The Dane Moore NBA Podcast

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson of MinnPost to discuss Britt’s feature story on Chris Finch’s lead assistant in Minnesota Micah Nori, and the impact coaching has had on the Wolves exceeding expectations thus far this season. From there, Dane and Britt discuss coaching tweaks we might see from the Wolves in the post-All Star break portion of the season. Topics today include:— Micah Nori’s background as a lifer in the NBA coaching world— The Chris Finch and Nori working relationship— What coaching tweaks we might see from the Wolves in the post-All Star portion of the season— Checking in on the success of the Wolves’ previously dominant starting 5— The areas D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns have found success defensively— Looking ahead to a Memphis matchup out of the break, and to a difficult schedule that will come to define where the Wolves stand in the playoff race Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Britt Robson of MinnPost to take stock of the Timberwolves at the All Star break. Dane and Britt discuss the Wolves winding road to a 31-28 record entering the break and discuss where Chris Finch can make tweaks on the margins to re-establish the team’s identity for the final 23 games of the season. Topics today include:— Jaden McDaniels’ recent ascension and Finch’s unrelenting belief in him— The evolution of KAT’s game, and the similarities and differences to his game compared to Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo— How the Wolves dual-window timeline has reset after the Patrick Beverley extension— What type of tweaks might we see from Finch post-All Star?— Who will and will not be in the Wolves’ playoff rotation? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, we take stock of where the Wolves sit after losing the final game before the All Star break — their bizarre path to being a top-10 offense and above-average defense 59 games into the season. We also focus this episode on the similarities between Chris Finch and Nick Nurse, and the striking likeness of the Wolves and Raptors’s statistical profiles this season.— If Chris Finch is Nick Nurse 2.0, what impact does that have on winning?— Why the Raptors might be the team most stylistically similar to the Wolves in the league right now— Why the Wolves are adding to their defensive coverage portfolio and what impact those additions might be having on the defensive drop-off this past month— The Wolves shooting woes these past few games, and wondering if there are tweaks that Beasley and McDaniels can make to their shot selection— Inconsistency from DLo and Ant of late Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, we get into Karl-Anthony Towns taking over late in the fourth quarter and overtime in a win against the Charlotte Hornets, we talk about Jaden McDaniels stepping up once Anthony Edwards went down with an ankle injury, and we break down the one-year, $13 million extension Patrick Beverley agreed to on Monday night.— KAT takes over late by getting back to firing from deep— McDaniels stepping into a bigger role once Edwards went down, and why McDaniels is becoming an ideal fit as the 6th man of the future for this Timberwolves team— The Patrick Beverley extension— How the Pat Bev extension draws a clearer line in the sand for the next windows for the Wolves— D’Angelo Russell calls out Wolves fans, and they answer with the best environment at Target Center of the season Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Matt Moore of The Action Network to discuss where the Timberwolves stand entering the All Star break. We have a conversation about why Matt was bullish on the Wolves this season dating back to the summer. And then Matt is based in Denver, having seen the Nuggets defensive progression first-hand, we discuss how switching defensive schemes to playing Nikola Jokic at the level has made all the difference for them — and also led to annual fatigue-fueled drop-offs in the defense (similar to the Wolves current defensive swoon).— Why the Wolves over (34.5 wins) was a smart bet going back to the summer— How the Wolves have switched defensive schemes with KAT this season, similar to the shift the Nuggets made with Jokic a few years back— The need for a diversity of defensive coverages come playoffs— Will the Wolves defense bounce back?— Will the Wolves finish ahead of Dallas and/or Denver in the Western Conference by season’s end?— Do we think KAT will make All-NBA this season (making him eligible to sign a 4-year $200M extension this summer)? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, we finally hit on the topic that his been brushed under the rug for the past month: The Wolves’ defense completely falling apart. While the Wolves have had the No. 1 offense in the NBA over the past six weeks, the dirty little secret is that the defense has been almost as bad as the offense has been good. So on today’s we dig into how the Wolves feel like they are coming to grips with that reality, and understanding it is something that needs to change.— Another brutal defensive (+ good offensive!) performance against the Bulls— Needing to find some defensive identity, even if it isn’t the old identity— The importance of having Patrick Beverley and Jarred Vanderbilt healthy to reignite the defense— The latest evolution of KAT’s offensive game, and how it’s become more reminiscent of Giannis Antetokounmpo than it is of KAT’s old self Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Britt Robson of MinnPost joins the show to discuss the Timberwolves standing pat at the trade deadline, and the rationale for and against taking that strategy. We also look forward at the rest of the season, discussing where this Wolves might go in the final 27 games of the season. Topics today include:— The decision to stand pat, prioritizing continuity, over making tweaks to the end of the rotation— What trading for a backup center would have provided, and whether or not that can still be addressed in the buyout market— The confusing discourse surround Anthony Edwards knee injury— Jarred Vanderbilt and the Wolves running into physical fatigue in the second half of the season— The likelihood of the Wolves grabbing the 6-seed, and how Dallas’ trade deadline impacts that— The Ben Simmons for James Harden trade Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, after a Wolves loss in Sacramento, we focus on the new details that have come up regarding Anthony Edwards’ knee injury, and also get into what the Wolves’ gameplan for the Thursday trade deadline might be. With the news about the knee andthe immediate relevance of the trade deadline, we hit on the game itself less than typical postgame episodes. Topics today include:— Anthony Edwards opens up about his knee injury and provides context as to how the knee has impacted his player over the last month and a half— Edwards’ decision to not rest the knee— The differing perspectives of Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell on how to approach talking about the knee injury publicly— What needs the Wolves still have going into the deadline— Dane’s prediction for what happens at the deadline versus Dane’s opinion on what he would like to see happen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, we react to the Wolves fifth consecutive win and 13th win in their past 18 games — a win over the short-handed Kings in the first half of a mid-week back-to-back in Sacramento. In tonight’s win, the story again was the Wolves bench leading the way. Topics today include:— Jordan McLaughlin’s massive impact since being reinserted into the Wolves’ rotation, and Finch calling him the MVP of late— The shooting 180s from Taurean Prince, Jaden McDaniels and Malik Beasley— How Beasley’s new role this season has spiked his 3-point volume to Steph Curry-level heights— Karl-Anthony Towns’ consistent play and emotions since returning from COVID— Anthony Edwards’ worst game of the season, and what is behind his recent struggles (looking at physical fatigue of the knees versus mental fatigue of a long season) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s show, Dane is joined by Brenden Nunes of The Sacramento Bee to discuss how the Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings might be able to work together as trade partners as the deadline approaches, and also how the Wolves and Kings matchup as they are set to play each other twice this week. Topics include:— What are the Kings going to do at the deadline?— Which of the Kings many bigs make the most sense for the Wolves to acquire?— Do Malik Beasley or Naz Reid intrigue Sacramento as players they might want to trade for— Previewing the two-game matchup against the Kings— How Tyrese Halliburton and Davion Mitchell have been thriving in the absence of De’Aaron Fox— Are the Kings better or worse than their 26th ranked net rating suggests?— How Sacramento might matchup with KAT, Ant and DLo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices