Game Report - Wolves v. Grizzlies
Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 11:04 pm
A surprisingly large number of empty seats tonight. And then a putrid start by the Wolves in the first quarter that led to a cascade of boos from the still sizable crowd. The entire first quarter was an embarrassment. The second quarter was only slightly better. Thankfully, the Wolves got it going in the second half and pulled away from the B-squad of one of the bottom 5 teams in the League. The win was crucial and I'm happy we got this one. But if we play this way against the Nuggets Wednesday night we will definitely lose.
Teague was terrific tonight with 24 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. And he was almost as good on the defensive end in the second half. He gave great effort the full 33:20 he was on the court; and he was the first guy up cheering on the bench when he wasn't on the court. Teague, Towns, Butler and Rose were the reasons we won tonight. All three came through - especially Teague, Towns and Rose in the second half. Towns got off to a slow start like the rest of the team, but he played with great heart the second half - fighting for rebounds, chasing down loose balls and putting the ball in the hoop. His effort resulted in a stat line of 24 points on 11-14 shooting to go with 18 rebounds. At one point in the 4th quarter, KAT ripped the ball away on a rebound as he was getting hacked with no call. Watching him fight and the fierce look on his face revealed the heart of a great competitor -- which is why he'll be great. Someone near me in the stands tonight noted that if Wiggins ever exhibited what we saw from Towns on the that play, he might actually be worth a max contract. Meanwhile, Butler was Butler. The guy gets after it defensively every single play. I love the way he plays on that side of the ball.
But my game ball goes to Derrick Rose. More than any other Wolves player, even more than Jimmy or KAT, his energy and effort changed the tone of the game and got the Wolves back on track. As I've mentioned before, he's looked good every game he's been out there since his first game when he was clearly shaking the rust off. And as I noted in the Houston game, he looked like the old Derrick Rose before he went down with the bad ankle. I still wish we had filled the 15th roster spot with a defender or 3-point shooter, but you can't argue with signing Rose as a replacement for Bazz.
Gorgui and Tyus played pretty well off the bench. I loved Gorgui's two corner threes. I really would like to see him take more of those. Seriously, we need to run more plays for him from the corner. He had some defensive lapses, but he gave good effort in the second half. I like the way Tyus plays -- smart, intense and tough. I do think he'll end up a pretty good 3-point shooter. I loved his pesky defense. He reminds me a bit of JJ Barea, getting under the skin of the guy he's guarding. At one point, the guy he was guarding (can't remember who) got so annoyed he shoved Tyus, knocking him down and drawing the offensive foul.
Now the bad news. Wiggins, Belly and Crawford were horrible. There's no sugar-coating or explaining away how pathetic they were. All you need to know about Wiggins is that he was 3-12 from the field, 0-3 from behind the arc and had one trip to the line. His on-ball defensive was mediocre and his off-ball defensive was bad. Interestingly, Wiggins' 35 minutes were more minutes than any of his teammates. Meanwhile Crawford couldn't hit the broadside of a barn and was throwing the ball away. His defense was worse than Wiggins' or Belly, but what else is new. Yet, Thibs kept him in there for 23 minutes. I would have put MGH in there or given Tyus more minutes. But that's Thibs.
A couple of interesting tidbits. At one point in the second quarter, glancing at the bench as I do from time to time, I noticed that Wolves assistant Andy Greer seemed agitated, almost jumping out of his seat then sitting back down several times. Then he finally jumped up and ran over to Thibs who was standing near Center court howling at the Wolves who were on the defensive end at the other end of the court. I've never seen Andy or any other assistant do that this season. My wife and I then noticed that Thibs became noticeably quieter. I asked a friend of mine sitting down lower near the area if he could hear what Andy said. He said that he thought he heard Andy tell Thibs to "let them play." In other words, he was telling Thibs to shut the f up. Then, the same thing appeared to happen later in the game, but this time, Thibs seemed irritated and pretty much motioned him to get back to the bench. Nothing earth-shattering, but interesting. At another point in the game, Thibs Gorgui failed to rotate defensively (like every other Wolves player the first quarter). In the following time-out, This was screaming at Gorgui. Then in the huddle, Gorgui was standing and staring out onto the court rather than sitting on the bench listening to Thibs. Andy Greer got up, went over to Gorgui, patted him on the back and then proceeded talk calmly with Gorgui in a supportive, teaching sort of manner. I've never noticed this before from Andy, although maybe it's been more subtle. But he was very active tonight and seemed eager to counteract some of Thibs excesses. Then again, maybe it was nothing.
Looking ahead, with New Orleans, OKC, San Antonio and Denver all winning tonight, the Wolves' playoff hope will come down to Wednesday night's game against the Nuggets. The Wolves have to win that one to make the playoffs. If the Spurs beat the Pelicans at New Orleans on Wednesday, the Wolves would end up the 7th seed with a win over the Nuggets. Otherwise, beating the Nuggets would result in an 8th seed - my nightmare scenario. With Butler back, the Wolves obviously have the talent to beat the Nuggets and should beat them playing at home. But I don't like the way we're playing lately and the Nuggets are rolling. So we'll see. It should be a lot of fun at Target Center. Yes, I'll be rooting for the Wolves. I just can't help myself. If we lose, I'll be pissed, but I'll find solace in the hope that a loss provides the final impetus for Glen to fire Thibs.
Teague was terrific tonight with 24 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. And he was almost as good on the defensive end in the second half. He gave great effort the full 33:20 he was on the court; and he was the first guy up cheering on the bench when he wasn't on the court. Teague, Towns, Butler and Rose were the reasons we won tonight. All three came through - especially Teague, Towns and Rose in the second half. Towns got off to a slow start like the rest of the team, but he played with great heart the second half - fighting for rebounds, chasing down loose balls and putting the ball in the hoop. His effort resulted in a stat line of 24 points on 11-14 shooting to go with 18 rebounds. At one point in the 4th quarter, KAT ripped the ball away on a rebound as he was getting hacked with no call. Watching him fight and the fierce look on his face revealed the heart of a great competitor -- which is why he'll be great. Someone near me in the stands tonight noted that if Wiggins ever exhibited what we saw from Towns on the that play, he might actually be worth a max contract. Meanwhile, Butler was Butler. The guy gets after it defensively every single play. I love the way he plays on that side of the ball.
But my game ball goes to Derrick Rose. More than any other Wolves player, even more than Jimmy or KAT, his energy and effort changed the tone of the game and got the Wolves back on track. As I've mentioned before, he's looked good every game he's been out there since his first game when he was clearly shaking the rust off. And as I noted in the Houston game, he looked like the old Derrick Rose before he went down with the bad ankle. I still wish we had filled the 15th roster spot with a defender or 3-point shooter, but you can't argue with signing Rose as a replacement for Bazz.
Gorgui and Tyus played pretty well off the bench. I loved Gorgui's two corner threes. I really would like to see him take more of those. Seriously, we need to run more plays for him from the corner. He had some defensive lapses, but he gave good effort in the second half. I like the way Tyus plays -- smart, intense and tough. I do think he'll end up a pretty good 3-point shooter. I loved his pesky defense. He reminds me a bit of JJ Barea, getting under the skin of the guy he's guarding. At one point, the guy he was guarding (can't remember who) got so annoyed he shoved Tyus, knocking him down and drawing the offensive foul.
Now the bad news. Wiggins, Belly and Crawford were horrible. There's no sugar-coating or explaining away how pathetic they were. All you need to know about Wiggins is that he was 3-12 from the field, 0-3 from behind the arc and had one trip to the line. His on-ball defensive was mediocre and his off-ball defensive was bad. Interestingly, Wiggins' 35 minutes were more minutes than any of his teammates. Meanwhile Crawford couldn't hit the broadside of a barn and was throwing the ball away. His defense was worse than Wiggins' or Belly, but what else is new. Yet, Thibs kept him in there for 23 minutes. I would have put MGH in there or given Tyus more minutes. But that's Thibs.
A couple of interesting tidbits. At one point in the second quarter, glancing at the bench as I do from time to time, I noticed that Wolves assistant Andy Greer seemed agitated, almost jumping out of his seat then sitting back down several times. Then he finally jumped up and ran over to Thibs who was standing near Center court howling at the Wolves who were on the defensive end at the other end of the court. I've never seen Andy or any other assistant do that this season. My wife and I then noticed that Thibs became noticeably quieter. I asked a friend of mine sitting down lower near the area if he could hear what Andy said. He said that he thought he heard Andy tell Thibs to "let them play." In other words, he was telling Thibs to shut the f up. Then, the same thing appeared to happen later in the game, but this time, Thibs seemed irritated and pretty much motioned him to get back to the bench. Nothing earth-shattering, but interesting. At another point in the game, Thibs Gorgui failed to rotate defensively (like every other Wolves player the first quarter). In the following time-out, This was screaming at Gorgui. Then in the huddle, Gorgui was standing and staring out onto the court rather than sitting on the bench listening to Thibs. Andy Greer got up, went over to Gorgui, patted him on the back and then proceeded talk calmly with Gorgui in a supportive, teaching sort of manner. I've never noticed this before from Andy, although maybe it's been more subtle. But he was very active tonight and seemed eager to counteract some of Thibs excesses. Then again, maybe it was nothing.
Looking ahead, with New Orleans, OKC, San Antonio and Denver all winning tonight, the Wolves' playoff hope will come down to Wednesday night's game against the Nuggets. The Wolves have to win that one to make the playoffs. If the Spurs beat the Pelicans at New Orleans on Wednesday, the Wolves would end up the 7th seed with a win over the Nuggets. Otherwise, beating the Nuggets would result in an 8th seed - my nightmare scenario. With Butler back, the Wolves obviously have the talent to beat the Nuggets and should beat them playing at home. But I don't like the way we're playing lately and the Nuggets are rolling. So we'll see. It should be a lot of fun at Target Center. Yes, I'll be rooting for the Wolves. I just can't help myself. If we lose, I'll be pissed, but I'll find solace in the hope that a loss provides the final impetus for Glen to fire Thibs.