So, first time iwm doing it-opening this kind of gamed thread please be gracefull.I want stand to much on the keys and such i'm not that resourcefull from here like you guys in the state...never mind. Minny coming weak after losing 6 of the last 9 games at all but winning 4/5 at home. the homecourt factor though wont be that much of a factor in fav. of the big ticket gang to win. they were one of the only 5 teams to beat the suns-on their Homecourt now in the target center-we gonna see how it goes. Hope all of us Die hard wolves fan will enjoy a big W tonight-I cerntinally give my blessing GO WOLVES GO
Well, we were the team that broke the Suns win streak last time, I just hope we can do it again. I hate to say this again, and so early in the season, but this is almost a must win. If we keep dropping games, I think our guys are going to get their heads down and start second-guessing themselves. That is never good for a team to have, especially with the type of attitudes we already have. Please Cassell, do something tonight.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Pure:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, we were the team that broke the Suns win streak last time, I just hope we can do it again. I hate to say this again, and so early in the season, but this is almost a must win. If we keep dropping games, I think our guys are going to get their heads down and start second-guessing themselves. That is never good for a team to have, especially with the type of attitudes we already have. Please Cassell, do something tonight.</div> He'll do something if he gets more than 8 shots. He was a major problem for the Suns to contain in the 4th quarter in that 1st game in Pheonix, so Hopefully Flip Suanders gives him enough leway to do his thing tonight. And call somemore plays for Sam, take him off the ball a bit and allow him to take Nash in the post. Cassell would kill him down there and has killed him down there in the past. Anyway, This is a game where we get to see exactly how much the Wolves wanted this year. We get to see if this team does have the energy to turn the season around and go on a championship run. Kevin Mchale more then anything will definately be looking at the body language and energy of guys cause if the Wolves cant get up for this game then its hard to say that this roster the way it is assemble will ever have the passion to turn it around. One game definately doesnt define everything but with the acumulation of things so far for the Wolves, there is no doubt this game is bigger then just another regular season game. This is a statement game for the players not only to management but themselves, how bad do they want to right the ship? A big win against Pheonix could go along way in beginning the healing of their early struggles.
Amare is a &*$#@+! Monster and he'll get his numbers....but I genuinely see the Wolves feeling like the underdog and taking this game. I expect KG to be fierce and to try to gobble every rebound in the vacinity (even from teammates). He will need help from Sam and either Wally/Spree, but I do expect him to come in angry. Sam needs to post up Nash repeatedly and should have alot more time than Hudson. Sam needs to get his groove going and Flip should give him a little more freedom...to a point. With this freedom, Sam needs to provide for the team and Co-Lead with the M.V.P. KG. The Wolves should feel the heat from their play/record and because of this team that's spanking other teams and expect the Wolves to be next.
Thanks for the game thread, the main event. This was well done. Right now nothing should be easy. Not even tommorow night's game against the Bobcats especially since it's a back-to-back game. Every game is a big game. The Timberwolves need to start establishing an identity on offense and start playing defense in crunch time. The T-Wolves need to have that domainance in the fourth quarter like they have done when they were winning. I would like to see an identity on offense and fourth quarter domainance from the Wolves tonight against a very good Suns team. If I have to rank the Suns, I would pick them at #2 with the Spurs at #1. They have played great basketball all year and they got a shot at least to get to the Western Conference Finals. Since we are talking about the Suns, I want to talk about which Suns player should be the MVP of the NBA. I was thinking Amare would be my MVP for this season till I read an article from Dave D'Alessandro, NBA beat writer and Nets beat writer for the Newark Star-Ledger (a paper in New Jersey), about how Nash should be the MVP. Flip Saunders also gave his endorsement for Nash. Upon further review, I will side with Flip and Dave D'Alessandro. Amare is even having a better year with his output and the amount of dunks thanks to Steve Nash. Amare has been really dunking the ball and that's because of Nash breaking down the defense that gives Amare a wide open space to dunk. Plus Nash has made Shawn Marion into a legitimate player. Making other players better is an attribute to being a MVP and a great player in this league. Nash fits that criteria while Selfish Mebury does not. Great free agent signing by the Suns this summer as they picked up Nash.
Amare just got ejected and I feel the Wolves HAVE TO take this game. Why, you ask, because of controversy. It couldn't be better in this situation. The ol' "If Amare didn't get ejected, they would have won by 25" argument. Doesn't get better. . . . . . . . ....Well, I was half right with my earlier projection.
Well another pathetic loss tonight. This is becoming a fixture and I don't like it. I did not expect the Wolves to be this bad, but they are bad. Maybe they are not a good team. They certainly are not playing like it. Lack of defense tonight as Amare was dunking at will. I wish someone would have put a damn body on him. I am noticing that lot of people are dunking on the Wolves and lot of people are easily scoring at the paint during the losing streak. How about some defensive presence? How about some EFFORT? It goes to show you bad the centers are in the Wolves when you are seeing this happen by the opponents. Suns were hot with their shooting all night long and all season long. I am glad Latrell showed some spunk as he got into Amare's face after Amare threw the ball at Latrell. At least, there was some response. I thought Amare showed Latrell up by throwing that ball and I am glad Latrell had an issue with it. Oh and Latrell stunk tonight as usual. Sam got abused by Nash all night long. KG was awesome along with Wally. I wish the rest of the supporting cast would play like that. That not been the case this year. Lot of players need to look in the mirror. There are lot of players who don't seem bothered by what's going on. Flip Saunders has been having sleepless nights and he is clearly frustrated with the state of the team. Fans are too. I have to imagine these guys got booed vocriferiously during the game. They deserve it for their underacheiving performance in the last few weeks. The Timberwolves are an embrassment.
I wouldn't say an embarrasment, but I would say that we are playing some very bad basketball. The Pheonix Suns are one of the top three teams in the league, so winning this game was not going to be easy. Although, we were definitely capable of winning this game, considering the fact that we won the last time we played them. Last season, we had our role player who played some outstanding basketball and did what they needed to do to get the job done. Right now, they defninitely need to step up. It's remarkable how good we did without Wally and Hudson for a huge part of the season last season, and this season when they are at full health and playing, we do worse. The Big 3 needs to step up, mainly Spree and Cassell. It just looks like right now, they don't want to win. They are not playing like the best trio in the league and they aren't playing like a dominant team in the west, the way they should be playing. We have had a lot of problem thus far this season. Contract problems with Cassell and Spree, Kandi getting arrested, and Hudson threatening to demand a trade. We need to get our acts together and play some basketball.
To me, the only reason this was considered a bad loss was because it is following two others. The game was great (maybe we could've had some more help from the bench) and as I posted earlier yesterday, KG and Sam really showed up. Nash is THAT GOOD. His herky-jerky style is extremely tough to defend because of his size. If your playing the drive, he'll shoot over you. If you body up, he can either drive around you or into you for the flop. The play that made me mad was when Wally collected that offensive foul when we had ALL OF THE momentum. I can understand driving and sometimes wanting the foul, but when your surrounded by 3 players baseline, you pass the ball or jump into them. You do NOT try to drive because they the post defender will establish position so the back-up will block the shot.
CUSA: I don't mind losing, but I hate the way they lose. They are not playing hard. They are not playing the right way. They are not executing on offense and defense. As a basketball fan, that kills me especially when my favorite team does it. The way the Wolves are playing is a joke. I had high expectations on this team and they are not meeting it. The fans of Minnesota also have high expectations and the team is not meeting the fans standards. Latrell and Sam are clearly not getting it done. Sam gets beaten up on both sides of the ball and Latrell's boxscore like last night has been the norm. Those two came to Minnesota to get the job done and they haven't done that. At least, Latrell showed some emotion late in the game when he went up to Amare's face at least and then Latrell had some words to say about his team's performance to his teammates.
