Still beaten by a mediocre Detroit team and amputated several players, the Wolves continue to sink into the depths of the Western Conference, a few months after the arrival of Rudy Gobert in a shattering trade. And the declaration of a player in the squad at the end of the meeting caused great unease…
How are things at Wolves? Rather than a long cobblestone, journalist Jon Krawczynski’s analysis pretty much sums it all up:
DET 116, MIN 104
An absolutely inexcusable performance from the Wolves. Up and down the roster, coaching staff, everyone.
Out-worked by a tanking team on your home floor.
16-21. Rock bottom, here they are.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) January 1, 2023
Detroit 116, Minnesota 104.
An absolutely inexcusable performance from Wolves. The whole roster, from the first player to the last, the staff, everyone.
Beaten by a team that plays tanking, at home. 16-21. That’s it, they’ve hit rock bottom.
Wolves in distress, Naz Reid sows discord with his declaration
Without will, without cohesion, without much, to tell the truth, the troops of Minnesota begin to very seriously worry. So why such nonsense? Naz Reid, who has often shown himself to his advantage this season as a backup to Rudy Gobert, gave the following strange reaction after the match:
Naz Reid when asked is it a mystery to the players why the Timberwolves are underachieving:
“Not really. We know. We know. We know why. And you know, I’m gonna kind of keep that in house. But we know why.”
(Via @JonKrawczynski ) pic.twitter.com/7r7GMBl5vq
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) January 1, 2023
Naz Reid when asked by a reporter if the reason for the Timberwolves’ lack of performance is a mystery.
» Not really. We know. We know. We know why. But I’m not going to say it, keep it in-house. But we know”.
Rightly or wrongly, the majority of Internet users interpreted this exit as a tackle against Gobert, who has not been spared since his arrival. As a reminder, ESPN had reported that the Wolves roster had received the famous trade badly, and had not appreciated that several key players in the workforce were sacrificed to bring in the Frenchman. A few weeks later, these hallway noises inevitably take on weight.
However, was tackling Gobert really the purpose of Reid’s message? No one knows, but that kind of passive-aggressive statement isn’t going to help the T-Wolves. Without a quick response on the ground, with tenfold intensity and finally suitable results, the front office could be forced to quickly cut short this failed experiment, by setting up new transfers. To be continued…
This is the crisis in Minnesota, no more no less. Between performance at half mast, lack of unity, questionable statements and inability to revolt, the hopes glimpsed last year have all gone up in smoke. A hell of a headache for the franchise…
