Dallas at Minnesota 2.0, 7 pm

[IceManBK1]

Dlo so trash.. We gonna play teams like Celtics, heat, bucks.. Dlo always struggle VS those teams too. Goodbye playoffs. Heard Heat is interested in Dlo. Even a 40 yr Lowry plays harder and gives more effort on D than dlo. Lowry and Hero for Dlo?

[Neeva]

When nowell and Dlo can’t shoot they are so trash.

[Grubie024]

When Prince is back, I think it will be Nowell and not Rivers missing minutes. He has been so good as of late on both ends of the floor.

This 4 game stretch by Rivers has been impressive. Doubt Nowell has pieced together a 4 game stretch that effective.

[Grubie024]

D Lo and Nowell seem easily replaceable, right?

[moss_is_1]

D Lo and Nowell seem easily replaceable, right?

I feel Dlo has shown he's at least serviceable. He has been pretty solid defensively, even though his offense is very hit and miss.

Nowell OTOH is only valuable when he's getting buckets.

When Prince is back, I think it will be Nowell and not Rivers missing minutes. He has been so good as of late on both ends of the floor.

This 4 game stretch by Rivers has been impressive. Doubt Nowell has pieced together a 4 game stretch that effective.

Nowell was actually scoring pretty decently over the last few games, just that he only has that in his game. If he's not scoring he provides nothing else to the team and is a really bad defender.

[life_saver]

All things considered, this was a frustrating loss but when compared to some of the losses early in the season, there were some positives to take from this one than those early season losses. Mavs are still a decent team and despite their mediocre start, they are still dangerous and have beaten some good teams this season. Wolves effort was there today, they played decently but it was one of those frustrating nights where they shot like crap and still only lost by 5. Major problem is inconsistency of the guards on the team - DLo, Nowell. They go from having an amazing night where they can't miss a shot to nights like where they cannot shoot anything.

[Neeva]

D Lo and Nowell seem easily replaceable, right?

I feel Dlo has shown he's at least serviceable. He has been pretty solid defensively, even though his offense is very hit and miss.

Nowell OTOH is only valuable when he's getting buckets.

When Prince is back, I think it will be Nowell and not Rivers missing minutes. He has been so good as of late on both ends of the floor.

This 4 game stretch by Rivers has been impressive. Doubt Nowell has pieced together a 4 game stretch that effective.

Nowell was actually scoring pretty decently over the last few games, just that he only has that in his game. If he's not scoring he provides nothing else to the team and is a really bad defender.

Dlo is overpaid and will want to continue to be so. Wolves should move on from him and use that money on someone more consistent.

[Domejandro]

This is another night where Minnesota desperately could have used Malik Beasley.

[Dirk]

What's with Domejandro getting it on with Luka

[Dewey]

This is another night where Minnesota desperately could have used Malik Beasley.

Seen Beasley shoot plenty of blanks as well …

No excuse Edwards, DLo, and Nowell go 0-16

[_AIJ_]

Nowell is so bad. Cant even defend or pass the freaking ball!!

[the_urre14]

Jaylen Nowell is a poor basketball player who can score. His unique ability is to score buckets, and he can´t even do it regularly and efficiently. Poor shot selection, can´t create shoots for the others, he needs the ball to score as he only scores via iso plays and he might be the worst defender in this Wolves team. The fact that some people were willing at the begining of the year to pay him 15 mill per year astonishes me.

[KGdaBom]

D Lo and Nowell seem easily replaceable, right?

I feel Dlo has shown he's at least serviceable. He has been pretty solid defensively, even though his offense is very hit and miss.

Nowell OTOH is only valuable when he's getting buckets.

This 4 game stretch by Rivers has been impressive. Doubt Nowell has pieced together a 4 game stretch that effective.

Nowell was actually scoring pretty decently over the last few games, just that he only has that in his game. If he's not scoring he provides nothing else to the team and is a really bad defender.

Dlo is overpaid and will want to continue to be so. Wolves should move on from him and use that money on someone more consistent.

If we move on from him we can't use that money on anyone else. If we traded him we could I believe.

[TimberKat]

Jim Pete just explained the issue with Rudy in there. While he gets his numbers it’s detrimental to the rest of the team. He clogs the lane whereas a Reid can either roll or space out.

This allows our guards to attack successfully like we want them too. Play styles just don’t match up

I see a lot of positives despite the loss. Rudy is not clogging the lane. They just need to know which set is running and Rudy to be at the spot accordingly. I don't see Kareem slowing down the Showtime Lakers. I think Rudy does stay close to the basket too often and he is getting out to the perimeter more now. Edwards still freelancing too much at times. This game was what I expect in game 5 of the season.

[shrink]

I’m not upset by this loss. These teams were evenly matched, even without Towns, and if one team hits five three pointers a row in the fourth quarter, they’re going to win. Defending the three point line helps, but three point shooting also has a certain percentage of luck in it. Most of MIN’s three pointers were good looks, but they didn’t go down tonight.

[shrink]

Jim Pete just explained the issue with Rudy in there. While he gets his numbers it’s detrimental to the rest of the team. He clogs the lane whereas a Reid can either roll or space out.

I noticed that too, and I like that Jim Pete makes me re-think some of my long held preconceptions of basketball.

If I recall, Peterson mentioned this when Edwards was in transition. I have always believed that it’s a good thing in transition for your big to sprint back to the offensive end and the front of the rim. I watched Luka get three buckets a game doing this at Iowa, just on effort versus smaller opponents. Gobert does that too, while Naz would roll to the three point line. Maybe Gobert should delay his attack to give Ant the space, and concentrate on rebounding any misses?

I don’t believe Rudy’s game is detrimental to other players in the half court. The guards often struggle to take advantage of him though. First, his gravity underneath gets our three point shooters more room - they just need to make them. Second, Ant and DLo are used to Towns, so they started the season struggling to get the ball to Rudy on the roll AND didn’t use for screens. When the guards don’t do that, yes, there’s another defender in the paint waiting for drives.

I expect (hope?) that they will continue to improve their ability to play with Gobert. He can be a big advantage on offense, if our guards learn to take advantage of what he can do.

[Guest84]

Jim Pete just explained the issue with Rudy in there. While he gets his numbers it’s detrimental to the rest of the team. He clogs the lane whereas a Reid can either roll or space out.

This allows our guards to attack successfully like we want them too. Play styles just don’t match up

I see a lot of positives despite the loss. Rudy is not clogging the lane. They just need to know which set is running and Rudy to be at the spot accordingly. I don't see Kareem slowing down the Showtime Lakers. I think Rudy does stay close to the basket too often and he is getting out to the perimeter more now. Edwards still freelancing too much at times. This game was what I expect in game 5 of the season.

While I agree, Ant can freelance a bit much at times. That's still normal for guards/wings to do, especially those considered to the stars of the team. But it's not just with Ant but all the wings. Rudy is productive, but as you mentioned he stays too close to the basket too often. This in turn, unintentionally clogs the driving lanes.

Now our guards need to have better IQ and understanding of this but like JimP said, Rudy also needs to be aware of this as well. Of course there would be an adjustment period once he came back, but I do think it clearly affected the team. We also need to be careful comparing Rudy to an all-time great big with a post game. While Kareem didn't slow them down in transition, he could be used as a focal point of the half court offense.

I'm still neutral about the trade and am still allowing it to play out but there are some noticeable differences when he's in vs out. Time will tell...

[Guest84]

Jim Pete just explained the issue with Rudy in there. While he gets his numbers it’s detrimental to the rest of the team. He clogs the lane whereas a Reid can either roll or space out.

I noticed that too, and I like that Jim Pete makes me re-think some of my long held preconceptions of basketball.

If I recall, Peterson mentioned this when Edwards was in transition. I have always believed that it’s a good thing in transition for your big to sprint back to the offensive end and the front of the rim. I watched Luka get three buckets a game doing this at Iowa, just on effort versus smaller opponents. Gobert does that too, while Naz would roll to the three point line. Maybe Gobert should delay his attack to give Ant the space, and concentrate on rebounding any misses?

I don’t believe Rudy’s game is detrimental to other players in the half court. The guards often struggle to take advantage of him though. First, his gravity underneath gets our three point shooters more room - they just need to make them. Second, Ant and DLo are used to Towns, so they started the season struggling to get the ball to Rudy on the roll AND didn’t use for screens. When the guards don’t do that, yes, there’s another defender in the paint waiting for drives.

I expect (hope?) that they will continue to improve their ability to play with Gobert. He can be a big advantage on offense, if our guards learn to take advantage of what he can do.

I completely agree. This is where the "IQ" of the team comes into play as well. I don't think they fully understand their "personnel" yet, especially when it comes to Rudy. There's been some great spots and low spots throughout the season. I think the low spots just weigh heavily on long-time fans who are itching for consistency from this franchise.

[Calinks]

I know people are having a good time trashing Nowell in here but Nowell is a part of some of our best two man lineups statistically. I think he and Ant are number on the team per 200 minutes. He's been a big positive for us even with his streakyness. In 2022 the NBA is a guards league and guards who can score are just extremely important. I don't think he is easily replaceable just like Beasley wasn't easily replaceable. It doesn't mean we cant move on or find better but you need to have guards who can get buckets, they are the most important part of a modern offense and they aren't incredibly easy to find.

[life_saver]

Also how frustrating were those travels in 2nd Quarters ? Wolves had like 4 turnovers due to travelling calls in first half..some of it was just due to Wolves refusal to take advantage of open 3 opportunities they had....those first 6 minutes of 2nd Quarter were very costly...Mavs built up the lead when Luka was sitting during that period. Finch also had both DLo, Ant on bench at the same time