Minnesota Sports Forum

The Wolves would have lost tonight to any of the 16-20 playoff-caliber teams in the League. Fortunately, they played a lottery-bound team that also happens to be the second-youngest team in League history. Yet, they still almost lost and ended up with an ugly win. I'll take the win no matter how ugly, but this team has a lot of work to do to make this season pay off in a way that justifies the moves they made this past summer.

The good news is that Gobert's play tonight was as advertised. He makes the team around him better. His stat line of 23 points and 16 rebounds was certainly impressive, but he was even more impressive than the stat line suggests. He only had one block, but he changed and deterred a number of shots inside defensively and he also bailed the team out a number of times at the rim offensively. He's an interesting player to watch on the offensive end. Except for his screening, his skills on that end are really pretty bad. Yet, he scored 23 points tonight simply based on his tremendous length, IQ and effort. I really love the way he competes and how smart he plays. And I love his demeanor on the court and the bench. It's all business with Rudy and he's always talking to his teammates. He just looks the part of a leader.

Other good news includes the play of Jaden McDaniels. Some of us have suggested he has Scottie Pippen-like upside. Tonight he showed some Scottie Pippen with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. He got to the line 10 times and hit all but one of those free throws. He had great energy tonight that may have not been as obvious on TV. He was really quick reacting on the defensive end. If you're naming the Wolves defensive player of the game, I think I might give McDaniels the slight edge over Gobert. Very encouraging to see the way McDaniels played tonight.

I have to include Taurean Prince and Jalen Nowell in the good news about tonight's game. Prince played only 12 minutes, but those 12 minutes were as critical to the Wolves win as Gobert's 34. Prince hit 3 of 4 three point attempts and 4 of 5 shots from the field. He also drew two charges in the paint. His 12 minutes on the floor were more impactful as any 12-minute stint I've seen before. Jalen Nowell was also terrific tonight with 13 efficient points in 18 minutes along with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and zero turnovers. I wish Ant could finish at the rim as well as Nowell does.

Speaking of Ant, his shooting was terrible again tonight. His misses at the rim were really frustrating. As a scorer, Edwards again looked like he's regressed. On the other hand, he had 8 rebounds and 7 assists, including some really nice passes. So it wasn't all bad for Ant. But his poor shooting, some defensive lapses and sticky fingers caused Finch to give him the hook in the 4th. I liked Finch holding him accountable.

KAT was terrible tonight in almost every way except his playmaking. His 2-10 shooting was pathetic, but he did hit 6 of 6 free throws. And again, I liked what I saw from him as a passer tonight. We should cut him some slack. He really is behind the other players because of his illness. It wasn't just the illness sapping his strength; it was also missing valuable practice time and preseason minutes. It also looked like he's struggling more than Gobert in adjusting to his role on the team. Hopefully with time KAT will round into form and click well with Rudy. Towns did make a couple really nice passes to Gobert.

Overall main positives were Rudy, McDaniels and the bench. Also, you could see some of the potential in the DLO/Gobert combo as well as potential in the KAT/Gobert combo. Overall negatives were poor 3-point shooting, poor spacing and getting out-hustled to loose balls. Getting out hustled to loose balls might be a function of the team's lack of quickness, but I'm not sure. Bottom line is this team has to do a much better job on the defensive boards than they did tonight. We have Rudy now dominating the boards around the basket, but we don't have Vando and Beverley getting after long rebounds and loose balls. Edwards contributed 8 rebounds, but we didn't get enough rebounding from others.

We should beat Utah on Friday. But I'll be looking for overall improvement in several areas:

1. Better movement, spacing and shooting on the offensive end overall
2. Better shooting, especially better finishing, by Ant
3. Better job of defensive rebounding and getting after loose balls
4. Better job of stopping dribble penetration before it gets to Gobert and better job closing out on shooters

lipoli390 wrote:The Wolves would have lost tonight to any of the 16-20 playoff-caliber teams in the League. Fortunately, they played a lottery-bound team that also happens to be the second-youngest team in League history. Yet, they still almost lost and ended up with an ugly win. I'll take the win no matter how ugly, but this team has a lot of work to do to make this season pay off in a way that justifies the moves they made this past summer.

The good news is that Gobert's play tonight was as advertised. He makes the team around him better. His stat line of 23 points and 16 rebounds was certainly impressive, but he was even more impressive than the stat line suggests. He only had one block, but he changed and deterred a number of shots inside defensively and he also bailed the team out a number of times at the rim offensively. He's an interesting player to watch on the offensive end. Except for his screening, his skills on that end are really pretty bad. Yet, he scored 23 points tonight simply based on his tremendous length, IQ and effort. I really love the way he competes and how smart he plays. And I love his demeanor on the court and the bench. It's all business with Rudy and he's always talking to his teammates. He just looks the part of a leader.

Other good news includes the play of Jaden McDaniels. Some of us have suggested he has Scottie Pippen-like upside. Tonight he showed some Scottie Pippen with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. He got to the line 10 times and hit all but one of those free throws. He had great energy tonight that may have not been as obvious on TV. He was really quick reacting on the defensive end. If you're naming the Wolves defensive player of the game, I think I might give McDaniels the slight edge over Gobert. Very encouraging to see the way McDaniels played tonight.

I have to include Taurean Prince and Jalen Nowell in the good news about tonight's game. Prince played only 12 minutes, but those 12 minutes were as critical to the Wolves win as Gobert's 34. Prince hit 3 of 4 three point attempts and 4 of 5 shots from the field. He also drew two charges in the paint. His 12 minutes on the floor were more impactful as any 12-minute stint I've seen before. Jalen Nowell was also terrific tonight with 13 efficient points in 18 minutes along with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and zero turnovers. I wish Ant could finish at the rim as well as Nowell does.

Speaking of Ant, his shooting was terrible again tonight. His misses at the rim were really frustrating. As a scorer, Edwards again looked like he's regressed. On the other hand, he had 8 rebounds and 7 assists, including some really nice passes. So it wasn't all bad for Ant. But his poor shooting, some defensive lapses and sticky fingers caused Finch to give him the hook in the 4th. I liked Finch holding him accountable.

KAT was terrible tonight in almost every way except his playmaking. His 2-10 shooting was pathetic, but he did hit 6 of 6 free throws. And again, I liked what I saw from him as a passer tonight. We should cut him some slack. He really is behind the other players because of his illness. It was just the illness sapping his strength; it was also missing valuable practice time and preseason minutes. It also looked like he's struggling more than Gobert in adjusting to his role on the team. Hopefully with time KAT will round into form and click well with Rudy. Towns did make a couple really nice passes to Gobert.

Overall main positives were Rudy, McDaniels and bench. Also, you could see some of the potential in the DLO/Gobert combo as well as the potential in the KAT/Gobert combo. Overall bad were poor 3-point shooting, poor spacing and getting out-hustled to loose balls. That may be a function of the team's lack of quickness, but I'm not sure. Bottom line is this team has to do a much better job on the defensive boards than they did tonight. We have Rudy now dominating the boards right around the basket, but we don't have Vando and Beverley getting after long rebounds and loose balls. Edwards contributed 8 rebounds, but we didn't get enough rebounding from others.

We should beat Utah on Friday. But I'll be looking for overall improvement in several areas:

1. Better movement, spacing and shooting on the offensive end overall
2. Better shooting, especially better finishing, by Ant
3. Better job of defensive rebounding and getting after loose balls
4. Better job of stopping dribble penetration before it gets to Gobert and better job closing out on shooters

Very solid write up lip. Did the wolves play great? No. But did they find a way to win even though they struggled? Yep.

I also want to give credit to Dlo. 20 pts for what is supposed to be your 4th best player was solid. Consistent games like Dlo gave you tonight and they are going to win a lot of games.

Very solid write up lip. Did the wolves play great? No. But did they find a way to win even though they struggled? Yep.

I also want to give credit to Dlo. 20 pts for what is supposed to be your 4th best player was solid. Consistent games like Dlo gave you tonight and they are going to win a lot of games.