CoolBreeze44 wrote:Russell, Ant, and Nowell our +/- losers tonight
They need another ball handler, which is usually SloMo. Well, except for Nowell - he is worthless. I am hoping TC comes up with some sort of deal at the trade deadline to help. Of course, getting Jmac back would help!
There's plenty of blame to go around tonight in my view so I'm not pointing the finger at any one player, but I will say that wasn't how I expected Anthony Edwards to respond to getting snubbed from the All-Star game. Thought he would have been a little extra charged up with something to prove. That didn't happen. This was probably one of his worst performances all season. I'm expecting a big bounce back on Sunday for him and the team. At least against Denver they'll have to respect their opponent.
Late Night DVR Review... that was shut off early because the team didn't care so why should I...
- How many times will we have to hear an assistant coach at halftime... or the head coach after the game... or the beat writer... or even the players... say that they are getting beat by a lesser team because they are getting outworked.
- Another embarrassing loss (because of a lack of effort). Rinse. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
- Russell was terrible with his lack of energy early in this one. I don't care what his final numbers were... he helped set the tone in this one with bad shot selection and careless TOs early. And... his complete lack of defense keeping the Magic out of the paint in the 1st half (also mentioned by the asst. coach).
- Edwards was maybe even worse in this one. Terrible effort from the guards.
- The Magic's two best players shot 7 - 23 and scored only 20 points. The Magic's BENCH shot 25 - 37. I don't know if they're better than that vaunted Pistons bench... ahem.
- Cole Anthony has had some really good games vs. Minnesota. Chalk up another one.
- Only 10 home games left.
- Phoenix is ahead of the Wolves and Booker is coming back soon. AND... they're expected to make a trade (Crowder) to get even better.
- Portland is playing better and expected to make a trade to get better.
- The Pelicans are in a free fall... but Ingram isn't himself yet and Williamson returns soon.
I would agree that D'Angelo Russell was sloppy and lackadaisical in the first half -- along with most of the Timberwolves who had played to that point -- but he was also the only player that really showed up in the second half for Minnesota besides Luka Garza and Matt Ryan late. Call me crazy, but I think you have to judge a game of basketball while looking at both halves of play.
They whittled the deficit down to seven with 1:14 left in the game primarily due to hot shooting and scrambling defense. It was still very much a contest at that point and the guys that were on the floor deserve credit for bringing it that close, especially Garza and Ryan considering they came off the bench cold.
Hopefully they all show up against Denver on Sunday. They need to right the ship immediately and avoid letting losses build up consecutively. That should feel like a playoff game.
Camden wrote:I would agree that D'Angelo Russell was sloppy and lackadaisical in the first half -- along with most of the Timberwolves who had played to that point -- but he was also the only player that really showed up in the second half for Minnesota besides Luka Garza and Matt Ryan late. Call me crazy, but I think you have to judge a game of basketball while looking at both halves of play.
They whittled the deficit down to seven with 1:14 left in the game primarily due to hot shooting and scrambling defense. It was still very much a contest at that point and the guys that were on the floor deserve credit for bringing it that close, especially Garza and Ryan considering they came off the bench cold.
Hopefully they all show up against Denver on Sunday. They need to right the ship immediately and avoid letting losses build up consecutively. That should feel like a playoff game.
Getting to within 7 points late in an NBA game...
Nah. I'm not giving this team any credit after being down 21 to the Orlando Magic's 2nd unit... specifically because of a lack of effort.
Those types of feel-good faux comebacks are dime a dozen in the NBA... for losing teams. We've seen hundreds of them in Minnesota over the years. It's meaningless (except for the stat sheet for individual players).
This game was decided early and it led to a 21-point deficit. Russell needs to be one of the guys who takes the heat for that.
Camden wrote:I would agree that D'Angelo Russell was sloppy and lackadaisical in the first half -- along with most of the Timberwolves who had played to that point -- but he was also the only player that really showed up in the second half for Minnesota besides Luka Garza and Matt Ryan late. Call me crazy, but I think you have to judge a game of basketball while looking at both halves of play.
They whittled the deficit down to seven with 1:14 left in the game primarily due to hot shooting and scrambling defense. It was still very much a contest at that point and the guys that were on the floor deserve credit for bringing it that close, especially Garza and Ryan considering they came off the bench cold.
Hopefully they all show up against Denver on Sunday. They need to right the ship immediately and avoid letting losses build up consecutively. That should feel like a playoff game.
Getting to within 7 points late in an NBA game...
Nah. I'm not giving this team any credit after being down 21 to the Orlando Magic's 2nd unit... specifically because of a lack of effort.
Those types of feel-good faux comebacks are dime a dozen in the NBA... for losing teams. We've seen hundreds of them in Minnesota over the years. It's meaningless (except for the stat sheet for individual players).
This game was decided early and it led to a 21-point deficit. Russell needs to be one of the guys who takes the heat for that.
It's not about it being a feel-good game. That's not the case whatsoever, but that unit did make a legitimate comeback when it looked like it was over, and they do deserve credit for that when we talk about the game in totality. A couple of different bounces late and Minnesota may have stolen one that they didn't deserve to win specifically because of that unit's competitiveness, which absolutely includes D'Angelo Russell, for what it's worth. Fire that DVR back up and watch it since it appears that you cut it off early.
Better efforts were needed across the board. It's tough to win when your best player puts up a stinker. It's tough to win when you turn the ball over 20 times -- 10 of which came from the starting backcourt. It's tough to win when you allow 52-percent shooting from three, and lose the points in the paint battle by 12. There's blame everywhere to be had.
It seems odd that we can't or won't recognize all of that while also crediting several guys who made the game stealable in the closing minutes when they could have mailed it in after halftime like mostly everyone else.
kekgeek1 wrote:We don't play defense when Rudy sits
That might be the teams biggest problem. Naz and Garza are bottom tier defenders. You like what they do on offense most of the time, but man they are terrible on defense (most of the time). If we had a good defensive center off the bench we would be a better team.
First of all, let's stop with the narrative that Orlando is a bad team...they are not. They have the highest man games lost in the Association but they are healthy now, and their record since December 5 is 16-12...the Wolves are 17-15 during that stretch. Orlando is long, athletic and deep...some of their reserves would start for certain teams. Still, this was a game we could have won with a proper effort.
I was lucky to have good seats for the Golden State game (so close to ARod I could almost smell the steroids!), and it was the most fun I have at Target Center since Gam 7 against the Kings in 2002...what a game. So I am feeling especially salty after last night's loss. Watch out...here comes a downpour of negativity and sarcasm.
1) I don't want to hear any positive comments about DLo's 4th quarter...just stop it. He was a -24 with 8 minutes left at the game and a major reason we shit the bed last night...his 6 turnovers just killed us. If his +15 in garbage time makes anyone feel better, that's fine. But I just see it as padding stats after the game is over. I have praised his defensive revival and 50-40-90 recent shooting as much as anyone, but tonight's game reinforced my belief that TC needs to get whatever he can get for him before Thursday.
2) Lost in the tragedy of last night's debacle was yet another example of the bravery of KAT. He could spent a few more days with his influencer girlfriend in California, but instead he risked life and limb in the treacherous "low chairs" of Target Center. It's a mystery to me why his courage didn't inspire his teammates more.
3) I don't think it ultimately changed the outcome of the game, but the decision of the referees after the brawl was complete BS. Jester is correct that Austin Rivers is a world class trash talker, and while we don't know what Bamba said to him after his missed corner three, there was no reason for him to be off the court in Mo's face while the game was on. Still, Bamba throwing a punch deserves a long suspension, and for the Wolves to end up with 3 ejections (when it appeared to me that Prince and Jaden were just peacemakers) and a free throw for the Magic is bizarre. Worst post-brawl call ever.
Beyond that I have nothing to say. I still love this team, but how many games do you expect to win when your starting backcourt turns the ball over 10 times? Unacceptable.
