NBA PLAY-IN Week - Find yourself someone who loves you

[Iceman!]

Any reporter that try’s to defend doc still is just reaching, either they’re friends with him or been with him for the 08 title man is straight up trash rn.

Bucks want to go for the chip and passed on nurse with that experience for griffin who lasted half a season and now doc who can’t seem to figure out how to beat lesser teams.

Going to be hilarious if he can not even get that team to the ECF minimum with how open the East is outside of Boston.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

it is a fair and just assessment.

Question, is the coach the right person for the job/

Matthew Nicks might be available?

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

Vince Carter being inducted into the HoF. I remember when a former poster suggested he should be inducted on his dunking ability alone. Simpler times peternorth Son of Skeletor stewie griffen

 

[Memphis]

Tbh mate, the 'youth' excuse for us has a shelf-life that has expired.

We have vets on our team. And that's not including Ingram, who's in his 8th season, and Zion who is his 5th, even though they didn't play today. In total this team has pretty much had a full three seasons of playing together, together with the coaching group.

We're as deep as any team in the league. We've got bucket getters. We've got defenders. But we don't lose on talent, we lose on mentality and poor execution. That's mostly a coaching thing.

It's mind boggling that the coaching staff can see us resort to slow iso-ball in the clutch minutes game-after-game, season-after-season and not do anything about it. If it was Pop or Phil Jackson or someone on the sidelines, do you think they'd let that mistake be made over and over again? Not on your life, they'd call a timeout, bench the offending parties. We don't do that.

We were in 4th spot in the conference last week with a six game home-stand to come. We proceeded to drop five of those six games. Granted they weren't easy games for the most part, but when you have an opportunity to do something, you don't lose a slew of home games at the business end of the season. The Suns, Lakers, Dubs, Clips and Mavs have all played hard, and played well in the last week. That's what playoff teams do. We, on the other hand, went to water.

The reality is that you only get so many bites at the apple, doubly so if you're a small market team with less margin for error. Our team's going to become more and more expensive as our younger guys anticipate bigger paydays. We'll be lucky to have a roster this deep or talented again for a long time. And still we continue to make the same mistakes, it's just infuriating.

Coaching for sure would've been my second opinion at the struggles.

I still think the Pels could reach the ECF and make things tough for anyone in the west.

You're very right about the margin for error for small market teams.

 

[Memphis]

Going to be hilarious if he can not even get that team to the ECF minimum with how open the East is outside of Boston.

Be even more hilarious when they bring him back for the next season.

 

[Memphis]

it is a fair and just assessment.

Question, is the coach the right person for the job/

No.

 

[magpiemaniac44]

Who are favourites to meet Boston in the ECF now? Still the Bucks?

Other than Boston, the rest of the East is wide open for a team to make a run

 

[peternorth]

Vince Carter being inducted into the HoF. I remember when a former poster suggested he should be inducted on his dunking ability alone. Simpler times peternorth Son of Skeletor stewie griffen

It was the best of times when a 15 foot jump shot was staple.

 

[Memphis]

Who are favourites to meet Boston in the ECF now? Still the Bucks?

Other than Boston, the rest of the East is wide open for a team to make a run

The heat still concerns me.

Other than that should be a breeze.

But knowing us we'll find a way to muck it up.

 

[Son of Skeletor]

it is a fair and just assessment.

Question, is the coach the right person for the job/

It's a good question.

We brought in James Borrego as associate head coach to improve the offense this season, and it has worked, to an extent. We do move the ball around during the course of a game, we do run pick and roll, flares, drag screens and flashes to the post. We do take more threes. Zion and Ingram are both averaging over five assists per game. So we CAN do it.

However when the game gets tight in the fourth quarter, we freeze up. A lot of the time we just dribble on the perimeter, we don't even get into our sets until there's 8 to 10 seconds left on the shot clock. It almost always ends up in a horrible late shot or even a shot clock violation, which happened again yesterday. In footy or soccer parlance, it's almost as if we decide to stop attacking and 'defend the lead', only that tactic or mindset can never work in basketball.

Part of it's on the players, they know how to play because they do it for most of the game, most games. But they melt under pressure, and that's contagious. Our vets in particular have to be smarter and own those moments.

On the other hand, this should all have been addressed in January by the coaches. We've been throwing away winnable games and huge leads all season, so this isn't a new thing that has suddenly come up. It's inexcusable that we're now in April, in huge games with playoff implications, and we still appear like we're in pre-season mode. No urgency, no steps taken to rectify the problem.

Our whole fanbase knows it, the Pels beat writers allude to it frequently. So it's not a secret. I doubt Borrego's influence is suddenly invalid in fourth quarters, so the players aren't following the program there. In that case, it's up to Willie Green to do something about it. Yell at them to get into their sets quicker. Yank anyone who reverts to iso-ball. Call a time out and make it crystal clear that there's a system, and that it's non-negotiable. But he, like the players, often seems to be like a deer in the headlights.

We've done a lot right in the last three years, brought a lot of good people into the organisation, but we're never going to progress if that's the end-goal. If we don't start thinking bigger and expecting better, we'll never be more than likeable underdog.

 

[fidstar]

Most random 50 in NBA history.

 

[Nicho50]

The heat still concerns me.

Other than that should be a breeze.

But knowing us we'll find a way to muck it up.

If we had a fit Randle I think we would have given it a real shake to at least square off against Boston but not to be.

You could argue that the Bucks Knicks Magic Heat Pacers 76ers and Cavs are all pretty much equal quality at the moment now and you could shuffle that order around as many times as you want and it doesn’t mean a thing.

 

[DT_35]

Houston lol. Gonna be plenty of FT practice during the week. Diabolical

 

[mumblingpie]

Exum you freak

 

[mumblingpie]

Pay the boy and pay him well

 

[peternorth]

And just like that, Houston are eliminated from playoff contention.

 

[Gak Attack]

I think that's the 3rd or 4th time this season we've elected not to foul and paid the price. Ime is a massive upgrade on Silas but has some questionable in game coaching at times.

 

[Memphis]

I think that's the 3rd or 4th time this season we've elected not to foul and paid the price. Ime is a massive upgrade on Silas but has some questionable in game coaching at times.

His in game adjustments are the only questionable part other than that he’s a damn good coach.

Not afraid to call out players and let them know their faults in game which is what you need, you’re still a young team he’ll need to adjust to that as he went from a championship contending team to a rebuilding team.

 

[Memphis]

Also how tf did the cavs let that one slip away.

 

[DT_35]

LOL AD is either the softest pr*ck on the face of the earth, Lakers really don’t want Denver #1 seed so they have to face them R1 OR Vegas made the call because everyone was on AD overs.

 

[nahnah]

Also how tf did the cavs let that one slip away.

Post all star break every year

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

It's a good question.

We brought in James Borrego as associate head coach to improve the offense this season, and it has worked, to an extent. We do move the ball around during the course of a game, we do run pick and roll, flares, drag screens and flashes to the post. We do take more threes. Zion and Ingram are both averaging over five assists per game. So we CAN do it.

However when the game gets tight in the fourth quarter, we freeze up. A lot of the time we just dribble on the perimeter, we don't even get into our sets until there's 8 to 10 seconds left on the shot clock. It almost always ends up in a horrible late shot or even a shot clock violation, which happened again yesterday. In footy or soccer parlance, it's almost as if we decide to stop attacking and 'defend the lead', only that tactic or mindset can never work in basketball.

Part of it's on the players, they know how to play because they do it for most of the game, most games. But they melt under pressure, and that's contagious. Our vets in particular have to be smarter and own those moments.

On the other hand, this should all have been addressed in January by the coaches. We've been throwing away winnable games and huge leads all season, so this isn't a new thing that has suddenly come up. It's inexcusable that we're now in April, in huge games with playoff implications, and we still appear like we're in pre-season mode. No urgency, no steps taken to rectify the problem.

Our whole fanbase knows it, the Pels beat writers allude to it frequently. So it's not a secret. I doubt Borrego's influence is suddenly invalid in fourth quarters, so the players aren't following the program there. In that case, it's up to Willie Green to do something about it. Yell at them to get into their sets quicker. Yank anyone who reverts to iso-ball. Call a time out and make it crystal clear that there's a system, and that it's non-negotiable. But he, like the players, often seems to be like a deer in the headlights.

We've done a lot right in the last three years, brought a lot of good people into the organisation, but we're never going to progress if that's the end-goal. If we don't start thinking bigger and expecting better, we'll never be more than likeable underdog.

It's not often I get to point to the Wolves as an example for being optimistic, but...

This is a perfect description of us last season. We couldn't hold leads, and as soon as things threatened to get close (read: within 20) in the second half, the offence completely froze. Sometimes too many guys tried to play iso ball, but more often, there was just aimless dribbling on the perimeter with no desire to create a shot for themselves or others until late in the shot clock, when we would throw up a hail Mary that would preclude any kind of transition defence. Three guesses how that went about 98% of the time?

Last season, many (including myself) called for various levels of wholesale change for the same reason you describe here: it remained an issue for the whole season with no clear improvement. Without massive changes, it seemed impossible that we could turn things around. My reflection in hindsight, though, is that this was predominantly a personnel issue stemming from a lack of players that wanted the ball in their hands. Ant and KAT did, but only to be the hero. There weren't enough guys willing to make the extra pass, nor were there enough guys that could create a shot when the opposition had the momentum. This has changed drastically this season, though, with a little bit more maturity, combined with an astute trade (Monte Morris), and more involvement of energy guys like NAW in the ball handling/offence.

I don't point to us as a completely rehabilitated entity. This still happens, and the question mark over how consistently capable our offence will prove in the playoffs remains a real worry for most Wolves fans. Ultimately, though, we have looked far more comfortable far more consistently this season, without wholesale personnel, systemic (not on offence, at least) or coaching changes.

 

[Son of Skeletor]

It's not often I get to point to the Wolves as an example for being optimistic, but...

This is a perfect description of us last season. We couldn't hold leads, and as soon as things threatened to get close (read: within 20) in the second half, the offence completely froze. Sometimes too many guys tried to play iso ball, but more often, there was just aimless dribbling on the perimeter with no desire to create a shot for themselves or others until late in the shot clock, when we would throw up a hail Mary that would preclude any kind of transition defence. Three guesses how that went about 98% of the time?

Last season, many (including myself) called for various levels of wholesale change for the same reason you describe here: it remained an issue for the whole season with no clear improvement. Without massive changes, it seemed impossible that we could turn things around. My reflection in hindsight, though, is that this was predominantly a personnel issue stemming from a lack of players that wanted the ball in their hands. Ant and KAT did, but only to be the hero. There weren't enough guys willing to make the extra pass, nor were there enough guys that could create a shot when the opposition had the momentum. This has changed drastically this season, though, with a little bit more maturity, combined with an astute trade (Monte Morris), and more involvement of energy guys like NAW in the ball handling/offence.

I don't point to us as a completely rehabilitated entity. This still happens, and the question mark over how consistently capable our offence will prove in the playoffs remains a real worry for most Wolves fans. Ultimately, though, we have looked far more comfortable far more consistently this season, without wholesale personnel, systemic (not on offence, at least) or coaching changes.

I was reading something recently where Finch (I think?) attributed the uptick back to the trade for Conley last season, particularly with regard to utilising Gobert better. Conley knew how and where to get him the ball so that he was an offensive threat rather than liability.

Ant and KAT are a pretty valid comparison for Ingram and Zion, in terms of age and not knowing quite where they sit at producing when the stakes are highest. It'll be interesting to see how they fare in the next few weeks.

The biggest mystery with us is that we don't struggle in any one area offensively, or defensively for that matter. But offensively, we rate 6th for 3Pt%, even though we don't take a ton, and our assist/TO rate is decent. So it's not a spacing problem. And unlike you guys last year, we're not really fitting together any new pieces into the team. It has been long remarked that we lack a true point guard, unfortunately we don't really have the avenue to land a Conley, even if there was one available.

I actually wanted Monte Morris as a trade candidate for us last off-season, given how low his cost was. Just someone who can make solid decisions and knock down the open jumper when it's his turn. If I had to guess we'll have to jettison some of our copious wing depth this coming offseason and add another guard. Unfortunately Dyson Daniels is more the former and less the latter at present.

You may be right and it's mostly a matter of freezing up in big moments. It's crazy how little we seem to do about it or learn from it though. At the very least, since milking the shot clock doesn't work, attack more, get into the sets quicker. It won't make the shots go in, but at the very least there's a better chance of a better shot than a Hail Mary.

 

[Son of Skeletor]

Pels Quarter by Quarter breakdown.

Ist Qtr - +11.4 (ranked 3rd)

2nd Qtr- + 9.6 (ranked 2nd)

3rd Qtr - - 0.7 (ranked 20th)

4th Qtr - -1.8 (ranked 24th)


Yep.

Incidentally the Wolves are ranked 2nd behind Boston for fourth quarter net differential this season, Dannnnnnnnnn - not even Glen Taylor can take that away from you.

 

[Nicho50]

Missed yesterdays game as was catching up on Wrestlemania but bloody impressive win by the Knicks against the Bucks.

I know I am biased but I said around January when we were on that 10 game win streak with Randle in we were the second best in the east. He is a huge loss because now we are in that pack of 8 where nothing really separates them. We don’t have a power player with the loss of Randle and a lot falls on Brunson. You stop him scoring more than 30 and it’s tough to win. As good as Donte or McBride have been in scoring they really on 3 point shooting to often.

It’s going to be one of those what if seasons. Can see us either getting bundled out first round by the Magic or Pacers etc or going on a tear and making it to Boston.