fault. The players are immature and lack professionalism. Plus, he's trying to coach without a point guard or a lead guard who can create for others.

We lost this game for no effort or preparation. Finch bares some responsibility for that.

[AussieWolf3]

Seems like we have these games way too often. If they are not going to play hard for Finch he needs to go

It's really not Finch's fault. The players are immature and lack professionalism. Plus, he's trying to coach without a point guard or a lead guard who can create for others.

We lost this game for no effort or preparation. Finch bares some responsibility for that.

I wasn't able to watch really any of the game, but if a group of professional ball players can't figure out how to get up for a bottom five team then that is mostly if not completely on those players.

Poor coaching would made this a close win or loss, a double digit loss is completely on the players not taking games in December against poor competition seriously. They think they can sleep walk these and they just cant

[60WinTim]

Is this a plea for TC to do something?!?

Anthony Edwards: “We got booed and shit by the fans today. I’m with the fans. I would’ve booed us, too. But yeah, lack of energy, I don’t know what’s going on. I guess this is just Timberwolves basketball.”

[Porckchop]

If Rudy doesn’t play well this team struggles.

[AussieWolf3]

Is this a plea for TC to do something?!?

Anthony Edwards: “We got booed and shit by the fans today. I’m with the fans. I would’ve booed us, too. But yeah, lack of energy, I don’t know what’s going on. I guess this is just Timberwolves basketball.”

I appreciate the honesty but it's a little hollow when they keep saying it after every game like this, and Ant..... You're Timberwolves basketball- you're the leader of the team

[60WinTim]

Knock on Wood? Somebody replaced the Wood with that Composite Shit!

This feels like the worst loss of the season thus far. There have been other losses where we simply couldn't close a game out, or were simply outplayed by a better team, or 50-50 stuff not going our way on the road. But to lose at home to an Eastern Conference cellar dweller... Geez!

Yeah, the Nets have been playing better defense as of late, MPJ has been playing great, and they got back a walking bucket in Cam Thomas. But the Wolves are supposed to be one of the top Western Conference teams, playing at home. And they got smacked!

Maybe this game will be some sort of wakeup call for players and/or coaches. We'll see how they respond on this 4-game road trip.

[FNG]

Sell the team

I blame FNG. He created a self-fulfilling prophecy!

Ha, maybe...but I was just pointing out pregame what the Wolves obviously didn't realize. This Nets team is not the team that begam the season so poorly. This new version of the Nets has won 4 of its last 5 games, and 3 of those by blowouts (the other win only by an 8-point margin). Porter Jr. is playing like an all-star, and Thomas was returning after several weeks out, and they are playing hard every night...that's why they have given up the fewest points per possession in the Association in December We needed to take them seriously, and we didn't.

Tim blames me, but even though Ant was brilliant scoring the basketball (he was practically unstoppable driving to the basket), I have to blame him for this loss. I watched the game late last night and decided to focus most of my attention on Ant's defense after teeing up the Ju/Ant defense thread, and I challenge anyone who recorded the game to do the same. He was a disaster...I literally felt at times that the Nets were playing 5 on 4 when they had the ball, and it resulted in so many open looks. I know Ant is beloved here and I agree he is an engaging character and a monster on offense. But a team is not going anywhere if they regularly get outscored when their superstar is on the court. Ant was a -14 last night after his lovely -17 the previous game in a 4-point loss, and he has not outscored the opposing team since the Suns game 3 weeks ago! Let me put this a different way: teams with superstars that are winners have to survive the "non-Jokic or non-SGA minutes" for example, but while the Wolves have to survive the non-Rudy minutes to win, they also have to survive the ANT MINUTES! Let that sink in. This is a talented team so we are going to continue to win games, but we need Ant to at least be average on defense if we expect to go as far in the playoffs as we have the last two years.

Okay, go ahead...take some shots at my hypothesis. Tell me why Ant getting outscored almost every game is not a problem. Explain why the fact that he ranks 9th on the team in on/off, just slightly ahead of Dillingham and thankfully far ahead of the disaster that is Shannon, is not a big reason why most of us think this team is underperforming. Tell me that his defense is fine as long as he is so brilliant scoring the ball. Tell me that plus/minus and on/off are messy stats that don't mean anything even over a sample size of 32 games, and the fact that almost every superstar on winning teams has a positive on/off while Ant doesn't is just a statistical anomaly and not a reason we're underperforming.

Yes, I'm pissed off after staying up way too late to watch the replay of this lackluster effort...

[rapsuperstar31]

The worst part was we lost our first game where Clark played 14+ minutes. Clark couldn't defend Cam in the first half at all, and it gave Cam a lot of confidence throughout the game to keep torching us.

[FNG]

The worst part was we lost our first game where Clark played 14+ minutes. Clark couldn't defend Cam in the first half at all, and it gave Cam a lot of confidence throughout the game to keep torching us.

Yep, Cam owned him last night...so many and 1's when Clark was guarding him. Clark is a unique player and I still think him getting TJ's minutes will pay off for us, but he was not very good last night.

[60WinTim]

Okay, FNG, I just finished up quarter #1. I saw nothing from ANT on the defensive end that caused me to blame him for a breakdown. What I did see was a bunch of turnovers and ill-advised shots from Randle. I saw a zero paint protection when Rudy went to the bench (along with Jaden). And NAZ and Clark were giving up And-1s up the wazoo. I'm sure there were defensive lapses from ANT later in the game, but the game was already lost by the shit going on in the 1st quarter.

Randle was acquired in part for his playmaking ability. I am ready to swap out that playmaking ability for some better paint protection. Jaden's playmaking has improved. Donte is good at keeping the ball moving. If TC can move Randle and acquire some paint protection and another playmaker in the backcourt, I think we would be a more consistent team.