ClutchFans Game Thread: Timberwolves @ Rockets 11/23/2013

Thoughts-

-Much better defensive intensity tonight.

-Obvious bugaboo is still turnovers, but they are naturally going to be a high turnover team…. just hopefully that will gradually get better and better as this team grows together and learns each other.

-Terrence Freaking Jones- That guy has just been amazing since he's grabbed the starting spot. Yes, Dirk, Love, etc. have gone crazy scoring against him, but they do that against everyone. Terrence has been so good at covering mistakes defensively, and really just moves great without the ball on offense creating space for everyone on the floor. Starting PF position of weakness???…. can't really say THAT is the real problem with this team right now.

-Hope Harden gets his foot situation fixed. Even if he has to sit out a few more games than he'd like, he's a completely different player when 100% so hopefully they can sustain while he's out, and this foot issue doesn't become chronic.

-Howard… So much of what he does flies under the radar, but he's been pretty awesome at protected the rim. Didn't really have to do too much offensively, but he's there if you need him to try and draw in the defense.

-Kevin Love is pretty incredible. How a guy that can barely jump over a phone book can out rebound Howard and Jones in multiple possessions is beyond me. The Rockets did a good job of reading the scouting report tonight with that little play Adelman loves to run where the SG sets a pick and he drills 3's all night long.

-Corey Brewer… someone want to tell people that he does wind sprints down the court once the shot goes up on defense? I'm pretty sure he's the most in shape player in the NBA to do what he does.

-looking forward- Monday nights game will be a completely opposite contrast in game… except for the fact that Memphis will still try and force a ton of turnovers. Limit the turnovers, and Memphis will really have a tough time scoring. Gasol being out should give Houston the edge in size on the front line. No need to play into the style they want to force on us.

 

Sure you want to keep Lin the way he plays. Lins problem is his salary and therefore it will be difficult to keep him. I guess Asik trade will lead to the decision what will happen to Lin. Given that H&H are untouchables, the only salaries that are tradable are those of Asik and Lin.

 

This is perhaps the biggest news coming out of the game. If we are going to trade Asik, we need him to play well to keep pumping up that trade value.

But I also wonder if more nights like this will make both Asik and the team think twice about letting him go.

 

I'm actually really curious to see what his FT will turn out to be if Asik played more mins for the season. He seems like he improved his FT...but certainly not finishing at the rim lol.

 

They put Brewer on Lin.we put Lin on Martin.
Wth is Lin just a bench player???

 

I think he has the potential to be an all-star. Parker and Paul are the cream of the crop but Lin has the potential to be a top 12 PG even with the talent at point guard and he's shown stretches that he can do so. l think it may be one to two seasons away before he can consistently play on an overall all-star level but I think he has the ingredients and work ethic to do so.

 

Yes, Lin's salary could be a problem, because to be honest, the rockets are fine for offense. Other players could easily pick up the scoring. They all seem to want more shots and to handle the ball anyway.

 

The problem I have is who we can get is the old one bird is worth two in the bush saying. If you have a player that shows chemistry with a certain group a synergism can be created, so even if you get a more superior part you may not end up with a superior team. If it works and it is developing, stay with it. I've noticed that too many stars on a team doesn't work that well.

 

Pretty happy with the game tonight minus a few too many TO's all around. Still, it was Cory Brewer so need to cut the guys some slack. That guy was picking pockets everywhere.

And Lin really got no love from the refs.

1 bad TO call from a kick ball off a Minnesota player, 2 bonehead TO's (1 in the air, 1 he underestimated the height of the defender), 2 TO's in the lane but 1 it looked like he got tripped by the refs on replay. On the bright side, he played VERY good defense on KMart. Even snagged on block.

And Lin got really clobbered in the head... that egg was HUGE. How he didn't get a foul call after taking an elbow to the head, I have no idea.

AB was on fire. Dude couldn't miss tonight.

Casspi is confusing. Sometimes he looks great driving to the hoop, other times he looks like he's lost control of his limbs.

Beverley was shooting well from 3.

Could tell there was some chemistry issues in terms of passing. Saw some bad passes into the post (pulling Dwight out of position off the block), and a few where you could tell they misjudged where the receiver would be.

On the very good side, they didn't just go to ISO ball at the end. They ran down the clock to about 10s, then attempted to make plays/move the ball. That's what I would ideally like to see more often at least to the 2 min mark or so. No reason to go into a pure half court game and play defensive ball when you can still run up the lead and push the offense well.

Much better defense on the team all around. Saw better switching, though transition defense seems to need more work. Still saw too many times the same 2 or 3 people running back (Lin, Casspi, Parsons) and others trotting back. Cost us some baskets.

Actually liked McHale's minutes management tonight. Didn't see anything that lept out at me.

Most importantly, another win. 9-5.

 

bev doesnt play around. he doesnt pump fake or try to drive to the basket. if he's open, he shoots. done.

casspi? he has illusions of grandeur sometimes and gives up open shots. even if he isnt wide open, he's tall and a sagging defender has no chance at blocking so why not shoot it? why drive into the paint into traffic and attempt a difficult shot?

parsons' pump fakes are also a bit much but he really has been working on his point forward game. his drives are getting better and he's found chemistry with jones and dwight. he hasnt been shooting as many 3s though so i'd hate to see him give up on that aspect of his game.

garcia? ugh...... just goes to show you preseason means nothing.

 

It's ridiculous if people think we don't need Harden. We need him in order to win championship. The Nuggets and Celtics game last week, we won blowout with Harden. So it doesn't matter.

 

Oh, and TJones looked really nice again. Solid performance all around.

 

EzPz game

T-Wolves defense is really bad guys, they will be near the bottom of the pack on D by the end of the season.

Really wish we had KLove on this team, sadly doesn't look like it's gonna happen this year

 

rofl that's a good way to describe casspi, having illusions of grandeur. he def does things I am not quite sure why he does.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. This happens after every game with people saying Trade A, Bench B, We don't need X,Y,Z etc... 99% of the time it's pure knee jerk.

 

are people saying thaT?

 

With the way Brooks was shooting, I was a bit confused when he McHale took him out in the fourth. Other than that, he did a good job tonight.

 

yeah Mchale's rotations made sense tonight!

 

Casspi's shots and scoring will start to come around. I know people are complaining about him running the fastbreaks, driving the lane, not finishing at the rim, dribbling, turning ball over, etc... but I rather Casspi start working on them now and becoming efficient at these skills when we really need them later down the season/in the POs. The more versatile our players are the more dangerous the team becomes. People need to give him a break.

 

Fair enough, will have to see how the season turns out. I miss Delfino though.