Observations vs Minn

[Gray Mule]

Some of the calls were questionable.  Others, we watched the replay and we could see clearly

where the call went against the Hawks, in error.  One would be bad enough, but several?

Starters were "Dead in the water"  to begin the game.  Bench didn't improve things a lot.

Woke up in second half.  Too late.

[DJlaysitup]

Minny won't shoot like that against us again and we came back and got the lead.  Then a couple turnovers and they kept making shots and the adrenaline sapped out.

At least the team gave the fans a good show instead of just quitting.

 

Next.

[rd79]

Refs may bet in GB for 'Wolves leeding by 30+ at half, Hawks taking the lead in the 4th, but loosing by 10+ with no more that 10 FT for the home team and no ejection"

Jeff got it and tried to ruin it, but it didn't work out...

[Lurker]

Saw exactly what I was afraid with with Bazemore without even watching the second half. He is not going to be able to guard the big wings in the game. He may be a Matthews/Green type but at SG, not SF.

Teague likely is going to get the ban hammer for a game but I don’t think he was trying to be dirty, just trying to foul and got frustrated and threw a punch. Hopefully Schröder is in control on Wednesday.

[DJlaysitup]

I dunno Lurker...I think he can do OK if the guy isn't drilling every shot from outside.  Maybe a learning experience.

Hell, if Wiggins is "on" like that every game nobody can guard him.  I really think that will end up being one of his best games of the season.  Plus, at full force, we can throw more guys at him.  I'm not worried.

[Guest]

We got the lead at 107 and thought we won the game. We stopped running the move the ball offense that got us back in the game and did too much ISO.

[DJlaysitup]

If I were Bud I would make sure there was plenty of coffee and RedBull available next time we play Minny - even with their shooting we could have beat them if we weren't sleepwalking early.

 

[Lurker]

Overall I’m not too concerned but it’s pretty funny that both of the losses that the Hawks have are not ones that I would have thought of before the season. If it was 7-2 I would have thought it came due to splitting the 4 in 5 they wrapped up.

I actually though 11-3 in this early stretch and it’s still possible, 10-4 wouldn’t be bad either but with how it started out it’d be a slight disappointment.

Then it gets real for a couple weeks, as that stretch is really going to tell me a lot.

[capstone21]

Wow we took 7 whole free throws

[nonono]

the calls in the fourth seemed off- somebody made some money

 

 

[benhillboy]

The refs were pathetic but we can usually negate them.  As exquisite as 20 year old (!) Wiggins was tonight (Cavaliers you're some idiots), that 27 year old foreign rookie hit a couple threes that killed our momentum and I'm sure Rubio on fire from the perimeter to start stunned our guys.  That Towns kid is gonna be a player too.  

No shame in losing to this very inspired and much-improved group.  I'm sure Sothron enjoyed it.  This win should fuel them in the West for the next week.  Sam Mitchell analyzed and admired Bud Ball for a year so he was going to have them ready for everything.  He also knew a comeback was inevitable, taking a furious timeout when the lead was cut to a measly 25.

I wasn't surprised at all at the comeback.  More surprised we didn't pull it out.  Let's Go.

RIP Tommy Hanson.  Damn.

[hawkman]

This game should be a lesson in not taking an opponent lightly. No more 'waiting' until the 4th quarter to pull out a win. Minny would've folded early had the Hawks played the way they did during the comeback in the first quarter.

[Guest]

Hopefully this game (finally) lights a fire in the team, especially in Teague (finally, FINALLY).

ETA: Oh and apparently the eggsperts think last night's win over an elite Hawks team means Minnesota is now great.  So when we win we're 'not elite/wait 'n see' but anyone who beats us elevates their status since we're elite.  Interdasting.

[Sothron]

Teague is probably going to be suspended for hitting Belly in the face and not getting whistled for it. It was absolutely blatant.

[HawkItus]

If the Hawks played with half this much intensity every game, we would be as good as the warriors.

[macdaddy]

Here's my observations and to be honest I'm concerned.  And I totally buy in to what Bud is doing and the whole win without a superstar thing but....

- great teams can't lay eggs like that in the first half against inferior opponents.   Sure plenty of teams get blown out on any given night but it's usually because the other team can't miss from three or something.   Frankly we should have been down 50.  Minny started really slow too but we just looked like we didn't care

- we aren't a team that can play from behind.   We only came back because minny is inexperienced and the refs just decided to call nothing.   The refs were horrible but pretty horrible both ways.

- The biggest concern :  in the end minny gave the ball to wiggins and he delivered.   we don't have that option yet.   I'm still a believer in the system but when you get beat by a 20 year old star-in-the-making you really have to look in the mirror and be honest about whether we are elite or not.    Teague lost his cool at the end which can't happen.   Guys were trying to make plays that they aren't capable of making.    The ball should have gone to Sap at the end every time.  He's the only guy we have capable of delivering an iso bucket.

[rd79]

2 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Here's my observations and to be honest I'm concerned.  And I totally buy in to what Bud is doing and the whole win without a superstar thing but....

- great teams can't lay eggs like that in the first half against inferior opponents.   Sure plenty of teams get blown out on any given night but it's usually because the other team can't miss from three or something.   Frankly we should have been down 50.  Minny started really slow too but we just looked like we didn't care

- we aren't a team that can play from behind.   We only came back because minny is inexperienced and the refs just decided to call nothing.   The refs were horrible but pretty horrible both ways.

- The biggest concern :  in the end minny gave the ball to wiggins and he delivered.   we don't have that option yet.   I'm still a believer in the system but when you get beat by a 20 year old star-in-the-making you really have to look in the mirror and be honest about whether we are elite or not.    Teague lost his cool at the end which can't happen.   Guys were trying to make plays that they aren't capable of making.    The ball should have gone to Sap at the end every time.  He's the only guy we have capable of delivering an iso bucket.

Either I wore Hawks-glasses or you watched another game. Minny hit everything 1st half and they clearly had 8 men on the court...

[capstone21]

10 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Here's my observations and to be honest I'm concerned.  And I totally buy in to what Bud is doing and the whole win without a superstar thing but....

- great teams can't lay eggs like that in the first half against inferior opponents.   Sure plenty of teams get blown out on any given night but it's usually because the other team can't miss from three or something.   Frankly we should have been down 50.  Minny started really slow too but we just looked like we didn't care

- we aren't a team that can play from behind.   We only came back because minny is inexperienced and the refs just decided to call nothing.   The refs were horrible but pretty horrible both ways.

- The biggest concern :  in the end minny gave the ball to wiggins and he delivered.   we don't have that option yet.   I'm still a believer in the system but when you get beat by a 20 year old star-in-the-making you really have to look in the mirror and be honest about whether we are elite or not.    Teague lost his cool at the end which can't happen.   Guys were trying to make plays that they aren't capable of making.    The ball should have gone to Sap at the end every time.  He's the only guy we have capable of delivering an iso bucket.

You have valid points but I disagree about not being able to play from behind ... We have played from behind in just about every game ... We needed the 4th quarter to come back.  We have done a great job of not panicking while behind and staying with our system and it has led to our victories.  Last night they did just that but took the foot off the pedal once they got the lead.  coming back from 34 down is pretty amazing and Wiggins got hot and refs helped too

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, rd79 said:

Either I wore Hawks-glasses or you watched another game. Minny hit everything 1st half and they clearly had 8 men on the court...

Gotta agree here.  You had friggin' Rubio hitting step-back long 2's and off-balance jumpers.  Wiggins was on fire from everywhere.  Towns was hitting long 2's.  Friggin LaVine hit a jumper.  They were hitting everything.  Our lackluster effort didn't help but they were uncommonly on target last night.

The refs missed calls on both sides, however, their blatant whistle-swallowing late in the 4th was clearly personal.

[kurupt]

vor 21 Minuten, macdaddy sagte:

Here's my observations and to be honest I'm concerned.  And I totally buy in to what Bud is doing and the whole win without a superstar thing but....

- great teams can't lay eggs like that in the first half against inferior opponents.   Sure plenty of teams get blown out on any given night but it's usually because the other team can't miss from three or something.   Frankly we should have been down 50.  Minny started really slow too but we just looked like we didn't care

- we aren't a team that can play from behind.   We only came back because minny is inexperienced and the refs just decided to call nothing.   The refs were horrible but pretty horrible both ways.

- The biggest concern :  in the end minny gave the ball to wiggins and he delivered.   we don't have that option yet.   I'm still a believer in the system but when you get beat by a 20 year old star-in-the-making you really have to look in the mirror and be honest about whether we are elite or not.    Teague lost his cool at the end which can't happen.   Guys were trying to make plays that they aren't capable of making.    The ball should have gone to Sap at the end every time.  He's the only guy we have capable of delivering an iso bucket.

Oh well, the sky is falling :D

1. They didn't "lay an egg". If you (and others) think any team can just win every game every time, you should check your expectations. Teams have bad games, opponents have great nights and sometimes it happens at the same time. The Hawks didn't play terribble defense, the Wolves just hit everything. The thing that was "bad" about the first half was the offensive execution and too many turnovers. They played well enough to go into the half at 72:60'ish, making the (inevitable) run easier to pull off.

2. The T-Wolves are loaded with talent (Rubio, X, Wiggins, Bjelica, Towns could play together for 5-6 years easily - yikes!). They are just inconsistent and (usually) don't shoot well. If players like Wiggins or LaVine shoot 60% on (difficult) jumpers, there is only so much you can do. The thing is, it won't happen often or over stretches for them. So it was absolutely expected for them to have a drougth in this game and when it came, the Hawks got back into it.

3. Wiggins shot 33% (!!!) from the field so far this season. To make it seem like the difference was "a superstar in the making" for the Wolves and "no one" for the Hawks is oversimplifying it. He shot terrible so far this season, he was bound to have a big game eventually in order to get back to his ~40% from the field for the season. It happened against the Hawks, shit happens :)

How many teams would have even kept playing and fighting in a regular season game to come back after trailing by 34 (and should have won)? To be "concerned" after this game is hyperbolic in my opinion.