ClutchFans Game Thread: Timberwolves @ Rockets 2/21/2025

His defense is a liability...that's wrong...it's so wrong I'm not sure how to even respond to it

He's...by far....our best defensive guard aside from Amen if you consider him a guard. The team defense has struggled more than the offense since he went down.

 

Fred is literally top 30 in defensive win shares. Jabari is top 15 and it clearly showed tonight. His switch defense and rim protection were huge for us.

 

Sure enough he made a very good "Draymond" play on Ant the one time by avoiding a foul and causing the TO.

But the overall body of work was not good.

 

Eight free throws that he scored, as opposed to clanking them earlier in the season. Points are points! And while Alpi definitely didn't have his best game, he was instrumental in getting NAZ REID into foul trouble and letting everyone else feast on Garza.

 

It wasn’t a great game from Alpi. But he hit a huge shot at the end, drew a big charge in the 4th, hit his free throws, and was important in making the offense run all night. I will also say that at least 3 of his turnovers were on questionable offensive fouls or no calls.

 

The Twolves only beat us last time because Ant caught fire and hit superstar shot after shot in Dillon's face. Good teams adjust, and the defensive coverage was definitely different this game. I think Ant literally had one of his worst quarters of the season in the 4th today. Ime did a great job of having Amen be the primary defender instead of DB and we did a good job of making him uncomfortable as the ball handler on their pick and rolls. It was fun to watch, and reminiscent of earlier in the season where we were one of the stingiest squads around.

 

He is undersized and abused inside with regularity...FACT..and, if you think our defense has slipped because of FVV, I don't know what to tell you. Our defense has slipped but it's not because of FVV I can promise you that. I said his defense is a liability...not using as a standard of comparison to the sterling defense of JG,or Holiday or Reed which ain't certainly isn't saying much BTW.

 

Several guys complained about this but Udoka didn't play Amen on Ant the entire game and used him as a "closer" on Ant instead. I think it was a good strategy. Down the stretch, Amen was fresh and Ant was not.

 

True as opposed to earlier in the season BUT, that aside, he still had 24 pts. including 8 of them from the FT line on 21 shots. His defense is definitely not above average. His offense on the other hand is very good.

 

Second half of the season Jalen knew he had to show up for his fans. He did not disappoint.

 

Amen were best switch defenders + rim protectors tonight but it was good to have Jabari back.

 

I think after a super strong start to the season, Alpi's defense has kind of come down to earth a little bit. Whether that's fatigue or something else, I have no clue. When he gives good effort though, he is still a plus defender as seen by how he helped us shut down the Wolves down the stretch today. I also think having Jabari back will alleviate the defensive pressure off of Alpi immensely, and allow for him to be sat when the matchups are truly unfavorable. We have lots of people to spell Jalen when he's not playing well on defense, but without Jabari we literally only have two other bigs that are definitely worse on defense that Alpi is. So again, it all comes down to having Jabari back--and we should be very thankful we have him.

 

I concur with this assessment.

 

Jabari might not be franchise guy but he’s a superstar role player and a think a key piece to a championship team

 

Jalen Green
Shooting Guard
Pts35
Reb5
Ast4

Alperen Şengün
Center
Pts24
Reb13
Ast2

Amen Thompson
Point Guard
Pts17
Reb10
Ast6

It's happening? Jabari too. Great game.

 

How many assist would Amen have if KD, Jalen, and Jabari were his shooters

 

why didn’t you play Nate instead of Tate??. he HAS proven his worth. Adams played 5 min, so play Jock some then. and Holiday keeps making Sheppard expendable.

 

He was the best defender on the court for both teams hehe
91 defensive rtg
https://www.nba.com/game/min-vs-hou-0022400422/box-score?type=advanced

 

Great to get Jabari back. If they are all fully healthy around playoff time, this team could make some noise. I am a little concerned about Sengun's back though. He still doesn't seem exactly right out there.