“Julius Randle sometimes gave the impression of doing a HORSE It looked like that. » Austin Rivers doesn’t mince his words after Wolves’ loss to the Knicks. It must be said that Minnesota showed a worrying face in defense.
Still deprived of Rudy Gobert, still in isolation, the team conceded 76 points in the first half! The Knicks then shot at 50% success and took advantage of the many spaces left. There was up to 27 points in the first 24 minutes…
“We need to be more into it, to be more focused”explains Austin Rivers for the Star Tribune. “We have to know who we are up against, we have to respect this sport. We are not able to approach the matches in a light way. We have to get our hands a little dirty because the physical intensity, the energy are not there yet this season. »
The Wolves left shots open in New York and Karl-Anthony Towns too often lacked aggression against Julius Randle, who finished with 31 points and 8 award-winning baskets. The fallback was not brilliant either.
“As soon as we take hits, we explode. Each match, we find ourselves twenty points apart! »
This defeat (120 points conceded), the fourth in five matches, proves it brilliantly: this Minnesota team is not sharp in defense.
“We are in the hard and I do not know why”comments Anthony Edwards. “We have to find the solutions because at the moment, we are soft. This is what our adversaries tell each other. They come thinking they can dominate us, crush us. This is what happens: as soon as we take hits, we explode. Each match, we find ourselves twenty points apart! »
So is it really a mental problem as the back seems to say? The coach accredits this thesis: Minnesota does not resist when the level rises, and therefore the team sinks.
“We sometimes manage to play hard and then we make mistakes or a player will hurt us”analyzes Chris Finch for Pioneer Press. “And there, it has a snowball effect. That’s why we are so late in these meetings. We have to do better: play harder, longer and more regularly. »
This is also the observation of Austin Rivers, who remains optimistic for the future, despite a disappointing start to the season (5 wins – 6 losses) on the side of Minneapolis. “What is frustrating is that our difficulties are in our hands. We can correct them. It’s not like we had problems shooting or scoring points. We can find the solutions, that’s the good side of things. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Anthony Edwards | 10 | 36.4 | 46.3 | 36.7 | 65.8 | 0.5 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 3.2 | 22.8 |
| Karl Anthony Towns | 10 | 35.2 | 48.8 | 36.5 | 88.6 | 2.1 | 6.5 | 8.6 | 5.5 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 22.0 |
| D’angelo Russell | 10 | 29.5 | 38.3 | 27.8 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 5.4 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 13.4 |
| Rudy Gobert | 9 | 32.2 | 58.9 | 0.0 | 62.8 | 4.7 | 9.2 | 13.9 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 12.6 |
| Jaylen Nowell | 10 | 19.5 | 40.7 | 28.6 | 73.3 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 11.9 |
| Jaden Mcdaniels | 10 | 29.5 | 55.6 | 33.3 | 83.3 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 10.3 |
| Taurean Prince | 10 | 19.6 | 54.2 | 45.9 | 85.7 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 8.7 |
| Naz Reid | 8 | 12.5 | 57.8 | 35.3 | 70.0 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 8.1 |
| Kyle Anderson | 6 | 16.8 | 61.5 | 50.0 | 81.8 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.5 |
| Jordan McLaughlin | 8 | 17.7 | 43.3 | 13.3 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 4.0 |
| Bryn Forbes | 6 | 10.0 | 22.2 | 12.5 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.2 |
| Nathan Knight | 3 | 1.9 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| austin rivers | 5 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Wendell Moore, Jr. | 1 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
