RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 20-14] STATS UPDATE, RUBIO TD VS OKC

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-3] BACK TO BACK WINS @ STAPLES

Postby KrazyTomKrazy on Sun Dec 08, 2013 1:47 pm

Wow! 54 points. Appeared to be an epic night for Kevin Love. And how 'bout Rubio with 16 dimes. Solid videos as well. Your association is a great set-up and easy to follow. Good luck in your season.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-3] BACK TO BACK WINS @ STAPLES

Postby Kieran on Sun Dec 08, 2013 8:10 pm

KrazyTomKrazy wrote:Wow! 54 points. Appeared to be an epic night for Kevin Love. And how 'bout Rubio with 16 dimes. Solid videos as well. Your association is a great set-up and easy to follow. Good luck in your season.


Thanks man. Glad the videos are received well. I wish I knew how to make thumbnails of them though, so they don't take up so much screen space
Rubio doesn't always have has shot going but when he doesn't, he makes up for it with his passing.
Love was continually left open from 3, Clips never made the defensive adjustment on him out there.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-3] BACK TO BACK WINS @ STAPLES

Postby Its_asdf on Mon Dec 09, 2013 2:52 am

All of your games have pretty insane scoring numbers for the most part, but I guess with those Kevin Love throwing outlet passes like a quarterback the pace is definitely going to be higher.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-3] BACK TO BACK WINS @ STAPLES

Postby Kieran on Mon Dec 09, 2013 9:16 pm

Its_asdf wrote:All of your games have pretty insane scoring numbers for the most part, but I guess with those Kevin Love throwing outlet passes like a quarterback the pace is definitely going to be higher.


Yeah, it does bug me a little. I've made some adjustments on the game speed and a couple of other things but it hasn't had much effect.
Having said that though, they do score highly in real life.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-3] BACK TO BACK WINS @ STAPLES

Postby Kieran on Mon Dec 09, 2013 9:18 pm

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While recovering from the initial ankle injury, it appears Pek has reinjured in the last game. Back to a 1-2 week recovery. He is available to play but his rating has dropped and he may see slightly less minutes as a result.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-3] BACK TO BACK WINS @ STAPLES

Postby Kieran on Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:20 pm

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Injuries: None | Ejections: (CLE) Bynum; (MIN) Barea

Recap points:
vs CLE
- Early foul trouble for Kevin Love and no backup firepower from the rest of the team lead to a complete blowout first quarter 42-19 Cleveland's way.
- Solid shooting from Waiters and Clark put the Cavs in front early and the pair were responsible for keeping the scoreboard pressure on all game long
- Love again struggled on the boards, although there weren't all that many shots missing, as the Cavs were very accurate, and the Wolves turned over way too many posessions before even attempting a shot.
- Dion Waiters POG
- Stay tuned for a post-match press conference with Rick Adelman....

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-4] SPANKED BY CLEVELAND

Postby KrazyTomKrazy on Tue Dec 10, 2013 2:30 am

The Cavs appeared to have an explosive first quarter. What happened there? Again as always. Your association has a nice clean and organized look to it.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-4] SPANKED BY CLEVELAND

Postby Martti. on Tue Dec 10, 2013 7:25 am

Love's been pretty hot the last 2 games, sucks you couldn't win both.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-4] SPANKED BY CLEVELAND

Postby Kieran on Thu Dec 12, 2013 12:13 pm

KrazyTomKrazy wrote:The Cavs appeared to have an explosive first quarter. What happened there? Again as always. Your association has a nice clean and organized look to it.


Love had early foul trouble and had to sit. None of the other players could fire on offence and the lack of confidence led to sloppy defence. Alot of turnovers meant trying to beat the Cavs back in transition which is hard against quick young players like Waiters and Iriving, even with a chasedown artist like Corey Brewer.

It points to an over-reliance on Kevin Love, because even though a number of other players have performed solidly on offence thus far, they haven't all been consistent.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 5-4] SPANKED BY CLEVELAND

Postby Kieran on Thu Dec 12, 2013 12:45 pm

EARLY SEASON MEDIA CATCHUP PRESS CONFERENCE WITH RICK ADELMAN
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Press: "Rick your Timberwolves team has had a mixed start to this season, but you've managed to stay above .500 so far. Why have the results been so varied?"
Rick Adelman: "I think even though we've had a solid preseason, this is the first time in a long time that all of our key guys have been healthy and able to play together for any measurable time. Last year was incredibly tough, our team had more player games missed with injury than any other club. When we're hot, we're hot, but we've also seen some situations where the momentum is strongly against us and we haven't been able to steady the ship which leads to a couple of these blowout losses that we've seen."

P: "Your most recent game against the Cavs was one of those. They're responsible for 2 out of your 4 losses, why have your team struggled against a team that you'd probably be expected to beat?"
RA: "We have our game plan, and it revolves heavily around our starters. We saw when Kevin Love went down with foul trouble in the last game, we were unable to cope with his absence. A few of the other guys weren't able to step up on offence and make shots, and instead turned the ball over alot. We can't lose our head when Plan A fails, we need to be just as successful with our Plan B, Plan C, D, E and F. In terms of the Cavs, they are an up-and-coming team with plenty of upside. A couple of their younger players have gained some experience and they are in an era now where they will punish poor defence and have the firepower to keep their scoreboard ticking over. They're exciting to watch on offence and if you can't make your own shots, they will leave you behind. That is what we saw in the last game."

P: "Kevin Love scored a personal and franchise high 54 points in the previous game against the Clips and has been on fire most of this year, but when he isn't performing the team seems to go down. Your thoughts?"
RA: "As I said, a few of the guys who would be expected to carry the scoring load when he is off the court, or in any kind of slump, haven't consistently been able to fill the void. Guys like Pek, Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer have all had some impressive offensive performances this year but they all need to be ready to be 'that guy' if Love isn't scoring. We aren't a one-man team, and these guys need to get more consistent to prove that to everyone."

P: "Love's rebounding totals are lower also this year..."
RA: "I think by now the rest of the league are aware of how good a rebounder Kevin is. He kind of came from nowhere over the last couple of seasons, an unlikely kinda guy to be a rebounding leader. But the league is wise to it now and this year we have seen him targeted alot harder on the missed shots. Everyone knows now you have to check him on every missed shot. But we've been working on this with him in training, he is strong enough to hold his own in a rebounding contest, we know that. But he has seen some recent improvements to his vertical leap which we think will help too."

P:"Your starting 5 seems pretty set, the sign of a settled team. But the bench players minutes and performances seem to fluctuate a fair bit."
RA:"You want a solid starting 5. To keep changing your starting 5 because of injury or form slumps is disruptive, and most good teams you'll see have a pretty consistent starting 5. As for our bench, it's healthy to have a bit of competition for spots. Depending on the matchups or situations within a game, you'll see more of this player or less of that player. It's more about what's needed at the time, the matchups, the lineup of our guys on the floor at the time as well. We are lucky where we have a number of swingmen that can all shoot and drive so it's sometimes hard to determine who to put into a game. Chase, Robbie, Alexey and Shabazz can all do similar things, but each with their own style so it's just a matter of what fits best at the time."

P: "On Shabazz Muhammad, he hasn't broken through into the regular rotation as yet..."
RA: "Shabazz is still young and hasn't played big minutes yet. But he is always ready when called upon. He has a good attitude towards his training and has shown improvements already. I wouldn't be suprised if he's earning some more regular minutes soon."

P:"How much is Nikola Pekovic's ankle affecting is play?"
RA: "We are being careful with his minutes so we've seen Kevin playing a bit of Center while we go slightly smaller by putting Dante or Luc in at the power foward spot. Also we've seen some success with Gorgui Dieng playing that shutout defender role when he's called upon. So we have options. Pek is tough and will contribute solidly whenever he is on the floor, it's just about how much we can afford to play him, he's already reinjured once."

P: "What can you tell us about the Derrick Williams trade?"
RA: "I think it's widely seen as a win-win for both clubs and both players. Derrick needs a team that needs him as a starter. He was always playing behind Kevin Love which for him personally probably wasn't the best situation. He lacked consistency on offence because of limited minutes, but I think we can all see that wasn't really his fault. He'll be put to much better use in Sacramento. We get Luc in return who helps fulfil some defence needs for us so I think everyone is better off for this trade."

P: "What can we expect from the Wolves going forward?"
RA: "With the trade done, and a pretty solid idea of what it is we have to work on to improve, you can expect to see us deliver the season that the fans have been waiting for for so long. We obviously want to keep in touch with the top 8 in the West and anything less than a playoff appearance for us this year would be falling short of expectation. We've made some personel changes to help us get to where we need to be. In this league you're either contending, or you're rebuilding. You don't want to be somewhere in the middle. We've made it clear which end of the spectrum we feel we are at."
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 6-4] TAKING THE LEAD IN NW DIVISI

Postby Kieran on Fri Dec 13, 2013 1:09 pm

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Injuries: (MIN) Love - ankle | Ejections: None

Recap points:
- Ty Lawson unstoppable in the first quarter. Decent on-ball D by Rubio but kept getting screened out of the contest. Denver offensive sets working well to free Lawson up continuously
- Rotating zone defence helped get on top of Lawson but this often freed up Galinari, and to a lesser extent Wilson Chandler.
- Solid shooting at crucial times from Love, Martin and Barea kept the Nuggets from slipping too far away.
- A very fast-paced run & gun style game. Both teams have the players and the mentality to get out on the break for the highlight reel plays
- Pekovic carrying the injury but solid inside against the weaker and less savvy McGee and Faried. Hits the game winning layup over McGee (video not available de to technical issues unfortunately)
- This win over Denver knocks them out of first spot in the Northwest Division, and sees the Wolves leading that group.

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 7-4] WIN VS BOS, AROUND THE LEAGU

Postby Kieran on Sun Dec 15, 2013 1:31 pm

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Injuries: None | Ejections: None

Recap points
- From early game the Wolves were all over the Celtics defensively, something they'd been working on specifically.
- Long shot-clocks on Celtics offense often led to forced shot, MarShon Brooks the main Celtic on offence.
- Rubio and Barea combined for 10 fouls as they hassled Rondo all game long, making it hard for him.
- Shabazz Muhammad got solid minutes, and showed some good signs, getting hot with his work both on offence and on D
- While Boston stuck with the Wolves for three quarters, the Wolves just run away with the game in the fourth leaving Boston high and dry.
- Ronny Turiaf with a beasting effort off the bench, allowing Pek and Love to play a few minutes less than they have been lately. The Carribean earning the unlikely POG honours.

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 7-4] WIN VS BOS, AROUND THE LEAGU

Postby Kieran on Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:12 pm

BI-MONTHLY RECAP:

In the first post can be sen the stats and standings update for 17/11/13 (ingame)

The positives:
- Many individual achievements for the Wolves including most notably Kevin Love 2nd in PPG, Ricky Rubio leading the league in APG, Pekovic leading the league in FG% as well as fine 3PT numbers from Love and Martin
- Unexpectedly, Love and Pek are both in the top 5 in the league for BPG, showcasing some of the strongest inside defence in the league
- The roster is young without being too young. A good combination of still-legitimate veterans and young stars.
- Most Wolves games have been free-scoring and the firepower that they've craved over the following years has finally arrived in a so-far consistently healthy Love, the addition of Martin, a new-and-improved Corey Brewer and reliable Pekovic
- Veteran imports Kevin Martin and Ronny Turiaf have fit into the lineup seemlessly.
- Defence has been shored up by the acquisition of Mbah a Moute as well as the use of a few different defensive sets in different situations
- Plenty of choice at all positions, If a player or two can't find their game, there are many others on the roster who are capable. Great depth.
- Kevin Love named player of the week for the week just gone.
- Rookies Robbie Hummel, Gorgui Dieng and Shabazz Muhammad are showing they can contribute when given the opportunity. All are able, and have great attitudes.

The negatives:
- While Love can do it all this season, there is sometimes an over-reliance on him and there have been times that the team have struggled when he is off the floor.
- Individual accolades are great, but 7-4 is probably worse than this team expected to be right now given the solid individual performances
- Nikola Pekovic has already injured his ankle twice. He hasn't missed any games but there are fears that any further injury could sideline him.
- 15th man A.J. Price was the final player to make the cut in pre-season but has not been called upon yet in the regular season, leading to some frustration and a big drop in his morale (see below)
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 7-4] WIN VS BOS, AROUND THE LEAGU

Postby Martti. on Tue Dec 17, 2013 9:58 am

Didn't think I'd see the day when Turiaf outscores both Love and Pekovic. :P
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 7-5] LOSS IN WAS, STATS/STANDINGS

Postby Kieran on Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:48 pm

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Injuries: None | Ejections: (MIN) Barea; (WAS) Gortat

Recap points:
- A really close first half, John Wall firing for the Wizards, causing foul trouble for both Rubio and Barea once again
- Wall took over in the third quarter with the Wizards running all over the top of the Wolves behind his play.
- Slow defensive rotations saw the Wizards go to Wall more often than not for the entier second half.
- Love back to his high rebounding numbers keeping the Wizards off the boards to a degree.
- No way back for the Wolves after blowing out in the third quarter
- John Wall player of the game

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 7-5] LOSS IN WAS, STATS/STANDINGS

Postby Kieran on Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:53 pm

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 8-5] MIN TOP LAC IN WEST BLOCKBUS

Postby Kieran on Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:09 pm

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Injuries: None | Ejections: (LAC) Jordan

Recap points
- A good old shootout. Two of the fastest paced teams in the league scoring freely. Plenty of firepower on both teams despite the defensive presences of each team
- Chris Paul hard to contain, scoring 42 and dishing 14 assists. It had been noted previously that the Wolves struggle against elite point guards, with Rubio and Barea racking up huge foul totals. A.J. Price was activated for this game to help share the load and contributed 8 points in 8 minutes in his first game in Wolves colours.
- An intense battle between Love and Griffin on the boards
- Rubio picks up his first POG honors of the year

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 8-6] MIN FALL TO BKN IN TIGHT GAM

Postby Kieran on Fri Jan 03, 2014 1:17 am

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Injuries: None | Ejections: (BKN) Williams

Recap Points:
- The first game of the season where the Wolves have used their throwback jerseys; opting for the late 90's to mid 00's home jersey.
- A game of runs where each team had times of total dominance against the other
- Joe Johnson used screens and slow interior defence to his advantage to take out POG honors scoring 31
- Despite Martin's 3Pt shooting and high minutes, Wolves still not able to get the W.
- Game was within 5 points of the Wolves reach late in the last quarter but the last minute saw the score expand to a 12 point Brooklyn lead.
- A season best game for Gorgui Dieng (7 rebounds (5 offensive), 11 points and a block) show that the young big man is more than just your stereotypical lanky shotblocker. Can be relied upon to score inside. This may well prove to be his breakout game.

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 8-6] MIN FALL TO BKN IN TIGHT GAM

Postby Vespasian92 on Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:40 am

Great to see Dieng get a chance with Pekovic's injury. Maybe he and Budinger can help your bench give some guys like Love and Martin a break now and again.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 8-6] MIN FALL TO BKN IN TIGHT GAM

Postby Kieran on Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:02 pm

Vespasian92 wrote:Great to see Dieng get a chance with Pekovic's injury. Maybe he and Budinger can help your bench give some guys like Love and Martin a break now and again.

Yeah after a slow start, Bud has started to find his shot a little and has gotten more minutes in recent games. The bench is reasonably deep, just need to be more consistent. Hummel could be a solid backup if he could shoot consistently, the same way that Cunningham could earn a little more time if he had a little more grit. But the foundations are definitely there. Dieng has been impressive with his offensive rebounding and inside scoring, moreso than most of us would have thought.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 8-6] MIN FALL TO BKN IN TIGHT GAM

Postby Kieran on Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:04 pm

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 9-6] WIN VS TOP OF WEST HOUSTON

Postby Kieran on Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:27 pm

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Injuries: None | Ejections: None

Recap Points:
- An important clash against the Rockets who before the game sat atop the Western conference.
- Minnesota's "Bruise Brothers" Pekovic and Love were very strong inside and forced Dwight Howard to compete with them, instead of the other way round.
- Gorgui Dieng strong off the bench once again
- Ricky Rubio getting it done on the scoring side of things, proving to be a more and more reliable shot maker, or go to guy to slash inside.
- Kevin Martin scored freely and consistently throughout the game, taking POG honours.
- The game came down to one final play in which the Wolves were down by 1 in the dying seconds. The video below shows Pekovic making the winning basket, a foul by Howard which sent Pek to the line for the And 1.

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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 9-6] WIN VS TOP OF WEST HOUSTON

Postby mp3 on Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:57 am

HUGE game for Garcia!

Good to see all your starters in double figures too, Dieng chipping in !
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 10-6] WOLVES TOP PACERS

Postby Kieran on Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:44 pm

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Injuries: (MIN) Cunningham (ankle) | Ejections: None

Recap points:
- An injured Paul George out of the starting lineup for the Pacers, and only played minimal minutes for the game which helped the Timberwolves alot.
- A solid defensive performance from the Wolves kept the Pacers to less than 100 points, the first time this season that has been achieved.
- Pekovic and Kevin Martin's fatigue levels were "Sluggish" before game start, so they both played slightly lesser roles than usual. Solid bench performances from Budinger, Barea, Turiaf and to a lesser extent Dieng and Hummel, were able to assist Kevin Love (player of the game) in helping the Wolves to this dominating win.
- Orlando Johnson the only real shining light for the Pacers.
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Re: RUN WITH THE PACK [MIN 10-6] WOLVES TOP PACERS - INJURY

Postby Kieran on Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:51 pm

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