Appreciation post for Ayo Dosunmu and Terrence Shannon Jr.

Back in the offseason when Ayo signed his new contract, everyone not a Wolves fan called his contract an overpay for his game 4 outburst against the Nuggets. So far this season, he's averaging 13-5-5 on 51-43-67 shooting splits. He's been the perfect player off the bench and should be on pace win 6moty. What a steal of a contract and move by Tim Connelly.

To pair with Ayo off the bench, Terrence Shannon Jr. has been improving his game a lot this season. Before the Kuminga signing, TJ was our sixth man and I'm sure every Wolves fan expected him to make the leap to becoming a 6moty candidate. So far, he's averaging 13-3-2 on 57-50-64 shooting splits. His 3 point shot and his defense so far has improved drastically.

We have a strong guard rotation off the bench with Ayo, TJ, and Bones. Just wait till we get The Big Ragu back.

Wolves up top for 3-0 teams, OKC got the defense but not the offense, LA got the offense but not the defense

I love Kyle. I wish he was still on our team.

that has to be close to an NBA record .... please show me someone better ... maybe rodman or draymond green or tim duncan ....

Nevermind that was good for top 12 all time

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/best-nba-plus-minus-with-18-minutes-or-less-of-playtime-in-a-game

First, I love JDub, as a player and a class act. As a player, when healthy, as good a 2-way wing as there is in the league. Has literally played all 5 positions well in his pro career. So i feel so sad.

But the OKC 800 pound gorilla has one gap - wings, beyond him. They have 3-4 bigs, 5 guards. But really nothing behind JDub.

They are still a great team, but they can be beaten by the Wolves now.

We have a real shot now. Wish it wasn’t at the expense of such a great guy.

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

MINNEAPOLIS — Up until midway through the third quarter of the Minnesota’s third game of the season, Timberwolves fans had been forced to watch so much of this electric LaMelo Ball experience from afar.

The Wolves played five of their six preseason games on the road, then started the regular season with two straight away games. Fans could see what he’s been doing to buoy their Timberwolves in Miami and Orlando. On Sunday, in the home opener against Toronto, they finally got to feel it.

Like any true showman does, Ball made them wait.

Nearly 19,000 fans packed into Target Center, thirsty for their first real experience of Melo ball. The Timberwolves blew out the Heat and Magic in a Florida two-step to start the season, and now one of the loudest arenas in the league finally got a chance to let its new point guard hear the love. But Ball picked up three quick fouls, limiting him to just five minutes in the first half.

His fourth foul came 30 seconds into the third period, but Wolves coach Chris Finch decided to stay with Ball in that moment. He didn’t want to foul his own player out of the game. With a 10-point lead, Finch wanted to go for the kill.

Read the rest here for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7724975/2026/10/26/lamelo-ball-anthony-edwards-timberwolves-undefeated/?unlocked_article_code=1.LlE.PRXm.se7jrvY770lm&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

Now that he and Ant Man 🐜 are literally playing out of their minds together, does Melo end up becoming an All Star again? Considering he hasn't made an All Star team since 2022 when he was in Charlotte; if he stays healthy no doubt he becomes one in Minnesota. Really loving Melo with Ant as a pairing.

i so get that vibe that Farrell and Reilly had in Talledega Nights and Step Brothers. Shake and Bake! Lamello shakes em, Ant bakes em. Plus they both are such goofs and good natured. just saying.. also. GO WOLVES!! ahoo!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLF31AY25so

Thoughts:

The defense has just been phenomenal, across the entire roster. Lamelo and TSJ have both been trying to much harder and positioning well defensively, TSJ specifically has really impressed me. This has resulted in us fielding a guard and wing rotation that has zero negative defenders (not including Bones) and multiple elite defenders. Because we don’t have to hide anybody, it makes our scrambling way more effective because it doesn’t result in mismatches. Same with how easy we can just switch guard wing PNR. We are communicating really well on these switches and x outs from helping. Add in the toggling of Rudy/Joan and that’s how you get a top rated defense. I was more optimistic about our defense and two way potential going into the season than consensus, but Lamelo and TSJ showing they can be solid defenders has me even more giddy. We have top 5 potential on both ends, with ceilings that reach higher, and that’s how you become a championship level team.

The offense continues to look fluid, ball is moving but we don’t play rushed. Lamelo has been incredible, and he’s infected the whole team with the quick simple pass mentality. Add in the alley oop magic he has and his three point gravity and bam there’s an offensive engine. What I enjoy about Lamelo is he’s a rising tides lift all boats type player. The offense doesn’t revolve around him, he just amplifies everything around it. Raptors are a high turnover forcing team but we have been a little turnover heavy so something to monitor. Same with FT’s, that can bite us in a closer game.

It’s a small sample size - but the starting five has now logged 35 minutes and is a +40.4 per 100 possessions. 126 offense 85.5 defense. Both stats and eye test matching here. Do with that what you will.

Kuminga just continues to really impress. Another awesome defensive game, hitting his open threes confidently, and finding the right moments to attack the basket. He’s found a sweet spot in usage, not trying to do too much.

Great Ant and Jaden games as well. I like how Jaden is getting into his own shots consistently this year. Rudy just another great Rudy game. He’s gotta be kicking himself for missing that Melo lob in first half.

Ayo’s rim pressure and pace is really important for us, helps balance out what we can do. With him and TJ (Ant obviously, but Kuminga as well) we have multiple guys who are great at pressuring the rim, scoring from midrange (Ant and Jaden), and scoring from three (both off the bounce and catch and shoot). Add in strong rim running big who gets offensive rebounds, that is a really dynamic and flexible offense. Ayo is crucial to this well rounded attack by providing the additional ball handling, pace, shooting.

TSJ’s shot looks very real. Great to see him stack good games together. His defense was low key atrocious last year, that’s the biggest jump he’s made so far in his consistent value add playability these first few games.

Another good Joan game too! What I liked about this one, and I mean it as a compliment, is I didn’t really notice him out there (besides the Melo oop). He played solid defense without overcommitting or fouling. Did fine on the glass. No big defensive mishaps that stood out. Just did his role off the bench.

Bummer to not play against Kawhi this game. Our home crowd looked excellent, fomo not being there. Very curious how our defense looks against a more talented offensive backcourt, the first one we’ll be playing this season that features star guards.

3 championships are better then none.

Ant will play through anything and is a super healer. But the last couple seasons (especially late last season that runner’s knee has really flared up) he’s dealt with more issues even though he’s gutted through it.

The knee he’s had trouble with this preseason and 1st couple games has been his right runner’s knee, not hyperextended knee.

The fact that he doesn’t even show off in the open court the last couple years makes it concerning too. He doesn’t have that elite burst he had in year’s 1-3. He’s just added so much to his game that he can get away with a slightly less version of that peak athleticism. That spurs series was ultra impressive that he was able to overcome both knee issues and still cook their defenders. That makes me hopeful even if he’s never 100% again.

Hi all,

Just wanted to share these pieces by u/AidanDesigned. A talented artist and fan who creates something for each Raptors game.

Not how we wanted it to go, but all credit to the T-Wolves performance! Good luck this season! 👊

(I would've crossposted, but I guess it's not allowed. So feel free to shout out u/AidanDesigned if you enjoy their work!)

Idk why but this idea tickles me. Call ourselves the trees and then wear these t-shirts that they gave out in last year's playoff games:

Timberwolves are currently 1st in Rebounds with 56.5 per game

Next closest is the Nuggies with 52.0

Source

Pretty damn crazy considering the concerns we had going into the season!

Finch really has every single player bought in and it's showing 🙌

Manually removed by mods in NBATalk. Zero reasons given for removing the post (I even messaged them asking if it was bc of language and got zero response). Shameless levels of cope and seethe going on around the league rn I imagine. Especially after all the baby daddy jokes (dog whistling) and “they’re not serious they’re too immature” hot takes that were going around online😂

Anyone who knows ball knows what this team is. Legendary run incoming. Congrats to wolves fans.

Naz Reid. 🥲

Just gotta say, every year ive gotten a new fridge magnet from the home opener we've gone to the WCF. But this year we winning it ALL!!!!!!