Camden wrote:Very lucky that final offensive play wasn't called a hook on Karl-Anthony Towns, but good for him for making two high-pressure free throws.
And as I type this, Towns is having a very cringe post-game interview. He's back!
Idk I dig showing love to his teammates. Might been best thing to ever happen to this team was his injury. Everyone has gotten better and bought into their roles with him gone.
Camden wrote:Very lucky that final offensive play wasn't called a hook on Karl-Anthony Towns, but good for him for making two high-pressure free throws.
And as I type this, Towns is having a very cringe post-game interview. He's back!
Idk I dig showing love to his teammates. Might been best thing to ever happen to this team was his injury. Everyone has gotten better and bought into their roles with him gone.
Kat is so corny, but that is him, he isn't a criminal, he isn't a bad teammate, he has given the wolves everything he has had. His personality people don't like because it is corny but he is so underrated now. Like Windhorst said today Knicks are targeting Kat and they don't have to give up Brunson or Randle to do so.
Camden wrote:Very lucky that final offensive play wasn't called a hook on Karl-Anthony Towns, but good for him for making two high-pressure free throws.
And as I type this, Towns is having a very cringe post-game interview. He's back!
Idk I dig showing love to his teammates. Might been best thing to ever happen to this team was his injury. Everyone has gotten better and bought into their roles with him gone.
Kat is so corny, but that is him, he isn't a criminal, he isn't a bad teammate, he has given the wolves everything he has had. His personality people don't like because it is corny but he is so underrated now. Like Windhorst said today Knicks are targeting Kat and they don't have to give up Brunson or Randle to do so.
You are spot on, Kek. KAT is socially awkward and corny, but he's a good dude who has given this franchise everything he has to give and been a model citizen along the way. It would be idiotic to trade KAT to the Knicks for ANYONE they have offer. It's beyond idiotic to think the Knicks could get him without giving up Brunson or Randle. I'm just hoping that even though TC got swindled by Danny Ainge, TC isn't an idiot. That's my belief and I'm sticking to it for now. TC isn't the only NBA executive to get swindled by Mr. Ainge.
kekgeek1 wrote:Mcdaniels game MVP. He is taking a step, like he has such high potential. I think he gets the max
Agree with you on this as well, kek. The sliver lining in KAT's long absence was that it allowed Gobert and the rest of the team to adapt to each other. As a result, Gorbert has developed into a consistent positive for the team and Anderson has had the chance to develop. Now Ant's absence has allowed McDaniels, who had already improved a lot over last season, to start asserting his previously untapped offensive game. The Ant-McDaniels tandem gives this franchise a positive horizon. I still see KAT as part of that positive horizon.
And how about Naz Reid tonight? We are loaded with talented bigs in KAT, Rudy, Naz and Garza. It will be interesting to see what our front office does with those guys after this season. Conventional wisdom says the Wolves can't keep all four or even three of them. However, it was interesting that all three were major positive contributors tonight. Perhaps that's something we can expect from all three next season as well.
I'm very happy to get the W, but I can't help but feel it shouldn't have been so hard. Our help defense was simply terrible. And to me it looks like Rudy and KAT shouldn't play together very much. When they are both on the floor, we can't do hardly any switching because immediate mismatches are created. Our opponents are always going to try and get Jaden switched off of his man, and they aren't sending Slomo's or Conley's man. They are sending one of the guys our bigs are guarding. So it's very tough to play them together unless we run some zone. Lots of things to work out and not much time to do it. But when we are fully healthy we have an awful lot of firepower.
CoolBreeze44 wrote:I'm very happy to get the W, but I can't help but feel it shouldn't have been so hard. Our help defense was simply terrible. And to me it looks like Rudy and KAT shouldn't play together very much. When they are both on the floor, we can't do hardly any switching because immediate mismatches are created. Our opponents are always going to try and get Jaden switched off of his man, and they aren't sending Slomo's or Conley's man. They are sending one of the guys our bigs are guarding. So it's very tough to play them together unless we run some zone. Lots of things to work out and not much time to do it. But when we are fully healthy we have an awful lot of firepower.
Cool - It's obvious you've coached. Really astute observations. I'm thrilled with the win but your observations are correct and sobering. I never thought the Rudy-KAT pairing would work - certainly not defensively. It's an issue our front office will need to deal with over the summer. There are reasonable arguments for trading KAT because of the huge return we'd likely get for him. If up to me, I'd trade Rudy, not KAT, even though the return would be a lot less. It would be a lot less for a reason. Rudy gave us 12 rebounds tonight and solid defense. I think we can find free agent bigs to give us 12 points and 12 rebounds via free agency or minor trades. But getting someone who does what KAT does is highly unlikely. If we can get solid defense from our PG position (Conley now and hopefully a younger alternative later), we'll be fine defensively with Edwards and McDaniels. All three are good to great defensively. I'd want to pair KAT up front with a mobile, athletic defensive PF. That would be plenty to cover for KAT's defensive weakness. Fortunately, KAT's a very good rebounder as well as an elite efficient scorer. That's the path I see for this team. The Edwards-McDaniels pairing is exciting.
The Return of Abe's Late Game DVR Review (a bit tipsy edition):
- NBA players make a lot of mistakes... and good plays. I thought the first 7 minutes T. Prince stepped on the court that he was throwing the game (sans one made 3). He threw the ball away lazily. He forced shots. He lazily went under screens for easy threes. He missed a rotation for an open three. Fast forward a couple of quarters and he is stepping up and making smart veteran NBA plays to help his team eke out a win. Go figure.
- Towns is back. 2 more offensive fouls (the O/U is always 2). And as Camden spelled out nicely... a really cringy interview. I gotta be honest, I never understood what corny meant, especially because I hear more black people say it and I'm pretty middle European/scandinavian, but I understand now after seeing that interview.
- I'm making a declaration and surely the first to do so... but McDanels is basically Scottie Pippen v2.0
- NBA players want to win games. But sometimes, NBA players REALLY WANT to win games! Tonight, the Wolves WANTED to win. There were many signs of this in the final few minutes but for anybody who has it on DVR... watch the play with 3:52 left. See all the white shirts react like their shared tabby cat was on fire? That's a team that wants to win.
- The behind-the-scene NBA offices are littered with coaches, analysts, nerd geeks and the like... all to find points in the margins. Meh. They're thinking too small. Just pay me $200k to be your team's "foul creator coach." Trae Young gave his team (xx) points with a wide assortment of "foul creations."
- Young's foul creations didn't just give his team points, they could have taken away the soul of the Timberwolves. The Wolves put on their big boy pants and willed themselves to victory. Nice.
