Minnesota Sports Forum

That sliver of hope that I was looking for is starting to widen. I don't know if this is just a team having a hot streak or a sign of things to come, but I do know this is much watch TV right now. Did you see the way we were running their shooters off the 3 point line? We actually played well defensively as an entire unit. I also like the rotation right now. Finch seems to have figured it out and now the guys are getting used to playing with each other. Not going to buy yet, but can't wait to watch the next game.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:That sliver of hope that I was looking for is starting to widen. I don't know if this is just a team having a hot streak or a sign of things to come, but I do know this is much watch TV right now. Did you see the way we were running their shooters off the 3 point line? We actually played well defensively as an entire unit. I also like the rotation right now. Finch seems to have figured it out and now the guys are getting used to playing with each other. Not going to buy yet, but can't wait to watch the next game.

Agreed, they are playing as a unit right now and its fun to see. Now the thing is, is this for real or just a nice little spurt of good basketball

- The league's most prolific three point shooting team vs. the league's worst three point defense... a defense that was shredded on three pointers over the past 10 games. 9 out of the last 10 opponents shot 40%...

- Nope. The Jazz were 16 - 57. (28.1%)

- A LOT of open looks (clarkson and Bodganovich combined to go 2 - 17 on threes and Joe ingles was only marginally better at 3 - 13). BUT also the Wolves seemed more engaged on defense and worked hard scrambling to contest instead of the lazy fly-bys we usually see.

- Russell was great. Shooting. Passing.

- 2 in a row is great. But beating a good team TRYING to win is even better.

- I feel like Gobert gets superstar defensive calls. His reputation as a defender keeps the whistle from being blown quite a bit...

- Is it a matchup thing with Utah?

I still think we benefited a bit from a regression to the mean. Teams can't ALWAYS be red hot against us and finally we encountered a team that got a bit cold judging by some bad misses on wide open shots.

Still, the scrambling defense was encouraging. Heck, even DLO appeared to lift his intensity level on defense up a notch. I was impressed.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:- The league's most prolific three point shooting team vs. the league's worst three point defense... a defense that was shredded on three pointers over the past 10 games. 9 out of the last 10 opponents shot 40%...

- Nope. The Jazz were 16 - 57. (28.1%)

- A LOT of open looks (clarkson and Bodganovich combined to go 2 - 17 on threes and Joe ingles was only marginally better at 3 - 13). BUT also the Wolves seemed more engaged on defense and worked hard scrambling to contest instead of the lazy fly-bys we usually see.

- Russell was great. Shooting. Passing.

- 2 in a row is great. But beating a good team TRYING to win is even better.

- I feel like Gobert gets superstar defensive calls. His reputation as a defender keeps the whistle from being blown quite a bit...

- Is it a matchup thing with Utah?

Maybe Donaven not playing in either game?

PorkChop wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:- The league's most prolific three point shooting team vs. the league's worst three point defense... a defense that was shredded on three pointers over the past 10 games. 9 out of the last 10 opponents shot 40%...

- Nope. The Jazz were 16 - 57. (28.1%)

- A LOT of open looks (clarkson and Bodganovich combined to go 2 - 17 on threes and Joe ingles was only marginally better at 3 - 13). BUT also the Wolves seemed more engaged on defense and worked hard scrambling to contest instead of the lazy fly-bys we usually see.

- Russell was great. Shooting. Passing.

- 2 in a row is great. But beating a good team TRYING to win is even better.

- I feel like Gobert gets superstar defensive calls. His reputation as a defender keeps the whistle from being blown quite a bit...

- Is it a matchup thing with Utah?

Maybe Donaven not playing in either game?

Well obviously.

But the Jazz is still a solid or even good team without Mitchell. They were 5 - 1 without Mitchell coming into the weekend. And considering the Wolves haven't been able to beat (xx) other teams without their best player(s)... or even the lowly Sacramento Kings twice in a row... baby steps Pork.

Baby steps.

Mitchell not playing is part of the NBA...and all pro sports. The Wolves are actually playing team defense and are being rewarded for it. How many wins out of the final 10 will it take for this to be worth buying? If they win 6 of 10? 7? 8?

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

PorkChop wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:- The league's most prolific three point shooting team vs. the league's worst three point defense... a defense that was shredded on three pointers over the past 10 games. 9 out of the last 10 opponents shot 40%...

- Nope. The Jazz were 16 - 57. (28.1%)

- A LOT of open looks (clarkson and Bodganovich combined to go 2 - 17 on threes and Joe ingles was only marginally better at 3 - 13). BUT also the Wolves seemed more engaged on defense and worked hard scrambling to contest instead of the lazy fly-bys we usually see.

- Russell was great. Shooting. Passing.

- 2 in a row is great. But beating a good team TRYING to win is even better.

- I feel like Gobert gets superstar defensive calls. His reputation as a defender keeps the whistle from being blown quite a bit...

- Is it a matchup thing with Utah?

Maybe Donaven not playing in either game?

Well obviously.

But the Jazz is still a solid or even good team without Mitchell. They were 5 - 1 without Mitchell coming into the weekend. And considering the Wolves haven't been able to beat (xx) other teams without their best player(s)... or even the lowly Sacramento Kings twice in a row... baby steps Pork.

Baby steps.

Yeah, I'll accept this as a somewhat tainted loss because of three Utah sharpshooters having an uncharacteristic terrible night, but Utah missing Mitchell to me is no reason to diminish this victory. It's basically the equivalent of us missing Beasley...two gifted scorers who my grandmother might be able to hang 20 points on if she were dialed in outside the arc. I've posted before about a lot of whispering in Utah about Mitchell's horrible defense this year. Less Mitchell and more Ingles, Niang and Clarkson doesn't really hurt Utah in my opinion.

FNG wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

PorkChop wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:- The league's most prolific three point shooting team vs. the league's worst three point defense... a defense that was shredded on three pointers over the past 10 games. 9 out of the last 10 opponents shot 40%...

- Nope. The Jazz were 16 - 57. (28.1%)

- A LOT of open looks (clarkson and Bodganovich combined to go 2 - 17 on threes and Joe ingles was only marginally better at 3 - 13). BUT also the Wolves seemed more engaged on defense and worked hard scrambling to contest instead of the lazy fly-bys we usually see.

- Russell was great. Shooting. Passing.

- 2 in a row is great. But beating a good team TRYING to win is even better.

- I feel like Gobert gets superstar defensive calls. His reputation as a defender keeps the whistle from being blown quite a bit...

- Is it a matchup thing with Utah?

Maybe Donaven not playing in either game?

Well obviously.

But the Jazz is still a solid or even good team without Mitchell. They were 5 - 1 without Mitchell coming into the weekend. And considering the Wolves haven't been able to beat (xx) other teams without their best player(s)... or even the lowly Sacramento Kings twice in a row... baby steps Pork.

Baby steps.

Yeah, I'll accept this as a somewhat tainted loss because of three Utah sharpshooters having an uncharacteristic terrible night, but Utah missing Mitchell to me is no reason to diminish this victory. It's basically the equivalent of us missing Beasley...two gifted scorers who my grandmother might be able to hang 20 points on if she were dialed in outside the arc. I've posted before about a lot of whispering in Utah about Mitchell's horrible defense this year. Less Mitchell and more Ingles, Niang and Clarkson doesn't really hurt Utah in my opinion.

Mitchell is a far, far better basketball player than Beasley.

kekgeek1 wrote:

leado01 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:Wolves starters are 3-20

Hernagomez is the reason the Wolves have a chance

I like Juancho...but not sure anyone has ever said this.

I've been on the Hernagomez train. I just think he is so close to being legit solid

Oh oh. Is that a Juancho bandwagon I see out there on the horizon? Yeah, I've been on it for some time also as has Kek...we welcome Leado. He's not a starting PF in this league like Ryan tried to make him, but as a consistent 16/9 guy per 36, he certainly is worth 5% of our total payroll ($7 million per year) as a combo PF/SF getting 15-20 minutes off the bench. The win last night belongs to Dlo, but I think he doesn't even get a chance to bring this one home without Juancho's scoring in the first half.