GAME 1 | MIN @ TOR

[_AIJ_]

Cant lose Jaden again man

[Domejandro]

I was talking about how he can't fly by his defender or shoot with more space because a PF can stick to him closer than a center would.

This was already a thing when Jarred Vanderbilt was the starter, though. The bigger issue is that Towns just flies off the rails when starts off poorly.

We get it. You're a Towns hater and its pervasive in your thinking.

Towns didn't have a great game but he still had 19-10-3 ast and 4 blks.

They made 6 more 3's didn't help.

Calling me a “Towns hater” is so incongruent with my posting history, that it isn’t even worth engaging with.

I’m just incredibly tired of Rudy Gobert being constantly blamed when everyone else around him plays like hot garbage. For example, blaming Rudy Gobert for “not catching” Towns’ game-ending pass directly to two Toronto defenders is a baffling take.

[Araxen]

Till this team eliminates ISO ball we aren't winning anything. Which is basically ANT removing his blinders and helping move the ball around.

[MN7725]

Rudy did his job tonight. The team put him in bad spots with poor decisions and bad passes.

Ant played with good effort but has tunnel vision.

Towns was lackadaisical and indecisive. I feel like a lot of this is him still not understanding/knowing what his role actually is.

can't imagine that KAT wants to really be on this team compared to what kind of role he could have on quite a few other teams

has to play out of position, been usurped by ANT as the franchise player

League had figured him out by putting a small guy on him. He needs to figure out how to deal with that and doesn't matter what team he is on.

teams were putting a smaller guy on him even back when the played with Taj, not really new

although it used to be a Derrick Favors type player that would be the "small guy"
now its often a skilled SF type that plays PF

there isn't anything that KAT can figure out, posting up a smaller player doesn't work even if KAT was good at it
post players hardly exist anymore for a reason

[moss_is_1]

Very disappointing after we looked so good in the pre-season.

[KGdaBom]

Disgusting performance by Karl-Anthony Towns. Shameful.

Don't leave Ant out. He was just about as bad. KAT blocked a bunch of shots so his game was better than you think.

[KGdaBom]

I will reiterate. If we make even 40% of our shots we win this game with ease. That was the only real problem. We shot like sheet.

[MN7725]

credit to OG for locking up ANT all game too
ANT had some nice pull up 3s and working off screens, but was completely shut down whenever he tried to go downhill, a lot of tough shots

Wolves just don't have much shot creation against a set half court defense, probably NAZ is 2nd best at getting something out of nothing.

Conley, KA, Shake, NAW, Brown are terrible at that as a group, whatever else they may bring

hopefully Jaden can start being effective at that, otherwise will probably be a bottom 10 offense again

[_AIJ_]

Not gonna overreact as its game 1 of 82

[Folklore]

Not gonna overreact as its game 1 of 82

But these type of games add up.

[TimberKat]

can't imagine that KAT wants to really be on this team compared to what kind of role he could have on quite a few other teams

has to play out of position, been usurped by ANT as the franchise player

League had figured him out by putting a small guy on him. He needs to figure out how to deal with that and doesn't matter what team he is on.

teams were putting a smaller guy on him even back when the played with Taj, not really new

although it used to be a Derrick Favors type player that would be the "small guy"
now its often a skilled SF type that plays PF

there isn't anything that KAT can figure out, posting up a smaller player doesn't work even if KAT was good at it
post players hardly exist anymore for a reason

He doesn't have the mid range game when you chase him off the 3pt line and he can't get to the basket effectively. He should shoot a baby hook / floater in those situations. We should also do more offense start with him in the low post or elbow. I think he used to be very effective in those situations. The double pick with him and Gobert got him a open 3 look too.

[_AIJ_]

Not gonna overreact as its game 1 of 82

But these type of games add up.

They started 1-0 last year and look what happened. Good thing they got humbled in the first game. These mistakes are very easy to correct

[TimberKat]

credit to OG for locking up ANT all game too
ANT had some nice pull up 3s and working off screens, but was completely shut down whenever he tried to go downhill, a lot of tough shots

Wolves just don't have much shot creation against a set half court defense, probably NAZ is 2nd best at getting something out of nothing.

Conley, KA, Shake, NAW, Brown are terrible at that as a group, whatever else they may bring

hopefully Jaden can start being effective at that, otherwise will probably be a bottom 10 offense again

Yes, we are missing that one more guy. Milton couldn't shake off anyone.

[CoachD]

One interesting thing about the aimless Raptors is that their big names will be up for extensions or new contracts next year. Their GM just called them all selfish. It’s possible they will all try to boost their own numbers, and struggle to get wins as a team.

The president (not GM) didn't say that. He said there was selfish play last season and that it's been addressed.

Everyone is aware it was in reference to Vanvleet.

[Araxen]

Not gonna overreact as its game 1 of 82

But these type of games add up.

They started 1-0 last year and look what happened. Good thing they got humbled in the first game. These mistakes are very easy to correct

The problem is we were making the same mistakes last season. For our team they aren't so easy to correct.

[thinktank]

I will reiterate. If we make even 40% of our shots we win this game with ease. That was the only real problem. We shot like sheet.

The root cause of shooting poorly was horrible offensive structure.

[Nick K]

I will reiterate. If we make even 40% of our shots we win this game with ease. That was the only real problem. We shot like sheet.

The root cause of shooting poorly was horrible offensive structure.

And that is coaching I'm afraid to say.

[Note30]

I did a little bit of a writeup of what I saw. In my opinion this a mix of bad offensive structure and our players skillsets not fitting.

Offensive Struggles:

The loss was hard to watch, mainly due to a dysfunctional offense.

NAW exhibited poor off-ball movement and made bad cuts, and broke execution of a few empty side plays with KAT.

Transition offense was lacking, attributable to a deficit in speed and athleticism.

The team struggled with positioning; for instance, Gobert could have been better positioned in the dunkers spot.

There was a notable limitation as players didn’t cut well; only three were able to perform dribble hand-offs effectively, resulting in slow action execution.

Attempts to run a 5-out offense were ineffective, particularly in utilizing KAT or Gobert. The lack of production from NAW was also concerning.

The offense often rushed shots too early, and there were no good options or alignment changes to reset the offense when plays broke down.

Clear outs for post plays were missing, and poor spacing was observed, notably from Anderson who sat in the dunkers spot twice, and Milton who crowded the paint.

Entry passes were ineffective as the opposing team didn’t fear the Wolves’ shooters.

A specific lineup with Shake, Troy, Anderson, Reid, and Towns was effective at spacing but terrible at drop coverage defense.

The team heavily relied on running floppy screens to free up players, but lacked additional actions or a backup plan when the initial set didn’t work. This often led to forced plays or rushed shots when the first option failed.

Anderson and NAW, who struggled to create their own shots were pretty poor facilitators and unless we get one with respected offensive skills were in a bad spot Conley can only do so much.

Transition offense and defense particularly in the second half, was poor, often leading to forced shots through the only two players able to create their own offense.

The epitome of transition offense issues was when Anderson and Reid lost a 2 on 2 against guards, and more often than not out transitions died out quickly.

Defensive Shortcomings:
Ant’s ball-watching on defense was problematic. Got caught twice.

There was a significant problem with sealing and boxing out, with Rudy and all other bigs except Naz performing poorly in this aspect.

Having more than one non-shooter on the floor at any time was a disaster as defenses didn’t respect the Wolves, resulting in a lack of offensive options.

Personnel and Lineup Issues:
The current personnel just didn’t suit well for a solid transition offense.

Anderson being a non 3-point threat was a huge issue as the Toronto defense didn’t respect him, and pairing him with Gobert without a set offense was particularly detrimental.

The core issue seemed to lie in the inability of many players to effectively create their own shots, putting pressure on the few who could.

[Note30]

I want to also add that it never seemed like we had multiple options on any set. If the first option worked out great, if not force a shot.

[Tukkerwolf]

Not gonna overreact as its game 1 of 82

But these type of games add up.

They started 1-0 last year and look what happened. Good thing they got humbled in the first game. These mistakes are very easy to correct

Let's not take last year as a benchmark for a successful season. If that's the case we'd better just cut one of the Twin Towers right away.