Wolves vs. Bucks

Wolves have a new coach. Would like to see the Bucks hand him his first loss.

Wolves now 8 for 13 from 3.

Bucks defense getting lit up by the worst team in the league

Watching on FSNMN. Giannis makes a free throw and the announcer sounds shocked.......

Wolves announcer just said "good job sending Guannis to the free throw line" rather than giving up the dunk.

Giannis launches a 3 that missed, Wolves announcer says "you want Giannis taking that shot".

Bucks pull away in the 2nd. Up 79-62 at the half.

12-0 run on four 3-pointers from four different players over the last 1:30.   Nice way to end the half.

Bucks doing what they should do against a team like this.

Forbes with his best game of the season. It would be nice if he could do this against a top tier team.

DJ Wilson and Torrey Craig can't even get garbage time minutes.

Sounds like the Fox MN announcers are basically dumbasses.  Kind of figures since that franchise has been a disaster since they dealt KG away.  The culture and environment breeds losing and you almost feel sorry for them.  

@Tschmack posted:

Sounds like the Fox MN announcers are basically dumbasses.  Kind of figures since that franchise has been a disaster since they dealt KG away.  The culture and environment breeds losing and you almost feel sorry for them.  

So, basically just like the Bucks between the Ray Allen trade and when Giannis became a star in his 3rd-4th season.

I feel sorry for Towns on many levels. Most importantly, he lost his mother and 6 other family members to COVID19. Professionally, he's a great player and as recently as the 2017-18 season the Wolves looked to be an ascending team. They won 47 games with a KAT, a promising-looking Wiggins (back then), and 28 year-old Jimmy Butler. Butler got fed up quickly (reportedly with Wiggins) and forced his way out. The Wolves eventually flipped Wiggins for D. Russell (but also gave up their 2021 first-round pick). The pick is top 3 protected this year and unprotected in 2022.

So, what the Wolves need to do is tank this year to raise the odds of that pick being top 3 and then come back with a competitive team next year (a healthy Russell, KAT, and a top 3 pick in a good draft) to drive the value of the 2022 pick into the teens.

There are a lot of comparisons to the Bucks and Wolves.  Bucks made conference finals in 2001 and Wolves the same in 2004.  Then both teams traded their superstar (only to have them win titles some other place) and haven’t been the same since although Milwaukee got lucky with Giannis and new ownership and a new arena.  

Glenn Taylor has basically alienated anyone and anything of value in that organization and they are a complete mess.  From bad hires to bad personnel decisions they are the textbook definition of failure over the last 15 years and honestly I think the franchise is just jinxed and cursed.  From missing out on Shaq and Mourning in 1992 to passing on Steph Curry in 2009 to the Jimmy Butler debacle it’s just one thing after another with that team.

The Wolves underlying problem right now is the same one that the Hawks (Trae Young) and maybe even the Mavs (Doncic) have. That is, they have an elite offensive player they've built the entire team around that is a terrible defensive player.

https://clutchpoints.com/is-ka...y-towns-truly-elite/

Towns is a 7 footer that has a career shooting line of 53/40/83. He's a better offensive player than Anthony Davis. He's the perfect guy to play the 5 on offense in the modern NBA. The problem is that he can't guard anyone. Watching him try to guard Giannis last night was almost comedic.  He offered next to no resistance.

I don’t think it’s that he can’t guard anyone, he just won’t guard anyone...

@Music City posted:

I don’t think it’s that he can’t guard anyone, he just won’t guard anyone...

I guess I haven't watched him enough to know whether he's got the lateral movement to be a good defender. I just assumed that he didn't and he was a Boogie Cousins clone.

Well, usually even an average athlete can be a decent defender... it’s usually about want.

You could certainly make a case that Towns is the best pure center in the league offensively.  Better than Embiid and AD.  He’s also a really good free throw shooter.

His problem is he lacks effort and desire on defense, and he isn’t an elite rebounder despite having good size and athleticism.  

He also tends to struggle more against better teams.