Minnesota Sports Forum

Another capacity crowd, although the arena wasn't as loud as Monday night and unlike Monday there were a few empty seats tonight. Nevertheless, it was another great game and terrific home atmosphere.

A couple things jump to the front of my mind as I reflect on tonight's game. First, more than any other game this season, this one was a total team win. Nine guys got meaningful minutes and every single one - from Butler to MGH - made significant positive contributions to the win. Second, tonight's game was the culmination of a string of games that collectively tell us this has truly become Thibs' team. And that fact was never more apparent than in tonight's game when, unlike Monday night, the Wolves had to grind it out for nearly 48 minutes. By Thibs' team, I mean the obvious. We defend, we're tough and disciplined and we protect the ball.

Wiggins is coming close to making me a believe that he might actually be a reliably good and maybe excellent defender. His defense on Paul George tonight was tremendous, holding George to 13 points in 38 minutes. Andrew stuck to George like glue. Andrew also showed active hands slapping at the ball and making the opposing ballhandler uncomfortable. This is at least the 3rd game in a row where he's defense has been terrific after already showing some improvement in weeks past. Let's hope it continues. He didn't get to the line much and struggled again when he got there. He also displayed his poor handle several times. And he had only 3 rebounds and 2 assists. But I don't care. He scored 19 points with some very nice shots at important moments of the game and he played stellar defense.

Towns continued his all-star caliber play on both ends. I have absolutey no doubt he's turned the corner defensively. Tonight, matched against one of the really big centers who has historically given him trouble, Towns had 18 highly efficient points,12 rebounds, 3 assists and only 1 turnover in 30 minutes of play. On the other side of the ball, KAT held Adams to 8 points and 8 boards in 33 minutes.

I should mention that Gorgui played a really nice game with 6 points, 4 boards, 2 steals and a block in only 16 minutes. Belly looked like he might be starting to regain some of his pre-injury form. And MGH looked very good in his 11 minutes on the floor with 2 points and 3 rebounds. You could see tonight why Thibs likes him. MGH is both smart and tough. He is also alert and reacts well to the ball. He really defends and isn't afraid to attack.

A fun moment was when KAT high-stepped his way down the court in the 4th quarter after hitting a corner 2 that felt like the final nail in the Thunder's coffin. Taj Gibson looked at KAT, with a somewhat annoyed expression on his face, and motioned with his hands for KAT to dial it down. KAT looked back, nodded ever so slightly and immediately toned it down. It was a small but telling example of one of the things Taj has brought to this team. In this case it showed the professionalism and maturity Taj brings. It also showed the respect Taj commands. KAT didn't blow him off or get pissy. KAT's reaction was the opposite, quickly acknowledging and deferring to the Taj.

So what does it all mean? I remember how disappointed many of us were immediately after our last 5-game homestand in which we went 3-2 with a pathetic loss to the Suns who were playing without Booker. We're now 3 games into another 5-game homstand and we're 3-0. We could of course end up 3-2 again and that would sure be a kick in the teeth. But I don't see that happening. This team just looks different now. They look like they're starting to gel and, more importantly, like they're starting to form a team identity. That identity is unmistakeably the work of Tom Thibodeau - defense, toughness, isolation mismatches, drawing fouls, protecting the ball. It's ugly and often frustrating when the identify is being formed. But once formed and combined with talent, it's highly effective and kind of fun.

These next two games will tell the tale. If this team has indeed turned the corner, we should win these next two.

Cheers for the report Lip. As you mentioned a real team effort tonight. Everyone played their roles well. Loved the effort from MGH, it's no wonder Bazz is stuck behind him on the depth chart. Just makes smart plays and gives his all. I thought KAT, Butler and Wiggins played great tonight.

We are a far better team than the Thunder. Their lack of a bench is a real concern. When Raymond Felton is your 6th man you have to worry. And I question the chemistry between their Big 3.

On a side note I thought offical #4 was absolutely shocking tonight. It's the second game this season I've watched this guy make terrible call after terrible call. The 6th foul he called on Taj Gibson pretty much sumarized his inability to officiate the game at this level.

Lip, I watched the game as well and agree with your comments. We had good ball movement except when Crawford had it. He's definitely a chucker and although he was hitting last night, it's tough to watch. Westbrook is sick. He seems to get any shot he wants. Great win again.

KiwiMatt wrote:Cheers for the report Lip. As you mentioned a real team effort tonight. Everyone played their roles well. Loved the effort from MGH, it's no wonder Bazz is stuck behind him on the depth chart. Just makes smart plays and gives his all. I thought KAT, Butler and Wiggins played great tonight.

We are a far better team than the Thunder. Their lack of a bench is a real concern. When Raymond Felton is your 6th man you have to worry. And I question the chemistry between their Big 3.

On a side note I thought offical #4 was absolutely shocking tonight. It's the second game this season I've watched this guy make terrible call after terrible call. The 6th foul he called on Taj Gibson pretty much sumarized his inability to officiate the game at this level.

Matt -- I agree with you completely about that official. I'd say he's incompetent if his calls were equally bad on both sides. But he has shown a pattern of incredibly unbalanced calls against the Wolves.

lipoli390 wrote:

KiwiMatt wrote:Cheers for the report Lip. As you mentioned a real team effort tonight. Everyone played their roles well. Loved the effort from MGH, it's no wonder Bazz is stuck behind him on the depth chart. Just makes smart plays and gives his all. I thought KAT, Butler and Wiggins played great tonight.

We are a far better team than the Thunder. Their lack of a bench is a real concern. When Raymond Felton is your 6th man you have to worry. And I question the chemistry between their Big 3.

On a side note I thought offical #4 was absolutely shocking tonight. It's the second game this season I've watched this guy make terrible call after terrible call. The 6th foul he called on Taj Gibson pretty much sumarized his inability to officiate the game at this level.

Matt -- I agree with you completely about that official. I'd say he's incompetent if his calls were equally bad on both sides. But he has shown a pattern of incredibly unbalanced calls against the Wolves.

There were some head scratching calls. I will say one call I was mystified at was that Teague foul in transition where he didn't get FTs. Watching one reply it did look a bit uncertain that he was shooting although I bet that was his intent. Fortunately the Wolves played through aome calls and just won the game.

Ok here are some of my thoughts to add to what people have said in the game threads.

Towns basically dominated compared to Adams. That's pretty massive considering what has happened in other games.

Wiggins defense was terrific and notice he was on the floor multiple times.

The Tyus Teague combo was kinda meh the first half. Both guys missed shots (Teague was clearly rusted) but the 2nd half was a different story. Teague's defense was particully nice to see. There were several times he played good defense on switches. Melo hit a midrange shot in his face but Teague was all over him with a hand right in his face. A couple times he straight up stopped George from doing anything and he had that Block on a corner 3. Oh and he found his offensive game too. Tyus basically did what he does and that corner 3 was nice.

Butler did his thing and found his way to make an impact offensively when George was doing a great job defending him early on. The Wolves ran some good sets and had some movement to make it happen also. The dude was everywhere at times and while Russ scored on him easily at times Butler got steals and deflections etc. Russ may have been the best player on the court tonight but Jimmy was fantastic.

Taj was just killing the Thunder early. His low post moves scoring has to be one of the best in the league. I knew he was good but basically he can score on so many guys when he gets his spot. Dude has been so good this year and after going through a bit of a lull in play seems to be back. Also his defense on Melo was pretty solid also.

Dieng isn't a perfect player but he was plenty good in this game off the bench. He seems to have found his game again which is good to see.

Crawford is a gunner but he did also have 3 assists and 2 steals. I like that recently he has been a bit more willing to go towards the rim to score. He didn't do much of that early on.

Belly looks like he is close to being back. It was nice to see him flinging up some 3 pointers. Sure Melo made him look bad once but that's alright.

MGH best game in a Wolves uniform. He must have been nervous at the FT he isn't that bad of a foul shooter. He had 2 good attacks and on that play he was fouled again he just hung there and shot the ball up late. Then late in the clock he attacked and got to the time for a finish. He did all the other stuff including some hustle plays and 3 rebounds plus drew a charge on PG. i hope we keep this guy around. I am probably getting ahead of myself here but it seems like there is something there. My guess is we are gonna see more of him. Notice he got the minutes instead of Belly because Belly woulda gotten killed against PG if he would have played SF minutes.

Overall just a really impressive game. The Wolves D was pretty good the whole game. The 1st quarter both teams missed some shots but the Wolves were missing some point blank ones. They stayed in the game made some plays and cruised to an easy victory with Bazz playing 2 games in a row. What a season this has been. Lol

One other thing worth mentioning Teague had a few possessions he really pushed the pace. One 3/4 pass to Taj that wasn't quite on target, a failed lob to Wiggins and then a couple times where he took it himself. The push up the floor also led to that easy pass and dunk to Taj later in the game. It was nice to see some of those plays that whatever reason were not happening enough especially earlier in the season.

It's a miracle to watch KAT playing D. Brings a tear to my eye really. This is all I wanted from the two young "best" players. Effort from Wiggins and D from KAT

ItsJustSoSab wrote:It's a miracle to watch KAT playing D. Brings a tear to my eye really. This is all I wanted from the two young "best" players. Effort from Wiggins and D from KAT

KAT's defensive improvement since the early days of the season is shocking. He looked absolutely clueless at times in the first 10 or 20 games and now he's borderline elite. And Wiggins is better this season too, although it's hard for me to give him a ton of credit since his role is much less important than either KAT's or Butler's (plus I think he has the potential to do even more than he currently does).

I think it's starting to become a little contagious and a point of pride. It's crazy that in today's NBA with all the pace and space, this squad has held 7 straight opponents to less than 100 points.

Q12543 wrote:

ItsJustSoSab wrote:It's a miracle to watch KAT playing D. Brings a tear to my eye really. This is all I wanted from the two young "best" players. Effort from Wiggins and D from KAT

KAT's defensive improvement since the early days of the season is shocking. He looked absolutely clueless at times in the first 10 or 20 games and now he's borderline elite. And Wiggins is better this season too, although it's hard for me to give him a ton of credit since his role is much less important than either KAT's or Butler's (plus I think he has the potential to do even more than he currently does).

I think it's starting to become a little contagious and a point of pride. It's crazy that in today's NBA with all the pace and space, this squad has held 7 straight opponents to less than 100 points.

*cough* *cough* *cough* Thibodeau! *cough* *cough* *cough*

I'm teasing, but I really think it's a culmination of everything. It's Towns doing the little things -- verticality, walling up, being more aware. It's Wiggins playing with more effort, though still not 100-percent in my opinion, and getting through screens better than years previous. It's Tyus Jones being a super solid overall defender at the head of the defense, moving his feet and staying in front of the opposition's point guard -- the deepest position in basketball -- and getting deflections/steals on top of it. It's the leadership and production of this team's veterans, namely Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, but I'm willing to bet that Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford have had a helping hand behind the scenes. And as much as we debate about him, and some might argue it's not about him, it's the Tom Thibodeau effect. He's figured out his most effective rotation, who he can trust in certain situations, how much he can push individual players, and who he can lean on the most (Butler, Gibson, Towns). In my opinion, all of these factors coming together are why the Wolves have had a near-elite defense the past several weeks.