Timberwolves(18-19) @ Trailblazers(18-18)

[Grits n Gravy]

what a great win and entertaining as hell game to watch...the wheels completely came off to start the second qtr and took a long time for coaching and player adjustments to get it back on track....going to 3 point guards really helped.

man was stoked to see some swag from DW getting pumped in wallace's face. love looked so much fresher and more under control - great to see him get out of that hoorible slump...we really need to make an effort to get those minutes down a bit.

martell? wow just an incredible game from him...i honestly(and stupidly) expected close to this level of play from him when he got here..a complete game on both ends for him.

great to get back in the hunt, outstanding win...very proud.

[_AIJ_]

Told you the wolves will win if the thread reaches 20+ pages

[lobishome]

Good game and good win. 2/2 on this tour and 0.500 again.

Now we have 4 games at home and after this 7 games on the road. We need 3 wins if we want to be 0.500 after this 7 games. If the team gets 0.500 before the last 17 games (9 home/8 out), we will get the POs.

BTW, the last game is against Denver ... at the Target Center.

[Montenegrin]

I couldnt watch the game.How did Pekovic play defensively?

[eyeteeth]

I couldnt watch the game.How did Pekovic play defensively?

He was good on defense. He was matching up against Lamarcus Aldridge, who I worried might be to fast or mobile, but Pek shut him down. Even the Portland broadcasters were complimentary on this point.

[kmgarnett21]

man was stoked to see some swag from DW getting pumped in wallace's face. love looked so much fresher and more under control - great to see him get out of that hoorible slump...we really need to make an effort to get those minutes down a bit.

I agree. Love's minutes need to be down a bit. Williams has shown that he deserves more minutes than he's gotten in the first half of the season. Give Williams more time on the court. He showed last night that he can play the 3, but put him at the 4 and give Love some rest every now and then.

martell? wow just an incredible game from him...i honestly(and stupidly) expected close to this level of play from him when he got here..a complete game on both ends for him.

Martell was amazing last night. Hopefully he'll start over Wes soon.

Did anyone else notice how when Wes screwed up on defense in the first couple of minutes in the third quarter, that Adelman immediately subbed in Webster for Wes and Wes looked pissed? Hopefully Webster is starting to overtake Wes' role.

[weasel]

Derrick Williams showed me some things too; he decisively beat a premier SF defender off the dribble a few times. He's got a first step and a nice hesitation dribble. If he can start doing that, I might be all turned around on the guy.

It's so odd with him that he is obviously quick enough to play SF offensively, but he's too slow to play it on defense. Maybe it's not a thing where he has to lose weight to play the position, he just needs to learn how to turn that 'attack-mode' on when he is on the other side of the ball.

[Piecake]

Derrick Williams showed me some things too; he decisively beat a premier SF defender off the dribble a few times. He's got a first step and a nice hesitation dribble. If he can start doing that, I might be all turned around on the guy.

It's so odd with him that he is obviously quick enough to play SF offensively, but he's too slow to play it on defense. Maybe it's not a thing where he has to lose weight to play the position, he just needs to learn how to turn that 'attack-mode' on when he is on the other side of the ball.

I think his first step is great, but his lateral quickness is not that great. That is basically why he can play SF on offense and will struggle against most SFs on defense (crash, pierce, melo, etc are players DW can probably guard fine)

[Torcher]

Derrick Williams showed me some things too; he decisively beat a premier SF defender off the dribble a few times. He's got a first step and a nice hesitation dribble. If he can start doing that, I might be all turned around on the guy.

It's so odd with him that he is obviously quick enough to play SF offensively, but he's too slow to play it on defense. Maybe it's not a thing where he has to lose weight to play the position, he just needs to learn how to turn that 'attack-mode' on when he is on the other side of the ball.

Hm, I guess you can say a lion runs quickly when dashing forward after his prey, but slowly moving side-to-side.

[The J Rocka]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDcygbIXqZk&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[Klomp]

Wow, our last win in POR before last night was on my 19th birthday.

[Ambrosius]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDcygbIXqZk&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

That happened the whole match, it was just desperating to see how Portland was abusing with the local factor, and how the reffs were ok with it, and how the f*cking commentators were laughing about Ricky and JJ. I'm so sick about the other teams commentators...

[Piecake]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDcygbIXqZk&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

That happened the whole match, it was just desperating to see how Portland was abusing with the local factor, and how the reffs were ok with it, and how the f*cking commentators were laughing about Ricky and JJ. I'm so sick about the other teams commentators...

What made that tech infinitely worse than it was was that Pryzbilla floppedl like 2-3 times that game as well. Trying to act all tough while being a huge flopper as well? hypocrite

[Foye]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDcygbIXqZk&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

That happened the whole match, it was just desperating to see how Portland was abusing with the local factor, and how the reffs were ok with it, and how the f*cking commentators were laughing about Ricky and JJ. I'm so sick about the other teams commentators...

Honestly, I would've loved to see Pek in and punch Przybilla in his face.

[horaceworthy]

Derrick Williams showed me some things too; he decisively beat a premier SF defender off the dribble a few times. He's got a first step and a nice hesitation dribble. If he can start doing that, I might be all turned around on the guy.

Not just beat him off the bounce, but play bully ball with a tough customer like Wallace as well. Now that his shot looks like it's falling at a better clip it should open up more for him off the bounce. He's got a better handle and more herky jerky wiggle than I thought he would coming out of college.

It seems like guys have to string together 5 or so solid games before Adelman starts giving them the benefit of the doubt minutes wise. Williams has now played solid 4 of the last 5 games, with the one clunker coming the third night of a back-to-back-to-back. It's the first time all season he's gotten 19+ minutes 5 games in a row.

In that stretch he's averaging 23.3 mpg/14.2 ppg/ 5.6 rpg, while shooting 54.5% from the floor, 57.1% from beyond the arc (2.8 attempts per game), and 4.4 FTA/G. If that's indicative of what he can do when given regular minutes, that's a 6th man of the year candidate (or at least it would be if Harden didn't have such a massive head start).

[horaceworthy]

It's so odd with him that he is obviously quick enough to play SF offensively, but he's too slow to play it on defense. Maybe it's not a thing where he has to lose weight to play the position, he just needs to learn how to turn that 'attack-mode' on when he is on the other side of the ball.

I think his first step is great, but his lateral quickness is not that great. That is basically why he can play SF on offense and will struggle against most SFs on defense (crash, pierce, melo, etc are players DW can probably guard fine)

I think it's less about quickness than it is about Williams simply not being all that used to defending the perimeter. I think he'll do an ok job on slashers (with the exception of a LeBron type) that he can back off of, or power types that try to work from the mid-range in, but will struggle against shooters. He's not used to chasing guys around screens and will get sucked towards the paint when he's away from the ball and leave them open because that's what he's used to.