Minnesota Sports Forum

The Target Center was more alive than I've seen it all season late 4th quarter tonight. Before that late 4th quarter comeback, the Wolves looked like they were outclassed and had no chance to win. It's amazing how quickly things can turn around in a NBA game.

Credit the Wolves starters for the fight they showed in the 4th quarter. It would have been a huge lift for this team to pull this one out in the end, but alas it was not to be. Truth is, the Wolves never should have fallen behind by 17 in the 4th. The Knicks aren't that good and to fall behind like that on our home court was inexcusable. Nevertheless, perhaps our comeback will spur the team on anyway and going forward spark the caliber play we expected to see from this team at the beginning of the season. We'll see, but i'm not holding my breath.

The difference tonight was our bench, though obviously not a positive difference. When you lose a close one like this it highlights the importance of every play and every coaching decision throughout the game. Three things stand out to me as decisive in tonight's game.

First was the horrific 10 minutes we got from Kris Dunn. His 3 turnovers in those 10 minutes alone cost us the game. But he was terrible in every other facet of the game beyond those turnovers. There was his ill-advised shot that turned into an air ball. More generally, there was his complete failure to orchestrate the offense. Even his defense was poor tonight as Jennings had his way blowing past Kris with head fakes that consistently had Dunn going the wrong way. We can't know for sure, but I'm convinced giving those 10 minutes to Tyus would have changed tonight's loss to a win. Tyus may have had the same struggles as Dunn on the defensive end, but I'm certain he would not have turned the ball over 3 times and I'm equally certain he would have given the Wolves at least a few good offensive possessions during that time. I won't go off on Thibs for his decision because I understand the importance of seeing what we can get from Dunn. But I recall at the time talking with the guy behind me and both of us agreeing Thibs should have gone with Tyus at the time.

Second was Belly's pathetic 16 minutes on the court. I've always liked him. I like his ability to shoot the three and I like his rebounding. But he continues to show a propensity for horrible decision-making -- the kind of stupidity you normally don't see from NBA players. In addition to some terrible decisions with the ball, he went 0 for 5. If Gorgui had gotten half of those 16 minutes I have no doubt we would have won the game. Again, I can't go after Thibs because he does need to get something from his bench and Belly has been our best player off the bench so far this season. But I would have replaced Belly sooner because he looked horrible from the beginning tonight.

Finally, the poor play of Bazz was another reminder that our front offices probably made the right decision not extending him.

A couple other negatives tonight. First,Thibs has to stop taking the ball out of Ricky's hands early in the shot clock and especially needs to stop giving the ball early to Wiggins. The difference between Ricky handling the ball versus playing off the ball was painfully obvious tonight and probably cost us the game. Second, Wiggins has to stop taking those contested 2-point jumpers early in the shot clock. He played fairly well tonight, including 7 rebounds, but he only had one trip to the line. This is the second consecutive game where he's failed to get to the line.

Now I'll close with a few positives. First and foremost, there aren't enough superlatives to describe KAT's play tonight. 47 points, including 2 clutch 4th quarter free throws,18 boards, 3 blocks and a steal. He looked like his old self tonight and that bodes well for the rest of this season and the future of the franchise. Second, Zach was excellent tonight. That clutch 3 late in the 4th was huge and was a reminder that he and KAT are the guys you want to roll with in crunch time. What might have gone unnoticed was that it was LaVine who slowed down an otherwise hot Jennings tonight. I've said it before and I'll say it again, LaVine has shown signs so far this season of becoming the terrific defender Flip thought he would be. Credit Thibs for the decision to switch assignments and put Zach on Jennings.

One final thought. As you all know, I have serious misgivings about Thibs as our head coach based on his oppressively negative demeanor, relentless tirades and the team's profoundly disappointing performance thus far through 20% of the season. However, I look at it this way. It's up the the players to adapt. They need to come together as teammates and decide that they're going to be as tough, hard-headed and relentless as their head coach even if it's just to spite him. I saw some of that toughness from our starters in our 4th quarter comeback tonight. If they can capture and repeat what we saw tonight consistently going forward, then the season is still salvageable even if we fall just short of the playoffs.

And that's a rap.

Forgot to mention one sort of funny moment when KAT, looking totally exhausted, looked at Thibs and said, "I'm tired." In classic Thibs fashion, he said nothing back, looked away from Thibs and left him in the game. KAT actually continued to play well so Thibs was clearly right to leave him in the game and I don't think KAT was asking to come out. Just an amusing moment I thought I'd share.

I also liked the togetherness I saw from our starters tonight. They talked a lot and gave each other a lot of encouragement. At one point, after Zach made a mistake and got screamed at by Thibs, KAT went over to Zach and gave him a pat on the chest. I don't want to make too much of this but I think it's important. Sometimes players turn on each other and teams come apart during extended periods of losing like we've been through so far this season. The fact that these guys are staying together and supporting one another bodes well long term.

I could be kidding myself, but I left Target Center tonight with the guy feeling that this team has turned the corner and is about to start living up to some of the early season hype. Just a gut feeling.

Not with that bench.

The Big 3 played 40+ minutes. The team had no chioce if it wanted to win though. But we all know about Thibs reputation overextending key players. It needs more legit rotation guys on the court with that second unit.

To add to your point about team togetherness, Lip, there was a shot on TV during the Wolves final timeout where LaVine had his arms around Towns and Rubio* (I think it was him). Nothing really happened more than that as the team was watching Thibodeau draw up a play, and surprisingly I felt good about what would happen on the ensuing play had we been able to inbound the ball. We're diving into the land of subjectivity here, but little things like that do matter, in my opinion. LaVine's personality just feels genuine. He is who he is and doesn't seem to run from it.

Also a funny moment to add, but that big three-pointer by LaVine late in the fourth quarter was arguably the biggest shot for the Wolves all night... and the replay showed Thibs' reaction on the sideline. Stone cold. Couldn't get a fist pump or a smile from the guy. Made me chuckle. That guy's desire to win burns so hot.

I would really like to see more work in the post when this team is struggling. Towns, Wiggins and Bazz can do damage down low. It can slow the game down when opponents are on a roll and get our guys in rhythm when they are off. Seems like when this team plays bad, these guys are just heaving long bomb after long bomb. In the Phoenix game I attended, the game changed when Towns and Wiggins went down on the block.

I am interested to see how long Rubio lasts with this team. I love Ricky and think he is a very talented player but I think it is apparent that he is not meant to play on young and inexperienced teams. He is not much of a consistent leader and would probably feed off of a veteran team that does not have such large lapses. He also needs a coach that wants the ball in his hands. Interestingly Dunn has not shown anything close enough to give confidence to move Ricky unless for another point guard. Maybe in 3 years he would fit seamlessly with this core but I can't imagine that he will be here very long.

Jennings hit what like 3 off balance shots? That's part of his game but dude is a chucked and the Knicks got lucky he made those. That Kusmingus dude looks like a guy I went to college with that's a math teacher now. It felt like he had like 25 points. There was a stretch where the Knicks were just hitting shots. It was kinda nuts. The Wolves defense wasn't terrific during that time but it certainly wasn't terrible either.

And then there was that 4th quarter where they locked down played tough and came back. It would have been great to see a win but that was a good comeback and we saw some good stuff there.

I agree Wiggins shouldn't have been taking those long twos. I know he can make those but go to the freaking rim. He seemed to play solid defense on Melo though.

Towns played a complete game on both ends. He didn't settle he was putting forth a Tom of effort on the boards and defensively.

Dieng had a pretty good game how many balls did he keep alive and all that? His defense was pretty good. All in all I thoughbthe Wolves showed some good signs on that end. Guys were even getting through screens more.

Rubio was pretty good tonight. That's the player we are used to seeing most nights.

As for the bench...

I feel bad for Bazz. It seems like he can't catch a break. He misses a bunny grabs an offensive rebound and fumbles it out of bounds etc. at least he hit that one long jumper when the shot clock was winding down. I think he is doing mostly the right thinks and making plays that are what his value he just can't seem to finish them. That's fluky. It's gonna turn around.

Belly...the talent is there but it just doesn't come together consistently enough. It's somewhere between watching the relative brilliance of Lavine and Payne roller coaster of good then bad. They need him to be worthwhile more often.

I agree with you Lip Dunn wasn't too good after a couple more positive games. I thought his defense was ok (credited with a steal and a block) though he made a couple plays but he was pretty hapless on offense.

Aldrich was probably the most effective bench player and he played 6 minutes. That's pretty sad.

Tyus didn't do anything but he didn't screw up either. The Knicks went with combo guard so putting Tyus out there made sense. It seems clear Thibs and his staff have a comfort level with Tyus at this point.

Overall it was a fun game. I wish we had a Kyle O'Quinn type player. I've always liked him

Camden wrote:To add to your point about team togetherness, Lip, there was a shot on TV during the Wolves final timeout where LaVine had his arms around Towns and Rubio* (I think it was him). Nothing really happened more than that as the team was watching Thibodeau draw up a play, and surprisingly I felt good about what would happen on the ensuing play had we been able to inbound the ball. We're diving into the land of subjectivity here, but little things like that do matter, in my opinion. LaVine's personality just feels genuine. He is who he is and doesn't seem to run from it.

Also a funny moment to add, but that big three-pointer by LaVine late in the fourth quarter was arguably the biggest shot for the Wolves all night... and the replay showed Thibs' reaction on the sideline. Stone cold. Couldn't get a fist pump or a smile from the guy. Made me chuckle. That guy's desire to win burns so hot.

Cam - Actually I meant to mention that moment with LaVine as well. Yes, it was LaVine wth his arms around Towns to his right and Rubio to his left. It was right in front of me as I'm 12 rows directly above the center of the Wolves bench. Interesting that you used the word "genuine" to describe Zach. My wife used the exact same word to describe him at that moment when we saw him with his arms around those two guys. She's also used the word passion to describe him. And I love how unphased he is by Thibs yelling. He talks a lot to Thibs and seems totally comfortable with him. I see him becoming a tremendous player for this team. He's the complete package -- multi-talented, moxie, passion. The defense is coming as he continues to get stronger and gathers more experience. It's important to remember that he did not get a lot of playing time in his one year of college and has not played as many minutes as Wiggins since coming to the NBA.

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:To add to your point about team togetherness, Lip, there was a shot on TV during the Wolves final timeout where LaVine had his arms around Towns and Rubio* (I think it was him). Nothing really happened more than that as the team was watching Thibodeau draw up a play, and surprisingly I felt good about what would happen on the ensuing play had we been able to inbound the ball. We're diving into the land of subjectivity here, but little things like that do matter, in my opinion. LaVine's personality just feels genuine. He is who he is and doesn't seem to run from it.

Also a funny moment to add, but that big three-pointer by LaVine late in the fourth quarter was arguably the biggest shot for the Wolves all night... and the replay showed Thibs' reaction on the sideline. Stone cold. Couldn't get a fist pump or a smile from the guy. Made me chuckle. That guy's desire to win burns so hot.

Cam - Actually I meant to mention that moment with LaVine as well. Yes, it was LaVine wth his arms around Towns to his right and Rubio to his left. It was right in front of me as I'm 12 rows directly above the center of the Wolves bench. Interesting that you used the word "genuine" to describe Zach. My wife used the exact same word to describe him at that moment when we saw him with his arms around those two guys. She's also used the word passion to describe him. And I love how unphased he is by Thibs yelling. He talks a lot to Thibs and seems totally comfortable with him. I see him becoming a tremendous player for this team. He's the complete package -- multi-talented, moxie, passion. The defense is coming as he continues to get stronger and gathers more experience. It's important to remember that he did not get a lot of playing time in his one year of college and has not played as many minutes as Wiggins since coming to the NBA.

I agree I think Lavine is pretty genuine. He just seems like a good dude that's kinda fun but also gets plenty serious too but actually doesn't take him too seriously. I haven't seen or heard the halftime spots but Jim and Dave have mentioned a few times that he has had very good takes. I remember back to the draft when people made some assumptions about him. I can't find anything that makes me dislike him as a person. It's fun.

Monster -- Glad you mentioned Andrew's defense on Mello. It was excellent. Also glad you mentioned Gorgui and Ricky.

Gorgui was very good tonight. He is emerging as our most consistent player as well as our glue guy. As Thibs said at the beginning of the season, Gorgui does a lot of positive things that don't show up in the box score. One of them is keeping balls alive that allow us to retain or get possession even though he doesn't get credit for a rebound. We saw a lot of that from him tonight. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time on both ends of the floor and is the only Wolves player good at drawing charges. He's a really smart player in addition to being perhaps our most intense.

And yes, Ricky looked like the old Ricky tonight. Most notable was Ricky's driving layup lat in the 4th. That was a huge bucket that can get overlooked in the midst of Zach's three-pointer and KAT's big free throws. He just switched to another gear and split the defenders through the paint for a gliding layup. Also noteable was his steal down the stretch that kept us in the game. Interesting that both he and KAT looked like their old selves for the first time this season. Perhaps it's a sign they're finally adjusting to Thibs.

lipoli390 wrote:Monster -- Glad you mentioned Andrew's defense on Mello. It was excellent. Also glad you mentioned Gorgui and Ricky.

Gorgui was very good tonight. He is emerging as our most consistent player as well as our glue guy. As Thibs said at the beginning of the season, Gorgui does a lot of positive things that don't show up in the box score. One of them is keeping balls alive that allow us to retain or get possession even though he doesn't get credit for a rebound. We saw a lot of that from him tonight. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time on both ends of the floor and is the only Wolves player good at drawing charges. He's a really smart player in addition to being perhaps our most intense.

And yes, Ricky looked like the old Ricky tonight. Most notable was Ricky's driving layup lat in the 4th. That was a huge bucket that can get overlooked in the midst of Zach's three-pointer and KAT's big free throws. He just switched to another gear and split the defenders through the paint for a gliding layup. Also noteable was his steal down the stretch that kept us in the game. Interesting that both he and KAT looked like their old selves for the first time this season. Perhaps it's a sign they're finally adjusting to Thibs.

Good points. Ricky had 2 finishes at the rim that actually looked like a basketball player. It was nice to see. It sure helps he is back to hitting his FTs which was just a matter of time.