Game 42: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (8:00 PM CST)

[winforlose]

Just a dumpster fire performance from the bench. Joe Ingles had a good stint in the first half, but he's given the team nothing in the second half.

Please tell me what Joe did well in the first half. It wasn’t offense, defense, or rebounding. He did inbound the ball well once or twice

In fact Joe is -16 in less than 9 minutes. That is almost the entire difference in the game.

[TimberKat]

In the old days when opponents are making a run, you dump the ball inside, draw fouls and slow down the game. We seem to keep trying to play faster and out of control take bad shots. We go from down 5 to down 18 in a blink.

[ILC]

Just a dumpster fire performance from the bench. Joe Ingles had a good stint in the first half, but he's given the team nothing in the second half.

Please tell me what Joe did well in the first half. It wasn’t offense, defense, or rebounding. He did inbound the ball well once or twice

Yeah, Finch was overthinking with him tonight. Key to breaking the zone down is not to have a good passer in the middle but someone who can break it down with a dribble. Mike and Ant had to be in there for those minutes

[winforlose]

In the old days when opponents are making a run, you dump the ball inside, draw fouls and slow down the game. We seem to keep trying to play faster and out of control take bad shots. We go from down 5 to down 18 in a blink.

Plus we bring in the worst lineup imaginable right when the momentum is swinging the other way. Finch screwed this game in the first half, and he fu**ed it in the 2nd half.

[Guest84]

In the old days when opponents are making a run, you dump the ball inside, draw fouls and slow down the game. We seem to keep trying to play faster and out of control take bad shots. We go from down 5 to down 18 in a blink.

Lack of ball iq from top to bottom

[TimberKat]

5:41 to go. I think you empty the bench now

[_AIJ_]

We wouldve won this game if NAW wasnt on this team

[TimberKat]

Late to post but to me, the downfall started right after finch took Jaden and Ant out right after Jaden scored 5 straight. A would you take them out when they were gaining momentum??

I don't think Finch believe in momentum.

[winforlose]

Late to post but to me, the downfall started right after finch took Jaden and Ant out right after Jaden scored 5 straight. A would you take them out when they were gaining momentum??

I don't think Finch believe in momentum.

That explains his timeout strategy (or lack there of.)

[Neeva]

Wolves head coach is so mediocre. On a franchise with expections he would have been fired by now ( he would have been fired after the chokejob playoff performance against Memphis years ago)

[TimberKat]

I paid for an expensive seat to watch this one live. Good thing I am both a Twolves and Cavs fan but Wolves needs this one a lot more than Cavs. Cavs didn't even have Mobley tonight. They seem to shot the ball a lot better than what the stats show. Maybe it's because all those offensive rebounds.

[winforlose]

I paid for an expensive seat to watch this one live. Good thing I am both a Twolves and Cavs fan but Wolves needs this one a lot more than Cavs. Cavs didn't even have Mobley tonight. They seem to shot the ball a lot better than what the stats show. Maybe it's because all those offensive rebounds.

Some of it was running out of gas, but a lot of it was rotations. When you put two non defender, non rebounder, and really non NBA caliber players out at the same time you are begging for trouble. I have no problem playing Dilly, I mind doing it without Ant. I have a massive problem ever voluntarily playing Jingles. Even if you want to argue he is as good as Minott or Miller, why not play Minott or Miller? Young guys gain experience by playing in real minutes. Old guys at 37 who can play 8 minutes and not get any stats or play any defense are just wasting those minutes. This was a winnable game that Finch decided to lose.

[BlacJacMac]

Wolves head coach is so mediocre. On a franchise with expections he would have been fired by now ( he would have been fired after the chokejob playoff performance against Memphis years ago)

You would’ve fired him after his first full year and we lost to the #2 seed in 6 games?

[TimberKat]

I paid for an expensive seat to watch this one live. Good thing I am both a Twolves and Cavs fan but Wolves needs this one a lot more than Cavs. Cavs didn't even have Mobley tonight. They seem to shot the ball a lot better than what the stats show. Maybe it's because all those offensive rebounds.

Some of it was running out of gas, but a lot of it was rotations. When you put two non defender, non rebounder, and really non NBA caliber players out at the same time you are begging for trouble. I have no problem playing Dilly, I mind doing it without Ant. I have a massive problem ever voluntarily playing Jingles. Even if you want to argue he is as good as Minott or Miller, why not play Minott or Miller? Young guys gain experience by playing in real minutes. Old guys at 37 who can play 8 minutes and not get any stats or play any defense are just wasting those minutes. This was a winnable game that Finch decided to lose.

I think you got your wish the last 4 minutes - Dilly playing with starters. Conley is just out of gas. At his age 20 minutes maybe the max he can be effective.

[winforlose]

Wolves head coach is so mediocre. On a franchise with expections he would have been fired by now ( he would have been fired after the chokejob playoff performance against Memphis years ago)

You would’ve fired him after his first full year and we lost to the #2 seed in 6 games?

I wouldn’t have either. In fact I was encouraged because at that point he was saying all the right things and Ant was just to young and stupid to listen. It changes and becomes less excusable as time passes, but early Finch was hopeful. Current Finch looks and acts out of his depth.

[TimberKat]

I dont' understand the infatuation with Dillingham from the fans. This dude is not a rotation player AT ALL. Fine now because DDV is out and everyone's struggling, but he is so raw and deer in headlights he can't play meaningful minutes at all.

I'd rather see what Shannon has

He has the most potential out of all the Connelly drafts and Conley can only play 20 mins a game these days. He got more settled down when the game was out of reach. Guarding Mitchell or Garland is not easy. Shannon is stuck behind too many people. If NAW gets another game like this one, he may get some minutes.

[shrink]

It’s disappointing to score 117 against CLE and still lose.

Also Randle has 14 RB, Rudy has 12, no Mobley, and we still get outrebounded by 5.

[shrink]

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[_AIJ_]

I dont' understand the infatuation with Dillingham from the fans. This dude is not a rotation player AT ALL. Fine now because DDV is out and everyone's struggling, but he is so raw and deer in headlights he can't play meaningful minutes at all.

I'd rather see what Shannon has

Way better than NAW who for some reason was taking a lot of shots. Can we trade this guy already. He's expiring anyway so couldnt care less if he leaves

[winforlose]

I dont' understand the infatuation with Dillingham from the fans. This dude is not a rotation player AT ALL. Fine now because DDV is out and everyone's struggling, but he is so raw and deer in headlights he can't play meaningful minutes at all.

I'd rather see what Shannon has

Shannon got hurt in the G. He is out 2-4 weeks at least with a mid foot sprain.

Dilly needs time to develop. Ant didn’t look rotation worthy in year one either. The biggest knock on Dilly is his NBA body, but a lot of prominent NBA players came in undersized and still performed very well. Dilly has some nice potentials to further develop (3 point shooting, high BBIQ/floor visions, great in transition,) but he has some serious flaws (weak defender, bad at the rim, bad on the drive, turnover prone.) Given the level of investment in Dilly we need to find him minutes. But, that doesn’t mean we need to pair him with another bad defender. The optimal Dilly lineup is Dilly/Ant/Jaden/Naz/Rudy. That should be our starting 5 while DDV is out.