Game 31: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Atlanta Hawks

[minimus]

I mean, he had 22 points on those 8 shot attempts so yeah, definitely something to that.

DH had 20pts on 9 attempts... Did they defend each other?

Gorgui was defending Howard most of the time.

Then I dont understand why Aldrich did not play.

[Note30]

Gonna make the next game thread and hope this wasn't a fluke.

[Vindicater]

We will win and everyone will be back on the Wolves train! CHOO CHOO

[Tukkerwolf]

Man, if we were playing in the East we would be right up there at the fifth spot or so...

[southern wolf]

Man, if we were playing in the East we would be right up there at the fifth spot or so...

The East isn't that much worse than the West anymore.

[Tukkerwolf]

Man, if we were playing in the East we would be right up there at the fifth spot or so...

The East isn't that much worse than the West anymore.

I dont agree. Last year it looked like the East closed it, but the gap between the conferences is in my opinion pretty big again this year. Look at our results... We swept the Hawks, beat the Bulls and the Hornets, crushed the Magic.

[LesGrossman]

I'll NOT stay awake tonight; will watch without breaks, timeouts, ads in the morning. I feel like this is 1. a must win and 2. not a very meaningful game. More than the result i'll watch for improvement.
- How will we play the screens? Will the bigs show on the screens, nope

or will Rubio get screened out and Schröder get open midrange shots over and over? took them almost two quarters to figure that out amazingly. Thought NBA scouting woudl be better. Fortunately Schröder isnt the best midrange shooter.
- Maybe we get to see a zone if they dont make their long shots? nope
- Will we continue to run off rebounds? I felt a bit of regress there vs. OKC a little bit
- Will we go to the PnR or ISO ball? Will we do it through four quarters? way too much ISO
- Will selfish and/or dumb plays result in bench time? nope, dumb play (bazzing) is encouraged
- Will we see more Bazz than Bjelica (again)? yep Any meaningful minutes for Tyus? nope
- Will the crowd continue to boo their starting PG (and probably hardest working player) whenever he shoots?

couldnt hear it.

As expected a meaningless win that looked easy due to their horrible defense and our absurd field goal % - i wish that would have been there vs. the Warriors or Rockets. I still hate the PnR defense style, i hate our shot selection, and i am beyond disappointment with THibs when looking at Bazz vs. Bjelica minutes.

[Killboard]

Man, if we were playing in the East we would be right up there at the fifth spot or so...

The East isn't that much worse than the West anymore.

After top 3 seeds the east is full of .500 teams up to Phi, Orl, Mia and Brooklyn. The West is more top heavy with 7 teams playing .600 plus ball, and a bunch of teams playing .400.

I think the West still having more contenders and his better 7 teams could be top 2-3 seeds in the east.

[Calinks]

I too think the west is still better. With that said the race for the 8th spot is totally pathetic right now. Most recent seasons we would be totally out of the race for 8th, its madness that we are still within contention. If this was that 2013-2014 season we had we would have the 8th spot locked down with an iron grip right now. It's just there for the taking, like a piping hot glazed ham on a platter in the middle of a community of starving hobos in January, but nobody can fathom how to eat it.

[Dewey]

Win or lose, it's about defense right now as many here know/discuss. Offense is clearly more of a mental challenge to these young players resulting in poor shot selection vs pressure defense. Flat out need a couple defensive grinders

Bazz drives me nuts ... he's gonna take a shot whether its 1-on-1 or 1-on-4. I gotta think most teammates hate playing with him. We just dont got a "cooler" at SF we can bring in off the bench to play good defense and maybe attempt a few high percentage shots. Bjelica has shown flashes but no consistency at either end of the floor. Wiggins and Lavine have shown more flashes of "defensive interest" down the stretch.

Dieng/KAT still showcase a relatively weak interior ... Hill, Payne, Aldrich not getting run so we gotta (IMO) acquire a big who Thibs likes for this rotation. The PnR defense remains poor ... our guards have enough challenges already - let alone the bigs lack of showing/hegding.

[LesGrossman]

Bjelica has shown flashes but no consistency at either end of the floor. Wiggins and Lavine have shown more flashes of "defensive interest" down the stretch.

Dieng/KAT still showcase a relatively weak interior ... Hill, Payne, Aldrich not getting run so we gotta (IMO) acquire a big who Thibs likes for this rotation. The PnR defense remains poor ... our guards have enough challenges already - let alone the bigs lack of showing/hegding.

I agree with the take on PnR defense. I dont see the criticsm on Bjelica. In my opinion, in the NBA he plays out of position as PF. That may have worked in europe where guys are generally smaller. I believe he is a very competent defender and helper; i'd gladly look at some examples where his defense was poor as many here repeat.

Overall i think Bjelica has the 2nd highest BBIQ on the team and its a huge gap to the third guy whoever that may be.

[Dewey]

Bjelica has shown flashes but no consistency at either end of the floor. Wiggins and Lavine have shown more flashes of "defensive interest" down the stretch.

Dieng/KAT still showcase a relatively weak interior ... Hill, Payne, Aldrich not getting run so we gotta (IMO) acquire a big who Thibs likes for this rotation. The PnR defense remains poor ... our guards have enough challenges already - let alone the bigs lack of showing/hegding.

I agree with the take on PnR defense. I dont see the criticsm on Bjelica. In my opinion, in the NBA he plays out of position as PF. That may have worked in europe where guys are generally smaller. I believe he is a very competent defender and helper; i'd gladly look at some examples where his defense was poor as many here repeat.

Overall i think Bjelica has the 2nd highest BBIQ on the team and its a huge gap to the third guy whoever that may be.

Didnt say he wasnt smart. He is just slow making decisions at times ... often the difference in good catch-n-shoot situations. I'd like to see him play more, but he has to be more aware of the shots he's ecpected to take/make. Defensively, he knows where to be but he's not assertive in making plays that are there to be made. Again, these inconsistencies = less pt. I'd like to see him keep Bazz off the floor.

[Nick K]

Bjelica has shown flashes but no consistency at either end of the floor. Wiggins and Lavine have shown more flashes of "defensive interest" down the stretch.

Dieng/KAT still showcase a relatively weak interior ... Hill, Payne, Aldrich not getting run so we gotta (IMO) acquire a big who Thibs likes for this rotation. The PnR defense remains poor ... our guards have enough challenges already - let alone the bigs lack of showing/hegding.

I agree with the take on PnR defense. I dont see the criticsm on Bjelica. In my opinion, in the NBA he plays out of position as PF. That may have worked in europe where guys are generally smaller. I believe he is a very competent defender and helper; i'd gladly look at some examples where his defense was poor as many here repeat.

Overall i think Bjelica has the 2nd highest BBIQ on the team and its a huge gap to the third guy whoever that may be.

Didnt say he wasnt smart. He is just slow making decisions at times ... often the difference in good catch-n-shoot situations. I'd like to see him play more, but he has to be more aware of the shots he's ecpected to take/make. Defensively, he knows where to be but he's not assertive in making plays that are there to be made. Again, these inconsistencies = less pt. I'd like to see him keep Bazz off the floor.

That's just it. We have a lot of guys who are slow making decisions, then it's too late. I'd like to see what Bjelly could do next to Towns in the starting lineup. Just give him a fair shot.

[LesGrossman]

Bjelica has shown flashes but no consistency at either end of the floor. Wiggins and Lavine have shown more flashes of "defensive interest" down the stretch.

Dieng/KAT still showcase a relatively weak interior ... Hill, Payne, Aldrich not getting run so we gotta (IMO) acquire a big who Thibs likes for this rotation. The PnR defense remains poor ... our guards have enough challenges already - let alone the bigs lack of showing/hegding.

I agree with the take on PnR defense. I dont see the criticsm on Bjelica. In my opinion, in the NBA he plays out of position as PF. That may have worked in europe where guys are generally smaller. I believe he is a very competent defender and helper; i'd gladly look at some examples where his defense was poor as many here repeat.

Overall i think Bjelica has the 2nd highest BBIQ on the team and its a huge gap to the third guy whoever that may be.

Didnt say he wasnt smart. He is just slow making decisions at times ... often the difference in good catch-n-shoot situations. I'd like to see him play more, but he has to be more aware of the shots he's ecpected to take/make. Defensively, he knows where to be but he's not assertive in making plays that are there to be made. Again, these inconsistencies = less pt. I'd like to see him keep Bazz off the floor.

Slow at making decisions is usually a friendly description for a low IQ person. Can you give examples please? Its completely the opposive of what i observe when i see Bjelica play. My impression is that he is ahead of the play by a few seconds which is the trademark of a high iq player and results in instant passes and complete court awareness. I'd really like some material to back up the claims posted above.

[Crazy-Canuck]

Bjelly is a smart guy, but he needs to be more confident and not hesitate. I think he is better suited to play Sf in this league and be more of a help defender guy much like Joe Ingles in Utah. He doesnt look as good with the bench guys because he just isnt a shot creator and no one else can get him good looks. I dont think he really knows what his role is yet. when he is out there with Rubio or Wiggins and sometimes Lavine, Bjelly knows to find a spot on the floor and wait for a kick out or drive the paint when the defender closes out on him. With Dunn or Bazz, he overdribbles and tries to be someone he isnt; a shot creator.

Defensively, he will get bullied, but he knows where he should be on the court. Much like Rubio, he's more of a team defender than a lockdown guy.

[Zeitgeister]

Bjelica is just outmatched physically against a lot of NBA players. He's a tweener so that doesn't help. People talk about playing him at the 3 vs playing the 4 but the reality is he doesn't match up particularly well at either spot.

Bjelica makes smart passes, I like that about him but sometimes he makes some really boneheaded plays like the play last night where he was dribbling the ball off balance across the court and eventually dribbled right out of bounds when he could have easily just passed the ball to an open LaVine who was standing right next to him.

Bjelica also lacks confidence in his three point shot so when the offense creates open looks for him and he hesitates to take the shot he allows the defense to reset.

[minimus]

Just watched the game. Dunn and Rubio were phenomenal in defense. Also I notice quick hands in defense, we stole a lot of passes and deflected many. LaVine still doesnt know how to pass in PnR situations. KAT moved the ball, I hope he will progress in this area. Shabazz had two offensive fouls when he ran into defender.
As per Bjelica he did a lot of work that did not translate into stats:
* assists into the post, hockey assists
* he tries to deflect passes and contest shots
* actually he shoot 3s without hesitation, but without offensive flow he rushed shots and usually it meant misses. had in-and-out miss

I still think that we are one player away from having a good bench. I mean if Dunn start to drive and kick on regular basis or if Rush starts producing at SF, then bench unit will be decent.