There was a great article in The Athletic on the youth of the two teams. This part is apt and kind of what I was referring to. I certainly am not trying to dismiss what the Wolves did this year. The article is from March 3rd.
If the Wolves can get out of the Play-In, fans should be happy to follow in the footsteps of previous good but not very good young teams by having a 4-in-11 chance of winning a first-round matchup. That would have qualified as a great result coming into the season, because whereas Memphis is hoping to make a run now, Minnesota is closer to where Memphis was last season. Still building. The recent history of young teams with .600-plus winning percentages suggests the Grizzlies can absolutely make a multi-round playoff run this season, and no one should assume otherwise based strictly on their youth or inexperience. Young teams that do as much regular-season winning as Morant and company have also done plenty of damage in the playoffs.
The way the two teams are built are certainly similar, and the Wolves are definitely on a similar track to the one Memphis took. Young superstar guard (Ja and Ant), high end young big man (Jackson and KAT), high end 3rd piece (Brooks and Russell, albeit Brooks is a SF and DLo is a guard), and solid young rotational players.
The Wolves, IMO, have significant matchup advantages with KAT and Anthony Edwards. Memphis has a significant matchup advantage with Ja and Brooks.
IMO the Wolves starting 5 is overall more talented than Memphis (mostly due to KAT's significant matchup advantage against Steven Adams). The biggest factor so far is that DLo has not played well in either game. He's averaging 10.5 points and shooting 23% from the field in the first two games. The Wolves need him to get going sooner than later to have a real chance to win this series.
Target Center is going crazy tonight. Wolves up 47-21 2 minutes into the second quarter. Absolutely incredible atmosphere right now.
Memphis comes out flat and are getting steamrolled by the Wolves. They look like we’re resigned that they were gonna lose before the opening tip, it’s weird
NBA referees never cease to amaze me. They call Ant for a travel on that but let guys take 5 steps on a drive at least 2 times a game.
Beverly with today's Harlem Globetrotters moment of the game!
https://twitter.com/RapfestSports/status/1517298441176629250?s=20&t=14tSba339mrKOUUYpWAYew
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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And now they call DLo for an offensive foul for jumping.
12 points in the second quarter for Minnesota. Memphis answered.
I've still yet to see a real explanation as to how that is DLo's third foul instead of Ja's. Mindblowingly bad call.
12 points in the second quarter for Minnesota. Memphis answered.
Wolves pushed the lead out to 27 and then totally stopped playing. I can see Memphis leading halfway thru the 3rd qtr.
NBA referees never cease to amaze me. They call Ant for a travel on that but let guys take 5 steps on a drive at least 2 times a game.
I went back and watched this multiple time and I do t see any travel…he didn’t even take a step
There we go. Sweet run in the third.
NBA referees never cease to amaze me. They call Ant for a travel on that but let guys take 5 steps on a drive at least 2 times a game.
I went back and watched this multiple time and I do t see any travel…he didn’t even take a step
It felt like a preemptive whistle because so often in situations where there is a shot fake like Ant had, the feet leave the ground. But his didn't.
Memphis back in it. Minnesota gone cold.
Finch's refusal to call timeouts to break up these insane Memphis runs is just absolutely ridiculous.
I saw the game on a TV at the rink with about 5 min left in the 3rd. Wolves were up by 20. I drive home and there is 6 min left in the 4th quarter and the wolves have only about 2 more points than they had with 5 left in the 3rd.
Geez 21-0 run to lose the lead. Not a good second half
18 point 1st quarter lead in jeopardy
Geez 21-0 run to lose the lead. Not a good second half
3rd quarter was good. 4th quarter is far too close to the second quarter.
Vanderbilt gets called for a foul after Morant misses two FTs. Ridiculous.
2/15 from the field in the 4th for Minnesota, 10/19 for Memphis.
26 point lead blown.
Finch finally calls a timeout as Memphis goes up 10 with 77 seconds left. Atrocious coaching job. Absolutely atrocious.
Finch finally calls a timeout as Memphis goes up 10 with 77 seconds left. Atrocious coaching job. Absolutely atrocious.
Don’t really understand all the love for Finch
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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Epic collapse from the head coach on down. Towns with 23 points in the last two games. Normally, I would say "pathetic", but pretty much par for the course with Minnesota pro sports and the post-season.
Masonian
It is impressive that the Wolves meltdown was so embarrassingly, indefensibly bad that social media is barely mentioning how bad officiating was.
I saw the game on a TV at the rink with about 5 min left in the 3rd. Wolves were up by 20. I drive home and there is 6 min left in the 4th quarter and the wolves have only about 2 more points than they had with 5 left in the 3rd.
Same here, I had to play at 830 and just assumed the Wolves had it in the bag.
Wow. Just wow.
Hard to outdo epic losses in this town, but this one is right up there.
Yes, the officiating was awful, but it's the NBA; that shouldn't be a surprise. If I'm looking at the numbers correctly, Towns' stats for the past two games were as follows: 23 points, 11 shot attempts, 10 fouls and 9 turnovers. Not the numbers you need from your superstar and team leader. And Finch was just lost last night. We'll see what happens tomorrow, but I'm not very optimistic.
KAT really gets on my nerves. He has such a weak mentality. Glad to see Barkley call him out after his embarrassing post-match comments.
Barkley shredded the entire team and coaching staff right after the game.
Losers
KAT might be softer than Mauer.
This series with Memphis is such a roller coaster. Both team have looked like they were gonna take over the series, then falter, then come back, then choke.
I haven’t watched much NBA before this first round of the playoffs but I was led to believe Ja Morant was one of the next stars in the league, I don’t see it. Not that he’s not good but he’s no Jayson Tatum. That dude is a legit top 5 star in the league and only 24. Could easily see Boston win the title this year, he is clutch and has a nice team around him.
The security guy who grabbed the nut who ran on the court was ON IT! Great reaction and tackle.
Apparently they are protesting mass killing of chickens due to avian flu? Really? Do they think Glen Taylor is gleefully slaughtering chickens? I don’t get it.
Should KAT even be getting starter minutes for this team?
I’m thinking if you have a team full #22 Bane for Memphis you could win a title, dude is a monster.
Also after watching this game I’m not even sure what the rules of basketball are anymore.
Memphis goes on a 9-0 run, Finch calls a timeout…why start now?
KAT finally shows up and takes over in the second half
This series with Memphis is such a roller coaster. Both team have looked like they were gonna take over the series, then falter, then come back, then choke. I haven’t watched much NBA before this first round of the playoffs but I was led to believe Ja Morant was one of the next stars in the league, I don’t see it. Not that he’s not good but he’s no Jayson Tatum. That dude is a legit top 5 star in the league and only 24. Could easily see Boston win the title this year, he is clutch and has a nice team around him.
Pat Bev deserves a lot of credit for Ja's performance not just this series, but against Minnesota all season.
Morant is absolutely a superstar, but Beverly (for all his dumbassery) has been phenomenal defensively against Morant. That matchup (Beverly vs. Morant) is why a lot of experts thought the Wolves could make this a series. Because if Bev could neutralize/contain Morant, it comes down to Russell/KAT/Ant Edwards outplaying Jaren Jackson, Bane, and Brooks. More often than not, that should be advantage Wolves.
Bane was out of his mind tonight and was very good in game 3 too, and Brooks was very very solid tonight. But Towns and Ant were better.
I couldn't believe when Pat Beverly bricked TWO free throws (up by 5) with 48 seconds to go, he let Memphis back in the game. KAT with 2 clutch FT’s to ice game ?Anthony Edwards looks like he's a legitimate 6'6" tall & he's a stud!
Much better performance by the Wolves tonight. They still get a little too frantic (see: end of the third quarter) but they bounced back from the devastating loss in game 3 and take care of business tonight. Towns responded to all the criticism he got after game 3 with maybe his best overall game of the season tonight. He shot the ball well from the field and was aggressive as hell with the ball in his hands (IIRC he drew 14 fouls). Most importantly, he stayed out of foul trouble (I don't remember a single "WTF are you doing" foul on him tonight) so he could continue to be aggressive.
Jordan McLaughlin deserves a lot of praise for the way he played tonight too. Hit a bunch of big shots and kept the team cool and calm when he was on the court. Huge contribution.
Good Lord that was mighty close to being another Minnesota sports moment.
Great game, good win for the Wolves but if they are gonna win meaningful games it’s gonna have to Edwards who leads them.
Much better performance by the Wolves tonight. They still get a little too frantic (see: end of the third quarter) but they bounced back from the devastating loss in game 3 and take care of business tonight. Towns responded to all the criticism he got after game 3 with maybe his best overall game of the season tonight. He shot the ball well from the field and was aggressive as hell with the ball in his hands (IIRC he drew 14 fouls). Most importantly, he stayed out of foul trouble (I don’t remember a single “WTF are you doing” foul on him tonight) so he could continue to be aggressive. Jordan McLaughlin deserves a lot of praise for the way he played tonight too. Hit a bunch of big shots and kept the team cool and calm when he was on the court. Huge contribution.
Looked McLaughlin got a well deserved standing O when he came out.
Really nice game for DLo too. His combo with Ant is really to key to playoff wins.
Towns was less that perfect from the field but he was money from the line and had 14 total rebounds, although that means he had only 4 in the 2nd half.
Finch finally called a crucial TO although I thought even that one came a few points too late.
Regardless of what happens next (pushing the series to 7 or going out in 6) the franchise has made progress. And lest people forget Memphis is the 2 seed - this isn't a garbage team they're going toe-to-toe against.