The Minnesota Timberwolves Are SURGING Into the All-Star Break | The Minnesota Basketball Party
Welcome to the basketball party I’m Sam extrom of lock on Sports Minnesota last week we were in panic mode and the wolves go on the west coast and what do they do they rattle off big wins we’ll discuss it all plus Allstar Weekend and Valentine’s 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 it’s time for the Minnesota basketball party on the locked on on podcast Network your team every day what’s up everyone wolves talk every Wednesday here on lockdown Sports
Minnesota it’s the Minnesota basketball party with some of your favorite wolves analysts around I’m Sam extrom you’ll meet the rest of the crew in a moment we’re so glad you’re with us today on the lockdown Sports Minnesota YouTube Channel please give us a subscription and check us out perhaps on the 247 20
Uh 247 YouTube live stream as well also hear us us on the locked on wolves audio feed where you can also get daily wolves podcast locked on wolves with Ben Beacon but let’s meet our team with our opening tip take it away Ben I’m Ben Beacon host of The Daily lockdown wolves podcast
We’ll talk today a little bit about the uh the last two wolves wins in La against the Clippers Monday and against Portland on Tuesday and how they won each of those games in pretty different fashion um and I thought they were in some ways equally maybe not equally
Nearly as impressive as as as one another I’m Jack bman editor-in Chief P kis hoopus co-host of the lockon wolves postcast with my man Luke Inman uh and I’ll be talking a little bit about why I think that Clippers game from a couple nights ago should give you more hope in
Uh you know the Timberwolves postseason prospects than any game that that we’ve seen so far from this team this season Reggie Wilson Carol 11 and you know I still think wolves fans are just a little timid to go all in on this team and I think that it’s okay it’s okay
Especially especially uh Sam eom’s take from last week he’s just he’s been panicked but it might be good reason for everybody to just calm down a little bit yeah thank you Reggie and thank you everybody it’s good to have you uh on the panel today I have been panicking
And last week I was in full panic mode I might have even used the fword frauds about this team after their collapse against the Bulls oh you did you did I I don’t know if there’s record of that that might have been your imagination let’s check the tape but the response to
Our show which I’m sure they all listen to they go out and they toy with Milwaukee who was undermanned then they take on a full strength Clippers team and as Jack alluded to maybe the most impressive win of the year there’s been a lot of moments where we’ve said that
So don’t want to get too caught in recency bias but there are there are good wins where it comes down to the wire and you duke it out and you hit that shot at the end and then there are good wins where you are just you’re you’re banking in threes at the end
Because you’re so comfortable in your Victory I mean they were having their way with the Clippers driving dunks three-point shots shut down defense uh considering the opponent and the stage um and the the health of the Clippers on that night that felt like the newest best win of the year and the Wolves
Followed it up not by stubbing their toe but by putting together another dominant fourth quarter another game where we saw Luca Garza at the end and the end of the bench getting playing time as they beat Portland last night 121 109 so let’s go to Ben Beacon these last two wins uh
Really go a long way toward shaping how we view the Wolves heading into the All-Star break yeah and I mentioned this in the open I I like the um how similar but different the two two wins were so the Clippers win well it wasn’t a wire
To wire win they were actually down at Halftime by four points and I think maybe that’s what’s most impressive is that this wasn’t a hey we just crushed them from the jump and they gave up and it wasn’t a last second where there’s some good fortune you know to win a
Close game late there always is this was more of a flip of what we’ve seen right them losing to a bad team after having a big lead late they were down at halftime came out had a monster third quarter on both ends of the floor and then still
Blew them out and put them away after trailing at halftime so it was almost like if you could rank the different types of wins like this is this is right up there with a with a close game against a good team because they it was
A close game and then they just said no we’re gonna we’re GNA put this thing away in the second half you’re G to go small and we’re g to crush you um and so Monday’s win was all about size length the defense um and and Anthony Edwards a
Phenomenal ant game in which he missed 10 three-point attempts and the only one he made was an intentional Bank in garbage time basically um it it was like it was and also I’ll draw like um comparison into Monday and Tuesday when it comes to ant like Monday was all
About ant’s non-scoring game and yes he scored points but it was it was in the paint I think all of his makes except for that one or basically all of his makes were were twos except for that one banked in three and he had like I think
Eight assists to no turnovers um and then Tuesday against Portland he scores 41 takes 27 shots nobody else on the team shoots the ball more than seven times which is except for goar I think goar had 10 attempts nobody else shoots it more than seven times so goar shoots
At 10 an has 20 S field goal attempts he drops 41 he only has two assists but I thought his decision- making was still good on Tuesday so you had the ant distribution facilitation game on Monday and then you had the ant scoring game on Tuesday and both wins were very
Impressive um in addition to ants play on Tuesday you also had you know the depth showing up like a poor game for McDaniels a foul trouble Laden game from cat a kind of Me game from Conley but you had Nas Reed and Alexander Walker both play extremely well on Tuesday um
And you know when it comes to Portland like second half a back toback on the road but also something I talked about on today’s lock then wolves like when you’re the best you’re going to get other teams best and Portland has a lot of talent like there’s probably four
Rotation guys on that team that um are or four starters on that team that have been rotation guys or could be rotation guys on a playoff team so they have talent even though they’re a bad team and of course you’re G to get their best shot so I thought both games were very
Impressive um and for different reasons and uh you know a really really nice like hopefully no let down on Thursday leading into the All-Star break but a really nice last three games when a week ago we were a bit a bit concerned frankly coming off that Bulls loss yeah
The I thought last night’s win was the antithesis of that Bulls game where you had the big lead and then you started slipping and the the momentum got going in One Direction the shots started falling for Portland as they did Chicago and the Wolves just couldn’t stop that
Avalanche against the Bulls but in the fourth quarter they flipped the switch and they went from down two to up 20 in the blink of an eye I think it was a 26 to7 run or 27-6 run that ultimately decided it uh Jack we were on the air
Like 9 hours ago doing the lock on wolves postcast uh let’s uh let’s hear that opinion again from you about last night and your clippers opinion yeah I think I’ll start with the Clippers uh Clippers game uh I mean when or just the last two games in general also just an
Overarching thing Timber rolls have 57 assists and 15 turnovers assist to turnover ratio of 3.8 season long is 1.36 so a huge Improvement in that department is certainly going to help over those two games but with the Clippers game specifically uh their defense was insane I mean before garbage
Time they had a defensive rating of 104.5 uh for the record the Tims had the best defensive rating in the League this year at just under 109 um so that’s how much better uh they were than even their you know season long top ranked defense
Uh to hold four hall of famers to 64 points on 21 of 57 shooting uh 37% all four kawhai PG Harden Russ all shot less than 50% uh was incredible and then you have a 40 to19 uh just thrashing in that third quarter where you made all of
Those guys look pretty helpless on the offensive end of the floor and and I think that was what was most impressive right we we’ve seen this Clippers team pretty much just buzz saw way through everyone uh the last month six weeks or so with you know the League’s top ranked
Offense and um looked they looked like they just didn’t want to attack this wolves defense that had length that had uh size and physicality everything that you look for in in a to break defense and then on the other end of the floor offensively I mean the Clippers threw
Everything at them this this had a playoff game type feel in that first half because tyo in the first quarter threw a high wall a two3 Zone a 3-2 Zone a box and one on cat that he threw all those things at the wolves and all the Timberwolves kept doing was just moving
The ball moving the ball moving the ball they cut really well uh they finished inside they had 33 assists on 46 field goals and shot 54% against again a top five defense in the NBA um and Rudy goar was awesome just totally controlled inside the arc wol shot nearly 70% on
Twos and held the Clippers to to 45% on twos which is pretty impressive um so you you wrap all that together and it was just kind of the best of what they can do on both ends of the floor um even without shooting you know threes all
That well they’ve been number two behind the Clippers in three-point percentage and and weren’t that good from three but still found a way to dominate this game which is highly impressive and then when that Blazers game you know um I was really impressed that again another night where they they didn’t have their
Best offensive game but they found a way to to score they scored a season high 30 points at the free throw line uh and their bench was really important 44 points um they rank 23rd in the League this year in bench scoring at at 32
Points a game so so to get above that for the the you know I think second time in three games is pretty big um and then you know nikil Alexander Walker Man four threes in that fourth quarter was was huge and then Kyle Anderson has been
Awesome as well he’s he’s got 20 assists and three turnovers since the trade deadline um had eight assists no turnovers last night and it’s looked way more comfortable uh since that that trade deadline on Thursday has passed so there’s there’s no question that that he’s been a different guy and and I
Think he’s going to be really important to to how this team uh you know can play in the playoffs because if if you get really good Kyle Anderson um like that we saw last season that was so important and that was a fan favorite I know that
Might be hard to believe uh given how you know we’ve seen fans react to his play this year but you know he’s been really really important to to this team for the for the last you know year in change and he’s going to be really important once again especially if he
Can he can continue this this really strong play yeah I think Anderson’s gotten back back to what he does I think he had a really bad stretch of inefficient offense I think that ship has been wred a little bit and that’s good to see Reggie Wilson your thoughts on this West Coast
Success so it’s like my eyes couldn’t believe it you know like they were just absolutely just whooping the Clippers 7247 and Jackson 40 to 19 in the third like that’s just that’s insane and then to hold Kawai PG and Harden to under 20 points each is ridiculous like this team
Is one of the favorites to to come out of the West and everybody’s been talking about them and I think that was an emphatic statement win from the Wolves just kind of putting the league on notice like hey um I know everybody wants to fall in love with the Nuggets
Because they’re the defending champs everybody wants to talk about the star power in LA with both teams but uh hello us up here in Minnesota where it’s not so cold like it usually is this time of year like you got to come see us you
Gotta you gotta play us and I think that was a that was a very encouraging thing to see if you’re a Timberwolves fan but it’s so funny because I feel like the Timberwolves fans are still just like waiting for that other shoe to drop like I talk to different people even in my
Building and they’re like oh you think the Timberwolves are going to do something I just don’t know it’s been so long since they’ve I’m like yep 2004 yep I yep I I keep I keep uh hearing about that and I had a guy on Twitter after the first quarter just say like yeah
This wolves team is so undisciplined they they don’t have what it takes to make it out of the first round and I’m like dang like you’re still giving that take from this version of the wolves that you’re seeing and I think you know for all those who may have panicked Sam xtram
And others uh out there who who you know just don’t want to truly Buy in I get it I get it look you guys have been through a lot not just with the Wolves but with all the other Minnesota sports teams so I am not telling you how to feel okay
But what I will say is what’s encouraging about what the Timberwolves are doing is cat came out three fouls in the first quarter last night just totally not a part of it but then it’s like oh dang ant’s gonna have one of those nights and he scores 41 but
Here’s the luxury for the wolves and this is something that I’ve brought up in the past and Jack brought up slow-mo and that’s that’s huge man we cannot say enough about Nas Reed and N I think the the crazy part is is C gets in foul trouble and me
Watching the game I’m not worried I’m like oh they’re just going to put Nas in and Nas is going to do what he does and it’s like he doesn’t do the same things that cat does but like he can come in there and do his thing and still be as
Efficient and not allow the Timberwolves to miss a step with cat out of the game and I saw this tweet from Sam Quinn um from CBS Sports and he said the Timberwolves have two bench guys and Nas Reed and Nill Alexander Walker that could legit timately play 30 plus
Minutes on any other top six playoff teams he said Phoenix would trade 30 more horcrux um swaps for a n caliber three and d and that’s that’s that’s really what you you see like n’s been playing out of his mind it’s like he got the contract which means like the team
Has full confidence in his ability and that just seemed to like unlock a a next level in him like he was playing pretty good down the stretch last year and into the playoffs but like this just kind of seemed to like up it even more for him and he’s really comfortable out there
And he’s a guy like Jaden McDaniels didn’t score a point last night but then you you go to n and n’s going out there scoring 18 and you’re like all right it’s cool plus 22 with him on the floor like that’s the reason why you know even
If you’re a little scared because it is Minnesota sports it’s like that kind of gives you a little bit of hope that this Timberwolves team is different yeah like for those of us that have wives or significant others they they might go shopping and they might
Try to find a deal and say hey like honey I got this great Lulu dupe right like you get you find some some fashionable item of clothing that looks and feels just like the the expensive name brand that’s naw with Jaden like naw is Jaden light coming off the bench
He’s the Jaden dupe and he’s a really high-end dupe it’s pretty nice and I think it’s it’s really solid when it makes me feel better my panicking self feels better about the awful losses when I see this team showing up when it needs to show up and it routinely does this
They play the Clippers they win both those games they go to OKC on the road after losing at home to them they win that game they go to Boston under man and they should have W won that game there’s an asterisk next to that loss
For me that’s basically a win um so I do rest easier knowing that because in the playoffs all those games are going to feel big and this team knows when to show up for those big games plenty more to come on the Minnesota basketball party including how many morrises can
The Wolves acquire that’s next you’re unlocked on Sports Minnesota and we’re brought to you today by hungry root uh the team at hungry root just sent me a new box of yummy stuff got to tell you it is delicious because grocery shopping meal planning that can be challenging you got a job
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Hungryroot.com locked-on 40% off your first delivery free veggies one more time hungryroot.com lockon don’t forget to use our link so they know we sent you all right since our last show um no stradamus there Jack Borman he predicted Monte Morris correctly Applause for Jack good call
Good call very nice um The Wolves got I think later that day actually the Wolves traded for Monty Morris a week ago today um he’s played in two games hasn’t really shown us yet what he can do and I’m withholding judgment until he’s here for a couple weeks let’s get out of the
All-Star break let’s get him in the offense let’s get him in better shape before we really see uh what he’s about but also on the pat Bev podcast rumors speculation that Marcus Morris is also headed to Minnesota so Jack because you got the prediction right last week we’ll
Give you the first word first on Monty and then what what role does Marcus play the 34y old veteran if he joins the Timberwolves as well in a a buyout situation yeah for sure I I think starting with with Monte that the most important thing for him is that he’s
Played an eight playoff series he’s played 48 playoff games he’s been very proficient from from shooting it Beyond The Arc in those series and he’s taken care of the ball right he would have the NBA record for highest assisted turnover ratio in a single season if it wasn’t
For a guy named tus Jones uh who also broke the record and that same year um and he’s been near the top of the league the last really since he’s entered the league in assistant turnover ratio and he’s been uh you know north of 37.8% from three in each of the previous Five
Seasons and this one obviously has been derailed by uh by an injury had a white a right quad strain uh that that caused him to miss the first 43 games of the year so you know’s the G first game he played in Minnesota on Monday um against
The Clippers was the most he’s played in the game all season so you got to give him some Grace you need to give him two two three weeks maybe even a month before you really you know can have a more fully formed opinion of what he looks like in Minnesota just because
He’s got to play his way into basketball shape and and it’s pretty clear that his teammates don’t fully understand what he’s you know capable of bringing on the offensive end but uh he’s going to give you eight 10 12 really consistent uh points a night scoring Off the Bench in
Addition to just being a really good ball mover and a competitive defender in a team concept and then with with Marcus Morris senior um you know he he’s GNA going to fit in really well I think uh he’s not going to play very much um but
Uh last night’s game in Portland is a great example of of how they could you know use a guy like Marcus Morris he’s a 40% catch and shoot guy from three the last five years uh he can create his own shot and score in the mid-range and isolation and he’s really good at
Posting up smaller Defenders um and so he would be a great floor spacing option on a night like last night where Carl gets in foul trouble it kind of junks up the rotation offense really struggles in the second quarter because they don’t have you know this floor spacing five
That can give you 25 points 30 points a game On Any Given night um and so even him just scoring six or seven points in a quarter like that would be so big for the the Timberwolves offense and and he’s not going to be a guy that’s going
To play in every single game he’s probably going to be a guy that that you throw out there if Jaden gets in foul trouble or Rudy or or Nas or or Carl gets in foul trouble so it’s really going to be more spot minutes maybe 10 to 15 minutes a night in those
Situations but guy that you can throw out there in the in the playoffs and that you know he’s 68 225 is 611 wingspan um he he’s a really proficient postup Defender can can guard bigger fours and smaller fives he’s not great defending in space anymore um but he
Does Rebound nicely so kind of as a floor spacing four um you know that can get his own bucket uh which is going to be really important and space the floor a lot better than um than Kyle Anderson at least on nights when um you know that
That Anderson lack of spacing might be more problematic than than other nights Reggie your thoughts so yeah I I think um them getting Monte Morris is is is huge just you know it was interesting because in the um in his first game with the with the wolves like he made the three and
Then he came off the bench he was just really like calm and cool and it was so interesting just is watching Jordan mlin come come out you know to because they they did a timeout or whatever on the floor and J Max like yeah yeah good good
Job bro yeah great and it’s just so funny because it’s like yeah he’s looking at a guy that’s probably gonna be the reason why he doesn’t get as many minutes as you know he probably wanted to um I think jmck had like four minutes
In the game last night and so um I I think as Jack said is he could continues to work his way back into playing shape and game form I think you know he’ll be a a really important piece like he’s a dude that can score in bunches and and
Also you know he had a career high and assists uh with the Wizards as well so he’s a guy who can distribute out there as well so just another like veteran presence who’s been there before and who can help this team as they kind of go
Down the stretch I think what I like about the the morrises um potentially being acquired is because like you know I think at this point in Marcus Morris’s career like I don’t think you’re going to rely on him for like his scoring ability per se but
I think you know he can you can put him in there and get some good minutes from him he’s gonna make pretty good decisions with the ball um but I think what is interesting is like you know there are so many times where when Mike Conley was out everybody’s like yeah
They were missing that adult in the room and we kind of see some of the the bad things that kind of happen when a young team is out there just kind of on Vibes and and not really as disciplined as maybe they should be well this kind of
Gives them a little bit more of a presence uh veteran wise and I think what a lot of people probably like from Patrick Beverly when he was here is he kind of you know he was crazy he still is crazy but I think you know he kind of
Gives them that veteran presence that that kind of helps the team be a little bit more mature moving forward and and have a different mindset Marcus Morris has been there done that like he’s he’s been on several playoff teams he’s he’s played in a lot of meaningful games and
For a team that’s that’s still pretty young con you know considering you know swap out Conley Rudy you know those are some of the older guys but um I think bringing someone you know I think Morris is like 34 years old just bringing somebody who is a veteran
Presidence will kind of help this team as they kind of grow mature sure to reach Heights that they haven’t before did you happen to see by the way what Pat Bev did two nights ago Pat Bev plays in a game um against Denver this is in
Milwaukee then and he has a game the next day as well so back toback for the bucks Pat Bev then drives to Chicago and joins the bar stool Sports free throw shooting contest they had to make 41 Shots in a row Pat went in the middle of
The night to go do that with a game the next day after playing a game he’s crazy that’s just supporting Reggie’s point he’s nuts um Ben The Bu the Bucks lost the next day by 26 in case anyone was wondering Pat Bev one for three I still
Miss points I still miss him I love that guy forever that’s wild Ben what do you think yeah Monte Morris quickly we talked a little bit about this last week uh so I don’t I don’t know how much more I want to go into it but like Monte
Morris what he’s going to add Off the Bench is the ability it’s a little bit like uh the way I I I would describe it is there’s ways about how he plays offensively that’s a bit of a cross between Mike connley and Jordan mcclin if that makes sense he’s got a little
Bit even more of an inet game like you don’t see Conley shoot very many mid-range jumpers but he obviously has the floater game can finish with either hand in the paint not that he gets to the rim all that often anymore but he’s got the ability to do it right so when
They acquired him last year it was like okay he could shoot a floater he could throw lobs to Rudy um and there’s kind of that you know what’s he going to do when he turns the corner and and obviously Conley’s been a lot more catch
And shoot this year than he had been uh even more so than when he was in Utah um but uh Monte Morris is more than happy to pull up from the elbow and and shoot a jumper and play in the middle of the floor and provide some of that in
Between playmaking that um you know mlin doesn’t do as much of and he’s got a little bit more size than mlin and I and you know to Jack’s point about him being tried and true in the playoffs and like everybody knows that so all of those things together plus the catch and shoot
Numbers for Monte Morris that are so good um it it’s I I think his ability not like they’re going to ask him to run the offense or or sorry to create his own offense that much but it’s the fact that he can do it right it’s what they
Were hoping that they would get out of shake Milton but from a true somebody who really is a true point guard that could also shoot catch and shoot at a better at a better clip than Shake Milton can um so I think it’s the right combination of those things plus
Obviously the the playoff experience is great um and and that is another Edge he has over mlin that obviously you know Jordan doesn’t have and now you have the luxury of you know if you need Jordan mcclaflin you still have him he’s just you know he’s your third point guard um
Related to Marcus Morris yeah I mean I think Jack’s point about catch and shoot is the biggest thing my my I think he would be more in a sense Kyle Anderson minutes and I think Jack mentioned this but like um you know it depending on the matchup or depending on the night or
Depending on foul trouble he can play some of those minutes and space the floor like uh I mean obviously slow-mo does it do and and better than other guys can um the wolves are still they’re second in the NBA in overall three-point shooting percentage as a team and we’re
Finally starting to see that volume come up um I think over the last six games it’s like uh the the rate is like really where it should be for the season they’re still just 20 20 uh I’m sorry actually they’re up to 17th now in three-point rate U they’re 24th in
Attempts per game but um if you look at three-point rate they’re up to 17th they’ve been bottom 10 basically all season so we’re starting to see them shoot more threes they’re second in percentage and uh Marcus Morris like I mean this season he’s been 43% catch and shoot in limited somewhat limited
Minutes with Philadelphia last year he was 37% year before 38% uh three years ago in La he was 50% catch and shoot threes as a rotation player on a on a playoff team so um like he he gives you that option Off the Bench as really
Probably a 10th or maybe even 11th guy depending on the matchup depending on the night depending on who’s resting um foul trouble Etc it’s a luxury and and it’s great that the Wolves you know uh Reggie brought up earlier the Tweet about like the wolves have bench guys
Who could play 30 minutes on other good playoff teams like this is another example the Wolves don’t need the buyout Market it’s not like the Lakers in 2004 like we need Carl Malone we need Gary pton because we don’t have anyone else around Kobe and Shack this is the wolves
Have a you know a top a legit top eight top nine and they’re looking for additional depth to an already deep team and to find it with somebody that’s got playoff experience it can add a little bit of a toughness and an edge to the
Team as well I think would be a really really good match yeah just the two for two straight up you get rid of shake and Troy Brown you bring in Monty Morris and Marcus Morris you’ve raised your floor considerably because you really can’t have a worse go than Shake Milton did
Here and Troy Brown had one moment and that’s it and Monty and Marcus Morris are going to come in and they’re going to be probably pretty professional every time they hit the floor and they’re going to give you something they’re going to give you stability and I think
That’s that’s a big boost for the end of your bench even if they aren’t impactful every single night there are going to be times when you have to uh play that card uh good stuff Gentleman on that after this we’ll look ahead to All-Star Weekend featuring cat and ant and then
Uh I challenge everybody to write a valentine we’ll see if they came through that’s coming up on the Minnesota basketball party and it’s brought to you today by eBay Motors passion drive and patience what brings home the winning trophy is what keeps your ride or die alive eBay
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MVP bring home that W keep your ride or die alive at eBay motors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers one more game until the All-Star break Wolves play Portland on Thursday if they win that game they will be 39 and 16 through the first 55 with
27 games to go they presently lead the west by one game over OKC and two games over the nuggets and the Clippers that’s a pretty nice spread considering where they were a week ago it looked like they were going to fall down to Fourth and
Now they’ve got a couple game Edge on a couple of those primary competitors so very good to see uh thanks to the every dayers for watching us today by the way and if you’re watching on lock on Sports Minnesota you can check us out uh doing the the Minnesota football party Mondays
And Thursdays Ron Johnson show on Tuesdays he had Vikings fullback CJ Ham on the show this past episode and the round tables on Friday with Reggie Wilson Julia Daniels Ron Johnson and myself um getting into Allstar Weekend looking past the Portland game on Saturday night we’ve got cat in the
Three-Point Contest trying to to defend his title and his last appearance and ant in the skills competition uh what are we most looking forward to of maybe not just those two events but the whole weekend of festivities Reggie what do you what do you got yeah I I look forward to seeing the
Guys in the uh the allstar competitions uh see if Kat can uh can once again win it all um I thought it was pretty pretty interesting when he won it all the first time I was like wow okay like you know you see him shoot threes and you’re like
Okay yeah he’s he’s he’s pretty good at that but I think it was uh was interesting to see him win it so be interesting to see if he could do it again um but you know I think I think what’s cool you know especially if you’re a Timberwolves fan is just kind of
Seeing the Wolves presence in Indie yeah they got a couple all stars with then you know you got finchy and the staff coaching the game like the Wolves imprint is all over the the allstar game and so I think that’s really cool when you just kind of think about it and it’s
Indicative of just the season that they’ve had and the work that they’ve done this season to put themselves in position to be not only relevant but be you know at the upper echelon of of the NBA and so I’m interested to see all those things that work and you know just
Kind of interested to see what type of crazy things ant has in store you know for the gam he gonna throw it off the backboard again and and try to you know do some razzled dazzle he’s going to pull up from the logo you know those type of things um I’m interested to
See Ben yeah I’m most excited about the three-point competition I agree with Reggie like an to the allstar game is is going to be great because I’m sure he’ll get a little bit more run this year um and uh it’ll be fun um but the three-point competition is always my
Favorite I think it’s got the best combination of like watching players that are the best in the world at that at their particular skill watch them do what they do best on a big stage and there’s Intrigue there’s you know there’s suspense like you know there’s a
Little bit less of that usually with the dunk contest and certainly with the actual game so this is a ton of fun um you know it’s it’s I I I wish Steph Curry was in it that would make it even more fun but it’s a fun field too and
And like looking at the at the I’m going to do official predictions on Friday and lock dead wolves but looking at the uh the odds on FanDuel like Malik Beasley at plus 500’s not bad I mean he’s somebody who can get hot and it feels like you know he’s gonna try and take
Advantage of this of this stage um I was shocked Carlon towns is plus 850 he’s got the second longest odds to win the three-point competition and two years ago um I actually placed a wager on Carlon towns to win the three-point competition because he had the longest
Odds and I was like this is crazy like the people like people setting odds are are you know they know what they’re doing but cat like this is right in his wheelhouse and I know that The Narrative of bigs and their shot taking longer and they get tired and whatever but that’s
Not how cat shoots he doesn’t jump when he shoots so I was like I mean this is this is like set shots for him all the way around the floor so only player with longer odds is Donovan Mitchell at plus 1100 cats at plus 850 I don’t know I
Mean those to me seem like the two Best Bets uh the favorite right now is Damen Lillard at plus 360 but Malik Beasley at plus 500 or CAD at plus 850 uh I just don’t know how you win the competition and he wasn’t in it last year because he
Was hurt and then you’re you have the second longest odds the next time around I thought I think that’s kind of crazy but I’m looking forward to see if he can uh I guess quote unquote defend his title from two years ago Jack on last night’s lockdown wolves postcast teased
A big take of about this weekend I’m excited to hear it I I don’t know if it was it was a big take but um yeah I think that Carl Anthony tals is going to be a lot of fun to watch in the Three-Point Contest um I I personally
Don’t think that ant is gonna take anything seriously he’s not g to take the skills challenge seriously at all I don’t think he’s going to play very much in the All-Star game and I don’t think he’s going to take it very seriously it’s just like not an environment that
That I think he really uh you know Revels and enjoys being in especially if knee is bugging him a little bit so I think Saturday night Three-Point Contest is going to be the the the best thing I think for the for the timber bols fans to watch um and Carl only has to
Complete compete with one other big and I honestly think that bigs have a huge advantage in the Three-Point Contest if you know obviously they have to be a really good three-point shooter to even be invited um but marinan is the only other guy and he’s got a longer loading
Shot than than Carl does but like small guards legs get more tired in in the Three-Point Contest because they have to jump and Carl like his toes won’t leave the ground when he’s shooting all these shots so I I bet on Carl two years ago I will certainly bet on Carl again this
Year um he made a lot of people a lot of money in that Three-Point Contest two years ago so I I think he’ll do it again but um but but my the thing I’m most looking forward to is um is just everybody kind of taking the Wolves a
Little bit more seriously right you know the Wolves haven’t been on national TV I don’t think they’ve been readily available for a lot of other stars and you know really relevant people around the league to to take in and watch outside of games they’re scouting or or games
Are playing in but just have that like Reggie said that wolves presence all the coaches are there executives are going to be there obviously Carl and ant will be there you know who knows if any other Timberwolves players will show up and support them um but just to have kind of
The Wolves be omnipresent at you know the whole weekend I think it’s going to be really important because that that type of stuff like a lot of fans probably won’t won’t think about it much but that type of visibility in a setting like Allstar Weekend with when all the
Biggest stars are there all the you know the Power Players most important people in the league are there um all that stuff really does matter and you know obviously you can say well it doesn’t matter if they don’t do anything down the stretch in the playoffs well yes you
You are correct that is true but um you know it’s a it’s a small win for sure uh and one that I I think is going to be really important is you know you get LeBron in the Huddle uh you know who knows the wolves have some some second
Round picks maybe they can trade up get a first draft bronny James and uh have a little little test run of uh of of Mr LeBron here uh playing playing with his H future coach Chris Finch so we we’ll see yeah the West is interesting from a established franchise standpoint because
Like all the stars the teams that we like to and National media probably more so likes to talk about are jockeying for play in position Steph LeBron uh Luca Durant um and then at the top you’ve got OKC you’ve got Minnesota You’ got Denver who’s a champion but they’re also Denver
And right now the wolves are experiencing the same thing they did last year nobody nobody respected Denver because nobody watched Denver um the Clippers are probably the most star studded at the top of the west but they’re also not the Lakers um so it it is like there’s a lot of teams saying
Look at me look at me respect me and the wolves are are definitely in that mix as well um it’s Valentine’s Day guys Happy Valentine’s Day uh whether you celebrate or not I challenged this group to write a wolves Valentine to close out the show um who who understood the assignment
Here who’s gonna gonna put their poetry skills to the test I got a good one all right Ben I feel really confident about this hold on let me find some music I know we’ve got some we’ve got some options down here let me just just give
Me a second thank God R’s not here otherwise he’d be having a fueld day with with the music I didn’t practice my delivery now I’m nervous about feeding the Ducks these are the names of these no that’s a little bit too Urban oh that’s nice that’s good yeah
Okay that’s really nice okay go ahead all right roses are red violets are blue this is the year the Timberwolves get past round two ooh very nice snaps snaps I you know it could be it could be round one too because they’ve only done that
Once but you know we’ll go with we’ll go with round two for Rudy right first time that Rudy gets past round two yeah you got you got to rhyme too uh who else is composed a little I’ve got I’ve got one uh if if we have time yep we do roses
Are red violets are blue Connelly is cooking and he’ll pull a heist on you and which Connelly we don’t know probably Tim but uh double meaning there I I tweeted this the other night last year out they’ve sent out DLo prince three second round picks they’ve brought in Mike Conley nikil Alexander Walker
Leard Miller Monte Morris with all of that stuff so pretty he’s cooking he’s cooking Reggie do you have any poetry for us oh mine’s not as good as these guys but H roses are red violets are blue the wolves are going to win by throwing it up to Big Rue oh that’s all
I got that’s all I got that’s not bad that’s not bad that’s pretty good I got um all right I’ll be the anchor leg this is a two stanza poem roses are red the Thunder are a threat taking sgaa for MVP is a pretty good bet but as the
Playoffs come around and winter thaws the wolves have the superior family member his name is Na was good thank you thank you everybody I appreciate it I appreciate you watching I appreciate you listening the Minnesota basketball party and locked on Sports Minnesota locked on wolves a feed for Ben Beacon locked on wolves Jack Borman let’s turn this off Jack Borman kis hoopus Reggie Wilson
Care 11 I’m Sam extrom uh tune in to the Minnesota football party tomorrow and the round table on Friday please subscribe to the channel thanks for watching and listening see you next week
The Minnesota Timberwolves have their momentum back after beating the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trailblazers on the road. They’ve also acquired Monte Morris and may soon bring in Marcus Morris. Our panel of Wolves analysts breaks it all down and finishes the show with a Timberwolves Valentine poem on The Minnesota Basketball Party.
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