Game Report - Wolves v. Suns
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:59 pm
Nice to finally report on a win. It's been too long. It was clear from the beginning that we're the more talented team, but that's not unique to tonight's game. We've lost too many games so far this season to teams with equal or inferior talent.
But I saw tonight's game as part of a positive recent trend. This should have been our 3rd win in a row but for a terrible collapse the last 2 minutes of the last game. Yet, it's 2 wins in our last 3 games and that's encouraging. I see the defense improving, the offense becoming more steady and the team starting to develop some mental toughness. As I mentioned in some previous posts, if this team finishes strong the last half of last season, then we'll all pretty much forget the parade of horribles we've seen so far in the first third of the season.
There were a lot of keys to tonight's win. We can point to the fact that the Suns are a pretty bad team, but focusing on that exclusively would be unfair to our team's effort and performance tonight. What we saw tonight was, in my view, the formula for this team's success. That formula consists of (1) Ricky generally running the offense and getting a lot of assists (12 tonight); (2) the big 3 scoring effectively and efficiently; (3) the starters showing mental toughness with our key guys making key plays on pure guts and effort; and (4) getting meaningful contributions off the bench from Dunn and either Bazz or Belly. All 4 parts of the formula were there tonight. We don't have to be, and should be expected to be, a great defensive team. We just need to be good enough defensively to outscore our opponents without having to score 115 points. This is a team that can and should score at least 108 most games. More specifically, I'll highlight a few key areas behind tonight's win.
1. The performance of our big three. All three -- KAT, Andrew and Zach played really well tonight. KAT was tremendous with 28 points, 15 boards and 2 blocks. And if I had to pick one play as the #1 key to tonight's win, I'd pick KAT's put-back layup plus 1 late in the 4th. That was a pure effort play and the kind of thing we often get from KAT more than any other player on this team except perhaps Ricky. KAT's driving layup on the pick and roll from Ricky down the stretch was another huge play. And it was nice to see him step up defensively tonight as well. The guy has been playing his heart out this season and he really came up huge tonight. Zach was terrific tonight, scoring 23 points to go with 4 boards and 3 assists. If I were to pick the #2 key play tonight it would be Zach's 3-pointer late in the 4th. That's what he does that no other player on this team can do -- hitting big three-pointers fearlessly in crunch time. Andrew also came up big tonight with 26 points and 3 steals. He also had some terrific buckets down the stretch. When you look at the scoring from the Suns' guards you might conclude that Zach and Andrew played poorly defensively, but I don't think that's the case. The Suns' guards are very good shooters who hit a number of really tough guarded shots. I liked the defensive effort from both tonight.
2. Dunn and Shabazz off the bench. These two guys really gave us a lift off the bench. Dunn's defense was tremendous and Bazz gave us points and rebounding we really needed to hold the lead while our starters were sitting. Dunn's defense is something to behold. He's probably the team's best defender already and has the potential to be one of the top defenders in the League. And he's starting to hit his shots. Bazz is Bazz. He's never seen a shot he doesn't want to take and he can make some bad mistakes as a result of his tunnel vision. But he plays with such heart and he can put the ball in the basket. I should probably mention Cole, who also gave us some nice minutes tonight. He's developed into a pretty steady, solid big off the bench.
3. Mental toughness. I recall a number of games ago, I mentioned that a key for this team will be whether the players start to absorb and reflect the intensity and mental toughness of their head coach. One way to put it is they'll either fold and fail or get tough (even nasty) and succeed. I'm seeing KAT, who has had shouting matches with Thibs, start to dig in and get tougher and more intense. Zach has always seemed comfortable with and a reflection of Thibs. Overall, the team has been showing what I believe to be more toughness the past 9 quarters with the exception of the last 2 minutes of the last game.
Here are a few interesting tidbits you probably didn't see on TV:
1. In the 2nd quarter, Thibs called a timeout after the Suns scored on a layup. As the players were coming to the bench, Zach was scolding Dieng for failing to let him know he was about to be picked from the blind side. Zach was right to call out Dieng for that. But I liked the fact that Zach actually got after him. I've seen other players chide each other lately. I actually think that's a good sign. It shows feistiness and a willingness to hold each other accountable.
2. Ricky and Thibs spent a lot of time visiting one on one during stoppages in play. Ricky would come over to Thibs on the sideline and you could see the two having a respectful two-way conversation, nodding and pointing at various places on the court. I like setting the PG and head coach connect that way. I haven't seen that much before the last two games and I saw a lot more of it tonight than any previous game.
3. After KAT's driving layup on a feed from Ricky down the stretch I saw something I had NEVER seen previously this season. I saw Thibs patting players on the back. And not just a polite pat -- I'm talking enthusiastic animated pats. There were two guys he patted -- Ricky and Zach. I thought it was interesting, that he felt impelled to pat those two. Ricky's pat made sense obviously because of his pass, which was a really nice smart play by him. But Zach's pat was the more interesting one. I'd have to see the film to see what he did, but it must have been a big deal on that play. Anyway, I dont' want to make too much of these two pats, but when you've been to every home game but one and never seen the head coach so much as high five or touch a player, you can't help but notice and put some significance to what I saw tonight.
I see something important happening on this team. I'm not going to get giddy over tonight's win against a pretty bad team or the Thibs' two animated pats on the back. But putting what I saw tonight together with what we saw in the 4th quarter of the Bulls game and in all but the last 3 minutes of the Houston game, I'm encouraged.
But I saw tonight's game as part of a positive recent trend. This should have been our 3rd win in a row but for a terrible collapse the last 2 minutes of the last game. Yet, it's 2 wins in our last 3 games and that's encouraging. I see the defense improving, the offense becoming more steady and the team starting to develop some mental toughness. As I mentioned in some previous posts, if this team finishes strong the last half of last season, then we'll all pretty much forget the parade of horribles we've seen so far in the first third of the season.
There were a lot of keys to tonight's win. We can point to the fact that the Suns are a pretty bad team, but focusing on that exclusively would be unfair to our team's effort and performance tonight. What we saw tonight was, in my view, the formula for this team's success. That formula consists of (1) Ricky generally running the offense and getting a lot of assists (12 tonight); (2) the big 3 scoring effectively and efficiently; (3) the starters showing mental toughness with our key guys making key plays on pure guts and effort; and (4) getting meaningful contributions off the bench from Dunn and either Bazz or Belly. All 4 parts of the formula were there tonight. We don't have to be, and should be expected to be, a great defensive team. We just need to be good enough defensively to outscore our opponents without having to score 115 points. This is a team that can and should score at least 108 most games. More specifically, I'll highlight a few key areas behind tonight's win.
1. The performance of our big three. All three -- KAT, Andrew and Zach played really well tonight. KAT was tremendous with 28 points, 15 boards and 2 blocks. And if I had to pick one play as the #1 key to tonight's win, I'd pick KAT's put-back layup plus 1 late in the 4th. That was a pure effort play and the kind of thing we often get from KAT more than any other player on this team except perhaps Ricky. KAT's driving layup on the pick and roll from Ricky down the stretch was another huge play. And it was nice to see him step up defensively tonight as well. The guy has been playing his heart out this season and he really came up huge tonight. Zach was terrific tonight, scoring 23 points to go with 4 boards and 3 assists. If I were to pick the #2 key play tonight it would be Zach's 3-pointer late in the 4th. That's what he does that no other player on this team can do -- hitting big three-pointers fearlessly in crunch time. Andrew also came up big tonight with 26 points and 3 steals. He also had some terrific buckets down the stretch. When you look at the scoring from the Suns' guards you might conclude that Zach and Andrew played poorly defensively, but I don't think that's the case. The Suns' guards are very good shooters who hit a number of really tough guarded shots. I liked the defensive effort from both tonight.
2. Dunn and Shabazz off the bench. These two guys really gave us a lift off the bench. Dunn's defense was tremendous and Bazz gave us points and rebounding we really needed to hold the lead while our starters were sitting. Dunn's defense is something to behold. He's probably the team's best defender already and has the potential to be one of the top defenders in the League. And he's starting to hit his shots. Bazz is Bazz. He's never seen a shot he doesn't want to take and he can make some bad mistakes as a result of his tunnel vision. But he plays with such heart and he can put the ball in the basket. I should probably mention Cole, who also gave us some nice minutes tonight. He's developed into a pretty steady, solid big off the bench.
3. Mental toughness. I recall a number of games ago, I mentioned that a key for this team will be whether the players start to absorb and reflect the intensity and mental toughness of their head coach. One way to put it is they'll either fold and fail or get tough (even nasty) and succeed. I'm seeing KAT, who has had shouting matches with Thibs, start to dig in and get tougher and more intense. Zach has always seemed comfortable with and a reflection of Thibs. Overall, the team has been showing what I believe to be more toughness the past 9 quarters with the exception of the last 2 minutes of the last game.
Here are a few interesting tidbits you probably didn't see on TV:
1. In the 2nd quarter, Thibs called a timeout after the Suns scored on a layup. As the players were coming to the bench, Zach was scolding Dieng for failing to let him know he was about to be picked from the blind side. Zach was right to call out Dieng for that. But I liked the fact that Zach actually got after him. I've seen other players chide each other lately. I actually think that's a good sign. It shows feistiness and a willingness to hold each other accountable.
2. Ricky and Thibs spent a lot of time visiting one on one during stoppages in play. Ricky would come over to Thibs on the sideline and you could see the two having a respectful two-way conversation, nodding and pointing at various places on the court. I like setting the PG and head coach connect that way. I haven't seen that much before the last two games and I saw a lot more of it tonight than any previous game.
3. After KAT's driving layup on a feed from Ricky down the stretch I saw something I had NEVER seen previously this season. I saw Thibs patting players on the back. And not just a polite pat -- I'm talking enthusiastic animated pats. There were two guys he patted -- Ricky and Zach. I thought it was interesting, that he felt impelled to pat those two. Ricky's pat made sense obviously because of his pass, which was a really nice smart play by him. But Zach's pat was the more interesting one. I'd have to see the film to see what he did, but it must have been a big deal on that play. Anyway, I dont' want to make too much of these two pats, but when you've been to every home game but one and never seen the head coach so much as high five or touch a player, you can't help but notice and put some significance to what I saw tonight.
I see something important happening on this team. I'm not going to get giddy over tonight's win against a pretty bad team or the Thibs' two animated pats on the back. But putting what I saw tonight together with what we saw in the 4th quarter of the Bulls game and in all but the last 3 minutes of the Houston game, I'm encouraged.