All Things 2023-2024 Minnesota Timberwolves In-Season Thread

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kg21 said:
Towns needs to be traded for someone who can put the ball on the floor and score. Who or how, I have no idea.

We have to work so hard to score. We don't create easy shots. That only gets you so far in the playoffs.

I am a little shocked though how we literally can't stop Dallas. They can get whatever they want.
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The shots Doncic can make are unreal. There were a whole lot of really well guarded buckets that he and Irving made.
 

Gopherwatcher said:
Because the Wolves don't have an offense. There is not direction, or movement or anything. They try to pick and roll, but nothing happens on it. They only do it to get a switch. It's all 1-on-1 basketball.
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Well maybe this series will show them something has to change. Maybe the reporter was right when he asked KAT and ANt is they had lost enough in big moments.
 

Gopherwatcher said:
Because the Wolves don't have an offense. There is not direction, or movement or anything. They try to pick and roll, but nothing happens on it. They only do it to get a switch. It's all 1-on-1 basketball.
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That’s the NBA.
 

bga1 said:
The shots Doncic can make are unreal. There were a whole lot of really well guarded buckets that he and Irving made.
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All series long!

Dallas is shooting 50% for the series and I didn't think anyone could do this to our defense. We have no answers anywhere.
 

Mavs have closers, Wolves do not.

My son and I were at this game. The last 2-3 minutes were as loud as any sporting event I’ve ever been to.

Disappointing finish once again.

Howl Wolves!!
 


Dallas was weak at PF/C. They added Gafford, who is sloppy on offense, but a great rim protector while being above average on catching and finishing on lobs.
PJ Washington is kind of a tweener, but he can score when given the opportunity (his career high is 43 points) and he can rebound and play D.
The Wolves needed a PG. They added Monte Morris, who has been insignificant.
 


GophersInIowa said:
Why don’t they force the ball out of Luka’s hands down the stretch? Letting him go 1 on 1 clearly isn’t working. Not impressed with the coaching this series.
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they were doubling.....he then kicks it to Kyrie for a one on one, to the wing for a 3, or just beats the double. I can't tell you how many times Jaden and Gobert were out on the double and he still dribbles through it or around it.

He owns the wolves no matter what we throw at him.
 

There is no defensive solution on this team for what Dallas does. Doncic and Irving are too skilled.

They need Towns to play offense to his capabilities. He's the biggest reason why this team is losing.

If Towns plays ok or better, then none of this complaining in this thread is happening.
 



TruthSeeker said:
There is no defensive solution on this team for what Dallas does. Doncic and Irving are too skilled.

They need Towns to play offense to his capabilities. He's the biggest reason why this team is losing.

If Towns plays ok or better, then none of this complaining in this thread is happening.
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Exactly, If Towns hits his shots at anywhere close to his average we are up 2-1 in this series at worst.

Luca and Kyrie are unstoppable
 

TruthSeeker said:
There is no defensive solution on this team for what Dallas does. Doncic and Irving are too skilled.

They need Towns to play offense to his capabilities. He's the biggest reason why this team is losing.

If Towns plays ok or better, then none of this complaining in this thread is happening.
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This pretty much sums it up.

But maybe none of this is happening either if Naz is getting KAT's minutes.
 


JimmyJamesMD said:
Towns is killing his trade value. Rudy doesn't seem to be affecting shots or having any real impact out there.

Naz is the teams #4. They need to move on from at least one of Rudy or Towns
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Rudy has still been a positive in the +/- pretty much the entire playoffs until last night. Plus he's the cheaper, shorter contract option at this point, and Naz can do pretty much everything KAT can do. Towns was solid in the playoffs until this series, but it's obvious he's not a #2 on a championship caliber team.

Maybe Dallas is just better than we all thought they were. They were 16-2 down the stretch of the regular season until they sat Luka/Kyrie and lost the final 2 games.
 



JimmyJamesMD said:
Towns is killing his trade value. Rudy doesn't seem to be affecting shots or having any real impact out there.

Naz is the teams #4. They need to move on from at least one of Rudy or Towns
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He really is. Minnesota went with the twin towers concept and it seemed to be working, but this whole series, you have a 7-footer being guarded by a 6-7 PJ Washington and you sit on the perimeter and just jack up 3s? This is when Towns needs post up isolations. He has a 5" height advantage!

And do NOT use Gobert on the pick and roll. He offers nothing. He can't catch or flare for a 3. Use Towns and Edwards on the pick and roll. Your two "best" offensive weapons. Keep Gobert on the opposite block.

Gold Vision said:
That’s the NBA.
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I understand that the pick and roll is the basic offense of every NBA team. The issue I have with how the Wolves are doing it is that Edwards NEVER gets downhill on it. Doncic and Irving are always getting downhill on it. Every single time. Even when Edwards could get downhill, he just goes laterally and it gives the Wolves nothing.

And they HAVE to stop with the drop coverage on Dallas's pick and roll. I'd take my chances with their role players shooting 3's from the wings and corners. It's not working to give Doncic and Irving 5-10 ft floaters or easy lob dunks to Gafford. At least try something different.
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
Towns is killing his trade value. Rudy doesn't seem to be affecting shots or having any real impact out there.

Naz is the teams #4. They need to move on from at least one of Rudy or Towns
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The two bigs experiment led to a cute regular season when NBA players play at 3/4 speed but isn't winning games now. Towns isn't a #2 on a championship team. Rudy's offensive incapabilities mean the Wolves are playing 4 on 5 on the offensive end. How does this team get better? What value do either of these guys have at this point? I don't see much return. Gobert is under contact next season and has a player option for the following so no value in an expiring contract for another season. KAT has three more years and then a player option. Where do the Wolves get a PG and/or a shooter?

I think the optimistic outlook, though, is the fact that in NBA, experience wins and youth doesn't. While there is plenty of veteran experience on this team, it's best player is only 22. Some of these issues might be surmountable with the big game experience in general for players on this team who haven't experienced playoff runs before; and the growth of its young star Ant. JMac and Naz could be lumped in here, too. Edit: Jaden is 23 and Naz 24. There's room for organic growth by 3 young, outstanding contributors.
 
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Using a little pop psychology, Towns doesn't have the F/U arrogance that it takes to win at a championship level. He cares too much about what other people think. That leads to trying too hard which leads to compounding failures. Luka has the F/U arrogance. He snacks on big shots. Kyrie has it. Ant is on his way to getting it. Towns? Nope. There are multiple reasons the wolves are down 3-0. As others have mentioned in one way or another, if Towns hits 5-6 of his open bread and butter 3's, the series looks very different.

I don't want to go knee jerk and call for a trade in the off season because the high returns are a thing of the past due to the new CBA. I think the team needs to look at every possible strategy to boost him mentally. The problem is between his ears.
 

in the NBA, it often just comes down to this:

which team's star players come up bigger in the key moments?

in this series, every single time the answer has been Dallas. Dallas' star players have been better, and their role players have been at least equal to or better than MN's role players.

It feels to me as if the Wolves put so much stake in beating Denver that they either could not regroup mentally for the next series, or they thought that beating Denver somehow guaranteed them a spot in the Finals. it's like a car that stalls and you can't get the engine to start again - it just sits there and sputters.
 

What's too bad is I think the Wolves are a slightly better team with slightly better talent, but they're not going to the Finals.
 

BleedGopher said:
The last 2-3 minutes were as loud as any sporting event I’ve ever been to.
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Pretty sweet times to be a Dallas sports fan. Rangers win the World Series, Mavs about to advance to the NBA finals, and the Stars are in the Stanley Cup semifinals.
 

Gophers1992 said:
I understand wanting to improve, but I guess I’m not in such a hurry to blow up our core after losing 3 games in the WCF that all went down to the last minute.
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Probably fair, but how often does running it back work out for Minnesota teams afer a surprisingly good season? See the 2005 Wolves and 2010 and 2018 Vikings (adding Cousins probably isn't running it back but it still didn't work.)
 



howeda7 said:
Probably fair, but how often does running it back work out for Minnesota teams afer a surprisingly good season? See the 2005 Wolves and 2010 and 2018 Vikings (adding Cousins probably isn't running it back but it still didn't work.)
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The 05 Wolves had an old Cassell and Sprewell, and the 10 Vikings had an old Favre. Keenum had a flukey season in 17.

This Wolves team has a young core with a budding 22 year old superstar who has improved every year. They essentially just ran it back this season and improved significantly from last season.
 

I'm about done with towns and Rudy.

But I'll never forget how well Towns played Jokic. He will always be able to brag about that
 

Like Jokic said after the Wolves finished them in Game 7. "That team was built to beat us." The Wolves aren't built to handle athletic bigs and two dominant guards that Dallas has.

I would NOT blow it up and start over. I've lived too long to see another redo. They need to get better as individual players over the off-season, and then come up with a better offensive scheme to counter what Dallas is doing defensively. They can't afford to add any new pieces, but they also don't have any key pieces that are leaving. They somehow need to find a backup PG, and Finch needs to have a come to Jesus talk with KAT about how he needs to develop his low post game to attack smaller defenders. I'm just not sure KAT has that toughness, mentally and physically, to dominate in the post when he can. I just know he can't beat PJ Washington off the dribble 28 feet from the basket. At least get him the ball at the elbow.

All these down attitudes (me included). and the Wolves have only lost 3 games by a total of 13 points in the Western Conference Finals! If the ref actually calls the total hack job by Irving on McDaniels in game 2 and Jayden makes the 2 FTs, we are only down 2-1 in the series...
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
I'M STILL ALIVE!!!!!

On 2/18, I got Wolves to win the Western Conf at 8-1 odds; and 25-1 to win the Title. Tonight was a big giant damn step!!
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Well, shit.

At the start of the Dallas series, I could have taken a "Cash Out" option with the BetMGM app; on these two $20 tickets, I could have cashed out a total of just a little over $200. But I let it ride!!

Right now, I can Cash Out these two tickets for a total of $16.24

Ouch.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
The 05 Wolves had an old Cassell and Sprewell, and the 10 Vikings had an old Favre. Keenum had a flukey season in 17.

This Wolves team has a young core with a budding 22 year old superstar who has improved every year. They essentially just ran it back this season and improved significantly from last season.
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Conley is 36. I don't think they need to blow it up, but trading Towns and re-tooling might make sense. And I'm not sure the uncertain ownership situation lends itself towards going deep into the luxury tax.
 

howeda7 said:
Conley is 36. I don't think they need to blow it up, but trading Towns and re-tooling might make sense. And I'm not sure the uncertain ownership situation lends itself towards going deep into the luxury tax.
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Conley is their 6th best player at this point. I'm all for trading Towns, but I also won't be surprised if this roster looks mostly the same next season. I'm also fine with that.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Conley is their 6th best player at this point. I'm all for trading Towns, but I also won't be surprised if this roster looks mostly the same next season. I'm also fine with that.
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As I take some time to think about it, you can make a case for staying put. If you replayed these Dallas games, I don't think Luka and Irving are making as many shots as they are.......I also don't think Towns would be shooting like this again.

On the other hand, I just think we are going to have scoring droughts because we don't break people down well. You have to score in the playoffs. We could have easily lost to the Nuggets.

We need to get a scorer off the dribble and you can't without trading a big.
 

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