Minnesota Sports Forum

Q-was-here wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Timberwolves had 31 free throws. Brooklyn, with Harden and Irving, only had 15.

Whoa.

Also, how about all the cheap fouls LMA got!? I mean, that was KAT-like stuff being called on him. The difference is LMA mostly brushed it off whereas KAT goes into his martyrdom routine.

We probably need to look back at this game for some balance the next time we get totally screwed by the refs.

Q, I missed it, what's up with the name change?

D'Natagal wrote:DLO looks better on defense because the Wolves have 3 better defenders on the court at most times ( Vando, McDaniels, Ant) that can guard the players that DLO cannot. Last nite was a prime example. DLO would take whichever player was in the short corner and everyone else covered Harden, Irving, etc. DLO missed more than a few rotations as he was caught too far away from his man.

This is definitely part of it, and you can include Patrick Beverley in there, but the other part that's being overlooked far too often this season is how D'Angelo Russell is thriving as the helper/roamer. He's essentially playing the Robert Covington role on defense where his strengths are maximized -- reading plays before they happen, jumping in passing lanes, etc. -- and where his weaknesses are minimized -- defending guards that get downhill.

Yes, he still gets out of position at times, and he's never going to be an effective defender at the point of attack, but more often than not he's showing, getting back to his man, rotating, and contesting -- sometimes all within the same play. He also rarely gets beat on the chase by taking smart angles/routes to the shooter.

All of this is to say that D-Lo still has holes defensively, but his strengths on that end of the floor are real and they're being utilized better this season than any other. He's legitimately a positive contributor to the Wolves' 12th-ranked defense through 46 games of the season.

I think Finchy had the team ready to play Harden. look at how many times Harden did his "stick ball out and run into people schtick" and got no calls. It was a thing of beauty. McDaniels did it all night, hell even KAT had a play where he kept Harden in front of him and just grabbed the ball away from Harden. It was really fun to watch.

Can you feel McDaniels emerging on offense? I'm not talking about his outside shot which has been abysmal, but he's taking more opportunities and he's getting more dunks. It's hard for him to grow too fast with as many alphas as we have on offense, but have some patience with this guy. I swear he's a great player that's going to eventually burst. The raw tools are just too immense, and he doesn't seem to have any knucklehead in him that will hold him back.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Can you feel McDaniels emerging on offense? I'm not talking about his outside shot which has been abysmal, but he's taking more opportunities and he's getting more dunks. It's hard for him to grow too fast with as many alphas as we have on offense, but have some patience with this guy. I swear he's a great player that's going to eventually burst. The raw tools are just too immense, and he doesn't seem to have any knucklehead in him that will hold him back.

Yeah the cuts and drive game has been fun. Credit to the guards in trusting him and feeding him. Hes growing. Moving him to the bench was the right move but the minutes are paying off.

Camden wrote:

D'Natagal wrote:DLO looks better on defense because the Wolves have 3 better defenders on the court at most times ( Vando, McDaniels, Ant) that can guard the players that DLO cannot. Last nite was a prime example. DLO would take whichever player was in the short corner and everyone else covered Harden, Irving, etc. DLO missed more than a few rotations as he was caught too far away from his man.

This is definitely part of it, and you can include Patrick Beverley in there, but the other part that's being overlooked far too often this season is how D'Angelo Russell is thriving as the helper/roamer. He's essentially playing the Robert Covington role on defense where his strengths are maximized -- reading plays before they happen, jumping in passing lanes, etc. -- and where his weaknesses are minimized -- defending guards that get downhill.

Yes, he still gets out of position at times, and he's never going to be an effective defender at the point of attack, but more often than not he's showing, getting back to his man, rotating, and contesting -- sometimes all within the same play. He also rarely gets beat on the chase by taking smart angles/routes to the shooter.

All of this is to say that D-Lo still has holes defensively, but his strengths on that end of the floor are real and they're being utilized better this season than any other. He's legitimately a positive contributor to the Wolves' 12th-ranked defense through 46 games of the season.

It's crazy is like a good head coach is putting Dlo in the best position to succeed on defense. Cough Cough coaching doesn't matter.

This no different than Okogie plays on defense side you have to surround him with the offensive players to counter act his flaws on Offense. The problem is unlike Dlo Okogie doesn't have any strengths to his offensive game.

Side Note: I still want a 3pt competition with this guy

Q-was-here wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Timberwolves had 31 free throws. Brooklyn, with Harden and Irving, only had 15.

Whoa.

Also, how about all the cheap fouls LMA got!? I mean, that was KAT-like stuff being called on him. The difference is LMA mostly brushed it off whereas KAT goes into his martyrdom routine.

We probably need to look back at this game for some balance the next time we get totally screwed by the refs.

Unsurprisingly, Harden and Nash complained about it...

https://nypost.com/2022/01/23/nets-fall-to-timberwolves-as-dangelo-russell-haunts-ex-team/

But I got a chuckle out of scrolling through the accompanying photos. Gotta love this chicken wing image... and can't not wonder how often Harden vs. Towns would get called for it over the course of a year...




[Note: For what it's worth... Harden is #3 in the league in FTA (Giannis/Embiid) and is taking more per game than last season. In fact, he's averaging 9+ attempts per game if you take out the first week or so when the officials clearly were trying to make a point.]

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Timberwolves had 31 free throws. Brooklyn, with Harden and Irving, only had 15.

Whoa.

Also, how about all the cheap fouls LMA got!? I mean, that was KAT-like stuff being called on him. The difference is LMA mostly brushed it off whereas KAT goes into his martyrdom routine.

We probably need to look back at this game for some balance the next time we get totally screwed by the refs.

Q, I missed it, what's up with the name change?

It's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmVOXvOi9Qka brand new me!

kekgeek1 wrote:

Camden wrote:Dane Moore: Chris Finch says Anthony Edwards told him he's "straight"


Thank goodness. That kid's tough, no doubt about it.

Always a tad nervous though because Ant likes to embellish a little

Just watched the game. Any updates on Ant's knee (beyond Dr. Edwards' self-diagnosis)? Probably just a bruise from the looks of it, but I'd feel a lot better if I saw a report the he was set to play Tuesday.

Great win, by the way.

I haven't posted much this season, but I have to say, DLO is kind of starting to win me over. I've been hard on him in the past and I still wish he were tougher, but his interior passing has really been great for us. Those bounce passes he drops in the paint to a cutting Vando are legitimately a good offensive option. I never thought I'd say that.

Another thought, I wonder if you guys are seeing something I feel like I'm seeing a bit recently that I like. It's Ant cutting without the ball, usually from the corner toward the paint, then receiving the pass, which almost inevitably brings defensive help from the perimeter, and then he's making the smart pass for the open 3. Sometimes he's able to get a shot off too, but it seems like he's making the right decisions and not forcing anything too much. If he keeps cutting down on those plays where he just dribbles on the perimeter without moving for 3 seconds and we can keep getting him the ball off of cuts, I suspect he'll become even more efficient as a shot creator. Anybody else seeing this? It's exciting to see his growth this year.

EDIT: Just remembered Ant is clearly qualified to evaluate his own knee. He https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdY_LS__eq0starred on ER with George Clooney back in the day.

Q-was-here wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Timberwolves had 31 free throws. Brooklyn, with Harden and Irving, only had 15.

Whoa.

Also, how about all the cheap fouls LMA got!? I mean, that was KAT-like stuff being called on him. The difference is LMA mostly brushed it off whereas KAT goes into his martyrdom routine.

We probably need to look back at this game for some balance the next time we get totally screwed by the refs.

Q, I missed it, what's up with the name change?

It's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmVOXvOi9Qka brand new me!

Wow, tip of the hat to the Q-ster for the Dusty Springfield reference. I don't know if I agree with Elton John who called her the greatest white singer ever...not the greatest white female singer, but greatest of all white singers...but she's right up there in my book.