Crumbly Wolves in the “time of money”? Rudy Gobert is sounding the alarm

Jaden McDaniels, Donte DiVincenzo… There are several players from Wolves to have their heads bowed upon returning to their pews. Which is understandable considering the storm that the Minnesota team endured in the the last minutes of regular time on the floor Kings.

Three minutes from the end, the guests had +10 (89-99). But Malik Monk, almost by himself, turned the tide by scoring seven points in a row, before DeMar DeRozan continued with 2+1 and tied the game (99-99). Lightning 10-0, in a minute and a half, in the Golden 1 Center in a breakdown.

Encouraged by the great outbursts of the trio DeRozan (33 points) – Monk (22) – Murray (26 points and 15 rebounds), the home team finished the job in overtime. To explain this failure, Chris Finch cites the difficulty of rebounding in “money time”, stupid turnovers… but also a drop in offensive momentum.

« We’re having trouble finding a good offensive rhythm overall. We have to go back to the way we played a week ago », the coach of Vukov is officiating the end of which his training in that matter was quite eloquent. The attack suddenly stiffened and transformed into a forced and unfortunate “one-man show” by the sideAnthony Edwards. Before finding the target in overtime, the guard (43 points on 16/29) missed four of five attempts in the fourth quarter.

« We became a little static offensively. The ball stopped spinning. On the other hand, they took some important actions. They worked hard and scored big shots in the final minutes. They are back in the match. (We committed) some bad turnovers. And there were really unsuccessful actions on our part », summary Rudy Gobert on this missed endgame.

“Hold your head high and think like a champion”

But the French pivot goes further in its analysis, causing a mental collapse. ” I have the impression that we have allowed ourselves to be overcome by frustration. And we can’t afford it. If we want to be a championship team, we can’t afford that. At the end of the match, whether you’re up by 10, 3 or 5 points, it doesn’t matter what happened before, you have to keep your head up and think like a champion to keep believing. (…) Until the siren goes off, we still have a chance », insists the headquarters.

The latter indicates ” body language » who was not up to the task in these heated moments. A bit like what the Wolves already showed three days earlier, on the floor of the Suns where they were already defeated in the final.

This double setback does not prevent the Wolves – 7th in the West – from posting a balanced record of 10 wins and 7 losses, but it is a blemish. A reaction is expected from them, but it will not be easy: the next trip is on Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

« We all know that conversation is good. But let’s see if it really matters to us. Let’s see if we really want to do what it takes to win. And to put our teammates before ourselves. That’s the main thing in the end. I hope we learn a lesson. But we have to decide who we want to be », to conclude the philosopher Rudy Gobert.