December 17, 2025 • 34 mins
In depth Wolves talk with Alan Horton. Nordo discusses the winter teams looking up at the top of the standings in the West.
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Speaker 1 (00:59):
Welcome back, order in for PA nine to noon and
joining me Now you can follow them at Wolves Radio
via x Voice of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Alan Horton, joining me, Now,
how are you doing this morning?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Alan?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I'm doing great? How are you? Man?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Oh, I'm fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I got the hockey team doing what it's doing, and
then I can take a breath from the puck to
watch the Wolves on the hardwood tonight hosting the Grizzlies.
I believe you attend said morning skates and such, mister Horton,
or morning shooter rounds. I should say, what'd you see
this morning from our favorite hoop squad?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, a change in plans. Oftentimes they'll if they have
a couple of days before a game, sometimes they will
bypass shoot around and so a late change. They had
a practice yesterday and they got in all their work
about preparing for Memphis, and so beginning of busy stretch
right now, of like this is seventeen starting tonight, seventeen
straight days the Wolves will play every other night, and
(01:55):
so the coaching staff kind of looks at that, and
I think that kind of factored into trying to find
some rest for the guys. As much as they can
to kind of get through this stretch. It'll also be
fourteen games in twenty six days, and so you try
to keep that long term view while still you know,
doing all the little things and putting in the work
you need to do to beat you know, to to
(02:16):
keep the wins that coming. Because they're seven out of
eight and the Wolves are thirteen and five. They got
the fifth best record in the NBA over that stretch,
and so things are headed in the right direction. But
a busy stretch starting starting tonight.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
How difficult is that for Finchy to handle? When you
think about He's got to tinker with some things haven't
seen at the last couple of days, want to figure
out what we have in some of the kids.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
The lack of practice.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Time associated with that schedule has got to be difficult
for the coach to just find time to get some
things on court, to organize.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Yeah, I mean it's in coach's blood. I don't care
what sport it is. They love practice, right, They want
they want to continue to work on things. They want
to try new combinations of players together. See these guys
with the old guys, get guys reps, get them up
to speed, and you have to do that also with
half your brain preparing for the future, like it doesn't
(03:08):
do you any good to go, you know, have a
shoot around, play, have a practice, have a shoot around,
play again, and then all of a sudden next week
when you're six days into this thing, everybody's gassed, everybody's
worn out. It's too much. So you have to keep
an eye on the long term as well as balancing
that short term, and like I said, making sure you're
prepared for every single night, because if you're not prepared
(03:30):
for every single night, guess what you lose those games.
Even teams like Memphis that are struggling well do have
a loss of Sacramento that's struggling. You don't come out
one hundred percent against those any team in this league.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
You'll get beat the game tonight seven pm ish tip off,
and you can always listen to it on the free
iHeart Radio app of course, but tonight you'll get to
hear it on the fan as well. Shortly after Bumper
to Bumper, looking forward to that, we will start with
Anthony Edwards and just his foot soreness that has kind
of nagged him. And for a guy that just doesn't
(04:02):
miss games. If he can go, he's going to go.
We haven't seen him for two in a row, but
those were w's both out in the Bay and then
versus the Kings the other night. Are we optimistic, whether
it's tonight and certainly maybe later this week against OKAC,
that we should see Anthony back in the mix.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yeah, I mean he's going to be questionable. He's listed
as questionable right now, so that technically means fifty to
fifty and that's kind of where he's been on game
days the last couple of last couple of games, the
Golden State game like you mentioned, and then the Sacramento
as well, and the Wolves have performed pretty well. They
lost their first two without Aunt this year when he
had the hamstring issue earlier in the season. That was
against the Lakers in Denver, but they've won four in
(04:42):
a row without him since. And you know, when you
don't have your number one guy, a guy who plays
such a huge role on the team, you need everybody
else to kind of step up, and the Wolves have
gotten those kind of balanced attacks the last couple of games.
Nas Reed's been on a tear off the bench. Julius
Randall has taken, you know, take the leadership of this
team in these last couple of games, and Jaden McDaniels
(05:03):
and Rudy Gobert, and you look up and down the
lineup and everybody's contributing, and it's Bones Highland. Last game,
it's Rob Dillingham contributing some some big fourth quarter minutes.
Everybody's really stepped up, and you just you need that
to happen if you're gonna win games, you know, over
the long term, without without Anthony Edwards. But I think
they're hopeful he'll be back for Friday. That's got that's
(05:26):
National TV. That's an eight thirty start, That's a Friday night.
It's the holiday season. It's time to get after, get
after the rest a little bit, get after SGA. I
think I think things are building towards Friday Night, at
least in my mind they are. I can't wait for Friday.
Not overlooking tonight. I mean, we have some feelings against
Memphis too, dating back a few seasons. But Friday Night
against OKC, man, that could be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, absolutely, it will be.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
And I do want to touch on ok C as
it just it feels like everyone's in a race for
second against that juggernaut right now, But we'll get we'll
get to that momentarily. You mentioned the Grizzlies, who they're
having a down year, probably not a playoff team, although
they're technically in the play in right now and they've
won eight of their last eleven.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
You know, on their side, they're just sweating.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Will John Morant either be able to play or does
he want to play?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Just kind of the way that Memphis.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Has really they they they've found themselves at this this
precipitous rate of degradation. Desmond Baines no longer in the mix.
Just a lot of struggles for them, but not a team.
As you mentioned, we can overlook those cats tonight.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, John Moransk hurt his ankle last game, so he's
questionable heading into tonight. But they got Jaron Jackson Junior,
who's always kind of a theign in the side and
the former Defensive Player of the Year. The guy that
really has contributed to their winning though, has been Zach ed.
He he's the big man who played at Perdue. I
think fans are a big ten. Fans are familiar with
his work through all the years. He's driven winning for
(06:50):
this Memphis. He missed the first chunk of games this season.
Then he comes back and they and they only lose
I think they think eight and two in his ten games.
But now he's out injured again, and so it has
not worked out with John Moran, and it's it's you know,
he had the one game suspension earlier for conduct detrimental
to the team when he called out his coach not
only in a locker room to him, but also to
(07:11):
the media afterwards, and so you just don't know how
this is going to play out with John. Randy has
not been as impactful, and the numbers haven't been as good,
and the winning hasn't been there as in years past,
and so he and Jaron Jackson Junior haven't been enough.
It's it's really been, like I said, Zach Edie, who's
been carrying the workload and the win rate. And unfortunately
for the Grizzlies, those three guys have played five minutes
(07:33):
together all seasons, so they've battled some injuries there too,
So you know, but that's when you want to face
the team when they're when they're at some crossroads. And yeah,
they're playing well of late, they got a little confidence,
but without Edie, they've they've basically been able to feast
on some sub five hundred teams. They've really struggled. Only
one win this year against a five hundred or better team.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Oh wow, Okay, I did not know that stat.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I know, you know one of the best rebounds are
going to be important to this one. I do want
to jump back to our favorite team and with ant
you know, you mentioned it, the balanced attack that this
team has found itself in these last couple of games.
We can focus in on those without Anthony in the lineup,
and it just seems like that's been the the balancing
(08:15):
act of this squad thus far, Allen in terms of
Anthony's going to go for forty and Jaden McDaniels is
going to go one of seven. Anthony Edwards is going
to get you twelve or fifteen, maybe a little more
on the assists side that night, and then it's Nas
Reed and it's Jaden McDaniels that are carrying you offensively.
It just seems like that that struggle and maybe it
(08:37):
all relates to one particular position that they're still trying
to master here, that finding that balance with Anthony in
the mix has been a bit of a struggle.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yeah, there are times where you know it's all Ant
and nobody else can kind of get on track. He's
almost doing it kind of by himself rather than through
the construct of the offense and through his team. And
then you'll the games where Ant is a willing distributor,
eager to set up his teammates, has a better feel
for the game of when to set guys up and
(09:08):
get touches. That's something I was talking to Mike Conley
about last week before his injury, and I think the
Wolves have missed him a little bit too the last
couple of games. Even though his minutes have been down,
he's been coming off the bench. Mike, such a studying
force is and he was talking about how you know
it takes time to develop when to look for your shot,
When to know everybody who's on the floor, what positions
(09:31):
they're in, and how long it's been since they've had
a touch or maybe a shot. How do I get
someone else involved? And that's kind of the next level.
How do you get to a level of scoring which
Aunt is at an elite level right He's averaging close
to thirty points a game, but also makes the game
feel like everybody else is involved. So it's something that
Shay Gildas Alexander does very well. He gets the high
(09:53):
scoring rate, but he also keeps his teammates involved, and
Jalen Williams has big nights and chet Holmgren has big nights,
you know, And that's that's always the work in progress,
is to get to get your top guy going, get
your second guy, your third guy, and you just want
that balance attack. Now, it's not gonna be perfect every night.
There are gonna be off shooting nights, but that's the
(10:13):
kind of mindset you want to be in, is being
impactful but still playing that team game and getting everybody going.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
What have you thought of Tarren Shannon Junior.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Now you know, post post Nikil Alexander Walker, and if
if PA was here, he would call him a rolling
ball of butcher knives. Tarren Shannon Junior, instant offense, instant energy,
finds himself maybe getting a little too many fouls on
the defensive side of things and just kind of.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
The ebbs and flows.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
As a little bit older but still immature in the
grand scheme of his NBA career, Arren Shannon Junior finding
his way along.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Yeah, and he's gonna you know, he knew he was
going to get an opportunity this season. Without Nikiell, he
and Jalen Clark, we're going to try to, you know,
to sort of tag team those minutes. I think that
Nikil brought you every single night for two and a
half seasons. Nik Kill was so good with the Wolves,
not only with how he played, but the consistency that
he brought every night. He missed one game in two
and a half years, and that wasn't because he was injured.
(11:10):
It was because it was the second game after he
got traded for So nik Kill was awesome and he's
flourishing in Atlanta, and I know all the Wolves love
to see that. And he got paid. He got himself
a nice big contract, which he's well deserved. But TJ's
kind of been up and down this season. Then he
battled through a foot issue that I think had a
large role to do with that, and then he then
he did have the game let's see last week where
(11:33):
he did have three thousand and four minutes, and the Wolves,
their coaching is to have really challenged him, like you've
got to be better on the defensive end of the floor.
It can't just be offense, which he preaches to everybody.
Everybody's got to play both ends of the floor. You're
not going to play very long. And I thought TJ
responded with some good games over the weekend, especially that
Golden State game on Friday night. They needed a performance
(11:54):
like that. He's such a downhill player. Boy, he catches
it and attacks, and he always puts the defense on
their heels. Now, sometimes you could argue, I think that
he probably attacks too much when maybe there's not a
lane there. Sometimes you have to be able to read
what's available. Okay, it's not here, let's move it. I'll
get it back in a different position on a different
spot on the floor perhaps, and now maybe that lane's there,
(12:17):
or maybe it's the next possession. But picking those moments
to go rather than going every single time. But what
he does get going downhill and has got a lane,
I mean, he's got the size and the strength to finish.
And it's you know, they need that off the bench
because the Wolves bench is really all nas Reed as
far as the scoring goes, no bench player in the
NBA has carried a bigger percentage of their bench points
(12:38):
than Nasri. Nazried has scored forty four percent of the
Wolve's bench points, which is by far and away the
highest rate in the league. So he's been tremendous and
he's on an up swing right now knocking down threes.
But you do need that balance attack. You need TJ. Shannon,
you need Jail and Clark doing his things on the
defensive end of the floor and then chipping in on offense,
and then when you get Mike Conley back to and
(13:00):
you know, getting whatever minutes you're gonna get out of
Mike Conley, He's just it's just such a steadying force
on the floor. Even though you look at the box score,
his stats might not blow you away.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Well, it's kind of crazy with Jalen Clark. You mentioned
box score is not blowing you away. Uh, Jalen Clark's
not gonna not gonna get you you know, filling.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
The stat sheets, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
But there is a trend that plays out with Jalen
that the longer he's on the court, the more difficult
and the the steeper hill that any opponent has to
climb to get over the hump against our team. Jalen
Clark a nice little piece if he maybe he can
add a couple of buckets to that defense.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah, and I think those buckets will come. He works
so hard at practice and shoot around and off, you know,
oft times getting his shots up to be able to
contribute in those spots because he is so good defensively.
Is one on one defense is great. They've got metrics
that are defensive field goal percentage, So what does the
opponent shoot when you're the primary defender? And Jalen's been
up amongst the league leaders almost all season. When he's
(13:57):
on the floor of the Wolve's defensive rating is at
an elite level. When he drops off, it's very Rudy
Gobert esque. When he's on the floor. Both those guys,
the defense is really good. And when they drop they
when they come off the floor and get arrest the
defense really suffers. So those guys make their impact on
the defensive end. And when Jalen's in the zone and
and and contributing like that, it just helps pick up
(14:19):
some of the You know, there's so many talented offensive
players and guess what, Aunt and Jaden can't defend everybody.
And that's where you miss Nikil because he was so
solid in those roles and defending wing defenders. You need,
you need Jalen Clark to be one of those guys
coming off the bench that can they can help shut
down and make life difficult for all the potent scores
in this league.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Now I want to I want to get the Bones.
What about Bones? Bones Highland. It's a cool it's a
cool name to say. And you know, just following from
I can't remember if it was their title year or
maybe the year after, but Bones, when he was playing
for the Denver Nuggets had.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Just kind of just out of nowhere. He just couldn't miss.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
And I think it was early stages of the postseason
and and there was just this buzz and this fervor
around Bones. Now he heads to the Clippers either the
next year or the year after, that kind of disappears
in obscurity, and now we have him here in Minnesota
and you see him on a night when you needed him,
dishes in eighteen points and just look good on the floor.
But is that truly just worth stemming the tide until
(15:19):
Anthony's healthy?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Kind of going back to what we were.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Talking about maybe five ten minutes ago, just players having
to plug the gap as we continue to figure out
not just being balanced without Anthony, but who the heck's
going to freaking handle the ball for twenty plus minutes
a night and orchestrate this offense.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yeah, it was good to see Bones have that kind
of game, especially in the starting lineup, because it was
so excited to be in the starting lineup in Golden
State and it only lasted three and a half minutes.
Then he banged knees with somebody and was out for
the rest of the game. So it was great to
see him have a second opportunity because it's something he's
worked awfully hard at and it's tough for It's tough
(15:59):
for young in this league to find their way into teams,
into positions under coaches, to find their role to succeed,
and so I think it's almost more difficult sometimes for
young players to come on the good teams because good
teams are focused on winning games. They're not focused on
making sure you get your minutes or this guy gets
(16:21):
their minutes in the name of development. This isn't the
Wizard situation. So if he'd been on the Wizards and
gotten twenty eight to thirty two minutes a game, you know,
it might be a different scenario. But it was tough
to find his way in Denver. It was tough to
find his way with the LA Clippers. Now Tim Conley,
the guy who drafted him in Denver, brings him back
to Minnesota. At the end of last season. You know,
(16:43):
there wasn't an opportunity really for him to crack the
rotation at that point. That was right when the Wolves
were about to take off and finish the season on
the seventeen and four record and make their deep run.
But he got a sense of how Chris Finch operated,
He knows Tim Conley, He got a sense of his teammates.
He comes back this year and he feels a little
more comfortable and he's you know, every year, these guys,
(17:05):
we have to forget that when they come in the
league they're eighteen, nineteen years old, and even three years
removed from that, you realize they're twenty two to twenty three,
twenty four, and they're more mature, they've gone through experiences,
they kind of accept things now, they have a better understanding.
It's what all of us go through in life. Right.
We were so different from eighteen to twenty to twenty
(17:25):
two to twenty four, and so it's the same for
these guys, and so it's been difficult for Bonones to
find himself in a situation. And he probably would admit
too that he maybe hasn't handled all those other situations
very well, but he's had the right mindset from the
moment training camp started this year that he I mean,
this guy's got a smile on his face all the time.
Will he will dap up everybody, whether you're the radio
(17:46):
guy or whether you're Anthony Edwards or coaching staff. He's
got a smile in his face. He's quick to say hi.
It's he's got a great personality, a lot like Anthony
Edwards too, it's just with just kind of it's sort
of a magnetic aristhma. And so it's great to see
him get this opportunity, and I think he having gone
through his prior experiences, probably appreciates it even more and
(18:08):
is even if and when Ant comes back, he'll clearly
go back to the bench, but there might be a
role for him now where maybe there wasn't a consistent
one before. And you know, when you're a winning team,
it's about finding ways to have the team at their
best and use all eighteen guys that you have in
your roster to find your way to wins. So if
(18:28):
that means that Bones is playing better than Rob Dillingham,
he's going to get more minutes than Rob Dillingham. If
Rob's playing better, well, then he's going to get an opportunity.
And if there are guys out, well, then that opens
up opportunities for a lot of different guys. So it's
you know, it's been fun to see Bones have that
kind of game the other night. He definitely deserved it.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Time for a couple more here and thanks again for
your time.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Alan.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
The other night, Rudy Gobert played twenty minutes against the
Sacramento Kings and then it was abruptly announced he was
out for the remainder of the game.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Due to personal reasons.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Now, and I assume maybe stuff like this, there were
rumors there were people that on the inside knew and everything.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
But on the outside it's like, whoa this is.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
This is either catastrophically bad or miraculously good. Thankfully it
was on the good side of things. How about Rudy
welcoming a new baby girl into the mix.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
There was a little you know, what's.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Going on with Rudy and then we got the good
news a day or two later.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Yeah, you're right, it could be. It could be really
bad news or could be really good news. And I
was hoping when he was wapping up his teammates as
he was leaving the floor and then leaving the bench
area and obviously heading to the birth of his daughter.
You know, usually if it was something more serious, I mean,
this is what I was hoping, is that it wasn't.
That was a sign of something good that he tapping
up his teammates, and you know, it's funny to practice
(19:45):
the other day. They just you know, they acknowledged that
they thanked Rudy for putting in the time and for playing,
because he easily could have not played right. Yeah, but
they they he wanted to be there. He knew how
important winds are. He played as long as he could
and then got the go code, if you will, and
then was able to was able to be there and
(20:05):
so and it helped it. You know, I don't know
if he doesn't play the other night, I don't know
that the Wolves pull out that win. I mean, he
was he was instrumental in that victory. And so that
those kind of things don't go unnoticed. And it was
great to see Rudy have a great night all the
way around. He played well, got the you know, the team,
got the win, and he welcomes his second child in
the world. So that's that's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Now, that is super cool.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Now later this week getting back to it, uh, okay,
see and I was chatting Pat mcalletty. We were chatting
Wild Hockey in studio last couple of segments, but we
did venture into the Wolves world and just the the
idea that when you talk about like windows championship windows,
what we've seen from OKAC not just last year in
the Western Conference Finals they hoist the trophy, we're all
(20:48):
sad and downtrodden, but now twenty four and two and
what they've put back on the court this year. Just
I wonder whether you're Tim Connolly or maybe just at
a at a more floor level, it's finch in the squad,
like how they view you know, James again, is it
a race for second? But but really just maybe more
focusing in simply into into Friday night, just maybe despite
(21:12):
being a regular season game in mid mid December, like
how VI like how pumped they are to play this
game and figure out how to best those Thunder.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, I think, and I think they played the Thunder
really well a couple of weeks ago in ok See.
That was a game that was tied with about three
minutes to go, and unfortunately that came in the stretch
where the Wolves were really struggling. They had lost in Phoenix,
Sacramento and OKC all with you know, really poor end
of game final three minutes in overtime struggles. So I think, ay,
they feel like they match up very well against Oklahoma City.
(21:44):
It you know, you always look to improve your team.
I don't know that you do it with one team
in mind, though, because there's you only played the Thunder
four times during the regular season. You take your best
shot at them, and and who knows, you may not
even see them in the post. If you want to
get to where you want to go, you're likely going
to see them. But my point is you just don't.
(22:04):
You just don't keep them in mind solely in terms
of trying to.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Fill a hole of you if you can.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
If you're going to improve your team and you think that
makes you better against Okay See, well that's fine, but
I don't know that you start making moves based on
any potential opponent down the line. But but this it
is going to be fun. I'm glad to see him
is at home. I feel like there's some real you know,
social media is not a great barometer, I think of
(22:30):
of of of the general public's views. It's very we're
being force fed exactly what we want to see, apparently
from our algorithm algorithms and all that. But I will
say that I feel like there's some anti oka see,
you know, momentum coming. More and more people are pointing
out that what we've seen all year, well the last
couple of years, with Shay Gilles Alexander and his antics
(22:51):
getting to the free throw line. This is a supremely
talented guy. There's no doubting that. But I think what
people have had enough of and we've seen played on firsthand,
is you know, on the marginal contact and him selling
that and you know, having just collapsing to the floor,
flailing himself to the deck. That's the stuff that he seems.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
To get rewarded with more than more.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Than other players in this league. And I'm I'll be
interested to see how you know, I just think a
lot is building towards Friday night. Maybe It's just me
because I want to see this matchup. But how Chris
Finch and the and the fans get into it, and
how you handle the referees and really kind of get
into this game early so that those kind of things
don't build. But I mean, Shay has made a master.
(23:33):
It's kind of like when James Harden started to take
control in Houston, he just kind of changed the game.
He pushed the envelope. I think Shay Gildess Alexander does
the same thing. He's pushing the envelope and what what
is what's troubling though, is that it appears at least
that the referees are looking to reward that they're so
quick to give him a whistle. I mean, there's a
famous play in the Western Conference finals where Shaye drives.
(23:53):
He got he tripped himself up, he tripped on the floor,
went down, and they could there were two whistles right
away like what you saw what? And the Wolves had
to challenge that it was clearly not a foul. But
they're so quick to reward Shay gilds of Alexander when
oftentimes it's not deserved. And so we'll see if that
plays in the plays in the things. I didn't think
it really did in the first meeting, But I don't know. Well,
(24:17):
I think we're gonna get some I think things are
gonna be heated on Friday night. I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
But before that, let's handle the grizz call a great
one tonight and always appreciate you joining the show.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
My man, you got anordo anytime.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
That's Alan Horton at Wolves Radio via x Voice of
your Minnesota Timberwolves and again tip off shortly after seven
pm tonight the Target Center Wolves hosting the Grizzlies. Sounds
like we're gonna have to wait until the eleventh hour
to hear if Anthony Edwards is playing similarly for John
Morant and tweaking his ankle because he's always tweaking his ankle.
But that's seven pm ission. You're gonna get to hear
(24:51):
that right here on the fan final hour. Nord to
Win for PA. We're back in minutes.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Nord to Win for PA.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
A couple of shorties to go here, and then we
will we will give way to the program.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And I just saw common Man was nice enough to
step in studio and say.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Hey for a moment so I can confirm that the
host of Noon to three is here. The host of
nine to noon is going to be back tomorrow. Vocal
maintenance day on a Wednesday. It was an emotional win
that the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. Now we've got
to figure out how to beat the Giants and met
life for a couple of division collisions and the twenty
twenty five season for the Minnesota Vikings. That's why it's
(25:51):
been really a two topic affair nine to Noon today,
whether it's the Wolves hosting the Grizz tonight, what the
Wild did last night. We're now winners of five in
a row after a five to zero w over the Capitals.
Seven shutouts for your hockey team this year, by far
leads the NHL. I think the Aisles are in second
with four.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
So that's just kind of the vibe.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
And that's amidst by the way the Hughes Steam and
the kremline doing their thing last night with year Off
getting a goal I believe also an assist on the
night might have been a three point night for year Off.
Tarasenko with two goals and an assist as well, Capris
off on the with the man advantage. Just beautiful work
being done by the hockey team right now. Text line
(26:34):
I got this one doesn't have a name on it,
but just how big of a swing and mortgage of
the future does Billy g take? And he references, I
don't know if this would ever be a thing. I
don't want it to be a thing. Trade the Great
Wall of Saint Paul for a rental in Sydney Crosby,
and do you go all in for one year? Would
you rather have a three to five year window to
(26:57):
win a championship? See you trade for Quinn Hughes teams
on just on fire right now, red freaking hot, and
you start talking about these sorts of things. I also
got a text earlier. Do you think the Wild can
beat the Panthers? I mean that would be well, that'd
be a bit farther down the road. Right now we're
talking about hockey in June and maybe parade routes and
all sorts of things. But that's the life that has
(27:20):
just been breathed into thrust into this hockey team over
in Saint Paul, and it's a beautiful thing. To that question,
I guess you know hypotheticals. No, I mean you want
a window, right. You want to sustain greatness. You want
to sustain your contending ability for as long as humanly possible.
(27:40):
And that's where whether it's with the Wolves too straight
Western Conference berths or the Minnesota Wild now in the
spot that they are in and appear to be in
moving forward, is potentially the Wolves make a move and
Connolly can't be afraid to make this thing better if
he believes that this puts them in a better spot
over a seven game series. To oust Okac Now, I
(28:04):
mostly agree with what Alan Horton said last segment. You
can't necessarily mortgage future or move assets simply to beat
one team in the league.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
However, that's kind of a mix.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
You think about how certain teams and dynasty like fashion
kind of led to changes. Whether it was in the
nineties with the Bulls, You've seen it, with the Lakers,
you saw it, you know, just Lebron led teams in general.
And then you look at the Warriors and how the
way that they played and Steph Curry and Klay Thompson
in his absolute prime, etc. How that kind of changed
(28:38):
the way the league focused on how they acquired talent,
what they were looking for and how to potentially beat
the Warriors. Right now, it feels like you're going to
be staring up at Okac, maybe not just this year,
but for years to come, and so that does naturally
or inherently, I think, impact how you view your own
roster and how to get better.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Now back to the Wild, similar state of affairs.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
You get, Quinn Hughes, you are absolutely this team's an
absolute Cup contender in twenty twenty five, twenty six.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Now how do they get better? And in the end,
I guess.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Kind of moving it, just kind of aligning it with
the hoops team. You know, the question is, you know,
I think again, I think you're talking about windows. You're
talking about you know, consistent contention. That's what you want.
And you want a hoist to Stanley Cup. You want
a hoist I Larry O'Brien trophy, Target Center and Grand
Casino Arena getting wild. But with all of that that's happened,
(29:34):
you're still looking up at the Dallas Stars. There's still
you know, the Wolves are looking up at Okac. How
do you get over that hump? The Wild are still
looking up at the stars. They're still looking up at
the Aves. Love what you saw on Black Friday, the
shootout victory over the Avs. You love how the Wild
handled the Stars. More recently, they're they're beating these big
(29:54):
timers in the conference. Now, that's something you haven't been
able to say for several seasons.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
So you dig that.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
But with all of it, as good as this is,
as good as it can be, and maybe even get
any you know, maybe get even better.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Billy g making some more moves, the Panthers, the freaking Panthers.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
The Panthers with that roster, and how you know Four
Nations Cup. People worried about injuries, get Chuck I think,
gets hurt in the tourney and then.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
You find his way.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
And while he wasn't necessarily the story of that tournament,
you think about Bennett, you think about just I mean,
the roster that they built down there.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
You're still looking up at some of those teams.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
So and this isn't about trying to stifle excitement, by
the way, It's just kind of an interesting spot that
both our teams are in, whether it's the Wolves and
let's figure out this point guard spot.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Man and Bones love bones, same Bones.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
I don't like playing Bones thirty five minutes in games
that really count with the season on the line, however,
so they.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Got to figure that out.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
And then on the hockey side of things, how you
match up. And this is a conversation that frankly fun
hockey fodder, Hot takes a happy hour with Isaac's style fodder.
Just this is going to persist until we actually get
to see it, right because as of now, unless the
Wild where to find their way at the top of
the central, you're going to be playing either the Stars
(31:15):
or the Avs in Round one of the postseason, and
we're gonna get a final answer on that one way
or the other. Just really fun, but again, windows and
taking more big swings, et cetera. It's just that that's
the lot in life with both teams. But man, we're
on the good side of it right now. And that
is again, whether it's it's Billy g what he's done,
what we have here with finching the howel man, the
(31:37):
getting is good.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
The getting is good for hockey and hoops right now.
Final segment around the corner.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
And locking it, final segment, vocal maintenance day in play.
But I assure you the host will return tomorrow. Big
ups to my guy Russo for joining during the first hour.
Florio head coach of the Wild John High hit me
up during the ten am hour, fresh off that victory
last night, and good to see Pat mcletty back in
(32:06):
the studio.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I haven't seen him in months.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
And then, of course, thanks to thanks to Alan Horton
Voice of the Wolves, as the Wolves, you get to
hear him on the fan tonight tip off shortly after
seven pm right here on the fan now the Wolves
hosting the Grizzlies. And as you heard from from margal
Ronda Moss, questionable is Anthony Edwards at this particular point
with the foot soreness? Heads up on a cool event?
(32:30):
This actually this originally it took place back in May.
I didn't get to go. We just had some mouth
issues at the Nord Quizz House. But a winter trip
Ballard's Resort. We're doing a walleye trip February twentieth through
the twenty third, and if we get enough folks in
the mix, we're gonna head up there for a few days,
catch some walleye and enjoy the beautiful winter wonderland up
at Ballard's Resort. You can learn about it the package
(32:53):
includes lodging, meals, fishing, drinks, licensed transportation includes all of that,
and the spots are limited, so you can at the
hook hook your spot.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
You can go to Ballardsresort dot com.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Love it up there, And I just got this text
message again part of the conversation a deviation from Vikings football.
We're going to dig back deep into the purple tomorrow,
of course, but just think about it for a second,
where we at one point, specifically earlier in the season
and prior to the games actually counting, It's like, can
we just get out of the first round? It's cool
that we have career back looking forward to that need
(33:25):
to stay healthy. Hopefully yesper Valstat can do his thing
and provide a compliment, create that duo there in net.
Can we just get out of the first round in
the playoffs once in a while have we considered doing that?
Could we just actually win a freaking series in the
postseason instead of going up to one and then losing
three straight and getting ousted like we've been experienced. And
(33:47):
it feels like for the better part of a decade,
we've gone from that in a month and a half
two months to getting text messages like this Hey, what
do you think about gust Bus for Dry? Title both needs,
both great at their positions. In just two months, we've
(34:08):
gone from can we just win a playoff series? To
now we got Quinn Hughes maybe the best deep pair
in the league, we got the krem line, and we're
talking about Hey, I wonder if sid would like to
play here? Hey, why don't we give Gus bust for Dry?
Sidle not endorsing that trade, but my point is how
quickly things have changed with the hockey team, and it's
(34:29):
a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
That's it for me.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Nordo appreciate you guys listening whenever you do The Common
Man the program with Tennabe their next right here on
the Fan, have an awesome afternoon.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Podcast, Today's Paul Allen Show.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
We're listening back to previous show and interviewsite going to
the iHeartRadio app, orgfan dot com.
Welcome back, order in for PA nine to noon and
joining me Now you can follow them at Wolves Radio
via x Voice of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Alan Horton, joining me, Now,
how are you doing this morning?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Alan?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I'm doing great? How are you? Man?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Oh, I'm fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I got the hockey team doing what it's doing, and
then I can take a breath from the puck to
watch the Wolves on the hardwood tonight hosting the Grizzlies.
I believe you attend said morning skates and such, mister Horton,
or morning shooter rounds. I should say, what'd you see
this morning from our favorite hoop squad?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, a change in plans. Oftentimes they'll if they have
a couple of days before a game, sometimes they will
bypass shoot around and so a late change. They had
a practice yesterday and they got in all their work
about preparing for Memphis, and so beginning of busy stretch
right now, of like this is seventeen starting tonight, seventeen
straight days the Wolves will play every other night, and
(01:55):
so the coaching staff kind of looks at that, and
I think that kind of factored into trying to find
some rest for the guys. As much as they can
to kind of get through this stretch. It'll also be
fourteen games in twenty six days, and so you try
to keep that long term view while still you know,
doing all the little things and putting in the work
you need to do to beat you know, to to
(02:16):
keep the wins that coming. Because they're seven out of
eight and the Wolves are thirteen and five. They got
the fifth best record in the NBA over that stretch,
and so things are headed in the right direction. But
a busy stretch starting starting tonight.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
How difficult is that for Finchy to handle? When you
think about He's got to tinker with some things haven't
seen at the last couple of days, want to figure
out what we have in some of the kids.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
The lack of practice.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Time associated with that schedule has got to be difficult
for the coach to just find time to get some
things on court, to organize.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Yeah, I mean it's in coach's blood. I don't care
what sport it is. They love practice, right, They want
they want to continue to work on things. They want
to try new combinations of players together. See these guys
with the old guys, get guys reps, get them up
to speed, and you have to do that also with
half your brain preparing for the future, like it doesn't
(03:08):
do you any good to go, you know, have a
shoot around, play, have a practice, have a shoot around,
play again, and then all of a sudden next week
when you're six days into this thing, everybody's gassed, everybody's
worn out. It's too much. So you have to keep
an eye on the long term as well as balancing
that short term, and like I said, making sure you're
prepared for every single night, because if you're not prepared
(03:30):
for every single night, guess what you lose those games.
Even teams like Memphis that are struggling well do have
a loss of Sacramento that's struggling. You don't come out
one hundred percent against those any team in this league.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
You'll get beat the game tonight seven pm ish tip off,
and you can always listen to it on the free
iHeart Radio app of course, but tonight you'll get to
hear it on the fan as well. Shortly after Bumper
to Bumper, looking forward to that, we will start with
Anthony Edwards and just his foot soreness that has kind
of nagged him. And for a guy that just doesn't
(04:02):
miss games. If he can go, he's going to go.
We haven't seen him for two in a row, but
those were w's both out in the Bay and then
versus the Kings the other night. Are we optimistic, whether
it's tonight and certainly maybe later this week against OKAC,
that we should see Anthony back in the mix.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yeah, I mean he's going to be questionable. He's listed
as questionable right now, so that technically means fifty to
fifty and that's kind of where he's been on game
days the last couple of last couple of games, the
Golden State game like you mentioned, and then the Sacramento
as well, and the Wolves have performed pretty well. They
lost their first two without Aunt this year when he
had the hamstring issue earlier in the season. That was
against the Lakers in Denver, but they've won four in
(04:42):
a row without him since. And you know, when you
don't have your number one guy, a guy who plays
such a huge role on the team, you need everybody
else to kind of step up, and the Wolves have
gotten those kind of balanced attacks the last couple of games.
Nas Reed's been on a tear off the bench. Julius
Randall has taken, you know, take the leadership of this
team in these last couple of games, and Jaden McDaniels
(05:03):
and Rudy Gobert, and you look up and down the
lineup and everybody's contributing, and it's Bones Highland. Last game,
it's Rob Dillingham contributing some some big fourth quarter minutes.
Everybody's really stepped up, and you just you need that
to happen if you're gonna win games, you know, over
the long term, without without Anthony Edwards. But I think
they're hopeful he'll be back for Friday. That's got that's
(05:26):
National TV. That's an eight thirty start, That's a Friday night.
It's the holiday season. It's time to get after, get
after the rest a little bit, get after SGA. I
think I think things are building towards Friday Night, at
least in my mind they are. I can't wait for Friday.
Not overlooking tonight. I mean, we have some feelings against
Memphis too, dating back a few seasons. But Friday Night
against OKC, man, that could be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, absolutely, it will be.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
And I do want to touch on ok C as
it just it feels like everyone's in a race for
second against that juggernaut right now, But we'll get we'll
get to that momentarily. You mentioned the Grizzlies, who they're
having a down year, probably not a playoff team, although
they're technically in the play in right now and they've
won eight of their last eleven.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
You know, on their side, they're just sweating.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Will John Morant either be able to play or does
he want to play?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Just kind of the way that Memphis.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Has really they they they've found themselves at this this
precipitous rate of degradation. Desmond Baines no longer in the mix.
Just a lot of struggles for them, but not a team.
As you mentioned, we can overlook those cats tonight.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, John Moransk hurt his ankle last game, so he's
questionable heading into tonight. But they got Jaron Jackson Junior,
who's always kind of a theign in the side and
the former Defensive Player of the Year. The guy that
really has contributed to their winning though, has been Zach ed.
He he's the big man who played at Perdue. I
think fans are a big ten. Fans are familiar with
his work through all the years. He's driven winning for
(06:50):
this Memphis. He missed the first chunk of games this season.
Then he comes back and they and they only lose
I think they think eight and two in his ten games.
But now he's out injured again, and so it has
not worked out with John Moran, and it's it's you know,
he had the one game suspension earlier for conduct detrimental
to the team when he called out his coach not
only in a locker room to him, but also to
(07:11):
the media afterwards, and so you just don't know how
this is going to play out with John. Randy has
not been as impactful, and the numbers haven't been as good,
and the winning hasn't been there as in years past,
and so he and Jaron Jackson Junior haven't been enough.
It's it's really been, like I said, Zach Edie, who's
been carrying the workload and the win rate. And unfortunately
for the Grizzlies, those three guys have played five minutes
(07:33):
together all seasons, so they've battled some injuries there too,
So you know, but that's when you want to face
the team when they're when they're at some crossroads. And yeah,
they're playing well of late, they got a little confidence,
but without Edie, they've they've basically been able to feast
on some sub five hundred teams. They've really struggled. Only
one win this year against a five hundred or better team.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Oh wow, Okay, I did not know that stat.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I know, you know one of the best rebounds are
going to be important to this one. I do want
to jump back to our favorite team and with ant
you know, you mentioned it, the balanced attack that this
team has found itself in these last couple of games.
We can focus in on those without Anthony in the lineup,
and it just seems like that's been the the balancing
(08:15):
act of this squad thus far, Allen in terms of
Anthony's going to go for forty and Jaden McDaniels is
going to go one of seven. Anthony Edwards is going
to get you twelve or fifteen, maybe a little more
on the assists side that night, and then it's Nas
Reed and it's Jaden McDaniels that are carrying you offensively.
It just seems like that that struggle and maybe it
(08:37):
all relates to one particular position that they're still trying
to master here, that finding that balance with Anthony in
the mix has been a bit of a struggle.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yeah, there are times where you know it's all Ant
and nobody else can kind of get on track. He's
almost doing it kind of by himself rather than through
the construct of the offense and through his team. And
then you'll the games where Ant is a willing distributor,
eager to set up his teammates, has a better feel
for the game of when to set guys up and
(09:08):
get touches. That's something I was talking to Mike Conley
about last week before his injury, and I think the
Wolves have missed him a little bit too the last
couple of games. Even though his minutes have been down,
he's been coming off the bench. Mike, such a studying
force is and he was talking about how you know
it takes time to develop when to look for your shot,
When to know everybody who's on the floor, what positions
(09:31):
they're in, and how long it's been since they've had
a touch or maybe a shot. How do I get
someone else involved? And that's kind of the next level.
How do you get to a level of scoring which
Aunt is at an elite level right He's averaging close
to thirty points a game, but also makes the game
feel like everybody else is involved. So it's something that
Shay Gildas Alexander does very well. He gets the high
(09:53):
scoring rate, but he also keeps his teammates involved, and
Jalen Williams has big nights and chet Holmgren has big nights,
you know, And that's that's always the work in progress,
is to get to get your top guy going, get
your second guy, your third guy, and you just want
that balance attack. Now, it's not gonna be perfect every night.
There are gonna be off shooting nights, but that's the
(10:13):
kind of mindset you want to be in, is being
impactful but still playing that team game and getting everybody going.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
What have you thought of Tarren Shannon Junior.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Now you know, post post Nikil Alexander Walker, and if
if PA was here, he would call him a rolling
ball of butcher knives. Tarren Shannon Junior, instant offense, instant energy,
finds himself maybe getting a little too many fouls on
the defensive side of things and just kind of.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
The ebbs and flows.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
As a little bit older but still immature in the
grand scheme of his NBA career, Arren Shannon Junior finding
his way along.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Yeah, and he's gonna you know, he knew he was
going to get an opportunity this season. Without Nikiell, he
and Jalen Clark, we're going to try to, you know,
to sort of tag team those minutes. I think that
Nikil brought you every single night for two and a
half seasons. Nik Kill was so good with the Wolves,
not only with how he played, but the consistency that
he brought every night. He missed one game in two
and a half years, and that wasn't because he was injured.
(11:10):
It was because it was the second game after he
got traded for So nik Kill was awesome and he's
flourishing in Atlanta, and I know all the Wolves love
to see that. And he got paid. He got himself
a nice big contract, which he's well deserved. But TJ's
kind of been up and down this season. Then he
battled through a foot issue that I think had a
large role to do with that, and then he then
he did have the game let's see last week where
(11:33):
he did have three thousand and four minutes, and the Wolves,
their coaching is to have really challenged him, like you've
got to be better on the defensive end of the floor.
It can't just be offense, which he preaches to everybody.
Everybody's got to play both ends of the floor. You're
not going to play very long. And I thought TJ
responded with some good games over the weekend, especially that
Golden State game on Friday night. They needed a performance
(11:54):
like that. He's such a downhill player. Boy, he catches
it and attacks, and he always puts the defense on
their heels. Now, sometimes you could argue, I think that
he probably attacks too much when maybe there's not a
lane there. Sometimes you have to be able to read
what's available. Okay, it's not here, let's move it. I'll
get it back in a different position on a different
spot on the floor perhaps, and now maybe that lane's there,
(12:17):
or maybe it's the next possession. But picking those moments
to go rather than going every single time. But what
he does get going downhill and has got a lane,
I mean, he's got the size and the strength to finish.
And it's you know, they need that off the bench
because the Wolves bench is really all nas Reed as
far as the scoring goes, no bench player in the
NBA has carried a bigger percentage of their bench points
(12:38):
than Nasri. Nazried has scored forty four percent of the
Wolve's bench points, which is by far and away the
highest rate in the league. So he's been tremendous and
he's on an up swing right now knocking down threes.
But you do need that balance attack. You need TJ. Shannon,
you need Jail and Clark doing his things on the
defensive end of the floor and then chipping in on offense,
and then when you get Mike Conley back to and
(13:00):
you know, getting whatever minutes you're gonna get out of
Mike Conley, He's just it's just such a steadying force
on the floor. Even though you look at the box score,
his stats might not blow you away.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Well, it's kind of crazy with Jalen Clark. You mentioned
box score is not blowing you away. Uh, Jalen Clark's
not gonna not gonna get you you know, filling.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
The stat sheets, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
But there is a trend that plays out with Jalen
that the longer he's on the court, the more difficult
and the the steeper hill that any opponent has to
climb to get over the hump against our team. Jalen
Clark a nice little piece if he maybe he can
add a couple of buckets to that defense.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah, and I think those buckets will come. He works
so hard at practice and shoot around and off, you know,
oft times getting his shots up to be able to
contribute in those spots because he is so good defensively.
Is one on one defense is great. They've got metrics
that are defensive field goal percentage, So what does the
opponent shoot when you're the primary defender? And Jalen's been
up amongst the league leaders almost all season. When he's
(13:57):
on the floor of the Wolve's defensive rating is at
an elite level. When he drops off, it's very Rudy
Gobert esque. When he's on the floor. Both those guys,
the defense is really good. And when they drop they
when they come off the floor and get arrest the
defense really suffers. So those guys make their impact on
the defensive end. And when Jalen's in the zone and
and and contributing like that, it just helps pick up
(14:19):
some of the You know, there's so many talented offensive
players and guess what, Aunt and Jaden can't defend everybody.
And that's where you miss Nikil because he was so
solid in those roles and defending wing defenders. You need,
you need Jalen Clark to be one of those guys
coming off the bench that can they can help shut
down and make life difficult for all the potent scores
in this league.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Now I want to I want to get the Bones.
What about Bones? Bones Highland. It's a cool it's a
cool name to say. And you know, just following from
I can't remember if it was their title year or
maybe the year after, but Bones, when he was playing
for the Denver Nuggets had.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Just kind of just out of nowhere. He just couldn't miss.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
And I think it was early stages of the postseason
and and there was just this buzz and this fervor
around Bones. Now he heads to the Clippers either the
next year or the year after, that kind of disappears
in obscurity, and now we have him here in Minnesota
and you see him on a night when you needed him,
dishes in eighteen points and just look good on the floor.
But is that truly just worth stemming the tide until
(15:19):
Anthony's healthy?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Kind of going back to what we were.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Talking about maybe five ten minutes ago, just players having
to plug the gap as we continue to figure out
not just being balanced without Anthony, but who the heck's
going to freaking handle the ball for twenty plus minutes
a night and orchestrate this offense.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yeah, it was good to see Bones have that kind
of game, especially in the starting lineup, because it was
so excited to be in the starting lineup in Golden
State and it only lasted three and a half minutes.
Then he banged knees with somebody and was out for
the rest of the game. So it was great to
see him have a second opportunity because it's something he's
worked awfully hard at and it's tough for It's tough
(15:59):
for young in this league to find their way into teams,
into positions under coaches, to find their role to succeed,
and so I think it's almost more difficult sometimes for
young players to come on the good teams because good
teams are focused on winning games. They're not focused on
making sure you get your minutes or this guy gets
(16:21):
their minutes in the name of development. This isn't the
Wizard situation. So if he'd been on the Wizards and
gotten twenty eight to thirty two minutes a game, you know,
it might be a different scenario. But it was tough
to find his way in Denver. It was tough to
find his way with the LA Clippers. Now Tim Conley,
the guy who drafted him in Denver, brings him back
to Minnesota. At the end of last season. You know,
(16:43):
there wasn't an opportunity really for him to crack the
rotation at that point. That was right when the Wolves
were about to take off and finish the season on
the seventeen and four record and make their deep run.
But he got a sense of how Chris Finch operated,
He knows Tim Conley, He got a sense of his teammates.
He comes back this year and he feels a little
more comfortable and he's you know, every year, these guys,
(17:05):
we have to forget that when they come in the
league they're eighteen, nineteen years old, and even three years
removed from that, you realize they're twenty two to twenty three,
twenty four, and they're more mature, they've gone through experiences,
they kind of accept things now, they have a better understanding.
It's what all of us go through in life. Right.
We were so different from eighteen to twenty to twenty
(17:25):
two to twenty four, and so it's the same for
these guys, and so it's been difficult for Bonones to
find himself in a situation. And he probably would admit
too that he maybe hasn't handled all those other situations
very well, but he's had the right mindset from the
moment training camp started this year that he I mean,
this guy's got a smile on his face all the time.
Will he will dap up everybody, whether you're the radio
(17:46):
guy or whether you're Anthony Edwards or coaching staff. He's
got a smile in his face. He's quick to say hi.
It's he's got a great personality, a lot like Anthony
Edwards too, it's just with just kind of it's sort
of a magnetic aristhma. And so it's great to see
him get this opportunity, and I think he having gone
through his prior experiences, probably appreciates it even more and
(18:08):
is even if and when Ant comes back, he'll clearly
go back to the bench, but there might be a
role for him now where maybe there wasn't a consistent
one before. And you know, when you're a winning team,
it's about finding ways to have the team at their
best and use all eighteen guys that you have in
your roster to find your way to wins. So if
(18:28):
that means that Bones is playing better than Rob Dillingham,
he's going to get more minutes than Rob Dillingham. If
Rob's playing better, well, then he's going to get an opportunity.
And if there are guys out, well, then that opens
up opportunities for a lot of different guys. So it's
you know, it's been fun to see Bones have that
kind of game the other night. He definitely deserved it.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Time for a couple more here and thanks again for
your time.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Alan.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
The other night, Rudy Gobert played twenty minutes against the
Sacramento Kings and then it was abruptly announced he was
out for the remainder of the game.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Due to personal reasons.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Now, and I assume maybe stuff like this, there were
rumors there were people that on the inside knew and everything.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
But on the outside it's like, whoa this is.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
This is either catastrophically bad or miraculously good. Thankfully it
was on the good side of things. How about Rudy
welcoming a new baby girl into the mix.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
There was a little you know, what's.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Going on with Rudy and then we got the good
news a day or two later.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Yeah, you're right, it could be. It could be really
bad news or could be really good news. And I
was hoping when he was wapping up his teammates as
he was leaving the floor and then leaving the bench
area and obviously heading to the birth of his daughter.
You know, usually if it was something more serious, I mean,
this is what I was hoping, is that it wasn't.
That was a sign of something good that he tapping
up his teammates, and you know, it's funny to practice
(19:45):
the other day. They just you know, they acknowledged that
they thanked Rudy for putting in the time and for playing,
because he easily could have not played right. Yeah, but
they they he wanted to be there. He knew how
important winds are. He played as long as he could
and then got the go code, if you will, and
then was able to was able to be there and
(20:05):
so and it helped it. You know, I don't know
if he doesn't play the other night, I don't know
that the Wolves pull out that win. I mean, he
was he was instrumental in that victory. And so that
those kind of things don't go unnoticed. And it was
great to see Rudy have a great night all the
way around. He played well, got the you know, the team,
got the win, and he welcomes his second child in
the world. So that's that's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Now, that is super cool.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Now later this week getting back to it, uh, okay,
see and I was chatting Pat mcalletty. We were chatting
Wild Hockey in studio last couple of segments, but we
did venture into the Wolves world and just the the
idea that when you talk about like windows championship windows,
what we've seen from OKAC not just last year in
the Western Conference Finals they hoist the trophy, we're all
(20:48):
sad and downtrodden, but now twenty four and two and
what they've put back on the court this year. Just
I wonder whether you're Tim Connolly or maybe just at
a at a more floor level, it's finch in the squad,
like how they view you know, James again, is it
a race for second? But but really just maybe more
focusing in simply into into Friday night, just maybe despite
(21:12):
being a regular season game in mid mid December, like
how VI like how pumped they are to play this
game and figure out how to best those Thunder.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, I think, and I think they played the Thunder
really well a couple of weeks ago in ok See.
That was a game that was tied with about three
minutes to go, and unfortunately that came in the stretch
where the Wolves were really struggling. They had lost in Phoenix,
Sacramento and OKC all with you know, really poor end
of game final three minutes in overtime struggles. So I think, ay,
they feel like they match up very well against Oklahoma City.
(21:44):
It you know, you always look to improve your team.
I don't know that you do it with one team
in mind, though, because there's you only played the Thunder
four times during the regular season. You take your best
shot at them, and and who knows, you may not
even see them in the post. If you want to
get to where you want to go, you're likely going
to see them. But my point is you just don't.
(22:04):
You just don't keep them in mind solely in terms
of trying to.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Fill a hole of you if you can.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
If you're going to improve your team and you think that
makes you better against Okay See, well that's fine, but
I don't know that you start making moves based on
any potential opponent down the line. But but this it
is going to be fun. I'm glad to see him
is at home. I feel like there's some real you know,
social media is not a great barometer, I think of
(22:30):
of of of the general public's views. It's very we're
being force fed exactly what we want to see, apparently
from our algorithm algorithms and all that. But I will
say that I feel like there's some anti oka see,
you know, momentum coming. More and more people are pointing
out that what we've seen all year, well the last
couple of years, with Shay Gilles Alexander and his antics
(22:51):
getting to the free throw line. This is a supremely
talented guy. There's no doubting that. But I think what
people have had enough of and we've seen played on firsthand,
is you know, on the marginal contact and him selling
that and you know, having just collapsing to the floor,
flailing himself to the deck. That's the stuff that he seems.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
To get rewarded with more than more.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Than other players in this league. And I'm I'll be
interested to see how you know, I just think a
lot is building towards Friday night. Maybe It's just me
because I want to see this matchup. But how Chris
Finch and the and the fans get into it, and
how you handle the referees and really kind of get
into this game early so that those kind of things
don't build. But I mean, Shay has made a master.
(23:33):
It's kind of like when James Harden started to take
control in Houston, he just kind of changed the game.
He pushed the envelope. I think Shay Gildess Alexander does
the same thing. He's pushing the envelope and what what
is what's troubling though, is that it appears at least
that the referees are looking to reward that they're so
quick to give him a whistle. I mean, there's a
famous play in the Western Conference finals where Shaye drives.
(23:53):
He got he tripped himself up, he tripped on the floor,
went down, and they could there were two whistles right
away like what you saw what? And the Wolves had
to challenge that it was clearly not a foul. But
they're so quick to reward Shay gilds of Alexander when
oftentimes it's not deserved. And so we'll see if that
plays in the plays in the things. I didn't think
it really did in the first meeting, But I don't know. Well,
(24:17):
I think we're gonna get some I think things are
gonna be heated on Friday night. I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
But before that, let's handle the grizz call a great
one tonight and always appreciate you joining the show.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
My man, you got anordo anytime.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
That's Alan Horton at Wolves Radio via x Voice of
your Minnesota Timberwolves and again tip off shortly after seven
pm tonight the Target Center Wolves hosting the Grizzlies. Sounds
like we're gonna have to wait until the eleventh hour
to hear if Anthony Edwards is playing similarly for John
Morant and tweaking his ankle because he's always tweaking his ankle.
But that's seven pm ission. You're gonna get to hear
(24:51):
that right here on the fan final hour. Nord to
Win for PA. We're back in minutes.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Nord to Win for PA.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
A couple of shorties to go here, and then we
will we will give way to the program.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And I just saw common Man was nice enough to
step in studio and say.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Hey for a moment so I can confirm that the
host of Noon to three is here. The host of
nine to noon is going to be back tomorrow. Vocal
maintenance day on a Wednesday. It was an emotional win
that the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. Now we've got
to figure out how to beat the Giants and met
life for a couple of division collisions and the twenty
twenty five season for the Minnesota Vikings. That's why it's
(25:51):
been really a two topic affair nine to Noon today,
whether it's the Wolves hosting the Grizz tonight, what the
Wild did last night. We're now winners of five in
a row after a five to zero w over the Capitals.
Seven shutouts for your hockey team this year, by far
leads the NHL. I think the Aisles are in second
with four.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
So that's just kind of the vibe.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
And that's amidst by the way the Hughes Steam and
the kremline doing their thing last night with year Off
getting a goal I believe also an assist on the
night might have been a three point night for year Off.
Tarasenko with two goals and an assist as well, Capris
off on the with the man advantage. Just beautiful work
being done by the hockey team right now. Text line
(26:34):
I got this one doesn't have a name on it,
but just how big of a swing and mortgage of
the future does Billy g take? And he references, I
don't know if this would ever be a thing. I
don't want it to be a thing. Trade the Great
Wall of Saint Paul for a rental in Sydney Crosby,
and do you go all in for one year? Would
you rather have a three to five year window to
(26:57):
win a championship? See you trade for Quinn Hughes teams
on just on fire right now, red freaking hot, and
you start talking about these sorts of things. I also
got a text earlier. Do you think the Wild can
beat the Panthers? I mean that would be well, that'd
be a bit farther down the road. Right now we're
talking about hockey in June and maybe parade routes and
all sorts of things. But that's the life that has
(27:20):
just been breathed into thrust into this hockey team over
in Saint Paul, and it's a beautiful thing. To that question,
I guess you know hypotheticals. No, I mean you want
a window, right. You want to sustain greatness. You want
to sustain your contending ability for as long as humanly possible.
(27:40):
And that's where whether it's with the Wolves too straight
Western Conference berths or the Minnesota Wild now in the
spot that they are in and appear to be in
moving forward, is potentially the Wolves make a move and
Connolly can't be afraid to make this thing better if
he believes that this puts them in a better spot
over a seven game series. To oust Okac Now, I
(28:04):
mostly agree with what Alan Horton said last segment. You
can't necessarily mortgage future or move assets simply to beat
one team in the league.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
However, that's kind of a mix.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
You think about how certain teams and dynasty like fashion
kind of led to changes. Whether it was in the
nineties with the Bulls, You've seen it, with the Lakers,
you saw it, you know, just Lebron led teams in general.
And then you look at the Warriors and how the
way that they played and Steph Curry and Klay Thompson
in his absolute prime, etc. How that kind of changed
(28:38):
the way the league focused on how they acquired talent,
what they were looking for and how to potentially beat
the Warriors. Right now, it feels like you're going to
be staring up at Okac, maybe not just this year,
but for years to come, and so that does naturally
or inherently, I think, impact how you view your own
roster and how to get better.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Now back to the Wild, similar state of affairs.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
You get, Quinn Hughes, you are absolutely this team's an
absolute Cup contender in twenty twenty five, twenty six.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Now how do they get better? And in the end,
I guess.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Kind of moving it, just kind of aligning it with
the hoops team. You know, the question is, you know,
I think again, I think you're talking about windows. You're
talking about you know, consistent contention. That's what you want.
And you want a hoist to Stanley Cup. You want
a hoist I Larry O'Brien trophy, Target Center and Grand
Casino Arena getting wild. But with all of that that's happened,
(29:34):
you're still looking up at the Dallas Stars. There's still
you know, the Wolves are looking up at Okac. How
do you get over that hump? The Wild are still
looking up at the stars. They're still looking up at
the Aves. Love what you saw on Black Friday, the
shootout victory over the Avs. You love how the Wild
handled the Stars. More recently, they're they're beating these big
(29:54):
timers in the conference. Now, that's something you haven't been
able to say for several seasons.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
So you dig that.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
But with all of it, as good as this is,
as good as it can be, and maybe even get
any you know, maybe get even better.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Billy g making some more moves, the Panthers, the freaking Panthers.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
The Panthers with that roster, and how you know Four
Nations Cup. People worried about injuries, get Chuck I think,
gets hurt in the tourney and then.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
You find his way.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
And while he wasn't necessarily the story of that tournament,
you think about Bennett, you think about just I mean,
the roster that they built down there.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
You're still looking up at some of those teams.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
So and this isn't about trying to stifle excitement, by
the way, It's just kind of an interesting spot that
both our teams are in, whether it's the Wolves and
let's figure out this point guard spot.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Man and Bones love bones, same Bones.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
I don't like playing Bones thirty five minutes in games
that really count with the season on the line, however,
so they.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Got to figure that out.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
And then on the hockey side of things, how you
match up. And this is a conversation that frankly fun
hockey fodder, Hot takes a happy hour with Isaac's style fodder.
Just this is going to persist until we actually get
to see it, right because as of now, unless the
Wild where to find their way at the top of
the central, you're going to be playing either the Stars
(31:15):
or the Avs in Round one of the postseason, and
we're gonna get a final answer on that one way
or the other. Just really fun, but again, windows and
taking more big swings, et cetera. It's just that that's
the lot in life with both teams. But man, we're
on the good side of it right now. And that
is again, whether it's it's Billy g what he's done,
what we have here with finching the howel man, the
(31:37):
getting is good.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
The getting is good for hockey and hoops right now.
Final segment around the corner.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
And locking it, final segment, vocal maintenance day in play.
But I assure you the host will return tomorrow. Big
ups to my guy Russo for joining during the first hour.
Florio head coach of the Wild John High hit me
up during the ten am hour, fresh off that victory
last night, and good to see Pat mcletty back in
(32:06):
the studio.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I haven't seen him in months.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
And then, of course, thanks to thanks to Alan Horton
Voice of the Wolves, as the Wolves, you get to
hear him on the fan tonight tip off shortly after
seven pm right here on the fan now the Wolves
hosting the Grizzlies. And as you heard from from margal
Ronda Moss, questionable is Anthony Edwards at this particular point
with the foot soreness? Heads up on a cool event?
(32:30):
This actually this originally it took place back in May.
I didn't get to go. We just had some mouth
issues at the Nord Quizz House. But a winter trip
Ballard's Resort. We're doing a walleye trip February twentieth through
the twenty third, and if we get enough folks in
the mix, we're gonna head up there for a few days,
catch some walleye and enjoy the beautiful winter wonderland up
at Ballard's Resort. You can learn about it the package
(32:53):
includes lodging, meals, fishing, drinks, licensed transportation includes all of that,
and the spots are limited, so you can at the
hook hook your spot.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
You can go to Ballardsresort dot com.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Love it up there, And I just got this text
message again part of the conversation a deviation from Vikings football.
We're going to dig back deep into the purple tomorrow,
of course, but just think about it for a second,
where we at one point, specifically earlier in the season
and prior to the games actually counting, It's like, can
we just get out of the first round? It's cool
that we have career back looking forward to that need
(33:25):
to stay healthy. Hopefully yesper Valstat can do his thing
and provide a compliment, create that duo there in net.
Can we just get out of the first round in
the playoffs once in a while have we considered doing that?
Could we just actually win a freaking series in the
postseason instead of going up to one and then losing
three straight and getting ousted like we've been experienced. And
(33:47):
it feels like for the better part of a decade,
we've gone from that in a month and a half
two months to getting text messages like this Hey, what
do you think about gust Bus for Dry? Title both needs,
both great at their positions. In just two months, we've
(34:08):
gone from can we just win a playoff series? To
now we got Quinn Hughes maybe the best deep pair
in the league, we got the krem line, and we're
talking about Hey, I wonder if sid would like to
play here? Hey, why don't we give Gus bust for Dry?
Sidle not endorsing that trade, but my point is how
quickly things have changed with the hockey team, and it's
(34:29):
a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
That's it for me.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Nordo appreciate you guys listening whenever you do The Common
Man the program with Tennabe their next right here on
the Fan, have an awesome afternoon.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Podcast, Today's Paul Allen Show.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
We're listening back to previous show and interviewsite going to
the iHeartRadio app, orgfan dot com.
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