Minnesota Sports Forum

It's amazing how Ayo plays with energy and Finch looks at whoever's on his bench who plays with energy and thinks "nah."

Terrible shooting game for Hyland and Donte. Terrible call by FNG posting about how bad Jenkins has been the past three games.

Ammo for on/off haters: Bones has the best tonight despite shooting 3 for 12 (0 for 6 on threes).

Pretty good effort against the best in the East.

I know I'm in the minority because we all love the defense, ball movement and pace but I miss Ant. I don't care if the team is better without him

Phenom wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2026 8:50 pm I know I'm in the minority because we all love the defense, ball movement and pace but I miss Ant. I don't care if the team is better without him

I'm with ya

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2026 8:53 pm

Phenom wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2026 8:50 pm I know I'm in the minority because we all love the defense, ball movement and pace but I miss Ant. I don't care if the team is better without him

I'm with ya

There's no question our half court offense sucks without Ant. And he had an understated, nice game against Dallas. And further, I just have a feeling he (and the Wolves) are going to have a very good post season. Still, I'm enjoying these high-energy Ant-less games...damn near beat the East champs on their floor!

FNG wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2026 9:03 pm

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2026 8:53 pm

Phenom wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2026 8:50 pm I know I'm in the minority because we all love the defense, ball movement and pace but I miss Ant. I don't care if the team is better without him

I'm with ya

There's no question our half court offense sucks without Ant. And he had an understated, nice game against Dallas. And further, I just have a feeling he (and the Wolves) are going to have a very good post season. Still, I'm enjoying these high-energy Ant-less games...damn near beat the East champs on their floor!

Their offense has been one of the worst in the league in the time Ant has missed...
I feel like I'm going crazy! It's been great fun to see the hustle, grit, energy, and insane defense but the offense has been maddening most of the time

We were missing our best player and one of our best defenders, they were missing their best player and their best defender. It was pretty even in the end. Playoff level defense being played, and we have to hit those open threes. We can't afford to clank wide open looks. Good moments from some players. Mike was good in the first half, Shannon was solid, Randle and Naz were a lot better this game compared to our last game against Detroit.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2026 9:13 pm We were missing our best player and one of our best defenders, they were missing their best player and their best defender. It was pretty even in the end. Playoff level defense being played, and we have to hit those open threes. We can't afford to clank wide open looks. Good moments from some players. Mike was good in the first half, Shannon was solid, Randle and Naz were a lot better this game compared to our last game against Detroit.

All true, Cypress...good analysis. I have no problem with losing to the Pistons in a close game on their floor. It was playoff defense for both teams, although I thought the Pistons did give us a lot of wide open looks beyond the arc...Bones, Donte and Ayo just missed too many of them. I've been a Shannon detractor all season, but I see some things I think may be repeatable with him. One of my favorite moments tonight was when TJ had the ball way back of halfcourt, and Bones Barry said "watch out!". And sure enough TJ took it coast to coast for a layup. He's been terrible all season, but there aren't that many guys with that kind of explosiveness. And I'm glad you mentioned Ju. Too many games I find myself yelling at his lack of effort on defense, but not tonight...I thought he was solid at both ends.

Abe's "I watched the 1st half, then went to play hoops where someone told me the final score without knowing I was planning to watch the 2nd half and write up my DVR Review" DVR Review:

- Detroit comes out hot, hitting 10 of their first 12 shots, only for the Wolves to catch them because of 6 TOs from the Pistons. Wolves only with 2 TOs in the first half. NICE! See what a difference it makes?

- Hold that thought...

- We're going to find out that Reid is injured more than it's been reported. We all know that shoulder is an issue. But I wouldn't be surprised when he has surgery or something after the season. That's the best explanation I can think for how awful he's been. He's missing a lot of shots... BADLY.

- Good for Conley to have a little run. His three point shooting has been dismal... he also misses so many so badly. But the 1st half was probably his last fun run in the NBA as a scorer.

- TJ Shannon with a couple of teasing plays in this game... maybe... maybe?

- Jalen Duren ate Rudy Gobert's lunch. Then... spit it out because alfalfa sprouts, organic couscous and North Timber tree bark taste terrible. Then, he made Rudy lap it up off the floor.

- Duncan Robinson is a shooter. A very good shooter. But otherwise, he would seem to be very limited. Yet here he was getting past MN defenders with a first step all night. Granted, it's because of aggressive closeouts, but still... it's weird watching Duncan Robinson and thinking "is he actually sorta fast?"

- And then the 4th quarter happened. I don't know the final numbers... but at one point... Wolves had 6 TOs and the Pistons had 0. And the 20 - 5 run during that stretch ended this close game early.

- Wolves shot 22 - 85 (26%) vs. Detroit on three pointers this week. Pistons shot 20 - 49 (41%) vs. MN. (Wolves are 5th in league in 3fg efficiency... Detroit is 21st in efficiency and 28th in makes.)

- Reid exacerbated that 4th quarter collapse. His last few games...

4 - 12 fg
5 - 13 fg
3 - 15 fg
5 - 14 fg
6 - 16 fg
That's 33%. Meanwhile... he still sucks on defense. AND... he has 5 assists and 10 TOs during that stretch, too.

- I was bored during this game. (doesn't happen often watching even bad Wolves teams) I miss Edwards. I miss McDaniels' emotional outbursts. And, it all seems pretty meh right now. This is a 6th seed. And that's probably fine. They might win a couple more games or even 3 games to finish with the same record as last season.

Hopefully, they get the Lakers with a hobbled Doncic and pull off the victory. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if multiple guys sit a bit to ensure optimal health for the playoffs. Wake me in a couple of weeks.