T-Wolves vs. Clippers
Now that I'm settled in Southern California I will not get many opportunities to watch the T-Wolves. Which is why I was so excited when I realized they were playing tonight vs. the Clippers at the Staples Center. This Clippers team is not that of yesteryear (or yesterdecade). I have only watched them a couple of times this year but they really seem like a poor man's Pistons. Each player knows his role, synergy abounds and they are gritty until the end. So, I knew that the visiting Timberwolves would have their work cut out for them considering it was already their 10th road game of the season (with only 6 so far at home) and the second game in as many nights.
Luckily the Clippers sucked to start the game and I really thought they might be channeling some of their past squads to help the T-wolves out. Unfortunately, it didn't last and the Timberwolves found themselves in a huge dogfight needing many critical plays from KG and the crew in order to get to overtime and then win convincingly in the extra period.
Highlights of the game:
Those wacky Clippers announcers!
Okay, so I know hometeam announcers are *supposed* to be somewhat biased but these guys were pretty funny. They did everything short of yelling 'go clippers' every five seconds in their broadcast. I do have to say they were entertaining, made some fairly astute points and gave KG, Eddie, and Sam major props as they were burying the hapless Clips. BUT they didn't even finish the answer to their trivia question! The color guy points out KG was in the top 10 in the league in points/rebounds/assists and that only five players have ever done that in an entire season. So, the play by play guy goes on a guessing spree that starts near the beginning of the second quarter and they only get to 4 out fo the 5 players! Not only that, but the one of the four he needed help getting was Elgin Baylor, general manager of the Clippers. Anyway, the other three: Oscar Robinson (a gimme, only player to *average* a triple double for a year), Wilt Chaimberlin (yeah, apparently he passed sometimes), and I think Wes Unseld (I'm not sure about this 3rd player).
Spreewell's Overtime Trash
Sometimes when you're lucky you can hear a player faintly call out 'oh shit' or something near the hoop when a shot goes up due to the miked hoops. However, very rarely can you hear whole phrases and at a high volume. So, when Spreewell fouled Magette late in overtime when the Wolves were up by 7, the announcers were mentioning his foul and the camera panned in to set up Spree saying very loudly and very clearly, 'SUCK MY DICK.' Great stuff! Almost as good as Sam Cassell motioning how huge his balls were during the playoffs last year. Anyway, to cap it off, when the Wolves next inbound the ball and Spree is fould, you can hear him say (not quite as loudly) when he's at the free throw line, 'Kiss my ass motherfucker.' I think it's good to see Spree this fired up at the end of a won game and as long as he doesn't choke Flip, it's all good.
Eddie Griffin's errant pass and big shot
So Eddie is on the court with just under 3 minutes to play in the 4th, Wolves down by 3. The Wolves are swinging the ball until Eddie swings it one man too many and just loops a pass to his left from the top of the arc to.....no one. No one was anywhere near his pass. However, he got the next defensive rebound leading to a Sammy special delivery 3 pointer. Then, in overtime he nails the big three that puts the Wolves ahead for good. I like that Flip stuck with him and how Eddie continues to play fairly unphazed even though he has by far the least amount of experience on the team.
Luckily the Clippers sucked to start the game and I really thought they might be channeling some of their past squads to help the T-wolves out. Unfortunately, it didn't last and the Timberwolves found themselves in a huge dogfight needing many critical plays from KG and the crew in order to get to overtime and then win convincingly in the extra period.
Highlights of the game:
Those wacky Clippers announcers!
Okay, so I know hometeam announcers are *supposed* to be somewhat biased but these guys were pretty funny. They did everything short of yelling 'go clippers' every five seconds in their broadcast. I do have to say they were entertaining, made some fairly astute points and gave KG, Eddie, and Sam major props as they were burying the hapless Clips. BUT they didn't even finish the answer to their trivia question! The color guy points out KG was in the top 10 in the league in points/rebounds/assists and that only five players have ever done that in an entire season. So, the play by play guy goes on a guessing spree that starts near the beginning of the second quarter and they only get to 4 out fo the 5 players! Not only that, but the one of the four he needed help getting was Elgin Baylor, general manager of the Clippers. Anyway, the other three: Oscar Robinson (a gimme, only player to *average* a triple double for a year), Wilt Chaimberlin (yeah, apparently he passed sometimes), and I think Wes Unseld (I'm not sure about this 3rd player).
Spreewell's Overtime Trash
Sometimes when you're lucky you can hear a player faintly call out 'oh shit' or something near the hoop when a shot goes up due to the miked hoops. However, very rarely can you hear whole phrases and at a high volume. So, when Spreewell fouled Magette late in overtime when the Wolves were up by 7, the announcers were mentioning his foul and the camera panned in to set up Spree saying very loudly and very clearly, 'SUCK MY DICK.' Great stuff! Almost as good as Sam Cassell motioning how huge his balls were during the playoffs last year. Anyway, to cap it off, when the Wolves next inbound the ball and Spree is fould, you can hear him say (not quite as loudly) when he's at the free throw line, 'Kiss my ass motherfucker.' I think it's good to see Spree this fired up at the end of a won game and as long as he doesn't choke Flip, it's all good.
Eddie Griffin's errant pass and big shot
So Eddie is on the court with just under 3 minutes to play in the 4th, Wolves down by 3. The Wolves are swinging the ball until Eddie swings it one man too many and just loops a pass to his left from the top of the arc to.....no one. No one was anywhere near his pass. However, he got the next defensive rebound leading to a Sammy special delivery 3 pointer. Then, in overtime he nails the big three that puts the Wolves ahead for good. I like that Flip stuck with him and how Eddie continues to play fairly unphazed even though he has by far the least amount of experience on the team.
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