Scoundreldays wrote:We were bound to have a rough stretch eventually. Luckily the break is right around the corner
This. We climbed back into contention for the top seed. Now we have to stay there. We look mentally gassed right now.
esqtvd wrote:These T-Pups guys are pretty good. They're in first place after all.
PG [groin], Zu [calf], and Powell [fked up face] just aren't right. Mann is non-existent. Kawhi does NOT dive on the floor in February. Beard doesn't dive at all.
The T-Wolves WANTED this. A STATEMENT game. The Clips played this like a scrimmage. Don't get hurt.
This. We let down last night, and if we want to be a championshp team, we just can’t let down like that against good teams.
Look, I like Mann a lot. I’m also aware of what he is; a good player, but one that doesn’t have a fixed role or focused skillset. If he was a 3 and D guy, that would be fine—but he doesn’t shoot enough threes at a good enough clip to be anything like that. If he was a scorer, that would be fine—but he struggles to get a point for every three minutes of court time. Terance tries hard and shows up, and those are great qualities. But they haven’t been adding up to impact.
NickP wrote:How many more games are we going to use the PG groin excuse? Looked pretty ok against a pathetic team no?
Let's face it. PG is simply not a big game player. If Kawhi doesn't put up 35 against a good team then we're pretty much toast.
There's only this much you can put on Mann. Yeah he needs to be taken out of the starting 5 but there's a reason we're paying PG max money.
Oh, ffs. Not this. You’re a better poster than this, man. It’s been
two weeks. Two weeks since the end of January. PG got hurt at the very end of the Boston game on January 27. Not hidden. Not a mystery. In that game, and the 12 games before, we went 11-2. PG put up this line: 33.5 mpg, 24.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.4 apg on 50/46/87 shooting. We beat Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix (twice), OKC, Brooklyn, and split with the Lakers in that span. “Big games.” And those numbers are only (very) slightly different than his previous three months (34.6 mpg, 22.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.0 apg, 45/40/93 splits). That’s the way it is.
Since he got hurt, he’ s only missed one game, but he’s playing less and markedly less well overall—17.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg on 40/26/92 splits. I admire that PG wants to play (he’s played 49 out of 52 games); I think he and Kawhi are trying really hard to make a statement about the load management narrative of the last few seasons. But it’s clear he's hurting and needs some rest. Bro, take a few games off.
jengmann3 wrote:Honestly it was a competitive game until mid way through the third. Russ and Norm struggled a lot and going small didn't work as well in the second half as Edwards and Towns went anywhere they wanted. That's y I don't get the lack of urgency with getting a big. We can't even cover naz Reed.
This. Surprised we held onto Bones at the deadline; we could have converted him into a couple of seconds or a low rotation big. I noted on anoher thread that I thought Xavier Tillman Sr. was/is going to help the Celtics. He’s a solid 6’8-6’9” wide body with wingspan that plays bigger than his size, especially on D.
Chimezie Metu got released. He’s not a major player or even a top rotation guy, but he would be a smart pickup for us, imo. Local college guy. He’s a 9th-10th man minutes eater. Production is consistent in different court time situations. 6’9.5 in shoes with a 7’ plus wingspan, athletic, plays at about 230 now. He doesn’t fit in with the rebuilding they want to do in Charlotte, even though he’s only 26 (almost 27). I mean, he’s far from a perfect player; his perimeter shot is inconsistent at best. He doesn’t really excel at anything—but he’s an athletic 6’10, 230 guy that has averaged 6.5 and 4 in 15 minutes a game over the last three seasons—and done it on winning teams.
