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Post by levine on Jan 23, 2024 11:53:55 GMT -6
Our last 4 losses (DAL, BOS, OKC, CHA) were all late game chokes when we had the game in hand.
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Post by levine on Jan 23, 2024 12:43:55 GMT -6
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Post by WolvesLife on Jan 23, 2024 13:22:30 GMT -6
Seems we're hitting a pretty hard mid-season wall, and seems a lot of it is about growing up. Ant especially, he can't get lost in stat padding anybody like that when you're the guy setting the tone for your team. There's always 4 other guys on the floor.. Definitely a maturity lesson if ever there was one.
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Post by wunderwolf on Jan 23, 2024 13:52:39 GMT -6
Here are my rants I texted to my boys last night post game.
I predicted at halftime that we would lose because KAT and the rest of the team would be purely focused on his "big night" and how many points he would score.. Winning is way more important than one individual scoring a lot of points. Just gross
That game was the antithesis of good basketball (team ball) You think Bill Russell cared about how many points he had from game to game? He only cared about championships
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Post by kingsxman on Jan 23, 2024 14:57:31 GMT -6
Here are my rants I texted to my boys last night post game. I predicted at halftime that we would lose because KAT and the rest of the team would be purely focused on his "big night" and how many points he would score.. Winning is way more important than one individual scoring a lot of points. Just grossThat game was the antithesis of good basketball (team ball) You think Bill Russell cared about how many points he had from game to game? He only cared about championshipsMy son and I were both saying the same thing as we were watching the game last night. I even commented that I hope no one tells them that Embiid had 70 points because they'll try harder to get him 70 and lose the damn game. Its says a lot that we could see this coming. Which brings me to 2 points: 1. Why did Finch allow his coaches to tell players what Embiid was doing? Finch is exactly right in what happened and that this is an immature bunch...but at some point the "why do these guys keep doing this shit when I tell them not to" story runs shallow. I get it. Finch is a players coach. But even a players coach needs to put the hammer down sometimes. I'm not sure Finch even knows how to find his hammer. 2. This is who Towns is. This is who Towns ALWAYS has been. He has great talent. Some teams take on the attitude of the head coach, some teams take on the attitude of their best players. KAT is one of our most talented players. But he's not, and has never been, a leader. Its up to the organization to determine if this is the direction they want to continue to go. As I noted earlier...it looked like Towns was ready to cry after the game. And I really dont think it was because they lost.
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Post by Nick K on Jan 23, 2024 17:40:27 GMT -6
Seems to me one of the issues was KAT got the ball way too much. Yes, he scored a lot but looking at the box score it looks like the ball was not spread out enough. He got the ball the perfect amount. In the first half, when he was on fire and they were single-covering him, it was appropriate for him to go nuclear. In the 2nd half, when they started doubling, playing tight, etc, it would have behooved us to have him pass to open shooters and use his energy on defense instead of going for a scoring record over a W. That's right! Nailed it!
One moment my good friend kingsxman argues Kat doesn't shoot enough. The next moment he shoots too much! He only shot about 70% from the field. OMG!
Defense is a team game and to blame Kat solely last night is ridiculous. We were up by 14? going into the 4th. Ant killed us and turnovers did too.
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Post by Nick K on Jan 23, 2024 17:42:56 GMT -6
From our old Strib and TwolvesCentral buddy Casey Brewer: The KAT conundrum in a nutshell.
Amazing offensive talent.
Completely unserious player.
I knew this was going to happen around the 38 pt mark for KAT. I knew he’d hunt for points. I knew he’d either cost the Wolves the game, or that it would be a nail biter for no goddamn reason.
This isn’t on the coach. This is on a team with a bunch of children getting swept up in their own frontrunner mythology when they haven’t accomplished a goddamned thing. It’s been brewing for weeks.
The Memphis win was nearly as bad. A total farce to give ANT his nationally televised cred. That Memphis team were essentially a D-league squad.
This team needs more grown ups. Mike has been the MVP this season along with Rudy. It shouldn’t be a necessity by now, but we could use a couple more old heads on this roster.
Our two other “stars” have been playing hot potato hero ball far more than any legit contender would dare. It’s just so predictable.
Endless talent but short on brains.BREWDAWG makes good points for sure. I'd like to see him come back.
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Post by Nick K on Jan 23, 2024 17:43:47 GMT -6
Seems we're hitting a pretty hard mid-season wall, and seems a lot of it is about growing up. Ant especially, he can't get lost in stat padding anybody like that when you're the guy setting the tone for your team. There's always 4 other guys on the floor.. Definitely a maturity lesson if ever there was one. Good post. I agree.
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Post by XRaySpecs on Jan 23, 2024 17:51:00 GMT -6
The concerning thing for me is that everyone was keenly aware of the issues around maturity and playing correctly going into the game. The problem was exactly identified and all it took was a minimal distraction like KAT catching fire to completely derail a game. Everyone lost focus of what is actually important. Hearing that about the team being aware of Embiid's scoring makes me sad. We were getting worked on defense in the first half and instead of getting serious our guys were apparently keen on stat chasing. We deserved to lose. I'm glad KAT's stupid record will actually be 2 records: Most points in a game in franchise history AND most points in a game that we lost.
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Post by Nick K on Jan 23, 2024 18:18:27 GMT -6
I have no problem with Ant deferring to Kat when Kat is making everything he threw up. It was the second half when Ant went hero ball. NOBODY played defense the whole game. It's a team game.
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Post by levine on Jan 23, 2024 19:31:55 GMT -6
I have no problem with Ant deferring to Kat when Kat is making everything he threw up. It was the second half when Ant went hero ball. NOBODY played defense the whole game. It's a team game. The problem was that since KAT took all the shots in the first 3 quarters, no one was able to get any kind of rhythm after that. Even if a player is red hot, you still need to keep running offense because you can't assume it'll last beyond their next make.
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Post by kingsxman on Jan 23, 2024 21:54:26 GMT -6
He got the ball the perfect amount. In the first half, when he was on fire and they were single-covering him, it was appropriate for him to go nuclear. In the 2nd half, when they started doubling, playing tight, etc, it would have behooved us to have him pass to open shooters and use his energy on defense instead of going for a scoring record over a W. That's right! Nailed it!
One moment my good friend kingsxman argues Kat doesn't shoot enough. The next moment he shoots too much! He only shot about 70% from the field. OMG!
Defense is a team game and to blame Kat solely last night is ridiculous. We were up by 14? going into the 4th. Ant killed us and turnovers did too.
Now, I know your just trying to tweak me Nick, because, you KNOW thats not what I mean. Did you see how well KAT shot the 3 in the first half? Yes they were leaving him wide open. But he needs to do that more in EVERY game. Even Finch said during his press conference that they're trying to get him to shoot more 3's...but he wont. There's definitely a difference between wanting him to shoot more 3's and what we saw last night.
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Post by araxen on Jan 23, 2024 22:13:55 GMT -6
He was trying to shoot so many 3's last night that he shot some corner 3's which he never does(and I guess usually refuses to)! lol
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Post by Scorched on Jan 24, 2024 8:16:20 GMT -6
www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39372896/wolves-hornets-game-had-10-missed-calls-final-2-minutesMonday night's Charlotte Hornets-Minnesota Timberwolves game featured 10 incorrect calls over the last two minutes, according to the NBA's L2M Report published Tuesday. The game came down to the wire, with the Hornets storming back from an 18-point deficit to win 128-125. Three of the incorrect calls favored Minnesota and six favored Charlotte, including a missed shooting foul that would've given Karl-Anthony Towns a chance to give the Timberwolves a lead with less than five seconds left. One foul against the Hornets was assigned to the incorrect player (Brandon Miller instead of P.J. Washington). Editor's Picks Finch on loss after KAT has 62: 'Immature' play 1d In all, the Hornets should've been whistled for two shooting fouls, two travels/double dribble, a loose ball foul and a personal foul. The Wolves got away with two shooting fouls as well as an offensive foul on the final possession of the game. Towns had a historic performance in the game, scoring 44 points in the first half en route to a 62-point game. He drove to the basket with 4.5 seconds remaining with Minnesota down one and had his arm hit by Leaky Black on a layup attempt, but it went uncalled.
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Post by quinn on Jan 24, 2024 8:54:57 GMT -6
www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39372896/wolves-hornets-game-had-10-missed-calls-final-2-minutesMonday night's Charlotte Hornets-Minnesota Timberwolves game featured 10 incorrect calls over the last two minutes, according to the NBA's L2M Report published Tuesday. The game came down to the wire, with the Hornets storming back from an 18-point deficit to win 128-125. Three of the incorrect calls favored Minnesota and six favored Charlotte, including a missed shooting foul that would've given Karl-Anthony Towns a chance to give the Timberwolves a lead with less than five seconds left. One foul against the Hornets was assigned to the incorrect player (Brandon Miller instead of P.J. Washington). Editor's Picks Finch on loss after KAT has 62: 'Immature' play 1d In all, the Hornets should've been whistled for two shooting fouls, two travels/double dribble, a loose ball foul and a personal foul. The Wolves got away with two shooting fouls as well as an offensive foul on the final possession of the game. Towns had a historic performance in the game, scoring 44 points in the first half en route to a 62-point game. He drove to the basket with 4.5 seconds remaining with Minnesota down one and had his arm hit by Leaky Black on a layup attempt, but it went uncalled. It sucks but it's really hard for me to care that much about how poorly the last few minutes were officiated. The reality of the situation is that they should never have let the game that close. To me, the refs being that bad is just the basketball gods laughing in the Wolves' faces for disrespecting the game. An old coach of mine once said, "Here's the secret about refs: THEY'RE ALL BAD!" If we leave a game up to the refs like that, there's bigger fish to fry. The real issue to me is how immature this team was without Mike in the game. That just can't happen.
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Post by kingsxman on Jan 24, 2024 11:43:03 GMT -6
www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39372896/wolves-hornets-game-had-10-missed-calls-final-2-minutesMonday night's Charlotte Hornets-Minnesota Timberwolves game featured 10 incorrect calls over the last two minutes, according to the NBA's L2M Report published Tuesday. The game came down to the wire, with the Hornets storming back from an 18-point deficit to win 128-125. Three of the incorrect calls favored Minnesota and six favored Charlotte, including a missed shooting foul that would've given Karl-Anthony Towns a chance to give the Timberwolves a lead with less than five seconds left. One foul against the Hornets was assigned to the incorrect player (Brandon Miller instead of P.J. Washington). Editor's Picks Finch on loss after KAT has 62: 'Immature' play 1d In all, the Hornets should've been whistled for two shooting fouls, two travels/double dribble, a loose ball foul and a personal foul. The Wolves got away with two shooting fouls as well as an offensive foul on the final possession of the game. Towns had a historic performance in the game, scoring 44 points in the first half en route to a 62-point game. He drove to the basket with 4.5 seconds remaining with Minnesota down one and had his arm hit by Leaky Black on a layup attempt, but it went uncalled. It sucks but it's really hard for me to care that much about how poorly the last few minutes were officiated. The reality of the situation is that they should never have let the game that close. To me, the refs being that bad is just the basketball gods laughing in the Wolves' faces for disrespecting the game. An old coach of mine once said, "Here's the secret about refs: THEY'RE ALL BAD!" If we leave a game up to the refs like that, there's bigger fish to fry. The real issue to me is how immature this team was without Mike in the game. That just can't happen. Here's my question on that: didnt Mike talk to the players from the bench? Did he just sit back in his big warm vest and not say a word? Do players not listen if someone doesnt have their shorts on?
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Post by levine on Jan 24, 2024 12:01:36 GMT -6
Here's my question on that: didnt Mike talk to the players from the bench? Did he just sit back in his big warm vest and not say a word? Do players not listen if someone doesnt have their shorts on? They apparently don't listen to the coach, so I doubt they listen to anyone on the bench. They need him on the floor to settle things down.
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Post by kingsxman on Jan 24, 2024 12:04:07 GMT -6
Here's my question on that: didnt Mike talk to the players from the bench? Did he just sit back in his big warm vest and not say a word? Do players not listen if someone doesnt have their shorts on? They apparently don't listen to the coach, so I doubt they listen to anyone on the bench. They need him on the floor to settle things down. I'm sure your right. Which points to a definite problem.
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Post by tmill720 on Jan 24, 2024 14:33:36 GMT -6
It sucks but it's really hard for me to care that much about how poorly the last few minutes were officiated. The reality of the situation is that they should never have let the game that close. To me, the refs being that bad is just the basketball gods laughing in the Wolves' faces for disrespecting the game. An old coach of mine once said, "Here's the secret about refs: THEY'RE ALL BAD!" If we leave a game up to the refs like that, there's bigger fish to fry. The real issue to me is how immature this team was without Mike in the game. That just can't happen. Here's my question on that: didnt Mike talk to the players from the bench? Did he just sit back in his big warm vest and not say a word? Do players not listen if someone doesnt have their shorts on? That made me LOL
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Post by kingsxman on Jan 24, 2024 15:47:09 GMT -6
Here's my question on that: didnt Mike talk to the players from the bench? Did he just sit back in his big warm vest and not say a word? Do players not listen if someone doesnt have their shorts on? That made me LOL I'm surprised he didnt pass out in that outfit.
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Post by Nick K on Jan 25, 2024 15:27:42 GMT -6
I'm surprised he didnt pass out in that outfit. Those 40 degree days make winters real tough to handle here. He looked like he was dressed for 40 below.
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