Game Report - Wolves v. Jazz
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 11:34 pm
Another terrible loss that furthers the evolving picture of a team in turmoil that's headed for another lottery appearance.
So apparently, Thibs is mad. What else is new? He's been in a consistently angry tirade from the beginning of the season for the full 48 minutes of every single game. I'll note that he hasn't patted a player on the back once the entire season in the games I've seen. Not once! He hasn't clapped or shown a single moment of positive enthusiasm or joy. He is truly the most profoundly negative force I've ever encountered in my life. My wife and others around me were offering this observation tonight as well.
This team hasn't just failed to improve from last season; it's regressed and regressed significantly with 20% of this season already in the rear view mirror. This team is on track to win fewer games than last season and, as Q illustrated in another thread, we are statistically worse as a team in every category. And yet it's the same players as last season, all of whom were reported to have worked hard this past off season - players whose work ethics have never been questioned. So what's changed from last season? Answer: Our head coach. And now he's mad. Mad at who? Mad at his players? I get that. But has he developed any anger at the face he sees in the mirror? I doubt it. Has he channeled his anger into rethinking and revising his approach to coaching these young talented players? Obviously not.
So the question isn't whether it's the coach or the players. It's both. But when things get a lot worse with the same players and the only change has been the coach, then who should get the lion's share of the blame? The answer should be an easy yes. And that's true even if you don't subscribe to Harry Truman's mantra that the buck stops with those in leadership. I've read criticism of KAT's tendency this season to play more on the perimeter, acting more like a guard than a 6'11 center or PF. Do you really think he's doing that on his own? As my Bulls season ticket holder friend told me this past summer, Thibs micromanaged every single offensive possession when with the Bulls. He orchestrates and calls almost everything that happens in real time and that's in addition to drawing up the strategy before games. And of course, it's Thibs who has taken the ball out of Ricky's hands. So let's not kid ourselves. Thibs isn't responsible for individual mistakes players make, but he is responsible generally for how they play and how this team plays together.
I recognize that our players have flaws and bear some responsibility for this team's poor showing so far this season. In tonight's game, for example, we again saw Wiggins as a one-dimensional player who way too often plays with almost no intensity. It wasn't just his paltry 2 rebounds tonight. Once again, it was the pain of watching him fail to pursue loose balls that he could have retrieved with his speed and reach. It was watching him commit 6 fouls, most of them lazy ones that stemmed from his many defensive lapses. And tonight he even failed to do the one thing he does consistently well -- get to the line. Astoundingly he had no trips to the line tonight.
KAT had another poor shooting night, but worse were his defensive lapses and failure to box out on the defensive glass. But he showed a lot of intensity tonight, worked his butt off and did pull down 12 boards to go with a steal and block along with 19 points. And he was facing a really, really long opponent in Gobert. Ricky was hitting his shots tonight, but continued to give up too much penetration on the defensive end. Dunn continues to look good defensively but totally lost on the offensive end.
Other than Wiggins and to some extent KAT, Dunn and Ricky, I don't really have a big problem with the effort or play of our other guys tonight.
Zach was terrific with 28 points, 8 boards, and 8 assists, shooting 53% from the field. One of the best parts of his game tonight was the way he attacked the paint with dribble penetration that resulted in some beautiful layups and was reflected in 9 trips to the line. Nice to see him attack and draw fouls. Except for one stupid steal attempt in the paint, Zach's defense was superb tonight. Here's an interesting observation from tonight, but also true of the other games I've been to. Zach initiates communications with Thibs more than any other Wolves player by far. He did a lot of that tonight. At one point, he came over to remind Thibs that Ricky had just picked up his 4th foul. Thibs appeared to ignore him and then an assistant coach said the exact same thing to Thibs. The next moment, Thibs took Ricky out of the game. That was one example of many where Zach was offering observations to Thibs or asking him questions. Zach and Gorgui appear to be the only two Wolves players whose concentration and psyche haven't been negatively impacted by Thibs. At least that's the way it appears.
Gorgui was very solid tonight. I see Gorgui and Zach as the mentally toughest players on this team. In addition, Gorgui is clearly the smartest. He is almost always in the right place at the right time on both ends of the court. He knows how to draw charges and he plays hard with great intensity all the time. His stat line tonight was very solid with 11 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, but he was better than his box score. He's definitely a glue guy and a keeper long term. I can't understand his lack of playing time in the 4th tonight.
The bench was ok. Bazz showed some moxy and gave us some big points. Belly made some poor decisions with the ball, but overall he crashed the boards and gave good minutes off the bench. Tyus is a tough little guy and, as Flip said, he's a winner. I want to see more of him. He's tough and smart. He struggles to defend because of his physical limitations, but his intelligence allows him to play better defensively than you might think. He reads players well and seems to anticipate extremely well where they're going with the ball.
I'll end with this. Tonight was a continuation of everything that's gone wrong so far this season. And one thing I noticed tonight and have been noticing since the first game is that our players look unhappy and beaten down. They don't have anything close to the same level of enthusiasm or exuberance we saw from them last season. It's very disturbing and suggests the problems we're seen so far this season go deeper than we'd like to admit.
I'm still open the the possibility that we're in the 2 steps back phase of a process under Thibs that will have us taking 4 steps forward before the season ends. And as frustrated as I am, I think it's still a few weeks too soon to conclude that we're in a permanent backwards slide or rut. But if Thibs' frustration as head coach leads his to blow up this talented young squad in his front office role, then I'm done. He came here to coach what he called "the best young roster in the League." If he fails to develop this team -- a team that played .500 ball after the all-star break last season -- into at least a playoff team, then he will end up being Glen Taylor's biggest mistake. And that's saying something!!
So apparently, Thibs is mad. What else is new? He's been in a consistently angry tirade from the beginning of the season for the full 48 minutes of every single game. I'll note that he hasn't patted a player on the back once the entire season in the games I've seen. Not once! He hasn't clapped or shown a single moment of positive enthusiasm or joy. He is truly the most profoundly negative force I've ever encountered in my life. My wife and others around me were offering this observation tonight as well.
This team hasn't just failed to improve from last season; it's regressed and regressed significantly with 20% of this season already in the rear view mirror. This team is on track to win fewer games than last season and, as Q illustrated in another thread, we are statistically worse as a team in every category. And yet it's the same players as last season, all of whom were reported to have worked hard this past off season - players whose work ethics have never been questioned. So what's changed from last season? Answer: Our head coach. And now he's mad. Mad at who? Mad at his players? I get that. But has he developed any anger at the face he sees in the mirror? I doubt it. Has he channeled his anger into rethinking and revising his approach to coaching these young talented players? Obviously not.
So the question isn't whether it's the coach or the players. It's both. But when things get a lot worse with the same players and the only change has been the coach, then who should get the lion's share of the blame? The answer should be an easy yes. And that's true even if you don't subscribe to Harry Truman's mantra that the buck stops with those in leadership. I've read criticism of KAT's tendency this season to play more on the perimeter, acting more like a guard than a 6'11 center or PF. Do you really think he's doing that on his own? As my Bulls season ticket holder friend told me this past summer, Thibs micromanaged every single offensive possession when with the Bulls. He orchestrates and calls almost everything that happens in real time and that's in addition to drawing up the strategy before games. And of course, it's Thibs who has taken the ball out of Ricky's hands. So let's not kid ourselves. Thibs isn't responsible for individual mistakes players make, but he is responsible generally for how they play and how this team plays together.
I recognize that our players have flaws and bear some responsibility for this team's poor showing so far this season. In tonight's game, for example, we again saw Wiggins as a one-dimensional player who way too often plays with almost no intensity. It wasn't just his paltry 2 rebounds tonight. Once again, it was the pain of watching him fail to pursue loose balls that he could have retrieved with his speed and reach. It was watching him commit 6 fouls, most of them lazy ones that stemmed from his many defensive lapses. And tonight he even failed to do the one thing he does consistently well -- get to the line. Astoundingly he had no trips to the line tonight.
KAT had another poor shooting night, but worse were his defensive lapses and failure to box out on the defensive glass. But he showed a lot of intensity tonight, worked his butt off and did pull down 12 boards to go with a steal and block along with 19 points. And he was facing a really, really long opponent in Gobert. Ricky was hitting his shots tonight, but continued to give up too much penetration on the defensive end. Dunn continues to look good defensively but totally lost on the offensive end.
Other than Wiggins and to some extent KAT, Dunn and Ricky, I don't really have a big problem with the effort or play of our other guys tonight.
Zach was terrific with 28 points, 8 boards, and 8 assists, shooting 53% from the field. One of the best parts of his game tonight was the way he attacked the paint with dribble penetration that resulted in some beautiful layups and was reflected in 9 trips to the line. Nice to see him attack and draw fouls. Except for one stupid steal attempt in the paint, Zach's defense was superb tonight. Here's an interesting observation from tonight, but also true of the other games I've been to. Zach initiates communications with Thibs more than any other Wolves player by far. He did a lot of that tonight. At one point, he came over to remind Thibs that Ricky had just picked up his 4th foul. Thibs appeared to ignore him and then an assistant coach said the exact same thing to Thibs. The next moment, Thibs took Ricky out of the game. That was one example of many where Zach was offering observations to Thibs or asking him questions. Zach and Gorgui appear to be the only two Wolves players whose concentration and psyche haven't been negatively impacted by Thibs. At least that's the way it appears.
Gorgui was very solid tonight. I see Gorgui and Zach as the mentally toughest players on this team. In addition, Gorgui is clearly the smartest. He is almost always in the right place at the right time on both ends of the court. He knows how to draw charges and he plays hard with great intensity all the time. His stat line tonight was very solid with 11 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, but he was better than his box score. He's definitely a glue guy and a keeper long term. I can't understand his lack of playing time in the 4th tonight.
The bench was ok. Bazz showed some moxy and gave us some big points. Belly made some poor decisions with the ball, but overall he crashed the boards and gave good minutes off the bench. Tyus is a tough little guy and, as Flip said, he's a winner. I want to see more of him. He's tough and smart. He struggles to defend because of his physical limitations, but his intelligence allows him to play better defensively than you might think. He reads players well and seems to anticipate extremely well where they're going with the ball.
I'll end with this. Tonight was a continuation of everything that's gone wrong so far this season. And one thing I noticed tonight and have been noticing since the first game is that our players look unhappy and beaten down. They don't have anything close to the same level of enthusiasm or exuberance we saw from them last season. It's very disturbing and suggests the problems we're seen so far this season go deeper than we'd like to admit.
I'm still open the the possibility that we're in the 2 steps back phase of a process under Thibs that will have us taking 4 steps forward before the season ends. And as frustrated as I am, I think it's still a few weeks too soon to conclude that we're in a permanent backwards slide or rut. But if Thibs' frustration as head coach leads his to blow up this talented young squad in his front office role, then I'm done. He came here to coach what he called "the best young roster in the League." If he fails to develop this team -- a team that played .500 ball after the all-star break last season -- into at least a playoff team, then he will end up being Glen Taylor's biggest mistake. And that's saying something!!