Game Report - Wolves v. Nuggets

[Lipoli390]

Lots of empty seats tonight as there were in the last game against Memphis. But the crowd was livelier tonight. Nevertheless, the same result -- a home loss that should have been a win.

I knew we might be in trouble at the end of the first half when I noticed the Wolves had shot 55% from the field in that half compared to Denver's 45%, yet we only had a 6-point lead. With that shooting disparity, we should have been up by 12 points. Alas, my worst fears were realized in the 2nd half as the Wolves fell behind by 11 points by the end of the 3rd quarter. And although the Wolves almost pulled it out with a big comeback in the 4th quarter, the end result was the team's second straight home loss.

No one had a great game for the Wolves. Gorgui might have had his best game defensively as a Timberwolf. His defense and hustle were a welcome sight. Rose played with his characteristic energy and put up 20 points on 54% shooting. I'd say he was the Wolves best player, although Saric and Covington played pretty well. Covington was excellent defensively and shot the ball well from behind the arc. Saric showed great hustle and determination. KAT got in foul trouble and played only 28 minutes. He ended up scoring 22 points on 50% shooting and got to the line 9 times, but he had 6 turnovers and was outplayed by Millsap. Yet I loved KAT's monster dunk late in the 4th. That showed some heart. Speaking of heart, or lack thereof, Wiggins was terrible after getting off to a good start with 3 quick rebounds at the beginning of the 1st quarter. He had only 2 rebounds the rest of the game and scored only 13 points on 40% shooting with 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 0 trips to the line and 3 turnovers. He was bad.

But I'll boil this loss down to two things. First, Thibodeau's offense. Watching Denver's players move the ball so quickly and fluidly with minimal dribbling and multiple passes was such a beautiful contrast to the ugly Wolves' overdribble/iso offense. Second, Jeff Teague. As bad as Thibodeau's iso, poorly spaced iso offense was tonight, Teague made it far worse. As he often does, Teague repeatedly dribbled out most of the shot clock before taking a bad shot or putting one of his teammates in a terrible situation where they had to take rushed, contested shots. Teague is the one guy on this team who is consistently worse that his stats would otherwise suggest. Led by Teague, the Wolves turned a 6-point lead into an 11-point deficit by the end of the 3rd. There are players who make their teammates better. Then there are players who make their teammates worse. Tonight Teague was the latter and that's not unusual for him. He might not be so bad if he played off the ball rather than running the point, but as a PG he's often terrible as hie was tonight. The second unit, led by Rose along with Tyus, Saric and Gorgui, led the Wolves back to within 1 point in the 4th. However, when Teague and the starters returned to the floor, the game slipped away.

At some point, others on this board will begin to realize as I did even before the Memphis game -- that is, this Wolves team is not going to end up in the playoffs this season and the Wolves will simply not improve so long as Thibodeau remains the team's head coach.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I watched this one on TV, and while disappointing, the game was quite entertaining. I really thought we were going to take it at the end, but Rose, after a brilliant game, made some dumb "hero" plays down the stretch. Doesn't take too much away from an extraordinary effort by G, Tyus, RoCo, Saric...oh, and Rose.

KAT's strengths and weaknesses couldn't have been more on display...he was practically unstoppable when guarded by Milsap, but he was completely unable to defend Milsap. It was quite sad to realize that the cornerstone of our team is so poor on defense that an opposing team can target him with a player past his prime. KAT needs to improve defensively if this team is going to realize its potential...he was beyond terrible last night in turning Paul Milsap into LeBron.

When it comes right down to it though, this game was decided beyond the arc...the Nuggets were 14-35 or 40%, while the Wolves were only 9-32 or 28%. Without RoCo's 4-9, the Wolves were a dreadful 5-23 on threes. The Wolves are a pretty good 3-point shooting team, so I see this game as an anomaly...overall we played well enough to win, but just didn't make shots we would normally make.

I can't think of anything in particular to blame on Thibs in this game, but I'm going to anyway. He's lost the basketball community as shown by the continuing boos when he is announced and sparse crowds. Glen was there, and he has to notice both of these things. Losing to both Memphis and Denver at home after the home stand started out so well is the last straw for me, and I hope for Glen...it's never been more apparent that a change is necessary. Glen isn't going to fire a coach on Thanksgiving, but absent a win streak, I think Thibs may be in his final week. Maybe a new coach can figure out how to get 35 good minutes out of Wig and turn KAT into an average defender.

[Lipoli390]

LST - First of all, I agree with you that this game was fun to watch. In that sense, it was very different from the Memphis game. I didn't leave the game angry like I did leaving the Memphis game. But it was still a game the Wolves should have won. Based on their talent, the Wolves should have won both games playing at home.

The 3-point disparity could certainly be viewed as the main reason the Wolves lost. And KAT's defense was bad. But this game was there for the taking even with that disparity and KAT's defense on Millsap if the Wolves had some semblance of an offense beyond iso-ball. Moreover, the Wolves still would have won the game with Thibodeau's one-dimensional, antiquated offense if Teague had stayed on the bench the entire second half. Everyone around us at the game last night was disgusted by Thibodeau's offense and Teague's performance - even fans who generally don't get down on Thibodeau or Teague. And as one regular fan said, "we've been seeing this from Teague all season so far." Another fan and my wife said it looks like Teague doesn't want to be here.

As for KAT, his defense on Millsap was clearly bad last night, but to be fair his defense has improved significantly this year. Further, there are great players, even perennial MVP candidates, in the League who aren't good defensively - e.g., James Harden. I would also note that Thibodeau should have switched defensive assignments and had Taj or Saric guard Millsap, switching KAT onto Jokic once it became clear that KAT wasn't able to effectively guard him. Millsap may be past his prime, but he looked really quick and focused last night; it wasn't just KAT. So some of the credit has to go to Millsap. Note that KAT only played 28 minutes, so Millsap wasn't just succeededing against him. In any event, coaching matters and leaving KAT on Millsap the whole night night was another example of Thibodeau's inflexibility and poor judgment.

The boos everytime Thibodeau is announced at the beginning of each game continue for a reason. If I were Glen, I'd get Thibodeau out of here sooner rather than later and put an interim coach in place for the rest of the season.

Otherwise, since the Butler trade, this team is generally fun to watch. The defense is much better and the guys have some really good chemistry.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Late (really late) DVR Viewing:

I fell asleep watching most of the first half. So I woke to see that 3rd quarter abomination.

- Milsap destroyed Towns... on both ends. And he got in his head. Let's not ignore KAT's 6 TOs. They've become an issue since Butler has been gone (5.7 per game) and perhaps part of the reason he's averaging only 13 fga per game without Butler. He hasn't been a difference maker nearly enough over the past 50 or so games... with or without Butler. It was his best game of the season by far.

- I've seen the three point disparity being discussed as a problem... and it's justified. But just imagine how it could have been worse. The Nuggets were getting WIDE OPEN looks almost all night. They simply missed them in the first half.

- What do we do about Tyus Jones. He literally does next-to-nothing... but is that a good thing or bad thing? He hasn't made more than 2 shots in 9 games. He's shooting only 30% in that span. He can't shoot three pointers (13 straight misses). He can't finish. He can't create for himself... and is limited on creating for others. But once again... he ends up on the right side of the +/- column because of Dieng, Saric and Rose during that run... despite shooting 1 - 6 fg for 2 points and 0 assists over 19 minutes.

Meanwhile, Monte Morris looks like a legit backup PG... with potential to be a starter. He was great last night and is averaging 9 ppg... but even more impressively... he has 71 assists this season... to only 11 TOs. We all know about Jones' low TOs... but Morris is even better while actually DOING stuff. The guy was drafted #52 last year by the way.

- Teague. Yeah. Agreed.

- Dieng made an impact! On air, Peterson made note of Covington praising Gorgui and the surprised reaction from Dieng.

- Wiggins. Meh. Some good... some bad... not nearly enough impact. It's simply who he is and who he'll be.

- Robert Covington and Derrick Rose look like the best players on the team. That's a HUGE problem. Both guys are nice to have... Covington as a 4th or 5th starter who plays good D and hits wide open shots. And Rose as an energy guy off the bench.

- Josh Okogie isn't in the rotation. And the Wolves are still losing. So what are we gaining here? The team is in 14th place. I repeat... 14th place. And it's not a fluke. Every team above the Wolves has been playing better. And it's not a stretch to say that they're all better than the Wolves. The Clippers aren't a fluke. Neither are the Grizzlies. Neither is Dallas. Heck, I've been thinking the Kings are a fluke... but I'm not even sure about that.

What's even worse is that it can be argued that 14 of the teams in the West have a more promising FUTURE than the Wolves, too. Only the Spurs (and maybe Phoenix) look as "meh" down the line.

That being said... enjoy your Thanksgiving. At least we have pro basketball in town... and if anybody knows how to follow an NBA team going nowhere... we're more accustomed to it than any other fanbase.

[Duke13]

The wolves are on the path of becoming the Wizards of the West. Two overpriced "stars" that have no idea how to win. I think Towns is no where near at a point to write him off, although I think there are personality traits which are concerning with Kat.

[Lipoli390]

I'm not worried about KAT. He has been highly consistent as an efficient scorer and a rebounder his entire 3+ years. His durability is incredible. And he plays with passion. We've also seen significant improvement in his defense this season. His problem is that he can get whiny with the refs and he lets his emotions get the best of him. That's fixable. What's not fixable is lack of passion, which is Wiggins' problem. KAT also has great hands and a tremendous skill set, two more things Wiggins lacks.

Tyus helps the team in spite of his shooting problems and limitations. He's a true PG who makes his teammates better on the offensive end and he's a very good team defender. I still think his shooting will come around with more playing time. He's been a good shooter at every level until now.

Did you see Teague's post-game comment? He said "I told him (Thibodeau) to leave them (Tyus & the 2nd unit) in there. Oh, whatever." It's clear Teague can't stand Thibodeau. It's the same frustration that drove Crawford to give up over $4 million host to get the hell away from Thibodeau.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I'd like to see Tyus get some starter minutes as well. I know last year was hit and miss but I would try it again. But Thibs won't. He's too stubborn.

[thedoper]

Tyus is fine in small doses but the real question is if we are playing 9 players do we want 3 pgs taking up a large chunk of those minutes? The answer should be no except in very limited minutes. We have length and active defenders now, why aren't we using it? Their wings ended up torching us with easy shots last night. Running 2 pg sets was not helpful. Tyus was on the floor for the bench comeback but it doesn't happen without Saric and Gorgui. Tyus was a bystander last night who also missed any oppprtunity to help his team by making wide open 3s. Ultimately Tyus is the 3rd best pg on a team where only 2 pgs should be playing. The only way he should get extensive playing time should be to injury or for subsitution of the 2nd pg for matchup purposes.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Tyus is fine in small doses but the real question is if we are playing 9 players do we want 3 pgs taking up a large chunk of those minutes? The answer should be no except in very limited minutes. We have length and active defenders now, why aren't we using it? Their wings ended up torching us with easy shots last night. Running 2 pg sets was not helpful. Tyus was on the floor for the bench comeback but it doesn't happen without Saric and Gorgui. Tyus was a bystander last night who also missed any oppprtunity to help his team by making wide open 3s. Ultimately Tyus is the 3rd best pg on a team where only 2 pgs should be playing. The only way he should get extensive playing time should be to injury or for subsitution of the 2nd pg for matchup purposes.

We could play 3 pgs or the 2 bigs hat thibs likes so much, but we cant take advantage of the match ups. We are often giving the opposing team the advantage.

3 pgs, lets move the ball and run. But instead we iso in half court sets. Then our defense gets beat on or we cat rebound because we are outsized.
2 bigs? We either lose all spacing with taj or dieng cant roll nor has the ability to post up anyone.

[Lipoli390]

CC is right. It's not so much that Thibodeau is using 3 PGs in his rotation. The problem is Thibodeau employs a slow half-court iso offense, which is not a good use of a 3 PG rotation.

Furthermore, Rise is the team's best PG by far, yet Teague starts. I actually think Tyus is our 2nd best PG after Rose. I'd be shopping Teague aggressively the next couple months.