Minnesota Sports Forum

With the snow piling up outside and Butler on the shelf, we almost decided not to go. But ended up going and I'm glad we did. Interestingly, we weren't the only ones who braved the snow and rose above the depressing news about Jimmy's knee. The Target Center was pretty packed tonight.

First I'll say that this really was a big win. Yes, the Wolves beat a pretty bad team. But this game started less than 24 hours after a tough road loss last night in Houston. If that wasn't bad enough, weather conditions delayed the Wolves arrival in the Twin Cities until about 5 hours before game time. Then of course, add the news that Jimmy's out with a knee injury for what could be the rest of the season. Tonight's game was one in which the Wolves could have easily folded. But they didn't. And not only did the Wolves win, they won convincingly by nearly 20 points. I still see struggles ahead for the Wolves the rest of the season and I wouldn't be surprised if we end up in the lottery. But tonight's game suggests that there's reason to believe this team could hold on and finish in the top 6 in the West.

Tonight's win was truly a team effort. But I'll single out Teague, Taj and Crawford as the keys. Teague was terrific all night. He was aggressive on both ends. He didn't dribble the air out of the ball and made fairly quick decisions. His defense on Dunn was terrific. Taj was his usual steady, solid self. He has proven to be such an important player for this team. Tonight he had 19 points and 10 boards. Crawford, however, was the biggest key in my view. His energy and shot-making off the bench ignited the team and turned a close potential loss into a lop-sided Wolves win. KAT had a terrible first half, but really came on in the 2nd, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

As a team, I loved that the Wolves took 35 threes even though they hit only 31% of them. And I also liked the ball movement. The Wolves had a lot of assists tonight. Obviously, we're a better team with Jimmy than without him. But he does tend to slow the ball down, especially in 4th quarters. The ball was moving pretty nicely tonight. And the end result was great.

Lip, thanks for providing a post game report. And everyone else who provides the insight that comes from being there. I don't live in MN so I don't see that and the cameras don't show what you and others provide. Thanks.

As for the pace of the game, do you think it was by design or as a response from Chicago? They (Chicago) really seemed to be pushing the pace

TXviking wrote:Lip, thanks for providing a post game report. And everyone else who provides the insight that comes from being there. I don't live in MN so I don't see that and the cameras don't show what you and others provide. Thanks.

As for the pace of the game, do you think it was by design or as a response from Chicago? They (Chicago) really seemed to be pushing the pace

I think it was by design. Part of it was not having Butler in the game. Butler is certainly the main reason the Wolves have improved so dramatically over last season. But he does slow the game down. The other part of it was Teague being more aggressive and decisive. He was clearly making quicker decisions with the ball and not overdribbling as he has been previously. I hope what we saw last night continues. We need more pace and ball movement without Butler on the court.

Thanks for the report Lip. A few observations, as I just caught this one:

- Teague was terrific. I kind of wonder if Bjelly allows for a bit more space since he tends to float around the 3-point line whereas Butler is much more likely to occupy the same space as Teague (probing for shots in the mid-range or at the hoop).

- LaVine is going to be a monster offensively eventually. Give him another couple years, but he will be a highly efficient scoring machine.

- Tyus made just an absolutely filthy steal on a LaVine fast break to the hoop. I'm not sure I've seen anyone pick people so cleanly on those kinds of plays. He's done that multiple times this year. He needs to get his shot falling though...

- Gibson is having a great year, but I think eventually he breaks down too. Thibs is riding him hard.

- We saw the good Jamal Crawford in this game, but ugh....he has had the worst net rating among our regular rotation guys all year. One of the problems with no Butler is that we have more Crawford. When his shot isn't falling, his defense is such a massive liability.

This was a must win. Now we hit the road, where we have been just terrible lately. I expect that things will start going downhill fairly quickly from here on out unfortunately.