#651: Minnesota Timberwolves EMBARRASSING PERFORMANCE vs. Golden State Warriors in Game 1 | NBA

Speaker 1 (00:06):
The Minnesota timber Walls just put up one of the
most embarrassing performances that you could ever witness in an
NBA Playoff matchup and round two. And here's the problem.
The biggest issue was not the three point shooting, which

(00:29):
was historically bad over the last two NBA Playoff games
for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
In fact, they set a record and just how poorly
they've shot the basketball.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Today, I'm gonna talk about what was most embarrassing in
their lost versus the Golden State Warriors, But first I
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Speaker 2 (01:42):
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the best, all right. So what was most embarrassing about
the Timberwolves performance against the Golden State Warriors.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Here's a stat.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Minnesota is twelve for forty six, not twelve for forty
six that would actually.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Not be too bad.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Twelve for seventy six on three pointers in their last
two games this postseason that is the worst percentage in
NBA playoff history over a two game span. That's not
what's most embarrassing, but it's incredible that the Timberwolves were
able to defeat the Lakers in Game five when they

(03:16):
had one of the worst three point shooting performances that
a team could ever have. It wasn't the shooting, it
was the effort.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
From the tip.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
The Minnesota Timberwolves were not on their a game. They
were slow, they were lethargic and lackadaisical. And the Golden
State Warriors, coming off of seven games versus the young
Houston Rockets athletics squad, came into Minnesota and were hungrier

(03:56):
than the Timberwolves and wanted it more than the Timberwolves.
The Golden State Warriors in the first half took the heart.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Out of the.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Timberwolves and stomped on it and did whatever they wanted.
They had the mentality to come into Minnesota and beat him,
and Minnesota walked into Target Center with the mentality that
they were just going to roll the Golden State Warriors

(04:32):
and dominate them because they had a long series against
the Houston raucus. I don't know what was wrong with
Anthony Edwards because from the get go he was off
and he looked exhausted, and stan Van Gundy talked about,
you know, sometimes it's a disadvantage to be off for
five days because there's rust and you got to get

(04:53):
back into the swing of things. But you still have practice,
you still have training to prepare you for these moments.
And it's not like it was a week or two.
It was five days. You would think that a team
that was off for five days would be juice for
that crowd. In fact, one of the worst thoughts that

(05:16):
I had after that game was people shelled out thousands
of dollars to attend this Timberwolves Warriors basketball game for
the Timberwolves to no show in Game one of the
Western Conference semifinals. That's the risk you take. Sure you

(05:38):
go to a game and you picture Anthony Edwards knocking
down a game winning shot and the Timberwolves putting forth
effort and playing well as a team and working together,
and they did the exact opposite. Defensively, they were slow,
and offensively they didn't move the ball, and Anthony Edward words,

(06:00):
my oh mind. Chris Finch said it perfectly. Following the game.
Chris Finch on Anthony Edwards. You are the leader of
the team. You have to come out and set the tone.
It starts with Anthony. He struggled early and the light
went out and.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
You could see it.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
Edwards had one point and a half time off a
free throw, zero for nine from the field. He finished
the game nine for twenty two with twenty three points
and fourteen rebounds, which statistically doesn't look terrible, but that
was one of the worst games that have ever witnessed

(06:40):
Anthony Edwards play because he was not engaged offensively until
a few minutes left in the fourth quarter and the
Timberwls are down double digits trying to make a last
run to tie the game. For some reason, the Timberwolves
had the approach of only having urgency to win this

(07:01):
basketball game when they were down double ditches late in
the fourth quarter, they tried to make a run at
the end of the third quarter that the Warriors went
up by like twenty three. The Timberls were down twenty
going into the fourth and they cut it to nine
after Rudy Gobert free throws, and then the Warriors scored

(07:21):
a few points went up back by fourteen, and the
game was over.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
What's so frustrating about this loss? The three point ball
is gonna come and go.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
You're gonna make shots, you're gonna miss shots, you're gonna
be streaky.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
It's gonna happen.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
But where was the effort, Where was the mentality? Where
was the tone setting, discipline diving for loose balls. The
Warriors have tone setters on their team. Draymond Green is
a tone setter. Jimmy Butler is a tone setter. These
guys have tough mentalities on the basketball court. And what

(08:06):
you saw from the Timberwolves were players that backed down
from the moment. You saw players that were completely taken
out of the game because the Warriors were the tougher
team on Tuesday night, and we're not talking about a

(08:30):
regular season game in the middle of January, coming off
of back to back, they had five days of rest
and Steph Curry didn't play a large majority of this
basketball game and in my estimation, will not be back
for a few games. Because they listed him as out immediately.

(08:55):
He wasn't questionable to return, he was out imediately. The
game was handed to the Timberwolves on a silver platter.
When Steph Curry was injured and the Timberwolves were a

(09:17):
no show. And that's what's so frustrating about the loss.
It's not like they put up a bunch of effort
and then just miss shots to win the game. The
Timberwolves had no effort and it was probably because of

(09:39):
the shots, but really it was all game from the
opening tip. Something was wrong. Anthony Edwards was slow. Anthony
Edwards could hardly hit the rim on his first few
three point attempts, almost a bowling the thing or just

(10:01):
straight up the backboard. Everything was just off. And there's
still a lot of series to go. It's not like
this series is over in Doomsday and Minnesota, but to
come with this effort in game one of Round two

(10:21):
to try to advance to the Western Conference Finals is
just ridiculous knowing what's at stake. And this goes back
to my Anthony Edwards take that I had last week.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
I called Skip Bayless correct for.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Not calling Anthony Edwards a superstar yet, and I looked
like a jackass for saying that because versus the Lakers,
Anthony Edwards looked spectacular in four out of five games.
But this is what I'm talking about. This is the
Anthony Edwards that I cannot call a superstar yet. The

(11:07):
dude has a plethora of superstar moments, especially against the Lakers,
and probably will in Game two, but he has too
many performances like Game one versus Golden State. It's like, dude,
where are you Curry's out, step up and take it?

Speaker 2 (11:29):
Where are you in this moment?

Speaker 1 (11:32):
Why are you not stepping up as the leader, setting
the tone and playing like a superstar when your team
needs it most.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
When Conley is aero for five, when Jaden.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
McDaniels is six for twelve, which he played pretty good,
Julius Randall four four eleven, This was a moment where
Anthony Edwards could have came in, put up forty, put
the team on his back despite his team not really
showing up, and he didn't do it. And what's most

(12:06):
likely is that if Anthony Edwards shows up early and
sets the tone, his teammates are going to follow. But
you saw a lot of complaining, You saw a lot
of arguing, You saw a lot of hands up, You
saw a lot of piss poor attitudes from the Timberwolves players.
In Game one, Dante DiVincenzo three for eleven, seven points,

(12:31):
nas Reed was really the only player that showed up
nineteen points Nikhil Alexander Walker, zero points, zero rebounds, zero sys,
zero blocks, one steal, one turnover, two personal files in
fourteen minutes.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Terrence Shannon Jr. And I want to give credit to
Terrence Shannon Jr.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Because there is one thing that pisses me off more
than anything on the Timberwolves organization, one thing that stands
above the three point shooting, and it does deal with effort.
There is not a single player that gets consistent minutes
on the Timberwolves roster that is willing to step up

(13:14):
and take a charge and buy golly, it pisses me off.
Arren Shannon Jr. Comes into the game, plays two minutes
and immediately takes a charge and forces the Golden State
Warriors to commit a turnover because he was willing to

(13:36):
risk his body. You watch the Warriors players going to
the paint uncontrollably, and you just see the Timberwolves kind
of sidestep up because they are afraid to risk their
body and take a charge.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
And it's so dumb.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yes, the Timberwolves are long and lengthy, so they can
block shots and they have that ability to do still
because of their body size, but they don't block every shot.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
Take a damn charge.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
The epitome of game one, the description of game one,
and I don't even know what epitome means. The Timberwolves
were on the floor offensively driving into the paint. I
can't remember who it was. Steph Curry, of all people,

(14:34):
thirty six year old superstar Steph Curry, who's been in
the league forever and could easily just sidestep one, decides
to risk his body and take a charge. He's thirty seven,
took a charge. You see a Golden State Warriors player

(14:56):
like Draymond or Jimmy Butler, and the Timberwolves are afraid
to take a charge. And that is my biggest pet
peeve on this Timberwolves roster is their unwillingness to step
in and take a hit for the greater good of

(15:19):
the team. So what a terrible performance it was. I'm
sorry to the people that spent thousands of dollars to
attend Game one. Hopefully they get it figured out by
Game two, because that was one of the worst performances
of effort that I've ever seen in a moment this

(15:41):
big to go up one zero when Curry is out,
could be a big deflating thing against Golden State. Oh
we're done. They got no chance now. And then they
came into Minnesota and stole it, which is why home
court advantage is overrated. Home court advantage is always overrated.

(16:05):
Teams went on the road all the time, so really,
home court advantage was not one of my factors when
I preferred to play Golden State over Houston. I thought
the Timberwolves would get better matchups than the Warriors would
be older, and wow, the Timberwolves did not play anything

(16:29):
like I anticipated in Game one. They better figure it
out for Game two where they're going home with Steph
Curry in the locker room treating in a hamstring strain.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
Anyways, thank you for watching, and remember to check out
five Star Best Solutions of Minneapolis. Hope everyone has a
great day, and thank you for going on this podcasting
journey with me.