Game 1: Timberwolves at Blazers (10/22, 9 pm)

Post #241 » by **Klomp** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 4:55 am

Dalvin wrote:As much as I would've wanted Dilly to play. We would've lost this game if he played over Bones. Bones was ok in his stint.

Correct.

Neeva · Post #242 » by **Neeva** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 4:56 am

guest81 wrote:
Klomp wrote:We don't see these guys again until the last game before the All-Star Break, thank goodness!

Yea blazers are gonna be a problem

Ehh only reason this was close was Grant deciding to play really well this game, he has like 1 of these types out of every 8 games or so.
The blazers are a floppy ass team, they were flopping all over the place tonight.

TimberKat · Post #243 » by **TimberKat** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 4:58 am

Calinks wrote:Clutch time. And Ant throws is away...

True, but Bone shouldn't be standing right behind the baseline. If you aren't in the game, please sit down.

TimberKat · Post #244 » by **TimberKat** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:05 am

KGdaBom wrote:
Dalvin wrote:As much as I would've wanted Dilly to play. We would've lost this game if he played over Bones. Bones was ok in his stint.

I didn't see Bones do anything better in his 8 minutes than Dilly would have done, but we will never know. We have one of the best rookies in the NBA in Berringer and he didn't get a single second of PT.

Only one TO for Bones. Dilly can't handle POR's play style and pace. I am sure he will have his chance later in the season.

Wolveswin · Post #245 » by **Wolveswin** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:06 am

KGdaBom wrote:
Dalvin wrote:As much as I would've wanted Dilly to play. We would've lost this game if he played over Bones. Bones was ok in his stint.
We have one of the best rookies in the NBA in Berringer and he didn't get a single second of PT.

lol come on now. Can’t be taken seriously with statements like that. Unless I missed green font.

Post #246 » by **Klomp** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:13 am

KGdaBom wrote:According to the announcers Ant scored 10 in the last 4:31. So if that's correct it was all of his points late.

All in clutch time, a great start for his Clutch Player of the Year chase!

Loaf_of_bread · Post #247 » by **Loaf_of_bread** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:17 am

Ant just lacks the touch around the rim to be mvp level. Don't think that can be practiced. Just won't quite be ever able to crack that top-tier of all-timers. He is capable of winning a championship though.

younggunsmn · Post #248 » by **younggunsmn** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:19 am

Things I did not have on my bingo card for game 1:

1. TJ Shannon playing the last 5 minutes as de facto PG
2. Rudy Gobert drawing multiple fouls putting guys into the popcorn machine
3. Donte Divencenzo forgetting how to dribble and making 6 brutally bad turnovers, most of those not even making it to halfcourt.

When you have Bones Hyland playing meaningful minutes as your PG in the 4th quarter on opening night, with a completely healthy roster, you have failed at your job as General (Mis)manager.
Mike looks totally cooked out there. Rob is unplayable. Donte is a disaster.
I don't think we have a single NBA caliber PG on the entire roster. It's disgusting.

Kudos to the Blazers they played the whole game the way we should have been playing.
Great defensive intensity, ball pressure, and fundamentals.
Shaedon Sharpe chucked them out of a win. No other way to really put it.

We had horrible defensive fundamentals for most of the game. Could not stay in front of ANYONE.

TJ was great for the most part, and we asked a LOT from him tonight with the ball in his hands so much because our so called PGs couldnt even get the ball up the court. Played some pretty good defense and was on the bad end of some weak foul calls.
Bad play attacking the basket instead of milking the clock on the play that Rudy got the putback dunk on, but they we setting up to trap him there too. If Finch didn't like it he should have had a real PG on the court.

Great defensive energy from Clark. Just wish he had any skills on offense. He plays so smart.

I loved Jaden's offensive confidence and aggressiveness in the 4th quarter.
If there was a silver lining to this game it was that guys who arent your lead offensive players like McDaniels and Shannon got a lot of practice handling the ball and creating against game caliber pressure.
Those two guys being able to create offense will go a long way toward helping Ant.
The responsible yet unspectacular ballhandling we had from NAW is appreciated more in hindsight after a game like this.

Julius quietly had a very good game with an efficient 19/7/6 and zero turnovers.
He was a lamppost defensively for the first 3 quarters but stepped up there a bit in crunch time.

We got an A game offensively from Ant.
It still boggles my mind how he can make so many tough contested jumpers and blow so many easy layups, game after game after game.
He could have had a 50 piece tonight with better finishing.

It will be interesting to see what Portland looks like with a healthy Dame.
They've got some pretty good role players but they won't be able to push for the playoffs until they add more reliable scoring.

I really like that Finch sat Donte for the rest of the game after the 6th turnover.
He really shouldnt have been out there after the 5th one, he was just brutal.
He plays smart and defends and does a lot of little things well, he is just badly badly miscast as a PG.

Rob not playing tonight with Dante imploding and Mike only playing 13 minutes speaks volumes about how much confidence Finch (doesn't) have in him.

winforlose · Post #249 » by **winforlose** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:28 am

Just finished this one on DVR. These refs did not call this one even. They got away with a ton of contact and were flopping a lot. Glad we survived it.

Our PG situation is a PROBLEM! It should never be that hard to bring the ball across half court. Hero mode worked tonight, otherwise we would all be complaining about another classic sticky ball offensive breakdown.

Clark was great at times, and should NOT have been on the floor. DC just cheated off him the whole time and closed down the paint. The Blazers were getting easy buckets most of the game, our easy buckets were exceptions, not the rule.

Our defense was just plain bad. We gave up 35 points in the first quarter and lost each of the first 3 quarters. -2, -2, -3, doesn’t sound bad, but down 7 going into the 4th is not a good thing.

Jaden struggled, Randle started hot then struggled, Rudy struggled, (though he had a good 4th,) DDV was awful. Mike was a non factor. Thankfully Ant had a huge game to pick up the slack.

Ugly win, now learn from it and on to the next.

FrenchMinnyFan · Post #250 » by **FrenchMinnyFan** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:28 am

A good win overall. Considering that 3 of our rotation play really bad ( DDV, Mike, Naz), that Julius was a cone in defense (except at the 4th). TSJ and Clark bring huge defense at the right time.
We probably would have lose this game 1 or 2 year ago. It's nice to see the young guys taking more responsability.

KGdaBom · Post #251 » by **KGdaBom** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:29 am

Wolveswin wrote:
KGdaBom wrote:
Dalvin wrote:As much as I would've wanted Dilly to play. We would've lost this game if he played over Bones. Bones was ok in his stint.
We have one of the best rookies in the NBA in Berringer and he didn't get a single second of PT.

lol come on now. Can’t be taken seriously with statements like that. Unless I missed green font.

You don't think he's one of the best? I think he's the best Rookie Center in the league.

KGdaBom · Post #252 » by **KGdaBom** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:30 am

TimberKat wrote:
Calinks wrote:Clutch time. And Ant throws is away...

True, but Bone shouldn't be standing right behind the baseline. If you aren't in the game, please sit down.

And one could argue his one TO was from a BS charging call. I thought he played wreckless and didn't help.

Post #253 » by **Domejandro** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:38 am

Dalvin wrote:As much as I would've wanted Dilly to play. We would've lost this game if he played over Bones. Bones was ok in his stint.

It's honestly pretty crazy how just being able to dribble the ball up the court (for the most part) made him more playable than others.

winforlose · Post #254 » by **winforlose** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:40 am

Domejandro wrote:
Dalvin wrote:As much as I would've wanted Dilly to play. We would've lost this game if he played over Bones. Bones was ok in his stint.

It's honestly pretty crazy how just being able to dribble the ball up the court (for the most part) made him more playable than others.

This is something to think about going forward. If it is this hard to bring the ball up against pressure now, imagine the playoffs.

younggunsmn · Post #255 » by **younggunsmn** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:44 am

winforlose wrote:
Domejandro wrote:
Dalvin wrote:As much as I would've wanted Dilly to play. We would've lost this game if he played over Bones. Bones was ok in his stint.

It's honestly pretty crazy how just being able to dribble the ball up the court (for the most part) made him more playable than others.

This is something to think about going forward. If it is this hard to bring the ball up against pressure now, imagine the playoffs.

It's almost like the Blazers watched the MN/OKC series and said hmmmmmmmmmm......

Expect a lot more of this from other teams going forward.

winforlose · Post #256 » by **winforlose** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:48 am

The one play I really want to highlight is the one late game where Ant hits the 3 with the Holiday flop. That was a no pass possession. He had another one with the dagger, but that one was about running clock as much as hitting the shot. This is not good offense. If he missed and we lost no one would be praising this. This was a win and that makes me happy, but the details exposed vulnerabilities which scare me.

shrink · Post #257 » by **shrink** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:56 am

Game went pretty much as I expected.

POR was young and energetic and gave us trouble, but we have Ant down the stretch,

winforlose · Post #258 » by **winforlose** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:57 am

shrink wrote:Game went pretty much as I expected.

POR was young and energetic and gave us trouble, but we have Ant down the stretch,

That doesn’t always work in our favor. It did tonight, but no pass shots late in game is a mixed bag.

BlacJacMac · Post #259 » by **BlacJacMac** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 6:25 am

KGdaBom wrote:
Wolveswin wrote:
KGdaBom wrote: We have one of the best rookies in the NBA in Berringer and he didn't get a single second of PT.

lol come on now. Can’t be taken seriously with statements like that. Unless I missed green font.

You don't think he's one of the best? I think he's the best Rookie Center in the league.

I think he has the potential to be the best center from this class. He’s definitely not there yet.

Slim Tubby · Post #260 » by **Slim Tubby** » Thu Oct 23, 2025 6:31 am

winforlose wrote:The one play I really want to highlight is the one late game where Ant hits the 3 with the Holiday flop. That was a no pass possession. He had another one with the dagger, but that one was about running clock as much as hitting the shot. This is not good offense. If he missed and we lost no one would be praising this. This was a win and that makes me happy, but the details exposed vulnerabilities which scare me.

Good grief...this is two (2) consecutive negative posts from you reminiscent of Chicken Little screaming "the sky is falling...the sky is falling".

It's Game 1 of the season on the road against a young, aggressive team that plays an up-tempo style that our current roster will continue to struggle with.

And we won.

We've all acknowledged our concerns at PG and tonight did nothing to alleviate those fears.

And we won.

Naz looked like he was drunk. DDV had more turnovers than the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Conley is the new spokesperson for the Washburn-McCreavy Funeral Home. Dilly is so far down the bench, he'd need a Maintenance Day just getting halfway to the scorer's table.

And we won.

Take a deep breath and spend a little more time focusing on the positives...there were plenty to choose from in tonight's game.

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