The Minnesota Timberwolves Have a Couple CONCERNS on Offense | The Minnesota Basketball Party

The Minnesota Timberwolves Have a Couple CONCERNS on Offense | The Minnesota Basketball Party

Welcome to the basketball party I’m Sam extrom of lockdown Sports Minnesota the Wolves narrowly lead the West in a big week coming up we’ve got the full crew here today to talk about the Wolves coming up next on the 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 podcast Network your team every day what’s up everybody it’s Wolves talk every Wednesday on the Minnesota basketball party here on locked on Sports Minnesota so glad you joined us

Today watching us on the lock on Sports Minnesota YouTube channel or hearing us on the locked on wolves podcast feed wherever you get your podcast you can also find us on the Sirius XM app Amazon Fire Roku or catch us in the rotation on that 247 YouTube live stream which is a

Great way to get your fix for all Minnesota sports I am Sam extrom the executive producer here at lockon sports Minnesota we’ve got the full fiveman crew today so let’s meet the guys with our opening tip I’m B Beacon host of the lockdown wolves podcast daily on uh of course

Wherever you get your podcast as well as on YouTube and today we’re going to talk about Coach of the Year odds and I want to share why I think Chris Finch has every bit the case as Mark dno of the OKC Thunder who he currently trails in

Terms of Coach the year odds I think Chris Finch has a solid case to be Coach of the Year this year I’m Jack Borman editor-in chief of canis suus and I’ll talk a little bit about why I think uh the bench needs a

Bit of a switch up and and why we saw a little Peak into what that might look like on New Year’s Day Reggie Wilson from k 11 and I think especially within the last 10 games ant has made his case to be in the MVP race and I’m Ron John former gopher an

NFL wide receiver Avid basketball fan Avid basketball player and I’m going to tell you guys that the Timberwolves have now changed the scope of the vision of referees to the point where they don’t even see LeBron anymore we’ll talk about that and I’m Sam xter as I mentioned and

Yeah I’m going to jump on that too I think LeBron was absolutely wrong in his statements after the game we’ll go back to Saturday’s controversy wolves and Lakers as the show moves on but let’s start with just an overall take on the Wolves right now uh we didn’t have a

Holiday episode so first time in two weeks we’re getting together and it feels like in those two weeks while the Wolves they’ve only lost three like three out of 10 games they’re still playing very high percentage uh basketball but it feels like a little bit of a lull Ben Beacon like even in

The wins there’s enough to nitpick Chris Finch is calling out the offense and the turnovers oh the turnovers second highest turnover rate in the league I is this a red flag for you are you concerned about the trajectory of the Wolves or is this a blip on the radar I

Think I think it’s more of a blip than anything else I mean obviously you want the team to be playing as well as possible and and we could make the argument that you know overall the last two weeks have been the toughest stretch of basketball the wolves have had this

Year but it’s also been by far the toughest the schedule has been this season um they’ve played exclusively playoff teams now going back to December 11th almost certainly every single team they’ played will be in the playoffs and as you said they’ve gone I think nine

And three or or or 10 and three or something like that over that stretch um maybe not quite that 10 and four something like that um and like that’s great like if you go if you have that record against playoff teams that’s really good now some of the concerns are

Real concerns like turnovers are an issue um The Wolves continue to have problems with that I mean currently as we sit here today depending on where you look um have basketball reference up which isn’t going to take out garbage time like cleaning the glass but the wolves are 29th in turnover rate

Offensively which is miserable for a team that has the best record in the Western Conference and if you break it down and look at individual players lately you could certainly say Anthony edwins and carony towns are are more to blame but for this course of the Season

Ant actually so far this season and and he gets a lot of attention because some of his turnovers like he had a couple really bad ones in the Knicks game on Monday uh but he’s actually his turnover rates down this year despite his assist rate being up three and a half points

And his usage rate being up so Anthony Edwards isn’t the problem it those moments are more are they’re magnified because they’re in big moments because he’s got the ball in his hands more often so of course he’s going to turn it over a little bit more but his actual

Turnover rate is down um it’s some of the other guys like the guys you wouldn’t expect it from Kyle Anderson has a horrible turnover rate I think it’s a career worse at this point um it’s some of the the ancillary players that are making mistakes that you simply

Can’t make if this team’s going to beat playoff teams and yet they’re still winning as you mentioned Sam they’re winning despite this overall I mean even in these wins they’re having 20 plus turnovers like the Mavericks game last week week um the uh I guess the OKC game

Was a loss but each of those were 20 plus turnover nights the wolves are still finding ways to win occasionally when they’re turning it over that much if they just cut back on those um I mean we might be talking you know instead of 10 and four over the last 14 or whatever

It is we could be talking you know 12- two or something like that so yeah there are some concerns but in general as you said the team is still playing well um and I don’t know that there’s any major concerns here moving forward I think it’s just simply it’s tougher

Competition and the wolves have some stuff they got to button up yeah Jack I I I wonder if turnovers are kind of like fumbles in football sometimes like the Vikings fumbled a million times a week for the first eight weeks and then you kind of regress back

To the mean right like is that something that you think will normalize as the season goes on yeah I think a huge part of why they’ve been struggling with turnovers lately is because you have guys like Carl Anthony towns and Nas Reed who are struggling to score as a

Whole and I think those are two guys who you know when they first get the ball in their hands when they’re first on the floor they they want to see the ball go through the hoop right and when they’re not able to see the ball go through the

Hoop right away um they’re two guys who tend to press a little bit and um you know that’s what we’ve been seeing you know both those guys have a you know an assist or turnover ratio below one in the last 10 games and it’s no surprised

Either than in the last 10 games both those guys are have you know have scoring averages well below what their season average is and I and I think that um yeah I think it’s a a totally fair comparison and um you know I think the biggest thing for me is that you know

The Wolves just have to do a good job of valuing the simple things offensively like we saw in that Lakers game um old friend Jared Vanderbilt did an awesome job pressuring the inbounds passes uh in that game Rudy goar had had a turnover on an inbounds pass and then had a

Turnover on a really simple you know Outlet pass and there there are turnovers like that that I think you see two or three times a game that you just don’t see from other NBA teams uh generally on a night to night basis and I think if they can just clean up some

Of that stuff um you you’ll see that turnover rate really come down you’ll see some of the you know the pick sixes uh if you will come down where where that you know live ball turnover gets taken the other way for uh for points the other way and um you know and maybe

You know maybe the turnover rate is still somewhat high but you can break it down into some of the different types of turnovers whether it’s a live ball turnover a bad pass turnover which is you know two types of turnovers that Chris Finch has been really harping on

The last couple of weeks um come down because that’s where you know other teams are are really scoring off of turnovers whereas the Wolves you know are generating a good amount of turnovers relative to how much they’re turning it over they’re just not able to convert them into points because they’re

Coming in more you know dead ball situations or uh or in situations where it’s harder for them to you know just take it down the floor and score so um yeah I think that’s the biggest way they’re they’re beating themselves for sure and making it tougher on there on

Their top rank defense yeah feels like just observationally you got ant who’s e in the league in turnovers per game uh cat is 16th it feels like both of those players have a tendency to put the ball on the floor in hi trffic areas and bad things are just going to happen when

You’re trying to get to the rim that way um Reggie your thoughts on this honestly I just I think these are kind of like the es and flows of in NBA season you know I think you know there are times where the wolves look absolutely stoppable and then there are

Other times where you know this this current stretch where they’re just turning it over at a crazy clip and you know I think they’ll they’ll work their way out of this because you know I think Finch usually does a good job of of targeting things to work on with the

Team and and coaching them out of different things that that um that they’re they’re dealing with and so I don’t know I I’m I’m I guess I’m not really really too concerned about them I I remember you know going back to some of the height of those Golden State Warriors teams that

Were winning NBA championships dude they were turn they at times they are really careless with the basketball I mean that’s that’s continued to be a thing um even now I was watching a little bit of that game last night against the magic that they pulled out and just just goofy

Turnovers at inopportune times and we’ve seen it from Steph from Draymond from clay from Looney like who you know name your guy they’re they’ve been they’ve been turning it over at a high cliff for a while but they’ve still been a good basketball team and so I don’t

Necessarily worry about it and I think one thing that really kind of has me encouraged if I’m a wolves fan they were down 22 to the Knicks and you know maybe maybe last year maybe years’s pasture like well there we go there it is man

They they had a chance to to try to win that thing coming down the stretch you know that they they had a pretty Furious comeback there and I’m like wow like this wolves team is actually pretty good because even when they seem like they might be out of it even when it seems

Like it might be a night where it’s like oh well maybe maybe next game they still find a way to make it interesting toward the end and I I was like man you know if not for a couple clutch shots you know from OG and Randall down the stretch like the

Wolves had a chance to try to tie and win that game so I I’m not really too concerned about the Wolves team just because like it just seems like this wolves team is different from years past and they could fix some of the mistakes that they’re making yeah wolves definitely ran into a

Knicks team that had that new player adrenaline in front of their home crowd a lot of times that’ll lead to to Big performances and that’s what New York did uh I I think Ron is speaking to some high level sources right now so we’re going to get back to him and we’re going

To move on to Chris Finch and his uh Coach of the Year possibilities that’s coming up next on the Minnesota basketball party Today’s Show is brought to you by fanuel sports book yep it’s the new year the NFL regular season is wrapping up NBA is getting in full swing and Now’s

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FanDuel it’s an official partner of the NFL bet the NBA as well at fandel all right uh back on the Minnesota basketball party we’re talking Chris Finch Coach of the Year odds right now at FanDuel our favorite Sportsbook Chris Finch is second behind Mark dagno of the Oklahoma City Thunder who by the

Way are coming on like a freight train they beat the Celtics last night they’re a game back of the wolves in the west it almost looks like OKC might be their biggest Challenger I Know Jack borman’s been a skeptic we’ll get his thoughts on OKC as well but let’s start with you Ron

Uh Chris Finch Coach of the Year how strong do you think his case is I think it’s I mean you have the best team in the west and so when you think about past winners um it only took just having a solid season also coming from a

Seventh seed eighth seed playing type of situation then moving up to a one seed now again they have to hold on to it um I think he is and and not only for that reason but you know the whole Rudy gobear thing everybody including myself last year we wanted to we were killing

It on lock on Sports we were ah this is a terrible trade like this is not working I don’t know why they did it and Chris Finch found a way to get those guys to play together so whether it was hey Anthony Edwards is the guy so the

Two of you I don’t care what you think who’s the better big just play with Edwards if it’s hey one of you guys is going to be the star every night think about LeBron uh Bosch and Dwayne Wade um they did the same thing every night there was a different guy Bosch would

Take over LeBron would take over D way would take over and so you’re seeing that from the Timberwolf some nights it was just LeBron and D way some nights it was just Bosch and LeBron and I think Chris Finch is finding ways to get those

Stars to align and then of course the NS Reed intro you know when whenever he comes in it feels like he’s instant energy and he’s doing a good job so with all those Egos and you still have Mike connley who can give you 15 to 20 a

Night if you let him he’s doing a good job getting that together so I just think the turnaround going from a seven to a one uh yes OKC as well you know but they added chat hren I think that was the big difference of them last year and

This year you didn’t play other than that Chris Finch has the same team and he’s completely turned them around yeah and Ben you said in your cold open that you think Finch has a stronger case than dagno let’s hear it yeah I mean Ron alluded to it I the ter of the exact

Same rotation at this point I mean like Shake Milton’s out of the rotation Troy Brown’s in and out so like you take the top eight it’s the same team and this team won 42 games last year they’re pacing to win in the upper 50s this year if not more and the Thunder people

Forget like people forget uh I’m not saying wolves fans but in general it’s easy to forget Thunder were a 40- win team last year like they were a playing team as well and uh and they added Chad homr as Ron said it’s it’s largely the

Same team in OKC too but you I mean you could argue Chad homr is their second best player and then the second piece of it is and he didn’t play at all last year so if you add all of a sudden you know a second best player on a roster of

Course your team’s going to get better whether or not he’s a rookie like if he’s a good rookie um that doesn’t matter the second piece of it is they have a top seven player in SGA that also was on the team last year the Timberwolves don’t have a top 10 player

Um really no matter how you slice or dice it I don’t think anyone would argue that they do they might have three guys that are between you know 12 and 25 League wide I think you could certainly argue that and that matters too um but the Thunder team is is you know plus

Chad home and they were already good with the top seven player in SGA the Timberwolves uh have made a very similar um Improvement actually a slightly bigger Improvement in terms of win total with the exact same roster and and it’s it’s the job that Chris Finch has done

To continually mold this team I know injuries last year obviously you know I can’t play both sides that injuries were a big reason why they weren’t as good last year but when you know they had their full complimented players they still weren’t as good obviously as they

Were as they have been so far this year either so I think it’s um you know and going along with being the number one one seed of in the west if you finish as the number one seed and you were the the eight last year um then you’re going to

Win coach of the year and and I you know obviously dn’s a solid candidate as well but if my you know I would have it as as Finch you know in my mind should be the favorite just based on on all that yeah I mean I I get that argument because

It’s arguably easier for dagno to take a bunch of young players that are already improving organically right like they’re just getting older and more mature in the league and that’s going to happen naturally versus Finch trying to teach Old Dogs new tricks in a way like he’s

Got a lot of veterans on that team that he has to to kind of get to do different things especially those bigs let’s get Jack borman’s thoughts yeah I think another part of this I mean Ron would obviously be able to speak to this is I I personally think

That the most difficult part of being an NBA coach is managing all the personalities and that it is extremely difficult to get all 15 guys in that locker room rowing in the same direction um and on board on the same page all believing in what you’re talking about

Buying into you know the what the team is trying to do regardless of how many minutes you’re playing what your role is and like all these guys have been paid already so it’s not like there are guys that that need their next big contract or things like that it’s it’s kind of

Guys who have already been paid or know where they’re at in the kind of the NBA ladder um which certainly makes it easier but all these guys are willing to sacrifice and they all believe in what Chris Finch is preaching and I think that that’s really really important I

Mean you hear Anthony Edwards Speaking glowingly of Chris Finch’s ability not to dwell on you know some of the bad losses and just you know pick out what needs to be fixed address it in film or in practice or shoot around um and just move on and turn the page and and keep

These guys loose and having fun and um you know and playing for one another and I I I think that’s way harder in the NBA than than any X’s and O’s um and I mean I mean it it’s huge I mean look at the way the Timberwolves still have were

Were past the first of the year and the Timberwolves have still yet to lose um two games in a row I mean that that should be a huge um you know a huge checkbox for Chris Finch and you look at the Thunder I think the Thunder have

Lost two games in a row uh either two or three times already so far this season um and that’s not to say like at the end of the at the end of the season like you’re going to be like oh well the Thunder lost two in a row more times

Than the Timberwolves it’s not necessarily that it’s just like uh hey it’s it’s a it’s a you know cool thing to be able to speak to for you know how Finch turns this team around and and keeps them on the on the right path so it’s been been certainly fun to see and

And I think too that you know another big part of it is like um you know the fact that he’s been willing to adapt and change from what didn’t work last year um he’s he’s not trying to square peg round hole um with you know with any of

The rotation um you know with any lineup combinations he’s getting out there he’s he’s been pretty willing to to let guys um you know stay out there if they’ve been playing pretty well I mean you look at Jordan mcclaflin in the last game that was pretty huge um and that you

Know he let him go for for you know pretty much a full quarter from the middle of the third to the middle of the fourth and stuff like that matters and um you know I think helps helps keep guys engaged even when they’re they’re maybe not in the in the long-term

Rotation so it’s been cool to cool to see his impact on the team so far this year re yeah I know um we’ve kind of given Tim Connelly some praise but you know I think more as much as as the praise should be for him just not

Panicking and blowing the thing up after last season um with the roster I think the same could be said about sticking with Chris Finch and you know Finch is a guy that he’s had his Growing Pains I remember couple years ago against the the Grizzlies in that playoff game at

Charles Barkley ripped him for not calling that time out out or two or three during that huge run that that Memphis made to ultimately propel them towards Victory and I we’ve seen them you know especially in that series their inexperienced and their immaturity just kind of seemed to derail

Them because I think that they were more talented than that Memphis team and they should have beat that Memphis team in that first round playoff series and you know coaching was probably a big a big reason for that but just seeing how much Chris Finch has has grown you know

Turned a quarter that has been a a terrible quarter for them in the third and kind of flip the whole narrative with that it just shows that he’s grown as a as a coach and I know you know maybe you don’t take all that into account when the whole Coach of the Year

Thing is being you know tabulated but I think there is much to be said about the fact that he has grown and as Jack said like he has been kind of figuring out these rotations and what works he’s just pulling all the right strings right now

And it seems like he’s really grown as a coach and so you know shout out to to Tim Connelly for you know he’s he’s been pretty adamant since he’s gotten here that you know finchie is the guy to to kind of lead this team to where they

Need to go and so you know he’s figuring out the the rotations he’s figuring out the the whole Twin Towers experiment that makes Connelly look like a genius now because they are the best team in the west right now and there’s there’s just much to be said about his growth as

A head coach and sticking with him has proved to to be a very um beneficial thing for the wolves in their development yeah Finch had some challenging coaching opportunities on Saturday I think we got to rewind to that Lakers win 108 8106 because so much happened and I want to get your thoughts

On it um first of all Anthony Edwards refuses to come out of the game which drew the head coach’s ey Jaden McDaniels picks up an inexplicable technical foul late in that game that gives the Lakers an opportunity to tie it LeBron James hits a three no it’s a two oh wait it’s

A three on replay oh wait it’s actually a two craziness in that Lakers Wolves game I got to get your everyone thoughts just on sort of the the major takeaways from that one whether it was the the belligerent on Edward’s part the technical the three-pointer by LeBron

Reggie we’ll go with we’ll go to you first because you have maybe a little stake in this one uh with your Lakers it was a three okay it was a three I don’t know I don’t think it was I think it’s toe hovered by a millimeter

Over the line I I I thought it was a three Sam I don’t know it was a three but you know um it’s so interesting though because when you think about Minnesota sports these type of things don’t usually favor a Minnesota team and that’s exactly what happened the the

Timberwolves got the benefit of the doubt with that one and LeBron was said that you know his foot was hovering or whatever you want to call it on the line and and that was it was huge because like that was also the night that the the Lions thing happened and everybody’s

Just talking about refs and it’s just it’s just not a good night if you’re a ref Tony Brothers was like thank you thank you um Brad Allen and crew thank you I’m not on Sports Center tonight no one’s talking about me exactly and you know look LeBron is 39 years old and

He’s still like tremendously impacting these games like this it’s it’s kind of incredible to see um and then you you got Anthony Edwards and Troy Brown like playing rock paper scissors on if he’s gonna come in or or or if ant’s gonna go out like it’s the it’s the craziest

Thing but I think you know ant is kind of like establishing himself like hey look I’m the guy I want to be the guy you could count on me you know maybe he shouldn’t um draw the IR as you said of of his head coach being insubordinate if

You will but I think this is all a part of him just becoming that Alpha guy and you know that’s that’s part of what I was saying in the in the open um last 10 games the dude is is averaging 30.1 points a game and I think he is the key

To their success moving forward and I also think that if he can continue this this clip you know we have some prolific scores in the NBA and I think Ron said this in a in the show before like if if ant wants to kind of be taken seriously

He kind of has to propel himself higher than you know averaging 25 26 points a game when you got guys like embiid and joic and you know guys like Dame Lillard dianis averaging 30 35 Plus points a game and I think if he could continue to elevate his play like that I think

That’s going to be a a huge thing not just for the Timberwolves but for his own personal growth and development in being a part of that MVP race as the Timberwolves are good an is good and that kind of helps his case Ron I know you got some LeBron thoughts

Man yeah so LeBron gets every call he always gets every call so there was a point because I saw this pop up on uh Instagram um he traveled clearly he ran over I think Nas Reed and he traveled or he ran over somebody and Nas Reed actually commented on Instagram and was

Like yeah see I guess when you’re that big of a star you know they just let you do whatever you want so fast forward to the end when he his foot behind the line probably referees didn’t even see it so like there was a shift where the ref

Started realizing like you know what we can’t just keep giving LeBron these championships we can’t just keep helping him out uh we gave him a bubble Championship uh we allowed him to join uh the big three when we wouldn’t let Ray Allen or I forgot I think it was Ray

Allen they tried to be with Kobe or maybe I can’t remember who tried with Kobe um or was it Chris Paul yeah Chris Paul blocked it right and so but they didn’t Brock block LeBron and Dwayne Wade and Chris BOS and so I think the NBA now the timber of success uh they

The the the big media still hasn’t called on when you check out all the big media shows from all the the different you know letters and and and organizations NBC Sports I mean even you know the um the the all the NBC Peacock shows Dan Patrick nobody’s talking about the Timberwolves

Everybody wants to talk about LeBron and LeBron’s foot wasn’t on the line and he’s mad and everybody oh LeBron is going you know he wants to play with Brony but nobody cares that Anthony Edwards just released his shoes nobody cares that he’s you know a perennial eventually probably NBA MVP so the fact

That the way they’re playing the refs are starting to change it a little bit because in the past they were just throwing that hand up LeBron knocks it down throw the they wouldn’t even even if they went to the monitor again they wouldn’t have had enough to overturn so

They would just say yeah it counts LeBron you got the three you tied the game up so the Timberwolves play has now made the referee’s eyes not see LeBron the same they used to see so I truly believe that it it was one of the gutsiest onc Court officiating calls

I’ve ever seen because that ref is running behind LeBron like there’s almost no chance he could have clearly seen his foot right so you think you would default to calling it a three but nope two fingers and I still think that if you zoom it in enough when his tiptoe

Gets at its like Apex I still think that that he’s on he’s at least buted up against the line enough that that it whatever whatever I think I’m not backing down on this one Ben Beacon what do you think no I agree with you 100% it

Was it was class like if you clearly his toe starts behind the line but when it tips forward it hits the line the the problem is you can’t nobody ever piece together when the ball leaves his hand so as long as the ball’s still touching

His hand when his toe tips forward as as it does when you shoot a jumper right like you come up on your tiptoe and it was so close to the line that when he does it clearly touches the line it’s just a question of whether or not the

Ball was still in his hands when it does touch the line and we never saw that angle so they had to stick with you know on the field it’s just like football they had to go with what they called on the court um or whatever on the court

Yeah um so yeah I mean it touched the line it’s just it was it’s one of those where he could have called it a three and the Wolves could have you know it would have been the exact same thing both teams could see it either way

Um but I do think the ref got it right it was a really gutsy call based on where he was on the floor um but yeah I I think he was on line yeah Jack yeah just shout out to to Dana koser on one of the greatest guesses

We’ve seen from an NBA ref in a while um she absolutely did not see that like she’s just like I two two like she it was just totally like a panic thing like I had a perfect the basket was directly in between me and LeBron from where he shot that and

So you just knew it was good the second he left his hands and everyone on media row was like oh was it a two was it a three like we all just knew it was going in but we had no idea where his his feet

Were which is pretty funny and I had to give a quick shout out to my guy Jake scrafs um for taking a picture of the basketball before it winning the hoop um as a as a you know was a way of mocking the foot thing because the ball isn’t

Technically in the hoop yet and that foot you know the foot picture was you know before he released the ball which I thought was was pretty funny uh I personally thought that you know it was a two um you know just based on you know based on what we saw with the foot

Rolling a little bit but um I I also just have to give a shout out to LeBron for you know pulling a pat Bev and I and I saw a tweet out there that said you could trade the man but you can’t trade the idea of LeBron pointing at the

Monitor like the pat Bev with the the photographer camera from last year was uh which was fantastic and then uh saying that there was a guy in the in the replay Center in salkus just eating a ham sandwich not paying attention was was fantastic um I you know clearly

LeBron mine went there because of Darvin ham head coach of of the Lakers and that’s just a classic LeBron dad uh you know Dad joke that you had there and and if and if you haven’t I I would highly encourage you go back and and watch LeBron’s post game comments from from

That game was highly highly entertaining so yeah that was a great night that was a fun win for the Wolves not for Reggie um after this we’re going to predict the week four games for the Wolves between now and our next show and uh we’ll have a little New Year’s resolution talk for

The Minnesota Timberwolves that’s coming up on the Minnesota basketball party and our episode today is brought to you by game time I’ve got the game time app fired up right here tonight wolves Pelicans Zion may or may not play you can get in the building for

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Today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed py tonight at home then the Wolves go on the road at the Rockets who are good at home at the Mavs at the magic um tough week as The Gauntlet for the wolves kind of comes to a close after this uh this upcoming stretch so

We’ll predict the week and we’ll start with um Jack Boran yeah so Mine mine’s a little conditional um if Zion plays tonight I think the the Pelicans win this game I think if the if he does not play I think the Wolves will win this game um so

We’ll keep that in mind since New Orleans did play last night they did Kill the Brooklyn Nets in New Orleans last night so um so on that but I think they beat the Rockets uh they just have no interior defense whatsoever Carl Anthony towns has been incredible each

Of the last you know three or four times he’s played the Rockets uh because of that fact that the Timberwolves just can’t let it become a shootout I think they’ve got to take care of business defensively um in that game I also think they’ll beat the Mavericks this is just

Another team that you know I I just don’t think has enough defense especially on the interior to be able to to hang with the wolves um the biggest question there is just like well a want to play defense on on one of Kyrie Luca

We saw that at the end of the game in Dallas last year right after the trade deadline which was an awesome game um and then I and then I think they lose to the Magic The Magic just do a couple of things really really well that the

Wolves struggle with they are number two in points off turnovers and they’re fourth and second chance points um so far this season so um I’ve got the Tim rolls going uh two and two if Zion plays and three and one if Zion does not play tonight feels like they played the

Pelicans a million times already this must be the final game against New Orleans this year very front loaded uh yeah I think uh I think they can beat the Pelicans uh tonight I’m going to go with or without Zion Jack how about that um yeah I think they can they can beat

The Pelicans uh the Rockets yeah I give them that win as well I just don’t think they have enough um I think they can beat the Mavs as well you know I’m gonna go three and one I I watched a lot of that that Warriors Magic game last night

And you know the the magic mag are still a young team trying to figure it out they probably had no business losing that game to a a Warriors team that’s just not the same team uh clay wasn’t you know on his heater that he’s been on

In the in the past month or so and so they just have a lot of guys across the board I I I like Bon Caro he he can shoot it um you know we we know we’re going to see from sugs and Vagner and Cole Anthony like they got some dudes

Over there so I I think that might be a tough a tough matchup for the wolves and I can I can see them you know kind of falling in that one so I I’ll give them three and one I was today years old when I found out the magic were coached by

Someone named Jamal Mosley who is third in the coach of the year odds behind Chris Finch pretty good man pretty good fun fact for you yeah Ron Johnson I was debating on just saying they’re going to win it all but just because because I mean you look at some

Of the recent losses uh like to the Knicks just you get tired like let’s be real when you play this much basketball they are going to be night Tre you’re just tired I’m going to say three in one as well I and I agree I think the same

As Reggie they’re going to win I think they can win those first three and beat the magic or they’re going to lose to the Mavs and then beat the magic but I think the other two the first two uh Pelicans with or without uh uh Mr cheeseburger himself um like like how do

You lose your contract because you can’t stop working you can’t stop eating and you won’t work out like I don’t that that baffles me um but I think they can beat the Pelicans I know they can beat the Rockets uh the the the Thompson brother or whatever he’s legit but they

Just don’t I don’t think they know what they want to do with that team uh and then you look at the uh Mavs again Kyrie and Luca who are you gonna get that night so I but I think they kind of own them but if somehow someway they find a

Way they can beat them I think they turn around to beat the magic but the magic are a solid team uh Jaylen Suggs as well getting a chance anytime like guys get to play their Hometown team uh they put a little extra pep in their step uh so

So I would think that would be that one game also for Cole Anthony you know Drake might show up because we know Cole Anthony was dating Drake’s mom so whenever Drake shows up all hell breaks loose and so that could be a Timber roles downfall because it’s just a whole

Like plethora of people but yeah I’m gonna go three in one a lot of bullish people here on the Wolves I’m going to be the level head I’m going to go two and two I just think they’re going to have I think the road performances have been a little bit concerning the past

Few um I think if they get the Pelicans tonight though that would uh that’ go a long way uh Ben what do you think uh I have actually the exact same almost identical to what Jack said uh I had I had them at three and one I I think that

I think they only lose one and it’s either if Zion plays tonight they’ll lose to the Pelicans if he doesn’t play they’ll win I I do think they’re going to lose to Orlando though um for basically the same reasons Jack said Orlando is a great rebounding team both

Ends of the floor and they also gets the line a lot and the wolves have been fouling a lot more lately um even though overall this year that’s been you know at least that trending in the right direction compared to last couple of Seasons defending without fouling for

The Wolves so um I worry about the Orlando matchup also they tend to it just feels like they always struggle in Orlando I don’t have that number in front of me but like historically as a team it’s never really made sense to me but um even when in Orlando wasn’t good

And the Wolves were you know should have been should have won won games there they weren’t plus it’s the front end of a back-to-back second night of that back-to-backs in b so there’s always the chance if they get down they just you know kind of pack it

In a little bit and save some minutes for the game in Boston the following night so um yeah I’m gonna go three in one optimistically uh but if Zion plays it could certainly be two- two I just checked my notes they have never won a game in

Orlando actually I I only remember one it was a it was a I think a Garnett buzzer beater on a putback in like 02 or something like that like I I don’t know when the last time they won in Orlando was honestly so it was probably last

Year actually now that I say that but isn’t the uh don’t they have a crazy long losing streak in Boston as well coming up after that I think so yeah yeah it’s ugly yeah and Boston has uh not lost at home at all uh because it’s

The new year January 3rd let’s do some belated New Year’s resolutions for the Minnesota Timberwolves you can keep them fun and light if you want or you can be x’s and nose you can do whatever you want let’s go to Ben Beacon yeah I’m going to say uh uh you

Know this has been a really rough stretch in the schedule uh just in terms of how tough It’s been they need to do what they were doing back in October and November and beat bad teams they’ve got a lot of what should be easy games UPC coming on the schedule after this crazy

Gauntlet ends I mean they’ve got um just in the month of January uh Portland who we haven’t seen yet the wolves have Detroit who we haven’t seen yet um Charlotte who the wolves have seen one time Washington and Brooklyn who we haven’t seen yet and San Antonio who I

Think this might be the last they’ve got two more against San Antonio so they play all the worst teams in the league this month and there’s some tough ones sprinkled in there obviously uh like Boston on a back toback right but they need if they can continue beating the

Teams they should beat and go like five- one against those Bottom Feeders or or obviously ideally six and0 or whatever um this team’s going to solidify potentially that number one seed by the All-Star break I mean I mean maybe not 100% solidify but feel really really

Good about holding on to it if they just beat the team teams they’re supposed to beat just like they had done you know back earlier this season I have to imagine the collect like winning percentage of their remaining opponents once they get out of this Gauntlet they got to have one of

The easier finishing schedules in the league for the second half uh Jack Borman New Year’s resolution uh play Jordan mcclin more um is what I have I mean he he changed the complexion of the Knicks game completely they were down 21 when he entered he got

He helped get the the Wolves back within four um you know a little more than than 10 minutes later um you know and over the last 10 games the second unit is really struggled with with pace and that’s something Jordan mclin really helps uh you know bring up they’re 26th

In scoring um as a bench and one thing that mcclin does really well is helped generate three-point looks um that’s one thing the bench has done really well they’re they’re shooting 40 almost 44% from three over the last 10 so they could you know pair him with with maybe

Nas Reed and and geord or excuse me and Troy Brown Jr to kind of you know create some more Corner three-point opportunities I think that would be huge um you know try to get the mountain transition a little bit more help bring up that those you know those free throws

Per game um you know Timber rolls bench has only taken 3.1 uh free throws per game in the last 10 that’s 28th in the league and then also just kind of help him take some of the the playmaking burden off of of Kyle Anderson I think

That they’re just kind of asking slmo to do a little bit too much right now you know as the the point guard of the second unit um kind of be able to let him create out of the the corner um or run some empty pick and roll on the

Second side um and also allow Nel Alexander Walker to spot up a little bit more so he doesn’t have to play point guard and he can kind of play off the catch a little bit more maybe knock down an open three or two um you know utilize

That part of his game a little bit more I just think that um you know there’s something that’s just not working with this bench offense right now and I think that um you know Finch did a great job of pressing a different button and going to Jordan mcclaflin in that that next

Game and um again just kind of shows that he’s willing to play around with things to try to you know search for a spark for the team and um you know I think that we’ve seen trade talks kind of pick up among fans a lot more in the

Last two weeks obviously with that December 15th date passing of when a lot of players in the league become trade eligible um you know leading up to up to the trade deadline which is a little bit more than a month away so um that whole you know how the how the bench offense

Plays I think will um will go a long way in determining potentially what the Timberwolves try to do with the deadline and um it’ll be fun to see what what Tim Conelly tries to uh you know conjure up uh the trade deadline to to help improve this team down the stretch regie

Wilson mine is simple just get out of the first round of the playoffs one selfishly I would just love to to cover a a a what you a Western Conference Finals run if you will um a possible NBA Finals run that’d be fun right right we can we

Can all dream right but I I think that would be that would be my New Year’s resolution get out of the first round and have some fun with it yeah don’t screw it up in the first round and lose to the e seed that would suck

Ron uh mine is along that line but when you get to the playoffs don’t overdo it don’t try to be who you aren’t don’t try to because the world’s watching now don’t try to don’t go outside your skin and if and I don’t know if this going to happen but it

Might if if you lose the number one seed Don’t Panic like I I Minnesota fans always find ways to like put pressure on the team and the media and don’t panic like just be like we’re we’re happy we’re one let’s be happy if we’re two

Let’s be happy because if I were to tell people at the beginning of the year hey you’ll be the two seed people would be jumping off their pools and they’d be jumping off their beds they’d be super excited but now being one for so long if they were to enter the playoffs at

Number two everybody would see it’s rigged they want us to play and then the play in could be it could be the Warriors of the Lakers and they just want us to play the Lakers of the Warriors and we’re we’re diseased and we’re we’re you know this team is up

Just relax so my New Year’s resolution is whatever happens one or two seed just relaxing then for the team when you get to the playoffs don’t do too much just play your game those are some good resolutions fellas uh on the round table show we did this segment and I yelled at Anthony

Edwards for taking way too many heat check step back threes I want him to stop it that was my and I’ll stick with it just drive to the rim just they never go in ever you’re 0 for 100 um that’s our Minnesota basketball party today find Ben Beacon at lockon wolves find

Jack borman’s work at canis hoopus find Reggie Wilson on car 11 and Ron Johnson on the Ron Johnson show and other media entities here in the Twin Cities I’m Sam extrom managing the show here at lockdown Sports Minnesota we’ve got the Minnesota football party coming up tomorrow and the Friday round table on

Friday that’s all coming up here and you can catch the lockdown wolves postcast after every single game with Jack Morman and Luke Inman thanks so much for watching and listening today on the Minnesota basketball party

The Minnesota Timberwolves remain atop the Western Conference, but they’ve shown a few weaknesses of late with losses on the road and a turnover-prone offense. Is there any cause for concern, and how will the Timberwolves fare with another week ahead against four playoff teams? Plus, how strong is Chris Finch’s case to be Coach of the Year? The five-man crew on the Minnesota Basketball Party breaks it all down.

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