***Pre-Season Game 2 Thread Wolves vs Mavs Saturday 11CST***

Post #1 » by **Calinks** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 12:33 am

Game 2 is tomorrow. Game one defintly got me more excited for the season. I am actually really optimistic about two bench players, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Shake Milton. I think they will both be very interesting pieces of two separate duos. The defensive dynamics between NAW and Jaden are crazy, they can be absolutely stifling and NAW's three point shot looks better than it did last year.

Shake might be a dynamic scorer next to Ant. There were brief flashes last season of Ant and Nowell having big moments and it was nice, two guards who could get their own shot was tough. If Shake can be a more reliable scorer than Nowell was, him being a threat on top of Ant will be a big bonus.

Our bench might be significantly better. I am already really confident in Naz, McDaniels, and Anderson. Shake and NAW being major contributors might put us over the top.

Note30 · Post #2 » by **Note30** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:00 am

This probably the first time in Wolves History where a 10 man rotation is justified.

Post #3 » by **Clav** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 8:33 am

Minnesota is deep and has a lot of good players to rotate in and out of the lineup. I'm expecting more deep bench guys to get reps this game after the top 10 guys played damn well.

Let's see McLaughlin Miller Moore and Minott!... and Garza lol

Post #4 » by **Domejandro** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 4:18 pm

Happy to see Karl-Anthony Towns’ effort, thus far!

firedavidkahn · Post #5 » by **firedavidkahn** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 4:44 pm

Ant is going God mode this year.

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Post #6 » by **Calinks** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 4:44 pm

Super sloppy second quarter.

Post #7 » by **Domejandro** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 4:56 pm

Really don't like Rudy Gobert trying to go behind-the-back when the easier pass was there. That said, he's played well today.

Post #8 » by **Calinks** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 4:59 pm

Structure looks better but we have to see more. We definitely look like a good defensive team,hope that holds during the regular season. We were solid last season. We really need to improve the rebounding this season.

thinktank · Post #9 » by **thinktank** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:00 pm

Calinks wrote:Structure looks better but we have to see more. We definitely look like a good defensive team,hope that holds during the regular season. We were solid last season. We really need to improve the rebounding this season.

Hard to worry about rebounding when the Mavs are shooting 28%.

Our defense looks to be stellar.

thinktank · Post #10 » by **thinktank** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:02 pm

NAW doing well on Luka.

thinktank · Post #11 » by **thinktank** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:03 pm

WTF is Williams doing tackling Towns? Flagrant.

Post #12 » by **Calinks** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:04 pm

thinktank wrote:
Calinks wrote:Structure looks better but we have to see more. We definitely look like a good defensive team,hope that holds during the regular season. We were solid last season. We really need to improve the rebounding this season.

Hard to worry about rebounding when the Mavs are shooting 28%.

Our defense looks to be stellar.

I would love to see us actually box out this year. That alone would increase our rebounding by like 15 percent.

Post #13 » by **Calinks** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:08 pm

Josh Green was BIG time in that last minute. Two three's and drew an offensive foul for a turnover which lead to a Luka bucket, which pretty much got Dallas back into the game. Baller.

Post #14 » by **Calinks** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:16 pm

Mavs winning rebounds 27-17. Not good.

thinktank · Post #15 » by **thinktank** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:17 pm

Calinks wrote:Mavs winning rebounds 27-17. Not good.

Remember it’s only preseason, folks.

TimberKat · Post #16 » by **TimberKat** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:20 pm

Milton looks like exactly who we needed in game one and now look like a Jaylen Nowell imposter in game two.

TimberKat · Post #17 » by **TimberKat** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:25 pm

Towns looks a lot stronger and quicker. He was balance and under control on his drives in game one. Today, he must fall on the floor at least 3 times. He can't last 70 games playing this way. Save those tumbles for the wrestling career.

Post #18 » by **Calinks** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:31 pm

TimberKat wrote:Towns looks a lot stronger and quicker. He was balance and under control on his drives in game one. Today, he must fall on the floor at least 3 times. He can't last 70 games playing this way. Save those tumbles for the wrestling career.

He looks faster than ever, really impressive. It might just be the Mavs being really slow/small too though. Fair point about the tumbles, we don't need him getting hurt. Also got to worry about offensive fouls again as people try to bait fouls from that.

wolves_89 · Post #19 » by **wolves_89** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:46 pm

The Wolves have been good, but there are a couple of issues they need to address. The most obvious is the abysmal defensive rebounding. There has been a half dozen rebounds where the Wolves were in a better position than the Mavs to get the rebound and they couldn't secure the ball. The second issue is that we are settling for jumpers way too often. Mid-range jumpers while there is time on the shot clock should be far less frequent.

BlacJacMac · Post #20 » by **BlacJacMac** » Sat Oct 7, 2023 5:55 pm

I believe Garza has taken 17 shots in 17 minutes through 7 quarters of basketball.