Do the Minnesota Timberwolves Have a Fourth Quarter Collapse Problem? | The MN Basketball Party

Do the Minnesota Timberwolves Have a Fourth Quarter Collapse Problem? | The MN Basketball Party

The Wolves had a 62-point performance and they blew it we’ll talk about how it happened and is it a symptom of a greater problem on today’s Minnesota basketball party this is locked on Sports Minnesota podcast it’s endless Minnesota Timberwolves talk with the diverse voices of your local experts

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With the Fallout of the Wolves squandering a 62o Carl Anthony towns performance fourth quarter leads getting away becoming an alarming Trend and even Joel beid goes in outshines cat on his 62-point night with 70 points himself we’ll compare the two big men on today’s show but let’s meet the panel with our opening

Tip hey what’s up it’s Reggie Wilson from k 11 and the wolves are a very unserious basketball team I have tried to defend them on this podcast but what Chris Finch said he was right I’m B Beacon host of The Daily lockdown wolves podcast and uh contrary

To Reggie I I don’t think the sky is falling the fourth quarter issues are real and we’ll talk about that but the sky is not absolutely falling on this team they’re they are a true contender in the west uh I’m Jack Borman I’m editor-in Chief at Kos suus co-host of

The lock on wolves postcast with with my man Luke Inman uh and I’m gonna talk a little bit about a fivelet word that that Timberwolves fans should uh get familiar with here well my name is Ron Johnson former Gophers WI receiver NFL wide receiver basketball like Enthusiast I’m also a

Great Hooper and I’m going to talk about how not only did the Timberwolves disrespect the game of basketball but they deserve to be the number two team right now and I’m Sam extrom and I’m just trying not to flop when somebody charges at me um on today’s show we’ve got

Plenty to get to but let’s start with the big story Monday’s game Carl Anthony Town scores 62 and I I would say for three quarters guys this was all going according to plan the lead was expanding cat almost had 60 through three quarters I believe he had 58 they led by as many

As 18 and 15 points going into the fourth it felt like a cruise control win where Carl Anthony towns could go put up a big franchise record number now he did get the franchise record but at the cost of everybody forgetting how to play basketball in the fourth quarter and

Forgetting how to play defense in particular because the Charlotte Hornets shot like 60% and beat the Minnesota Timberwolves and then sold off Terry roier and then everything now they’re blowing it up um but Reggie what are your most meaningful takeaways from this collapse because it it sounds like we’ve

Already got s two sides of this coin we’ve got th those that are saying this was an Abomination disrespectful egregious and then we’ve got the Reax crowd over there with Jack bman so Reggie where do you fall yeah I mean I I don’t think like

The sky is falling but I do think that that was a very indicative performance of where the wolves are at this point in their basketball Journey you know I think uh Finch said that they were immature and I think that was the big part of it you know we we saw what

Happened with embiid on the same night and it just seemed like especially in that fourth quarter they were forcing it too much you know they were trying to throw it into cat cat’s going you know taking on double teams trying to go one on four on that second to last

Possession and and I’m I’m like what is going on like just hoop like play the game and it it turned into like some herob ball like cat thought he was Kobe down the stretch and he’s just taking all these crazy shots granted they were going in earlier in the game but it

Really just they they kind of got away from who exactly they are you know you get nine points from from Ant the bench really doesn’t do much like it was cat and the Pips out there that’s how it kind of felt and nobody else really kind of impacted the game

The way that we’re used to seeing them impact the game and it just blew up in their faces I mean you you look at this statline and you allow 28 points to Miles Bridges you got got 27 from Miller and they just they just start shooting the lights out in the fourth

Quarter and and that was just a very inexplicable loss you don’t have a game like that where one of your Stars scores that many points and you lose it’s just like it kind of almost nullifies that’ll always be in history Carl Anthony towns breaks the franchise record for points

In a losing performance it’s it’s not it’s just it’s it feels like Timberwolves basketball from like the last several years that I’ve been paying attention to them it’s just it’s just not the the thing that you want to be known for cat is now on this like esteemed list you

Know with MJ and like all these other guys who have scored 62 plus points in a losing effort and I think I tweeted like it’s good company but it’s not really a list you want to be on yeah I I saw this list it’s like scoring 60 plus in the loss Wilt

Chamberlain 10 times and then like five other guys who did it once um so it’s not a very long list and it really was The Perfect Storm of Charlotte getting incredibly hot um Carl Anthony towns I I thought he forced I mean I I think you

Allow for a little bit of heat checking he probably gave away three or four possessions though in that fourth quarter that that they actually desperately needed there down the stretch because he was hunting because he wasn’t playing in the flow of the game he was going at people and if it’s

Joel embiid I do think he probably get some of those foul calls I do think he got fouled especially on the last play but also um you got to play Within you got to play basketball you can’t be that Reckless Ben Beacon what do you think

Yeah I mean I I I think uh I think all the above is true right and I would push back a little bit with with the introduction assertion Sam that things are going according to plan certainly they were up what 16 or 17 or something going to the fourth quarter and it was

Close enough where cat still had to play there was kind of that sweet spot where everybody’s like let’s see if cat can get 70 or 75 or whatever uh but the prer defense was horrific all night and that’s kind of where this starts and and yes Charlotte did get hot they did make

Some contested shots late brand Miller was crazy in this game um but it was it was really the priver defense that was so awful but I mean like I wouldn’t also I I at the same time wouldn’t say that that was necessarily the worst part of the collapse because clearly this is the

Best defensive team team in the league there’s no question we have a big enough body of work now even with these stats like their the gap between them and the next best team in defensive rating and opponent effective field goal percentage is crazy the wolves have a legitimately

Great defense they really do this was just a really bad game and and well uh well I would still argue that their defense is great it’s possible to have a terrible game now and again and it’s also possible for it to come on a night where um some of the larger issues that

Have been going on all season um like the fourth quarter offense specifically that to me is the most concerning thing and yeah the cat thing is certainly part of it I I un locked on wolves on I guess it would have been Tuesday I went back through the first part of the fourth

Quarter like the first five or six possessions when they were up double digits weren’t actually bad possessions it was like they ran a play to get cat an open through Corner three he just missed it they uh Jordan mcclin missed a wide open three-point shot cat took

Somebody to the basket he wasn’t double teamed he missed it but Rudy cleaned it up and got an offensive rebound like they had five six possessions in a row that were fine they just missed some open shots and then that’s when it was like ah shoot nothing’s working let’s go

Back to cat and he’ll force it and and it’s a big night for him anyway and that’s when things kind of got off the rails so it was really the most concerning thing to me was the inability to pull out of a tail spin once they were already in it slash the fourth

Quarter offense which you’ve seen so often kind of rear its ugly head this season I you know again I I I said something to this effect on Twitter like both could be true right like they can got they can get screwed by the refs on the final possession what they did and

Which they did and they can force the ball to c a little bit too much in this game which they did but but also have some other things that happen and I think in the broader picture it doesn’t mean that you know this team is is in

Big trouble or anything like that um and there’s there’s a lot of reasons for that that I’ve talked about in lock on wolves but in this game specifically it was the perimeter defense it was the lack of execution on the fourth quarter offense and between the two it’s the

Fourth quarter offense that’s a legitimate problem you know moving forward I’m not as worried about them also giving up 130 to like another terrible team on this road trip like I don’t think that’s going to be a regular occurrence all right jack we’re dying to know your five litter word did I predict

It correctly is it an Reax situation it it sure is Sam um yeah I I just couldn’t care less that that they lost this game um frankly wow IIs cares a lot Chris Finch cares a lot why don’t you care that that’s good for Chris Finch it’s

His job to care uh it is it is not my job to to care or to be emotionally invested it one way or the other I thought I thought it was funny more than anything um look from from being around these guys in the locker room the the

The most important thing that I think fans need to remember is these guys are human all of us show up to work everybody listening all five of us and there are days where we are not our 100% best selves right like we we just we don’t have our our aame every single

Game and like that’s okay we’re we’re all human beings I realize that you know Ron you don’t make $ 51 million or $45 million or or none of us do uh and those players do and and that’s totally fine but but at the end of the

Day like this is a weird once in a season game where a guy goes absolutely bananas everybody on the team is having fun it is mid January against a terrible team everybody in there is just trying to get to the allstar break at this point everybody in the Wolves Locker

Room everybody in the Hornets Locker Room everybody in every NBA locker room at this point is just trying to get to the all-star break and you know I I I just have zero issue that they wanted to you know help their guy have a historic night because you know we can all sit

Around here and say that you know stats don’t matter or these guys shouldn’t care about this stuff but guess what like all these NBA players care about this stuff and they want to support their teammates and they tried to support Carl the best they could and you

Know what they they kind of played a dumb game and won a dumb prize and sometimes you have to do that to learn that like all right like next time this happens like maybe we shouldn’t necessarily try this again but um you know and you and if you want to get

Picky you wish that at some point you just kind of aband abandon this scoring Chase and try to focus on winning the game but like Anthony Edwards said like it’s it’s hard to flip that switch and you know this this game just has like no uh similarities to a game that matters

Uh Mike Conley didn’t play um and then you also factor and like the Hornets are terrible like all these NBA teams like bring a more focused effort against really good teams compared to like poor teams and we can talk about how the Wolves need to do a better job of that

Guess what they’re 11 and3 against teams under 500 last year they were 17 and 18 against teams under 500 like they’ve taken a huge step forward in that area they’ve already proven that they are more than capable of taking care of teams that are below

500 and um at a at the end of the day the NBA is an entertainment product and uh you know get get mad at me all you want but I was thoroughly entertained throughout that game I had a I had a wonderful time watching that game in the

First three quarters and watching Carl do his thing and I had a wonderful time laughing at uh what what in my mind was just a pretty funny collapse because like you know Chris Finch said and and and Reggie said like that they absolutely deserved what happened um but

But that doesn’t change uh my stance that I I just don’t think that this game or or or how they performed in the fourth quarter specifically really has much of any bearing on how we should think about this team moving forward you know they were the

Butt of a joke for the day which I think is totally fine but uh you know I also think people on some level need to realize that this is like a very unique circumstance that caused uh a result that I just don’t really think matters all that much going

Forward yeah we we’ll get into these chronic fourth quarter collapses before the show is over but Ron Johnson give it to us yeah I’m GNA uh you’re your honor I would like to address Jack as a hostile witness uh on the stand erroneous as my my guy Vince vaugh would

Say erroneous on all counts um here’s where I go with this yes it was entertaining yes it was fun to see Carl and the towns go for 62 we also saw Joe and B go for 70 and they won the game you know the big difference Tyrese Maxi

Was dialed in the entire game while Carl uh Joe lmbb was going at it so he was always ready for the kickout pass he was all ready to drive if they were a double team he was ready for you know Joel and B knew like hey if I’m getting triple

Team I’m going to kick it out that’s what frustrates me about Carl Anthony towns in that moment that’s why I think Chris Finch is like saying they disrespected the game because there’s one thing to be on a heater like i’ I’ve I’ve done it myself at the gym like you

Know I can get on a go every once in a while where if we’re playing the 17 I’m gon score 15 but also in the next game if I’m not H if I miss like three shots in a row I’m done I’m passing it I’m waiting I’m taking easier layups I’m not

Worried about shooting deep threes and that’s what frustrates me about caring the towns to be a veteran to be a leader and not realize at some point you’re forcing shots for no reason like whether you score 50 or whether you score 62 at the end of the day the only thing that

Matters is getting that ring that’s the only thing that matters like if you can walk away with that ring that’s all that matters is anybody gonna care about a 62-point game later no why because you lost now you’re going to be in this list of players that have done it and lost

Great but did you win a ring like Dan Marino we don’t even talk about Dan Marino and he’s one of the best quarterbacks ever in the NFL and he never gets bought up in the goat conversation because he didn’t win you have to win to be considered a goat and

That’s what’s going on right now you talk about Kevin Durant you could talk about Steph Curry Kevin Durant say why aren’t you guys put me in the because you never actually went out and won it without Steph Curry that’s why people are talking about you like that LeBron

Did it Steph did it like that Jordan did it Isaiah Thomas he’s be like they hate on Isaiah Thomas they just don’t like us in Detroit but when you think about that Carl Andy towns Anthony Edwards somebody and maybe Mike connley that’s that’s the problem not having Mike connley in that game I

Guarantee Mike connley eventually gets him back under control like yo y y Bruh Bruh you miss like five you’re you’re trip you’re traveling running people over like I got you just get in the post let’s play our game you got 55 let’s relax let’s relax and try to go win this

Game so I do like your fivelet word Jack I would have used it to the players relax let’s go win this game this might not be your night because what I don’t want to see is Anthony Edwards get on the on the heater and then that happens again where everybody’s standing around

Watching him like they’re at the pickup gym in my opinion I agree with Chris Finch it was disrespectful at some point at some point you have to realize you’re still in a basketball game and now that’s why you’re not the number one seed anymore and they deserve it we are

Going to get into these fourth quarter col collapses why they’re happening and we’ll do a little embiid cat side by side two of the better big men in today’s game but a couple words before we get back to that on the Minnesota basketball party Today’s Show brought to you by

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Up I’m probably more on the Reggie Ron team about being upset about this uh this blown game because it is symptomatic of a trend that’s bothersome now Mavericks Celtics Thunder and now Hornets four games firmly within your grasp that you’ve let slip away with ineptitude offensively in the fourth

Quarter late in games I know I two of those games I want to say no Mike connley who cares be better you’ve got other players on the team team that can handle the ball stop turning it over um so let’s go to Jack first why is it

Happening why are the Wolves gumming up in the fourth quarter uh when they have games in hand yeah I I frankly you’re you’re GNA hate me but I I frankly don’t think that they have a fourth quarter problem right now if if if you just want to look at

Their fourth quarter you know you want to look at their turnover percentage by month by quarter you want to look at their net rating uh you know Rank by by month uh the first month of the season they were 24th net rating in the fourth quarter uh second month of the year they

Were 15th third month 12 this month 14th like they’re they’ve been a pretty like average fourth quarter team and while yes like they’ve lost a few games in the fourth quarter in recent you know moments I I still think that um you know when you look at the Boston game pretty

Unique circumstances in that game with the weird travel thing they don’t have Mike Conley everybody’s exhausted you’re playing on the road in Boston against a team that hadn’t lost at home to that point and against Oklahoma City that was really the only game that I I am frankly

You know concerned about or or think carries a lot of weight because that is a that is a caliber of team that you’d see in the playoffs it is a game that everybody got up for and everybody was locked in for and I think was I I guess

More uh problematic uh when you think about the turnovers and that they had seven turnovers in that fourth quarter alone um that became eight Thunder points and I think a huge part of that problem is is uh you know a lot of the Timberwolves best scorers whether it be

Carl or ant or Nas Reed or Jaden even um just drive too much into crowds they they drive where there’s Defenders and and none of them are good enough to consistently uh make defenses pay for you know putting two three four guys on the ball and uh and then when those guys

Do get in positions to pass I don’t think the guys around them do a good enough job of of moving without the basketball to to present uh an option for them to pass the ball to and and that’s when you get some of these turnovers that um you know aren’t just

Turnovers but they’re live ball turnovers which are steals going the other way which you know result in points and free throws and all the rest of it so I think the the biggest thing for the Timberwolves is spacing um and I think you know it’s been more

Encouraging in the first half of games that Carl Anthony towns has been in the corner at least with the starting starting lineup which you know gives Anthony Ed and Rudy Gober kind of more more room to work in that two-man game and then once they you know spray the

Ball out to to one of the corners it just gets good ball movement going so I think the biggest things are just stop driving into a crowd uh and get off the ball early and trust that it’s going to come back to you because we all know

That um you know way more than the average team in the NBA that ball movement is uh is pivotal for this team you know I think they’re they’re 19- one uh when when they have at least 27 assists um which which is just really indicative of of when the Timberwolves

Move move the ball their offense is great I should say great is um is you know as good as it can be and when they don’t move the ball it’s it’s pretty tough to watch and that Oklahoma City game was an example if they just didn’t

Move the ball and um you know it’s just really tough when you know everybody kind of gets tight and starts missing shots and then you know like Ron said you know he misses two or three and he gets off of it right um so so players

Just kind of got to follow that and um and be willing to move it and trust that it’ll come back and find them but but again I’m not all that concerned um just because it’s it’s kind of who they’ve they’ve been all year it’s not really something that is now suddenly changing

Trying to find the John krinski tweet I thought it was John krinski who tweeted about their turnover issues um maybe it wasn’t although I did find the Karl Anthony Town stat on the John krinski feed and now I lost that too but it had the uh Will Chamberlain 10 George gerin

Devin Booker Michael Jordan and David Thompson those the other players to score 60 and lose but Ron Johnson fourth quarter collapses why are they happening well I mean part of it though is when you’re a winner and you’ve been winning at the clip they’ve done you

Know not let’s let’s let’s take it back because again I can I can be my own um you know I can defend my own sentiment 13 and or 30 and 13 versus a 10 and 31 team they lost to in the in the Hornets they were 9- 31

So when you’ve won 30 Games already before the allstar break you have a different feeling like early in this season we all picked a number 50 52 48 this is a team that theoretically could win 60 games and nobody would bat an eye because they’ve been playing that way like they were on

Pace to win 60 games and so when you think about that too I always talk about the report card they’ve always start out well they always have a great third quarter but then what do guys do I I always go back to Michael Jordan I hate

To do it because it’s a it’s a impossible person to go at or Kobe Bryant because I think somebody was just talking about kobey’s 81-point game oh yeah laap himself LeBron Le liar um saying that he knew Kobe was gonna go for 70 and then he knew Kobe was gonna

Go for 80 at the point he saw but why because people can see in Kobe’s eyes in the fourth quarter that it’s damn near over if it’s close because Kobe was gonna take over same with Michael Jordan any game that was close people look to Michael Jordan if you look at the

Timberwolves right now and the game is close I hate to say this we’re not looking at Carl Andy towns like H go do it big fella you got this like we’re not we don’t see Carl Andy towns as that killer in the fourth quarter now is it Anthony Edwards I personally think so

But when you’re young and you have a guy older than you a couple guys older than you it’s sometimes tough I forgot what Michael Jordan said but I think it wasn’t until like I mean people have to remember Michael didn’t do this until like 88 889 90 91 92 like that’s when he

Started realizing after he got his butt kicked by the Pistons all right I got to I got to be a leader now and so maybe this is the early butt kicking it wasn’t a butt kicking it was just embarrassing that the Timberwolves needed for Anthony Edwards maybe to sit back and reflect and

Say maybe it is my show maybe I should have took over in the fourth quarter great cat you had a great game but let me do what I do I’m rested I mean I haven’t scored much I think he had like eight points at that point let me take

Over and and that’s what they’re going to need I think it that the fourth quarter mindset is the problem they’re going in the fourth quarter the same way they see the other three quarters the fourth quarter is you gotta kill or be killed and it’s got to be Anthony

Edwards in my in my opinion yeah um it’s interesting because I tend to agree with Jack I I think honestly this is just a team just kind of figuring things out and they’ve had more good games in the fourth quarter than they’ve had bad um and couple of those like it’s so funny

Before the game um the other night against the Hornets when we found out that Mike Conley wasn’t playing I was like oh shoot here we go and honestly I think he would have been necessary because he’s kind of like the adult in the room you know amongst like

All the the kids you know and they’re doing whatever he’s just like hey hey hey cut that out the true point guard out there to really just kind of get things going and and and get things on track and when he’s not out there I

Think it it is tough for the Wolves to really kind of lock in in the way that they should um and look I think that’s part of it but I also just agree with Jack like I I think these are just some Growing Pains of a team that’s learning

How to win consistently and and do it well and I think we have more games of them doing well in the fourth quarter than not this season and so I think we kind of tend to well I’ll kind of tend to go towards the the games that they

Were doing good at um and so I I think the as the season goes along and they try to figure out you know who they are and and how they’re going to win basketball games I think they’ll continue to mature and they’ll continue to figure things out and and find their

Way and these games know they they they suck you know from a fan standpoint because they’re like oh like can this wolves team just get it together and just be good when they’re supposed to be good and I I think that’s coming I think that’s something that they are striving

Towards and and things that they are hoping to continue to improve on but honestly in a in a long season like this games like those are are gonna happen and you know here it is now they’re they’ve lost their second straight um for what just the second time this season and I

Think long 82 Game season man so when things like this happened you you kind of want to put it in a microscope and say like oh man what’s the issue here what’s going on but I think these things just kind of happen and I think they’ll they’ll

Figure things out and and get better from this but it’s surely when they when they lose a game like they did the other night against Charlotte that just kind of leaves a bad t in fans miles but I think they’ll figure it out Ben yeah I mean I think Reggie hit the

Nail on the head like they have been fine in the fourth quarter for most of the Year Jack mentioned some numbers regarding that um I think the biggest thing for me is like we weren’t talking about this when when uh like what’s the different way it says um they haven’t

Lost a bunch of games like this to bad teams late right like the only close late games they’ve lost to bad teams are this game and the Hornets game or excuse me the Raptors game game in the first game of the season uh all the other

Games that you listed at the start of this this segment Sam were against good teams I mean Boston you know no Conley overtime game back toback on the road I know they excuses but like those are realities too right the Thunder game was a was was as Jack said a disappointed

Finish for sure turnovers were a massive issue in that game but if you don’t turn the ball over 20 20 or however many times before the fourth quarter then it’s not that close of a game anyway because they all played the thunder in a lot of other ways the other close late

Games they’ve lost the Dallas game they’re a good team right like you just sometimes you just lose games to good teams late and If This Were a pattern If This Were happening frequently against subpar competition um I know it’s a the fourth quarter issues offensively and

Some of the turnover stuff are you know that’s generally a pattern but they aren’t losing these games Clos Late To Mediocre and bad teams consistently enough I did on lock that wolves I went back actually Today’s Show on Wednesday’s show and looked at like like really big picture and this is

Anecdotal sure but it’s it’s a pretty good argument against the skies falling for this team like go back and look like last year the Nuggets went through a stretch where they lost six out of eight in March and they lost to like bad teams go back and look at the Warriors two

Years ago they lost three or four straight games to non-playoff teams or teams that got swept in the first round of the playoffs in like February so like this stuff happens we’re still talking about a team that hasn’t lost more than two games in a row they’re not losing to

Bad teams consistently um you know we’re going to talk about this road trip if they lay an egg on this road trip I think a week from now we may be having a different conversation but sitting here right now you know I I the fourth quarter issues generally broadly are a

Problem in terms of turnovers Etc but when you’re talking about a problem for a team that’s still a half game out of the first spot in the west and hasn’t lost more than two games in all year um you know there’s there’s varying levels of problems right and so I think I I

Don’t know that I don’t think we should you know um overstate what the issues are coming up we’re going to compare our guy Carl Anthony towns and the 7 Point scorer Joel embiid the defending MVP since the two were compared on Monday with their big nights that’s coming up on the Minnesota basketball

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On the Minnesota basketball party cat versus MB the two were obviously compared on Monday cat scores 52 embiid scores 70 embiid is the defending MVP he’s a scoring title winner what is holding cat back from being Joel embiid is it merely a volume thing embiid

Shoots a lot if cat shot that much would he be embiid would he be an MVP what is the difference between these two generational big men I’m curious because Ron and I were talking about this on uh on Tuesday before your show Ron so Ron why don’t you take the first

Crack yeah I’m quick I mean the quick answer is embiid has been doing it at a more consistent clip and I think that’s the big difference he’s been consistent with how he scores he’s not trying to shoot threes all the time and I think that’s the difference cat at his size

Could be one of the most dominant power forwards in the game of basketball I mean if you think about Tim Duncan back to the basket learn the footwork aim alijan back to the basket learn the footwork learn how to get through you know tight spaces use his strength to go

Up uh Tim Duncan had one of the best you know fundamentally sound jumpers off the backboard I mean we called them big fundamentals for that cat is kind of a wild card he wants to be this Kentucky guard he wants to shoot and Calipari said get your big ass down there on the

Block and I’m going to make you a firstr draft pick and what does cat do he does it but he gets to the NBA man I could shoot man like stop disrespecting me man I could shoot you are the biggest guy on the floor sometimes and you want to shoot threes

And I think that’s the difference embid gets it at the Block he gets it at the top of the key even if he gets it at the three his first movement is to drive he’s trying to figure out how can I get closer and I think that’s the only

Difference they’re both really good I would take either one on my team but if I had to pick between the two I’m taking them B because he plays within the scheme of his game more also Carlin the towns has Rudy gobe who’s already down there then he also has Anthony Edwards

Who’s a really good scorer whereas embiid you know he did play with James Harden they were really good when he did it but clearly Harden could fill it like we have to go to embiid every once in a while so that’s why hard wanted to get out of there so that’s the only

Difference but I I think I don’t know embiid to me seems a little bit more polished when it comes to being a true big man and and Carl towns wants to be this guard yeah embid he’s got a little size or a little girth I guess they’re

The same height and Beads listed as 280 and does seem to get a lot of respect when he drives he’s become a very efficient two-point shooter but nowhere near the three-point shooter that Carl Anthony towns is so so they are different players certainly but Reggie what’s your

Take yeah it’s it’s really what what Ron said I feel like it’s interesting because cat wants to get the cause that embiid actually gets and it’s it’s uh it’s tough because just about every shot you see cat take especially if it’s in the paint and he’s driving and all that

Like when he’s running back down the floor he’s like foul that was a foul I feel like we see him say it just about every time he goes back down the court and he wants to get those calls and then be gets all those calls I think it’s

Interesting too like when you look at their game sometimes it seems like cat when he drives like there’s a force like pulling him in the opposite direction sometimes and when embiid goes and decides that he wants to go to the rack like there’s nothing stopping him he’s got the Euro

Step and like there’s the biggest dude I’ve ever seen with the Euro Step In My Life um and and he’s much more efficient in the paint than cat is I think you know cat can’t catch and shoot and that’s fun you know you know when you’re

On 2K and you got a big man and you’re shooting threes that’s fun and so like he’s a he’s a fun big but I think as far as like the skill set goes I think what embiid brings is a little bit more valuable just because he is more

Consistent when he’s driving to the paint and he’s getting calls and you know guys falling off of him and still finishing through contact and all those things and you know cat I think cat just leaves a little bit to be desired in that regard um I think it’s it’s a tough

Comparison just because they do two different things and it’s it’s interesting because you know when when C was doing his thing the other night you know a lot of that was was him shooting it lights out and and B was kind of doing some dirty work in there and C

Doesn’t do a whole lot of the Dirty Work and so I think it’s it’s a it’s a weird comparison to make just because they’re not necessarily the same type of player but I think they’re both you know they both find ways to to help their teams in

Different ways and be just kind of does it at an MVP level and C is especially this year um I said the other night on care cat has kind of taken the passenger seat this season um and just kind of does what is needed of him on a night to

Night basis and it was funny because you know on Monday night he just kind of took the wheel back like hey this is my car I’m driving it and we don’t see a whole lot of that from cat and funny enough it it happened in a losing effort

So it’s like I don’t know how much more we’ll see of cat taking the wheel but it you know something like that shows you know embiid in a winning effort cat in a losing effort kind of shows the difference between the two guys and as unfair as that may

Sound Ben yeah I don’t want to turn this into just a andb gets the calls and cat doesn’t and Cat complains too much conversation but um like it’s free throws like that’s the number one thing and also by the way going back to to Ron’s point cat actually shoots more

Shots inside 3 feet and from 3 to 10 feet so slice it up however you want within 10 feet to the basket cat shoots a higher percentage of his shots from that area of the floor than Joel embiid does embiid does so much work from the mid-range and Cat just doesn’t shoot

That many mid-range jumpers and actually hasn’t been certainly not nearly as good as embiid from that range but I mean this year cat’s actually been decent from there he just doesn’t shoot the ball that much from the mid-range which is a good thing so cat’s actually for

The most part the shot selection is good um free throw rate like it’s not close I mean embiid shoots a historic amount of free throws and everybody knows how much he didn’t play Early in his career even still how many fewer games he’s playing like this season he’s played 10 less

Games than cat but for his career embiid has so this is this is crazy cat’s played in 130 127 more games than Joel embiid but Joel embiid has attempted uh like 1,200 more free throws I had the exact number and then I lost it hang on one sec uh embiid has

Attempted uh 4,300 free throws in cats at 2900 so it’s it’s literally what is that 1,400 more free throws less games yeah um so that’s that’s the biggest thing and and obviously there’s a skill to that I’m not saying MB gets the calls cat doesn’t

That’s part of it but there is also a skill to draw in fouls and embiid is really really good at at doing that he also attacks the basket a lot it’s something cat could do a little bit more of um embiid’s just a generational talent and and talent-wise Cat is too

But because of embiid’s shot selection and also you know the ability and um The Good Fortune of getting to line as often as he does uh that’s where he makes a lot of hay and that’s why he’s averaging just an ungodly like 36 points per game so far this

Year yeah I think um just you know I was going to say you know some similar things that that Ben was um but going back to to what Ron said I I think the biggest difference to me just in terms of their actual play is I think Joel

Embiid uses his strength a lot more effectively than Carl Anthony towns does uh Carl Anthony towns there’s no way he’s the same height as Joel embiid he’s probably two two and a half inches shorter than Joel embiid um despite what they’re listed at and he’s like 45

Pounds lighter than embiid and and that really does make a huge difference when when you’re comparing the two especially playing a similar position but um I I think Joel embiid also is a much more fluid athlete than Carl I think you see the Herky jerkiness of of Carl uh Carl’s

Kind of play and how he tries to draw fouls and I do think that that plays a significant factor into F draon like you look at joic and inmb those two draw an insane amount of fouls compared to Carl because they’re much more fluid than than Carl and I think that matters um

And the other thing with Joel embiid is Joel embid plays in a fourr round one offense like all four guys out there around him can shoot threes so he has much more room to work than Carl does uh in the one year that Carl truly had a

Four round one system he averaged 27 points on 40 on 5480 shooting with 11 11 rebounds four and a half assists and two stocks and that was the year that got cut short because of his wrist injury in covid in 201920 and so and then obviously like you want to look at usage

Rate which is the percentage of possessions that end either in that player shooting getting an assist or turning it over um embiid’s usage rate is 39% which if it’s not the highest in NBA history it’s right there with Harden and Houston and Carl’s only at 27% so

That that certainly matters as well but um yeah I just think the the way that embiid uses his body is much more efficient and effective than than how Carl uses it you know independent of uh you know the way that they they play the game all right we end every show like

This we predict the week wolves going on the road at Wizards tonight at nets tomorrow at Spurs at Thunder three teams well below 500 and then a big one on the road in OKC predict the week Ben Beacon yeah I’m G to go four and0 uh I think um the

Back-to-back is the biggest honestly I think they’ll win an OKC I mean they it’s I still like the matchup and uh they’re they’re gonna want to get one back not lose that tiebreaker on the season um so my my the next game is probably the one that I’m a little

Worried about but I think they’ll go 4 and0 yeah I also had 4 and0 here um you know if they they heard Ben might be in the building uh for that Thunder game so they’re they’re going to get a win for him um but but yeah I think you know the

Wizards game if if you can hold kako under 21 points they’re going to win the game um that’s what’s been the trend all year for the Wizards uh the Nets um two and 11 last 13 talented team second night of a back toback but that’s a

Pretty easy travel day um and then the Spurs again good match up for Carl Anthony towns um if you throw out that scheduled loss in Phoenix and then you know a healthy uh against a healthy Pelicans team when a didn’t play they’re nine and2 when Carl is the leading

Scorer in the game and and it’s certainly a good match up for that and then in that Thunder game I I just think they’ll be locked in and and ready to go and and really eager to to kind of put put that last game against the Thunder

Um you know out of mind out of sight so four and0 for me Ron ah this is a tough one I went three in one last week I think I’m gonna do it again I’m G just go three and one I just think I think the Nets and wizards are winnable I

Think between the Spurs and the Thunder there might be a slip up in there the Thunder the number one team right now in the west uh I think that’s going to have playoff implications that’s going to have playoff feeling that might be the Western Conference fin fin so that’s

Going to be you know ratcheted up a little bit Chad hren just got his jersey retired so I’m going to go three and one um I’ll I’ll go two- two I think actually no I’m I’m sorry I’m gonna go three in one I think they are locked in

Against these worst teams because of what happened against Charlotte I think they win against the the subpar teams but I also think that OKC on the road is is a still a really tough game and I felt like they kind of played the game they needed to play to beat them at home

And they got an inefficient shooting night from OKC Shay wasn’t at his absolute best they only scored 102 points in the game and the Wolves still lost I think that OKC would actually be more likely to have a better offensive performance when they’re back at home

And I think the Wolves will have a tough time there so I’m gonna go three and one with an OKC loss Reggie uh I’ll go three and one too but funny enough I think actually that one loss is going to happen at Brooklyn on a

Second uh night of a backto back so I think they can go into OKC and beat those guys especially you know with the loss that they just took I think they’ll be motivated to to play well and and take it to them that night but I think

Brooklyn is gonna be tricky with uh Brooklyn Bridges putting trying to put ant in Mel jail as they say I love it um good show guys covered a lot of round didn’t always agree which I like I like the differences of opinion um Reggie Wilson k 11 Ben Beacon locked

On wolves Jack Borman locked on wolves postcast and Kana suus and Ron Johnson the Ron Johnson show and plenty more uh I’m Sam extrom you can find us all on X we’re tweeting we’re debating people about the Wolves we’re complaining when they lose which I usually do um and we

Appreciate you watching and listening to Minnesota basketball party here on lockdown Sports Minnesota talk to you next week for wolves talk each Wednesday

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 62 points but the Minnesota Timberwolves lost. The guys discuss what went wrong vs. the CHarlotte Hornets and whether the collapse was symptomatic of a bigger problem. Plus, how does KAT stack up against defending MVP Joel Embiid right now? That’s all on the latest episode of the Minnesota Basketball Party.

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