On today’s episode, Ryan Eichten and Leo Sun break down the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ wins over the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, as well as the recent play of Bones Hyland.
— The Timberwolves have won six of their last seven games, but of done so in somewhat lackluster fashion. Does the “eye test” even matter in December, or is it more important to stack up wins as there is still plenty of time to improve any problem areas before the playoffs?
— On Monday against the Phoenix Suns, Bones
rejoined the rotation and has made the most of the opportunity. Against the Suns, he scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and on Sunday against the Kings, he scored 18 points while starting in place of the injured Anthony Edwards.
— It appears Bones will be part of the Timberwolves’ rotation moving forward. The hope is that Bones can re-create the success Nickeil Alexander-Walker had with the Wolves as a piece that was undervalued by the rest of the league.
— After the win over the Kings, Chris Finch discussed the roles for the young players like Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham, which by necessity are often as little as ten minutes.
— While it may be hard for young players to find success with short minutes, the hard truth is that on many nights, there just won’t be many minutes available. Bones is a good example of a player thriving in that role; it may just take more experience in the league to find consistent success.
— Jaden McDianiels played well in the pair of recent wins. The goal now will be to find more consistent offensive success when Edwards returns, as McDaniels has averaged 21.5 points when Ant has missed a game, while scoring 14 points per game in games with Edwards in the lineup.
— With Friday’s win over the Warriors, the Wolves are now 9-4, including the playoffs, against Jimmy Butler since he was traded away during the 2018-19 season.
— The Wolves missed out on the NBA Cup Quarterfinals for the third year in a row. As a consolation prize, the Warriors and Kings were added to their schedule. The Timberwolves are now 6-0 across three seasons in the games added to their schedule after being eliminated from the NBA Cup.
