Minnesota Sports Forum

Have to give credit to the rest as well. Bazz deserve mad props. Towns, rubio,lavine,dieng,tyus and belly all played well.

The starting unit started the game flat. But the bench led by bazz got them going and the starters was able to get us to victory over the defending champs.

Once we got into overtime and Wiggins score 4 straight points. I was confident we will get this. All the pressure where put on the warriors. They were playing to not lose the game after that and the record chasing was weighing on them.

Agreed with all that's been said, and Rubio was absolutely fantastic defensively. Smothered Curry all night long. LaVine switched and played well on him when necessary. Just a terrific game and experience from the start of the second half and on. Team came up with stops when they needed to. That's what made me the happiest.

And what can you say about Towns and Wiggins. Just phenomenal. The buckets are great, and they both made huge field goals in crunch time, but my favorite plays were the gritty ones. Towns playing great defense when he switched on to Curry or forcing Green into a travel when guarding him in the low post. Those were huge. He also had a big time block late in the game that I still don't know how he pulled off. He was falling under the rim and go-go-gadget armed a shot away from the rim. Wiggins turned it up a lot of notches on the glass. That's what we want! He said something the other day in an interview about making more of an effort rebounding the ball. It showed tonight. Some of those boards he absolutely skied for, elbow above the rim on the frame by frame replays. More than anything, though, was when I saw both Towns and Wiggins dive for a loose ball in OT. They were the first two to the ball and regained a much-needed possession. That's heart. That's a strong desire to win. Loved seeing that, especially when this Wolves team is at the end of another lost season.

This is just the beginning. What a fun and potentially GREAT group we have.

That was a blast. Everyone played well. I kept waiting for the mental collapse and it never came...even after the horseshit overturn of a blocking foul...

Once again, I demand that Karl-Anthony Towns make an All-NBA team. Name three centers more deserving and I'll call you a liar.

thedoper wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I can't help myself. We had Andrew Wiggins and the Warriors didn't. Big play after big play. Question his motor tonight.

Definitely no question about Andrew's motor tonight. He was great on both ends, showing intensity, effort and great poise down the stretch. He was forcing turnovers, attaching the boards and diving for loose balls. A performance like this reminds us of what we all know - that Wiggins has the potential to be a star.

But I'm just as thrilled with what Bazz showed tonight. We saw his typical great effort and aggressiveness. But finally his effor and talent came together with opportunity to produce a big number in the scoring column.

Towns was tremendous too. I also lived Zach's defense along with his 4 three-pointers on 7 attempts. He was key as well.

And let's not forget the really solid minutes we got from Tyus off the bench. You have to love his toughness.

I think it's fair to say everyone was great tonight. Even Belly was getting up and blocking shots and grabbing boards. Amazing game. Tonight obviously furthered my love of Bazz. He played some good D on Green as well at the 4. I just want to add a piece. I really don't want to see them move away from any part of this core. Its too unique right now. Add a defender in their prime and get these kids in the playoffs.

I agree completely, Doper. I've liked our core all season and want to keep them together at ,east another year before seriously considering the possibility of trading any of them. By core I mean Towns, Wiggins, LaVine, Dieng, Ricky and Bazz. I'd keep Belly and Prince too. And I don't see Tyus going anywhere. That's 9 players. Assuming KG comes back as I think he will, that leaves 5 roster spots. Draft the best three-point shooting guard available with our lottery pick - which will be Buddy or Valentine. Then sign the best available free agent big guy to beef up our front line and help on the boards. Fill in the final 3 spots with cheap free agents, including a vet backup PG, another big body and another shooter.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I can't help myself. We had Andrew Wiggins and the Warriors didn't. Big play after big play. Question his motor tonight.

2+1 Please. Might have to reverse it to 1+2 for this game though.

What a great confidence booster going into the offseason for our young pups! At this point, I'm hoping for the Warriors to win their next 4 so the Wolves can become a footnote in the history books of their historic season. Terrific game all around by our boys! Dray was giving the Wolves a lot of credit after the game stating the Wolves are as talented as any team in the league, so when they lost their focus, the Wolves were able to take advantage.

One thing this also shows, is that when this team is in a meaningful game, they can get dialed in at the right time. Clearly they're not a top team right now, but this win puts the Wolves on the national radar as "THE" team of the future in the NBA with a win like that showcasing the massive young talent on this team.

Also, I know this probably isn't ideal timing on making this comment, but I'm wondering if a game like this might make Shabazz an attractive trade piece this offseason. Obviously teams do more homework than just watching a nationally televised game, but all it takes is one GM to get tantalized by his scoring ability to gain an edge on trade negotiations. (I don't see him as a key piece to our core, and would love to trade him if we can turn him as part of a package to get a key core piece).

Also, I think Towns & Wiggins just put themselves on the NBA radar for All-Star hopefuls for next season. It's a popularity contest showcasing talent, especially flashy talent, and these guys are proving themselves on the right stage.

I'd say biggest win of the year if it weren't so obvious.

With the board pretty flat over the last week or so, I was going to post this yesterday, but got distracted.

In the last 6 seasons, we've had finishes to the season comprising of 1-21, 0-15, 1-13 and 2-19 (along with a couple of average years when we were almost decent).

It's has been nice that we're not completely tanking away the end of this year, and this win is an awesome exclamation mark on that.

I'd also like to give a shout out to our young guys for being active with their hands on the defensive end lately. They've been getting their hands on a lot of balls in passing lanes in the recent games. Tonight Wiggins was the main beneficiary of this....but I've seen it from a lot of players lately: Rubio, Wiggins, Towns, LaVine, and even Dieng on denying one entry pass the other night. Defensively, we still need to learn to box out much better, but this team is making clear signs of improvement since the All-Star break.

Somewhere Flip is smiling down tonight