Why do the refs hate us?

[Klomp]

Is it just a simple case of fundamentals? Is it the tighter rule enforcement that always begins the season? Or is it something deeper?

It's probably not a surprise that your Minnesota Timberwolves are the league leaders in personal fouls committed per game. It's not even close either, as the second-place Heat are a full foul per game behind us.

It's not just a KAT thing either. Reid is the one leading the team in foul rate, averaging one every 5.80 minutes. McDaniels averaging a foul every 6.48 minutes on the floor. Patrick Beverley is third on the team with a foul every 6.90 minutes. Vanderbilt is at a foul every 8.47 minutes. Prince commits one every 9.23 minutes. Towns averages a foul every 9.82 minutes, good for 6th on the team.

What's the solution? Is there one?

[karch34]

I think every team feels that way. However I do think teams get the benefit of reputation. It might be overly simplistic but likely it’s just that we have a reputation as a soft perimeter oriented team and we get calls against us based on perception.

[winforlose]

Is it just a simple case of fundamentals? Is it the tighter rule enforcement that always begins the season? Or is it something deeper?

It's probably not a surprise that your Minnesota Timberwolves are the league leaders in personal fouls committed per game. It's not even close either, as the second-place Heat are a full foul per game behind us.

It's not just a KAT thing either. Reid is the one leading the team in foul rate, averaging one every 5.80 minutes. McDaniels averaging a foul every 6.48 minutes on the floor. Patrick Beverley is third on the team with a foul every 6.90 minutes. Vanderbilt is at a foul every 8.47 minutes. Prince commits one every 9.23 minutes. Towns averages a foul every 9.82 minutes, good for 6th on the team.

What's the solution? Is there one?

I never understood why the game of basketball gets a pass from traditional rules regarding impartiality. It’s one thing if refs are letting them play or are Uber whistle happy, but in the NBA there is something far more insidious at work. This notion of superstar treatment. That somehow being a good shooter means you can use your off arm to clear space or take an extra step or be more physical on defense and refs won’t penalize. The problem is worse when you consider younger players get less positive whistles and more negative whistles then older players. Given the betting market you would think this open corruption scheme would be on serious legal scrutiny, but this is not my area of law and I never researched it. Either way, if you saw last nights game you know that they were blowing the whistle in a very one sided manner. MCD gets a moving screen call but Zubac can keep hip checking defenders with impunity on his screens. Ant goes up strong and gets hit on the body and the arm but they call it clean block. Bev reaches across and knocks the ball away and picks up the foul but they do the same thing to KAT no whistle. The imbalance corrupts the game and the answer is for fans to boycott merchandise and demand real reform. Also, I wonder the degree of scrutiny that refs friends and associates get with regard to their financials. I could easily see a scheme in which they use an attorney to act as a go between and rig certain games for betting. With the number of ways to hide money and to give non monetary compensation these refs should live their lives under a microscope.

[Merc_Porto]

For god's sake!

[Foye]

Is it just a simple case of fundamentals? Is it the tighter rule enforcement that always begins the season? Or is it something deeper?

It's probably not a surprise that your Minnesota Timberwolves are the league leaders in personal fouls committed per game. It's not even close either, as the second-place Heat are a full foul per game behind us.

It's not just a KAT thing either. Reid is the one leading the team in foul rate, averaging one every 5.80 minutes. McDaniels averaging a foul every 6.48 minutes on the floor. Patrick Beverley is third on the team with a foul every 6.90 minutes. Vanderbilt is at a foul every 8.47 minutes. Prince commits one every 9.23 minutes. Towns averages a foul every 9.82 minutes, good for 6th on the team.

What's the solution? Is there one?

When will you finally come to the conclusion that this is just a weak and flawed team?

Last year your excuse was the injuries.
This year your excuse is the refs.

This team is just a flawed team that was incredibly poorly constructed. There is no bias against the Wolves from the refs. Wolves just take way too many wrong decisions on both ends of the court giving the refs the opportunity to make these calls.

Wolves have nobody but themselves to blame.
This team is the all bark no bite Allstar squad.

[Nick K]

Is it just a simple case of fundamentals? Is it the tighter rule enforcement that always begins the season? Or is it something deeper?

It's probably not a surprise that your Minnesota Timberwolves are the league leaders in personal fouls committed per game. It's not even close either, as the second-place Heat are a full foul per game behind us.

It's not just a KAT thing either. Reid is the one leading the team in foul rate, averaging one every 5.80 minutes. McDaniels averaging a foul every 6.48 minutes on the floor. Patrick Beverley is third on the team with a foul every 6.90 minutes. Vanderbilt is at a foul every 8.47 minutes. Prince commits one every 9.23 minutes. Towns averages a foul every 9.82 minutes, good for 6th on the team.

What's the solution? Is there one?

GREAT THREAD TITLE.

Let me start by saying...a lot of our fouls are sheer stupidity from playing hard. That said, our guys see the other team get away with it and we think we can.

We don't get rewarded by creating contact but other teams do. We get mugged but no call. We then barely touch a guy and it's ticky foul time on us. I'd go to the league with regularity.

It's total BS. Fairness shouldn't be too much to ask for. Just call it the same for both teams. Eliminate all minor ticky tack fouls that don't effect the game is a good place to start.

One last thing....the scourge of NBA basketball since the beginning of time is the constant whistle blowing that destroys the flow of the game.

The officials seem to think the fans pay all that money to see them raise their arm. I have news for those egotistical bastards. The less we see and hear from you the better. Let em play!! Rant over.

[Nick K]

Is it just a simple case of fundamentals? Is it the tighter rule enforcement that always begins the season? Or is it something deeper?

It's probably not a surprise that your Minnesota Timberwolves are the league leaders in personal fouls committed per game. It's not even close either, as the second-place Heat are a full foul per game behind us.

It's not just a KAT thing either. Reid is the one leading the team in foul rate, averaging one every 5.80 minutes. McDaniels averaging a foul every 6.48 minutes on the floor. Patrick Beverley is third on the team with a foul every 6.90 minutes. Vanderbilt is at a foul every 8.47 minutes. Prince commits one every 9.23 minutes. Towns averages a foul every 9.82 minutes, good for 6th on the team.

What's the solution? Is there one?

When will you finally come to the conclusion that this is just a weak and flawed team?

Last year your excuse was the injuries.
This year your excuse is the refs.

This team is just a flawed team that was incredibly poorly constructed. There is no bias against the Wolves from the refs. Wolves just take way too many wrong decisions on both ends of the court giving the refs the opportunity to make these calls.

Wolves have nobody but themselves to blame.
This team is the all bark no bite Allstar squad.

There is truth there for sure but it goes much deeper than that. How about just call it the same way for both teams?

[winforlose]

Is it just a simple case of fundamentals? Is it the tighter rule enforcement that always begins the season? Or is it something deeper?

It's probably not a surprise that your Minnesota Timberwolves are the league leaders in personal fouls committed per game. It's not even close either, as the second-place Heat are a full foul per game behind us.

It's not just a KAT thing either. Reid is the one leading the team in foul rate, averaging one every 5.80 minutes. McDaniels averaging a foul every 6.48 minutes on the floor. Patrick Beverley is third on the team with a foul every 6.90 minutes. Vanderbilt is at a foul every 8.47 minutes. Prince commits one every 9.23 minutes. Towns averages a foul every 9.82 minutes, good for 6th on the team.

What's the solution? Is there one?

When will you finally come to the conclusion that this is just a weak and flawed team?

Last year your excuse was the injuries.
This year your excuse is the refs.

This team is just a flawed team that was incredibly poorly constructed. There is no bias against the Wolves from the refs. Wolves just take way too many wrong decisions on both ends of the court giving the refs the opportunity to make these calls.

Wolves have nobody but themselves to blame.
This team is the all bark no bite Allstar squad.

You are conflating our points with your assumptions. Neither myself nor Klomp are blaming the refs for everything. We are simply responding to an extremely unbalanced game. A similar but less offensive game occurred against Orlando. That said, neither he nor I are blaming all our problems on the refs. I can give you a detailed summary of my ideas about that, but you could just read my other posts. Bottom line, it can be true that A, NBA officiating is deeply flawed, and B, the Wolves have serious problems that urgently need to be addressed.

[ChiefKeith91]

Let’s start with offense. Sometimes KAT does too much while in the post with opening with his elbows and other times they call BS like the “hook” yesterday. Now the last 2 games Zubac should’ve had 4 fouls in the 1st half. Whenever KAT made a move on the perimeter he reached or pushed him off balance. Ant could draw a lot more hand checking fouls if he didn’t iso dribble then bailout 3. But outside of Ant nobody drives so the refs don’t have to make tough calls when all we do is throw up 3’s all game.

On defense it’s Jaden guarding smart players like PG who know how to use their aggression against them. Pat Bev averages 4 fouls so they are gonna come regardless and Vando is a energy guy so he’ll get over the back and reach in fouls on the perimeter. Those 3 are how we end up have 5 team fouls with 7 minutes left in the quarter.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[Foye]

Is it just a simple case of fundamentals? Is it the tighter rule enforcement that always begins the season? Or is it something deeper?

It's probably not a surprise that your Minnesota Timberwolves are the league leaders in personal fouls committed per game. It's not even close either, as the second-place Heat are a full foul per game behind us.

It's not just a KAT thing either. Reid is the one leading the team in foul rate, averaging one every 5.80 minutes. McDaniels averaging a foul every 6.48 minutes on the floor. Patrick Beverley is third on the team with a foul every 6.90 minutes. Vanderbilt is at a foul every 8.47 minutes. Prince commits one every 9.23 minutes. Towns averages a foul every 9.82 minutes, good for 6th on the team.

What's the solution? Is there one?

When will you finally come to the conclusion that this is just a weak and flawed team?

Last year your excuse was the injuries.
This year your excuse is the refs.

This team is just a flawed team that was incredibly poorly constructed. There is no bias against the Wolves from the refs. Wolves just take way too many wrong decisions on both ends of the court giving the refs the opportunity to make these calls.

Wolves have nobody but themselves to blame.
This team is the all bark no bite Allstar squad.

You are conflating our points with your assumptions. Neither myself nor Klomp are blaming the refs for everything. We are simply responding to an extremely unbalanced game. A similar but less offensive game occurred against Orlando. That said, neither he nor I are blaming all our problems on the refs. I can give you a detailed summary of my ideas about that, but you could just read my other posts. Bottom line, it can be true that A, NBA officiating is deeply flawed, and B, the Wolves have serious problems that urgently need to be addressed.

You are not going to get many calls if all you do is bomb away threes.

You have to actually put pressure on defense to get rewarded with fouls instead of just jacking up a three.

Naturally, the Clippers got way more calls because they were more aggressive inside.

Is it really that hard too understand?

Refs can be bad at times. But you cant really complain that you get no calls if like 60% of your FGAs are behind the line.

[winforlose]

When will you finally come to the conclusion that this is just a weak and flawed team?

Last year your excuse was the injuries.
This year your excuse is the refs.

This team is just a flawed team that was incredibly poorly constructed. There is no bias against the Wolves from the refs. Wolves just take way too many wrong decisions on both ends of the court giving the refs the opportunity to make these calls.

Wolves have nobody but themselves to blame.
This team is the all bark no bite Allstar squad.

You are conflating our points with your assumptions. Neither myself nor Klomp are blaming the refs for everything. We are simply responding to an extremely unbalanced game. A similar but less offensive game occurred against Orlando. That said, neither he nor I are blaming all our problems on the refs. I can give you a detailed summary of my ideas about that, but you could just read my other posts. Bottom line, it can be true that A, NBA officiating is deeply flawed, and B, the Wolves have serious problems that urgently need to be addressed.

You are not going to get many calls if all you do is bomb away threes.

You have to actually put pressure on defense to get rewarded with fouls instead of just jacking up a three.

Naturally, the Clippers got way more calls because they were more aggressive inside.

Is it really that hard too understand?

Refs can be bad at times. But you cant really complain that you get no calls if like 60% of your FGAs are behind the line.

Foye, your point is well taken. You are correct that you get less calls when you shoot from outside. Where you are wrong is you are not considering the chicken and the egg of it all. What if the Wolves are working into Towns who is getting mugged and then is forced to kick it back out. Then Ant drives and gets fouled with no call so he is less inclined to drive. Also, remember the game where we got 3 defensive 3 second calls. Have you noticed no other team gets more than one such call per game. Also have you noticed the opposing C camping in the lane every possession. My point is everything is connected.

Also rebounding and defense are both areas where the refs have the opportunity to call it consistently (Pat Bev reach in vs Zubac no call,) and in recent games they have been less inclined to do so.

[Calinks]

I'm not one to get conspiratorial but I do think the refs have us on their crap list for the outburst to start the season. They do not like being upstaged and Towns and the fans did that to them. On top of that it is all exacerbated by our lack of physical play on offense and us being a bad franchise.

I think all of these factors have come together to encourage the refs to swallow their whistles and it was at its worst during stretches of that Clippers game. We have seen Zubac and Valanciunas were getting away with stuff Towns isn't right now. It was frustrating and it really stacks the deck against you.

That said the refs are not to blame for our horrible play but I do think the lack of the whistle we have gotten has added to the problem, albeit, lightly. I don't think that is changing any time soon. Only way we break from it is to start playing so well its not a factor.

We have to get way more aggressive under the basket too, even though we aren't getting a lot of calls there.

[winforlose]

I'm not one to get conspiratorial but I do think the refs have us on their crap list for the outburst to start the season. They do not like being upstaged and Towns and the fans did that to them. On top of that it is all exacerbated by our lack of physical play on offense and us being a bad franchise.

I think all of these factors have come together to encourage the refs to swallow their whistles and it was at its worst during stretches of that Clippers game. We have seen Zubac and Valanciunas were getting away with stuff Towns isn't right now. It was frustrating and it really stacks the deck against you.

That said the refs are not to blame for our horrible play but I do think the lack of the whistle we have gotten has added to the problem, albeit, lightly. I don't think that is changing any time soon. Only way we break from it is to start playing so well its not a factor.

We have to get way more aggressive under the basket too, even though we aren't getting a lot of calls there.

My question is how do you do that when literally every starter has 3 fouls and their only starter with 3 can maul people without getting a 4th?

[Calinks]

I'm not one to get conspiratorial but I do think the refs have us on their crap list for the outburst to start the season. They do not like being upstaged and Towns and the fans did that to them. On top of that it is all exacerbated by our lack of physical play on offense and us being a bad franchise.

I think all of these factors have come together to encourage the refs to swallow their whistles and it was at its worst during stretches of that Clippers game. We have seen Zubac and Valanciunas were getting away with stuff Towns isn't right now. It was frustrating and it really stacks the deck against you.

That said the refs are not to blame for our horrible play but I do think the lack of the whistle we have gotten has added to the problem, albeit, lightly. I don't think that is changing any time soon. Only way we break from it is to start playing so well its not a factor.

We have to get way more aggressive under the basket too, even though we aren't getting a lot of calls there.

My question is how do you do that when literally every starter has 3 fouls and their only starter with 3 can maul people without getting a 4th?

I do think that Clipeprs game was an outlier, we were getting hammered. We would have had to start hitting some big shots which we didn't.

In future games though it wont be that bad. We have to attack more. Ant is going to have to take way less threes unless he's hot. Like he should be capped around 8 and he needs to attack more. Problem is, that's a really hard thing to do, you get beat up bad. You have to be extremely tough until you star getting calls.

I'm guessing most other star wings who attack just endured it for a few seasons until they started getting the whistle. Don't know for sure as I haven't seen young stars develop too often. That said, we need to make Ant way more aggressive. Him shooting jumpers all day and missing is not helping.

A lot of other guys on this team aren't built to drive. Going forward we should look to ad more ballhandlers. The team as a whole needs to cut a lot better and present themselves more too. KAT was atrocious with the double team in that Clippers game, he has to get better but guys got to get better at being in positions to take advantage too. It was a team problem. No way in hell should KAT have 6 turnovers and 0 assists.

He should have been diming guys up left and right with all the double teaming. That said the clipper s did a fantastic job of obscuring his vision.

[winforlose]

I'm not one to get conspiratorial but I do think the refs have us on their crap list for the outburst to start the season. They do not like being upstaged and Towns and the fans did that to them. On top of that it is all exacerbated by our lack of physical play on offense and us being a bad franchise.

I think all of these factors have come together to encourage the refs to swallow their whistles and it was at its worst during stretches of that Clippers game. We have seen Zubac and Valanciunas were getting away with stuff Towns isn't right now. It was frustrating and it really stacks the deck against you.

That said the refs are not to blame for our horrible play but I do think the lack of the whistle we have gotten has added to the problem, albeit, lightly. I don't think that is changing any time soon. Only way we break from it is to start playing so well its not a factor.

We have to get way more aggressive under the basket too, even though we aren't getting a lot of calls there.

My question is how do you do that when literally every starter has 3 fouls and their only starter with 3 can maul people without getting a 4th?

I do think that Clipeprs game was an outlier, we were getting hammered. We would have had to start hitting some big shots which we didn't.

In future games though it wont be that bad. We have to attack more. Ant is going to have to take way less threes unless he's hot. Like he should be capped around 8 and he needs to attack more. Problem is, that's a really hard thing to do, you get beat up bad. You have to be extremely tough until you star getting calls.

I'm guessing most other star wings who attack just endured it for a few seasons until they started getting the whistle. Don't know for sure as I haven't seen young stars develop too often. That said, we need to make Ant way more aggressive. Him shooting jumpers all day and missing is not helping.

A lot of other guys on this team aren't built to drive. Going forward we should look to ad more ballhandlers. The team as a whole needs to cut a lot better and present themselves more too. KAT was atrocious with the double team in that Clippers game, he has to get better but guys got to get better at being in positions to take advantage too. It was a team problem. No way in hell should KAT have 6 turnovers and 0 assists.

He should have been diming guys up left and right with all the double teaming. That said the clipper s did a fantastic job of obscuring his vision.

I very much disagree with your final assessment. KAT was being held before the pass, hacked when he had the ball. Hit as he went up, they were all over him. I would say at least half of all times he touched the ball he was fouled if not more. That might sound hyperbolic and in normal games I would agree, but this game was unlike anything I have ever seen. The sheer volume of off ball and offensive fouls the Clippers were allowed to commit was offensive. They were hitting Ant went he went in and they hitting our guys during rebounds too.

In general I agree with most of the rest of what you said. KAT should be a team leader in APG, 3PA and 3P% per game. Ant is straight up shy when it comes to contact. Maybe he is afraid of being beaten up, maybe he wants to save his energy for defense, maybe he worries about landing on peoples ankles, maybe it’s something else entirely. Whatever the case may be he is a 25% 3 point shooter in 7 of the last 8 games. When he shoots a 3, any 3 no matter the circumstances, we lost the possession and they won the possession. Even when he makes the 3 it still means a better shot was not taken. JO is the same situation. What’s worse is Ant has gifts that astound me. His body control and hang time are next level. I want so badly for him to live up to his potential. I kept saying all last season he needs to attack more and it is almost Greek tragedy level that he gets so few shots at the rim per game. Worse still when you remove fast breaks from that number. It’s like if Steph Curry vowed never to shoot another 3 again. Granted this is an exaggeration, but it also conveys the absurdity of the situation.

Overall we are built to have 5 players carry the offense and 5 carry the defense. KAT, Ant, Dlo, Beasley, and Naz are supposed to be our scoring. Everyone else is supposed to handle the defense and contribute where they can. So far only KAT and to a lesser degree Naz have consistently done their job well. Ant is inefficient to the point of being a liability at times. Dlo has the worst start ever then got hurt, and Beasley is only now starting to return to form. We need more production out of everyone else.

[Calinks]

I can see where you are coming from with that Clippers game, I did feel like the contact being allowed from them was unreal. I do feel like the refs really did hurt us badly there, the deck was really stacked against the team. That said, a really good team could still overcome that but its hard. Very frustrating seeing what Zubac was allowed to get away with.

Ant needs to take notes from D Wade. Ant isn't quite the finisher Wade was yet but a young Wade was a master of attacking. Ant doesn't have Wade's handle either but he still can get to the rim nearly at will. He just needs to attack attack attack and eventually, he will get calls and that's where he will make his bread and butter, at the line 6 times a game.

Again though that is really hard to do, you have to be able to take a lot of punishment and you have to polish your handling skills to make those quick decisive moves. Ant will have to live with the fact that he wont get calls a lot doing this early. He will also miss a lot of shots but missing these is still way better than missing a ton of threes.

Watch on YouTube

[ChiefKeith91]

I can see where you are coming from with that Clippers game, I did feel like the contact being allowed from them was unreal. I do feel like the refs really did hurt us badly there, the deck was really stacked against the team. That said, a really good team could still overcome that but its hard. Very frustrating seeing what Zubac was allowed to get away with.

Ant needs to take notes from D Wade. Ant isn't quite the finisher Wade was yet but a young Wade was a master of attacking. Ant doesn't have Wade's handle either but he still can get to the rim nearly at will. He just needs to attack attack attack and eventually, he will get calls and that's where he will make his bread and butter, at the line 6 times a game.

Again though that is really hard to do, you have to be able to take a lot of punishment and you have to polish your handling skills to make those quick decisive moves. Ant will have to live with the fact that he wont get calls a lot doing this early. He will also miss a lot of shots but missing these is still way better than missing a ton of threes.

Watch on YouTube

Great point!!! Ant needs to model his game after DWade and some Donovan Mitchell. I think what would really help him is using floaters/runners and mid range shots when he penetrates. Spacing (Vando) could be another factor why he doesn’t drive more often.


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[winforlose]

I can see where you are coming from with that Clippers game, I did feel like the contact being allowed from them was unreal. I do feel like the refs really did hurt us badly there, the deck was really stacked against the team. That said, a really good team could still overcome that but its hard. Very frustrating seeing what Zubac was allowed to get away with.

Ant needs to take notes from D Wade. Ant isn't quite the finisher Wade was yet but a young Wade was a master of attacking. Ant doesn't have Wade's handle either but he still can get to the rim nearly at will. He just needs to attack attack attack and eventually, he will get calls and that's where he will make his bread and butter, at the line 6 times a game.

Again though that is really hard to do, you have to be able to take a lot of punishment and you have to polish your handling skills to make those quick decisive moves. Ant will have to live with the fact that he wont get calls a lot doing this early. He will also miss a lot of shots but missing these is still way better than missing a ton of threes.

Watch on YouTube

To borrow a bunch of cliches.

1. He will learn by doing.

2. Practice makes perfect.

3. Some of a good thing is better than a lot of a bad thing.

4. He won’t know until he tries.


We agree completely. People think I hate Ant, I really don’t. I see him as incredibly gifted. But it drives me ******* nuts to see him play the way he does and shun his gifts. I said one of the keys to the season is Finch unlocking Ant and I think at this point you guys are starting to agree.

[Nick K]

My question is how do you do that when literally every starter has 3 fouls and their only starter with 3 can maul people without getting a 4th?

I do think that Clipeprs game was an outlier, we were getting hammered. We would have had to start hitting some big shots which we didn't.

In future games though it wont be that bad. We have to attack more. Ant is going to have to take way less threes unless he's hot. Like he should be capped around 8 and he needs to attack more. Problem is, that's a really hard thing to do, you get beat up bad. You have to be extremely tough until you star getting calls.

I'm guessing most other star wings who attack just endured it for a few seasons until they started getting the whistle. Don't know for sure as I haven't seen young stars develop too often. That said, we need to make Ant way more aggressive. Him shooting jumpers all day and missing is not helping.

A lot of other guys on this team aren't built to drive. Going forward we should look to ad more ballhandlers. The team as a whole needs to cut a lot better and present themselves more too. KAT was atrocious with the double team in that Clippers game, he has to get better but guys got to get better at being in positions to take advantage too. It was a team problem. No way in hell should KAT have 6 turnovers and 0 assists.

He should have been diming guys up left and right with all the double teaming. That said the clipper s did a fantastic job of obscuring his vision.

I very much disagree with your final assessment. KAT was being held before the pass, hacked when he had the ball. Hit as he went up, they were all over him. I would say at least half of all times he touched the ball he was fouled if not more. That might sound hyperbolic and in normal games I would agree, but this game was unlike anything I have ever seen. The sheer volume of off ball and offensive fouls the Clippers were allowed to commit was offensive. They were hitting Ant went he went in and they hitting our guys during rebounds too.

In general I agree with most of the rest of what you said. KAT should be a team leader in APG, 3PA and 3P% per game. Ant is straight up shy when it comes to contact. Maybe he is afraid of being beaten up, maybe he wants to save his energy for defense, maybe he worries about landing on peoples ankles, maybe it’s something else entirely. Whatever the case may be he is a 25% 3 point shooter in 7 of the last 8 games. When he shoots a 3, any 3 no matter the circumstances, we lost the possession and they won the possession. Even when he makes the 3 it still means a better shot was not taken. JO is the same situation. What’s worse is Ant has gifts that astound me. His body control and hang time are next level. I want so badly for him to live up to his potential. I kept saying all last season he needs to attack more and it is almost Greek tragedy level that he gets so few shots at the rim per game. Worse still when you remove fast breaks from that number. It’s like if Steph Curry vowed never to shoot another 3 again. Granted this is an exaggeration, but it also conveys the absurdity of the situation.

Overall we are built to have 5 players carry the offense and 5 carry the defense. KAT, Ant, Dlo, Beasley, and Naz are supposed to be our scoring. Everyone else is supposed to handle the defense and contribute where they can. So far only KAT and to a lesser degree Naz have consistently done their job well. Ant is inefficient to the point of being a liability at times. Dlo has the worst start ever then got hurt, and Beasley is only now starting to return to form. We need more production out of everyone else.

The ansolute worst call was late in the game Kat and Zubac are tied up near our basket and Zubac uses 2 hands to push Kat down to the floor and the officials called the foul on Towns. Unbelievable! Towns can't play physical but he can be mauled with impunity. I don't get that.

The NBA has a young blonde female ref. i'm all for diversity but she should be back reffing high school basketball.

[Nick K]

I can see where you are coming from with that Clippers game, I did feel like the contact being allowed from them was unreal. I do feel like the refs really did hurt us badly there, the deck was really stacked against the team. That said, a really good team could still overcome that but its hard. Very frustrating seeing what Zubac was allowed to get away with.

Ant needs to take notes from D Wade. Ant isn't quite the finisher Wade was yet but a young Wade was a master of attacking. Ant doesn't have Wade's handle either but he still can get to the rim nearly at will. He just needs to attack attack attack and eventually, he will get calls and that's where he will make his bread and butter, at the line 6 times a game.

Again though that is really hard to do, you have to be able to take a lot of punishment and you have to polish your handling skills to make those quick decisive moves. Ant will have to live with the fact that he wont get calls a lot doing this early. He will also miss a lot of shots but missing these is still way better than missing a ton of threes.

Watch on YouTube

We all want Ant to drive to the basket but he has to shoot the 3 to open up the defense for his drives. Teams just aren't going to let him drive. You have to keep them honest. BTW, I thought Ant drove a decent amount last game.

Ant needs to develop a drive and pull up shot just inside the FT line ala Sammy Cassell.

The problem with the Wolves is everybody not Ant or Kat. The rest of the team hasn't been very good at all. When the pressure comes you have too many shots coming from guys who can't make them. I cringe when I see J Mac throwup a 3. Same with Okogie, Vando etc. Everybody wants to play hero ball and shoot us back into the game. Clang.

We have far too many master brick layers to be a 3 pt shooting team.