Game Report - Wolves v. Mavs
Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 9:45 pm
Looked like the smallest crowd of the season based on the empty seats I saw start to finish. It seemed like a quiet crowd, but that changed with those horrible calls in the 4th quarter, which brough the crowed to life. The earlier quiet was just a function of the Wolves failing to generate any energy in the arena based on the way they were playing.
I'm glad we got the win, but it shouldn't have been that hard. We are far more talented than the Mavs and we had 3 full days rest while Dallas was playing their 3rd road game in a row. So it's a win, but I'd call this another moral loss. Of course, I'd rather have a moral loss than a moral victory. :)
Butler and KAT were our two stars and the keys to tonight's win. KAT's scoring carried us in the 1st half and Butler's clutch scoring carried us to victory in the 4th quarter. KAT gets my game ball for his overall play. His 28 points led the team, but you also have to factor in his 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. The only blemish were his 7 turnovers, but a number of those were pretty poor passes and some uncalled fouls. He also played well defensively tonight with what Thibs likes to call "multiple-effort" defensive plays, including his last defensive contest of the 3-point shot near the end of the game. KAT was getting hammered and continued to get short-changed on the calls. But to his credit he complained a lot less tonight. Butler is my obvious runner-up for game-ball honors with his clutch shots at the end. It was our typically horrible isolation offense. Without Butler, we absolutely lose the game in the 4th quarter because Butler saved us with some really tough shots taking on the entire Dallas defense.
With Towns and Butler getting the stars of the game award, Jamaal Crawford gets honorable mention for his 16 points in 20 minutes of the bench. He's a gunner and we definitely needed his gunning tonight. He also brings great energy and confidence to the team when he's on the court. Taj also played pretty well with 10 rebounds, but this wasn't one of his best games. Gorgui was terrific off the bench. His two 4th quarter steals were huge and that first steal and dunk really swung the momention in our favor. Tyus played well and should have had more than 12 minutes, especially the way Teague was playing. Tyus defended much better than Teague and, as usual, he did a much better job running the offense. Teague tonight was a great example of a someone who played much worse than his box score. Tyus actually played better than his numbers in limited minutes.
Wiggins was putrid. 10 points on 3 for 12 from the field and 4-8 from the line is totally unacceptable for any starting SF, especially someone in his 4th season with a 5-year max contract in his pocket. And as we all know by now, his game tonight was not an anomaly. Pat of his problem is obviously mental -- a lack of intensity and mental toughness. That's what would explain his putrid free-throw shooting. But most of his problem as I see it stems from a low basketball IQ, bad hands and very poor ball-handling skills. The low IQ (or lack of mental toughness) was obvious tonight as we saw Wiggins take fade away short-range jumpers over Yogi Farrell! It was absolutely your amazing as well as disgusting to watch his inability to score one-on-one against Yogi. He and Teague both competed tonight for matador honors. Jamaal also showed his matador tendencies tonight, but I can live with that from him because of the scoring and energy he brings to the court.
Hard to see how this team is going to win their next 4 home games playing the way they did tonight. But at least we won the first, so the chance for a five-game home winning streak is alive and well. I'm looking forward to watching Embiid, Simmons and Covington Tuesday night. That's all for now. Good night.
I'm glad we got the win, but it shouldn't have been that hard. We are far more talented than the Mavs and we had 3 full days rest while Dallas was playing their 3rd road game in a row. So it's a win, but I'd call this another moral loss. Of course, I'd rather have a moral loss than a moral victory. :)
Butler and KAT were our two stars and the keys to tonight's win. KAT's scoring carried us in the 1st half and Butler's clutch scoring carried us to victory in the 4th quarter. KAT gets my game ball for his overall play. His 28 points led the team, but you also have to factor in his 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. The only blemish were his 7 turnovers, but a number of those were pretty poor passes and some uncalled fouls. He also played well defensively tonight with what Thibs likes to call "multiple-effort" defensive plays, including his last defensive contest of the 3-point shot near the end of the game. KAT was getting hammered and continued to get short-changed on the calls. But to his credit he complained a lot less tonight. Butler is my obvious runner-up for game-ball honors with his clutch shots at the end. It was our typically horrible isolation offense. Without Butler, we absolutely lose the game in the 4th quarter because Butler saved us with some really tough shots taking on the entire Dallas defense.
With Towns and Butler getting the stars of the game award, Jamaal Crawford gets honorable mention for his 16 points in 20 minutes of the bench. He's a gunner and we definitely needed his gunning tonight. He also brings great energy and confidence to the team when he's on the court. Taj also played pretty well with 10 rebounds, but this wasn't one of his best games. Gorgui was terrific off the bench. His two 4th quarter steals were huge and that first steal and dunk really swung the momention in our favor. Tyus played well and should have had more than 12 minutes, especially the way Teague was playing. Tyus defended much better than Teague and, as usual, he did a much better job running the offense. Teague tonight was a great example of a someone who played much worse than his box score. Tyus actually played better than his numbers in limited minutes.
Wiggins was putrid. 10 points on 3 for 12 from the field and 4-8 from the line is totally unacceptable for any starting SF, especially someone in his 4th season with a 5-year max contract in his pocket. And as we all know by now, his game tonight was not an anomaly. Pat of his problem is obviously mental -- a lack of intensity and mental toughness. That's what would explain his putrid free-throw shooting. But most of his problem as I see it stems from a low basketball IQ, bad hands and very poor ball-handling skills. The low IQ (or lack of mental toughness) was obvious tonight as we saw Wiggins take fade away short-range jumpers over Yogi Farrell! It was absolutely your amazing as well as disgusting to watch his inability to score one-on-one against Yogi. He and Teague both competed tonight for matador honors. Jamaal also showed his matador tendencies tonight, but I can live with that from him because of the scoring and energy he brings to the court.
Hard to see how this team is going to win their next 4 home games playing the way they did tonight. But at least we won the first, so the chance for a five-game home winning streak is alive and well. I'm looking forward to watching Embiid, Simmons and Covington Tuesday night. That's all for now. Good night.