Game Report - Wolves v. Raptors

[Lipoli390]

At first the arena reminded me of last season with a relatively small crowd (smallest in quite a while) and lots of the opponents' fans in attendance. But as the game got going, I noticed that the crowed was a lot louder and more engaged than last season. There is definitely a different feeling now at Target Center even when the crowd doesn't match the size we saw in the prior five home games.

As for the game itself, I assumed we'd lose when I learned shortly before tipoff that Jimmy and Jamaal were out. I still assumed we'd lose when the first half ended, but I saw some fight in the Wolves that at least gave me some hope. We ended up with a nice win. It's particularly important to see that this team can win without Jimmy, even against a very good team.

Wiggins carried the team in the first half - keeping us close by scoring 22 of his eventual 29 points in that half. It was great to see him attack the rim and dunk the ball with authority. Once again, Wiggins showed what he can do when motivated and playing with intensity. Unfortunately, he kind of disappeared for most of the 2nd half. But he still made key contributions in the 4th quarter, including a great offensive rebound down the stretch. I like the way he passed out of the double team late in the 4th after turning the ball over when double-teamed a couple plays earlier. Interestingly, Jimmy Butler had a long talk with Wiggins near the bench right after Wiggins turned the all over. You could tell it wasn't just a pep talk. Jimmy was clearly trying to explain something. Looking at way Butler was trying to motioning with his hands and as he talked, I'll venture a guess that Jimmy was explaining how Wiggins should deal with the double team the next time. Well, the next time, Wiggins make a very nice pass to KAT.

KAT took over in the 2nd half with 22 points and nearly all his 10 rebounds in that half. He completely shut down Toronto's center and simply wouldn't let the team lose.

Teague was horrible. His 10 assists way overstate his contribution. He was terrible on both ends, especially in the first half. The team played far better in my view when Tyus was running the show.

Even though KAT deserves the game ball, I'm giving it to MGH. He was terrific tonight. His defense was excellent and he also contributed on the offensive end. That charge he drew down the stretch was huge.

Nice to see Bazz get some minutes. As usual he gave great effort. He's all heart the way hie plays out there. Unfortunately, there's just not a lot of skill to go with that heart.

Tyus was terrific tonight. I just love the way the offense runs when he's in the game. And I love his hustle as well.

Overall a great win. Now lets beat the Clippers in LA before we face the Warriors in the Bay Area Thursday night.

[kekgeek]

The thing I loved about the game is we all agree that we need the young guys to improve for us to become a championship contender and I loved how wiggins carried the wolves in the 1st half when towns did nothing and then towns carried the team in the 2nd half when wiggins play dropped off a bit.

Also love that wiggins and KAT both made clutch 3's (some Kat has struggled on in the past).

Also did anyone see KAT literally steal a rebound from wiggins on the last shot so he could get his double double. They were laughing about it at the end (funny moment but still wish Kat didn't care as much about individual stats)

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

That last play I don't think KAT actually realized it was Wigs next to him, and then he saw it was a teammate and they shared a laugh. Wigs put his hands up like, "hey, same team, bro" and Towns just grinned.

[Shumway]

This is another huge win for us. And cumulatively, no matter how we've got them, they're really adding up. We also seem to be seeing more and more of the less tangible levels of progress we'd hoped to see.

I had expected us to be fighting for seed 5-7 this year, but right now I'd say #3 has our name on it.

[Lipoli390]

That last play I don't think KAT actually realized it was Wigs next to him, and then he saw it was a teammate and they shared a laugh. Wigs put his hands up like, "hey, same team, bro" and Towns just grinned.

You're right, Cam. I had a good view and can confirm that KAT likely didn't know Wigs was there. And as you noted, they both shared a laugh about it as they left the court together. KAT is driven almost instinctively to go after every rebound. That's a good instinct.

I should add that I don't see any selfish players on this team. Let's not kid ourselves. Every great player is so hyper-competitive that they will at times do things that look selfish. Butler looks selfish at times when he get into his iso zone, but that's just his competitive instinct driving him to try to put the team on his back and score. Crawford gets on the court and starts shooting, but that's not selfishness or stat-hunting. It's just Crawford doing what he does best, fueled by his competitive drive.

I really like our team's chemistry now. The contrast between our chemistry and Toronto's was striking last night. DeRozan and Lowry, especially Lowry, were repeatedly glaring and carping at their teammates for perceived mistakes. I've been to every home game but one so far this season and I haven't seen any of that from any of our players, including our vets Butler, Taj and Crawford. Once in a while, Butler will say something and I remember Taj telling KAT to tone it down after he starting celebrating his corner three last in a game. But those moments are pretty rare and they don't have the same arrogant or hostile attitude I sensed from Lowry and DeRozan last night.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Thanks for the report Lip.

Big, big win. We really needed that after two straight losses and the schedule that is in front of us. We are in the midst of a real tough stretch of games, so the key is to just keep our head above water. I'm not sure we can hold the 4th seed through this stretch, as OKC looks go be getting their act together....

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

All the love for MGH is deserved and I really hope he is one of these diamond in the rough guys this franchise seems to NEVER discover or develop, but he needs to knock down that 3-ball. It's so, so important that our complimentary guiys (Bjelly, Tyus, MGH, etc.) hit that open 3.

When the playoffs come, we can't expect to just steam roll everyone with free throw differential. It's not a bad thing to go to the line a lot, but the whistles will be harder to come by in the playoffs. We need to hit shots too....

[Lipoli390]

All the love for MGH is deserved and I really hope he is one of these diamond in the rough guys this franchise seems to NEVER discover or develop, but he needs to knock down that 3-ball. It's so, so important that our complimentary guiys (Bjelly, Tyus, MGH, etc.) hit that open 3.

When the playoffs come, we can't expect to just steam roll everyone with free throw differential. It's not a bad thing to go to the line a lot, but the whistles will be harder to come by in the playoffs. We need to hit shots too....

Q - I don't think MGH is going to become a reliable three-point shooter. He was a career 33% three-point shooter in college and shot only 34.2% from behind the arc as a 4th year senior. I like his defense. That's obviously his calling card at the NBA level. He's strong and I like his ball-handling and slashing ability. He's better at that than I thought he'd be, but we shouldn't be surprised because he excelled as a slasher in college. Nothing in his past suggests he'll become a reliable 3-point shooter and become a true 3-and-D guy. Maybe he can be a Thabo-quality wing -- hitting 34-35% of his three point attempts, scoring in the paint and playing stellar defense. That would be great, but I think that's his ceiling.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Yeah great to see MGH get 29 minutes last night.

[Monster]

All the love for MGH is deserved and I really hope he is one of these diamond in the rough guys this franchise seems to NEVER discover or develop, but he needs to knock down that 3-ball. It's so, so important that our complimentary guiys (Bjelly, Tyus, MGH, etc.) hit that open 3.

When the playoffs come, we can't expect to just steam roll everyone with free throw differential. It's not a bad thing to go to the line a lot, but the whistles will be harder to come by in the playoffs. We need to hit shots too....

Q - I don't think MGH is going to become a reliable three-point shooter. He was a career 33% three-point shooter in college and shot only 34.2% from behind the arc as a 4th year senior. I like his defense. That's obviously his calling card at the NBA level. He's strong and I like his ball-handling and slashing ability. He's better at that than I thought he'd be, but we shouldn't be surprised because he excelled as a slasher in college. Nothing in his past suggests he'll become a reliable 3-point shooter and become a true 3-and-D guy. Maybe he can be a Thabo-quality wing -- hitting 34-35% of his three point attempts, scoring in the paint and playing stellar defense. That would be great, but I think that's his ceiling.

What about 39% from 3 last year in the D-league and over 88% from the FT line?