Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:I'm glad I didn't watch the game. I actually expected the Wolves to lose pretty handily, which is why I didn't watch it even though I was home with nothing to do. I watched a documentary on Queen instead. I'll admit, however, that I didn't expect the Wolves to lose by over 40 points. That's disgusting. Were KAT and Wiggins totally cowed by Butler's mere presence?

I think we should put this game in perspective. It's one game. Unfortunately, it was against Butler's new team with all the underlying dramatic storylines. Yet, note that the Nuggets lost by 31 AT HOME to the Warriors, giving up 51 points in one quarter. Note also that the Thunder lost by 16 to the hapless Atlanta Hawks. I don't know that anyone on this Board would question the toughness of Millsap, Jokic, Westbrook or Paul George. Based on the box score, it looks like KAT had a horrible game. But sort of game from KAT has proven to be exceedingly rare. As for KAT's toughness, I'd say he was plenty tough in both his matchups against Anthony Davis this season and he's been plenty tough against Jokic and others all season. Embiid is the best center in the League and has a way of getting into opponents' heads. He's always been a tough matchup for KAT but he's a tough matchup for everyone. And KAT's not 100% healthy right now. So I'm disappointed in KAT's performance tonight, but I'm not worried about him unless we start to see him repeat nights like this against other centers around the League.

I think we all know that the Wolves aren't nearly as talented as the Sixers. Of course, losing by over 40 points tells us that the Wolves must have played well below their talent level. Yet, all teams, including very good ones, experience losses like this once in a while - e.g., Denver's 31-point home loss and OKC's 16-point loss Atlanta tonight. So I'm not particularly concerned about this embarassingly lopsided loss. Instead, I'm focused on how this team will respond to the loss, as reflected in how they perform in the next several games.

Let's face it - the Wolves need another star, at the PG, SG, or SF position, to play alongside KAT. The Sixers have Simmons and Butler to support Embiid. We have Teague and Wiggins.

longstrangetrip wrote:

Who knows where they go from here. Jones apparently has a high ankle sprain, and joins two other PGs with ankle issues. Are we ready for heavy minutes from Bayless? I'm going to the Spurs game, but not looking forward to it with much joy.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Who knows where they go from here. Jones apparently has a high ankle sprain, and joins two other PGs with ankle issues. Are we ready for heavy minutes from Bayless? I'm going to the Spurs game, but not looking forward to it with much joy.

I'm about to pay ridiculous amounts of money to watch the Wolves battle the Suns.

$38 (+ fees?) per ticket in the nosebleeds. Anybody know about scalping tickets? I haven't purchased any that way before, but I assume it might be a good game to give it a run.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:It'll be interesting to see how the team responds.

It's no secret that teams often have a quick bounceback after a big trade/coaching change. The Wolves are 2 - 2 with a couple of solid wins, one pretty bad loss and one embarrassing loss.

Personally, I think Jones will be missed. Will KAT still get the touches he needs to be the differentiator?

More importantly, what sort of fight does this team have? Personally, I'm not optimistic. But if we've learned anything over the past 5 years, 15 years, 30 years... as fans, we'll give the Wolves the benefit of the doubt.