All Things 2021-2022 Minnesota Timberwolves In-Season Thread

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Iceland12 said:
Agreed. Just that I think it's all they can really do.

Towns? Needs to be aggressive to be effective. Problem is when he's aggressive fouls get called on him and he goes to sit on the bench. Both the National media and shockingly enough, even the local media have grudgingly admitted that. Without his scoring touch, rebounding and his size, the Wolves are always in trouble.

Yes, he needs to just shut-up and leave the Refs alone. Whining doesn't help. Problem is, not whining doesn't mean he'll start getting honest calls either.

Russell? There was period in February(?) when Russell was getting praised for his defense. On the national level and here(!). That time seems to have passed.

Edwards? He's an above-average defender. A very good one when his shots aren't falling.

Beverly and Prince? Good defenders.

Vanderbilt? Know he's a good rebounder. Honestly can't say either way on his Defense.

Teams get back quickly in the playoffs. Don't think they have the shooters to win a half court game either. Though that's what often happens in the playoffs.

Being a Timberwolf's fan since the first year so I'm conditioned to be pessimistic. Growing up in Minnesota also conditioned to look for the negative in every possible positive moment. Though not the type to scream "I TOLD you so!"

Never been that kind of guy. Know that you and Tikited aren't like that either. Though yeah, that loss to Washington did piss me off.

Right now just gonna focus on that record and hope they can get a few more wins before it's all over.
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It's proven that a core has make the playoffs a few times before becoming successful. Only problem is this team is relatively new with each other and towns hasn't been to the playoffs frequently enough for a guy to have played this many seasons
 



Towns, Beverly and Russell look to be out for tonight's game downtown against the Bulls. Though they still have a chance to go 47-35. Which would tie the record of the '17-'18 Butler led team.

(Edit: Apparently Towns is the only guy on the team who can rebound ;))

NAMEPOSDATESTATUSCOMMENT
Coby WhitePGApr 10OutWhite (toe) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Timberwolves.
DeMar DeRozanSFApr 9Out
Zach LaVineSGApr 9OutLaVine (knee) is out Sunday against the Timberwolves.
Nikola VucevicCApr 9OutVucevic will rest for Sunday's regular-season finale against the Timberwolves.
Matt ThomasSGApr 9OutThomas (lower leg) is out Sunday against the Timberwolves.
Alex CarusoSGApr 9Out
Lonzo BallPGApr 6OutBall (knee) has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2021-22 season, including the playoffs.
 
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Giving up 70 at halftime to this backup team for the Bulls is quite disturbing.

We are playing Ant, Vando, and Beverly. With 3 starters playing, we don't have a prayer of stopping their JV team.

Beverly running his mouth as usual and gets tossed. I don't know, his act just bores me to tears.
 
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I don't know...........but I think we have something in this Bolmaro guy.
 

Got down by 28 at one point. Good 2nd half from the "irregulars" got them within one with 42 seconds left in the game. They ending-up losing to the Bulls 124-120.

Clippers are here Tuesday at 8:30. It's on TNT.

"Our first unit was out there playing not to get hurt," Finch said. "That's always the danger with these types of things."

Patrick Beverley got ejected late in the first half, so the officials made him rest while Finch gave Malik Beasley, Anthony Edwards and Jarred Vanderbilt the second half off anyway and emptied his bench.
The Bulls also ended up not playing most of their most important players, such as DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic..

The Wolves were playing out the string, but they at least put themselves in position to enjoy the night off. Their push to get the No. 6 seed provided some of their most consistent play of the season over the past few months. They were 15-8 after the All-Star break. The Wolves entered the night with the 13th-best defensive efficiency in the NBA, one season after they finished 28th. It marked their highest finish in that metric since 2013.

Their offense was sixth headed into the night, which would mark their highest finish since 2018..


www.startribune.com

Timberwolves lose final regular-season game ahead of play-in game with Clippers

The final game of the regular season meant nothing for the Timberwolves, but because of a welcome change — their postseason plans were already decided.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com
 

This is why you sit your starters, if you can, that last game. Hopefully, they are right about the severity.

DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic suffered a left calf strain and left the team's regular-season finale against the San Antonio Spurs late in the third quarter.

There is initial optimism that it is not a significant injury, a source told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

www.espn.com

Doncic suffers calf strain in regular-season finale

Luka Doncic suffered a left calf strain and left the Mavericks' regular-season finale against the Spurs in the second half on Sunday, but there is initial optimism it is not a significant injury, a source told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 




Good move:

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was signed to a multi-year contract extension Monday after leading the team to the seventh-best record in the NBA's Western Conference and a spot in the play-in tournament.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

The coaching staff was also extended, the team said, a day before the Wolves play host to the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center in a game that will determine the seventh seed for the NBA playoffs.

www.startribune.com

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch gets contract extension

The team announced the deal a day before it has an NBA play-in game at home against the Clippers.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Howl Wolves!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Good move:

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was signed to a multi-year contract extension Monday after leading the team to the seventh-best record in the NBA's Western Conference and a spot in the play-in tournament.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

The coaching staff was also extended, the team said, a day before the Wolves play host to the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center in a game that will determine the seventh seed for the NBA playoffs.

www.startribune.com

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch gets contract extension

The team announced the deal a day before it has an NBA play-in game at home against the Clippers.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Howl Wolves!!
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Was coaching defense written into the extension?
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
Was coaching defense written into the extension?
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Shouldn't be. Finch got that roster to a defensive efficiency that jumped from 28th to 13th. He also got that team to 45 wins, when many were saying that they'd get to 33-40, max.

Finch managed the team that he had been given very well.

Agree that they truly need to get way better on defense and rebounding. Though that's not on Finch. That's on the GM and ownership.
 



Iceland12 said:
Shouldn't be. Finch got that roster to a defensive efficiency that jumped from 28th to 13th. He also got that team to 45 wins, when many were saying that they'd get to 33-40, max.

Finch managed the team that he had been given very well.

Agree that they truly need to get way better on defense and rebounding. Though that's not on Finch. That's on the GM and ownership.
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good post. My post was a bit tounge in cheek. I might have to apologize to Towns and DLO though. The team was pretty bad at defense without them last night.

Naz Reid is not a good post defender. Have to think about trading him if you can get an asset
 

25. The Minnesota Timberwolves might have the best-shooting big man ... ever

After joining Dirk Nowitzki as the two tallest 3-point contest winners, the 6-foot-11 Karl-Anthony Towns declared himself "the greatest big man shooter of all time." No player taller than 6-foot-10 has matched Towns' 39.7% career accuracy with more than 50 3-point attempts, per Stathead.com. Pro Basketball Talk noted he also matches Nowitzki on long 2s. Still, Dirk's edges in foul shooting (88% to 83%) and volume (1,982 career 3s) might give him the nod ... for now.

26. The Wolves' starting five is scary good

The Timberwolves' primary starting five (Patrick Beverley and D'Angelo Russellat guard, Anthony Edwards and Jarred Vanderbilt at forward and Towns at center) is in lofty company as one of just seven lineups leaguewide to outscore opponents by at least 100 points while on the court, per NBA Advanced Stats. It will be interesting to see whether coach Chris Finch leans more heavily on this group in the postseason and if that success carries over.

27. Love the play-in tournament? The Wolves did it before it was cool

You can probably thank Minnesota, along with the Nuggets, for helping demonstrate the viability of the play-in tournament. Back in 2018, the Timberwolves snapped a 13-year playoff drought by beating the Nuggets on the season's final night to claim the eighth seed in front of a national TV audience. Now, Minnesota is headed to the play-in to try to get back in the playoffs for the first time since then.

www.espn.com

NBA playoffs: What you need to know about the 16 teams still standing

The NBA's opening round is here. Here's what you need to know about all 16 teams in the mix, including storylines, stats and stars you can't miss.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 

Any predictions for the play in?

I say wolves lose to Clippers, beat winner of Pels-Spurs, get Suns in first round, get swept.

Really hope wolves win and get the Grizz. Grizz first time in this spot as a 2 seed, think the wolves could give them problems.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
Any predictions for the play in?

I say wolves lose to Clippers, beat winner of Pels-Spurs, get Suns in first round, get swept.

Really hope wolves win and get the Grizz. Grizz first time in this spot as a 2 seed, think the wolves could give them problems.
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Sounds about right. I have zero faith in anything special happening.
 

What's everyone's thoughts on the play-in tournament? I'm assuming it was put in place to keep more teams in the playoff hunt?
 






GophersInIowa said:
What's everyone's thoughts on the play-in tournament? I'm assuming it was put in place to keep more teams in the playoff hunt?
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Really dislike the play-in games. Even more so when the Wolves finish 7th. They made the playoffs for only the 2nd time since 2005. Sort of, dammit.

Play-in games did give cable a handful of games to shows, couple of teams another gate, maybe two, but devalues the regular season.
 
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Iceland12 said:
Aren't the NHL and, if you look at the number of teams that get in from major conferences, Men's March Madness already there?
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The NHL is at 16/30 which is bad, but not as bad as the NBA. College basketball is a different thing. I would hate if they expanded to 96 teams, but the current format is fine.
 

howeda7 said:
The NHL is at 16/30 which is bad, but not as bad as the NBA. College basketball is a different thing. I would hate if they expanded to 96 teams, but the current format is fine.
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When half or more teams get into the playoff, like the NHL, that's bad and certainly does water down the regular season. The only difference between the NBA and the NHL is the play-in games. The NHL started doing it because they needed the extra gate money. Now with a better national TV contract, they'll get more for it too.

March Madness? When 68 teams get a chance to get in, that's watered down. Not compared to the number of possible teams, but by conference.

When 9 teams from a 14 team conference get in? That waters down the regular season. When more than half the teams from the Big East and half the teams from the Big 12 get in, that waters down the regular season.

When teams that don't win half or more of their conference games get in? That waters down the regular season.

We don't care 'cuz we enjoy March Madness. Hope they leave it alone. But like the NHL and NBA, it has cheapened the regular season and the conference schedule.
 
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