Minnesota Sports Forum

The 0-1 Wolves travel north from LA to take on the Kings in their season debut. We're favored by 1 1/2 points, but this one scares me. We just didn't look very good against the Lakers, and now we're facing a better team that is probably feeling pretty good about their chances having added DeRozan coming off a very good season.

There was very little to like about the Laker game...they showed up and played with energy, and we didn't. Our new guys underperformed...DiVo looked good but shot poorly, and Randle put up decent stats but didn't look good or comfortable. Ant scored well, but was a total ball stopper and somewhat invisible on defense. Jaden looked active at the start of the game, but fouls kept him off the court. And Conley played perhaps his worst game as a Wolf. All of these aspects need to improve if we intend to win tonight. Coming home 0-2 would not feel very good.

I want to see more ball movement tonight. I'm sure Finchie was not happy with Game 1, and stressed ball movement in practice yesterday. One encouraging thing is Ant seemed to grasp the concept in the 4th quarter when he had 3 nice assists. We need more of this from him, and also from Randle. Move the ball, get back on defense, and we can win this game.

I'm hopeful we'll win this one but won't be upset if we lose. Pretty tough two game road trip to start the season.

I also don't rate the Kings as highly as others and don't think the acquisition of Demar DeRozen moves the needle that much for them. They're still so reliant on Sabonis and have no front court depth behind him.

Looking for a bounce back game from Naz and DDV. Randle should have a solid outing against their weak front court too.

DeRozan regularly torches the Wolves, or it feels like he does. I'm interested to see his usage next to Fox and Sabonis.

I expect to see the same 9man rotation tonight but I really want to see both Dillingham and Minott given a run. Ingles is no slowmo replacement and we need a bigger who can rebound and defend. Minott should get a shot to see if he can provide that.

We traded 2 picks for the 7th pick Dillingham. He should get some run. I know its hard with Divo and NAW ahead of him but we need to develop the kid.

The team worked last year because of Towns. His ability to play alongside Rudy and then slide down to the 5 and be the backup center when Rudy sits was
great for us. Randle cant paly the 5 as he is too small and provides zero shotblocking.

We need to play differently and have a different identity this year than what we
had last year.

worldK wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2024 8:09 pm I expect to see the same 9man rotation tonight but I really want to see both Dillingham and Minott given a run. Ingles is no slowmo replacement and we need a bigger who can rebound and defend. Minott should get a shot to see if he can provide that.

We traded 2 picks for the 7th pick Dillingham. He should get some run. I know its hard with Divo and NAW ahead of him but we need to develop the kid.

The team worked last year because of Towns. His ability to play alongside Rudy and then slide down to the 5 and be the backup center when Rudy sits was
great for us. Randle cant paly the 5 as he is too small and provides zero shotblocking.

We need to play differently and have a different identity this year than what we
had last year.

I was pretty surprised to see such a tight rotation on Tuesday. He basically used 8 guys since Ingles only played 7 minutes. That's like a Western Conference Finals rotation!

My theory is that Finch wants to establish a good base with the vets and probably figures that as guys inevitably get dinged up and need rest days, that's when Dillingham and Minott will get their chance (Garza too).

You make a good point about offensive identity. There is none right now. We have some guys best suited for a high pick and roll offense (Conley, Rudy, Ingles); others suited for a spread dribble drive isolation game (Ant, Randle); and others suited for the type of faster-paced, quick-decision ball movement offense that Finch preaches (DDV, Reid, Jaden, Dillingham, Minott).

Note how our two most important players - Rudy and Ant - really don't fit into Finch's ideal offensive style! The problem is they don't really fit into the other's preferred style either!

World, I agree that Ingles is no SloMo...he's not close to the defender SloMo is. But Finchie seems to really like him, and he said post game that he regretted not giving him more minutes. He hated the ball stickiness, and he knows Ingles gets rid of the ball faster than anyone on the team. So I expect to see 10-15 minutes from Joe tonight in addition to the other 9. But that's providing things are going well. If they play as lackluster as they did Tuesday, Finchie might try to inject some energy with Rob and/or Minott.

Alright we gotta get better GDT titles. First the opening night one and now this, let's step it up boys!

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2024 8:23 pm

worldK wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2024 8:09 pm I expect to see the same 9man rotation tonight but I really want to see both Dillingham and Minott given a run. Ingles is no slowmo replacement and we need a bigger who can rebound and defend. Minott should get a shot to see if he can provide that.

We traded 2 picks for the 7th pick Dillingham. He should get some run. I know its hard with Divo and NAW ahead of him but we need to develop the kid.

The team worked last year because of Towns. His ability to play alongside Rudy and then slide down to the 5 and be the backup center when Rudy sits was
great for us. Randle cant paly the 5 as he is too small and provides zero shotblocking.

We need to play differently and have a different identity this year than what we
had last year.

I was pretty surprised to see such a tight rotation on Tuesday. He basically used 8 guys since Ingles only played 7 minutes. That's like a Western Conference Finals rotation!

My theory is that Finch wants to establish a good base with the vets and probably figures that as guys inevitably get dinged up and need rest days, that's when Dillingham and Minott will get their chance (Garza too).

You make a good point about offensive identity. There is none right now. We have some guys best suited for a high pick and roll offense (Conley, Rudy, Ingles); others suited for a spread dribble drive isolation game (Ant, Randle); and others suited for the type of faster-paced, quick-decision ball movement offense that Finch preaches (DDV, Reid, Jaden, Dillingham, Minott).

Note how our two most important players - Rudy and Ant - really don't fit into Finch's ideal offensive style! The problem is they don't really fit into the other's preferred style either!

Good points Q. My thinking is that we are NOT the same team we were last year. We should not try tomplay the same style or try to win the same way.

Trading away Towns was the end of the BIG lineup that became our identity when we traded for Rudy. Towns made that identity possible. Flinch talked about playing a Naz/Towns/Rudy frontcourt in the preseason interview. That is not playable replacing towns with randle.

We need a new identity and that is why the late trade is going to hurt us in the first half of the season.

We need a new play style, a new identity and new roles as the new players have different skillsets.

What does this team want to do offensively, other than turn the ball over? The players don't act like they know.

Close game. Good use of Randle as the lead playmaker/
attacker for the 2nd unit. We need to play fast with the 2nd unit.