Minnesota Sports Forum

Game report edition.

I don't think you can understand just how much I despise the Blazers, and how satisfying it was to be in that arena tonight when KAT's shot went through for the win. It's been tough being a Wolves fan in this market this year. We've blown two 17 point leads against this team and lost all 3 games before tonight. So tonight was tremendously enjoyable and it really felt good to be rooting for a team with all this promise. Without further adieu, here is the "We Got Over on the Blazers" edition of the 2 + 1:

1) I thought the officials did a good job overall tonight. But how bad do you have to be to call Andrew for that charge on Lillard at the end? I'd really like to know what our announcers said about that play because in person it looked like a complete joke. It was almost like a blatant attempt to keep the game close and give the home team a chance at the end. I thought Ricky's foul was justified on the Lillard 4 point play. You can't foul a guy like that when he is facing the basket. Ricky could have been a real goat if things had turned out differently.

2) Portland has a lot of shotmakers on that team. They seem to hit everything that isn't closely contested. And as Cam said in another thread, some guys that aren't good shooters seem to have their way against us. Plumlee gets away with a lot cheap stuff away from the play. He's good at using his elbows and being a pest. Surprised he hasn't gotten knocked down by somebody yet. The Blazers are excellent at running their offense and then always having options at the end of the shot clock. They do a terrific job of getting corner threes when things break down. I have to tell you, they really don't have that much talent. Stotts has done a tremendous job with this group. Lillard is a star and CJ is a nice player, but they get a lot out of a pretty ordinary roster.

Plus 1 - Since I was in attendance let's go bullet style with a lot things I saw:

- First off, what a range of emotions in the last few minutes of the game. I went from great satisfaction when we built the lead to 7, to utter despair after the Lillard shot, to exhileration went KAT got the winner. I have never heard that arena louder than when Andrew was at the line in the last minute, and right after Lillard made his play. It was just a great atmosphere.

- From a personal standpoint, this is the first time I have seen the Wolves live since Andrew and Zach were drafted. We all know I'm the ultimate Wiggins homer, so it was really great to see him in action. He is one cool dude. I love his demeanor, character, and style. It wasn't his best game of the year but he did enough to please this fan. As I said in another thread, I'm really starting to fall in love with this group. They are just very easy to like and it's going to suck waiting for late October to see them play again.

- KAT didn't start off very well, but oh did he finish strong. Once he got things going it was kind of a clinic. I kept thinking the Blazers fans had to be impressed with what he was doing out there. They have Lillard, but they're not going to be able to keep up with our core in the coming years. I think tonight, and this whole road trip is a sign of things to come.

- Another guy I was really impressed with was Tyus. He displayed some real moxie. He's not the best athlete, but he really makes up for it in other ways. I saw CJ make about 7-8 moves on him once at the top of the key, and Tyus didn't react to any of them. He simply played the belly button like you're taught as a young player, and stayed in front. He also is getting more comfortable with running the offense. I feel secure when he has the ball. He's not going to be flashy like Ricky, but the kid can play a little bit.

- Props to Belly. Like Jim Pete says, Nemanja is just throwing daggers right now. Had a real solid night on both ends of the floor.

- Greg Smith seems like a real goof ball. His warmup pants are way to short, and then he spends most of the warmups shooting 3 pointers. During the game he's carrying running conversation with Blazer fans around the bench. He just doesn't seem to carry himself the way you would expect a fringe player to. Just found it kind of strange.

- Other props tonight: Bazz had some good minutes and battled tenaciously like he always does. Same with Tayshaun, culminating in his nice pass to KAT for the winner.

- And one humorous note: Here is the typical Blazer fan you have to listen to around your seat. The score of the game was 98-93 at the time. So this gal behind me gets on the phone and calls who I assume is her significant other. She begins giving a status of the game and says the Blazers are down by 6 and there is 3 minutes left. I was sitting next to my Son in law and we couldn't help but bust out laughing.

And that's Cool's 2 things I didn't like tonight Plus 1

Good stuff. I only watched the condensed highlights from my broadband package, but it looked like we deployed that "switch everything" strategy on Lillard and McCollum in Q1. It's the same thing we do with the Warriors, but every time Dieng was switched onto one of their guards, he couldn't contain them. Those guys can slash to the hoop better than Klay or Steph. Did Mitchell dump that strategy later in the game?

Glad you were able to see such a terrific game, cool. To answer your question about the Lilliard flop, Jim Peterson was livid...and he was right. Just a terrible call at that stage of the game.

What's astonishing to me is how poised the Wolves are at the end of games...not what you would expect from a team with three guys just over 20 years old on the floor. Towns and Prince were terrific on that last play, but I also give Mitchell some credit. Yes, he can be overly intense at times on the sidelines and tough on guys like Zach, but if you watched him during that last timeout, he exhibited nothing but calmness and control in the huddle as he drew up the final play...that calmness has to rub off on his youngsters, and contribute to their poise. Others have pointed out the Wolves success coming out of timeouts (they have been in the top 5 in scoring percentage much of the year), so I was not surprised that they scored on the final possession. I think Portland assumed that Sam would draw up a play for Wig, because that is typically what he does at the start of games and out of timeouts. Portland's focus on Wig allowed KAT to get isolated one-on-one, and we knew that Prince would find him in the right place and KAT would not be denied.

Just a great finish to a terrific road trip.

As I re-watched the simplicity with which the wolves scored the winning basket last night, it occurred to me that I can't remember the last time the Wolves won a game from behind on a last second shot. I recall the Kevin Love OT winner in LA four years ago and Ricky's game winner against OkC this year, but the score was tied when those shots happened. We all know there is a lot more pressure to make a shot when you're behind instead of tied (and also can remember Love and Pek missing those types of shots in losses). First, it's nice to know that we have at least two guys (KAT and Wig) who we can trust at game end. But secondly, can anyone recall the last time we won a game from behind on a buzzer beater? My god, could it be Malik Sealy 16 years ago?

You know what I got out of this report? Cool is much older than I imagined! At the game with his son-in-law... :)

Nice report cool. Big KAT is gonna do some good work for us. Since you're in beer city, how much for a game day craft beer?

Two Minnesota teams coming to the end of the regular season, the Wild are in the playoffs, yet go out with a whimper losing 5 straight, the Wolves, long since eliminated from the playoffs go on the road and play two playoff teams with every reason to win and sweep the trip! Which team sounds like the veteran group and which sounds like the young, inexperienced one?

These Wolves are going to terrorize the NBA in a couple years if the front office does it's job!

I would like to congratulate Sam Mitchell on earning a second season leading the Wolves coaching staff. I would prefer they hire someone with a better track record, All-Star game forward I cannot argue that Mitchell was perfect, but he was more than competent and has the young pups playing well!

And finally, it's nice to have a 2+1 as we're about to head into the long, loooong, looooooooooong offseason! Thanks Cool!

Edit: Had to add, in your face BlazersFanatic!! She was typically fun on the old ESPN boards, but that just makes beating the Blazers even more satisfying!

Q12543 wrote:Good stuff. I only watched the condensed highlights from my broadband package, but it looked like we deployed that "switch everything" strategy on Lillard and McCollum in Q1. It's the same thing we do with the Warriors, but every time Dieng was switched onto one of their guards, he couldn't contain them. Those guys can slash to the hoop better than Klay or Steph. Did Mitchell dump that strategy later in the game?

You're right Q, we did employ that strategy and the Blazers did a good job of isolating their slashers against the wrong people. I don't think Sam dumped the strategy as much as he used Tayshaun much more in the 2nd half. It made it harder for the Blazers to find the favorable matchups.

longstrangetrip wrote:Glad you were able to see such a terrific game, cool. To answer your question about the Lilliard flop, Jim Peterson was livid...and he was right. Just a terrible call at that stage of the game.

What's astonishing to me is how poised the Wolves are at the end of games...not what you would expect from a team with three guys just over 20 years old on the floor. Towns and Prince were terrific on that last play, but I also give Mitchell some credit. Yes, he can be overly intense at times on the sidelines and tough on guys like Zach, but if you watched him during that last timeout, he exhibited nothing but calmness and control in the huddle as he drew up the final play...that calmness has to rub off on his youngsters, and contribute to their poise. Others have pointed out the Wolves success coming out of timeouts (they have been in the top 5 in scoring percentage much of the year), so I was not surprised that they scored on the final possession. I think Portland assumed that Sam would draw up a play for Wig, because that is typically what he does at the start of games and out of timeouts. Portland's focus on Wig allowed KAT to get isolated one-on-one, and we knew that Prince would find him in the right place and KAT would not be denied.

Just a great finish to a terrific road trip.

I just don't understand how an NBA official could be that bad in a circumstance like that. He had to be looking to make a call to come up with that garbage.

BizarroJerry wrote:Nice report cool. Big KAT is gonna do some good work for us. Since you're in beer city, how much for a game day craft beer?

I didn't partake last night but for some reason I'm thinking $8? I stuck to a dog, diet coke and some red vines. I paid $30 to park 5 blocks from the arena, which is more than I remember in previous trips.