Game 50: Minnesota Timberwolves (31-18) @ Portland Trail Blazers (25-22) - 10:00 PM ET

[shrink]

What happened to Tyus, anyway? Since Tyus came back, he's been invisible. He'd been playing so well?

[life_saver]

We have conceded roughly 120 points per game on an average in all the 5 games Jimmy missed so far...got to fix the defense

[MN7725]

KAT's shot attempts last 3 games

7 in 28 mins
7 in 33 mins
9 in 31 mins


Just odd

(Yes I'm aware of Wolves ORTG for the season, Yes I'm aware Wolves have gone 2-1 without Butler in those games)

[Crazy-Canuck]

KAT's shot attempts last 3 games

7 in 28 mins
7 in 33 mins
9 in 31 mins


Just odd

(Yes I'm aware of Wolves ORTG for the season, Yes I'm aware Wolves have gone 2-1 without Butler in those games)

He and Teague have zero chemistry. They cant run a simple pnr nor a basic post entry pass, so the only time he even looks at kat is when he wants a hand off returned.


We need these 2 to work this out.

[MN7725]

KAT's shot attempts last 3 games

7 in 28 mins
7 in 33 mins
9 in 31 mins


Just odd

(Yes I'm aware of Wolves ORTG for the season, Yes I'm aware Wolves have gone 2-1 without Butler in those games)

He and Teague have zero chemistry. They cant run a simple pnr nor a basic post entry pass, so the only time he even looks at kat is when he wants a hand off returned.


We need these 2 to work this out.

I'm reminded of this pre-season thread, "Offensive distribution, will there be an odd man out?"
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1616234

What I posted then

KAT, I wouldn't be surprised if he averaged less than 20 ppg with something like 13 FGA, 4 FTA

He is simply going to have the ball in his hands less than others, its easier to take away a post player than a perimeter players

It's not like we didn't see KAT have trouble getting touches for like entire quarters when the defensive intensity naturally picks up later in games

There would be a certain amount of force feeding of KAT because Wolves had guys like Rubio, Rush, Bjelica, Dunn, Aldrich that would be so hesitant to shoot.

Replacing them with Teague, JC, Gibson with more minutes for Bazz/Tyus instead of Rush/Dunn will eliminate that

I think Butler and Wiggins will be staggered in lineups quite a bit so they won't be competing for shots on the court at the same time

And it will be a common complaint in media/fans that super efficient KAT isn't getting enough shots while guys like Teague/Wig/JC are taking more shots in a given game

I think that still rings true, just a lot more cooks in the kitchen that have confidence in their own ability to score

Don't see KAT as a better option then themselves

KAT is currently at 20.0 PPG, 13.8 FGA, 4.4 FTA, his 3pt shot has been better than I expected at that time

[FinnTheHuman]

We are pretty mediocre at defending the 3pt line. The way it looked to me, we didn't fail that much in defending it, we were doing our usual stuff, it's just that they were very hot shooting them. Then, in the 4th, when we decided to defend the 3 more aggressively, they just used that to get inside for a lot of easy layups and dunks. That's where we made a mistake, we should've stayed committed to our defensive tendencies, we shouldn't have tried to adjust and defend the 3 more in their face, because you ain't pressuring both the 3 and the paint with defenders like Teague, Crawford, Dieng, Bjelica, and the paint should always be the priority.

Still, this game didn't feel like some of the "wtf are you doing Wolves?!!" losses we had this season, they were just shooting it incredibly well so I don't feel too bad about it.

[minimus]

We need versatile defenders to fix our defense. The only one we have now is Jimmy. Taj is also pretty good against certain matchups. Behind them we have no one to defend on perimeter. MGH can give some solid minutes, but he is a rookie. I hope we can get someone like Deng who knows how to defend and still has some physical tools.

[packforfreedom]

KAT needs more shots. 9 is not acceptable. Also the Blazers were just clicking while we were missing our best player. Too bad we play the Warriors tonight.