The Dane Moore NBA Podcast

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ 33-point loss to the Charlotte Hornets going into the All-Star break was an unacceptable finish to an unacceptable first-half of the season. On today’s pod, we discuss why the plan for what the Wolves are building needs to be adjusted. How a ‘Process’ doesn’t make sense when you have Karl-Anthony Towns and traded your first-round pick Why Wolves fans have the right to be upset and pushback against the plan for how this team is being rebuilt Comparing Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball’s numbers halfway through their rookie years Why D’Angelo Russell is the better player to compare against LaMelo. And how LaMelo’s numbers already mirror peak-DLo in Brooklyn Is LaMelo who the Wolves hoped DLo would be? Would Ant and LaMelo be having the same years if they were on different teams? Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Sunday night, the Timberwolves lost their 8th consecutive game and are now 1-10 since Karl-Anthony Towns returned to the lineup. On today’s pod, we discuss how much blame KAT holds for that losing. Has a losing culture similar to ‘The Process Sixers’ set in? How the Wolves have actually played worse in the 11 games since KAT returned than they did in the 11 games prior to KAT’s return What sort of blame does KAT hold not only for this recent streak of losing but for the losing dating back to last season? The Wolves have lost 30 of the past 34 games KAT has played in. Thinking back to the Dario Saric days after The Jimmy Butler Trade What would it have looked like if the Timberwolves traded for Chris Paul back in 2019, before he was traded to the Thunder? Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Minnesota Timberwolves have now lost seven consecutive games — four under Ryan Saunders and three under Chris Finch. And Saturday night’s loss to the Washington Wizards — the first game of Malik Beasley’s twelve-game suspension — highlighted how much is going to change with Beasley’s out of the lineup. Along those lines, on today’s pod we discuss:- Finch’s decision to lean into defense with Beasley out of the mix The Wolves started Karl-Anthony Towns, Jarred Vanderbilt, Josh Okogie, Anthony Edwards and Ricky Rubio.- The new lineups potential to both be more effective defensively — and it did look competent on that end in the first half — and to really kill the offense’s spacing- The opportunity guys like Jarrett Culver, Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards have to further asset themselves offensively in Beasley’s extended absence Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/joinSign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s podcast, I am joined by Britt Robson of The Athletic to discuss his most recent column on the topic of “culture” and how the losses accumulating and the Chris Finch hiring process line up with Gersson Rosas’ initial plan. We discuss: How Rosas was hired to be the anti-Thibs How the familial vibe has been contradicted by roster a coaching turnover What the cultural plan is going forward How the upcoming traded deadline might be approached from a standpoint of prioritizing (or not prioritizing) continuity If the Wolves were to trade one of their top-4 players (Towns, Russell, Edwards and Beasley), who would make the most sense How does Ricky Rubio fit into the grand plan? Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Timberwolves fell apart Wednesday night against the Bulls when Karl-Anthony Towns was off the floor, getting outscored by 19 points. On today’s pod, we focus on the impact of KAT’s fairly chronic problem with foul trouble — and how Chris Finch and KAT may need to adjust accordingly. Will how KAT is being used under Finch — as the hub of the offense — impact the frequency of how often he commits offensive fouls? Can adjustments be made to keep KAT on the floor more often? KAT explains his 6th foul on Wednesday and his changed approach with refs this year (audio included) What will be the impact of playing analytically-driven basketball be on Ricky Rubio? How Rubio’s contract impacts the Timberwolves’ luxury tax situation next season. Could Rubio be traded at this year’s deadline? Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Chris Finch Era is officially underway for the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 27-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. So what have we learned about Finch thus far — from that game and from his public comments to the media thus far? Were there structural changes to the offense/defense? Who is going to play? And how long are they going to play for? Should we believe this means more minutes for Karl-Anthony Towns, Malik Beasley, Jaden McDaniels and Jordan McLaughlin What is Chris Finch about, and how does this connect to KAT? KAT has been utilized in a different way each of the past three seasons. What season will the Finch-version of KAT most resemble? Finch’s concept of providing players “bumpers” for what they can and cannot do Will the Wolves now run less pick-and-roll than they did under Saunders? How will that impact Anthony Edwards? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's podcast, we take stock of the State of the Timberwolves after the dismissal of Ryan Saunders and hiring of Chris Finch. Kyle Theige of Canis Hoopus joins me to discuss Chris Finch's (rather awkward) introductory press conference. And we move down the list from Gersson Rosas to Chris Finch to Karl-Anthony Towns and to the trio of D'Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards and Malik Beasley, taking stock of each individual's standing within the eyes of the fanbase. The conclusion? It's go-time. Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britt Robson of The Athletic joins the pod for an instant reaction to the news of Ryan Saunders being fired and Chris Finch being hired in his place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re just at the point where these fourth quarter collapses by the Timberwolves are getting ridiculous. Friday night’s collapse in the fourth might have been the worst of the season yet. With 3 minutes and 40 seconds left in the game, the Wolves were leading 81 to 75, yet didn’t score another point for the rest of the game. On tonight’s pod, we discuss why falling apart felt all the worse considering it came on the heels of Anthony Edwards’ filthy dunk to close the third quarter. Specific examples of execution breakdowns in the 4th, including a completely botched 2-for-1 Why the last two games against Indiana and Toronto serve as examples for why it is OK to not close games with your starters (McLaughlin over Rubio, anyone?) Ant’s dunk, and why I’m batting around the Bradley Beal comp for Edwards Jaden McDaniels with another impressive defensive performance, and why Pascal Siakam’s trajectory is one McDaniels could reasonably mimic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s podcast, Britt Robson of The Athletic joins to discuss his most recent column on the Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell pairing that published right before the news of Russell being shut down for the next four-to-six weeks. With that, we discuss the myriad of changes that now face the DLo-less Wolves both now and into the future, including: How the focus now shifts to the KAT and Anthony Edwards pairing Speculating on what the long-term future is of KAT on the Timberwolves Why Jaden McDaniels also deserves consideration for a similar amount of development focus How we saw this all play out in the loss to the loss to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday Can the late-game offense go through KAT? Is late-game isolation for KAT better than an action that involves KAT but doesn’t guarantee a KAT touch? Comparing Edwards’ rookie year thus far to Andrew Wiggins’ first season Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices