What's your Mount Rushmore podcast? This episode are favorite cocktails. It would have never occurred to me prior to the big Lebowski to say, can I get a white Russian? After watching that movie, I think I even said this, and I'm like, I want to have a white Russian now.
So out of context, let's turn your wife and say that once. You know what? I want a white Russian. Yes.
What did I do? Male worker bride. Get on the internet and find one. What's your Mount Rushmore?
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Contact Mark Ellis at mark.elis at hbi.com. And let's talk about how we can grow your business together. And I've been in Minnesota in probably 20 years. Welcome to Fleetwood House, Minnesota, Tipper Wolves lifestyle podcast.
OK, we got our guy, Darren Dukie Wolfson from the Five Eyewitness News Sports Department. Oh, look at the hockey day in Minnesota mug. I've got my Roku mug. Yeah, I like your type.
I like it. I'm going to be calling this. Better in the tournament. It's a tumbler.
It's a tumbler. Yeah. I just want to congratulate the Denver Nuggets on winning their championship, finally beating the Minnesota Tipper Wolves last night. Just a major accomplishment for the Nuggets, who would never beat the Tipper Wolves.
They grinded that one out without Anthony Edwards for the Wolves. It only took, it only took Nicole Yocch going for 25 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists. He missed one shot last night. He was 9 of 10 from the floor, literally one of the most efficient games you're going to see in the NBA.
But we can talk about the game last night. It's also Anthony Edwards and how long he's expected to be out and what this thing looks like. But the Dukes tell the audience, awaken 180. You've lost some weight the last month or so, looking and feeling pretty good, man.
I am looking good and feeling good. Thank you, Phil. I mean, I guess looking good is subjective. But I feel like I'm looking good.
Yeah, it's all thanks to a awaken 180 weight loss, a waken 180 weight loss back on down just about 20 pounds in seven weeks. Feel somewhat energized right now. It was up late last night, Freddie Freeman, 1.51 AM, walk off home run, 18th inning for the Dodgers in Game 3 of the World Series. Alarm goes off 6.45 AM to get the young one ready for school.
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That's it. Schedule that free consultation, awaken 180 weight loss.com. All right. How worried should we be about this Anthony Edwards list period for the Tim Roles?
They're trying to figure out how to play defense without go bare on the court. They're also trying to figure out who scores points in the absence of Anthony Edwards. There was some good last night. I mean, the fight that they showed, they had a lead in the second half of that game against a really, really good nuggets team.
I thought Jay McDaniel is offensively assertive last night. There's some positive signs there. Nas Reed had it rocking. But just this is not what they foresaw going into the year, having to deal with at least a couple weeks without Anthony Edwards, it seems like, dude.
Correct. Yeah. I mean, I thought Mike Conley, Jr. back in the starting lineup last night had the best of his four games.
I thought Rob Dillingham, even with the turnovers, showed up holes like to me, Rob Dillingham has earned minutes. Moving forward, my understanding on Ant, low-grade hamstring string, grade one. So that is the good news. That's a typical one to two-ish week type recovery.
I mean, realistically, probably back around Friday, the 14th, they have a large gap that week between games. So it looks like in total, probably ends up missing eight games. Jay McDaniel's. How about using his left hand?
Like, I loved that Jay McDaniel's game last night. We've always said, Phil, there's more there. We saw it last year when Julius Randall was out for that long stretch. But when Ant comes back, how do you unearth that Jay McDaniel's offense?
That to me will remain a conundrum. And hey, the defense with Ant, or without that, I mean, last night they missed Ant's defense, when they missed his offense. But like you think about the third quarter last night, Denver scoring on 20 of its 24 possessions. Second time in four games that the opponent has 100 points before the end of the third quarter.
I swear I saw Rudy go bare block a shot last night, but the lack of rim protection, the lack of contesting shots, the lack of ball pressure, man alive does Elston Turner have a ton of work to do to fix the wolves defense. And what is that, Dukes? Because this team defensively at times has been very good. Two years ago, I think they were the top defense in the entire NBA.
So what do we think is happening here? Going back to what? The opener and then the Lakers game was especially terrible. But is this just an early season thing?
Is this a real cause for concern of some type of laps? What has changed to take this from a really good defensive team to a team right now that is scuffling in that area? All right, when you go back to last night at third quarter, Tim Hardaway Jr making three after three. How many of those threes were contested?
Not many. So some of it's effort, right? Just fighting. I mean, I'd love to see them go Portland on it and pick up 70, 80 feet away.
Like really emphasize ball pressure. And they absolutely are not protecting the rim. I think we need to have a larger discussion about Rudy go bare because there was a thought in my mind, in fact, I presented him the question before the Portland game. I'm like, hey, do you have on your mind the possibility of winning a fifth defensive player of the year award?
He admitted, yes, absolutely. I've thought about getting that fifth one. I mean, he didn't have a chance based on the body of work so far. I mean, I thought not playing for France in the summer would aid him greatly.
Maybe will eventually he's in phenomenal shape. I don't. He looks lean, man. He looks like he's in really good shape.
He is a ridiculous athlete. So is Julie's Randall by the way, Julie's Randall playing fast. I love the shape. Grant Hill was making that point a number of times on the broadcast last night.
But I've seen it, Julie's Randall is in phenomenal shape as well. But some of it's just effort. It really is. And I know they will give efforts.
I'd like to think they can fix it. Now the rim protection, I don't know. I mean, I don't know how you solve that one completely. You need more clearly from Rudy Gobert.
And I get it. You look at the defensive numbers through four. Of course, there are better defensive team when Rudy Gobert is on the floor compared to when he's off the floor. Look at the opponents field goal percentage.
You know, it's a blowout, right? You know, when Rudy's on versus off. But still, they need more from Rudy Gobert. So yeah, I mean, it's absolutely a concern because the schedule is only going to get more difficult.
I mean, we looked at the early portion of the schedule and said, OK, 15 of the first 22 against teams that did not make the playoffs last year. Up to seven against teams that did make the playoffs last year. Two against the Lakers. You felt good.
Well, OK, you lose on Friday. OK, no, Luca tomorrow night. No LeBron James tomorrow night. But does Austin Reeves now go for 45 or 50 tomorrow night?
Like that's a legit concern, especially with with no and now. Hey, I'm sure Jana McDaniel's will will try to lock up Austin Reeves tomorrow night. But yeah, there's absolute concern, right? And you know, depending on who they have out there, I mean, we know Rob Dillon and probably a negative defensive player, not even Shenzo.
I mean, Phil, you probably have the specific numbers in front of you or somewhat handy. But that day we're not looking at a plus defender. Nas Reed. OK, I mean, that's the problem.
You know, depending on who you have on the floor, especially when you don't have a Jalen Clark either last night. You would have felt OK if Jalen Clark could have played. So I mean, it's last night, my understanding is this calf issue very much short term. But you think about Jamal Murray going off last night.
Hey, I would have loved to have seen Jalen Clark playing some defense on Jamal Murray last night. So I mean, he's going to be in the rotation. So you think about OK, four games sample size, no aunt, or the better part of two games, no Jalen Clark for one game. So I think you feel like OK, when those guys come back, it can be a pretty good defensive team.
But the question is, can they be like a top seven top eight? We always talk about top 10 offensive efficiency, top 10 defensive efficiency. Can they be top 10 in both areas? I'm not sure yet.
You know, just back to the Rudy on off thing for a second here. It is. It's kind of why it's four game sample. So we got to be a little careful four game sample here.
But when he's on the court defensively, they have a 112 defensive rating, which would which isn't great. But it would put them like 10th in the league defensively when Rudy's on the court. So you know, not quite the top three defense when he was on the court last year. But they're a formidable defense when Rudy compares on the court.
When he comes off the court, their defensive rating through four games is 134 and 1 half, which would be dead last in the NBA if it was their full time team. So they are without Rudy go bare on the court. They are the worst defensive team in the entire league. However, on the flip side, offensively, the Timmer Wolves with Rudy go bare off the court have a 131 offensive rating, which would be far and away the best offense in the NBA.
When he is on the court, they have a 107 offensive rating, which would be the second worst offense in the league. So the polarity of, and again, it's only a four game sample, but that trend, like there is a little bit of, if you go back in the Rudy go bare era here, they've had a hard time finding defensive solutions when he's not on the court. But his presence does make it harder for them to score and run and play at a top level. So that's just, it might be, I guess my long wind in a retort here to the, how do you deal with Rudy go bare defensively?
It might be that you have to figure out a way to just be an offensive force when he's off the court and be a little bit better to, like they don't have to be great defensively when he's off the court. If they are one of the best offensive teams in the league, but they gotta find a way to be a little bit better than they have been through four games. So what are we thinking ideally, Rudy go bare playing 31, 32 minutes somewhere in that ballpark? I go lower.
28, 27. I mean, it depends on how you talk to him. Okay, so whatever that is, own those 19, 20, 18 minutes, you're right. Own it offensively when Rudy is off the floor, then get enough stops when he's on the floor, but knowing that you're not going to be a good offensive team.
And hey, at this point of Rudy go bare's career, at 33 years old, like all of a sudden he's not going to become you on barrel and J in terms of catching the ball. Like that's done over with. He's not a catcher of the ball, a receiver of the ball. So get some points on offensive putbacks, set some good screens, but it's not like you can give Rudy go bare the ball.
You just can't. Maybe on occasion, Julie's Randall, excellent passer, Julius drives. Maybe it's a simple handoff. Rudy can't fumble that, go up and dunk the ball.
Maybe there's four points to be had a game like that, but you're just, you're not going to be a good offensive team. You just not feel it. And hey, that goes back to even pre-wolves Rudy, you know, back in Utah, like what is the ceiling? What is the ultimate ceiling for team when Rudy go bare is playing 30ish minutes a night?
Can you win a championship when Rudy go bare is playing 30 minutes a night? It's a, it's, it's such a great question. Cause when they acquired him, I think it was more about raising the floor than having the highest ceiling, you know, and mission accomplished, right? They did.
All these big time playoff games. Yes, absolutely. I mean, I still think in the moment it was an easy yes for Utah, but yes, as we look back at the trade, hey, it looks a lot better compared to in the moment. Yes, they absolutely have raised the floor, but can you hit your ceiling?
I don't know Phil. I really don't. I'm just inventing this this morning. No.
Speaking of that on a different position, what is the current state of the point guard position as a whole? So, you know, Connolly looked rough in the first, what, three games? Last night better. I mean, he's still an old player.
Well, your guy bones whirling dervish now. He's playing all the time. It feels like Dillingham got off the bench last night. Dante handles the ball at times.
I still don't think that's where he's at as strong as well. But if you had to for a contending team that there's some pressure to win now cause the West is so tough that the playoffs started on opening night in a weird way. What is the current dooges state of the point guard as far as you're concerned? Yeah, it's not good when ants out for two weeks, where the ant is going to initiate the offense a lot.
I mean, they can announce the starting line up of Dante, even Chenzo at point guard, but ant is going to handle the ball so much initiate the offense that Dante will revert back to his normal, his number one position of shooting guard, off ball, catch and shoot a lot, right? So Dante's not a point guard. Hey, they're not the only team. Like this morning I was looking at it while Drugy was at the orthodontist.
I'm looking at it in the waiting room. I'm like, okay, Houston needs a point guard. Cleveland will get back here as Garland at some point, but it might still be a while. Phoenix needs a point guard, Toronto.
Fascinating roster. They're a tremendous lead passwatch, but the Raptors, and I don't know what they're seeing is, but the Raptors need a point guard. Sorry, not a Daniel Russell fan, even though I just picked him up and fantasy hoops, don't ask me why. He was available in the waiver wire, and he would some assists and he'd some threes, but I'm not a believer in Daniel Russell.
I haven't been for years. Okay, so Dallas needs a point guard. There are a bunch of teams who need a guard. Phoenix, did I mention Phoenix, Houston?
So Toronto, Phoenix, Houston, Cleveland, Dallas and the wall. So I've got a list of six teams that need a point guard. Here's what I would do. Now he played some minutes last night because I, in Williamson, was out of the line for New Orleans, so New Orleans had some minutes to eat up, moving guys around, but like through the first couple games, Hose, Elvarado wasn't playing for the Pelicans.
Where exactly are the Pelicans going? No. I would make a call. Now easier said than done, what assets do the wolves have to make a trade?
You know, what are you willing to do? But Hose, Elvarado of New Orleans. Ties Jones is not playing for Orlando. That one is a head scratcher.
Now, was he just an insurance policy for Jalen subs? Jalen okay, but question marks whether Jalen would be okay by opening night, but Ties Jones is barely playing for Orlando. He's trying to win your $7 million deal, but would you make a call to Orlando to try to bring back Ties? At some point, Indiana is going to get healthy.
Could you pry away TJ McConnell? Like these are some of the names I've thought about, but like if you're going to take a big swing, Darrin Fox will be back soon enough with the Spurs. I keep watching Dylan Harper. I mean, yeah, second overall pick.
And with his pedigree, right? But Dylan Harper is going to be so good. He's been really good. What exactly are the Spurs doing?
Would they eventually move Darrin Fox? Heck with the Cavs eventually move Darrin's garland. If you wanted to take a bigger swing, but I'm telling you, Elvarado, Ties Jones, TJ McConnell, I would try to pry one of those guys sooner rather than later. Yeah, I think you've kind of hit on the two different potential.
What do you want to say? You decide, all right, I'll do respect to Bones. Rob Dillingham, by the way, I was just looking this up. So he shows flashes, but he's also like, he looks lost out there.
He turns the ball over too much. He's a terrible machine, right? But I guess he's on overs. I know.
I mean, he has, if you were to take every player in the NBA last year, so his career turnover percentage is 20% of possessions result in a turnover. Rob Dillingham. I didn't even realize it was that high. I mean, that's absurd.
Only three players in the league had a higher turnover percentage last year. Draymond Green was one of them. This is like all players by Russell Westbrook, who's a Tasmanian devil of just frenetic energy, but at least Russell Westbrook gives you a bunch of upside, not necessarily the last couple years, but like he'll turn them all over, but also pouring a bunch of other activity and whatnot. So, but you kind of brought up a couple names, Elvarado and the Ties Joneses, where you could just get a veteran to take some minutes that doesn't turn it over, that gets the ball moving.
The biggest thing is when these teams pick the team of wolves up before half court, it's hard for Dante and even Chenzo to dribble past pressure and to get into a set. Like it's a turnover risk. When Julius Randall gets, I'm fine with Julius initiating once the coach is clear in the half court, but like when he's trying to dribble up against pressure past half court, ball gets poked away. So, and Conley has been a little more suspect in that regard.
Does it need, can it be a smaller move where, all right, let's just go get a Ties or an Elvarado, or does it need to be a De Aaron Fox? And if you did the De Aaron Fox thing, it's probably like Julius Randall, it'd have to be one of your marquee players that would go in that trade, or maybe it's a three way trade of some kind. I mean, which one would you lean if there still is a point guard problem in like two months from now? I have a man crush right now in Julius Randall.
I do, I think he's been awesome dude. He's so good. I don't know, can we have the discussion about, would you move Jada McDaniel or Nas Reed? I mean, Nas got his money.
I mean, I'd be very open minded to De Aaron Fox. Because the question here is, there's Sarlon's injury history worries me, not that De Aaron hasn't had a little bit of that, but Sarlon has been heard enough where I don't know if I'm giving up Jaden or Nas for Darius. Not like Darius. That was Gerson Rosas's guy back in the mirror.
I think this is sensitive for fans because we're talking about a lot of like key players here, but I think to reset the question, if the Wolves are going to go to the NBA Finals and potentially win a championship is there a running mate starting in the back court with Anthony Edwards on the current roster that allows you to do that? If the answer is no, how do you get that player? And which one of your players do you move? Like do the Wolves have a better chance to go deep in theory to the finals with a De Aaron Fox Anthony Edwards back court, minus Nas or minus Julius or whatever it would take to get De Aaron Fox?
Or you keep the bigger part of the structure intact and you just add that Elvarado or that Tius, which may seem like a small move, but could have a big impact. That's the question. I love De Aaron Fox. I do.
Now, would the Spurs have interesting Nas? If it's Nas plus something else, I don't even have to trade machine in front of me to see what works money-wise. De Aaron Fox would be incredibly appealing. Yeah, but then it goes back to, okay, so you still have Regal Bear.
So what exactly is your ceiling, even with a Fox Edwards back court? What I worry about is Ant and usage. And yeah, I get it 24 years old. I understand that in the best shape of his life.
I understand that, but just him wearing down. And as we know, okay, soft tissue, hamstring issue, that's one of those that can be recurring, right? So I just, I don't need Anthony exerting so much energy on the offensive end that he also then just becomes an average defender, right? Because we've heard about this desire at some point becoming all defensive type player.
And I think Ant has it in him. But can he sustain on both ends? I worry about that. And so if you bring in a De Aaron Fox type, that's so much off Anthony's plight, that I would be very open minded to that.
But more realistically, you know, getting somebody like an Elvarado, maybe I'm leaving out a name or two. Those are just some names that I wrote down, but there may be some other realistic names. You know, a name like that's probably a bit more realistic. What was the back problem too?
So to go back to opening that Portland win, Ant was short up mysteriously, because I don't think it had been out there before with a back problem. Was that something of concern as well? Like two things I hate with athletes are back problems and hamstrings. He's mentioned he gets back spasms sometimes.
He even mentioned like, usually he doesn't do a ton of ball handling drills in the off season, because like you have to work low to the ground and it locks his back ups. I'm pretty sure he talked about that. It's like kind of a thing off and on with him. Yeah, that's my recollection.
I mean, I don't remember hearing anything, you know, going back and last Wednesday leading in the tip off that it was in serious danger of actually missing the game, even though he was listed as questionable. But yeah, Phil referenced it. I mean, he's brought it up, but yeah, sure. Yeah, you can be in the best shape of your life, but yeah, hamstring, back, yes.
And so you'll worry about, get it. 24, I understand that, but just the idea that he could eventually wear down. So you need to take some of the load off his plate. And back, I think, chronic.
Like that's my problem. And it doesn't, like age, back problems, I don't think, you know, pick ages. Like we've seen really good athletes in different sports with back problems, we're pretty young as well. So if you had to trade one, so if it's Nas or Jaden to the Spurs, which one do you trade with a little something else like everybody on Fox?
I mean, probably Nas. Love him, right? And hey, I'm sure I'll get some, you know, and I appreciate the passion and everybody watching on the snicker, right? But I'm sure, right?
Two words, right? Talk your trade Nas, right? Right? Any number of people in Nasry tattoos will blow up my talk of your trade Nas, because do you well.
I know, but you have to get to get, right? And so I think I'm keeping Jaden for the defense. Yeah, I think I lean giving up Nas. Yeah.
Just stay wild. We just look at that. We're 25 minutes into the three. We're also saying about Nasry.
Yeah, I mean, you'll win tomorrow against the depleted Lakers team. Then you beat Charlotte, you beat the Nets. And you know, you have a three game winning streak. We're having a different discussion.
That could be a lose to the Knicks at the Garden, but you're still sitting pretty darn good. I mean, that's why this early schedule, like last year they got off to an eight and 10 start and if I scratch clock into the year, finish 17 and four, just to avoid the play and to get to six, I don't think you want to play with that fire. They should. Right.
I don't think you're taking your chances as the six seat again. Even if OKC is the one, you could avoid them until the West Finals. I don't think you want to do that again. You just don't.
Like top four matters, it does. I think it absolutely matters. I get it. They defied that last year.
I understand that. But this year, top four, find a way to finish top four. And so I think, yeah, I think it's Nas. I do top.
Don't get me wrong. But hey, the Spurs have had interest in Nas before, by the way. So that's another reason why I'm thinking this. Not that maybe they don't have some interest in Jaden.
Who knows? Maybe the Spurs might say, you know what? We're good. Like we like Keldin Johnson enough.
We like Harrison Barnes enough. Like we'll figure this thing out. We don't need to make any sizable move right now. Let's give Harper the full runway of the year.
So Darrin Fox comes back, Harper, you know, his minutes fluctuate a little bit. Castle can still do his thing. I mean, I just I don't know. But I just I know the Spurs in the past have had interest in that.
So I don't know what the trade machine says, because Darrin Fox is at a pretty big number. Like Nas for Darrin done work. Not only Spurs do that one for one. So it's not as much more.
So how much more are you giving up in a proposal like that? I mean, that's a fair question, right? I mean, are you giving up too much? Right?
Now that's good enough. And I do think Nas has another six men of the year in them. I do. The Nas we saw two years ago.
I didn't give back there easily. Not that he fell off a cliff last year. He was more than fine last year. Plus you think about just all this stuff in his personal life, you know, just you know, now playing might be cathartic and all that therapeutic.
But I'm just saying like it might just might take Nas a little bit, but he's been fine. You know, maybe not the first couple of games, but he's been better since. But yeah, I just you got to get right. So you got to get and yeah, I think it's not.
I do. Yeah. Judd, why don't you tell us about your favorite, your favorite burger place in the North Loop, huh? Oh, that would be easy.
Parler, Parler, in fact, guess what? Parler is the perfect place to stop. If you're going to a Wolves game, North Loop, it's close by absolutely outstanding. We are talking the best burger in town.
We're talking to chicken sandwich. That is fantastic. Dare I say underrated, craft cocktails, great beer list, fantastic service, make an evening for I don't know, a celebration, a date night, a Wolves game. And here is a nice thing.
If you're a hockey fan watching this show, I got good news right down the street, West 7th from the wild arena. There's a parlor in St. Paul. If you're out in the burbs, out in Excelsior, Tony Excelsior, guess what?
Parler's out there too. Three locations, a hat trick, a fantastic locations. So check them out, as I said, best burger in town. That is my friends at Parler Burger.
Also for crossover, Wolves and Vikings fans at Buffalo Wild Wings, they've got these Pepsi souvenir cups, the feature Justin Jefferson on them. You can go into any Buffalo Wild Wings in the Twin Cities, order 12 wings of any style, and a Pepsi. You'll get one of these Justin Jefferson souvenir cups. There's a QR code on the side.
You can scan it, and you can enter to win Victor's very own Polaris ATV. It's a Polaris Ranger 1000. And yeah, if you win it, he'll drive it right up your driveway, right at the end of your garage, wherever you want it, just like he has the last couple of years with the winner. Supplies are limited, so stop in, order 12 wings of any kind, and a Pepsi, and you can get a Justin Jefferson souvenir cup here, Buffalo Wild Wings, the preferred sports bar of the Vikings and Pepsi, the official beverage of the Vikings.
We'll get to some organizational changes here in a second. But, Seakeek, if you're looking to maybe grab some seats on that new theater seating, the lighting that they now have, Judge Seake. Oh, beautiful. Beautiful.
Yep, in fact, I'm on the Seakeek app right now scrolling through games, because heck, we've got tickets already there for the Ravens Vikings games. Go for football as well. And even concerts, in fact, I believe our friend Darren has used Seakeek for concerts as well. Tell us about your experience with the fine folks at Seakeek.
Mumford and Son, October 9th, Grand Casino Arena. Mrs. W dragged me to that concert, although it was as good a concert as I've been to, in years. We got our seats on the Seakeekek app.
Use the code Howells10, Howells10 for 10% off your next set of tickets at Seakeek. That's 10% off any tickets with the promo code Howells10. Make sure that you take advantage of the best place to get seats in town, Seakeek. Dude, just off the court for a second here.
What are we? Mark and Alex have are now the owners of this team. And I know behind the scenes they're putting together some arena plans and whatnot. But in terms of just the current arena, the current staff, everything, they got the stage lighting now at Target Center.
Very exciting. There's been a lot of changes behind the scenes, obviously the two main sea level leaders under Glen Taylor, Ryan Tanki, anything Cassin, gone to other NBA teams and some other executives behind the scenes as well. New CEO has been hired. I believe there's been some shakeups on the sales side in some different ways.
So what are you, anything that you're hearing behind the scenes in terms of major changes here since the new ownership took over, going into the season now? Yeah, let's go back to the summer. They laid off dozens of employees, Sarah Perez, on the public relations side, somebody we deal with when it comes to media relations. Right?
So yeah, I mean, there was an organizational shakeup that to me is pretty darn normal when new ownership comes in that out of the ordinary. And hey, those employees I was told were given very generous severance packages, but it was inevitable. Change was going to happen. Plus you think about Ryan Tanki and Ethan Cassin, we've laid this out, right?
And the tough spot, those guys were in. Glad both have landed on their feet. But which way do you go? The Glen Taylor side, the A-Rod and Lori side, going back to arbitration, how weird that was and everything, right?
But yeah, I'm not suggesting everything I've heard is it's completely kumbaya right now. But it seems like things are OK. Yeah, I mean, two home games in, being over there for an event in September behind the scenes. I do know from a basketball operations standpoint, yeah, they lost one of their guys to the Nuggets for an office for a promotion.
But there's a lot of continuity there. And hey, I think Matt Lloyd, general manager, is due to run a front office. He's bloody good enough to be a phoboe. But second in command here to have somebody like Del Dense with all his experience in the front office.
So yeah, I mean, from a basketball operations standpoint, it's pretty darn good to not lose Mike and Norrie. Right? I mean, Mike, a very deserving of being a head coach. To me, it's when not if.
Well, it hasn't happened yet. It should have, right? So to be able to retain Mike and Norrie, Elston Turner. I think he should have been a head coach many, many years ago, probably at this point at his age, not going to happen.
But like Elston, really good defensive mind. Yeah, he's got a lot of work to do right now. But I think that's a pretty good defensive coordinator to have. So just from a basketball operations standpoint, pretty darn good.
Right? They knew not to let go our guy, Jeff Municki, and the fan relations side. They're from day one. Yeah, I mean, yeah.
As great a human being, literally, as you could ever come across. Part of goal. And like best of luck finding a fan that doesn't think the world of Jeff Municki. You know why?
Because he's so darn good at what he does. And he's so inviting, so warm and generous and everything. Just the nicest guy in the planet, right? And so they didn't screw that one up.
So they have a good idea of what they're doing. To get that CEO from the Florida Panthers, that's a pretty savvy hire. It is. Pretty impressive.
And so for the most part, it looks pretty good. You never like to see people lose their jobs. And we probably all know some people that found out this morning, target corporation, letting go a bunch of people. It's the world we live in.
Amazon too. Yeah, Amazon too. Yeah, I mean, a couple of us have been there for sure. And so it sucks.
It absolutely sucks. And so Sarah Perez is the world. Hope they're doing great. But that's going to happen when you want to take over.
Yeah, I mean, to me at this point, what exactly do these plans look like for the new arena? And where? And how do you leverage some suburbs with the city of Minneapolis, with the land, the development around the new arena? But how exactly is that new arena going to be financed?
I mean, to me, that's the overarching question. When I think about new ownership, because yeah, the theater lighting, it looks great. Now, watching a peacock last night, seemed like it was a pretty dead crowd, but it wasn't the 40 start on a school night. Back to back.
So, you know, it's all that. So I'm not going to overanalyze one game. It seemed like there was decent energy TV wise from the Pacers game on Sunday. But yeah, the theater lighting looks really cool.
I know the players love it. And so, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of things to like right now, but thinking about the next five to eight years. When do they break ground? Can they break ground on a new arena in the next five to seven years?
What exactly does that look like? That to me is the number one question when I think about Mark and Alex. Yeah, Darren Duge Wilson from the Five Eyewitness News Sports Department. And information, some speculation.
People will ask, why are you bringing up the Aaron Fox? Just remember, this front office had interest. Before Sacramento moved him to San Antonio, this front office had legit interest in Aaron Fox. There are fans in this front office of the Aaron Fox.
That's why, when we talk about that topic, that name needs to be right there at the top. The contract is not an easy one to acquire. I understand that. But when we're thinking about how to solve the point guard conundrum, I think he has to be among names that are bandied about.
Yep. It is a thing until it's not a thing, their point guard situation and their ball handling situation. And one of the big things that separated the wolves from the thunder last year, among a few other things, was turnovers. The wolves turned the ball over a lot, and the thunder didn't.
The thunder take the ball away a lot. The wolves gave the ball away a lot to them, specifically in that series. And it's going to continue to be a problem that teams look to expose with as much full court pressure as you'll see in regular season NBA games. So it's just something that we've seen.
I mean, two clutch time games, 2 and 0. That's fantastic. They're making shots in clutch time. But they're also turning the ball over.
When you think about Indiana, when you think about Portland, there were some turnovers in clutch time. So that hasn't gone away. Now, do I foresee them playing another 46 games this year of clutch time? Probably not.
But you figure somewhere in that 27 to 35 range, right? They're going to play a good number of clutch time games. And so what exactly do those turnovers look like at the end of the year? So yeah, it's absolutely a thing.
But until then, yeah, we have to keep talking about how do they solve the point guard position? Yeah. All right, Dukes. We'll see you over on Purple Gailie later on this week.
And we'll see if the team rolls can weather the next couple weeks without Anthony Edwards. They're doing a little bit of a easy schedule. So they should have a winning record here over the next coming weeks. But yeah, it'll be fun to watch.
I'll see you boys on Thursday. Yeah. Sounds good. All right, for Dukes for Judd.
I'm Phil. And this is a Timrroll lifestyle podcast. Flagren Howles.