What do people who don't like to read do when they're sick? Watch TV I suppose. I did some of that yesterday, too—the Timberwolves' game against the inaptly named Jazz of Utah. (The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City from New Orleans, like the "Lakers" from Minneapolis to LA.)
I follow the T-wolves just closely enough to have formed the impression that they've been winning more games since Karl Anthony Towns, supposedly their best player, was sidelined with an injury. Checking now to see to what degree my impression conforms with reality, I see that Towns was injured in a game the Wolves lost on Nov. 28, which dropped their record for the season to 10-11. Since then, they've won 3 of 4. I know, not much of a sample size, and it might be that I'm not a KAT guy. He's always whining to the officials—seems to think he's never committed a foul, and that all his missed shots should be attributed to a swallowed whistle. Just play! When Anthony Edwards thinks he's been screwed, he looks at the ref and laughs.
Also, my sentiments to the side, it might be that the things KAT's good at, mainly scoring, the T-wolves can get from other sources. What they really need is rebounding and a defensive presence near the basket. The guy they acquired in the off season, Rudy Gobert, gives them more of that than KAT does. Last night, Gobert scored 22 points (despite trying just 11 shots) and led the team with 13 rebounds. D-Lo put on a 3-point shooting exhibition in the fourth quarter, when he scored 20 points without missing a shot, but who is this Kyle Anderson (pictured above) guy? He's taken KAT's place in the starting lineup and last night he had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 12 [sic] assists. He made 4 of 5 field goal attempts and 7 of 9 foul shots. I'm taking this from the box score, obviously. Wouldn't mind watching the game again to try and figure out how a guy who shoots just 5 times is awarded 9 foul shots. The box scores at ESPN.com now have a +/- column indicating the team's net points when each player is in the game. While Anderson was playing, the Wolves were +12; they won by 10, so they were -2 when he was out. Watching on TV, I hardly noticed him: some good passes, and one defensive play when he denied a would-be dunker at the rim. D-Lo scored 30 points but was just +4. The NBA has a lot of bedazzlers but that ain't necessarily what wins games.
According to my at-home covid test kit, I'm negative. Still possible to get sick in the boring old 2019 way, I guess.
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