Game 35: Timberwolves @ Mavericks 1-7-24 Record 25-9

[KGdaBom]

Fudge. I hate close losses.

[TimberKat]

Just ran out of firepower at the end. Started with the bad Ant shot but I got to think we could find better Ant shots after that.

[_AIJ_]

Your team deserves to suffer if you let Jones Jr own you. Dumb team

[Calinks]

Good game, we couldn't stop a white hot Luka and Kyrie and Jaden/Kyle Anderson were total no shows on offense for us. Combine that with the team ONCE AGAIN fouling way too much and our inability to keep up with top tier offense, and it was a recipe for a loss. We have to paly elite defense to win games against teams who are playing great because we just do not have the offense capable of keeping up with the other good teams playing at their best. If we are not at the top of our game on defense, that's a wrap.

Magic game is almost a must-win now because that Boston game will be damn tough.

[KGdaBom]

I can't watch due to bad internet. How did Kyle come in and get a TO in 0.1 seconds? Did he throw away the in bounds pass?

[TimberKat]

If there is such a thing of a good loss. This would be it. We stayed closed. Just one or two shots away from winning. I see we had some decent double teams near the end of game

[Domejandro]

I can't watch due to bad internet. How did Kyle come in and get a TO in 0.1 seconds? Did he throw away the in bounds pass?

Yes, it was a play call where Karl-Anthony Towns was supposed to flare out to the opposite corner.

[KGdaBom]

Your team deserves to suffer if you let Jones Jr own you. Dumb team

First of all Jones Jr. didn't own us. He had a somewhat good game. Second of all Jones Jr. is a GOOD player.

[KGdaBom]

I can't watch due to bad internet. How did Kyle come in and get a TO in 0.1 seconds? Did he throw away the in bounds pass?

Yes, it was a play call where Karl-Anthony Towns was supposed to flare out to the opposite corner.

Thanks. So you're putting it on KAT more than Kyle?

[winforlose]

So much for your hot hand. We went to KAT and now he's the hot hand.

It is possible to have 2 at once. We fed Ant, then we fed KAT, soon I bet we feed Ant.

Nope you put in all CAPS FEED ANT. We fed KAT instead and got the lead. The hot hand is a myth. Deal with it.

Ant got hot and went we went to Karl. Karl got hot and we went to Jaden. Karl cooled and we kept feeding him. Moral of the story, we should have fed the hot hand.

P.S During the OKC loss we saw Dort get hot then Chet in the second half, among others. There can be more than one hot hand at a time. Ask Kyrie and Luka tonight.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

They play better than us at crutch time. Slomo and Jaden hurt us tonight and we miss a cpl of important shoot. It happens, just move to next one. Overall the effort was quite good today, considering how KAT and Rudy get early in fouls trouble.

[gandlogo]

Entertaining fourth quarter. It’s a bad sign when the Wolves can’t beat a team missing two starters and a top reserve. I was expecting Jaden to take a massive step forward, but he’s not much different from last season. Injuries early, but maybe he’s not the guy. Still very few quality wins on the season.

[KGdaBom]

It is possible to have 2 at once. We fed Ant, then we fed KAT, soon I bet we feed Ant.

Nope you put in all CAPS FEED ANT. We fed KAT instead and got the lead. The hot hand is a myth. Deal with it.

Ant got hot and went we went to Karl. Karl got hot and we went to Jaden. Karl cooled and we kept feeding him. Moral of the story, we should have fed the hot hand.

P.S During the OKC loss we saw Dort get hot then Chet in the second half, among others. There can be more than one hot hand at a time. Ask Kyrie and Luka tonight.

Yes, but ANT was the Hot Hand. KAT wasn't, but we went to him anyway and he became the hot hand. In other words the hot hand is a MYTH.

[_AIJ_]

McDaniels really needs to step up on offense. He is almost becoming a liability

[winforlose]

Nope you put in all CAPS FEED ANT. We fed KAT instead and got the lead. The hot hand is a myth. Deal with it.

Ant got hot and went we went to Karl. Karl got hot and we went to Jaden. Karl cooled and we kept feeding him. Moral of the story, we should have fed the hot hand.

P.S During the OKC loss we saw Dort get hot then Chet in the second half, among others. There can be more than one hot hand at a time. Ask Kyrie and Luka tonight.

Yes, but ANT was the Hot Hand. KAT wasn't, but we went to him anyway and he became the hot hand. In other words the hot hand is a MYTH.

1. A single instances of something happening or not happening is not dispositive of anything.

2. It is possible and in fact happened here where we didn’t go to the hot hand and paid for it. Dallas meanwhile fed their hot hands and got the W.

3. Karl made 2 buckets including a 3 while Ant was heating up. Our problem is KAT cooled off and we didn’t adjust by going back to Ant, something I specifically said we should do.

You literally saw two different teams apply to different philosophies of the hot hand. The one that fed it won, and the one that denied it lost.

[younggunsmn]

The DUMB strikes again and costs us the game.

We went up 106-100 and gave up 13 consecutive points.

Two brutally awful Gobert stone hands turnovers lead to Kyrie open 3's.
KAT goes full on chucker mode.

We trap Luka and get the ball out of his hands and Gobert refuses to help and boxes out Powell (for maybe the first time the whole game) while Jones is flying down the lane for a dunk. Meanwhile Ant is playing the trap halfheartedly instead of trying to force a difficult pass.

The trap is a good concept against a team like the Mavericks with 2 really good players and a bunch of below average players, but it's only going to work if you play it well. Rotate, make the passes difficult. Make weak players make good plays with the ball.
It's also not going to work if only 2 guys are playing the concept and Gobert is doing his own thing.

Bigs did a terrible job in the pick and roll when we were playing it straight up, not helping on the shooters and giving too much respect to Jones and Powell who were not offensive threats. So it was smart to go to the trap.

Jaden has just been flat out awful and KAT has been out of control and fouling like crazy all season.
Those 2 guys need to come to the party and start playing better because they are starting to emerge as the guys playing the furthest below their potential. I would add Gobert but sadly I think this is his new normal.

I love the efficiency and smart play from Mike, but sometimes I think we would really benefit if he took a little more control of the offense.

[TimberKat]

Entertaining fourth quarter. It’s a bad sign when the Wolves can’t beat a team missing two starters and a top reserve. I was expecting Jaden to take a massive step forward, but he’s not much different from last season. Injuries early, but maybe he’s not the guy. Still very few quality wins on the season.

If Ant made that bad pull up 3, the game would had changed. DAL is not really missing two starters. Their team is basically Kyrie + Luka, THJr, and Grant Williams. Lively had his moments but not a major factor.

I am looking at JMcD as an upgrade path for a reliable starter or scorer right now. If we could trade him for Zack or DeRozen or Murray, then slot TBJ in to replace his 3 and D.

[shrink]

I can't watch due to bad internet. How did Kyle come in and get a TO in 0.1 seconds? Did he throw away the in bounds pass?

Yes, it was a play call where Karl-Anthony Towns was supposed to flare out to the opposite corner.

Thanks. So you're putting it on KAT more than Kyle?

Towns didn’t go all the way to the opposite corner, but his defender got his fingers on the pass, and the deflection bounced off of Towns and went out of bounds.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. First, it’s a dangerous pass, cross court like that. Second if you throw a pass a defender gets his fingers on, that’s on the passer. Third, if Towns runs to the corner, maybe the defender has his back to the play, and doesn’t deflect it? JimPete called out Towns for not going all the way to the corner, but I think the whole sequence was unnecessary. Just get the ball in bounds with a close pass.

[Domejandro]

Yes, it was a play call where Karl-Anthony Towns was supposed to flare out to the opposite corner.

Thanks. So you're putting it on KAT more than Kyle?

Towns didn’t go all the way to the opposite corner, but his defender got his fingers on the pass, and the deflection bounced off of Towns and went out of bounds.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. First, it’s a dangerous pass, cross court like that. Second if you throw a pass a defender gets his fingers on, that’s on the passer. Third, if Towns runs to the corner, maybe the defender has his back to the play, and doesn’t deflect it? JimPete called out Towns for not going all the way to the corner, but I think the whole sequence was unnecessary. Just get the ball in bounds with a close pass.

I agree that I did not like the play call. Maybe for a quicker movement shooter who can scramble off of screens, but Towns isn't really bursty enough laterally to make it to that spot uncontested. Just way too high degree of difficulty for Kyle Anderson to reasonably be expected to make (even if his pass was pretty poor).

[MN7725]

Not understanding why TBJ is out of rotation