I would concur that LMA is probably the best overall two-way young big ma in the league. He's definitely legit, and I love how athletic he is. Plus he never complains, which is refreshing.

We are 6 point underdogs.

Blazers 96
Wolves 91

#1: 26

#2: -1

Bonus: Wes 12+ points

espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=320303022

Awesome win, definitely didn't see that coming! K-Love was huge, and destroyed LMA, which is probably the first time that has ever happened. He usually gets owned by LMA. And that snaps a huge losing streak against the Blazers. AND we are now ahead of them in the standings!

Great game, great win. And good chattin with ya'll in the front page game thread. Good times!

Yep we had lost 16 straight to the Blazers before this game. K-Lav dominated LMA. It looks like Webster had a great game as well.

roundhouse wrote:
Webster was so hyped to play the Blazers, it was funny.

Roundhouse, you will be proud of the Caged Lion. He dycked G-Force and then got a tech for screaming in his face. Best play of the game.

Great game. Wolves continue to surprise. We have now passed POR in the standings. Just one more team to pass.

As I've been saying now for a few days, the more I see Derrick Williams, the more I think he is going to be an absolute STUD in a few years...I know we need a wing badly, but I'm honestly very reluctant to see this guy go...I JUST HOPE, with a whole summer and a full training camp, he can learn to guard the 3 position...Beasley on the other hand, I can't wait to see him go and i'm glad Adelman was smart and didn't play his ass after that effort he was putting forth...

Murphs56 wrote:
you know what, you might be right about d-will. i still would trade him for a legit proven player, but if thats not there we keep him and try to develop him. he needs to work real hard on his defense at the 3 position.

IF he can play the 3 next season then its so important to get a real SG, but i dunno what SG we can really get without giving up d-will?

and for beasley....i wanted for him to grow up and develop into the star he had potential to be so badly, but i am now sick of him and want him gone. lets just trade him and move on please!

to finish my thought on beasley:

i feel like he might be a fun teammate, and always entertaining, but when he steps foot on the court he becomes a bad influence to players like d-will.

on a veteran team he could potentially mature with veteran leadership around him, but on a young team where he is the veteran he is just a bad example on how to be a professional to the young players on the team.

glad we have rubio to counteract his lackluster effort.

p.s. is this the real webster?! or was he all hyped to play his former team?! man i hope this is because his back is healthy and he is ready to show us what he really has. is he a 2 or 3 by the way?

Well, well, well. I see you Mr. Love, well played. Well played. You took the Blazers to school. He wasn't just hot from the floor, he was motivated to get his sh*t together and to destroy the Blazers. Loved it. He made athletic moves last night. He pulled up with G-Force and Batum in his face and still drained 3's. He banged down low a bit. Zero complaints about this offensive performance. None. It was as flawless as he's been.

D-Charge and Webster were the 2nd and 3rd guys tonight. They were both great as well. Webster was the most athletic wing on the floor...he was flying above G-Force and Batum, oddly enough. My money is on steroids No_Love_Sessions, I think we'd be foolish to expect Webster to morph into a 2nd or 3rd scorer on a contending team. He's not the 'missing wing shooter/slasher' the team needs to get over the hump. But the man is just getting himself together after being out for a year. he's clearly a rotation player on a good team. Starter? Depends on what else you got. Right now, he's a starter on this team. Caged Lion, Barea, and Sometimes-Easy provide enough offense on the bench. Start him. I don't see any reason why he can't be a solid 12 pt scorer who brings energy, shooting, and rebounding...Until he gets injured again. Which is why it SEEMS like his best position is as a 6th-8th type of man.

Two last big picture points. Championship teams usually have a three-man rotation in the paint. Which excites you in your special place more: Pek-Love-D-Charge or Pek-Love-Camby (for example). Insert long, defensive minded third big in for Camby. Good-Darko, Tyrus Thomas (fyck your hate RH), Biyombo (Fyck your hate RH), Bogut, KG, etc.

If your answer is the first, go hang out with Flash None of us know if the Caged Lion really can swing out to the wing next year...but he'll have to if he wants to be on the team, unless Pek is moved for that Bogut type of player. Now chew on that blasphemy, Pek being moved!?

Last point. I look for any reason to think the team is learning to overcome its bitchassness. The Caged Lion is my new favorite player for talking shit to G-Force and his brother on the sideline and getting teched up. Love screamin, D-Charge getting teched up, Barea trying to fight Pryzbilla - good money. I cannot stand Rubio's friendliness on the court (at least he's good). Wes is so nice, I hate it. Luke is physical, believe it or not, I respect that. Beasley would rather go eat Skittles with Joel than talk shit to him. too nice. Hate that nice sh*t.

I was likewise happy to see Caged Lion barking in an obviously better and more well established veteran's face. You need some of that attitude. If our young guys would get nasty enough this team could make a second round run in the playoffs. The talent is there, the attitude comes and goes.

As for Beasley... the thing about a player like him (or Terry, or Odom- especially Odom) is that you can't live and die by his performance every game. It is the fact that he is so stinking inconsistent that makes him a perfect bench player. Somewhat similar for Barea. Come do your thang, and if your thang isn't cutting it, chill out on the bench, we'll try it again next game.

On the other hand, guys like Love, Rubio, and increasingly Pekovic- these guys are valuable simply because they rarely have games where they are not good. I mean, Love puts up 42/10 and it's not like "LOVE HAS HUGE GAME" is all over the place... it's more like- hey, good game man. It's not a huge career defining moment or anything just because yep, he's that good, and he's that good night in and night out. Bringing his A game. Haven't seen anyone like him since KG.

Rubio even when he's not shooting well does so many things. Agree with you about him being nice, but I don't think he's soft- he is definitely a competitor.

Pekovic is getting better but at the same time his emergence leaves us without the enforcer role- because you can't be a full time starter and an enforcer. Would like to see someone step up into that role with a nastiness streak.

Blazers were pretty physical. I think they got away with of ton of dirty & thuglike play. Their collective IQ must be pretty low. I'm surprised Pek or Williams didn't lay some wood to these Aholes. Didn't like the way Rubio got abused!

Beasley plays like he's high on more than skittles. Classic case of a very gifted but lazy player. Not someone to call a cornerstone of your organization.

Awesome posts you guys, great reading. Thank you.

I have to say, Williams looked much better against Gerald Wallace than in some of the previous games we've seen. Is he a true combo forward? Could he be like Beasley only consistent? Could the Timberwolves win it all???

Stay tuned.

wolfenstein wrote:
Is he a true combo forward? I think so. He's too quick for PFs, he's to strong for SFs, if he's too quick for SFs like he was against Wallace that would be awesome. Now what can he guard? PFs are too strong for him, SF are too quick for him, he has to figure it out.

Could he be like Beasley only consistent? No, he can't be like Beasley, he doesn't have the skills that Beasley have. Not a lot of NBA players are as smooth and skilled as Beasley. But, he will be more consistent. No ones is as inconsistent and loses focus quickly as Beasley.

Could the Timberwolves win it all??? No.