Game 15:MIN at TOR

[FrenchMinnyFan]

At the end of the day, basically everyone is to blame.

Randle: Probably got to throw that pass.
Gobert: Can't react like that to get the 3 seconds and compound it with a hip check
Finch: I probably make a lineup change at that point. On the other hand, taking one out and not the other could be seen as taking a side. Do you take both out?

At that point, the game was basically lost.

I do think we can bounce back from this. The punch two seasons ago seemed to be an isolated incident. But I do think it's worth looking back at that, especially since Gobert is supposed to be one of our team leaders. That's the scary part right now, and that's why I actually appreciated Ant getting on Rudy's case right away. Gobert's case may be valid, but pouting and retaliating is not how you respond as a good leader.

The answer as a manager is yes. Take them out for one min, and talk to them together..... then ask them to win this game and put them back. And once the game finish, have a private word with ANT as well. As the team leader, he got the right to complain Rudy as Rudy was stupid. But to be fair , he have to complain Randle as well for not passing.

I will take a 2 days break from basketball. I rewatch the game last night and i'm still upset

[Note30]

Nah. It is not NBA2K. Just watch NYK path: Brunson took paycut, Bridges plays for 20mil, this why they could afford massive Towns incoming contract. BUT, they traded five FRPs, paid OG, lost DDV and currently have no bench and no quality backup big. And more importantly they have all possible defensive issues when Towns is responsible for rim protection.

Can our FO do a better job of rebuilding around Edwards? Sure.
Can our coaching staff do a better job of getting the best from our players? Sure.
Can our players simply care more about winning? Sure.

But it is a real life, and such things dont happen overnight.

What New York did was **** stupid too. They shouldn't have paid that much for Bridges.

Nearly every time a massive trade like this happens at a 5 pick level it nearly always blows up in that teams face.

Unless they are trading for a top 5 player and when I say top 5, I mean like at a Giannis Luka level, not this stats based bull of a guy who can't shoot or dribble the **** ball in the top 10. (aka this total rationalization about Rudy being that good).

I would rather have conceded that this team wasn't going to work with KAT, if and we when tried to make good adjustments for him rather than blowing everything on an unproven experiment we didn't have the money to pay for.

This whole oh that's not how life works is rationalization and delusions.

EDIT: We don't have anything left to use to rebuild around Edwards. He's going to ask for a trade eventually and when that happens don't be shocked. Maybe not this year or the next. But for sure before he has to re-up on a new contract.

I actually don't have a major problem with the coaching. Yes it's not amazing but it's difficult putting a championship team around a has been point guard and a limited high salary player like Gobert.

Players caring about winning reflects leadership. That culture doesn't exist probably because we traded our heart and soul for a dime bag.

The main difference between Knicks and us is that Knicks will finish 2 or 3 at East conference. We are far from that.

We shouldn't be comparing ourselves to the Knicks. I'm guessing they will implode in a couple of years at the latest.

[TimberKat]

At the end of the day, basically everyone is to blame.

Randle: Probably got to throw that pass.
Gobert: Can't react like that to get the 3 seconds and compound it with a hip check
Finch: I probably make a lineup change at that point. On the other hand, taking one out and not the other could be seen as taking a side. Do you take both out?

At that point, the game was basically lost.

I do think we can bounce back from this. The punch two seasons ago seemed to be an isolated incident. But I do think it's worth looking back at that, especially since Gobert is supposed to be one of our team leaders. That's the scary part right now, and that's why I actually appreciated Ant getting on Rudy's case right away. Gobert's case may be valid, but pouting and retaliating is not how you respond as a good leader.

The answer as a manager is yes. Take them out for one min, and talk to them together..... then ask them to win this game and put them back. And once the game finish, have a private word with ANT as well. As the team leader, he got the right to complain Rudy as Rudy was stupid. But to be fair , he have to complain Randle as well for not passing.

I will take a 2 days break from basketball. I rewatch the game last night and i'm still upset

Sorry to tell you guys this but Ant is not an alpha. The right thing to do was to cheer up Gobert after the 3 sec call - "come on let's win this thing together and we will talk in the locker room." He really wasn't thinking about his teammates' feeling at that time. Gobert's frustrated all game. Finch isn't exactly reading the team which is what a head coach should do. Randle is playing for himself and fairly loss on defense. I don't even know if a player's meeting is going to help. You loss two glue guys and all the pieces are falling apart. Worse, you just signed Gobert to a 3 year extension and Finch to an extension and no draft picks. Danny Ainge is bring out the cigar and a bottle of vintage Perrier right now. Just hope we stick together enough to get that last play-in spot.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

At the end of the day, basically everyone is to blame.

Randle: Probably got to throw that pass.
Gobert: Can't react like that to get the 3 seconds and compound it with a hip check
Finch: I probably make a lineup change at that point. On the other hand, taking one out and not the other could be seen as taking a side. Do you take both out?

At that point, the game was basically lost.

I do think we can bounce back from this. The punch two seasons ago seemed to be an isolated incident. But I do think it's worth looking back at that, especially since Gobert is supposed to be one of our team leaders. That's the scary part right now, and that's why I actually appreciated Ant getting on Rudy's case right away. Gobert's case may be valid, but pouting and retaliating is not how you respond as a good leader.

The answer as a manager is yes. Take them out for one min, and talk to them together..... then ask them to win this game and put them back. And once the game finish, have a private word with ANT as well. As the team leader, he got the right to complain Rudy as Rudy was stupid. But to be fair , he have to complain Randle as well for not passing.

I will take a 2 days break from basketball. I rewatch the game last night and i'm still upset

Sorry to tell you guys this but Ant is not an alpha. The right thing to do was to cheer up Gobert after the 3 sec call - "come on let's win this thing together and we will talk in the locker room." He really wasn't thinking about his teammates' feeling at that time. Gobert's frustrated all game. Finch isn't exactly reading the team which is what a head coach should do. Randle is playing for himself and fairly loss on defense. I don't even know if a player's meeting is going to help. You loss two glue guys and all the pieces are falling apart. Worse, you just signed Gobert to a 3 year extension and Finch to an extension and no draft picks. Danny Ainge is bring out the cigar and a bottle of vintage Perrier right now. Just hope we stick together enough to get that last play-in spot.

I hope things not turn out this way. This team is quite unpredictable. But i agree with you, many mistake have been done and Finch does not seems to realize it, at least in front of media. Hopefully, in the locker room, he handle things in a different way.

[minimus]

Nah. It is not NBA2K. Just watch NYK path: Brunson took paycut, Bridges plays for 20mil, this why they could afford massive Towns incoming contract. BUT, they traded five FRPs, paid OG, lost DDV and currently have no bench and no quality backup big. And more importantly they have all possible defensive issues when Towns is responsible for rim protection.

Can our FO do a better job of rebuilding around Edwards? Sure.
Can our coaching staff do a better job of getting the best from our players? Sure.
Can our players simply care more about winning? Sure.

But it is a real life, and such things dont happen overnight.

What New York did was **** stupid too. They shouldn't have paid that much for Bridges.

Nearly every time a massive trade like this happens at a 5 pick level it nearly always blows up in that teams face.

Unless they are trading for a top 5 player and when I say top 5, I mean like at a Giannis Luka level, not this stats based bull of a guy who can't shoot or dribble the **** ball in the top 10. (aka this total rationalization about Rudy being that good).

I would rather have conceded that this team wasn't going to work with KAT, if and we when tried to make good adjustments for him rather than blowing everything on an unproven experiment we didn't have the money to pay for.

This whole oh that's not how life works is rationalization and delusions.

EDIT: We don't have anything left to use to rebuild around Edwards. He's going to ask for a trade eventually and when that happens don't be shocked. Maybe not this year or the next. But for sure before he has to re-up on a new contract.

I actually don't have a major problem with the coaching. Yes it's not amazing but it's difficult putting a championship team around a has been point guard and a limited high salary player like Gobert.

Players caring about winning reflects leadership. That culture doesn't exist probably because we traded our heart and soul for a dime bag.

The main difference between Knicks and us is that Knicks will finish 2 or 3 at East conference. We are far from that.

Because they are in East

[FrenchMinnyFan]

I agree with you. East and West can't be compared.

[Calinks]

I like this guys breakdown. Hopefully this is just a blip and the team comes together after this. Best to have these issues early if they can be resolved. Chemistry can be fixed and worked on. Fit might be a different story but I think the talent is enough for us to be good, maybe not WCF good but good enough to have some success in the playoffs and make a run.

Watch on YouTube

[TimberKat]

I like this guys breakdown. Hopefully this is just a blip and the team comes together after this. Best to have these issues early if they can be resolved. Chemistry can be fixed and worked on. Fit might be a different story but I think the talent is enough for us to be good, maybe not WCF good but good enough to have some success in the playoffs and make a run.

Watch on YouTube

Somebody please send the video to the Twolves locker room and coaching staff. Great call out to Bulls and Bill Cartwright (one of my favor Knicks before he join the Bulls). Adding insult to injury, I think Barnes actually was hooking Gobert to make him stay in the lane.

In some ways, I actually don't mind the players aren't giving 100%, it's a long season. However, at least play the right way, make the right reads so you build toward the playoffs. The last few games, all I see is more and more play ground stuff. Randle did say after the game that he needs to look himself in the mirror. I say he should join Gobert and Aron Rogers for a darkness retrieve this weekend. Maybe drag Ant and Naz with them too.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Today in Boston will be a tough one. No Mike will not help. Win or Lose whatever but at least fight!

[shrink]

I didn’t see the game, but listened to Dane Moore’s podcast. He pointed out that leading up to this game, Rudy was playing defensively primarily under the basket, often confused but trying to defend everybody. This game, Dane believes Finch said the game plan would be for Rudy to go out and defend, and his teammates would rotate underneath to defend the rim. However, all game long, nobody had Rudy’s back. He thinks Rudy was running Finch’s stuff, and wondering why the rest of the team wasn’t.

[shrink]

It would solve a lot of our spacing and attitude problems if Rudy’s teammates (besides Mike Conley) simply tried to throw him lobs.

[minimus]

I didn’t see the game, but listened to Dane Moore’s podcast. He pointed out that leading up to this game, Rudy was playing defensively primarily under the basket, often confused but trying to defend everybody. This game, Dane believes Finch said the game plan would be for Rudy to go out and defend, and his teammates would rotate underneath to defend the rim. However, all game long, nobody had Rudy’s back. He thinks Rudy was running Finch’s stuff, and wondering why the rest of the team wasn’t.

I had a feeling that against TOR they started the game playing a bit selfish. And what I have learned that in such situations Rudy can get easily frustrated. Towns often tried to kind of force and feed Gobert no matter what, which led to multiple turnovers, but at the end of the day they developed chemistry.

[shrink]

A small part of me would be curious to see Dilly, DDV, Naz, Randle, and Garza on the floor at the same time, and just try to outscore opponents in the minutes Gobert sits.

[winforlose]

I didn’t see the game, but listened to Dane Moore’s podcast. He pointed out that leading up to this game, Rudy was playing defensively primarily under the basket, often confused but trying to defend everybody. This game, Dane believes Finch said the game plan would be for Rudy to go out and defend, and his teammates would rotate underneath to defend the rim. However, all game long, nobody had Rudy’s back. He thinks Rudy was running Finch’s stuff, and wondering why the rest of the team wasn’t.

This, plus Rudy is being made to look bad on offense and the teams regression on defensive effort overall. Finch is losing the locker room and once he does he needs to go.

[wolves_89]

A small part of me would be curious to see Dilly, DDV, Naz, Randle, and Garza on the floor at the same time, and just try to outscore opponents in the minutes Gobert sits.

The problem is that group would have to consistently make shots, because if they are even a little off they would get annihilated.