The Dane Moore NBA Podcast

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson of MinnPost to recap the Wolves season opener. They discuss what they took in at Target Center on Wednesday and play clips of sound from the locker room after the game. The conversation moves through, for the most part, player-by-player in the starting and then gets into what the rotation and the bench looked like while sprinkled in to the starter mix. Topics include:— Gobert’s singular presence immediately driving winning, though in a slightly different manner than the way he drove winning in Utah— Towns figuring out a balance offensively in a new roster construct— Analyzing the difference in the KAT + Gobert minutes versus the KAT or Gobert solo minutes— McDaniels shines, and why it didn’t feel like a flash in the pan— Edwards and Russell leading the offense from the perimeter— What the bench and rotations looked likeSign up today for a 14-day free trial of Aura’s digital security at Aura.com/Dane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jace Frederick of the Pioneer Press to discuss what they are looking for in the season opener against Oklahoma City. But to start the episode, the focus is on the often overlooked Jordan McLaughlin. Jace shares what he learned when writing his preseason feature story on McLaughlin.— The NBA moving away from traditional point guards— If DLo were to eventually depart, could McLaughlin take on a bigger role?— The stats for and against McLaughlin— How does the starting 5 look in the opener and how much do they play together?— Will the Wolves be able to punish the Thunder’s lack of size?— How we think the Thunder will try to match up with the Wolves Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic live at Forgotten Star Brew Company to preview the Timberwolves season by looking at how the Wolves season might break right and how it could break wrong. And then they take listener questions.— How the season breaks right: Towns defends, DLo is Brooklyn DLo, Ant makes the leap, Gobert proves to be underutilized in Utah— How the season breaks wrong: Loaded Western Conference, Ant has too much on his shoulders, KAT and Gobert missing training camp proves costly, Gobert ruffles feathers, McDaniels continues to struggle with foul trouble— A potential DLo extension— The national media perception of the Wolves— Much more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is join by Timberwolves beat writer Chris Hine of The Star Tribune to preview Anthony Edwards’ season by discussing the feature Chris wrote on Edwards in Sunday’s paper. From there, the conversation moves to a discussion about the first look at the Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert pairing in Friday’s final preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets.— Why Edwards wanted to add weight in the offseason— Where will Edwards’ offseason work translate to the court this season— A look at the inefficient elements of Edwards’ game a year ago— What stood out in the first look of KAT-Gobert— Why the surrounding pieces also need to adjust to the new structure of the roster, now that Gobert is in the mixSign up today for a 14-day free trial of Aura’s digital security at Aura.com/Dane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Kyle Theige to go through the Wolves bench and give a “stock up” or “stock down” grade. The roles most open for change entering training camp were on the bench, meaning a preseason that exceeded expectations or underwhelmed could have shifted the bench pecking order entering the season. Dane and Kyle dig into where those shifts may have happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson of MinnPost to react to the Wolves fourth preseason win, this time again over the Los Angeles Lakers. Naz Reid! Then, Dane and Britt try to zoom out by looking at John Hollinger from The Athletic’s Timberwolves season preview — so as to parse what elements they agree with and also the parts that were maybe a little too black and white. Topics include:— Naz Reid’s serious preseason splash— Almost every player who has played in preseason consistently producing— Hollinger’s idea of the Rudy Gobert trade being a bet on Karl-Anthony Towns’s prime rather than Anthony Edwards’s prime— A no-longer-immediate reaction to the Gobert trade, and how Tim Connelly made sense of this move— The role ownership played in making the team immediately competitive, and what the motivations of that might be— Another look at how the Gobert trade boosts D’Angelo Russell’s value, on the court and with the salary cap— Disagreeing with the idea that this Wolves roster lacks depthSign up today for a 14-day free trial of Aura’s digital security at Aura.com/Dane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jace Frederick of The Pioneer Press to discuss the top of “things that could swing the Wolves season — for better or worse”. Dane and Jace each put together a list of five seemingly smaller things that could have a profound impact on how this Wolves season plays out, ranging from individual players, concept execution and even coaching. Some topics include:— The level of defender Anthony Edwards proves to be in a new concept— How health impacts a team that ran pretty well in the health category last season— Chris Finch as a tactician— Kyle Anderson’s ability to guard different types of bigs— Rudy Gobert’s ability to punish small players on switches— The impact of Bryn Forbes’ shooting— Much more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Chris Hine of The Star Tribune to discuss Karl-Anthony Towns making his preseason debut on Sunday evening against Los Angeles Clippers. KAT’s debut takes a lot of the focus, but we also get into Naz Reid stringing together a few strong preseason performances and Bryn Forbes’ shooting standing out as a clear training camp. positive.— Tweaks to KAT’s style of play we noticed in seeing him for the first time down weight— Finch switching up defensive coverages by half with KAT (drop vs. high wall)— Naz Reid making a case to be in the rotation, and standing out in what we typically think of as the Jarred Vanderbilt role on offense— Forbes really seems to fit— Have we changed our Nowell/Rivers/Forbes backup guard pecking order?— The Clippers present an interesting regular season/playoff matchup for the WolvesSign up today for a 14-day free trial of Aura’s digital security at Aura.com/Dane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined in Las Vegas by Kyle Theige. Dane and Kyle spent the day in Las Vegas watching the Wolves victory over the Los Angeles Lakers but also had the chance to watch Rudy Gobert’s fellow frenchmen, Victor Wembanyama, play in front of an American audience for the first time.This episode format is a little different than what we’ve done before. It’s an episode full of audio clips from Chris Finch and Wolves players. The goal was to try and capture how this Wolves group is coming together now two weeks into training camp. You’ll hear audio from the locker room from Rudy Gobert, Anthony Edwards, Austin Rivers and Chris Finch, along with some audio from the projected No. 1 overall pick about his relationship with Gobert.Sign up today for a 14-day free trial of Aura’s digital security at Aura.com/Dane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Jace Frederick of the St. Paul Pioneer Press to give their takeaways from the Wolves preseason opener in Miami on Tuesday night. In a game that Karl-Anthony Towns Rudy Gobert and D’Angelo Russell all sat out, what stood out from the players who did play and got the chance to take on a bigger role?— Anthony Edwards functioning as the point guard in DLo’s absence— Jaylen Nowell getting the start and looking like the most talented bench guard on the roster— Naz Reid and Nate Knight get the chance to play significant minutes in Towns and Gobert’s absence— A commitment to the “high wall” concept with Gobert not playing— Kyle Anderson and Taurean Prince showcase the skills that could make them valuable this seasonSign up today for a 14-day free trial of Aura’s digital security at Aura.com/Dane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices