Minnesota Sports Forum

Another win, hop on the hope train everybody!

thedoper wrote:We are more fun without Dlo. I think we have a higher ceiling, more talent, and are probably a better team with him. But these past two games have been way more fun when he is limited. I think I feel the same way about Kat too. Trading the two of them could potentially make us even more fun and recoup a good deal of talent.

My take is different. I think we're more fun to watch without Gobert. We were really fun to watch last season with KAT. When DLO's hitting his shots, then we're fun to watch with him on the floor. When he's not hitting, the offense can look pretty ugly. Trading DLO would be OK, but I doubt we'll get much in return. KAT would bring in a huge return in assets, but I think it would be a dumb move. KAT's still the team's best player. He's definitely the team's best and only elite 3-point shooter. He's also the second-best rebounder on the team after Gobert. He's a perennial all-star who wants to be here, never whines about the team not doing well, never threatens to leave, doesn't get into trouble and never creates any chemistry problem in the locker room. I don't think we'd get enough in return to justify the deal. More likely we'd get fleeced, especially if Connelly is making the deal. TC admitted that trades aren't his forte. Duh.

My god Lip, stop whining and repeating the same shit every post.

Watching Rivers, Anderson, and Prince play tonight was like a masterclass in veteran NBA competence. They can't dominate or take over games, but they were just massively important in getting this win. And they absolutely understood whose role it was to close out the game.

lipoli390 wrote:

thedoper wrote:We are more fun without Dlo. I think we have a higher ceiling, more talent, and are probably a better team with him. But these past two games have been way more fun when he is limited. I think I feel the same way about Kat too. Trading the two of them could potentially make us even more fun and recoup a good deal of talent.

My take is different. I think we're more fun to watch without Gobert. We were really fun to watch last season with KAT. When DLO's hitting his shots, then we're fun to watch with him on the floor. When he's not hitting, the offense can look pretty ugly. Trading DLO would be OK, but I doubt we'll get much in return. KAT would bring in a huge return in assets, but I think it would be a dumb move. KAT's still the team's best player. He's definitely the team's best and only elite 3-point shooter. He's also the second-best rebounder on the team after Gobert. He's a perennial all-star who wants to be here, never whines about the team not doing well, never threatens to leave, doesn't get into trouble and never creates any chemistry problem in the locker room. I don't think we'd get enough in return to justify the deal. More likely we'd get fleeced, especially if Connelly is making the deal. TC admitted that trades aren't his forte. Duh.

I have rarely had fun watching Kat play. Super talented player who is a horrible defender at his position and has shown that he can completely be taken out of a game by decent coaching.

Again my point was about fun. I could conceive of a Kat team being a winner, but it has to be completely catered to his deficiencies, which was what prompted bringing Gobert here in the first place. Not sure I would ever call Kat fun though. Like I said Im almost there with Kat where I would call his brand of basketball not fun. Dlo is not fun to me, Ive had enough dribbling the clock down an extra 4 seconds.

Abe's DVR Review:

- The Blazers have one the worst benches in the L... the Wolves took advantage of it tonight. The Wolves bench shot 16 - 21 fg. That was the difference.

- Obviously, Taurean Prince played well. He takes some dumb shots sometimes (not tonight), but he's a vet. And it's critical that he gets the charging calls as the seasoned vet that other Wolves players don't always get. Those are HUGE.

- Garza is fun. We'll see how long it lasts. I was "impressed" with his defense. Obviously, he's going to struggle on that end, especially in poor matchups for him. But he's active and was hustling to get back into position.

- Edwards had a professional star game tonight. (Lillard tried to do the same.) Neither guy was on for most of the game, but they willed themselves into key roles. Edwards kept plugging away and ended up hitting 6 of his last 11 down the stretch to push the Wolves over the top. I was impressed with the kid tonight.

- Mixed bag for D. Russell. I think it seemed fairly clear through recent comments that Russell was a topic in the player's only meeting. And he played like it tonight. I saw him box out Nurkic early in the game that led to a teammate grabbing the board. And he made some huge hustle plays. He seemed to be making a concerted effort to play with energy and effort.

Now... on the other end... I hated his offensive game. Just an all-around bad game as a floor general. It was like he was trying to overcompensate to talk of selfish play. But a true PG knows when to push the pace, when to set up teammates, and when to look for his own shot. I thought he passed up several looks for himself, but then inexplicably took a three pointer with 18 seconds left on the clock without making a pass. There was simply an alarming lack of feel to his game, like he couldn't adjust to playing differently. If the Wolves are keeping him... I'd prefer the old Russell where he's more aggressive and willing to take open looks.

- I'm starting to see why Nowell shoots so much. He struggles with passing/decision-making. I counted 4 TOs in his limited opportunities, but the boxscore only has him for three.

- It's maddening how difficult it seems to get Gobert the ball. I think it was four TOs trying to do so. And even though he struggled in space vs. Lillard in the 2nd half, he seemed to play with more purpose and intensity on the block.

- 78 is a lot of free throws.

- Austin Rivers is above 20 mpg for yet another team! I told you guys it was inevitable. LOL.

The DLO.debate is tiresome. Went to the game tonight with a friend that never played or coached, and frankly doesn't get the game. He also bitched about DLO all night.

It's boring.

DLO had a decent game.

Gobert came up big when it mattered and he showed some fight in the final 4 minutes.

Let's hope Prince's energy is contagious.

Luka was a hoot again. Love watching players that are thrilled to be on the court.

Abe is correct, our bench was much better than theirs.

https://soundcloud.com/wolves-radio/anthony-edwards-postgame-0104?ref=clipboard&p=i&c=0&si=BA1ABB8523C4465898099AFACF91CF0D&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Ant's postgame has some great quotes on how much easier it has been to play D with Gobert this year. I was impressed with Ant tonight, 32 in what was a bad game for him. He's coming.

thedoper wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

thedoper wrote:We are more fun without Dlo. I think we have a higher ceiling, more talent, and are probably a better team with him. But these past two games have been way more fun when he is limited. I think I feel the same way about Kat too. Trading the two of them could potentially make us even more fun and recoup a good deal of talent.

My take is different. I think we're more fun to watch without Gobert. We were really fun to watch last season with KAT. When DLO's hitting his shots, then we're fun to watch with him on the floor. When he's not hitting, the offense can look pretty ugly. Trading DLO would be OK, but I doubt we'll get much in return. KAT would bring in a huge return in assets, but I think it would be a dumb move. KAT's still the team's best player. He's definitely the team's best and only elite 3-point shooter. He's also the second-best rebounder on the team after Gobert. He's a perennial all-star who wants to be here, never whines about the team not doing well, never threatens to leave, doesn't get into trouble and never creates any chemistry problem in the locker room. I don't think we'd get enough in return to justify the deal. More likely we'd get fleeced, especially if Connelly is making the deal. TC admitted that trades aren't his forte. Duh.

I have rarely had fun watching Kat play. Super talented player who is a horrible defender at his position and has shown that he can completely be taken out of a game by decent coaching.

Again my point was about fun. I could conceive of a Kat team being a winner, but it has to be completely catered to his deficiencies, which was what prompted bringing Gobert here in the first place. Not sure I would ever call Kat fun though. Like I said Im almost there with Kat where I would call his brand of basketball not fun. Dlo is not fun to me, Ive had enough dribbling the clock down an extra 4 seconds.

Doper - I get what you're saying about both KAT and DLO and I don't disagree. I enjoy a brand of basketball with a lot of speed, ball movement, passing and athleticism. Probably fair to say watching KAT play isn't fun. Same for DLO when he's not hitting shots. But I think this team was fun to watch with KAT and DLO on the floor last season because of who was on the floor with them, namely Ant, Beverley, Vando, sometimes Beasley. I really didn't like watching the team with Rudy, KAT and DLO in the same lineup this season before KAT was hurt. I also think it's a bad mix from a win-loss perspective, but at a minimum it's not fun to watch in my eyes. I don't enjoy watching this team on the offensive end with Gobert on the floor and even less so with DLO out there with him, although it might start to be fun if Rudy catches and dunks more lobs like he did tonight. :)

But no matter who's on the floor, it's fun to watch our team win. :)

Duke13 wrote:My god Lip, stop whining and repeating the same shit every post.

Lol. My God, Duke, do you ever have anything worthwhile to contribute to this board? That's not a rhetorical question because the answer is an obvious no.