Game 1: Timberwolves at Grizzlies (7 p.m., FSN)

[gopherman23]

On another note, our PF rotation is going to be better than many people think.

Me included! I do worry that both of them pull up for a lot of contested twos, but they can both stroke too. I am eager to see how AB gets coached on passing the ball. He just has a lot of raw potential. How about those dunks he threw down!?

I let out a primal scream on that dunk that gave us the lead. I didn't think he would be able to dunk that from where he was. Talk about explosivness.

[minimus]

Dieng needs to play 48 minutes a game. But seriously though, him not being in the game enough was the difference. Not much we could do in the first half, as he was being evaluated, but he needed to play the majority of the second half.

On another note, our PF rotation is going to be better than many people think.

I think there is no doubt that our PF can score. I'm more concerned about defensive rebounds, weakside help, defensive rotations. Basically I'd like to see that our bigs can defend within team concept: something that we haven't seen for a while.

[Cyborg21]

I'm not saying he is bad after 1 game.........If they are going for a youth movement, I could see them trading Pek at the deadline. Dieng looks like he could be a better all-around player than Pek.

Look at their crunch-time lineup and try to convince me the team is going for a youth movement. We had our most experienced players out there.

People need to get off this tanking/youth movement fix. It's not happening. If you like tanking, maybe try watching the 76ers or the Bucks.

Didn't say I like it, just that they have been saying it, but the 4th Q lineup did suggest otherwise.

[Klomp]

Brewer looked like **** from what I saw. Didn't watch the whole game, but all I saw was poor decision making. Frantic much?

The only reason why Brewer was useful last year were the K Love 3/4 court outlet passes. He doesn't provide anything in the halfcourt offense, can't space the floor, and makes bad decisions on defense. He should be a 10-15mpg guy off the bench or traded.

You're correct in that Brewer is better in a fast-breaking offense. And for most of the season, we'll get to see that. But Memphis is one of the few teams that can 100% ground an uptempo attack.

Right now, Wiggins doesn't really provide much in halfcourt offense either. Should we trade him too?

[Klomp]

is there a post game interview?

Here is postgame audio from Flip, as well as Wiggins: http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/wolves- ... game-audio

Zgoda posted comments from more players: http://www.startribune.com/video/280886882.html

[urinesane]

Just watched the game, liked what I saw out of the team. Too many turnovers but with tough refs and a young team, I really like how they stayed poised and kept fighting back.

Definitely not a bad showing for their first game on the road vs a playoff team.

Also The Bazz™ is real.

[Basti]

Reading through the game thread it doesn't really sound like it's worth watching the archived game, no?!

[breatnach]

Last thought: anyone who thinks trading a late first for Young was a bad idea will be embarrassed the whole year.

It depends on him resigning. For a one year rental, he was not cheap. If we can resign him on the cheap, it will have been a bargain.

[Feilong]

Just watched the game.
Too many turnovers, few wrong calls by refs.
Good thing Gorgui didn't broke his finger, he was very good.
Decent game but loss is a loss.

[lobishome]

It was a rare game : Ricky got more pts, rebounds and turnovers than assists, Pekovic wasn't Pekovic, Wiggins, Bud and Brewer out of the game with Martin KO, and if the **** referees didn't make two mistakes at the last two minutes, probably we could won this game.

[Sugarless]

LMAO. It's been fun reading some of the overreactions in the thread. Some of you guys act like:

a) Last night's was not the first game of the season.

b) We saw something that we could have never imagined.

The game was pretty much what we've been seeing during the preseason, and what you should expect out of this group right now:

- Lots of energy and hustle, but no control of the game.

- Both offense and defense where somewhat chaotic. We are not executing properly (that's partly on Rubio, although we're also lacking plenty of movement without the ball) and we have no inside reference (you can throw the ball to Pek and see him strugle, but you won't see him pass out of a double team or move the ball at all). Defense is also hit or miss with all the trapping and gambling for steals, and our lack of interior D is killing us as expected.

- Pekovic is having a hard time with no Kevin Love on the 3-point line. He's facing tighter and more crowded defenses. He's gonna have much better games, but he's not what we need inside and he's obviously not going to be the monster that some expected with Love out. He's a good rebounder and an efficient offensive center, but also a heavy one (not really what we need on defense or transition), and he's really a one-trick poney. I like the guy as much as I've always done, but I also keep thinking he's not a good fit here, and it would be wise to contemplate a trade before his value goes down and that 60M contract looks even worse.

- We are a young team. Some of the problems that we are experiencing were to be expected, and won't disappear in just a few games.

- We don't have a leader yet (I think Ricky will be the guy, but it's a work in progress in a new team with a new coach), and that shows too.

- Our coach... Let's just say he's not an all-time great. He's going to make bad mistakes like he did last night, and they're gonna cost us some games along the road. Let's hope he learns from some of them and we see the team develop over the next couple of months from a coaching standpoint. It's a work in progress, just like most of the things surrounding this team.

All in all, I think it was a close to decent start. We stayed in the game against a better, proven team with two guys who can really exploit our main weakness, and a team who also has one of the best defenses in the league. We put plenty of effort, we commited some mistakes and the refs where certainly not on our side after they charged the Grizz with some early fouls in the first quarter and the crowd went nuts. But we still had a chance to win, and that means we did a good job on some aspects.

I'm eager to watch tonight's game against the Pistons and hopefully see us build on the positives from last night.

PS: Corey Brewer is... well, Corey Brower. Completely overrated on defense, and not the brightest guy you'll find on the court. He's far from the worst thing that can happen to a team, but I'd rather see him traded for a different asset.

[funfactor]

Grizzlies were the better team, that's out of the question but we were playing tonight!
Really like the feeling of our team.
Wiggings kind of shy but solid overall.
AB going nuts and not showing effort or BBIQ from time to time, but he hit a couple of hard ones so.. he was ok.
Big game from Bazz, he seems so focus, it's wonderful to see him drown so much into the game.
Young was great, and Dieng scare the $hit out of me with that thumb. I'd love to see Lavine too, but we'll see him tonight.

Great feelings so far! Now lets get some wins!

[packforfreedom]

well I'm okay with that game. Matchupwise Memphis is a nightmare for us. Gasol is the best center in the league, nobody on the team can defend Randolph, Wiggins had his first NBA game against the best perimeter defender in the league, they've played together for year now and they have a very good coach. But still it was close.

All of our new players were good. I already love Mo Walker, Bennett's gonna be good, Shabazz is pure hustle and will be a good bench scorer, Dieng continued were he left off and Young is an incredibly talented offensive player.

As for our old ones: I didn't like Rubio's body language, shot selection and passing. Pek looked like he was 40, Brewer's gambling made me scream at my screen and Budinger literally did nothing.

Still, our future is bright, the team is fun to watch, we will win games.

[kmgarnett21]

My thoughts on the season opener:

Likes
- We gave a playoff team that has won 17 straight at home a battle til the end even though we didn't play our best game (ie, way too many turnovers). So I'll take it.
- We scored 101 points against one of the best defenses in the NBA (again, with way too many turnovers).
- Dieng was excellent in his limited time on the floor.
- I've always liked Thad Young, but he really impressed me last night offensively. I'll take 26 points on 18 FGA every time.
- Shabazz, who I have LOW expectations for, started out slow with a couple of turnovers and bad decisions, but his hustle and energy was incredible. Great on the offensive glass and keeping plays alive.
- Mo Williams is an assassin.
- Bennett started off slow with a few bad plays, but he had that one stretch that was encouraging to see.

Dislikes
- Rubio turned the ball over way too much. He just cannot have 7 turnovers. Granted, a couple of those TOs, there should've been a foul called. But he just can't do that. He got too careless with the ball at times.
- Pekovic was brutal. But hopefully that has more to do with him going against the best center in the NBA (IMO) than anything else.
- Budinger was the worst player on the floor last night. By far. Hopefully he just had a bad night.
- Brewer was largely ineffective and had an overall negative impact on the game.
- Did I mention, TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS.
- (being nitpicky) The OBVIOUS no-call when Randolph fouled Pekovic. Good grief. And there were several more instances like that. Also, it looked like Gasol knocked the ball out of Rubio's hand on that last turnover, but that's the NBA for ya.


Overall, going into the game, all I asked for was us not to get blown out and just be competitive. We were, even moreso than I could've hoped for. So I'll take it. Now, if we lose tonight, then it's all for naught. We need to get a win at home against a lesser opponent.

[MagnusPinus]

The team fought, which is already important.. In general Pekovic was embarrassing, Rubio shot better than I thought, but turnover the ball over. The feeling was the one of a quite disorganized team offensively. Not very sharp with the ball.

[Piecake]

For all of you complaining about Flip not going with the hot hands at the end, you might find this interesting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot-hand_fallacy

So instead of playing his veterans because they are veterans, he could have been basing his decisions on science! (I don't believe that either)

[guest81]

just to add too the Wolves were without Martin, the Wolves far and away best shooter and probably scorer. Yea if he had played the Griz would of probably stuck Tony Allen on him, but that would of probably of opened up Wiggins to have a better game.

[Twolves1Fan]

I love this team!!!
On the road against a Memphis team who is damn near unbeatable at home.
Playing without our leading returning scorer (Martin)
Trying to gel and get all the playing pieces and combo's running smoothly
We were up against all of this not to mention that Memphis is one of the better defensive teams in the league and we STILL had a chance with about 20 seconds left to play!!!

For these kids in their first game together? I'll take it!
Of course losing always sucks and there are no moral victories in the NBA but I liked the hustle, fight and desire from our guys. We are gonna be so much fun to watch this season!!!

Need to clean up the turnovers and hopefully the bad games by Pek, Bud and Brewer were anomolies!!!
Still don't know what Mo was thinking throwing his body/elbow into Conley like that at a crucial point in the game but oh well, guess the frustration from some of the bad calls caught up with him?

Anyway, sorry for the long post!!!
Just really wanted to say that I love this team and look forward to tonights home opener!!!

[Klomp]

I already love Mo Walker

Is this going to be a thing on the board this year? At least the second time it's happened.

[theGreatRC]

Reading through the game thread it doesn't really sound like it's worth watching the archived game, no?!

Its worth watching if u want to see Bazz, Dieng and Bennett ppay well. Mo was hot from the field as well