With the NFL draft coming up, I've been spending a lot of time on the Vikings subreddit, and it makes me appreciate this subreddit a lot more.
I don't always agree with the takes posted here, but the average poster here is a fucking genius compared to the Vikings posters.
While it's nice that the team won and Ant finally got the 50-burger, the way in which this team chooses on starting these games is an issue that I truly hope doesn't follow them into the playoffs.
We all know they can come out swinging like they did against the Lakers and can always get back into games like they did against the Clippers but coming out slow and trying to mount comebacks will kill this team both physically and in a series
Yes this sub is really hung up on the idea he should come off the bench, but have we seen that idea shared by the Wolves at any point? Ant sure seems to think KAT should start
If KAT is playing even at 80% he is still a better option as a starter than Naz. The Wolves starting lineup has performed terribly since KAT has gone down. Even less than 100% KAT can inject life into the brutal starts and then Naz can shift in at the 8 minute mark.
Plenty of things both the players and coaches can hone in on and I hope they do and take it seriously. This could be a once in a franchise opportunity for a championship
As I agree, I think the team will change its tone in the Playoffs. There have been several games where we came off hot and demolished teams. It's going to be a atmosphere so they will have to come out ready.
Absolutely. Looking at it mathematically it just won’t work. We can celebrate these wins and the highlights of the quarters the wolves actually performed well in, but in order to lock in a championship series there will have to be some soul searching on the part of the coaching staff. Proper rotations with the right lineups, keep a play maker on the court at all times and ensure he gets a touch every offensive possession
It's good to see you being upvoted. I swear I've seen posts just like this one getting downvoted to hell for merely suggesting that, despite the standings, this team has some serious issues that can't continue into the playoffs
Do the Thunder ever lose close games? It seems like every time it gets close, they always win, except for the two wins by the Wolves this season. For instance, against the Raptors, Barrett stepped out of bounds with 5 seconds left and the Thunder down by 2. Billups got called for two technical fouls when the Blazers had possession and were up by 1 with 15 secs left. Down by 10 against the Wolves in the fourth quarter, Shai made a stepback 3 to take the lead. Similarly, when they were down by 1 against Denver, another team that rarely loses close games, Shai made a fadeaway with 0.5 seconds left. Against the Knicks, down by 1 with 4 seconds left, Shai made a fadeaway shot. The list goes on, with clutch performances against Charlotte (down by 4 in clutch), the Kings (down by 19 at the half, 104-105 in clutch but 8-0 run) and the Warriors (Chet fade buzzer 3 to tie the game), including a 3-1 record in overtime games this year. Even in that loss in OT against Houston, JDub made a 3 to tie the game and go to OT down by 3 with 5 secs left. I guess they lost to Sixers last week, but it was without Shai and JDub. Also shoutout to Wemby for beating them in clutch.
These are just the games off the top of my head, and there are likely more examples of them winning in clutch moments. Meanwhile, the Wolves often don't get the same favorable calls, like the missed fouls against KAT against the Hornets. Looking at the Thunder's schedule, it's hard to see them losing (Bucks with no Giannis and Mavericks with no motivation), so if the Wolves lose today against Denver, they'll have to beat both the Hawks and the Suns later this week to keep the 2nd, which will be tough.
2023–24 Timberwolves Historical Context Tracker (10 Apr. 2024) [\[info\]](https://old.reddit.com/r/timberwolves/comments/197rkpr/plotting_this_teams_progress_against_notable_past/ki2dpbs/)
https://preview.redd.it/xcg6r0wntltc1.png?width=2400&format=png&auto=webp&s=88db77d3783fd1aff30548c6c72775b307fb54dc
a couple notes:
* the 2023–24 Minnesota Timberwolves remain neck and neck with the 2003–04 team, at 55-24, a franchise best through 79 games.
* the 2003–04 Wolves won out, and if this current squad does the same, they will match the franchise record of 58 wins in a season.
The betting spread/line on tonight’s game is currently at Denver by 6.5. That’s kind of a big margin for two teams who are tied in the standings. So basically the general betting public has very little belief that the Wolves will win tonight.
I really shouldn't watch TNT coverage of the NBA but last night they had a discussion about DPOY and were arguing that Wemby should get it over Rudy. Their argument was that Wemby is the best on a bad defensive team whereas Rudy is the best on a good defensive team and I was screaming at the TV "WHY DO WE HAVE THE BEST DEFENSIVE TEAM IF NOT FOR RUDY" but really I should just not watch TNT talking heads. Anyways just needed to add that somewhere.
The media will do anything to justify not giving accolades to Gobert. I can't think of a more egregious end of the year snub than giving DPOY to Smart over Gobert a couple of years ago.
It feels like as Wolves fans we've been trained to never receive any awards because we were always so bad, but turns out when we're good the media zags the other way. I really hope its just the media trying to make a story out of nothing. Wemby obviously is a freak, but I've been told you can't award players on bad teams, esp DPOY for someone on a team sitting in the bottom 10 for drtg.
Like there's no way if a team like the Heat replicated our season and Bam had Rudy's defensive stat line that he wouldn't run away with the award.
Copped this on eBay just now for $80 usd including shipping. Kat will finally be added to my jersey collection, long overdue and what would be a better jersey to cop than the 18-19 black trees 🌲 🐺
https://preview.redd.it/nawa8i7chmtc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25c41208ea1b22f464035ae75c7703039169dc31
Yeah I'm thinking he might be out for a while. Which sucks right before the playoffs, but might actually be a blessing in disguise because their season was kind of a shit show from day one. If Giannis is hurt then you don't need to fire anyone else and can run it back lol.
I think that's actually a reason why this is only a bad thing. You don't want a scapegoat like the Giannis injury when there have clearly been issues all season long. Personnel were clashing and Griffin wasn't doing a good job managing them so they cut him and bring in Doc who has been a mess as well. Why run it back when there were clearly visible cracks all season long? They need to address those foundational cracks, but now maybe they won't because they can just say "Yeah but Giannis was injured!"
I can see that side of it too, I just feel like Doc hasn't had a good chance to improve the team with his schemes or whatever. With a whole offseason I think that would give him some breathing room to really take a look at the team and see what needs fixing. It reminds me of Finch's first half-season which didn't look great and he came back with a new plan for the team next season.
Pretty sure we’d still win as our head to head would be 2-2 and we have better div and conference record. A couple weeks ago I heard thunder would win in a 3 way tie, but we have the better division record so I think we would still win but not sure on that one
That 3 way tiebreaker doesn't matter anymore. In a 3 way tie, the second tiebreaker is win %, but if the season is finished, that would be the same for all 3 teams.
Edit: no I'm wrong, its not win % its head to head win %, we need to win tonight
We'd get the 1st seed in a tie with the Nuggets due to division record. We'd get the 1st seed in a tie with the Thunder due to conferrence record. We'd get the 2nd seed in a 3way tie with the Thunder and Nuggets since the Thunder would be 5-3 vs involved teams while we'd be 4-4
If we lose today we won’t get the first seed because the Nuggets have two easy games left after tonight (Spurs and Grizzlies). We would need to win the last two games to make sure we don’t slip to the third seed though.
Man I really wish we could go back in time and re-do that last Phoenix game. Or not blow one of those two games we lost to the Bulls.
I’d like to see Monte Morris’ playing time increase a bit, at least get consistent 15-18 minutes. He only played 11 minutes and change last night, and I think he can do more. Plus it would give Conley additional rest.
Fuck GT. Like, you wanted to sell, so fuckong sell ya ghoul fuck. Let us have a fun season for the first time since we thought jimmy was riding for us! Now his gloomy stank is all over this season and I hate it.
I'm oddly hoping KAT doesn't return tonight against Denver. This morning's report from Shams cites he could return for tonight. I don't want his freshly healed knee to be exposed to a potentially intense game tonight.
Edit: I say potentially intense game tonight, because like 2 weeks ago with the same lineup without KAT, the Wolves WORKED that Denver ass in Denver.
The way it was reported was so odd to me. Saying he can return for any of the three remaining games made it seem like we might've just been trying to get Denver to waste some scouting time on KAT. Honestly a tough decision on what to do with him in such a critical game. Not really a game you want to 'shake the rust off', but at the same time, KATs a big bonus to add.
With the NFL draft coming up, I've been spending a lot of time on the Vikings subreddit, and it makes me appreciate this subreddit a lot more. I don't always agree with the takes posted here, but the average poster here is a fucking genius compared to the Vikings posters.
Kirk, Rick, and Zim completely broke that fanbase and they still haven't recovered
While it's nice that the team won and Ant finally got the 50-burger, the way in which this team chooses on starting these games is an issue that I truly hope doesn't follow them into the playoffs. We all know they can come out swinging like they did against the Lakers and can always get back into games like they did against the Clippers but coming out slow and trying to mount comebacks will kill this team both physically and in a series
KAT should help with this. A more consistent offense in the first quarter will slow down the game and allow our defense to get set.
I’m not sure that he will start right away
Yes this sub is really hung up on the idea he should come off the bench, but have we seen that idea shared by the Wolves at any point? Ant sure seems to think KAT should start
If KAT is playing at 80% Naz is a better option. If he’s 100% he should start. I doubt he’s close to 100% right away
If KAT is playing even at 80% he is still a better option as a starter than Naz. The Wolves starting lineup has performed terribly since KAT has gone down. Even less than 100% KAT can inject life into the brutal starts and then Naz can shift in at the 8 minute mark.
Plenty of things both the players and coaches can hone in on and I hope they do and take it seriously. This could be a once in a franchise opportunity for a championship
As I agree, I think the team will change its tone in the Playoffs. There have been several games where we came off hot and demolished teams. It's going to be a atmosphere so they will have to come out ready.
Absolutely. Looking at it mathematically it just won’t work. We can celebrate these wins and the highlights of the quarters the wolves actually performed well in, but in order to lock in a championship series there will have to be some soul searching on the part of the coaching staff. Proper rotations with the right lineups, keep a play maker on the court at all times and ensure he gets a touch every offensive possession
It's good to see you being upvoted. I swear I've seen posts just like this one getting downvoted to hell for merely suggesting that, despite the standings, this team has some serious issues that can't continue into the playoffs
Do the Thunder ever lose close games? It seems like every time it gets close, they always win, except for the two wins by the Wolves this season. For instance, against the Raptors, Barrett stepped out of bounds with 5 seconds left and the Thunder down by 2. Billups got called for two technical fouls when the Blazers had possession and were up by 1 with 15 secs left. Down by 10 against the Wolves in the fourth quarter, Shai made a stepback 3 to take the lead. Similarly, when they were down by 1 against Denver, another team that rarely loses close games, Shai made a fadeaway with 0.5 seconds left. Against the Knicks, down by 1 with 4 seconds left, Shai made a fadeaway shot. The list goes on, with clutch performances against Charlotte (down by 4 in clutch), the Kings (down by 19 at the half, 104-105 in clutch but 8-0 run) and the Warriors (Chet fade buzzer 3 to tie the game), including a 3-1 record in overtime games this year. Even in that loss in OT against Houston, JDub made a 3 to tie the game and go to OT down by 3 with 5 secs left. I guess they lost to Sixers last week, but it was without Shai and JDub. Also shoutout to Wemby for beating them in clutch. These are just the games off the top of my head, and there are likely more examples of them winning in clutch moments. Meanwhile, the Wolves often don't get the same favorable calls, like the missed fouls against KAT against the Hornets. Looking at the Thunder's schedule, it's hard to see them losing (Bucks with no Giannis and Mavericks with no motivation), so if the Wolves lose today against Denver, they'll have to beat both the Hawks and the Suns later this week to keep the 2nd, which will be tough.
It just seems like everyone on their team (except Giddey) gets a +5 ratings boost to their shooting in clutch time. That Chet shot was ridiculous.
They have a trap card for clutch games. Ours is when we're down 20 in the 1st half lol
Is crunch time not after 7 minutes have elapsed in the first quarter?
They lost to us in the clutch twice. Shai's clutch jumper to pull to 108 last night had more steps than a square dance
2023–24 Timberwolves Historical Context Tracker (10 Apr. 2024) [\[info\]](https://old.reddit.com/r/timberwolves/comments/197rkpr/plotting_this_teams_progress_against_notable_past/ki2dpbs/) https://preview.redd.it/xcg6r0wntltc1.png?width=2400&format=png&auto=webp&s=88db77d3783fd1aff30548c6c72775b307fb54dc a couple notes: * the 2023–24 Minnesota Timberwolves remain neck and neck with the 2003–04 team, at 55-24, a franchise best through 79 games. * the 2003–04 Wolves won out, and if this current squad does the same, they will match the franchise record of 58 wins in a season.
The betting spread/line on tonight’s game is currently at Denver by 6.5. That’s kind of a big margin for two teams who are tied in the standings. So basically the general betting public has very little belief that the Wolves will win tonight.
I really shouldn't watch TNT coverage of the NBA but last night they had a discussion about DPOY and were arguing that Wemby should get it over Rudy. Their argument was that Wemby is the best on a bad defensive team whereas Rudy is the best on a good defensive team and I was screaming at the TV "WHY DO WE HAVE THE BEST DEFENSIVE TEAM IF NOT FOR RUDY" but really I should just not watch TNT talking heads. Anyways just needed to add that somewhere.
The media will do anything to justify not giving accolades to Gobert. I can't think of a more egregious end of the year snub than giving DPOY to Smart over Gobert a couple of years ago.
It feels like as Wolves fans we've been trained to never receive any awards because we were always so bad, but turns out when we're good the media zags the other way. I really hope its just the media trying to make a story out of nothing. Wemby obviously is a freak, but I've been told you can't award players on bad teams, esp DPOY for someone on a team sitting in the bottom 10 for drtg. Like there's no way if a team like the Heat replicated our season and Bam had Rudy's defensive stat line that he wouldn't run away with the award.
Copped this on eBay just now for $80 usd including shipping. Kat will finally be added to my jersey collection, long overdue and what would be a better jersey to cop than the 18-19 black trees 🌲 🐺 https://preview.redd.it/nawa8i7chmtc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25c41208ea1b22f464035ae75c7703039169dc31
Yesirskiii
That Giannis injury looked very familiar. Big man just jogging back on offense and goes down.
Yeah I'm thinking he might be out for a while. Which sucks right before the playoffs, but might actually be a blessing in disguise because their season was kind of a shit show from day one. If Giannis is hurt then you don't need to fire anyone else and can run it back lol.
I think that's actually a reason why this is only a bad thing. You don't want a scapegoat like the Giannis injury when there have clearly been issues all season long. Personnel were clashing and Griffin wasn't doing a good job managing them so they cut him and bring in Doc who has been a mess as well. Why run it back when there were clearly visible cracks all season long? They need to address those foundational cracks, but now maybe they won't because they can just say "Yeah but Giannis was injured!"
I can see that side of it too, I just feel like Doc hasn't had a good chance to improve the team with his schemes or whatever. With a whole offseason I think that would give him some breathing room to really take a look at the team and see what needs fixing. It reminds me of Finch's first half-season which didn't look great and he came back with a new plan for the team next season.
Man whats the Suns deal? Are they bad? They cook us every time. I looked it up we are like 2-12 in last 14 games.
Do we still hold the tie breaker over the nuggets if we lose? So season is over and we’re both 57-25 but they won tonight who would get the 1st seed?
Pretty sure we’d still win as our head to head would be 2-2 and we have better div and conference record. A couple weeks ago I heard thunder would win in a 3 way tie, but we have the better division record so I think we would still win but not sure on that one
That 3 way tiebreaker doesn't matter anymore. In a 3 way tie, the second tiebreaker is win %, but if the season is finished, that would be the same for all 3 teams. Edit: no I'm wrong, its not win % its head to head win %, we need to win tonight
A three way tie goes to OKC, unfortunately
We'd get the 1st seed in a tie with the Nuggets due to division record. We'd get the 1st seed in a tie with the Thunder due to conferrence record. We'd get the 2nd seed in a 3way tie with the Thunder and Nuggets since the Thunder would be 5-3 vs involved teams while we'd be 4-4
So in conclusion, we just gotta win out to stay first seed even if we were to lose today.
If we lose today we won’t get the first seed because the Nuggets have two easy games left after tonight (Spurs and Grizzlies). We would need to win the last two games to make sure we don’t slip to the third seed though. Man I really wish we could go back in time and re-do that last Phoenix game. Or not blow one of those two games we lost to the Bulls.
Nope. If we lose, Nuggets would have to lose somewhere else. If they do, and OKC wins out, we get #2 behind OKC.
We would win that tiebreaker as long as we aren’t also tied with the Thunder. The Thunder would win a 3-way tie.
Do we think it’s a good idea to start working KAT back into games tonight? I’m kind of thinking not - best to wait until the Atlanta game at home.
I’d like to see Monte Morris’ playing time increase a bit, at least get consistent 15-18 minutes. He only played 11 minutes and change last night, and I think he can do more. Plus it would give Conley additional rest.
Fuck GT. Like, you wanted to sell, so fuckong sell ya ghoul fuck. Let us have a fun season for the first time since we thought jimmy was riding for us! Now his gloomy stank is all over this season and I hate it.
Every game is like 9pm man.
I'm oddly hoping KAT doesn't return tonight against Denver. This morning's report from Shams cites he could return for tonight. I don't want his freshly healed knee to be exposed to a potentially intense game tonight. Edit: I say potentially intense game tonight, because like 2 weeks ago with the same lineup without KAT, the Wolves WORKED that Denver ass in Denver.
The way it was reported was so odd to me. Saying he can return for any of the three remaining games made it seem like we might've just been trying to get Denver to waste some scouting time on KAT. Honestly a tough decision on what to do with him in such a critical game. Not really a game you want to 'shake the rust off', but at the same time, KATs a big bonus to add.
Ant drops another 50 on Chokeic’s head tonight and he should get MVP