The Wolves have a 15-16 record, but are only 8-10 at home. I guess the record could change if some of the bad bounces early in the season went the Wolves way. Tonight the Wolves face a tough Eastern Conference team in Philadelphia. They are a bit of a surprise with a 20-11 records and a bigger surprise (to me at least) is that Doug Collins is their coach and they havent completely flamed out. Thats probably a bit too harsh on Collins. He has a career .527 winning mark, but most of that can be traced to coaching Jordan and Pippen in Chicago in the 80's.
Looking at Philly's roster, they have a 'Wow, this guy is still around' player in Elton Brand and maybe Tony Battie (he hasnt played since Feb 2 though so he may be in a doghouse or something). The Wolves also catch a break because it looks like big man Spencer Hawes is still hurt. The way Pek! has been dominating lately, it could spell bad news for the visitors.
I went and read the preview for this game on the Sixers SBNation forum. Most of the fans were pretty harsh on Collins, and it sounds like their offense depends a lot on outside jump-shots. If the Wolves keep their turnovers under control, I'm feeling pretty good about this game.
I remember listening to Collins on TNT. He used to make such a big deal about finishing quarters that we came up with the joke that points at end of quarters were worth double.
Their offense depends on their defense and getting turnovers. They need to get out and run. GO SIXERS!!! WOOT!ONE11!!!
Watching games at 7:00--makes me feel like I'm back home in Minnesota!
I actually got to see the Wild on TV and they actually won in regulation. What are the odds?
a shutout!
Luke on Iggy is going to be a tough match up.
If each citizen of the WGOM were to be a Minnesota pro sports athlete I would suggest cheaptoy would be best encapsulated in Pek.
This is off to a not good start.
Ricky en fuego.
This suddenly got fun.
As bad as they played in the first half of the quarter, that's how good they are playing now.
BWAHAHAHAHA
Gophs win 2 of first 3 matches to lead national duals wrestling championship match 6-4 against OK State.
Ricky is playing differently tonight.
Smart move by Pek! to just follow Barea down the lane so he could clean it up after JJ missed.
Wolves Pek!ing away at the lead.
evenin'.
howdy, joe.
Wolf!
ahh... can't wait.
It just seems like the proper way to welcome somebody to one of these game threads these days.
I see what you did there.
Michael Beasley is the Wolves' best 3 point shooter by percentage? I never would have guess. It's gotta be a pretty SSS, right?
that interview didn't sound coached.
the "wicky woooobio" part was pretty cute though.
It isn't because of a lack of effort by the Wolves, but every loose ball is making its way to the Sixers so far. A lot of deflections for the Wolves D.
OK State now takes a 10-6 lead.
A familar story here. The Wolves get outplayed in the first half but are still within striking distance.
2-11 for KLove so far. That's gotta even out, right?
Started 0-6. Next, 2-6. So I can only assume he'll go 4-6 and then 6-6.
If you haven't seen her yet, JJ's baby mama is rather attractive.
Ain't that somethin'.
I've got a feeling her legs are longer than JJ.
Yes and yes.
Zuleyka Rivera, if anyone wants to do more in depth investigations.
I don't think Mrs Buffalo would approve of that.
OK State leads 13-12 with two matches left, but Gophs big favorites in heavyweight.
Wes sucks.
Pek! and roll!
Ricky putting on a clinic.
Suddenly the Wolves with an insurmountable lead!
Oops.
Probably for the best that Wes isn't in the dunk contest.
That was the worst dunk attempt I've ever seen.
Johnson is brutal tonight.
Rubio is incredible.
Just tonight?
With Love struggling it would have been nice to get one of Wes' random "hey, maybe he's not terrible" performances. Alas...
Yeah, good luck with that.
Both happen so rarely it would be like winning the lotto to have them happen the same game.
And as we all know, the Wolves have never done that.
Career high for Rubio in points.
I don't ever watch the game with the sound on these days, but I always used to hate it when they would say a rookie had a "season high" in points. It's much more impressive to say career high.
Gophers take 15-13 lead into final match.
Minnesota wins 18-13 to win the National Duals wrestling title.
J-urray!
Sixers radio guy just goes off on the refs on the foul call at the end of the third.
The block was clean- too bad Allen whacked the crap out of JJ's arm to make him juggle the ball before Allen then cleanly blocked it. Refs got that one right, I think.
Every time I look up I see Philly scoring from a Wolves turnover.
Stop looking down, then, dammit!
or stop looking up. either way.
We're going to have to go Clockwork Orange on his ass.
Sixers are very good at pushing off with their off-arm on the dribble. Barea is flopping more than I like to see trying to get the call, but the Wolves guards are getting shoved away, a lot.
love's earning those points.
Not a good time to not be able to make a jump shot.
It was also not a good time for Barrea to stop feeding the ball to Love. Love's cold blooded? Time to chuck it up there!
Oh, yes.
Pek! with 17 points on 7 FGs.
From Hollinger:
Heh
Rubio and Holiday are going after each other, fun matchup.
sick
Can haz pointz?
I hate not fouling there.
I was screaming. This was the best case scenario for not fouling there.
Time to play goat or hero!
Hero it is!
Wow. These are high pressure free throws!
Love is a boss.
Holy shit!
So, can you ice a free throw shooter?
That's one way to hit a game winning basket!
CLUTHITY-CLUTCH CLUTCH!
no big deal.
ZOMG!
Can you even catch and shoot in .1 second? I say no.
No, by rule it's tip shot only.
tap at best
There should be no controversy about that foul call. That was completely obvious.
Not according to the Sixers radio guy. "To be completely honest, there was no foul there. ... It should have been a jump ball." (Before the foul when Iguadala had his hand on the ball)
He didn't have contact with the ball nearly long enough to make that a jump ball. Looking at the replay, Iggy had more of the ball than I originally thought. But he still ended up getting a lot of Love's arm after the ball.
I guess I'd have to see it again, but it kinda looked like he just wrapped his arm around Love's waist.
Yeah, there were a couple maybe/maybe not fouls in there, but if you try to wrap the guy so he can't shoot, I think that's a no-contest foul.
I just rewatched it. He did get a lot of ball, but he also reached forward with his off arm to try and grab Love (couldn't tell if he did or not from the replay).
Still, anytime you put your arm around a guy when he's past you, you're asking for a foul call, even if you get all ball.
Was this the same guy who didn't think the hack on Barea at the end of the third quarter was a foul? Sheesh.
DARKO SEALS THE WIN
Tremendous game by Darko.
It was an impactful 0.1 second.
Ha! That's awesome because the Yahoo box score shows his lines as DNP -.
If we could get that effort out of him every game, I'd be happy.
It looks like they should have changed Wes's line to "DNP - Useless".
Why is ESPN still talking about Jeremy Lin?
Micheal Wilbon proclaimed Lin as the winner of the Most Improved Player award (and its not a contest) during halftime DEN-OKC game. Then I turned the channel.
Darko sighting!
Did Darko really play just 0.1 seconds?
New record! Or at least a tie.
Most productive use of Darko in his entire career.
Must say, I kinda like this Sixer team. They would be pretty easy to root for if they were our own.
And FWIW, I've liked Doug Collins ever since I read about him when I was about 10 years old.
And the money quote from said article:
Uh, no.
That's not Collins in the logo?
You best not accept that Silver, tovarisch, no?
I liked this part - The story also references senior guards Mike D'Antoni of Marshall and
Good year for
guardscoaches, indeed.I blame him for the 1972 Olympics fiasco. He should have made the layup too. #notreally
I think the more shocking story coming out of this game is that the Wolves beat an Eastern Conference team at home. Only 3rd home win against the East and the other 2 wins were lowly Detroit and Charlotte
Wow, did the Wolves really win shooting 39%? I guess a 26-10 free throw attempt advantage really paid off.
Considering if it was 24-10, they lose.
Unless those two fewer free throws were two of the three they missed.
Good game going on on the 4ltr in OKC right now.
this Denver-OKC game is bananas!
Serge Ibaka for OKC has a triple double (14-12-10blocks) and Kevin Durant has 40, but are losing by 3
ooooovertiiimmme
Durant with 46!