All Things 2021-2022 Minnesota Timberwolves In-Season Thread

[kg21]

Yeah, top row. At least we could stand up without worrying about blocking anyone's view. In my mind it felt like the whole place just went silent as everyone held their breath on C-Webs' last ditch 3 pt attempt, then went it clanked...bedlam.

Good times.

I wasn't there, but damn, winter gets long and as you head to the spring, how cool was it to have a game that mattered every other night.

That was awesome and I hope to see it again someday.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I wasn't there, but damn, winter gets long and as you head to the spring, how cool was it to have a game that mattered every other night.

That was awesome and I hope to see it again someday.

Watching KG go against Duncan in the regular season was great.

 

[jamiche]

Yeah, top row. At least we could stand up without worrying about blocking anyone's view. In my mind it felt like the whole place just went silent as everyone held their breath on C-Webs' last ditch 3 pt attempt, then went it clanked...bedlam.

Good times.

I was in the fourth or fifth row in the corner, in line with the basket, and the ball was coming right at me...right at me....right at me. The ball somehow rattled out. (I still don't know how it it didn't drop.) Next thing we knew KG was on the scorer's table and the place was on fire! Good times is right!

 

[jamiche]

Watching KG go against Duncan in the regular season was great.

Duncan always got under KG's skin and won the match ups, at least when KG was with the wolves. I didn't pay attention after he left.

 

[Iceland12]

Howl Wolves!!

At halftime of the Timberwolves' 107-97 victory over the Kings, the Wolves were shooting 39% and a dreadful 11% from three-point range.

That wasn't the most pressing matter to coach Chris Finch, who opted not to show any film of the offense. Instead, he showed some clips of the Wolves' "inexcusable" rebounding.

They weren't going to win if they allowed Sacramento to have more offensive rebounds (13) than the Wolves had defensive boards (12) in the first half.

"If you want to win the game, you're going to rebound," Finch said of his message at halftime. "It's going to come down to that."

Only Finch let them know that in an animated way, according to Anthony Edwards.

"You got 'Finchy' in there yelling," Edwards said. "That's not him, know what I'm saying? When he doin' that, we got to tighten up. He bangin' on the door, we got to tighten up. We can't have 'Finchy' in here acting out of character."

Finch was calmer by the end of the night.

They outrebounded Sacramento in the second half 18-17 and Edwards found his shooting touch in the fourth quarter. The Wolves came to life first in a game that started as a brick-laying contest, but it was an ugly contest the Wolves needed to find a way to win against a team near them in the standings.

They shot 63% in the second half while Edwards had 16 of his 26 points in the fourth to help the Wolves throw a few more rocks in the water than the Kings did. Finch said everything got better once the rebounding improved..

Wolves rally in second half to beat Kings after getting yelled at by coach Chris Finch

Following a sluggish first half, the Wolves woke up and were able to gut out a victory over the Kings.

www.startribune.com

 

[kg21]

Watching KG go against Duncan in the regular season was great.

Put Duncan on the Wolves and KG on the Spurs, and the rings all go to KG

 

[Ope3]

Put Duncan on the Wolves and KG on the Spurs, and the rings all go to KG

Probably so.

Duncan had a much better supporting cast with the Spurs...including the Admiral at the outset, then Ginobli & Parker who are potential HoFamers and several other really good role players. No offense to Flip, but Popovich is also an All Time Top 5 head coach.

 

[stocker08]

Howl Wolves!!

Cool to see. Wright is a really good player. Wish he would have been a Gopher.....

 

[kg21]

Probably so.

Duncan had a much better supporting cast with the Spurs...including the Admiral at the outset, then Ginobli & Parker who are potential HoFamers and several other really good role players. No offense to Flip, but Popovich is also an All Time Top 5 head coach.

Sean Elliot was great, too.

Until Spree and Cassell, who was the best KG played with?

Szerzbiak( I know I probably butchered that)

 

[Ope3]

Sean Elliot was great, too.

Until Spree and Cassell, who was the best KG played with?

Szerzbiak( I know I probably butchered that)

Before them, even though he was young Marbury & Gugliotta and then Chauncy Billups.

Hang on to Billups, coulda, woulda, shoulda...

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Before them, even though he was young Marbury & Gugliotta and then Chauncy Billups.

Hang on to Billups, coulda, woulda, shoulda...

Brandon was a star!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No time for that chump Billups

 

[Iceland12]

Brandon was a star!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No time for that chump Billups

Even for the Wolves that was really f**ked-up. They decided to go with Brandon over Billups. At the time it was a reasonable idea. Then AFTER Billups signed as a Free Agent with Detroit, Brandon said he was worried about injuries and didn't want to play starter minutes with the Wolves! Kicker is Billups then played for Flip in Detroit.

Wolves up 66-53 at the Half over the Spurs.

 

[Iceland12]

Chris Finch has likely been waiting for a game like Wednesday all season.

The coach has been befuddled by Minnesota’s lack of outside shooting through the team’s first 14 games. The Timberwolves were getting relatively open looks from deep by shooters who, over the course of their careers, but they were not falling.

Minnesota entered the night shooting 32.5 percent from deep — 24th best out of 30 teams. Guys like Malik Beasley, D’Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince were all shooting the long ball at a clip well below their career averages.

Finch continued to tout his Blackjack analogy — if you sit at the table long enough, the cards will turn your way. Or, in the case of the shooters, if you continue to let it fly, the shots will fall.

And, Wednesday against San Antonio, they finally fell.

Minnesota shot 48 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range in its 115-90 win over the Spurs at Target Center. The win is the Timberwolves’ second straight, marking their first stretch of consecutive wins since starting the season 2-0.

The lid finally came off the Target Center hoops for a number of the team’s shooters. Malik Beasley went 5 for 10 from deep. Jaden McDaniels went 6 for 8 from the field. D’Angelo Russell went 4 for 11 from 3-point range. Taurean Prince buried three triples before he was ejected for a hit to the head..

Timberwolves find their shooting stroke in win over Spurs

Chris Finch has been waiting for a game like Thursday all season. The coach has been befuddled by Minnesota’s lack of outside shooting through the team’s first 14 games. The Timberwolve…

www.twincities.com

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Chris Finch has likely been waiting for a game like Wednesday all season.

The coach has been befuddled by Minnesota’s lack of outside shooting through the team’s first 14 games. The Timberwolves were getting relatively open looks from deep by shooters who, over the course of their careers, but they were not falling.

Minnesota entered the night shooting 32.5 percent from deep — 24th best out of 30 teams. Guys like Malik Beasley, D’Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince were all shooting the long ball at a clip well below their career averages.

Finch continued to tout his Blackjack analogy — if you sit at the table long enough, the cards will turn your way. Or, in the case of the shooters, if you continue to let it fly, the shots will fall.

And, Wednesday against San Antonio, they finally fell.

Minnesota shot 48 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range in its 115-90 win over the Spurs at Target Center. The win is the Timberwolves’ second straight, marking their first stretch of consecutive wins since starting the season 2-0.

The lid finally came off the Target Center hoops for a number of the team’s shooters. Malik Beasley went 5 for 10 from deep. Jaden McDaniels went 6 for 8 from the field. D’Angelo Russell went 4 for 11 from 3-point range. Taurean Prince buried three triples before he was ejected for a hit to the head..

Timberwolves find their shooting stroke in win over Spurs

Chris Finch has been waiting for a game like Thursday all season. The coach has been befuddled by Minnesota’s lack of outside shooting through the team’s first 14 games. The Timberwolve…

www.twincities.com

But spurs are trash. They looked like the team that was on the back half of a back to back

 

[Iceland12]

But spurs are trash. They looked like the team that was on the back half of a back to back

Don't think the Wolves are in the position to turn down victories.

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Even for the Wolves that was really f**ked-up. They decided to go with Brandon over Billups. At the time it was a reasonable idea. Then AFTER Billups signed as a Free Agent with Detroit, Brandon said he was worried about injuries and didn't want to play starter minutes with the Wolves! Kicker is Billups then played for Flip in Detroit.

Wolves up 66-53 at the Half over the Spurs.

The other what if, and can't blame wolves for this, is Marbury for Ray Allen and Andrew Lang.

Wolves obviously couldnt forecast Marbury being a head case, but if they held onto allen, or drafted nash or kobe, things could have been a lot different

 

[jamiche]

Put Duncan on the Wolves and KG on the Spurs, and the rings all go to KG

Not so sure. Duncan was a better player and KG was way too headstrong to fit into the Spurs culture. KG basically ran the Wolves' franchise when he was here. That would not have flown in SA.

 

[Iceland12]

The other what if, and can't blame wolves for this, is Marbury for Ray Allen and Andrew Lang.

Wolves obviously couldnt forecast Marbury being a head case, but if they held onto allen, or drafted nash or kobe, things could have been a lot different

Indeed.

 

[Iceland12]

Put Duncan on the Wolves and KG on the Spurs, and the rings all go to KG

Not so sure. Duncan was a better player and KG was way too headstrong to fit into the Spurs culture. KG basically ran the Wolves' franchise when he was here. That would not have flown in SA.

Yeah, that's the question isn't it? Robinson, Parker, Elliott, Stephen Jackson, Ginóbili ? Great, great talent went thru the Spurs, but picturing Garnett screaming, throwing tantrums and pushing guys in practice? They'd win for sure, but couldn't see Popovich and those guys putting up with Garnett for too long. Though it would have been quite a ride while it lasted.

Nah, the easiest change "of the past", IMHO at least, would have been to stop Taylor from giving Garnett that dunderheaded $126m contract when Glen was only bidding against himself. This came right after Alonzo Mourning had just signed a deal for $105M and Howard signed for $100.8M.

Don't remember who said it but "Didn't Taylor know there were numbers between 105 and 126!"

Give Garnett $112-113 leaving room to bump Marbury up. Maybe that would have salved Starbury's ego enough to let him stay. Maybe the lack of rancor would have allowed him to stay. Then with the rancor lowered maybe Gugliotta stays. Both of them have said that staying in Minnesota would have been the best for them and their careers. Those 3 guys could have been the core of some very good teams.

But damn. Glen Taylor & Company kept the team in Minnesota, but time and time again their ineptitude kept it a bottom feeder.

​

 

[kg21]

Marbury fu-----g sucked! End of story!

 

[kg21]

Not so sure. Duncan was a better player and KG was way too headstrong to fit into the Spurs culture. KG basically ran the Wolves' franchise when he was here. That would not have flown in SA.

KG would have played just like he did in Boston. Intense as hell, with basically the same numbers as Duncan. Did you see him in Boston with a couple of players around him, or in Minnesota one year with Sam and Spree. If Cassell doesn't go down, you'll never convince me the Wolves wouldn't won it all that year.

 

[Iceland12]

With 1 minute gone in the 4th Quarter it's Minnesota 113 Memphis 71.

That's not a typo either.

Edit: Final Timberwolves 138 Grizzlies 95

Memphis came into game on a 7 game winning streak against the Wolves.

 

[gophersfan]

Minnesota over Memphis by 43 points. 138-95

 

[Iceland12]

If the Timberwolves dreamt their perfect game and plotted it moment by moment, it still might not have compared to the 138-95 drubbing they dealt Saturday to one of their most frustrating foils, the Memphis Grizzlies.

Picture Anthony Edwards smiling and pointing to the crowd after making each of his five first-quarter three-point attempts. Imagine D'Angelo Russell collapsing into the arms of Karl-Anthony Towns after hitting one of his four threes in his best game of the season. Think of Jarred Vanderbilt grabbing almost every offensive rebound and then Towns auditioning for the dunk contest with a reverse slam all alone on a breakaway in the third quarter.

All of that was present at Target Center in a party that began early and never stopped.

For all their early-season shooting struggles, the Wolves were owed a night like this — almost every NBA team has it at some point or another.

The Wolves shot 54% from the field and 49 % from three-point range (58% through three quarters) and led by as many as 45. Their 113-71 lead after the third quarter was the largest lead after three in team history.

Edwards, who had 23 points, got the night going early by hitting his first five threes and getting the crowd on its feet early. His teammates did the rest..

Wolves put it all together in 138-95 rout of Grizzlies

The home team ended its seven-game losing streak against Memphis in resounding fashion.

www.startribune.com

 

[kg21]

3 in a row, and on a roll

I'm pissed at myself as I knew Bolmaro was going to get in and I fell asleep. I see he was 2 for 2 with 4 boards in 7 minutes

 

[jamiche]

Morant looked quite human last night. It helped that Brooks didn't play. He usually kills us. It's strange to see the wolves playing defense and it's strange to see them winning the games they are supposed to win at home.

The next two games will be interesting. If this team is serious about doing something, they shouldn't be distracted about being in NO and should dominate a Pels team that has written off its season. Miami at home will be a challenge, but it's winnable.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Always impressed with the wolves knowledge here - seriously you posters do a great job.

 

[Iceland12]

Timberwolves hammer Pelicans for fourth straight win

More impressive than Minnesota’s convincing 110-96 victory over New Orleans — the Wolves’ fourth straight win, all of which coming by double-digits — was the manner in which it came.

It came from defense, which has been a staple for these early-season Wolves. It came from points off turnovers. It came from second-chance points off the team’s newfound commitment to the offensive glass.

It came from all the little things that good teams do on the nights when shots aren’t falling. That was the case for Minnesota (8-9) on the road Monday. The team shot just 40 percent from the field and 23 percent from deep. D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards combined to shoot just 4 for 21 from the field for 14 points over the first three quarters

That did little to slow down the Wolves’ train of recent success. Minnesota led by 20 points through three quarters.

The Wolves scored 28 points on 23 forced turnovers, scored 26 points on 21 offensive rebounds and held New Orleans to 6-for-32 shooting from 3-point range.

All five Wolves starters scored in double figures.

That’s not to say Minnesota’s recent run of success against less-than-stellar opponents proves the Timberwolves are a good team. But they’ve proven they are, at a minimum, a step above the bad ones..

Timberwolves hammer Pelicans for fourth straight win

No, the Timberwolves didn’t shoot well from the field Monday in New Orleans. And, no, they didn’t let the lowly Pelicans hang around because of it. More impressive than Minnesota’…

www.twincities.com

 

[Iceland12]

The Minnesota Timberwolves play swarming defense.

Entering Monday’s game, they were forcing 17.8 turnovers per game, the most in the NBA. In their two previous matchups against the Pelicans, they harassed New Orleans into 30- and 20-turnover nights.

The Pelicans didn’t do a much better job of protecting the ball in the teams' third matchup. They had 23 giveaways, including 13 in the first half, which the Timberwolves turned into 28 points.

New Orleans fell to Minnesota 110-96 at Smoothie King Center — its seventh loss in nine games at its home arena.

The 3-16 Pelicans have the NBA’s second-worst record. Only the 1-16 Houston Rockets have been worse as the one-quarter mark of the regular season approaches..

The Timberwolves, who are coached by former Pelicans lead assistant Chris Finch, improved to 8-9 and are on the upswing after a volatile start..

Chris Finch-led Timberwolves rout Pelicans, who suffer second straight blowout defeat

The Minnesota Timberwolves play swarming defense.

www.nola.com

 

[jamiche]

I'm boycotting the wolves. This is not the incompetent team we know and love. Until things return to normal, I will not watch pre and post game shows.

Secondly, Balmero played the last 2:45 last night and missed both of his shots. Cut him.