Minnesota Sports Forum

Just finished watching with white Russian's wrapping gifts.

This team is a gift to Minnesota right now. I loved the 04' team, but this team has more grit and talent along a coach with a strategy that he's willing to change when wrong.

Merry Christmas!

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sat Dec 23, 2023 11:20 pm The wins @Miami, @Dallas, and now @Sacramento. I mean, may be we win one of those games last year. So impressive. And the way that we can just assert ourselves and make the big plays when we have to. Love it!

Remember that we won some big games against the better teams last year but we let ourselves down so much playing down to our opposition. But it seems this year we have the grit to just absorb whatever the opposition can throw at us and counterpunch to get the result.

Are we all feeling a sense of trepidation about being optimistic that maybe we’re legit this year… like genuine championship potential legit? I keep feeling like it’s been nice to see the success but expecting we fall back towards .500 ball and have a moderately good year. We just keep rolling for now.

Leado01 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:45 am Just finished watching with white Russian's wrapping gifts.

This team is a gift to Minnesota right now. I loved the 04' team, but this team has more grit and talent along a coach with a strategy that he's willing to change when wrong.

Merry Christmas!

Leado, you were fortunate to find some white guys from Russia to help you wrap your presents...I had to wrap all mine myself.

Great win last night! We were playing without KAT on the road against a very good team that had won 4 out of 5, and we beat them rather easily. I am an unabashed Wolves bobo, but I'll admit I wasn't very optimistic coming into this one...in fact, I would have laid some money on the Kings minus the 3 1/2. But this team really showed me something last night.

This might have been Rudy's best game of an MVP-like season...he was dominant at both ends of the court. Conley was brilliant as always, and Jaden shined on defense and made big shots when we needed them.

Can't wait to see what we do at OkC Tuesday...should be a really fun game!

FNG wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 7:39 am

Leado01 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:45 am Just finished watching with white Russian's wrapping gifts.

This team is a gift to Minnesota right now. I loved the 04' team, but this team has more grit and talent along a coach with a strategy that he's willing to change when wrong.

Merry Christmas!

Leado, you were fortunate to find some white guys from Russia to help you wrap your presents...I had to wrap all mine myself.

Great win last night! We were playing without KAT on the road against a very good team that had won 4 out of 5, and we beat them rather easily. I am an unabashed Wolves bobo, but I'll admit I wasn't very optimistic coming into this one...in fact, I would have laid some money on the Kings minus the 3 1/2. But this team really showed me something last night.

This might have been Rudy's best game of an MVP-like season...he was dominant at both ends of the court. Conley was brilliant as always, and Jaden shined on defense and made big shots when we needed them.

Can't wait to see what we do at OkC Tuesday...should be a really fun game!

FNG - My wife gets annoyed by my blogging on this site, so I rarely mention anything about it to her. But I had to read her the first line from your post here. Hilarious! She enjoyed it.

Regarding the rest of your post, I agree completely. Rudy’s been tremendous all season, but he took it to another level last night in KAT’s absence. He’s playing the best ball of his career. We weathered the storm in Ant’s absence as other players, especially KAT, stepped up. We won a tough game last night without KAT. This is certainly looking like the best team the Wolves organization has ever had.

Abe's Early holiday morning DVR Review:

- NBA teams win more games when they're good on defense. Who knew!

- I noted in the last game thread that it's easier to discuss bad play than good play. It becomes a bit repetitive to say "Gobert deterred Player X from shooting right at the rim, Conley, NAW, McDaniels showed a wonderful 2nd effort closing out on two different players in the 3rd quarter when that possession ended in a missed shot, etc. But we're seeing it nearly every game. Many times every game.

- Gobert is such a difference maker. I get it now. Yes, he still bugs me with certain things... like trying to do anything besides dunk on offense, acting like he was shot in the face any time he's touched, to silly things like being French or maybe balding a bit in a weird way... but DAMN... he's incredible on defense right now.

- There is quite a bit of evidence to suggest Chris Finch is a legit coach. The difference between him and a guy like Ryan Saunders is amusing. What's interesting is that Finch (and his staff) isn't stuck playing only one way. Wasn't he known as an offensive guru? And I've heard others share stories about his teams using small ball in the past. Yet here we are... and the Wolves are having a ton of success using very large players and a great defense.

- A key injury (bubble wrap Mike Conley until mid April) is my biggest concern.

- Now... bad stuff (mostly repeat stuff))... I'd love to be Anthony Edwards' teammate. Every team needs THAT guy. The guy who can get buckets. The guy who thinks he's invincible. The guy who's the most dynamic player on the court. But I'd hate to be Anthony Edwards' teammate. There are 3+ plays every game when the easy pass to a wide open player is staring at him, but Edwards chooses hero ball instead. Last night, the most egregious was when Mike Conley was jumping up and down ready for a wide open three pointer while Edwards took on three defenders instead. He made the shot, so it only galvanizes him to do it again, but it was a bad play. And... 3 > 2. Naz Reid is in a bit of a funk. (He was horrendous vs. the 76ers, not much better vs. the Lakers and had another rough outing tonight.) Obviously, he has flaws though... otherwise he'd be starting. It just goes to show us, however, that he's not as easily of a replacement for Towns as some people would think.

- Shake Milton will be on another team by the end of the season. (Hopefully.) He doesn't have the bounce, juice or whatever you want to call it. And doesn't have a good enough handle or feel for the game to compensate.

- If I was writing the Sac Kings DVR Review, I'd write an entire paragraph about Harrison Barnes closing out too hard on Kyle Anderson behind the arc, letting him fly right by him. He's not going to shoot it from the top of the arc! I think that's the type of stuff most posters are worried about in the playoffs. Teams will know the game plan going in... and good teams will stick to it... and even one or two of those plays could make the difference in a tight playoff game. The rub is that Anderson does so many other things well, including guarding up in position when needed.

- Others have noted the 2004 team. A team that started Trenton Hassell (5.0 ppg) and Ervin Johnson (1.9 ppg), played Mark Madsen and Michael Olowokandi big minutes... I think that team was more of a testament to the greatness of peak Kevin Garnett than anything else. This team has the potential to be even better. Granted, there is just more talent up and down every roster in 2023 than in 2004.

- The behind-the-back pass from Sabonis to an open teammate in the corner during that Kings run... damn. NBA players (and some of these bigs) in 2024 are so damn talented. Imagine Madsen, Johnson or Olowandi even trying something like that. LOL.

- Still 9 games left in the tough stretch of games so the wheels could still fall off... but it's seeming more and more unlikely. I was thinking the team would go about 8 - 8 during the stretch. 5 - 2 is a good start to surpass that. (I'm happy to report I'm going to be one of the first out in the annual Wins Prediction thread.)

- I hope somebody gives me courtside Timberwolves tickets for Christmas. But alas, I think the current success has priced out my cheap relatives.

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 9:24 am

FNG wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 7:39 am

Leado01 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:45 am Just finished watching with white Russian's wrapping gifts.

This team is a gift to Minnesota right now. I loved the 04' team, but this team has more grit and talent along a coach with a strategy that he's willing to change when wrong.

Merry Christmas!

Leado, you were fortunate to find some white guys from Russia to help you wrap your presents...I had to wrap all mine myself.

Great win last night! We were playing without KAT on the road against a very good team that had won 4 out of 5, and we beat them rather easily. I am an unabashed Wolves bobo, but I'll admit I wasn't very optimistic coming into this one...in fact, I would have laid some money on the Kings minus the 3 1/2. But this team really showed me something last night.

This might have been Rudy's best game of an MVP-like season...he was dominant at both ends of the court. Conley was brilliant as always, and Jaden shined on defense and made big shots when we needed them.

Can't wait to see what we do at OkC Tuesday...should be a really fun game!

FNG - My wife gets annoyed by my blogging on this site, so I rarely mention anything about it to her. But I had to read her the first line from your post here. Hilarious! She enjoyed it.

Regarding the rest of your post, I agree completely. Rudy’s been tremendous all season, but he took it to another level last night in KAT’s absence. He’s playing the best ball of his career. We weathered the storm in Ant’s absence as other players, especially KAT, stepped up. We won a tough game last night without KAT. This is certainly looking like the best team the Wolves organization has ever had.

Lip, you'll recall I met your lovely wife in Las Vegas a few years ago, so I'm pleased I was able to provide a little humor for her this morning (by the way, my honey also rolls her eyes when I'm posting...it's why I usually post in the morning before she gets up!). Merry Christmas to both of you and all on this board!

Abe, very nice summary. I agree with your assessment of Ant, but my Christmas optimistic take is it tells me Ant is far from reaching his ceiling yet. He's reportedly a student of the game (watches video with his coaches constantly), and is already showing some improvement in finding the open man when he is doubled or tripled. But he still has a long ways to go. I think he will get there though, and that is going to really unlock this offense.

Ants shots should go up in games without KAT. 34 points and 10 assists in a win would be a miracle for anyone else on the roster last night. I guess we will have to trust in his self confidence to call his own shot when his talent is just that much greater than the other players on his team. I think the good thing is that as a 22 year old he has shown improvement in all of the team aspects of his game, assists are up this year and his passing has been notably improved mechanically. Its more just that decision making when the pressure is on, which can only develop more experience in big game situations.