GAME #5 Minnesota Timberwolves 105 (2-3) - Toronto Raptors 112 (5-0)

[The Great One]

NBA front offices are obsessed with the 2019 free agent class: https://t.co/fLs4PmsTlA

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) October 24, 2018

[Demographic Shift]

GAME DAY !

The Timberpups come into town in a bit of disarray... I am sure Jimmy Butler took his own cab to and from the airport in both Minneapolis and Toronto. I thought and still believe that the Wiz would be team turmoil but Minny is right there with them till they trade Butler.

The once hyped transcendent stars Towns and Wiggins have fallen a little short of what they were supposed to be. Towns this year with the "Butler affect" in full force is putting up only 17 a game .. four points short of his career average. Wiggins is a talent but seems to lack the drive that separates talented players from star players. The old Bulls are truly that .. Gibson/Deng/Rose are all north of 30.

That dressing room must be something. Sort of like Berlin wall. On one side are the old Bulls.. Butler , Rose, Deng, Gibson and on the other is Wiggins, Towns and the other rookies.

Serge and JV should take care of a disengaged Towns. Wiggins is on the limp and may not play.. if he does he gets to look forward to one of Green or Pascal or Kawhai or OG on his six when they are not making life miserable for Jimmy. Teague will give Kyle problems with his quickness and speed so hoping Delon is green lighted to play to help out on Teague. Gibson will give his usual workman like performance but he isn't the player he was 5 years ago. No slight ..but other than cyborg Lebron who is ?

The Wolves give up a lot of points... 140 to the Mavs in a loss and 123 in a win over the Cavs. All told they average of 115 a game. Ouch. Their bench is paper thin. They have internal player issues they can't paper over and the Pups are not exactly road warriors with 12 wins total last year and are already "oh-fer" this season.

MixxAOR continues the streak without breaking a sweat.. Raps win tonight.

[Nilanka]

True, but a nice chunk of them was against Joel and I was happy to see it. That dude has a big mouth and needs to be humbled a bit. First Tatum and now Griffin putting him on their highlight reels.

I don't really know why, but I'm not bothered by Embiid's chirping at all. I see him as a guy who's just having fun out there...and he has the talent to back it up.

I'm much more annoyed at the media's assumption that Philly (as a team) is on par with the Raptors.

[planetmars]

Does anyone else think that defense has been a problem for everyone this season? Some of the scores we've seen have been crazy. That "freedom of movement" rule they created is really dumb.

I don't need to see shoot outs every night. Seems to be favouring Toronto so far though.

[KeonClark]

Does anyone else think that defense has been a problem for everyone this season? Some of the scores we've seen have been crazy. That "freedom of movement" rule they created is really dumb.

I don't need to see shoot outs every night. Seems to be favouring Toronto so far though.

I agree Mars, I've watched probably a dozen games so far and it's almost too easy to score right now...we might he trending too far one way, I really enjoy hard nosed ball when sometimes the basket is a huge task to get

[DanH]

Does anyone else think that defense has been a problem for everyone this season? Some of the scores we've seen have been crazy. That "freedom of movement" rule they created is really dumb.

I don't need to see shoot outs every night. Seems to be favouring Toronto so far though.

Yeah, the league wide ORTG (and DRTG, obviously) is 109 right now. Last year it was about 105 (at this time of the year). It usually climbs throughout the year. Not sure what to expect this year though.

[planetmars]

I agree Mars, I've watched probably a dozen games so far and it's almost too easy to score right now...we might he trending too far one way, I really enjoy hard nosed ball when sometimes the basket is a huge task to get

Yeah.. the Pacers have actually went and talked to a league official about it:
https://clutchpoints.com/pacers-news...ting-concerns/


The casuals love scoring though.. so I'm skeptical that they'll change anything. We have Kawhi Fricken Leonard on our team and they decided to make playing defense harder. Go Figure.

[planetmars]

I don't really know why, but I'm not bothered by Embiid's chirping at all. I see him as a guy who's just having fun out there...and he has the talent to back it up.

I'm much more annoyed at the media's assumption that Philly (as a team) is on par with the Raptors.

I saw highlights of that Pistons game last night.. you should see the blatant flop that Embiid pulled off.. Got Drummond ejected for it too. Refs are so stupid.

*EDIT - found the video of it:

[Demographic Shift]

I saw highlights of that Pistons game last night.. you should see the blatant flop that Embiid pulled off.. Got Drummond ejected for it too. Refs are so stuipd.

But they have long memories.... No one likes to be made a fool of... Watch for the King of Twitters trips to the free throw line to perhaps begin a decline.

[Gonzz]

But they have long memories.... No one likes to be made a fool of... Watch for the King of Twitters trips to the free throw line to perhaps begin a decline.

They could also fine him for flopping upon review. The league doesn’t like this to continue,they don’t like to be compared to soccer.

[Demographic Shift]

They could also fine him for flopping upon review. The league doesn’t like this to continue,they don’t like to be compared to soccer.

I think he makes about 30M$ a year.
So a 5K fine for flopping is like fining you 5 bucks.

Not giving him calls hurts a lot more.

[LJ2]

I believe the fine increase with number of times caught.

[Gonzz]

I believe the fine increase with number of times caught.

I’ts mostly the embarrassment that affects the players more than the fine.That Shaqtin moment.

[LJ2]

I’ts mostly the embarrassment that affects the players more than the fine.That Shaqtin moment.

There's also a suspension after 4 or 5 times being caught I believe.

[Nilanka]

I saw highlights of that Pistons game last night.. you should see the blatant flop that Embiid pulled off.. Got Drummond ejected for it too. Refs are so stupid.

*EDIT - found the video of it:

Yep, definitely agree on the flop. No room for this nonsense.