Game Report - Home Opener
Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2016 11:17 pm
A big crowd, but a surprisingly large number of vacant seats - many of them lower section mid-court. Shameful that season ticket holders don't show up for the home opener of a young promising team on a night with tremendous weather. Even more shameful that they don't give their tickets to someone who would love to be there. But enough of that.
The Wolves performance tonight was tremendous. It was a total team win. This was the team I saw in preseason. It's the team that built huge leads in each of their first two games on the road. This time they built a huge lead and kept it. It tells us how good this team can be. It tells us that the main take-away from the first two games was the fact that we built and sustained big leads for an extended period against solid NBA teams in their buildings. There will be ups and downs with this young team, but there's no doubt in my mind that the preseason hype on this Board and among national basketball analysts was well founded.
I'll start my breakdown with an assessment of some of our individual players, starting with who I saw as the Wolves three stars tonight. Then I'll provide some observations on Thibs based on my bird's eye view of him not too far directly behind the Wolves bench.
Let's start with tonight's big three for the Wolves -- Zach, Gorgui and Kris Dunn. There shouldn't be any disagreement that these were our best three players tonight by far. In fact, they were clearly the best three players on the court. Here's my brief breakdown of each:
1. Zach LaVine -- No doubt in my mind he was the best player on the floor tonight. Part of it was his 31 points in 29 minutes, hitting over 60% of his FG attempts and over 55% of his 3-point shots. Part of it was the way he ran the floor consistently in tandem with Dunn giving us a glimpse at what might become one of the most dynamic backcourts in the League in a year or two. Perhaps the biggest part of what made Zach the best player on the floor tonight was his defense. It was absolutely stellar. He didn't have any steals. But what he did was stick to his man like glue, fighting through screens and staying focused. He made one blunder when he failed to close out on Carter, but otherwise, he showed good judgment and hustle on the defensive end as well. What he showed tonight was what Flip was thinking when, sitting across the table from me at the Loon cafe, Flip told me his main reason for drafting Zach was his potential to be a great defender. It was fun to watch him perform tonight. The guy has a lot of talent and a lot of moxie. I can tell you my heart stopped for a second when he was lying of the floor holding his ankle after a chippy step-in by a Memphis Griz player following a Zach dunk in the 1st quarter. But he got back in, with a noticeable but faint limp, and picked up where he left off.
2. Gorgui Dieng. Gorgui made our front office and ownership look really smart tonight. His stats - 17 points, 6 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks were terrific but they actually understate his contribution tonight. This guy is so smart. He always puts himself in the right spot on both ends of the court and is money with that 15-foot jump shot. He's probably our single most reliable player -- consistently coming through on the things he does well and rarely making mistakes.
3. Kris Dunn. I could have easily put Kris at #2, but regardless of where I slot him in my top three tonight, this kid was fantastic. Let's start with his stat line -- 10 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 5 steals with only 3 turnovers in 29 minutes. How's that for a first NBA start at the NBA's toughest position? Importantly, he showed us tonight that he can shoot the ball. He also made very good decisions with the ball. And his defense? Absolutely incredible. I noticed a thread comparing Dunn to Gary Peyton. Well, Dunn's performance tonight suggests that's not a bad comparison. He's a really tough kid -- and fearless. And he's relentless on the defensive end. Is it possible that we witnessed the beginning of the Kris Dunn era at Target Center? Possibly, but I don't want to get carried away by my exuberance over what I saw tonight. Suffice it to say, Kris Dunn showed tonight why so many teams were so high on him during the draft and why his peers picked him the most likely NBA rookie of the year.
So there you have my top three. Now I want to give some recognition to a few other Wolves players who were impressive tonight:
Tyus Jones -- He's been dismissed by a lot of pundits and fans as too small, too slow and nothing more than a 3rd string PG at best. But he showed tonight, as he showed a few times late last season and during Summer League, that he's far better than portrayed by his detractors. Yes, he has physical limitations. But he is really, really smart and simply has a great feel for the game. And while small, he's tough. I'd be very comfortable with him as our second string PG going forward if that's where we end up. I'll note that his teammates seem to love him. When he came to the bench after his first stint tonight, his teammates were all smiles, shelling out enthusiastic high fives and pats on the back. Jordan Hill almost came out of skin with joy as Jones starting taking his seat next to him. Jordan was smiling ear to ear and kept smacking Jones on the back. It was a fun moment.
Brandon Rush -- Brandon showed tonight why he was a great addition to this team. He gave us what he's supposed to give us -- namely reliable perimeter shooting, especially from behind the arc. He played 19 minutes, hitting 50% of his FG attempts and hitting 2 of his 3 shots from behind the arc, ending up with 9 points. Not great, but solid.
Belly -- Not a great night for Belly, but he stayed within himself tonight with a very solid game, going 2-4 from the field and 1-2 from the 3-point line. But more importantly, he pulled down 8 boards and committed only 1 turnover. His 8 boards were a reminder that he's a terrific rebounder. That's one of the things I really like about him. Even when he's not scoring, he can help us on the boards from the PF position.
Wiggins -- Andrew was very solid tonight, playing within the team framework and putting up some very solid numbers with 17 points and 4 assists in 29 minutes, shooting over 54% from the field and hitting 2 of 2 from behind the arc. But I want to focus for a second on his 4 assists. I really liked what I saw from Andrew in this area. He showed that he can see the floor and make the right pass at the right time. It was nice to see.
Bazz -- Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Bazz's performance tonight. He was terrific. He may have made the play of the game and the one that set the tone for the game in the 1st quarter when he chased the ball down as it headed out of bounds off a teammate and passed it over his head to a teammate while in the air. It was at the time Bazz's third hustle play in a row. Watching him tonight made me wonder if we should have signed him, but hard to know what he was demanding. As I said last night, I would have offered him up to $10 million per year. Watching him tonight, perhaps we should have gone to $12 million per year if 10 wasn't enough.
Now a few observations regarding Thibs and the bench.
Yes, Thibs barks constantly at his players and the officials. Generally, he's not yelling at them for mistakes, but instead yelling instructions although he does yell about mistakes. He looks angry all the time except when he's sitting in front of them and instructing them during a time out. Interestingly, his facial expression changes then and he just looks intense but not angry at all. What I really like about him is that even when he's angry over what was clearly a particular player's mistake, he NEVER goes after that player individually in front of his teammates or fans the way Sam often did. He always seems to direct his anger at the team as a whole. The only time he talks individually to players is when he's pretty calmly giving them instructions.
My final thoughts are on KAT. He had another subpar performance tonight. I watched closely to see if I could get a sense of what's wrong with him. I think there are two things at the root of his troubles so far. First is the fact that teams are getting really physical with him off the ball. They are physically pounding him and getting away with it. Until the officials give him some respect, it will be difficult for him to get back on track. Now back to Thibs, because I think the second thing going on with KAT is the Thibs effect. It's interesting watching how the players react to Thibs constant barking from the sideline. All the players seem to almost always ignore him -- with one exception -- KAT. I saw KAT repeatedly look to Thibs as Thibs was shouting from the sideline. I don't know why. Perhaps KAT feels he needs to be in complete sinc with Thibs in a way the other players don't. If so, I'm thinking that KAT and Thibs will eventually adjust to each other. So I'm not worried. But it sure would be nice to see KAT regain last season's form.
Overall, a great win tonight. Now let's do the same thing to Denver this Thursday.
The Wolves performance tonight was tremendous. It was a total team win. This was the team I saw in preseason. It's the team that built huge leads in each of their first two games on the road. This time they built a huge lead and kept it. It tells us how good this team can be. It tells us that the main take-away from the first two games was the fact that we built and sustained big leads for an extended period against solid NBA teams in their buildings. There will be ups and downs with this young team, but there's no doubt in my mind that the preseason hype on this Board and among national basketball analysts was well founded.
I'll start my breakdown with an assessment of some of our individual players, starting with who I saw as the Wolves three stars tonight. Then I'll provide some observations on Thibs based on my bird's eye view of him not too far directly behind the Wolves bench.
Let's start with tonight's big three for the Wolves -- Zach, Gorgui and Kris Dunn. There shouldn't be any disagreement that these were our best three players tonight by far. In fact, they were clearly the best three players on the court. Here's my brief breakdown of each:
1. Zach LaVine -- No doubt in my mind he was the best player on the floor tonight. Part of it was his 31 points in 29 minutes, hitting over 60% of his FG attempts and over 55% of his 3-point shots. Part of it was the way he ran the floor consistently in tandem with Dunn giving us a glimpse at what might become one of the most dynamic backcourts in the League in a year or two. Perhaps the biggest part of what made Zach the best player on the floor tonight was his defense. It was absolutely stellar. He didn't have any steals. But what he did was stick to his man like glue, fighting through screens and staying focused. He made one blunder when he failed to close out on Carter, but otherwise, he showed good judgment and hustle on the defensive end as well. What he showed tonight was what Flip was thinking when, sitting across the table from me at the Loon cafe, Flip told me his main reason for drafting Zach was his potential to be a great defender. It was fun to watch him perform tonight. The guy has a lot of talent and a lot of moxie. I can tell you my heart stopped for a second when he was lying of the floor holding his ankle after a chippy step-in by a Memphis Griz player following a Zach dunk in the 1st quarter. But he got back in, with a noticeable but faint limp, and picked up where he left off.
2. Gorgui Dieng. Gorgui made our front office and ownership look really smart tonight. His stats - 17 points, 6 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks were terrific but they actually understate his contribution tonight. This guy is so smart. He always puts himself in the right spot on both ends of the court and is money with that 15-foot jump shot. He's probably our single most reliable player -- consistently coming through on the things he does well and rarely making mistakes.
3. Kris Dunn. I could have easily put Kris at #2, but regardless of where I slot him in my top three tonight, this kid was fantastic. Let's start with his stat line -- 10 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 5 steals with only 3 turnovers in 29 minutes. How's that for a first NBA start at the NBA's toughest position? Importantly, he showed us tonight that he can shoot the ball. He also made very good decisions with the ball. And his defense? Absolutely incredible. I noticed a thread comparing Dunn to Gary Peyton. Well, Dunn's performance tonight suggests that's not a bad comparison. He's a really tough kid -- and fearless. And he's relentless on the defensive end. Is it possible that we witnessed the beginning of the Kris Dunn era at Target Center? Possibly, but I don't want to get carried away by my exuberance over what I saw tonight. Suffice it to say, Kris Dunn showed tonight why so many teams were so high on him during the draft and why his peers picked him the most likely NBA rookie of the year.
So there you have my top three. Now I want to give some recognition to a few other Wolves players who were impressive tonight:
Tyus Jones -- He's been dismissed by a lot of pundits and fans as too small, too slow and nothing more than a 3rd string PG at best. But he showed tonight, as he showed a few times late last season and during Summer League, that he's far better than portrayed by his detractors. Yes, he has physical limitations. But he is really, really smart and simply has a great feel for the game. And while small, he's tough. I'd be very comfortable with him as our second string PG going forward if that's where we end up. I'll note that his teammates seem to love him. When he came to the bench after his first stint tonight, his teammates were all smiles, shelling out enthusiastic high fives and pats on the back. Jordan Hill almost came out of skin with joy as Jones starting taking his seat next to him. Jordan was smiling ear to ear and kept smacking Jones on the back. It was a fun moment.
Brandon Rush -- Brandon showed tonight why he was a great addition to this team. He gave us what he's supposed to give us -- namely reliable perimeter shooting, especially from behind the arc. He played 19 minutes, hitting 50% of his FG attempts and hitting 2 of his 3 shots from behind the arc, ending up with 9 points. Not great, but solid.
Belly -- Not a great night for Belly, but he stayed within himself tonight with a very solid game, going 2-4 from the field and 1-2 from the 3-point line. But more importantly, he pulled down 8 boards and committed only 1 turnover. His 8 boards were a reminder that he's a terrific rebounder. That's one of the things I really like about him. Even when he's not scoring, he can help us on the boards from the PF position.
Wiggins -- Andrew was very solid tonight, playing within the team framework and putting up some very solid numbers with 17 points and 4 assists in 29 minutes, shooting over 54% from the field and hitting 2 of 2 from behind the arc. But I want to focus for a second on his 4 assists. I really liked what I saw from Andrew in this area. He showed that he can see the floor and make the right pass at the right time. It was nice to see.
Bazz -- Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Bazz's performance tonight. He was terrific. He may have made the play of the game and the one that set the tone for the game in the 1st quarter when he chased the ball down as it headed out of bounds off a teammate and passed it over his head to a teammate while in the air. It was at the time Bazz's third hustle play in a row. Watching him tonight made me wonder if we should have signed him, but hard to know what he was demanding. As I said last night, I would have offered him up to $10 million per year. Watching him tonight, perhaps we should have gone to $12 million per year if 10 wasn't enough.
Now a few observations regarding Thibs and the bench.
Yes, Thibs barks constantly at his players and the officials. Generally, he's not yelling at them for mistakes, but instead yelling instructions although he does yell about mistakes. He looks angry all the time except when he's sitting in front of them and instructing them during a time out. Interestingly, his facial expression changes then and he just looks intense but not angry at all. What I really like about him is that even when he's angry over what was clearly a particular player's mistake, he NEVER goes after that player individually in front of his teammates or fans the way Sam often did. He always seems to direct his anger at the team as a whole. The only time he talks individually to players is when he's pretty calmly giving them instructions.
My final thoughts are on KAT. He had another subpar performance tonight. I watched closely to see if I could get a sense of what's wrong with him. I think there are two things at the root of his troubles so far. First is the fact that teams are getting really physical with him off the ball. They are physically pounding him and getting away with it. Until the officials give him some respect, it will be difficult for him to get back on track. Now back to Thibs, because I think the second thing going on with KAT is the Thibs effect. It's interesting watching how the players react to Thibs constant barking from the sideline. All the players seem to almost always ignore him -- with one exception -- KAT. I saw KAT repeatedly look to Thibs as Thibs was shouting from the sideline. I don't know why. Perhaps KAT feels he needs to be in complete sinc with Thibs in a way the other players don't. If so, I'm thinking that KAT and Thibs will eventually adjust to each other. So I'm not worried. But it sure would be nice to see KAT regain last season's form.
Overall, a great win tonight. Now let's do the same thing to Denver this Thursday.