Post game observations

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I caught this one wire-to-wire, something I couldn't do last night. A few thoughts....

- It's amazing how soft defensively we were to start the 1st quarter. I'm absolutely convinced that Love and Pekovic try to avoid committing any fouls whatsoever in the first quarter of games. As a result, it's an unabated assault in the paint for the opposing team. Contrast that with the third quarter, where suddenly everyone picked up the intensity by a few decibels.

- After giving us a lift last night, our bench played an absolutely horrid stretch of basketball to start the 4th quarter. They should be embarrassed that Adelman had to sub them out after taking a 30+ point lead and frittering it away down to the mid-teens in only a matter of a few minutes.

- It was good to see Kevin Martin knock down some shots tonight. He wasn't able to get to the line, but he was hitting his outside shot. And that's what we need from him more than anything else.

- The third quarter was an absolute clinic by our starting unit. They were hitting on all cylinders on offense and really picked up the defensive intensity.

- The Bucks could eventually be an elite defensive team. They have just unbelievable length. Once Ginannis learns how to play the game, he will give them a perimeter defensive presence that will compliment the interior defense of Sanders and Henson (when healthy). Offensively, they are a train wreck. They have absolutely no go-to guy. Or even a second option for that matter.

These last two games were two, decisive victories. Neither was a gimme. Washington had been playing well prior to their matchup with us and our game against the Bucks was on the road on the 2nd night of a back to back. The next two games are critical because they are against conference opponents vying for the 8th seed: Dallas and New Orleans.

Let's go Wolves!

[mjs34]

One thing that jumps out at me is poor game management. There was no reason to re-insert our starters. Why is it that Adelman refuses to go deeper in his bench when his 2nd unit guys aren't getting it done (which unfortunately seems to be the norm). Why not try using Dieng in place of DC, maybe shabazz or Price. Adelman keeps saying he is trying to find something that works with the 2nd unit, but continues to use the same guys. Definition of insanity!

We had close to a thirty point lead. If we didn't attempt a shot, but just burned the shot clock and played lousy D we should have won that game. Why isn't Adelman telling them to work the clock down? We kept jacking up shots with 15 seconds on the clock.

One other thing I noticed is that someone needs to tell Brewer he is a bench guy talent wise. He gets out with the second unit and thinks he is MJ.

[kekgeek]

One thing that jumps out at me is poor game management. There was no reason to re-insert our starters. Why is it that Adelman refuses to go deeper in his bench when his 2nd unit guys aren't getting it done (which unfortunately seems to be the norm). Why not try using Dieng in place of DC, maybe shabazz or Price. Adelman keeps saying he is trying to find something that works with the 2nd unit, but continues to use the same guys. Definition of insanity!

I Disagree with this, even though I agree Adelman plays his starters to much, we needed to get the starters back in there to put the game away, we didn't want to keep going with the bench and the bucks getting it within single digits and then the starters come in cold with 4 minutes to play. I am not happy the starters had to play but I think it was the right call. Good overall win though

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Always good to read your takes, Q, especially when I can't watch the game. Your observation about our interior defense in first quarters is right on. Since both Love and Pek play much softer early in games, I suspect it is a directive from Adelman to stay away from early fouls. It's a little frustrating to see the early easy buckets, but it seems to pay off as the game develops with the foul and FT differential.

I'm glad you pointed out that neither of these games were pushovers. Washington has now won 4 out of 5 after pounding Detroit last night by 24 on the second half of a BTB, and as you pointed out, the Bucks game was a road BTB game for us...never an easy task. And yet we won both games by more than 20. This is exactly the start we needed going into this critical stretch of soft games.

[The Rage Monster [enjin:8010341]]

I've got to agree with sjm on this one. We had 103 points after 3 quarters while the Bucks had 95 for the game, the Bucks weren't winning this game. A win by 22 counts the same as a win by 7 or 8, this would have been a good opportunity to get Love more rest and get some of these bench guys potentially valuable developmental minutes.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Yeah, Adelman is acting like this is his last season, like he really wants to go out big. His reluctance to go deeper into his bench is really odd, I think. The chances of us losing this game once we got up so big were one in a thousand, and it doesn't make sense to risk injury to one of our stars by playing them when it wasn't necessary. Not to mention it's another wasted opportunity to give our rookies some valuable court time. Dieng, Hummel and Mohammad are guys who have been proven winners in their pre-NBA careers, and at least one of them might be able to help us down the stretch if Adelman would give them a chance.

[Porckchop]

The bench has shown the ability to piss leads away in a heartbeat, and while the starters have shown the ability to get big leads theyve also shown they cant close games out effectively. The Wolves are at a crucial part of their schedule where wins are there for the taking. If they get a big lead its better to sustain it than have to come back in and build it back up .Imo
Theres no such thing as gimme wins for this team so when its there for the taking they better grab it. Worrying about fresh legs for later games is for winning teams. Not for teams trying to get above .500

[WildWolf2813]

Free Shabazz

Free Dieng.

If I'm Flip I seriously tell Rick "you were up 31. Just play them. It's not gonna kill you to use them"

[Lipoli390]

Adelman did the right thing reinserting the starters. The Bucks had closed the gap to 17 with 6 minutes remaining. The way things were going, the Bucks were on track to get the gap into single digits, possibly down to as little as 6 points with 2+ minutes left. This game was too important to take that sort of risk.

However, I do fault Adelman for failing to insert Dieng, Shabazz and/or Hummel into the second unit lineup in place of Dante and Luc once the Bucks closed the gap to 20 with 8 minutes left.

[mjs34]

Adelman did the right thing reinserting the starters. The Bucks had closed the gap to 17 with 6 minutes remaining. The way things were going, the Bucks were on track to get the gap into single digits, possibly down to as little as 6 points with 2+ minutes left. This game was too important to take that sort of risk.

However, I do fault Adelman for failing to insert Dieng, Shabazz and/or Hummel into the second unit lineup in place of Dante and Luc once the Bucks closed the gap to 20 with 8 minutes left.

This is my point. For some reason Adelman won't alter his second unit roster. I am not a huge believer in Shabazz, but at least give him some burn when the other bench guys aren't getting it done. I do think Dieng can give a significant boost defensively and on the glass over DC. Yes he is raw, but guys like DC and Luc don't give us anything that can't easily be replaced.

I wasn't worried about overplaying the starters as much as I was about possible injury, and just trying out different players off the bench. If practice told the whole story, Rubio and Hummel would be leading the team in shooting (according to what Lip has been told).