Minnesota Sports Forum

Nba teams were 1-9249 when trailing by 16 with 3:45 or less before tonight. Last time it happened the Wolves blew one to the Sacramento kings in 2020. Wild stat

kekgeek wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 10:17 pm Finch: “it takes a lot of mental toughness to play OKC, they foul a lot and I mean a lot and you are not allowed to touch Shai”

Ha, what a quote! And ultimately Finch got the last laugh, as SGA got mostly taken out of the game with that zone and then couldn't convert at the end of regulation or OT.

It's interesting that our version of playing small is actually still pretty big against them. Reid, Shannon, Jaden, and Ant all had double-digit rebounds and we also got to the FT line ten more times than they did.

kekgeek wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 10:02 pm

Jester1534 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 9:53 pm Young guys are way more fun to watch their energy.

Obviously want to see them win a championship but i also want to watch a good product and these guys do it way for me than randle.

All the young guys feel like they could play a role long term. They all have big weakness but they have all stamped their impact on the season

I just really enjoy how different all three of there games are. On to the next one Beat LA baby.

Abe's Midnight in the Garden of Comebacks DVR Review:

- Sometimes, basketball gives off an unmistakable vibe. That 4th quarter and OT was a VIBE.

- When announcers are giving kudos like "valiant effort" and "didn't let go of the rope" ... while still being down 14 with only 3 minutes left gives off that basketball vibe.

- The energy level to start that 4th was a vibe. You don't get that hungry vibe with seasoned vets who know that a 20 point lead vs. OKC means it's over. The kids don't know better. They're out there to get theirs through effort and hustle.

- I think Jalen Williams has a 12'9" reach. He is so good at pokeaway steals.

- An Edwards game-saving block. Again!

- McDaniels ... ummm... I was thinking... ummm... you know... I've always thought he'd become the next Scottie Pippen.

My honey and I turned on the recorded game, and both fell asleep sometime in the second half when we were down 20 something, She woke me up later and said "Hey, we're only down 3!". We watched the end of the game on OT, and then went back to watch how it happened! Very fun!

What was most heartening to me was that we were able to watch the guys who are going to be a big part of Ant 2.0 shine on the big stage. Jaylen Clark didn't show much offense and was a team-worst -18, but I enjoy every moment he is on the court. And let's put it in perspective...every one of his minutes was when SGA was out there. And allowing Jaden to not have to guard stars like SGA has unlocked him on the offensive end. Shannon bugged me the night before every time he lost his man trying to overhelp on defense (I think that's why he was a -22 in his 19 minutes), but the coaching staff must have talked with him on the plane to OkC , because I saw none of this problem last night...he was great at both ends of the court. And Rob flashed the potential most of us think he has. Rudy, Ju and Conley won't be here when Ant is 28, and it was exciting to see some of the guys who will be here play so well. Now, let's go out and get a good defensive center to be the defensive anchor in a few years...

We go back and forth on Ant's character in our household, but we were both impressed with how enthusiastic he was on the bench cheering the young guys on...he loves winning, and is always a good teammate. And his calf didn't look too hurt on that terrific block!

Kudos to Tim for guiding us through "the gauntlet"...I think all of us would be pleased with a 2-4 result at this stage. Now we gotta go out and BEAT LA!

He isn't being mentioned a ton, but NAW has obviously broken out of his slump, which hit its nadir in January, and is now back to what we saw earlier in the season. He was huge last night. He is shooting 42% from 3 over his last 10 games and has been his usual relentless self otherwise.

Now I kinda don't want to let him go again! Grrrr, good problem to have I guess.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Feb 25, 2025 3:46 pm He isn't being mentioned a ton, but NAW has obviously broken out of his slump, which hit its nadir in January, and is now back to what we saw earlier in the season. He was huge last night. He is shooting 42% from 3 over his last 10 games and has been his usual relentless self otherwise.

Now I kinda don't want to let him go again! Grrrr, good problem to have I guess.

Yeah, good problem indeed. NAW was the X factor last night in my opinion at both ends of the court. He was awesome whenever he was playing the top of Finchie's creative 2-3 zone (although we should admit we never would have made it to overtime if OkC wouldn't have missed all the open looks they made the night before).

Now for a frustrating topic. Ant is our most important player and our team leader. But his clutch shooting has become a huge issue and cost us several wins. And you couldn't help noticing how much more effective our end-of-game offense was with him on the bench...not to mention, more fun to watch. Obviously Ant is the straw that stirs our drink and we are going to need him on the court most nights at crunch time. But how can Finchie help him see how much more effective our offense is when we push the pace, rather than letting Ant dribble at the top of the key?

Free throw shooting:

Team: 34 from 39 (87%)

Ant: 6 from 10 (60%)

Rest of team: 28 from 29 (97%)

We didn't just beat the Thunder. We broke them.

Hartenstein looks like Robin wearing his black mask. Nets were up 30-12 early. They've been blitzing SGA, just like the Wolves did towards the end of the game. We'll see if the Thunder can recover...