NBA Season 2024-25

[Donoghus]

Feels weird with the Celtics not playing tonight.  Always felt like a Thanksgiving Eve tradition them playing tonight.

[Who]

That is one funky court in San Antonio.

They got a teal baseline. An orange key. A dark purple patch below the foul line. Then a bright wood FT line, dark wood 2pt range, bright wood to midcourt. And a bright orange spur logo at midcourt.

Strange jersey too. Light greyish blue. Orange flares on the shorts. Orange outline on the numbers & player name & team name. Actually, the jerseys might just be a light grey with no blue. It looked a little blue at normal camera angle but not on the close up.

[Who]

Minny were up 12pts with 7min to go. They had shut down the Kings in the 2nd half. Then SAC catches fire and Minny goes cold. A 19-4 run in 5min. Now Sacramento are up 3 with 2min to go.

Story of the season for both teams. Minny look strong at times but cannot sustain it and fall apart. Kings streaky offensively. They look out of it then they get hot and suddenly it is a ball game again. So many scorers on that squad. No D but lots of bucket getters.

Kings are going to take it. Up 8 with 30secs left. Make that 11.

It was 98-86 with 7min to play. It finished 104-115. A 29-6 run over the final 7 minutes by Sacramento!

[Goldstar88]

Cleveland giving up 135pts and losing to Atlanta. Pretenders.

[Who]

Lakers showing Wemby no respect. Gone small with Hachimura at center and LeBron at forward. Then three guards with A Reaves, D Russell and Max Christie.

What does Wemby do? Does he go inside? He has 8 inches on Hachimura! God knows how much more when you figure in length and then leaping ability. Nope. Stays outside. Just shot a 32 foot jump shot. Show some fight big fella. Jeez.

[Who]

I wonder if Stephen Castle will take over as the Spurs leader. He has a lot of fight in him. Courage. Willingness to be aggressive and lead. Show others the way.

Maybe Wemby ends up more 2nd fiddle. Not talent wise but leadership wise. A bit like Durant and Westbrook. Durant was far more talented but that was Westbrook's team in those final years. He was the engine that pushed everything. Durant was the pretty decoration who left you in awe of his talent but often failed to take leadership of his team.

[Who]

Oh wow. I missed this. De'Anthony Melton had a season ending injury a few days ago. ACL.

That is a bummer for GSW. He was a big part of their early season success. They needed guard defense so badly. Especially with Gary Payton III being oft injured. Those two are their only above average defensive guards. Now Melton is out for the season and Payton has only managed 66 games in the last 2 years. Tough to depend on him.

[Neurotic Guy]

Lakers showing Wemby no respect. Gone small with Hachimura at center and LeBron at forward. Then three guards with A Reaves, D Russell and Max Christie.

What does Wemby do? Does he go inside? He has 8 inches on Hachimura! God knows how much more when you figure in length and then leaping ability. Nope. Stays outside. Just shot a 32 foot jump shot. Show some fight big fella. Jeez.

I haven?t seen much of him, but dang the kids 20 and has a body to grow into, weight and muscle to add.  I can?t imagine how good he might be in a few years.  Maybe just in time for a pick swap. Anyway, I wonder whether he turns out to be durable in the image of Kareem (a diminutive 7?2?). or goes the way of many super tall guys and has an injury riddled, short and disappointing career. Seems when guys are 7?3? or taller there are often recurrent health issues and shortened careers. Mark Eaton is one who comes to mind as a durable super tall.  Manure Bol, Yao Ming, Sampson, Shawn Bradley, our own KP - lots of frailty among the tallest.

[Who]

Trae Young with 20 points.... and 21 assists! WOW

Trae was only 3-13 from three. So the rest of the team was 17-29 on threes against Cleveland. That will help you pile up assists! That is some hot shooting.

20-20 games are a fantastic accomplishment.

[ozgod]

Ant in his post game interview:

In a candid and no-punches-pulled postgame interview, Edwards called his team ?soft? and said they were ?front-runners? who could not seem to hold up to any kind of adversity and lamented the fans booing them on their home floor. The 115-104 loss dropped the Wolves to a disappointing 8-10 on the season. They have lost seven of their last nine games, and most of them have followed a similar script. They fall down by double digits, claw back to take the lead and then fade down the stretch.

This time the Wolves led 98-86 with 7:17 to play in the game. The Kings outscored them 29-6 the rest of the way to win easily.

?We look like frontrunners for sure tonight,? Edwards said. ?We was down, nobody wanted to say nothing. We got up and everybody cheering and f??g hype. We get down again and don?t nobody say nothing. That?s the definition of a frontrunner. We as a team, including myself, we all was frontrunners tonight.?

As he always does, Edwards made sure that the criticism he levied toward the team started with his own play.

?I?m (going to) put this one on me,? Edwards said. ?We made all the right plays. If I?m the guy, I?ve got to make those shots down the stretch. I missed a couple shots and they made shots. So, I?m (going to) take this one.?

?We soft as hell as a team, internally,? Edwards said. ?Not to the other team, but internally, we soft. We can?t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Just like we playing with a bunch of little kids. Everybody, the whole team. We just can?t talk to each other. And we?ve got to figure it out, because we can?t go down this road.?

?I?m trying to get better in that aspect, figure out what the hell to say to get everybody on the same agenda, because everybody right now is on different agendas,? Edwards said. ?I think that?s one of the main culprits of why we?re losing, because everybody out there got their own agenda. I guess their imagination of what?s supposed to be going on, and what?s really happening.?

The fans are taking out their frustrations on a team that has played with poor body language and low energy for most of the season. During both of the most recent home games, the Wolves have been booed loudly when the turnovers come in bunches and the defense cannot get stops at the rim.

?However many of us it is, all 15, we go into our own shell and we?re just growing away from each other,? he said. ?It?s obvious. We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it. The fans f??g booing us. That (stuff) is crazy, man. We?re getting booed in our home arena. That?s so f??g disrespectful, it?s crazy.?

?We?re just so negative right now. Last couple years, we was like this,? Edwards said, clasping his hands together. ?And I just feel like we?ve gradually grown away from each other, which is the craziest thing, because most of us have been together. We?ve got two new players, that?s about it. Everybody else has been together.?

Full story from https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5954552/2024/11/28/anthony-edwards-postgame-comments/

[Neurotic Guy]

Looks like Rob Williams has a concussion that kept him out of last night?s game.  Guy is an injury waiting to happen.  Unfortunately, KP in the same boat.

[Who]

TNT with an interesting stat / milestone.

LeBron is now #2 All-Time in 30+pts games with 559 games. Michael Jordan is #1 with 562.

Chuck's reaction was that is incredible MJ is still ahead of LeBron given how many more seasons LeBron has now played than MJ. Agreed. That is incredible.

The TNT clip (1min 30sec) below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59O69of1UqQ

[Goldstar88]

Ant in his post game interview:

In a candid and no-punches-pulled postgame interview, Edwards called his team ?soft? and said they were ?front-runners? who could not seem to hold up to any kind of adversity and lamented the fans booing them on their home floor. The 115-104 loss dropped the Wolves to a disappointing 8-10 on the season. They have lost seven of their last nine games, and most of them have followed a similar script. They fall down by double digits, claw back to take the lead and then fade down the stretch.

This time the Wolves led 98-86 with 7:17 to play in the game. The Kings outscored them 29-6 the rest of the way to win easily.

?We look like frontrunners for sure tonight,? Edwards said. ?We was down, nobody wanted to say nothing. We got up and everybody cheering and f??g hype. We get down again and don?t nobody say nothing. That?s the definition of a frontrunner. We as a team, including myself, we all was frontrunners tonight.?

As he always does, Edwards made sure that the criticism he levied toward the team started with his own play.

?I?m (going to) put this one on me,? Edwards said. ?We made all the right plays. If I?m the guy, I?ve got to make those shots down the stretch. I missed a couple shots and they made shots. So, I?m (going to) take this one.?

?We soft as hell as a team, internally,? Edwards said. ?Not to the other team, but internally, we soft. We can?t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Just like we playing with a bunch of little kids. Everybody, the whole team. We just can?t talk to each other. And we?ve got to figure it out, because we can?t go down this road.?

?I?m trying to get better in that aspect, figure out what the hell to say to get everybody on the same agenda, because everybody right now is on different agendas,? Edwards said. ?I think that?s one of the main culprits of why we?re losing, because everybody out there got their own agenda. I guess their imagination of what?s supposed to be going on, and what?s really happening.?

The fans are taking out their frustrations on a team that has played with poor body language and low energy for most of the season. During both of the most recent home games, the Wolves have been booed loudly when the turnovers come in bunches and the defense cannot get stops at the rim.

?However many of us it is, all 15, we go into our own shell and we?re just growing away from each other,? he said. ?It?s obvious. We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it. The fans f??g booing us. That (stuff) is crazy, man. We?re getting booed in our home arena. That?s so f??g disrespectful, it?s crazy.?

?We?re just so negative right now. Last couple years, we was like this,? Edwards said, clasping his hands together. ?And I just feel like we?ve gradually grown away from each other, which is the craziest thing, because most of us have been together. We?ve got two new players, that?s about it. Everybody else has been together.?

Full story from https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5954552/2024/11/28/anthony-edwards-postgame-comments/

Yeah, Wolves are going to have to make some moves if they don?t right the ship over the next month or so. Can?t risk Ant asking for a trade.

[Phantom255x]

We can discuss the Wolves roster and the KAT trade, but honestly I'm kind of enjoying seeing a bit of this "downfall" with Ant and the team. I know it's not "brutally bad" yet like Sixers level, but yeah, after all last Spring we kept hearing how Ant was "Michael Jordan 2.0" and already better than Tatum, etc. this guy's reputation is starting to take a hit.

And believe me, I think Ant is a baller and love the player, but the hype with him last year was just so nauseating. They also need to figure it out soon because the West is not forgiving this year.

[kraidstar]

Wolves "low effort" is no different than the low effort most teams put in in most games during the tedious, unimportant, overly-long regular season.

The difference is that other clubs respect them now and are giving good effort against them. So the Wolves can't coast to win.

Experienced teams like the Celtics know how to manage effort and energy in the regular season without getting injuries or dysfunction. For some clubs, especially younger clubs, it's more of a challenge.