Minnesota Sports Forum

I went to bed after the first quarter. Glad I did!

Every team goes cold every once in a while and Golden State is a really good defensive team. Our problem continues to be our defense. We held Golden State to 22 points in the first half, then gave up 103 points to them thereafter on 60% shooting.

Until this team defends at a consistently high level, we will be a middle of the pack squad. Thibs has so far failed at his supposedly #1 strength. We'll give it time, but the moves for Butler, Teague, and Gibson shortens the amount of rope he's given.

Steve Kerr has gone from a likeable guy to a pain in the kiester. The smug smiles toward the refs, when they get every call, bother the shit out of me.

Yikes.

Put all the statistics aside... shut off the commentary... tune out the officials (good or bad or indifferent)... and just watch how players move on the court... how easy (or difficult) it is to get the shots they want.

Last night was striking how much more difficult it was for the Wolves, not unlike Game 1 vs. the Spurs. It's still early. The Wolves will improve as they mesh as a team. But damn... they've looked far far away from being any kind of threat this season.


[Note: Right about the time I tuned out early in the 4th... I heard GSW had 35 fast break points?!?!?!? Add that to the Pistons and Pacers games I mentioned here previously (42 vs. 6 in those games) as very ominous signs that transition defense looks like it's a very serious concern for this team.]

The ball movement in the 2nd half was awful. A lot of that stemmed from Butler setting what I thought was an uncharacteristic tone for the game. Unlike the other games last night he was actively calling for the ball and actively calling his own number. This set a real tone of selfish basketball. It was the first time since the San Antonio game that there was nothing redeeming about the offense. Consistent defense is a problem for any team against Golden State. Either way I don't think this game should effect the positive trajectory we were on going into it. The warriors are stacked, and their system is so familiar to their players.

Poor transition defense should be correctable. That's not due to physical limitations or mis-matches. That's on Thibs and his veteran mouthpieces! I only watched one quarter, but even in what was a pretty good defensive half, there's Taj Gibson getting beat down the floor for a layup in transition.

Q12543 wrote:I went to bed after the first quarter. Glad I did!

Every team goes cold every once in a while and Golden State is a really good defensive team. Our problem continues to be our defense. We held Golden State to 22 points in the first half, then gave up 103 points to them thereafter on 60% shooting.

Until this team defends at a consistently high level, we will be a middle of the pack squad. Thibs has so far failed at his supposedly #1 strength. We'll give it time, but the moves for Butler, Teague, and Gibson shortens the amount of rope he's given.

Q, I couldn't watch last night's game (and was not happy with the box score), but I think your conclusion that we are "middle of the pack" is too negative. We have played 9 games with our best player (Butler) on the court, and we are 7-2 in those games...and the only two losses were on the road to the Spurs and the Warriors! We may not have looked very good last night, but every team has an off night every now and then, and 7-2 tells me that we are far better than middle of the pack...as long as Butler can stay healthy. There are certainly things this team has to correct (transition defense...well, all defense...for example), but despite the defensive deficiencies, this team is off to a terrific start.

After 11 games, I see this team as a strong challenger for a top 4 spot in the playoffs. Any team with two consensus top 15 players plus a prolific, athletic scorer better challenge for home court advantage, or else start looking for a new coach.

LST, I guess I have a more comprehensive perspective on our performance than wins and losses. I look for example at some of our wins. REALLY close games that could have easily gone the other direction if not for some ridiculous shots (the Crawford corner 3 that he literally couldn't see upon release and the Wiggins game winning heave are two examples). Yes, credit is due to those two for actually making those shots, but these are 50/50 type games and in my opinion we simply got the karmic coin flip to go our way.

Also, SAS was missing Leonard; Golden State was missing Durant. These are literally their best players! And both teams pretty easily handled a full strength Minnesota team. I mean, we couldn't even keep it close? Really? These are teams we should be getting totally pumped up for.

I stand by my assertion that what I see on the floor is a 38-42 win team. I hope I'm wrong.

Q12543 wrote:LST, I guess I have a more comprehensive perspective on our performance than wins and losses. I look for example at some of our wins. REALLY close games that could have easily gone the other direction if not for some ridiculous shots (the Crawford corner 3 that he literally couldn't see upon release and the Wiggins game winning heave are two examples). Yes, credit is due to those two for actually making those shots, but these are 50/50 type games and in my opinion we simply got the karmic coin flip to go our way.

Also, SAS was missing Leonard; Golden State was missing Durant. These are literally their best players! And both teams pretty easily handled a full strength Minnesota team. I mean, we couldn't even keep it close? Really? These are teams we should be getting totally pumped up for.

I stand by my assertion that what I see on the floor is a 38-42 win team. I hope I'm wrong.

I see Q is already trying to sneak in and steal my Wins Prediction crown.

Shame!

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:LST, I guess I have a more comprehensive perspective on our performance than wins and losses. I look for example at some of our wins. REALLY close games that could have easily gone the other direction if not for some ridiculous shots (the Crawford corner 3 that he literally couldn't see upon release and the Wiggins game winning heave are two examples). Yes, credit is due to those two for actually making those shots, but these are 50/50 type games and in my opinion we simply got the karmic coin flip to go our way.

Also, SAS was missing Leonard; Golden State was missing Durant. These are literally their best players! And both teams pretty easily handled a full strength Minnesota team. I mean, we couldn't even keep it close? Really? These are teams we should be getting totally pumped up for.

I stand by my assertion that what I see on the floor is a 38-42 win team. I hope I'm wrong.

I see Q is already trying to sneak in and steal my Wins Prediction crown.

Shame!

Heh, no can do, it's all captured in writing! I think Big O and Kiwi have the last two crowns by the way....I'd have to look.

Transition defense against the warriors is impossible when you take bad shots. If you move the ball around with in good position you can get back. If you stand around and watch other's take turns on their shot you're going to get burned on the other end. After watching the whole game it was clear that once we abandoned our sharing on the offense, the transition D turned. We make strides for a few games then the Warriors expose our significant areas of needed improvement on both sides of the ball. I don't losing to the Warriors on the road should negate the progress that was made on the defensive end in the 5 games previous.