Minnesota Sports Forum

YEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!

Helluva win! Lavine tried to lose it for us, but luckily Thibs got him out in time. Dunn took a big step forward tonight, although it was good to see Tyus run the team in the 4th. Towns tho, is a BEAST.

Gotta get this one in Phoenix now!

Mstermisty wrote:Helluva win! Lavine tried to lose it for us, but luckily Thibs got him out in time. Dunn took a big step forward tonight, although it was good to see Tyus run the team in the 4th. Towns tho, is a BEAST.

Gotta get this one in Phoenix now!

Not sure if LaVine's hip is still bothering him or if he is in some kind of mid-season slump, but he was awful on both sides of the ball.

Tyus was mostly solid, but he had some real shaky moments out there too. Dunn with the "do shit" game - almost got a triple double. I love it! We need that from him.

And yeah, KAT is taking that next step as a player and it's fun to watch....MVP-type games from him recently, including big clutch baskets.

Went to this game.

But that means I have fewer insights than normal. I went with my former basketball teammates...

If I told you we ended up at White Castle... would that give you a better idea of the type of night it was?

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Went to this game.

But that means I have fewer insights than normal. I went with my former basketball teammates...

If I told you we ended up at White Castle... would that give you a better idea of the type of night it was?

Keep going to those games then. Good work.

Just finished watching this game and here are my thoughts in not particular order.

Man Lavine was terrible. His defense in the first half was terrible. His second half defense along with the rest of the team was better but overall he was bad. He has been off since returning from injury. It's really too bad since he has been rolling most of the season. He will get back on track but man that was brutal. To Lavine's credit he wasn't sulking getting benched late he was out there encouraging his teammates etc.

I thought overall Wiggins D on Gallo was pretty damn good. Gallo had a pretty quiet night considering he usually lights up the Wolves. Wiggins had a lot to do with that. I thought in general Wiggins was pretty good tonight.

Shabazz had some negative Bazz moments but there were times during the game he was the 2nd best player on te floor for the Wolves. The guy was everywhere at times. There was one transition possession for Denver Bazz kept in front of the guy and basically ended the possession and the Wolves got the ball. People have been saying this team needs a 3 and D guy. It's crazy but Bazz is giving plenty of reason to want to keep him around. Will he get enough minutes to want to stay? If he keeps playing pretty well I think Thibs is going to give him more minutes as time goes on espcially if they play teams that go small. It SEEMS like thisbteam likes each other. There was one instance late in the game where Wiggins had made a play and there was a dead ball situation and Bazz came up and gave a high five to Wiggins and was slapping him on the back etc. oh and he got another assist passing back and forth to Towns who was in the post.

Dunn was generally terrific. I don't know how you couldn't get a little excited about him after watching this game. Brit in his latest article said something about Dunn basically being able to play as a SF in these late game small ball situations. It's crazy how he is able to make plays including shotblocking as a weak side defender. Nelson was getting the best of him at least in the first half but obviously he played well getting a bear triple double. He had some nice passes.

Tyus was more uneven than he has been but it wasn't hard to be better late than Lavine was. Lol overall he was good enough to help his team win the game. His defense isn't perfect but he is a damn smart kid. Imagine what he could be like in a couple years when he is stronger with more experience etc. I keep thinking about how nice of a player Cory Joseph is right now and Tyus is a much more gifted offensive player. I'm really glad Tyus is on this roster.

Towns was terrific. It was a heck of matchup with Jokic. He won that late espcially even with some missteps. Towns has really come on the last chunk of games and it's been a big part of why the team has been better.

Nobody has mentioned the defense by the wolves in a positive way. It was not good in the first half by any measure. The 2nd half was much better. I'm not suggesting it was a good defensive effort overall but the Nuggets were rolling teams putting up crazy numbers and the Wolves held them to 108 points. I know that sounds hilarious but really the Nuggets were shooting over 60% at half. They finished shooting like 51%. The Wolves did enough on that end to win. I think it's worth mentioning.

Aldrich has ended up not playing much some because of matchups but it doesnt seem like he is playing as well either.

Dieng was pretty good when he was in there tonight. Thibs adjusted his rotations again which was good to see. Bjelica wasn't super awesome but he was solid. When he drives and goes to finish around the basket man he has been good. He needs to quit passing some of those possessions. I thinknhisnplaybthisnseason makes me think he is part of the puzzle for this team for a while. He and Dieng bring some different skills. The Wolves need to find one of those undersized (or doesn't have to be undersized!) bruiser types. It would help fill out the options there.

That's all I got for now.

Monster, I agree that the defense tightened up in the 2nd half after a terrible first half where our perimeter guys (especially LaVine) got beat time and again on basket cuts.

In the second half, Denver was making a lot of contested shots. I'm not sure what else Bjelly could do, but every Wilson Chandler shot was well contested. Gary Harris made some tough shots too. And Jokic just appears to toss the ball up and it goes in, without even having to use his lower body. That dude made everything within 12 feet, even the little awkward distances in between.

Q12543 wrote:Monster, I agree that the defense tightened up in the 2nd half after a terrible first half where our perimeter guys (especially LaVine) got beat time and again on basket cuts.

In the second half, Denver was making a lot of contested shots. I'm not sure what else Bjelly could do, but every Wilson Chandler shot was well contested. Gary Harris made some tough shots too. And Jokic just appears to toss the ball up and it goes in, without even having to use his lower body. That dude made everything within 12 feet, even the little awkward distances in between.

Jokic kimda reminds me of Duncan in that Duncan was so skilled and fundamental and had such good timing he didn't beat you with overwhelming athletic ability or anything. It's almost a tired narrative but this new wave of skilled NBA bigs is really impressive.

Jokic is very good, but he's never going to be Karl Anthony Towns. Towns was just a monster last night, and I love that he took the challenge personally. I also have to mention that in the midst of Towns' dominant game, Wiggins had one hek of a 4th quarter. Big 3 pointer around the 2 minute mark, 10 points including the steal and length of the court finish. He also had some good individual defensive moments and won the matchup with Gallo (the flopper).

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Jokic is very good, but he's never going to be Karl Anthony Towns. Towns was just a monster last night, and I love that he took the challenge personally. I also have to mention that in the midst of Towns' dominant game, Wiggins had one hek of a 4th quarter. Big 3 pointer around the 2 minute mark, 10 points including the steal and length of the court finish. He also had some good individual defensive moments and won the matchup with Gallo (the flopper).

Just different players. Jokic seems to be a gifted passer. I nudged my buddy last night early on about how good he is and called out his passing.

He then made 3 straight great passes. My buddy suddenly thought I was smarter than I really am...