Game Report - Wolves v Pelicans

[Lipoli390]

Nice crowd and very nice bounce-back win for the Wolves tonight. The Wolves didn't just win the game, they won with authority.

I thought this was the best overall defensive performance of the season for the Wolves. Everyone on the Wolves seemed engaged and active defensively. Yet, we still gave up 98 points. Just another example of my annoyingly repetitive observation that the Wolves absolutely have to score over 100 points to win. We just don't have the personnel to hold teams in the 80s or even low 90s like the Celtics and a few other teammates. So it was nice to see us score 116 points tonight. That's he sort of point total the Wolves need to have more often than not. The ball movement was pretty good tonight until the 4th quarter. And honestly, no one had a bad game for the Wolves tonight.

The player of the game for the Wolves tonight was clearly KAT. He was tremendous on both sides of the ball. In just under 35 minutes, KAT had 21 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block. He hit 63.6% of his FG attempts while going 4-4 from the line and 3-3 from behind the arc. And he did all that against two of the best bigs in the game -- guys who have given him trouble in the past. You can't ask for much more than that. What's really encouraging about KAT is that tonight's game wasn't an aberration. He's been showing consistently steady improvement on both sides of the ball as this season has progressed. I love his passion, which has always been there. More than anything, he's just playing smarter and it's paying dividends. Thibs was uncharacteristicaly effusive in praising KAT in his post-game press conference and that says a lot.

Honorable mention goes to Butler. Actually, he didn't have one of his better games. In fact, I'd say he had an off night. How many players score 21 points with 7 rebounds and 8 assists on an off night? That's how good he is. But he did frustrate me in the 4th a bit as he repeatedly hogged and stalled the ball. There are obviously times when he should do that and he's already won games for us taking over that way. But he's been doing it too often lately in my view.

Gorgui had a very nice game with 14 points and some all-around smart play off the bench tonight. He seems to be finding his game again -- adjusting to his new more limited role off the bench.

Wiggins scored 20 points, but didn't shoot well. He hit just under 41% of his FG attempts, only had one trip to the line and hit only 1 of his 4 three attempts. But he did other things to help the team win, including 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Tonight we saw the active Wiggins we saw last Monday against the Lakers. Unfortunately, you never know what you're going to get from Wiggins -- kind of like a box of chocolate. :).

The box score doesn't do Tyus justice. He did a nice job running the offense and got some nice, timely buckets driving into the paint. He's fearless and has a knack for getting his shot off over or around taller players in the paint. After initially getting torched by Rondo in the 1st quarter, Tyus really stepped it up and held his own defensively the rest of the way. I love the Aaron Brooks block on Counsins and really enjoyed the stare down that followed.

I still like Crawford, but I really wish we had another go-to win scorer off the bench. Watching Jamaal jack up tough perimeter shots over and over again is getting old. It's great when he makes them, but he's so streaky and hasn't been shooting well lately. Tonight he was 1 for 5 from the field. But he did have 5 assists and I still like the energy and good vibe he brings to the team even when he's missing shots.

I don't think anyone is liked by his teammates as much as Gorgui Dieng. His teammates, especially Jimmy Butler, were so pumped after Gorgui hit his first corner three tonight.

So a terrific and essential win tonight. Now let's knock off the Cavs on Monday.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

I think Cole might be the most liked guy on the team.

I actually liked the way Crawford played today. At the start of the year, he played more of a facilitator than scorer, tonight was the same. The bench is much more productive when he is playing for others.

Bjelly, on the other hand, just doesn't have any interest in playing or he is playing not to get hurt.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Thanks for the report Lip, glad you were able to see a (fairly) comfortable win. I finally got a chance to watch the game.

- Aaron Brooks is not a good point guard, but he does work his ass off on defense. He plays really hard and I guess that's about all we can ask of him for now.

- Anthony Davis just seems indifferent out there. Has he always been this passion-less or do the Wolves give him real problems? In fact, that whole Pelicans team seems....just off. My guess is Rondo and Cousins don't help a whole lot with team chemistry and Davis is just waiting for his ticket out.

- It feels like we are experiencing a little regression to the mean in terms of opposing teams' shooting. Yes, we are playing some better defense, but it feels like guys are missing more open shots against us too. Boston and New Orleans missed a lot of lightly contested shots. Earlier in the year it felt like EVERY one of those would go in.

- Tyus with a fairly pedestrian game again. He needs to knock down those open jumpers.

- Not sure why Wiggins got 22 shots. It seem ridiculous considering how poor of a shooter he is, but the rest of his game was solid. And the reason why he has a hard time getting to the bucket is because defenders know he wants to go right....every. single. time. Once in a blue moon he'll go left. Very easy to guard and he has zero change-of-pace/crossover abilities with his handle. He has an elite euro step and spin move....but he's had those since he was a rookie. No progression otherwise.

I think this was actually a really big win, especially with Cleveland coming in town. It ensured that we avoided a 4-game losing streak. Denver's loss last night was big too.

[Monster]

Thanks for the report Lip, glad you were able to see a (fairly) comfortable win. I finally got a chance to watch the game.

- Aaron Brooks is not a good point guard, but he does work his ass off on defense. He plays really hard and I guess that's about all we can ask of him for now.

- Anthony Davis just seems indifferent out there. Has he always been this passion-less or do the Wolves give him real problems? In fact, that whole Pelicans team seems....just off. My guess is Rondo and Cousins don't help a whole lot with team chemistry and Davis is just waiting for his ticket out.

- It feels like we are experiencing a little regression to the mean in terms of opposing teams' shooting. Yes, we are playing some better defense, but it feels like guys are missing more open shots against us too. Boston and New Orleans missed a lot of lightly contested shots. Earlier in the year it felt like EVERY one of those would go in.

- Tyus with a fairly pedestrian game again. He needs to knock down those open jumpers.

- Not sure why Wiggins got 22 shots. It seem ridiculous considering how poor of a shooter he is, but the rest of his game was solid. And the reason why he has a hard time getting to the bucket is because defenders know he wants to go right....every. single. time. Once in a blue moon he'll go left. Very easy to guard and he has zero change-of-pace/crossover abilities with his handle. He has an elite euro step and spin move....but he's had those since he was a rookie. No progression otherwise.

I think this was actually a really big win, especially with Cleveland coming in town. It ensured that we avoided a 4-game losing streak. Denver's loss last night was big too.

Q Interesting thoughts about the Pels. They are kind of a weird team and I think Gentry has a tough job making all those pieces fit together regardless of the other dynamics you mentioned. Fortunately for them Moore and Darius Miller have been pretty good for them or they would be in big trouble.

Brooks is really just a really experienced combo guard that's PG sized kinda like JJ Barea only less good. Like you said he is putting in the effort and energy on defense and if he gets open 3's his career numbers say he is gonna knock them down. Teague may not be far away from returning. There is video of him playing 1 on 1 with coach Lucas before this game with a brace on. It was far from a light workout and he looked plenty good to me and I am usually really cautious about injuries stuff.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Nice game report and nice win. We really needed that after the last couple games. The Pelicans looked like they mailed this one in, but we also looked very good through most of the game.

I've been one of Wiggins' biggest critics since we landed him and I definitely think giving him that contract was a huge mistake, but I have to say that I've been relatively pleased with his defense lately, which has always been one of his biggest weaknesses. Maybe it's because he's set my expectations so low and I do think he still has plenty of plays where he's not locked in defensively, but you can see the potential is there when he does work hard and play with his head up defensively. A couple of times he was really putting good pressure on Moore last night on the perimeter. If he can do that more consistently and just get more efficient on offense (attack the basket to dunk and draw fouls, not finger roll!), I can more easily live with his weaknesses in rebounding and passing and ball handling. He doesn't have to be an all-around superstar (although he's getting paid like it), but we really need him to at least be somewhat efficient on offense and a dog on defense. Although he hasn't been efficient in a long time, I like seeing flashes of the defense from him.

Also, is it just me, or do the green jerseys look a little . . . off . . . like, kind of yellow, on the computer? I get the sense they are a cool green color in person, but on a screen, they just look a bit weird to me.

[Monster]

Nice game report and nice win. We really needed that after the last couple games. The Pelicans looked like they mailed this one in, but we also looked very good through most of the game.

I've been one of Wiggins' biggest critics since we landed him and I definitely think giving him that contract was a huge mistake, but I have to say that I've been relatively pleased with his defense lately, which has always been one of his biggest weaknesses. Maybe it's because he's set my expectations so low and I do think he still has plenty of plays where he's not locked in defensively, but you can see the potential is there when he does work hard and play with his head up defensively. A couple of times he was really putting good pressure on Moore last night on the perimeter. If he can do that more consistently and just get more efficient on offense (attack the basket to dunk and draw fouls, not finger roll!), I can more easily live with his weaknesses in rebounding and passing and ball handling. He doesn't have to be an all-around superstar (although he's getting paid like it), but we really need him to at least be somewhat efficient on offense and a dog on defense. Although he hasn't been efficient in a long time, I like seeing flashes of the defense from him.

Also, is it just me, or do the green jerseys look a little . . . off . . . like, kind of yellow, on the computer? I get the sense they are a cool green color in person, but on a screen, they just look a bit weird to me.

Yeah they look more like highlighter color on some screens. I've seen one tweets about them. I like the green ones the Iowa Wolves wear I think they are darker green.

[Wolvesaholic]

When I was at the game last night, what I really noticed in the second half was that the pelicans froze out Davis and Cousins and the wings were rushing shots. I can see why Davis checked out.

[Coolbreeze44]

Love the color of these uniforms.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

When I was at the game last night, what I really noticed in the second half was that the pelicans froze out Davis and Cousins and the wings were rushing shots. I can see why Davis checked out.

Interesting observation Wolvesaholic. Yeah, you'd think that offense would be humming with Cousins, Davis, Holiday, and the league leading 3-point shooter in Moore. But they seem to have a tough time blending everything into a coherent whole.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

When I was at the game last night, what I really noticed in the second half was that the pelicans froze out Davis and Cousins and the wings were rushing shots. I can see why Davis checked out.

Interesting observation Wolvesaholic. Yeah, you'd think that offense would be humming with Cousins, Davis, Holiday, and the league leading 3-point shooter in Moore. But they seem to have a tough time blending everything into a coherent whole.

They had scored 100 or more points in 17 straight games before Minnesota's defense held them under the century mark. They can score. They just can't win.

I think they should blow it up.