The Minnesota Timberwolves Are Playing GREAT Basketball With KAT Hurt | The MN Basketball Party
11 games left for the Timberwolves in the regular season we’re coming down to the wire can they keep winning without cap we’ll talk about it on today’s 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 welcome in it’s Wolves talk every Wednesday here on lockdown Sports Minnesota I am Sam extrom the host of the show and we’re so glad you’re with us today on a snowy Wednesday in the
Twin Cities uh we’re talking Timberwolves for the next 45 minutes or so as we do every single week and it was a good week for the Timberwolves they beat the Cavs on Friday they beat the warriors on Sunday they have the Pistons tonight at Target Center and they’ve
Been winning without cat they’ve been winning with nas in the starting lineup we’ll talk about that change and how it’s uh it’s looked on the Timberwolves and we’ll even talk a little brackets folks yes we’ll talk about our busted brackets and are there any prospects the Wolves fans should be watching for in
These college games we’ll also predict the week wolves have four games between now and our next show that should be a fun segment as always but we’ll meet the crew today with our opening tip I’m Jack Borman editor-in chief of Kes suus uh co-host of the lockon wolves postcast
With my man Luke Inman and I’ll talk a little bit about why the offensive identity the Timberwolves are forming without Carl Anthony towns should be what it looks like once uh once Carl does come back and I’m Ron Johnson former gophers and NFL wide receiver also gopher’s Hall of Famer I’m gonna
Talk about one I love what Jack’s talking about with this offense without cat but I’m gonna talk about why Anthony Edwards needs to hit up perk and send the video what how do I come after that I’m Reggie Wilson Carol L sports director and yeah just going off of
Jack’s Point um the wolves are doing some things without ant having to carry the fullness of the load we’ll talk about that and again I’m Sam extrom the executive producer here at lockon sports Minnesota this should be a good show today and since several of you mentioned
This let’s talk about the Wolves without cat um they they look great on Friday they look great on Sunday so cohesive I think they had six players and double figures in both those games really scoring kind of um in Aggregate and putting together some really nice offensive performances without Carl
Anthony towns has their recent play given you guys the the feeling that they can go into the playoffs and if cat is not fully healthy they could win a playoff series Without cat if need be because we’re right on that line we don’t know when he’s going to be healthy
Again I think the playoffs were about about five and a half weeks from the time of his surgery it’s going to be a very tight turnaround to get him back and they might have to do this this is a very real possibility they would have to win in the playoffs without Carl Anthony
Towns Jack Borman can they do that yeah I I think they can uh although it does sound like the wolves are optimistic that they’ll get Carl back closer to the start of the playoffs than to the end of a first round series um and and trust me
If Carl Anthony towns if his knee is fine and it’s just conditioning he will play the five five seven 10 minutes whatever it is um to to get out there but yeah I think with his in after his injury they’re leaning into what they’re best at right and and they’re running a
Ton of high pick and roll they’re spreading defenses out they’re they’re really sharing the ball well uh they’re getting efficient looks and they’re not turning the ball over as as much and and something we talked about coming out of the All-Star break so before Carl got hurt was the Timberwolves shooting more
Threes and and as a result of playing this way uh they they shot the six fewest threes a game 32 a game before Carl got hurt they’re shooting just shy of 37 a game since he got hurt which is the 10th most so that’s a pretty big
Improvement and in their last five games they’re shooting 44 and a half% from three which is third in the NBA and then with their turnover rate before it was just under 15% so 15% of their possessions ended in turnovers that was seventh worst in the league and now
They’re at about 11 a half% which is the fifth best Mark in the league and and as a result I mean they they have the ninth best offense in the league over the last two weeks um which is up from the 16th best offense you know over the course of
The whole season and they’ve been and they’ve still been a top 10 team in the league uh in terms of offensive rating and defensive rating in the last two weeks and that’s that’s definitely good enough to win a playoff series uh when you think about the fact that only three
Teams have done that for the entire season uh it certainly should Inspire confidence and I think you you look at the way the Timberwolves played especially in that game last week against Denver second night of a back to back you lose an hour traveling from Utah really tough you know you’re you’re
Down guy short-handed and and what do you do you you just come out and you and you junk the game up play completely different than you’re used to playing and you almost steal one from the defending champs I think and that was without you know Nas and without Rudy
And and to be able to put games together like that I think kind of shows you that these aren’t the same old Timberwolves in a sense that that they just have a really fun Collective fight and this team this crowd at Target Center is really bought into it I don’t know if
You know if it comes through as well on TV as it does for us sitting in the arena but it’s it’s been a joy to watch and the fans have been incredible throughout this whole you know run without cat no doubt and this is what
Good teams do Ron they they lose a piece and it’s next man up and they don’t really miss a beat yeah and and so I’m G to pay off the te’s early uh Reggie we’re not talking about that kind of video uh Kendrick Perkins five weeks ago
And so we talked about with Michael Grady about this and I will give Kendrick Perkins uh his flowers on his next comments like the last two weeks so on my show with uh Michael Grady I kind of hated on Kendrick Perkins and I said Kendrick Perkins and this is what
Kendrick Perkins said when they asked him and and Sam we’ve talked about this I think we talked about on the basketball party too they asked the entire like group of like big time announcers and and and Studio analysts if you had to pick five teams to defend
Or sorry challenge the nuggets for a championship who would it be let me tell you it wasn’t the Timberwolves in their five and Kendrick Perkins reason his reasoning um for the Dallas Mavericks not his number one I think he had Mavericks like fourth he said he trust the Mavericks over the Timberwolves and
This is why he said their guy talking about the Timberwolves Anthony Edwards scores just as many points as the Mavericks second guy which is Kyrie Irving well since then now and it’s one point but one point within a span of like a couple games it’s a lot of points
So that means now Anthony Edwards is almost averaging 27 points Kyrie’s averaging 25 so that is no longer the same they used to be the same and this was like a month ago maybe K Perkins newest comment and I’m gonna give it to you guys his newest comment when it
Comes down to Anthony Edwards not only is he must C TV he’s actually the future face of the league so clearly ant sent him the video he sent him the video the dunk because with this quote it’s the dunk of the dislocated finger it’s also the dunk um when he didn’t count you
Know against when when Jimmy Butler and I think what perk is seeing in now the newest videos of Anthony Edwards is yeah he’s not a true scorer like Kyrie he’s not going to just oneon-one every single time he plays within the scope of the team and now I think Kendrick Perkins
Figures it out but Anthony Edwards without Carl Anthony towns we’re seeing a different Anthony Edwards and I and I agree with Jack there’s less turnovers it’s more efficient basketball knowing it’s coming back to me probably and and nothing against C but I think he kind of knows like if I dribble dribble
Pass Cat probably is going to take this everybody else is like now as Reed’s like let me get it back to aned does an have it again nope all right now it’s your turn to take the shot take the shot or Mike connley you’re open now like dribble dribble pass double screen let’s
Let’s twirl screen off of this let’s let’s let’s tornado screen off of this let’s spin off of this it’s more of an offensive built team now and again nothing against cat when you have a guy with his his ability you do sometimes have to just dump down low see what he
Can do within that pain area but with Anthony Edwards I hope Carlin Town’s coming back Really and like realizing hey if I make a couple extra passes I’m GNA be one-on-one in my spot versus in my spot with another guy coming over to help defense and I think that’s what
This team is looking this team has more of a college feel now they’re moving the ball fast and then they’re like look if Anthony gets it he’s going and that’s what I love about this offense but I’m pretty sure perk has the video now of Anthony Edwards and I I love that
Instead of getting more selfish he’s actually gotten less selfish without cat his assist numbers are actually up in cat’s absence rather than the other way around uh Reggie your thoughts yeah it’s interesting because I feel like the first few games after cat went down it was like all right Anthony Edwards is
Gonna have to put the team on his back and it made sense because you know you’re talking about a team with you know some of the worst offensive efficiency even with cat being there you know that’s been a topic that that’s been talked about just about all season
Just how stuck in the mud sometimes the offense gets and you think that losing one of your Allstars it would get worse but I think what happens is is it forces the team to actually like run more things and and just like play Team Basketball because you’re not relying on
Guys who can just get you a bucket or or get just get a shot you know when you need something you know just put something up like cat you know one of the more efficient scorers in the league like you know if if push comes to shove
Cat can get you a bucket and you know you’re thinking like okay well now this is ant’s time to shine and and it is but and we’ve seen some of that but I think what has been nice is so many other people have been getting involved you
Know when when you have all five starters and double figures like that’s that’s a good that’s a good thing that’s a good thing when you when you shoot the most threes that that you’ve shot you know uh All Season like and and you make them that that’s a good thing like I think
What I what I pan off the teas it’s really cool to see that ant doesn’t have to score 3540 a night and the Wolves I mean they beat the they beat the Cavs by 13 they beat they beat the the Warriors and I I you know the Warriors might be
Cooked man like I think I think this is the the beginning or the end of the end I I don’t know however you want to phrase it but you know a short-handed wolves team can take it to this Warriors team and you know you got Draymond whining about stuff like
Because the Warriors are not the same team you know you hear Draymond chirping a little bit more but I think it’s very encouraging as Jack said you had the defending champs on the ropes you come out and you beat the Cavs you beat the Warriors and ant you know on in both of
Those games ant against the Warriors he scores 23 and against the Cavs he scores 16 you don’t even you don’t even need more scoring output from him for them to to win and so I think that’s a very encouraging thing because you know that
If if you need him to an can go and get a bucket and you know he’s changing the perception of a Kendrick Perkins as Ry said but you got guys like Nas Reed who can go six six of eight from three and and just score
20 and you’re good you know I think that was the the big thing about them signing KN in the off season and just building up that depth you know just because C missed a lot of games last year you don’t anticipate that he’ll do it again
But you know things happen but they have the guys that can do what they need to do to win these games even without cat and that is encouraging headed towards the postseason yeah and and a big reason why they’ve won without cat is because Nas has been so good including in the
Starting lineup of late we’ll talk about that change and how it’s looked coming up next on the Minnesota basketball party we are presented today by eBay Motors passion drive and patience what brings home the winning trophy is what keeps your ride or die alive that’s their Mantra at eBay Motors they’ve got
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Minnesota basketball party again check out the Ron Johnson show yesterday with Michael Grady voice of the Wolves who by the way made his debut on the NBA on TNT last night good for him in the Mavericks Kings game uh the Minnesota football party will be live tomorrow at about 11
A.m. going live on that show now Mondays and Thursdays so back to the wolves and their changes without cat they have put Nas Reed recently in the starting lineup he has even with cat out he has still typically been a bench guy Kyle Anderson has been uh the starter but recently
Putting Nas in the starting lineup um and there’s even a game I think where Nas started and Kyle Anderson finished but we go to Ron Johnson how do you think the nas starting move has worked out how does that look and how like what’s what’s the domino effect of
Putting Nas in the starting five well I mean honestly if you look at size I think you’re getting a a similar like size guy from cat so uh but skill set wise he can when he gets hot I mean we’ve seen it he can knock down the
Three so he does still give you ability to stretch the floor he doesn’t you know create a vacuum into the lane um he he can play defense he’s unselfish I think it works I I do think it works I honestly and and again I think we’re
Going to see this at some point maybe the Nuggets is going to be naasri cat and goar at the same time because now you have a guy like cat I hate to say it I don’t want to say it out loud that can play the three and if you could put cat
At the three now you just got really big you got really strong you’re stretching the floor but now you can have Nas Reed flip and guard the three cat guards the four Rudy guards the five and yage and then you all can pick and pop and change whenever they’re setting picks for yage
Other than the guard but even a guard up top I think he still can stay in front of jic yic just can shoot the three over him so I I do like Nas Reed getting inserted the think about the NBA and I forgot oh Isaiah Thomas Isaiah Thomas uh
Did a podcast with with uh Draymond Green and he talked about who’s what position in today’s NBA and he’s like he did all the stats and like you do this your assist to ratio blah blah he’s like dude you’re the point guard talking to Draymond Green he’s like Steph Curry and
He wasn’t hating on Steph Curry but Draymond was asking like who’s your best point guards in the history of the NBA and Isaiah said if it was the 80s it would be Steph but it’s not like Steph’s not a point guard anymore compared to what you’re supposed to do as a point
Guard he said draymond’s a point guard because he brings the ball up the floor he gets the offense going and he sets the original play that’s kind of like yic like he’s positionist and so now when you have a guy that’s getting the play start at the top as your five I
Mean imagine bill cartright with the Bulls trying to get the the the game started at the top he was absolutely trash when it came to the to the jumper so there’s no way he could issue free throws correctly so it’s just they’re position guys and that’s why I like Nas
Reed because he gives you another position guy he can guard the three he can guard the four and he can guard the five and so I think he’s just doing his job uh and I and I do like it in there I I just say when C comes back I hope C’s
Watching From the Bench of how the team is playing so when he comes back he’s like look I don’t need to come back and impose my will let me play Within this scheme and we can be Champions wolves four the last four games were Nas starts uh Reggie what do
You think of the move you know it’s interesting because I have kind of been silently banging the table for that to happen for a while you know especially once cat went out it just made sense to me but Finch was like no more slow-mo more slowmo that’s my guy and it’s like okay
I get it but then you know the Wolves went from man can this big man thing work like got the Twin Towers going like is that a thing and you know everybody’s like oh can they win with two big men in the lineup is going away from what the
League is going to or what the league is and then they come out this year and they show that it actually works so they go from that I’m like oh well I mean if if you’re just I mean c and Nas are two different players obviously but if
You’re just continuing on from what you have already established just plug knives in there for cat and it’s two big men starting just like it was before cat went down but it was like they ended up going from being like the the big team to now all of a sudden playing that
Small ball with with slowmo at the at the five and it’s just like okay that’s a that’s a strategy you just kind of like flip the script on everything but I think you know Nas these last couple games that he has started is shown why he probably should
Be starting you know 26 minutes uh as a starter against the Cav slowmo still got 27 in that game but Nas did start and he showed his efficiency which he continues to do he’s a microwave at times you know 18 points plus 10 when he’s on the floor
Um slow-mo got more rebounds than him and more assist than him in that game but you know whatever but then he comes out against the Warriors and like I said six of eight from three seven seven of 11 from the floor and he has 12 boards
And he gets 20 points and so I think he just continues to show that he is a player that can be counted on relied upon and he is an ascending player in this league if you give him the the time and the minutes you know they have this
Team has really developed him and allowed him to Blossom to be a Hooper like he’s just as Ron said like you know you might call him a positionist player like I just call him a Hooper like he just he just goes out there and hoops and I think that’s something that the
Timberwolves benefit from and I think if he continues to be in the starting lineup he’ll continue to hoop and continue to prove the Wolves right on uh starting him in the first place jack heie Reggie I got a question for you Reggie real quick so when when when
Coach asks her slow-mo to come in does he have to talk slow like that it’s like Kyle Anderson can’t hear him if he talks too fast you know what I just did that I don’t even know where came from honestly but I imagine that it’s something Kyle
We want you to go out there tonight and slm’s like I got you coach I I don’t know I don’t know i’ like to imagine that happens in the film session like when Finch is trying to slow the tape down of a slowmo play he play fast
It’s like is it paused is it paused um yeah he he keeps but uh but Jack on Friday did you have the Naas Reed beach towel did the did the media members get gifted the towel so they could wave it uh ohow where is
It oh oh we got a beach towel n Reed two words Nas Reed that’s big Nas not the little one take that to the beach yeah I I will be taking that to uh to Lake Harriet this summer um hey and Jack can you explain what was that about cuz I missed
Why they had those yeah so uh their City Edition jerseys are uh kind of inspired by the the lakes around here and so it was a it was a city Edition night and you know I don’t really know how they landed on a Nas Reed beach towel but Nas
Was pretty uh involved in all their you know marketing and roll out of the the new city Edition theme like when young gravy by I still can’t believe that do that little concert but I was there for that and then uh Nas and Mike Conley
As part of that roll out so I’d imagin it had something to do with that but um yeah it was incredible like you had chills looking around the arena seeing all the nasri towels and and he was he was kind of speechless after the game talking about it but um yeah with with
Him in the starting lineup I mean that that lineup this season Mike Aunt Jaden Nas and Rudy is a plus 14 net rating that’s like 98th percentile in the league and it’s 200 minutes together so it’s a it’s a very know sizable sample there and they have a 91 defensive
Rating which is insanely good um and they were awesome versus Cleveland I think the great thing about Nas is he just comes out of the gates firing you know we see it all the time he has a knock for knocking down that that first or second uh three that he puts up right
Away when he comes in the game and it’s great that he starts the game that way because it just kind of gets everybody going um but they they weren’t awesome against Golden State you know the Warriors had Draymond Green on on Rudy goar and so the the Wolves wanted to
Make sure that Draymond Green wasn’t flying up the floor and doubling Anthony Edwards so they brought Nas to set more screens and then they were throwing the ball into Rudy and the post uh way too much and so they had nine turnovers in the first quarter but then in their
Their minutes in the third quarter and the fourth quarter they they were much better much more efficient ended up shooting five of 12 from three as a as a lineup out there together which was awesome and I think that’s what where Carl needs to be watching what this
Starting five is doing and think to himself this is what I can do when I come back in the game you don’t see Nas Reed posting up at the nail when Rudy gobear is in the dunker spot and cratering the entire spacing for his teammates Rudy go or excuse me Nas Reed
Is playing a ton uh as a spot up shooter in the corners and the slots he’s cutting really well he’s playing off the catch but he’s not driving out of control and ending up on the ground all that much and he’s really only posting up uh deep in the deep in
The low post on the Block when he’s got a three on him like Ron was talking about earlier and I think those are the things that Carl can do when he’s with the starting five I think you can get more of those post-ups more of those drives out there when he’s in those
Blended lineups uh with the bench unit but I I think as a starter Nas has kind of shown what Carl needs to do it’s just shoot up it’s just shoot a ton of threes and high volume be a ball mover space the floor so aunt and Rudy or or Mike
And Rudy are able to run pick roll and and get the ball moving and and get guys the ball in their spots and create efficient shots and you know I I it’s going to be and again that’s kind of what the offensive identity for the Timberwolves has become since Carl
Anthony towns has been out and again it’s not Carl’s fault that the offense is playing great right now it’s more just that they’ve had to they’ve been forced to lean into this style of play without Carl because Carl’s a very good postup player I know people think that
He sucks at posting up but his postup numbers are WI ly efficient this year at least in the at least in the Deep low post and and I just think that you know they they need to continue this style of play when Carl comes back and he can
Totally do it he’s one of the best spot up shooters ever of all time and he’s just got to do more of it and I don’t know why he is unwilling in a sense to trade in two drives or two post-ups for an additional three or four three-point
Shots a game because if Carl ly towns shot nine threes a game he would average 26 or 27 points a game I would debate anybody on that and so you know it’s it’s just going to be a matter of you know whether he’s going to be able to do
It and maybe we’ll see him do it more because his knee might limit his mobility and he might not be able to drive or post up and he might not have the same leg strength and explosion and that’s exactly what we saw last season when he came back from that calf injury
He just shot more threes and he was a lot more effective in games three four and five of that that series against Denver so so we’ll see if that ends up being the case again when he comes back yeah cat was quite good when he came
Back last year off a long long layoff this one isn’t nearly as long I I do get nervous and this is for any member of the starting lineup this isn’t cat specific I do get nervous if his debut is game one of the playoffs adding a
Piece that late in the game so abruptly does like throw me off a little bit is it going to mess with whatever they have going but I think that’s a gamble you take when it’s cat um and I think they play enough before his injury to know
Kind of what it’s going to look like and how they need to play yeah I I think that’s fair um after this we’ll talk a little college basketball we’re all in a bracket pool together how’s that going and are there any prospects the Wolves could uh eye up here in the latter
Stages of March Madness it’s coming up on the Minnesota basketball party we are partnered with Amazon Fire TV if you’ve noticed maybe you have Amazon Fire TV lock on Sports Minnesota is there on your Amazon Fire TV device um it’s your destination for sports from live games to Highlights to in-depth
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Nissan Pathfinder and go find that Next Big Adventure shop nissanusa.com uh March Madness talk the lockon sports Minnesota bracket pool uh I’m bringing it up right now how we doing in this thing how we doing with our bracket so far through uh through two rounds reg so uh this is the second straight
Year that I have not even filled out a bracket wow yeah yeah yeah so I was just on Vibes this year and last year I just wanted to enjoy the games you know enjoy the the time see the upsets all that good stuff so I I didn’t even fill out
Of bracket this time I just I don’t know it’s like it’s going to get busted anyway so it’s like what’s the point you know in some ways you’re Liber you’re probably liberated to where you can for you can cheer for the teams you want to cheer for you don’t have like
It’s it’s not fun when you have to cheer for like a duke or a you know can it like you don’t like being in those situations but you kind of want to honor your bracket so you have to so I get that especially not Kansas I was I was glad
To see them get bounced because you know right yeah no that that one I actually had Samford beating them so I I kind of felt that one coming they almost did but Jack Borman you are in where are yeah toward 25th out of 31 in this uh in this year lockon Sports
Pool yeah 25 is fitting considering I spent about 25 minutes on my bracket this year um doing doing research I I was all in on bucky ball uh from what I had read uh with with Samford I had Sam for going to the Sweet 16 uh I also had
H Kentucky in the championship game so I was that was mostly just a uh really hoping that we could get five games of Rob Dillingham just because he’s a ton of fun to watch um and uh Reed Shepard I guess heard that the the number one pick
Buzz and decided to just completely crap the bed so um yeah so my bracket is uh a little bit in shambles over that and and some shots in the dark that I had just you know didn’t pan out but that’s the way it goes and uh that that’s March
So yeah Ron Johnson uh you are why can’t I find anybody’s I’m like I’m 19th I’m 17th oh I must have improved I was 19th when I last checked so yeah so for me I noticed the one thing is nobody picked North Carolina to win except for me so
I’m not even worried I’m just gonna wait down to the end I was hoping Houston I was up watching the Houston Texas A&M game and I’m not gonna lie I was hoping Houston lost to Texas because then that would not granon Warren just off his high horse right now um but it didn’t
Happen Houston somehow pulled it out even and they shouldn’t even been in that way I didn’t even I had turned the game off because I thought it was over and I saw Reggie’s tweet like Houston what are you doing so I was like wait what’s going on right now so I went back
To the game and dude hits the three as I turn the TV on and I’m like whoa what in the heck just happened like how did they even get there and so then after that I was kind of dialed in and I saw Sheed start going to work and realize he is
One of the top point guards in the country so him against Duke because we’re gonna talk about draft picks coming up and I’ll explain why I’m really interested in this Houston versus Duke game um but I hope Duke knocks Houston down like just just punch him in
The mouth play play Christian leer ball uh show Cooper flag why he committed and and let’s go ahead and get them up out of here because I got Duke North Carolina in the championship so I need dke to be Houston in the sweet come on
Ryan come on man so look this was this was so this was what was so funny so we were on a resort North Carolina stand up take your shirt off just your head like a helicopter so we were on we were on a Resort in Jamaica with my father-in-law
He turned 60 this weekend he is a Houston Cougars Alum and he is a DieHard Houston fan used to be a season ticket holder all that and so he skips out on the rest of the the festivities for the night because he wanted to watch the Houston game and so we’re sitting with
Him in his uh hotel room me my wife Alexis and him watching the game and for that last two and a half minutes of the game he did not say a word like a word he was just watching like with his mouth open the whole time just
Like and he didn’t say a word Meanwhile my wife is just oh my God what are you all doing she’s like really hyper with you know competition she what are you doing make a shot and then when you know um was who it sharp fouled out she was
Just like oh my God what is happening right now that wasn’t a foul like she’s just going off and my father-in-law is still just sitting there in silence and then when it went to overtime he was just like like he broke the silence he was like man this is crazy what is going
On and then like didn’t talk again until the game ended he was like oh oh my God that was stressful had it the whole time it was just it was Madness and so then you know then we were able to get back to the you know the festivities but like that whole
Like game experience was crazy Houston almost fumbled that but what a epic game that that ended up being yeah I don’t know where he sits in in draft prospect talk but yeah that Jamal shed or Sheed however you say the last name he was nice [ __ ] [ __ ] I I liked I
Liked him um competitive gritty yeah guards the last few years have just been a bunch of dogs that have been super fun to watch I am terrible at knowing college basketball prospects and granted there’s only a handful that are relevant anymore right like a lot of a lot of
These prospects are international um and a lot of them you know you’re not that impressed necessarily it’s like okay your stats are fine you’re not like jumping off the screen but NBA teams love their length they love their their physical like build even though they
Might not be as productive so I I watch all these good players in March Madness and I don’t know if they’re like NBA you know Destin because they might not have the size or they might not have you know whatever it is the NBA teams are looking
For so I just have a hard time in this tournament identifying prospects um are there any um that that caught your ey Ron Johnson yeah um as I started to stated I’m really gonna be tuned in to this Houston game uh because I want to see
Sheed who’s one of the top now draft picks prospects I guess you’ll say guards um because of what he’s been doing this season with Houston who was the number one team for a while but then also on the big stage that kid played every every single minute of the Texas
A&M Houston game besides when he filed out and he showed he has absolute heart he he reminds me of a stronger and I’m not and I’m not hating on this guy because I think Michael Grady talked about this on my show too but he reminds me of a stronger Baron Davis like he
Just he takes over games he’s like he’s willing to play defense he’s a two-way guard you have kind of have to be in college though except for Steph Curry wasn’t in college I don’t know if you guys remember Dayton Steph Curry didn’t play defense then so I don’t know why we
Were concerned now um but this kid is good so when him and Jared McCain for Duke go against each other and if you guys have not seen Jared McCain or heard his story about his brother and his brother’s like the uh he’s the equipment manager now or
Trainer or something he’s on staff for Duke because he didn’t he he didn’t get a chance to make it um and so he wanted to stay on and help his brother try to make it and his brother looks like he’s going to be a first- round draft pick
Now I want to see those two go because the Timberwolves I think are going to have like a late 20s pick unless they make some moves he could be the guy they take he’s a 23rd overall rated player the fifth overall rated point guard in this spot and he could sit behind Mike
Connley for two years like a like a quarterback who’s waiting in the wings to take over um tus Jones you look at Trey Jones he has that type of mentality um and he’s unselfish because when you look at Duke players he has some other
Top draft picks on his team so I want to see this like Duke vers Houston it honestly reminds me of like Michigan when they hated Duke like it feels like the Fab Five type guys versus Duke and so I want to see like how do they come
The lineup and honestly I’m kind of scared for Duke because because Houston Houston’s bullies like they gonna walk out there they be like man we don’t care y’all go to Duke like y’all got to go to class tomorrow we can do whatever we want like we got fly Sama Jam back here
Like hooking us up like what y’all got like Christian lner get out of here Grant Hill where is he at stop it so I this is going to be one of the better I think like knockout some dirty some kicks and trips like dudes can trip
Somebody but yeah J McCain’s my guy I want to see how he does also she I don’t think the timos can get him because he’s probably GNA go too early but if somehow some way as a point guard he falls I I wouldn’t mind the temp getting him
Either looks like Duke’s got another guy Philip palowski who might go around that time big guy seven-footer um not like the Wolves need that um any anyone else Jack or Reggie any other prospects we should keep our eye on yeah I had a McCain was the the first one for
Me but but I had a couple in the kind of bigger Wing category if you will that that are maybe a little bit more plug and play the first one that I had was was Baylor shyman as a senior forward for Katon he’s a fifth year senior uh so
He’s 23 uh I I think would be 24 by the time he’s a rookie um kind of around that six seven 200 pounds he’s a career 39% three-point shooter he’s got a really good feel as a second side playmaker he’s averaging four assists this year uh 2.2 turnovers in the high
Usage role leading the uh leading kraton and scoring at just over 18 a game and he’s a great rebounder for his size too um he’s much more of a three than a four but he’s averaging 9.1 rebounds a game um you know he’s a he’s a guy that
Doesn’t you know isn’t the most explosive athlete doesn’t move super well laterally in space so defense is going to be a concern with him um but if the Timberwolves are looking for you know a guy that they can bring Off the Bench that can give you you know seven
Eight nine points a game can space the floor shoot can can playmake a little bit I I think he would make sense uh as a late first round pick or or an early second round pick because remember the Timberwolves are going to get the Grizzlies second round pick which is
Going to be you know one of the first six or seven picks um of the second round so they’re going to have two picks in a span of you know 10 or 15 draft picks which would be nice for them then the other one I had was Alex caraban
He’s a sophomore forward for Yukon 21 years old again another 68 210lb guy in stretch the floor he’s 40% three-point shooter averaging 14 and5 this season not a great athlete again but uh is a really efficient playmaker um and he also has some post skills down low uh
He’s been more than willing to to walk some guards or smaller Wings down into the post and and kind of showcase some some post moves down there uh as well so he makes up for some of his lack of uh lateral movement with with some really
Nice strength down there so those are a couple guys that that I had that could be around potentially either at uh that that late first round spot or the early or the early second round Tyler kak point guard from Marquette or PJ Hall big Wing from
Clemson who’s kind of one of the the Cinderellas right now he’s averaged 15 or more the last three years and can shoot the three a little bit almost 40% last year uh for Clemson those are the two that I’ve got my eye on any from you
Rge yeah obviously I like shed um Jamal shed is a is a a solid uh point guard who’s just a Hooper man he he could just he could just hoop man I I think he had some struggles in that game against Texas A&M but then when everybody else
Filed out like he shows like okay I can go get a bucket you know I’ll make these free throws even if I split him down the stretch um I I liked what I saw from him and then this is just me being biased just because you know he’s from where
I’m from so uh Arizona Caleb love I know a lot of people were kind of writing him off after the the North Carolina thing the Michigan snafu that happened but you know he’s found a he’s found a really nice spot for himself out in Arizona he’s been playing well um and you know
He’s clearly the the best player on that team and I think you know he doesn’t necessarily fit a need for the Timberwolves but you know having another guard who can go get a bucket you know I think he’s 6’4 um and an efficient score uh I I think I think who who wouldn’t
Who wouldn’t like that and so I think you know another one of those guards from St Louis man you know there’s they’re starting to fill up the league now um so I I think that would be that would be a good a good Prospect for the Wolves I didn’t mention that uh my
Bracket is in fourth place by the way in that pool just saying just saying it’ll be shattered by next week I guarantee it um but who’s your who’s your Champion though Sam Illinois okay okay they’ve been pretty good the first two games they’re they’re a little iffy
Though you know and then the whole like man when I was at that that big 10 championship game and that student section chat chanting um different things at Taren Shannon Jr you know with all the the allegations that he has against him it’s brutal when he goes uh
Anywhere because of you know these these student sections they are they are something else I’ll just leave got that I yeah I won’t I I’m not I I won’t touch that but I will say that that anybody who plays Dane Dana is in the danger zone I’m I’m banking on DNE my Park
Center guy to get the job done for Illinois uh we’ve reached the part of the show where we predict the week wolves have four games they’ve got Detroit tonight the Nuggets big one on Friday must win if they want the one seed bulls and Rockets four games last
Week we all predicted predicted I think 2 and0 we did the hands and and we all got it right um what do we have this week for predict the week Reggie yeah okay so here’s here’s the thing the wolves have the best uh record against conference opponents this season they’re 34 and 12
Uh the Thunder are 32 and 15 and then the the wolves are actually uh 11 and three in the division as well and have a really good home record so you look at these these four games and you got what four of five at at home I’m counting the Raptors game
Too you didn’t mention that one but that’s a second of a of a back toback next week but I think they can obviously beat the Pistons they can take down the Bulls the Rockets are the Rockets is GNA be a tough match up because they are kind of
Surging as of as of late they’re trying to take that that playoff spot from the the um the Warriors so I think I’ll go I’ll go three and one I’ll go three and one all right jack I’ve got him going four and0 um you know I I think three of
The four teams are playing are significantly worse than the Timberwolves and they’ve uh won their last you know I I think they’ve won their last nine games or either seven or nine games against teams either below 500 or really decimated by injuries and I I just think the wolves have kind of
Figured out what what the formula is for for playing against the nuggets and trying to junk up the game and play really aggressive defense and you I think they’re going to take that game incredibly seriously and and and with the way they’ve been playing it’s been really really difficult for opposing
Teams to defend and now they get back Nas Reed and Rudy goar and they’ll be able to play that same style and and hopefully have a little bit more talent to help them get him get them to the finish line but if if they can split
Those two games that they’ve got left in Denver I think that that would be huge and um and and like Reggie said or I think it was you Sam you said you know if you if you want the number one seed you got to win this game and I just
Think the the Timberwolves are going to rise to that occasion yeah they they can’t win the one seed with that win but they can lose it if they lose that game I think that the one seed hopes are probably dead Ron yeah I’m gonna go three in one I think Pistons Bulls
Rockets are win um I’m struggling to say four and0 and beat the Nuggets here um without cat I think like I said it’s going to be tough when you look at yic what he can do but I think they can get three and one and maybe they can shock
The world and beat the Pistons and the Nuggets Pistons are easy but beat the Nuggets and then you know maybe turn around and lose like the Bulls or the Rockets or something but I’m gonna say three and one yeah I’m I’m not a believer in the Rockets looking at the
The schedule of the teams that they’ve beaten it’s not really a murderer row they’ve they’ve been the beneficiary of a pretty soft schedule of late so I think that’s a win I I think three and one as well I can’t say they’re going to beat the nuggets the Nuggets just don’t
Lose basketball games right now um but I still think three in one would be a good week and we’ll reconvene next Wednesday to talk about it wolv stock every Wednesday Minnesota basketball party Jack Borman Kanis hoopus Ron Johnson host of The Ron Johnson show Reggie Wilson donate to Reggie’s food fight
Still time to do so with that Care 11 operation and I’m Sam extrom here with lockon sports Minnesota thanks for watching and listening on the lockon Wolves podcast feed talk to you next week e
The Minnesota Timberwolves are playing good basketball without Karl-Anthony Towns. Could they win a playoff series without their star if he isn’t able to return in time? Plus, how has Naz Reid’s inclusion in the starting lineup helped the Wolves? Plus, are there any future Wolves playing in the Sweet 16, and our guys predict a busy week of Wolves action.
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