On today’s show, Dane is joined by Timberwolves beat writer Jace Frederick from the Pioneer Press to discuss what went into the Wolves win over Denver on Monday and what from that game could sustain going forward. Specific topics include... — What went into better ball movement against Denver and the importance of keeping that movement going forward — Nowell and the bench group of Garza/Knight/Ryan/Rivers stole important minutes. What from that group can sustain? — Putting Kyle Anderson on Nikol...
Jan 04, 2023•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Wolves beat writer Chris Hine from the Star Tribune to help paint the picture of the Wolves’ players-only meeting that followed the loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night, their sixth consecutive loss. Dane and Chris describe the scene in the locker room after the game and play audio clips from the locker room from Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid and Chris Finch. — Describing the postgame scene after the loss to Detroit — Playing the audio of some of the viral quo...
Jan 02, 2023•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Kyle Theige from SKORNorth to make bold calls for the Wolves in the new year, and to recap the Wolves loss in Milwaukee on Friday night. The bold predictions segment includes recapping how our bold predictions from the preseason have fared, and then of course includes what our new bold predictions for the rest of the season will be. The conversation about the Bucks loss naturally revolves around the lack of rebounding in that game and how that remains a constan...
Dec 31, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson from MinnPost to discuss the Wolves loss in New Orleans on Wednesday night and the four-game losing streak the team currently finds itself on. Topics on the episode include... — The ways Rudy Gobert is actually the same player he was in Utah — Is the fit around Gobert proving to be corrosive? — A more impressive all around effort in New Orleans than in Miami, yet the same result — How the Wolves guarded Zion Williamson — If the roster was healthy, ...
Dec 29, 2022•2 hr 38 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jace Frederick of the Pioneer Press to put together a list of things we didn’t expect coming into the season. In other words, what has played out in the first 34 games that we did not have on our 2022-23 bingo cards entering the season. Some of the answers include... — Rudy Gobert’s most natural individual fit in the starting lineup being Karl-Anthony Towns — Naz Reid’s game elevating to another level when it was unclear whether or not he would even be in the r...
Dec 28, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Chris Hine from the Star Tribune to discuss the Wolves’ recent losses to Boston and Miami. Dane and Chris dive into some of the season-long problems that particularly plagued the Wolves against the Celtics and Heat this week — turnovers, defensive rebounding, execution in high leverage situations. Additionally, they discuss the recent play of Naz Reid and Jaylen Nowell, two players who have been thrust into bigger roles over the last month as injuries have begu...
Dec 27, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Kyle Theige from SKORNorth to discuss the Wolves loss in the rematch against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. Rudy Gobert returned, giving the Wolves a different look, that worked but ultimately broke down. Dane and Kyle get into what worked and how Luka Doncic ultimately broke it down. Topics today include... — The defense wasn’t the only thing that broke down. Edwards, Russell and Nowell combining to shoot 0 for 16 from three — How Luka Doncic eventua...
Dec 22, 2022•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jace Frederick from the Pioneer Press to discuss what has worked in the “one big” look alongside Anthony Edwards, and whether or not that can sustain when it is just Rudy Gobert or Karl-Anthony Towns next to Edwards. Additionally, they discuss how the defensive communication has kept the defense afloat in Gobert’s absence. And finally, what the growing impact of Austin Rivers has looked like. — Comparing the Ant-plus-one-big numbers from Reid to Towns to Gobert...
Dec 21, 2022•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson from MinnPost to attempt to attack the topic of what will happen when Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert return from injury. The Wolves recent play — a 3-game winning streak at the time of our recording — has been stylistically different, most notably in Anthony Edwards’ play. How the Wolves are able to reintegrate Towns and Gobert to the roll the Wolves are currently on will come to define this season, and maybe the Gobert trade as a whole. Topics...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Chris Hine from the Star Tribune to discuss the Wolves dropping a franchise-record 150 points against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night, and specifically the role D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards are playing that fosters greater ball movement. Also plenty of discussion on the difference of how the bigs have been utilized in the absence of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. — DLo and Ant sharing playmaking duties for profit — DLo’s shooting numbers over the...
Dec 19, 2022•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Kyle Theige from SKORNorth to discuss the state of the very-injured Minnesota Timberwolves, who enter their fifth game of a five-game road trip in Oklahoma City on Friday night. The theme of this episode is not only what has been playing out as the Wolves have taken on more and more injuries but also what else Chris Finch and crew can get to while trying to replace the available minutes that are piling up due to injury. Topics include... — Why the Wolves are un...
Dec 16, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jace Frederick from the St. Paul Pioneer Press to take stock of where the Wolves are three games into their five-game road trip. Much of the focus of this episode is on the inconsistency of this team right now and specifically the role Chris Finch can (or can not) be expected to bring in terms of motivation. Topics include... — How much of the Wolves sporadic effort falls on Chris Finch? — Gregg Popovich philosophy on player motivation — What type of wing defen...
Dec 14, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson from MinnPost to discuss Britt’s most recent column on what Kyle Anderson has brought to Minnesota in his first year with the Wolves. A conversation about Anderson naturally transitions into a conversation about who the Wolves have become in Karl-Anthony Towns’ absence, as Anderson has replaced Towns in the starting lineup. And that all ties into the Wolves last three games against Utah and twice against Portland. Topics include... — Kyle Anderson’...
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today's show, Dane is joined by Chris Hine of the Star Tribune and Kyle Theige of SKORNorth after Timberwolves practice on Monday afternoon in Portland to take a look at some statistical trends forming in KAT's absence these last five games compared to the first 21 games of the season that KAT played in. Sign up today for a 14-day free trial of Aura’s digital security at Aura.com/Dane Use Code Dane25 to get 25% off- https://trylgc.com/Dane #ad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...
Dec 13, 2022•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined in Portland by Kyle Theige after the Wolves loss to the Blazers on Saturday. The conversation revolves around the recent leveling up of play from Rudy Gobert and D’Angelo Russell, and how the way they have been playing has shifted in Karl-Anthony Towns’ absence. Topics include... — Running out of gas in the 4th against the Blazers — Starting to see what “unlocked” Gobert actually looks like — Wondering how KAT would mesh with this version of Gobert, Russell and Ed...
Dec 11, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Kyle Theige to check in on some statistical trends for the season — specific to individual players and to the team as a whole. As the season rolls on, there are strengths the Wolves will need into, weaknesses they’ll need to mitigate, and in this episode we try to diagnose where those shifts need to come from. Topics include... — D’Angelo Russell’s shooting spike over the last month — Comparing Rudy Gobert’s numbers in Minnesota to his numbers in Utah — Why the...
Dec 09, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson of MinnPost to discuss the Wolves win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday evening and other trends that are beginning to emerge as Rudy Gobert seems to be getting increasingly comfortable in his role on this team. Topics include... — Looking back at the 4th quarter against Indiana — DLo’s late game offense and the Wolves late game defensive tweak — Wolves remaining volatile in nature — A first look at Luka Garza — The Wolves 3-point shooting volum...
Dec 08, 2022•2 hr 38 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Wolves beat writer, Jace Frederick of the St. Paul Pioneer Press to discuss the Wolves taking the early steps toward finding an identity in the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns. The majority of the conversation centers on the idea of which players will be instrumental in creating that identity. But before getting into all of that, Dane and Jace touch on the Wolves’ signing of former-Laker Matt Ryan to a two-way contract. — What do we make of the Matt Ryan signing?...
Dec 07, 2022•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Chris Hine from the Star Tribune to discuss the Wolves home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, the second game of the KAT-less chapter for the Wolves. The focus of the episode is things that showed up in that Oklahoma City game that will be relevant over this window without Karl-Anthony Towns. Topics include... — Terrible officiating, but also poor composure amidst the poor officiating — which has been a trend all season — How Ant and DLo are ...
Dec 05, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Kyle Theige to discuss the Wolves win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night — a game that begins a new chapter of the Wolves season, given the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns. Dane and Kyle try to dig for themes from the Memphis game — notably Anthony Edwards evolution — that could come to define this chapter, and potentially change how Chris Finch goes about reintegrating KAT, whenever that time comes. — Anthony Edwards becoming the main character — Hell...
Dec 02, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jace Frederick from the Pioneer Press to discuss how this version of the Wolves is built in a way that should be able to withstand a Karl-Anthony Towns injury — at least significantly more than previous rosters have been. Dane and Jace walk through the Wolves rotation players player-by-player to discuss how they may be impacted by Towns’s absence. What players might stand to gain more freedom in a temporarily Towns-less roster? What players will be most hurt by...
Nov 30, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson from MinnPost to discuss the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the Wolves first quarter of the season. Plus some conversation on what life might look like in at least temporary absence of Karl-Anthony Towns. A lot of the focus of the episode is on the underlying issues that have held the Wolves back from being the best version of themselves, outside of the win over Indiana — How the compilation of players on the roster have not led to on-court chemistry — ...
Nov 29, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Chris Hine of the Star Tribune to discuss the frustrations mounting surrounding some of the issues with the Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert frontcourt pairing. For a team that is no longer in the early stages of the Towns-Gobert pairing, stamping out issues and leaning into strengths is beginning to feel like an immediate need. Related topics include... — Teams attacking KAT and Gobert’s ability to run the floor — Not only needing to get back in transition, ...
Nov 28, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Kyle Theige to what went into the Wolves five-game winning streak and what snapped it in Charlotte on Friday night. While the Charlotte loss felt a lot like the beginning of the season, that doesn’t mean the five-game winning streak didn’t happen — so we look for differences. Dane and Kyle also discuss the Wolves catching their first case of the injury bug, and how the rotation might shift to react to those injuries — What was different in the five-game winning...
Nov 26, 2022•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jace Frederick from the Pioneer Press to discuss the Wolves 4-game winning streak and the themes from that streak that will need to carry over (or be removed) for the Wolves to continue winning at a high level. In addition to that, Dane asks Jace about the booing at Target Center and how the players publicly responded to that in the locker room postgame. Topics include... — Ant’s Big Offensive Quarters/Games Correlating With Poor Defense — Playing Against Zone ...
Nov 23, 2022•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane begins with a solo recap of Monday night’s 4-point Wolves win over the Miami Heat that extended the Wolves current winning streak to four games. After digging into five themes from the win over Miami, Dane is joined by Tony East who covers the Indiana Pacers for SportsIllsutrated.com to preview Wednesday night’s matchup in Indiana. Topics include... — What went in to Rudy Gobert taking zero shots from the field against Miami — The point guard play from D’Angelo Russell and ...
Nov 22, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Chris of the Star Tribune to discuss the Wolves recent winning streak that has served as litmus test for optimism or pessimism, given that their opponents over the streak have not been at full strength and due to the fact that late-game execution has remained an issue. Dane and Chris all discuss the idea of sacrifice in the starting lineup, and how winning, despite some of the flaws in the wins, may be able to foster that necessary sacrifice sinking into the gr...
Nov 21, 2022•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Kyle Theige for an episode that focuses on the context, for better or worse, that applies to the beginning of the Rudy Gobert experience in Minnesota. Through a Gobert lens, Dane and Kyle focus on Saturday’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid on Sunday, and how the Wolves now have Gobert to throw at the Embiid matchup. A portion of the episode also focuses on anecdotes from Kyle’s interview with Jim Petersen on the Flagrant Howls podcast. — ...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson from MinnPost to discuss bright spots that have materialized for the Wolves over their two wins thus far this week. In that, a lot of the early focus of the episode is on Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell, who traded off having big games in the wins, and then also Rudy Gobert, who seems to slowly be finding himself. Dane and Britt also get into a few of the questions Britt answered in his mailbag column over at MinnPost. — Gobert beginning to fi...
Nov 18, 2022•2 hr 31 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jace Frederick from the Pioneer Press to look into the numbers behind the first 14 games of the Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert experiment. Dane and Jace look at how Towns and Gobert have thus far graded out on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball analytically, and discuss how fair those catch-all metrics have been to the still relatively small sample size. Before Jace joins, Dane starts the episode with a solo film review of Kyle Anderson’s re...
Nov 16, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
