CoolBreeze's 2 Things I Didn't Like Tonight Plus 1

[Coolbreeze44]

What a downer, looked forward to the game all day and then found out we would be playing without Wig and Ricky. First game Andrew has missed as a pro, hope it doesn't become a habit like it is with Ricky. Hate to see us give away winnable games, but these are the Wolves after all. Here is the first wave of injuries 2 + 1:

1) Anybody at the game tonight who can report on the size of the crowd? On TV it looked like it was being played in front of close family and friends only. Kind of disappointing considering the team has gotten off to a good start. I would have thought they would get a good walk up gate after last night's exciting win.

2) Gorgui and Shabazz. Gorgui looks like he left his game in the summer circuit and Shabazz appears to be the definition of a one trick pony. We really could have used better efforts from these two young veterans tonight. We've seen them both play a lot better, time to earn their keep.

Plus 1 - Without Zach tonight we would have lost by 30. Sure he had 8 turnovers, but he didn't get much help with the ball handling. He had some really good moments on both ends of the floor and his energy helped keep the game from being an embarrassment. Towns was pretty good too. Together they actually made the game watchable.

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

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

First game I wasn't able to watch, now I'm glad I didn't. Injuries to key players? Shocking. But especially bad timing tonight against a bad team at home.

Tyus's box score, other than 0 turnovers, looks pretty ugly. What was the eye test on him tonight? If he truly isn't ready for any minutes, and Andre is not the answer (I get the "vet" thing, but why did we sign him again? Oh yeah, the "vet" thing) then it's definitely time to go out and find another reliable ball-handler. Preferably a natural point guard.

As for Bazz and Gorgs, Bazz to me is a guy without a role right now, but I think he'll come around. Gorgui has regressed for some reason (and again I didn't see tonight's game). He seemed like a smarter player last year. Maybe he's just trying to do too much. Anyway, getting Pek back healthy might be crucial if Gorgs keeps playing like he has so far.

[Monster]

What sucks is this is one of those games that "if the Wolves stay healthy..." They could make a run. They weren't so they didn't win. Props to them for being in this game.

Tyus I though played just fine. Was he good? No but he did his thing for the most part. He was putting in the effort defensively and honestly he looked more physically ready on that end than I was expecting.

Lavine was good and bad but yeah without him it would have absolutely brutal.

I continue to not be as down on Dieng as other people. He stays active and he has done better at times playing more fundamental defense. That time he switched into Kemba he got into a good stance stayed in front of him and did good. Yeah there were other times he had bad plays. That's why he is a fringe starter not a starter.

Payne played some good minutes. If we get the player we have seen the last couple games he will be pretty useful. Hopefully he continues to play solid when he gets opportunities.

[Carlos Danger]

I was channel flipping last night, so didn't see every play. But, it seemed like every time I tuned in, LaVine was turning the ball over. I checked the box this a.m. and LaVine had 8 turnovers and KMart 6. That doesn't help. The bench didn't play well tonight. It happens. We were extra short handed. I'm content being 4-3 at this point. Just need to get healthy. LaVine looked really good when not turning the ball over, so if he can tighten that up we might have something there (or get him off of being primary PG).

[Lipoli390]

I'm out of town so I wasn't at the game and didn't see it on TV.

Sounds like Zach had a good game. Other than the 8 turnovers Zach looked good in the box score with 20 points on 47% shooting, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. I assume he was guarding Kemba Walker. If so, his performance tonight was even more impressive, holding the high-scoring Kemba to 10 points on 33% shooting and 0 for 5 from behind the arc. Towns also looked impressive in the box score with another double-double and 3 blocks. How did these two look?

Martin looked bad in the box score. Yes he had 18 points. But 6 turnovers at the SG position??!! And 5 fouls??!! We're all disappointed by Zach's 8 turnovers. But he's a 20 year old player just starting his second season and playing point guard where he's the team's principle ball handler responsible for running the offense. And he did other things besides scoring - rebounds, assists and steals along with his 20 points on 47% shooting. But Martin... Yuck!!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

We had 22 TOs to their 16, so we gave away 6 extra possessions. That right there is probably worth ~ 10-12 points since it's an opportunity cost for us offensively and an extra possession for them.

- Zach was a mixed bag. He definitely did some good things defensively and you can absolutely see why patience is required with him. But damn, he played an inefficient brand of basketball, using 27 possessions (19 shots + 8 turnovers) and only having 20 points to show for it. I do agree though that he was on an island out there.

- Martin is even starting to get on my nerves. He took a bunch of shitty shots and had a bunch of shitty turnovers.

- I think there was one sequence where we must have had 3 or 4 travel calls in the span of 3 minutes. It was nuts. Mitchell and his assistants need to come up with some drill (if they haven't already) that gets these guys to adjust to the tight calls. It almost always occurs at the front-end of a move, right before our guy puts the ball on the floor.

- Tyus Jones looked OK in terms of organizing the offense and he took good shots; none of them went in though. I think it was good for him to get his feet wet. We may be counting on him next season to be our primary backup to Rubio.

- Dieng and Shabazz were non-factors again. One thing they haven't done is get Shabazz enough touches in the post. I don't know if that's Mitchell's play-calling, a lack of PG savvy, or the fact that Martin and LaVine are crowding him out - it's probably all of the above - but he was one of our more efficient scorers last year. We need to find ways to get him the ball in the post and on curl plays.

Overall, this was a pretty moribund game. The crowd looked sparse and low energy. And the T-Wolves shot themselves in the foot with all the TOs in what was a very winnable game. Charlotte was very beatable, even with some of our key guys out.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I'm out of town so I wasn't at the game and didn't see it on TV.

Sounds like Zach had a good game. Other than the 8 turnovers Zach looked good in the box score with 20 points on 47% shooting, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. I assume he was guarding Kemba Walker. If so, his performance tonight was even more impressive, holding the high-scoring Kemba to 10 points on 33% shooting and 0 for 5 from behind the arc. Towns also looked impressive in the box score with another double-double and 3 blocks. How did these two look?

Martin looked bad in the box score. Yes he had 18 points. But 6 turnovers at the SG position??!! And 5 fouls??!! We're all disappointed by Zach's 8 turnovers. But he's a 20 year old player just starting his second season and playing point guard where he's the team's principle ball handler responsible for running the offense. And he did other things besides scoring - rebounds, assists and steals along with his 20 points on 47% shooting. But Martin... Yuck!!

Watched the game. Martin was great in the 1st half... 6 - 9 for 17 points. 0 - 7 fg in the second half. Still hunting for his shots of course. I was surprised by the 6 TOs... didn't seem like that many.

To be fair, two of them (along with 2 fouls) were on ridiculous flops by Lin in the 2nd half. Both bad calls.

LaVine looked pretty damn solid as an energetic, athletic wing. Too bad he's still at PG where he does little to help anybody else. He had a couple more ill-advised passes that were tipped away but recovered by the Wolves. But there's no denying that when he's out to get his... he looks great and has definite potential. I'm excited to see him play more SG after Martin is traded.

The scary thing is we might have seen another reason why LaVine is playing the point. Jones isn't ready, physically. Miller is too old physically. Even a guy like Brian Roberts for Charlotte looks more more ready for NBA action than those two.

Towns was impressive. Again. So was Jeremy Lin. The guy is making $4M over 2 years. HUGE bargain.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Lin has jumped the shark. That guy looked like a clown out there.

[bleedspeed]

So was Jeremy Lin. The guy is making $4M over 2 years. HUGE bargain.

I wanted to target him in FA to backup Rubio. Glad he is having a good year for Hornets, but wish he was hear so we would see LaVine playing SG instead of PG.

[Monster]

I think that first offensive foul on Martin I think he was actually hit but the 2nd one was all acting. Overall it didn't feel like a great game for him.

The traveling calls...man it's sorta good to see that the NBA is trying to clean that up but damn some of those seem kinda picky. Mitchell said after the game he and and the coaching staff have to work on that to adjust. He was clearly frustrated and I can't blame him really.

I don't want to give too much praise to him but I do think it's unfair to say Dieng didn't have any positive effect out there. He had 6 boards and was very active in that regard. He needs to keep that up though I think it's one area I have been a little disappointed in so far this year.