Dang, we lost. Oh well... none of our normal starters hardly play any minutes at all, so that obviously explains things:

www.scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400400490


Did anyone watch the game?

College Wolf wrote:
Naw, I was ridin round and getting it tonight, didn't watch. "Food Truck Friday" in Queen City.

I am slightly encouraged by Derrick Williams' 5 free throws and only 3 3-pters. 25 points on 19 shots is fine for him.

The highlights of the game look like these backups on both teams played pretty damn hard. Go watch the highlights on NBA.com, it looks physical and serious. Start beef, we need a rivalry with this team!

Cunningham had 6 blocks!? I hope he averages that for the season.

Again, C-Bud is dropping very good numbers. CW is going to rue the day (what the hell does that phrase mean?) he lamented that trade. C-buddy is a legit role player.

Anyway, Gerald Green is running wild in every highlight on NBA.com. Happy for him. I hope he keeps blowing up to make us arrogant ass MN armchair GM's shut up for claiming he would never have a spot in the league.

daddyfatsax wrote: Food trucks... AWESOME. Food trucks rock hard. You watch "The Great Food Truck Race", by any chance...?

As for D-Will, I dunno. 19 shots for 25 points is pretty bad. Definitely go read this, and it's not even very long. Super insightful though:

www.wagesofwins.com/2012/10/09/just-give-them-more-shots

I watched a lot of it, mainly the second half. Starters were OK. They ended up being down by 1 at the end of the first quarter after a slow start. AK did not play. Only Paul George and West suited up for the Pacers as Hibbert, Granger and Hill sat. However, both George and West played a good portion of the second half and fourth quarter when we had NO starters except D-Will out there. Roy moved very well out there in his limited minutes. Even the Pacers commentators, who are EXCESSIVE homers said they couldn't tell that Roy had any knee problems and looked extremely good for the Wolves.

Reserves wise, Cunningham and Amundson were pretty good defensively, but are BOTH very offensively challenged. I mean there's no scoring from 15 feet, lets put it that way. Only way they are scoring is if they are by dunk or put back.

I like what I see out of Shved. He was even D'ing up a bit out there which he was not doing at the Olympics. He made some shots, got some steals, but I think he looks a lot more comfortable when he's the playmaker. He doesn't look like a catch and shoot guy. He's going to get his points on the pick and roll whether driving or shooting.

Another solid outing from Bundinger, more so in the first half as he missed a good number of shots in the second. I originally thought he was mainly a perimeter shooter, but he showed me he can actually get to the rim. I'm not surprised that Adelman made the trade for him. He definitely works in this system.

D-Will was a bit hit and miss. He had a tough time against George when he was lined up against him at the 3, but I think that's to be expected as George is a really solid defender. He made some big jumpers and was pretty relentless going to the basket at times. He even posted up at one point and got the basket which I did not see at all last year. The thing about D-Will we have to remember is he's still a very young player and he's learning. I think he's in a good situation this year behind AK and Love, so hopefully when he gets his chances he will make the most of it.

I really do like Conroy too. The guy can run the point and he plays with a ton of effort. He's not the greatest point guard in the world as he turned the ball over a ton tonight, but with the way our PG's get injured, he's not a bad guy to have at the end of the bench in a crisis. He can run the offense in a pinch.

Tomorrow I expect the starters to play a lot more being at home. It is on NBA TV with a Wolves half hour preview show right before it so set your DVRS

daddyfatsax wrote:
First thing I did when I saw Derrick Williams' line in the game was go to the shot chart. A lot to like there. Tons of shots in the paint and three 3 pointers. Only two long 2s.

Awesome, recap! Thanks a ton, and Howl!

College Wolf wrote:
Don't forget about the Wolves preview before the game on NBA TV. I'm actually very curious to see what kind of team they consider the Wolves this year

College Wolf wrote:
What? Damn man you are pressed to find a way to hate everything about Derrick Williams. I didn't watch the game. I don't know if he really played well. His numbers indicate he played well (offensively). 47% shooting, 2/3 3pters, 5/5 FT's, 6 rebounds a couple steals and assists is absolutely ok. You are reaching. That is not an inefficient game.

Feel free to disagree or add. I thought it might be helpful for folks here who also read the mess at CH drawing all types of conclusions from every player because of 2 pre-season games.

Scores are irrelevant. It's essentially a scrimmage. Legit players are either a) finding their legs, b) getting a feel for the team or c) practicing new stuff (my favorite was Wally trying to cross every defender during pre-season. He was a terrible ball-handler).

Ignore Pekovic, Love, Barea, Ridnour, Budinger, and AK. It's not about them in pre-season so don't try to draw conclusions about them.

Watch Derrick Williams. Does he look like he made a magical transformation from a post player to a wing player? Does his nose look smaller? Is he even practicing being a slasher? Is he able to stay with players like Paul George on the perimeter?

Once you conclude that Derrick Williams is still a PF backing up the Man at that position, then go to your favorite trade checker website and conjure up trades for him that get him to a team where he can succeed, aka Biyombo for Derrick Williams. CW would prefer some way to get Ibaka here. Not me. Can't too many more blacks. Shoot for trades like D-Charge for Mozgov or something dumb like that.

Shved. Is he scared to death? Can plays push him all over the court? We've seen he can play at this level when he busted ass in the Olympics. How good he can be will not be determined by a bunch of pre-season games. Don't worry about how many points he scores.

Cunningham - If you've never watched him, maybe it's insightful for you to watch him. He does what he always does. he's a lunch-pail, blue collar player without much range or ability to create on offense. He WILL supplant D-Will in certain lineups and against certain teams. He's trying to prove himself to Adelman, so it's a good chance to see how he plays.

Lou - See above. Except he's much less average than Cunningham. Amundson is not very good. Just be happy he's white.

Roy - He's still healthy! We are all going to scrutinize every move he makes on the court, me included. Every missed shot is indicative that he's worthless. Every made shot means he's a super star again. I wonder if he can even dunk on a fast break?

Thoughts? How else can we save a few people from wasting their energy drawing tons of conclusions from how Pek "handled" Hibbert in the first pre-season game or other silly things?