Minnesota Sports Forum

kekgeek1 wrote:Nice win.

Yeah, we did what we had to do...KAT and Taj totally dominated an undersized team with Gobert out, and Teague evened the score by kicking Ricky's butt worse than Ricky kicked his a couple weeks ago. A little sloppy in the 4th quarter, but a win is a win. I've got tix for the Spurs game, and I feel a lot better about our chances after this game. It would be helpful if Gorgui is back by then though.

Q12543 wrote:

KiwiMatt wrote:Pass the freaking ball around. Terrible offense to match out terrible defense.

What is Thibs' obsession with not running normal sets in these situations!? I know he wants to use some clock, but it is possible to eat 10 seconds off the clock and then actually run a modern NBA set that involves motion and ball movement. The Jazz seemed to have no problem getting open 3's off their 4th quarter offense and they have a bunch of JV guys out there!

Yeah I'm not seeing Butler as a creative playmaker yet in those post sets. It doesn't help that everyone seems to be watching him. But I don't think he's our best option. Get Towns a mandatory touch. Spread it around, especially when it worked so well the rest of the game.

KiwiMatt wrote:

Duke13 wrote:I've seen enough of Butler initiating offense from the top of the arch. Get him the ball in other spots. He's too deliberate with his moves. Ugh.

Problem is Teague and him hold onto the ball too long and panic with 5 seconds on the shot clock. This starting unit is built to play faster.

I agree, The lack of pace is mystifying

I think this debate was finalized tonight. You saw why Rubio is no longer a Timberwolve, and why Teague is.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I think this debate was finalized tonight. You saw why Rubio is no longer a Timberwolve, and why Teague is.

We talk a lot about the modern NBA offenses here yet some people still hold a special place for Rubio. I don't know how your primary ball handler can't score in today's game. I definitely think Rubio has a strong place in the NBA, just not as a starter at this point. Could definitely see him as a back up on the Spurs and even being a huge part of a playoff run for a team.

Duke13 wrote:

KiwiMatt wrote:

Duke13 wrote:I've seen enough of Butler initiating offense from the top of the arch. Get him the ball in other spots. He's too deliberate with his moves. Ugh.

Problem is Teague and him hold onto the ball too long and panic with 5 seconds on the shot clock. This starting unit is built to play faster.

I agree, The lack of pace is mystifying

I didn't see the game tonight so I appreciate the insights form you guys. We won a game we had to win and the box score suggests that KAT and Butler really stepped up. KAT in particular looks great in the box score with 24 points, shooting 66% from the field and from behind the arc to go with 12 rebounds 1 block and zero turnovers. I like that Wiggins ended up with 2 steal and 2 blocks, but he and Teague apparently turned the ball over a lot.

Your observations on lack of pace and ball movement tonight are things we've seen all season so far and last season. It drives me nuts and it's a waste of our team's talent. It's part of why I don't like Thibs. We're a talented team, but our head coach in my view is not getting the most out of that talent.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I think this debate was finalized tonight. You saw why Rubio is no longer a Timberwolve, and why Teague is.

I missed the game tonight, Cool, but the box score supports your observation. We'll see how things play out over the course of the season, but it seems obvious that Teague completely outplayed Ricky. Based on the past few games, Ricky's shooting appears to be regressing to his mean. While I didn't like the 5 turnovers from Teague tonight, he appears to have been highly productive.

Apart from the end of the 4th the offense was great tonight. They shot 52% from the field and 50% from 3. Got ugly at the end because they let up, but overall it was really solid. Wiggins and Teague both had a couple of turnovers in the 4th when we were up big. Teague was great tonight, played within the game and scored timely possessions.

lipoli390 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I think this debate was finalized tonight. You saw why Rubio is no longer a Timberwolve, and why Teague is.

I missed the game tonight, Cool, but the box score supports your observation. We'll see how things play out over the course of the season, but it seems obvious that Teague completely outplayed Ricky. Based on the past few games, Ricky's shooting appears to be regressing to his mean. While I didn't like the 5 turnovers from Teague tonight, he appears to have been highly productive.

Doesn't probably show in the box score Lip but they had to bench the last quarter and half of the game because of how bad he was tonight. Fans were booing him after every miss as well. I felt bad for him.

thedoper wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I think this debate was finalized tonight. You saw why Rubio is no longer a Timberwolve, and why Teague is.

We talk a lot about the modern NBA offenses here yet some people still hold a special place for Rubio. I don't know how your primary ball handler can't score in today's game. I definitely think Rubio has a strong place in the NBA, just not as a starter at this point. Could definitely see him as a back up on the Spurs and even being a huge part of a playoff run for a team.

Doper, Ricky had a terrrible game tonight...heck, he was on the bench much of the second half because of his ineffectiveness (just like Teague was in the San Antonio game). But I"m not sure why you are concluding Ricky can't score. He's outscoring Teague 14.5 to 13 PPG, and his TS% is actually better than Teague's...52.7 to 51.7. Teague is a much better 3-point shooter this season, but Ricky has been more effective in getting to the line and making his free throws, and has made 45% of his 2-point shots as opposed to 41% for Teague. There are more ways to score in the NBA than just threes, and (other than tonight) Ricky is finding a way to score while he is struggling with his 3-pointers at a higher TS% than our PG. If he is able to get back to the three point percentage he put up the last half of last season, I expect his 14.5 PPG will go even higher.

But tonight there is no question...he was garbage.