All Things 2023-2024 Minnesota Timberwolves In-Season Thread

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kg21 said:
I don't know. That's one good game after 3 pathetic ones. It reminds of McDaniels. Can we ever get some day in and day out consistency.
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By no means does last night make up for those 3 games, but for this team to take the next step, it needs to be done with Karl, not without.
 

Gophers1992 said:
He deserves all the criticism he has gotten for his play in the first 3 games, but I don't know how someone can watch last night's game and think that the key to making the next step is trading KAT.
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Agreed. At least all the "just keep blowing everything up" talk has died down.They don't win 58 games without him and he did play 62 games. Or get through the 1st two rounds of the playoffs.

Towns has heavily toned down the whining about calls, both the ones he commits, and the ones that aren't called against him.

Tough to do because while most of the calls against him are correct he barely gets any calls on all the fouls committed against him. Give Towns the calls that Embid, Luka or LeBron get? He'd quit complaining completely, but it's not gonna happen.
 


Gophers1992 said:
He deserves all the criticism he has gotten for his play in the first 3 games, but I don't know how someone can watch last night's game and think that the key to making the next step is trading KAT.
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I don't think there is any chance of trading Kat, but your argument makes the case to trade him more than keep him. 3 bad games or one good game?
 



tikited said:
I don't think there is any chance of trading Kat, but your argument makes the case to trade him more than keep him. 3 bad games or one good game?
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What I'm saying is I don't think those 3 bad games are reflective of him as a player. I'm not excusing the performances, but I don't think he will play that poorly on a regular basis. If he did, who would even trade for him?
 

Gophers1992 said:
What I'm saying is I don't think those 3 bad games are reflective of him as a player. I'm not excusing the performances, but I don't think he will play that poorly on a regular basis. If he did, who would even trade for him?
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It was the wording for sure. I run the whole thing back for another year (minus the few expiring salaries). Rumor is that the Knicks would love Towns.
 




Iceland12 said:
Agreed. At least all the "just keep blowing everything up" talk has died down.They don't win 58 games without him and he did play 62 games. Or get through the 1st two rounds of the playoffs.

Towns has heavily toned down the whining about calls, both the ones he commits, and the ones that aren't called against him.

Tough to do because while most of the calls against him are correct he barely gets any calls on all the fouls committed against him. Give Towns the calls that Embid, Luka or LeBron get? He'd quit complaining completely, but it's not gonna happen.
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Trading one player is not blowing everything up.
 

Gophers1992 said:
He deserves all the criticism he has gotten for his play in the first 3 games, but I don't know how someone can watch last night's game and think that the key to making the next step is trading KAT.
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Because when Naz plays KATs minutes he's just as good and significantly cheaper/younger. If you can move KAT and his salary for a combo guard who can score to play next to Ant, it's a no brainer.

KAT is the key to the Wolves right now because he's going to get his minutes. If he does nothing with those minutes, like the first 3 games, the Wolves are going to lose.

Even as good as KAT was offensively last night, he still showed that he has the brain of a child with all of the dumb mistakes/fouls he keeps making.

Unlike Ant, these aren't 'being young' mistakes. He'll be 29 and in his 10th season next year. He is what he is at this point, plus he struggles to stay healthy.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Because when Naz plays KATs minutes he's just as good and significantly cheaper/younger. If you can move KAT and his salary for a combo guard who can score to play next to Ant, it's a no brainer.

KAT is the key to the Wolves right now because he's going to get his minutes. If he does nothing with those minutes, like the first 3 games, the Wolves are going to lose.

Even as good as KAT was offensively last night, he still showed that he has the brain of a child with all of the dumb mistakes/fouls he keeps making.

Unlike Ant, these aren't 'being young' mistakes. He'll be 29 and in his 10th season next year. He is what he is at this point, plus he struggles to stay healthy.
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My hesitation is can Naz replicate KAT's production over more minutes? Plus that hurts our depth up front obviously. I'm not 100% opposed to getting a scoring guard in exchange for KAT if such an option exists, I just think we're setting ourselves up for disappointment if we think Naz can handle that workload.
 

Gophers1992 said:
My hesitation is can Naz replicate KAT's production over more minutes? Plus that hurts our depth up front obviously. I'm not 100% opposed to getting a scoring guard in exchange for KAT if such an option exists, I just think we're setting ourselves up for disappointment if we think Naz can handle that workload.
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My concern is Conley is turning 37. We have to look at this position. Conley would be great coming off the bench next year and maybe the following year. Keep his legs fresh, etc.

What do we do there outside of trading of someone? The alternative is not on the roster, and we draft too late.
 



I'm just glad it isn't over. This has been fun, and the fun continues, at least for a bit. It's nice to have meaningful basketball to watch!

I would not put it past this team to pull off the historic series comeback. It's still way uphill, but two out of the last three are at home. Like in that Star Trek episode, you just kill one Klingon at a time, and the further you get, the more your odds improve.

I don't mind admitting being troubled about what looks like clear officiating bias against the Wolves. It pretty much looks exactly the way it would look if what Tim Donaghy has been saying is true. A reasonable and objective person would look at what's going on and question it. A couple of those late calls: this series could be 3-1 the other way right now. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: as a gymnastics dad, my evaluation is that gymnastics judging is way more objective and reliable than basketball officiating.
 

Gophers1992 said:
My hesitation is can Naz replicate KAT's production over more minutes? Plus that hurts our depth up front obviously. I'm not 100% opposed to getting a scoring guard in exchange for KAT if such an option exists, I just think we're setting ourselves up for disappointment if we think Naz can handle that workload.
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He can't. At least not now. We've seen what happens when he has to start or has to play a lot of minutes against the other teams starting Centers. It hasn't been pretty. As you mentioned when he plays too many minutes that hasn't worked for him either.

Naz does well when he gets to play against the other team's bench players or when defenses lay off him. Make him a starter and those things won't happen often enough.

Maybe he'll get better with age. He's only 24. Hopefully he will.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'm just glad it isn't over. This has been fun, and the fun continues, at least for a bit. It's nice to have meaningful basketball to watch!

I would not put it past this team to pull off the historic series comeback. It's still way uphill, but two out of the last three are at home. Like in that Star Trek episode, you just kill one Klingon at a time, and the further you get, the more your odds improve.

I don't mind admitting being troubled about what looks like clear officiating bias against the Wolves. It pretty much looks exactly the way it would look if what Tim Donaghy has been saying is true. A reasonable and objective person would look at what's going on and question it. A couple of those late calls: this series could be 3-1 the other way right now. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: as a gymnastics dad, my evaluation is that gymnastics judging is way more objective and reliable than basketball officiating.
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We're all obviously frustrated with this series because it feels like we could be up 3-1, but when it's over and we take a step back, we have to appreciate that not only did we make a hell of a run to get here, but we got some very competitive games against Dallas, and didn't just lay down and get our asses kicked.
 

kg21 said:
My concern is Conley is turning 37. We have to look at this position. Conley would be great coming off the bench next year and maybe the following year. Keep his legs fresh, etc.

What do we do there outside of trading of someone? The alternative is not on the roster, and we draft too late.
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A very reasonable concern for sure.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'm just glad it isn't over. This has been fun, and the fun continues, at least for a bit. It's nice to have meaningful basketball to watch!

I would not put it past this team to pull off the historic series comeback. It's still way uphill, but two out of the last three are at home. Like in that Star Trek episode, you just kill one Klingon at a time, and the further you get, the more your odds improve.

I don't mind admitting being troubled about what looks like clear officiating bias against the Wolves. It pretty much looks exactly the way it would look if what Tim Donaghy has been saying is true. A reasonable and objective person would look at what's going on and question it. A couple of those late calls: this series could be 3-1 the other way right now. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: as a gymnastics dad, my evaluation is that gymnastics judging is way more objective and reliable than basketball officiating.
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A lot of good points there.

Last night's call that went against Town for his 6th foul? Basketball guy on KFAN this morning said that on the NBA's video instructing players & officials on what is now an offensive foul, they use that exact scenario.

Defender goes straight up to contest the shot and the shooter jumps into him? That's suppose to be a foul on the shooter. Last night they called it on Towns not Luka.
 

Border Gopher said:
I love your optimism, but there's no way Luka and Kyrie are going to be on the wrong side of history on this one
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If we win game 5, all the pressure switches to them in game 6 - that’s a must win for them and we’re still playing with 🏠 💴 .

No one, outside Big Perk, had us winning the Denver series when we were down 3-2. So this team has irrational confidence and someone has to be the first to comeback from 3 - 🍩, so it might as well be US.
 

kg21 said:
My concern is Conley is turning 37. We have to look at this position. Conley would be great coming off the bench next year and maybe the following year. Keep his legs fresh, etc.

What do we do there outside of trading of someone? The alternative is not on the roster, and we draft too late.
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Wolves PG is a lot like Vikings QB. They've filled the hole with really good veterans at some points, but it's largely been a revolving door, starting with Pooh Richardson instead of Tim Hardaway.
 

Wally said:
He has played the best defense on Luca by far.

They both go the same speed
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He knows how to play the game; KAT and Ant were gushing about him in the post game presser. The way he set up KAT’s corner three, was a thing of beauty.
 

kg21 said:
Trading one player is not blowing everything up.
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That's what you thought?

No it's not. Odd you made that connection. Have you already forgotten all the talk during the season that if they don't "win it all we need to blow it all up and start over"?
 

Iceland12 said:
He can't. At least not now. We've seen what happens when he has to start or has to play a lot of minutes against the other teams starting Centers. It hasn't been pretty. As you mentioned when he plays too many minutes that hasn't worked for him either.

Naz does well when he gets to play against the other team's bench players or when defenses lay off him. Make him a starter and those things won't happen often enough.

Maybe he'll get better with age. He's only 24. Hopefully he will.
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It hasn’t been pretty? What are you talking about?

The Wolves had a better record without KAT than with him this season. How quickly you have forgotten.
 


Iceland12 said:
A lot of good points there.

Last night's call that went against Town for his 6th foul? Basketball guy on KFAN this morning said that on the NBA's video instructing players & officials on what is now an offensive foul, they use that exact scenario.

Defender goes straight up to contest the shot and the shooter jumps into him? That's suppose to be a foul on the shooter. Last night they called it on Towns not Luka.
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I think the refs are supposed to judge whether the shooter lunged forward in an "unnatural way" versus the defender jumping into his space. I do think that both occurred on the play, and I don't know what the officials are told to do in that kind of case. Although I thought it was one of the least egregious calls of the night, it WAS a tough way for KAT to foul out.
 

Gophers1992 said:
By no means does last night make up for those 3 games, but for this team to take the next step, it needs to be done with Karl, not without.
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Gophers1992 said:
My hesitation is can Naz replicate KAT's production over more minutes? Plus that hurts our depth up front obviously. I'm not 100% opposed to getting a scoring guard in exchange for KAT if such an option exists, I just think we're setting ourselves up for disappointment if we think Naz can handle that workload.
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Spot on posts. Some folks on here wanna trade everything and anything - maybe they really own a ♟️ shop?

You don’t need three, but you definitely need two All Star/All NBA players and we have that with Ant and KAT. NAZ is nice as heck, but he’s a solid level below that tier.

You’ll also unlikely get an equivalent talent of KAT’s stature back in a trade. Thinking/Wishing for NAZ to fill KAT’s spot seems far fetched to me and based on whimsy.

And as you correctly noted it messes with our frontline depth, which is one of our competitive advantages.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I think the refs are supposed to judge whether the shooter lunged forward in an "unnatural way" versus the defender jumping into his space. I do think that both occurred on the play, and I don't know what the officials are told to do in that kind of case. Although I thought it was one of the least egregious calls of the night, it WAS a tough way for KAT to foul out.
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Check post #3540. Luka lunge forward was as unnatural as it comes.
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
It hasn’t been pretty? What are you talking about?

The Wolves had a better record without KAT than with him this season. How quickly you have forgotten.
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Seem to remember that you were gonna tell us the difference in Reid's performance against starters as opposed to subs.

Notice you forgotten about that. Or did you actually look it up and decided not to use it because it didn't support your position? Taking you off ignore is always a mistake.:drink:

Oh and you were also gonna give us a list of players that the Wolves could trade Towns for where the salaries would match-up. Got that completed yet?

Taking you off the ignore list was a bad idea.
 
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Iceland12 said:
That's what you thought?

No it's not. Odd you made that connection. Have you already forgotten all the talk during the season that if they don't "win it all we need to blow it all up and start over"?
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Show me that please.

Thanks
 

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