A night of reflection appears to have afforded Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau a bit of perspective.
In the moments following Monday's 113-103 loss to Utah in a game in which the Wolves defense got steadily worse as the game went on, Thibodeau talked about having to back things up and "take a look at everything.''
Well, they did take a look at everything. Film-wise, of course. Which is pretty much what the team does after every game, win or lose. This is not to say Thibodeau didn't spent a considerable time after Tuesday's practice talking about the need to play better defense. But he wasn't talking about big changes, only better execution.
"The important thing is to lock into what's important,'' he said. "You can't get lose in what happened before, or what's down the road. You have to lock into what you have to do that day. You can see what went wrong. Where and why it went wrong. The challenge is to make corrections so you can improve.''
The defensive lapses came fast and furious Monday. Utah's shooting percentage rose as the game progressed until the team shot 65 percent in the fourth quarter. The Wolves, down five entering the fourth, rallied to take a short-lived one-point lead on Tyus Jones' three-pointer with 7:47 left. Utah responded with an 11-0 run to take control for good.
Thibodeau counted 13 blow-bys – where a Jazz player was able to drive right to the hoop for a basket – in the second half.
So once again the Wolves watched the film, saw the mistakes, talked about them in a walk-through trying to make corrections, then practiced.
"We came back in the second half, had the lead in the fourth quarter," Thibodeau said. "Then we didn't do the things that are necessary to win. So it's getting a pick and roll, walking out a man. It's passing up a good shot to get a great shot, sprinting back every time.''
