FNG game report

[FNG]

This was the loudest I've ever heard Target Center...even louder than Game 7 in 2004. It was close to impossible to converse with someone sitting right next to you. But what a fun game!

Maybe it was the crowd impact, but I've never seen our defense disorient a good offense like it did tonight. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to run an offense with that level of noise and guys like Jaden, NAW and Ant not giving their man any room. The Suns have one of the best offenses in the Association, and our defense has held them to double digits now two games in a row.

The magic number tonight was 61, as the Wolves Big Three of Jaden, Gobert and Conley scored 61 points on 61% shooting. The other key number was our 31-2 advantage in points off of turnovers. The Suns turn the ball over a lot, and I've been surprised that they protected the ball better than we did during the three regular season games. But the playoffs have been different, as our stifling defense has wreaked havoc with their offense.

An underrated factor in both our wins was Grayson Allen having to leave the game with a bad ankle. He's one of my least favorite guys in the league, but you can't ignore how effective he is at both ends of the court. It's a huge drop off, especially on defense, when Eric Gordon has to play for Allen. Several times the Suns tried to hide Gordon on Jaden, and we saw how well that worked for them. If Allen isn't able to play the rest of the series, I see the Wolves winning in 5 games.

Conversely, the Wolves missed SloMo tonight, especially after KAT was benched with 3 fouls. Naz was ineffective on the boards, and not having Kyle or KAT for most of the first half led to a rebounding advantage for the Suns...weird to see after the board dominance we showed in the last game.

I've now had the Red Panda halftime show in back to back games with the Suns. Apparently we have better success against the Suns when the Panda drops her plates (which she did twice tonight after a flawless show in Phoenix a couple weeks ago).

[Lipoli390]

I’m not sure we missed Kyle these past two games (no PT tonight and limited PT Saturday). I think we match up better against the Suns without Kyle. The key to defending the Suns great shooters is speed and quickness - staying with their shooters and closing out fast on shooters who get free. Kyle doesn’t fit the bill. His SLO MO moniker is well-deserved. I also think our floor spacing is better offensively without Kyle. Don’t get me wrong; I like Kyle and see he value to the team. But his injury might be a blessing for the Wolves against the Suns.

[Wolvesfan21]

Agreed. Can Naz grab a few boards, please. I think it was on a FT miss, Allen (might have fouled Naz slightly to be fair) but simply out physicaled Naz for the ball on a fucking offensive FT board. Jaden did very good tonight. He was uber aggressive going for rebounds. Maybe not the ideal technique of boxing out on defense, etc... But he still went for it hard. Just going 100 goes a long ways. We got outrebounded which is probably the one thing we can see improvement on.

I agree about the noise, despite not being there. I could tell it was deafening. The energy in the arena was something I have never seen. Phoenix was punched in the face and were stumbling and bumbling around, they were incredibly inept on offense once the crowd was really going. Vogel burned his last TO with 7 minutes left because they couldn't even get a shot off anymore. It was magical.

[FNG]

I’m not sure we missed Kyle these past two games (no PT tonight and limited PT Saturday). I think we match up better against the Suns without Kyle. The key to defending the Suns great shooters is speed and quickness - staying with their shooters and closing out fast on shooters who get free. Kyle doesn’t fit the bill. His SLO MO moniker is well-deserved. I also think our floor spacing is better offensively without Kyle. Don’t get me wrong; I like Kyle and see he value to the team. But his injury might be a blessing for the Wolves against the Suns.

You could be right about that, Lip...I think we'll see SloMo next game (he wasn't in street clothes last night), so we will likely find out if he helps or hurts Friday night. But I know Naz doesn't help us if he isn't making his 3-point shot (I don't know if you were at the game last night, Lip, but my son and I were concerned about Naz missing too many 3-pointers pre-game). The play that Wolvesfan21 points out above where Naz got muscled by a smaller Grayson Allen was especially annoying. Having SloMo available gives Finchie more flexibility to play the bench big who is most effective that night. But that may very well be Naz Friday night even if Kyle plays.

[FNG]

Agreed. Can Naz grab a few boards, please. I think it was on a FT miss, Allen (might have fouled Naz slightly to be fair) but simply out physicaled Naz for the ball on a fucking offensive FT board. Jaden did very good tonight. He was uber aggressive going for rebounds. Maybe not the ideal technique of boxing out on defense, etc... But he still went for it hard. Just going 100 goes a long ways. We got outrebounded which is probably the one thing we can see improvement on.

I agree about the noise, despite not being there. I could tell it was deafening. The energy in the arena was something I have never seen. Phoenix was punched in the face and were stumbling and bumbling around, they were incredibly inept on offense once the crowd was really going. Vogel burned his last TO with 7 minutes left because they couldn't even get a shot off anymore. It was magical.

What a night for Jaden to have a career game, huh wolvesfan? This game was the Suns for the taking in the first half until Jaden took over at both ends of the court...he was simply brilliant. Finchie was funny postgame joking a little about Jaden's poor rebounding...said they worked with him a lot about boarding in practice last week. I think the coaching staff deserves a little credit for Jaden's performance last night...not only did it seem like they inspired him to rebound a little more, but it also seemed they recognized the Suns couldn't defend Jaden with Gordon out there ad designed some plays to get him the ball.

[Carlos Danger]

Good stuff FNG. This has been such a great season - let's keep it going. The big thing about this team is it is not dependent on any ONE player (as in years past).

In reading through the game thread, some were complaining about Edwards not showing up. Be patient. As others chimed in, he's doing exactly what he should be doing - passing out of double/triple teams and giving open looks to others. He had 8 assists last night - that's fantastic. It's pick your poison right now as long as other guys can hit open shots.

Several guys had a down game (Naz, Edwards, Morris), but other guys stepped up. Nobody has been more down on McDaniels this season than me. But he stepped up big time in this game. And yes - performances like that is worth his big contract. Now we need to see that more often.

We on a mission - keep the foot on the pedal!

[FNG]

Good stuff FNG. This has been such a great season - let's keep it going. The big thing about this team is it is not dependent on any ONE player (as in years past).

In reading through the game thread, some were complaining about Edwards not showing up. Be patient. As others chimed in, he's doing exactly what he should be doing - passing out of double/triple teams and giving open looks to others. He had 8 assists last night - that's fantastic. It's pick your poison right now as long as other guys can hit open shots.

Several guys had a down game (Naz, Edwards, Morris), but other guys stepped up. Nobody has been more down on McDaniels this season than me. But he stepped up big time in this game. And yes - performances like that is worth his big contract. Now we need to see that more often.

We on a mission - keep the foot on the pedal!

Two great points here, Anthony. Ant's growth recently in making the correct decision when doubled or tripled has been evident (I think we need to credit the coaching staff too). He had 8 assists and only 3 turnovers last night, and I know he is going to continue to improve his decision making. I noticed last night that the Suns actually stopped doubling Ant in the 4th quarter after he had made some nice passes to open teammates. It used to frustrate the heck out of me when Ant would dribble through much of the 24 seconds, but he seems to be doing it now much more purposefully. You can see him trying to draw someone in to double him so he can get the ball to his teammate for an open three. So much fun to watch his growth!

And yeah, the depth of this team is extraordinary. We have three max players on this team, but the star of game one was reserve NAW and the star last night was role player Jaden. And nobody seems happier when a teammate steps up and becomes the night's MVP than Ant! Finchie raved about Ant being such a terrific teammate in his postgame last night, and I agree. He is the first one to bear hug a teammate after a great night, and doesn't ever seem to get down...even on a 3-15 shooting night.

[Q-is-here]

I’m not sure we missed Kyle these past two games (no PT tonight and limited PT Saturday). I think we match up better against the Suns without Kyle. The key to defending the Suns great shooters is speed and quickness - staying with their shooters and closing out fast on shooters who get free. Kyle doesn’t fit the bill. His SLO MO moniker is well-deserved. I also think our floor spacing is better offensively without Kyle. Don’t get me wrong; I like Kyle and see he value to the team. But his injury might be a blessing for the Wolves against the Suns.

Good to hear from you Lip and glad you were able to enjoy the game in person like FNG! Midwest Volleyball represent!

I kind of wonder too if the Wolves staff are using his injury as a convenient excuse not to play him. I think he is legitimately still hobbled, but if we REALLY, REALLY needed him like in a playoff game against Zion and the Pels, I think he could go. The Suns play an aggressive shell defense which really can only be loosened by spacing the floor with shooters.