Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:Minnesota should be better by subtraction tonight if D'Angelo Russell really is a net negative (he's not). I guess we'll see...

However, I don't think this game will be pretty. If Minnesota ends up being competitive it'll have to be because they absolutely muck up the game defensively for 48 minutes, or Anthony Edwards goes for a 50-burger. I'm not optimistic.

Haha, DLO is still trash. Can't wait til he is gone.

Camden wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:I honestly hate Nowell. He is so bad!

Might be my least favorite wolves player of all time

Over Derrick Williams, Shabazz Muhammad, Adreian Payne, and Wesley Johnson? No way!

How dare you forget Rashad McCants.

Minnesota is -93 on three pointers over the past 5 games.

Just finished the replay. We shot the ball like crap (not one T-Wolf was over 33% tonight on 3's!), but I'll echo what our announcers were saying all night...it was fun to watch our guys flying all over the court on defense and actually defending the perimeter (um...except for Jaylen Nowell's disastrous 25 minutes). The Clippers has been averaging over 116 PPG in their past 6 games that Kawhi has played in (he's finally returning to form), and we held them to 18 points under that average. Except for the minutes Nowell was out there on "defense", we actually rotated well and forced a lot of bad shots...nice to see. When we left Reggie Jackson wide open for a 3 in the 3rd quarter, it occurred to me that was the first open three I had seen all night...we were really contesting the perimeter- finally. Austin Rivers and Wendell Moore are offensively challenged...neither of them is a starting level NBA guard right now. But it was fun to watch them never take a play off on defense and consistently irritate the Clippers. Who knew that playing defense 5 on 5 is more effective than 4 on 5?

I don't think anyone thought we had much of a chance against a talented Clippers team with $74 million of salary not suited up, but I was still encouraged to see us play tough and actually play some team defense.

FNG wrote:Just finished the replay. We shot the ball like crap (not one T-Wolf was over 33% tonight on 3's!), but I'll echo what our announcers were saying all night...it was fun to watch our guys flying all over the court on defense and actually defending the perimeter (um...except for Jaylen Nowell's disastrous 25 minutes). The Clippers has been averaging over 116 PPG in their past 6 games that Kawhi has played in (he's finally returning to form), and we held them to 18 points under that average. Except for the minutes Nowell was out there on "defense", we actually rotated well and forced a lot of bad shots...nice to see. When we left Reggie Jackson wide open for a 3 in the 3rd quarter, it occurred to me that was the first open three I had seen all night...we were really contesting the perimeter- finally. Austin Rivers and Wendell Moore are offensively challenged...neither of them is a starting level NBA guard right now. But it was fun to watch them never take a play off on defense and consistently irritate the Clippers. Who knew that playing defense 5 on 5 is more effective than 4 on 5?

I don't think anyone thought we had much of a chance against a talented Clippers team with $74 million of salary not suited up, but I was still encouraged to see us play tough and actually play some team defense.

We're in the same conundrum we always seem to find ourselves in - an utter lack of 2-way players. I'm sure the Clippers would have had a split second more to line up their shots if KAT and DLO were in the rotation and they probably would have dropped 110+ on us. On the other hand, may be we would have scored 110+ as well.

Frustrating team. Frustrating franchise.

Q-was-here wrote:

FNG wrote:Just finished the replay. We shot the ball like crap (not one T-Wolf was over 33% tonight on 3's!), but I'll echo what our announcers were saying all night...it was fun to watch our guys flying all over the court on defense and actually defending the perimeter (um...except for Jaylen Nowell's disastrous 25 minutes). The Clippers has been averaging over 116 PPG in their past 6 games that Kawhi has played in (he's finally returning to form), and we held them to 18 points under that average. Except for the minutes Nowell was out there on "defense", we actually rotated well and forced a lot of bad shots...nice to see. When we left Reggie Jackson wide open for a 3 in the 3rd quarter, it occurred to me that was the first open three I had seen all night...we were really contesting the perimeter- finally. Austin Rivers and Wendell Moore are offensively challenged...neither of them is a starting level NBA guard right now. But it was fun to watch them never take a play off on defense and consistently irritate the Clippers. Who knew that playing defense 5 on 5 is more effective than 4 on 5?

I don't think anyone thought we had much of a chance against a talented Clippers team with $74 million of salary not suited up, but I was still encouraged to see us play tough and actually play some team defense.

We're in the same conundrum we always seem to find ourselves in - an utter lack of 2-way players. I'm sure the Clippers would have had a split second more to line up their shots if KAT and DLO were in the rotation and they probably would have dropped 110+ on us. On the other hand, may be we would have scored 110+ as well.

Frustrating team. Frustrating franchise.

Yeah, it's difficult to get excited when Rivers and/or Moore are on the court...neither is much of a threat to put points on the board. But I always celebrate effort, especially on a night when we were so undermanned. Mostly this season, Finchie has looked like he just bit into something sour. But the first half last night was one of the few times he has actually looked pleased on the bench. He (and Gobert for that matter) didn't look too pleased during Nowell's minutes though.

FNG wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:

FNG wrote:Just finished the replay. We shot the ball like crap (not one T-Wolf was over 33% tonight on 3's!), but I'll echo what our announcers were saying all night...it was fun to watch our guys flying all over the court on defense and actually defending the perimeter (um...except for Jaylen Nowell's disastrous 25 minutes). The Clippers has been averaging over 116 PPG in their past 6 games that Kawhi has played in (he's finally returning to form), and we held them to 18 points under that average. Except for the minutes Nowell was out there on "defense", we actually rotated well and forced a lot of bad shots...nice to see. When we left Reggie Jackson wide open for a 3 in the 3rd quarter, it occurred to me that was the first open three I had seen all night...we were really contesting the perimeter- finally. Austin Rivers and Wendell Moore are offensively challenged...neither of them is a starting level NBA guard right now. But it was fun to watch them never take a play off on defense and consistently irritate the Clippers. Who knew that playing defense 5 on 5 is more effective than 4 on 5?

I don't think anyone thought we had much of a chance against a talented Clippers team with $74 million of salary not suited up, but I was still encouraged to see us play tough and actually play some team defense.

We're in the same conundrum we always seem to find ourselves in - an utter lack of 2-way players. I'm sure the Clippers would have had a split second more to line up their shots if KAT and DLO were in the rotation and they probably would have dropped 110+ on us. On the other hand, may be we would have scored 110+ as well.

Frustrating team. Frustrating franchise.

Yeah, it's difficult to get excited when Rivers and/or Moore are on the court...neither is much of a threat to put points on the board. But I always celebrate effort, especially on a night when we were so undermanned. Mostly this season, Finchie has looked like he just bit into something sour. But the first half last night was one of the few times he has actually looked pleased on the bench. He (and Gobert for that matter) didn't look too pleased during Nowell's minutes though.

Nowell is one of the huge disappointments this season. He really had a chance to step up and provide a better all-around game than Beasley did as a 6th man, but he just hasn't produced. I can live with the defensive lapses if he's shot making and dishing out assists like he's capable of. But without that, he's a real liability on the floor. I had high hopes for him.

A few years ago... I floated a sorta serious trade offer:

Andrew Wiggins for Nicolas Batum.

It had very little to do with Batum the player. And I don't even remember when I first suggested it. After all, Batum sucked in Charlotte! He was only averaging like 9 points in '18/19 and by the next season, he was averaging only 3.6 ppg on 35% shooting. But he had a hefty matching salary that was going to end a season before Wiggins. The Wolves were already going nowhere with Wiggins, so it was an opportunity for a reset a year earlier and maybe pick up another asset along the way. Nothing less. Nothing more.

Well... apparently, Batum has noticed. In recent years, he's been a thorn in the sides of Timberwolves players and fans. We've all seen him completely unnerve Towns repeatedly while guarding the much bigger man with an array of elbows and shoves.

Last night... the once walking-through-the-motions, nut-punching Frenchman was +30 off the bench. The guy is a vet who knows how to play basketball.

Let's look at his +/- vs. the Timberwolves since joining the Clippers (some people love that stat):

+30
-1 play-in game
-4 (Clips won by 27)
+13
+15
+20
+15

AbeVigodaLive wrote:A few years ago... I floated a sorta serious trade offer:

Andrew Wiggins for Nicolas Batum.

It had very little to do with Batum the player. And I don't even remember when I first suggested it. After all, Batum sucked in Charlotte! He was only averaging like 9 points in '18/19 and by the next season, he was averaging only 3.6 ppg on 35% shooting. But he had a hefty matching salary that was going to end a season before Wiggins. The Wolves were already going nowhere with Wiggins, so it was an opportunity for a reset a year earlier and maybe pick up another asset along the way. Nothing less. Nothing more.

Well... apparently, Batum has noticed. In recent years, he's been a thorn in the sides of Timberwolves players and fans. We've all seen him completely unnerve Towns repeatedly while guarding the much bigger man with an array of elbows and shoves.

Last night... the once walking-through-the-motions, nut-punching Frenchman was +30 off the bench. The guy is a vet who knows how to play basketball.

Let's look at his +/- vs. the Timberwolves since joining the Clippers (some people love that stat):

+30
-1 play-in game
-4 (Clips won by 27)
+13
+15
+20
+15

Abe - I thought I was the one who floated that idea. Or perhaps I just followed your lead as I often do. Notice how grouchy I've been lately? I remember thinking we could have gotten a future 2nd-round pick or maybe a protected 1st in the deal. The Hornets really wanted to unload Batum. It looked at the time like his career was over. If nothing else, at least we would have retained our #7 pick in the 2020 draft. Alas... The rest is history. Golden State has Kuminga and a productive Wiggins. We have DLO. And Batum has risen from the dead to terrorize our poor pathetic Wolves. The beat goes on...

Ha. Maybe I don't remember the details... because I just stole the idea from Lip!?!?!

Either way, let's just say that we were both in on that ridiculous, seemingly one-sided trade possibly helping the Wolves in the long run.




[Note: Granted, outsiders would have mocked the Wolves even more for that one since Wiggins has turned into a legit player. And it would have been more of a PR hit for the organization. "Wiggins for Batum. WTF!!!" But all of us knew that Wiggins being good was impossible in Minnesota by that point. Wiggins was going to perform better for his new team... playing for that franchise with those teammates are a perfect world for him.]