Wolves vs. the Wounded Warriors

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I thought I'd ask the following questions here yet again and see if I get different answers this time.

1. Why doesn't this team rely more on pick-and-roll action?

2. Who should we blame for that negligence given the personnel on the roster?

3. What needs to happen for that change to take place?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Trading Rudy - I guess you can try and outscore everyone and play no defense or rebound but you really got zero chance to be a contender doing that. Might be sort of fun to watch. KAT is better then Naz when it comes to defense and rebounding but he's actually pretty poor on defense himself (Naz is beyond terrible). I have a hard time having both my centers be one way players (only on offense).

Karl-Anthony Towns is not a poor defender. I would consider that narrative outdated. He's a satisfactory or league average defender given a scheme that actually accounts for his strengths and weaknesses. He especially deserves credit for last year's defensive improvement.

[Monster]

A win would have been a nice steal for playoff positioning, but I'm not going to take much from a game where literally half of the starting lineups of both teams including 4 max players (plus a $25 million guy) were missing, plus some key reserves! It had all the makings of a preseason game in that regard, so I didn't take the time to watch it. Still, with so many reserves forced to play big minutes, this was a tossup game like any preseason game that we had to steal to improve our playoff chances, and we didn't.

Box score comments:
1)Nice to see such a big offensive game from Naz, but the Warriors' 16 (!) offensive rebounds and 13 more rebounds in total tells us about our squad's rebounding problems when both Rudy and KAT are out.

2) Austin Rivers can't be putting the ball up 12 times in a game when he only makes two of them...he's just not an adequate NBA offensive player, and simply can't be that much focus on offense.

3)We're not going to win many games when Ant makes only 5 out of 19 shots, and has only 1 free throw and 5 turnovers...that's a bad game by anyone's standard.

On to the next one, I guess...

Overall another poor showing by Rivers in this game although he did some good things. What was maybe the worst was missing all his FTs. He actually only took 8 shots.

NAW took 12 shots which wasn't good but also at times it seemed like Edwards really wasn't doing much of anything.

Meanwhile offensively I thought McLaughlin didn't help much at all. His hustle and some good things on D were helpful but they need more out of him.

The wolves had 16 turnovers. At times it felt like they have like 25. Some were just terrible. Edwards had a couple of those where I was like what the hell is he doing out there.

The Wolves didn't exactly play great but Klay Thompson my goodness he won this game. That corner 3 that he hit later in the game that for most players would be a prayer was killer. Still through the Wolves had a shot to win the game or maybe force OT but they simply weren't good enough.

These last 2 games haven't been too good. It's 2 games which isn't nothing but it's the NBA sometimes these things can turn around quickly. I'm not exactly feeling optimistic but I'm also not giving up on the season. This was a game the Wolves could have won but didn't. If they want to even be a play in team they will probably have to make up for it with a surprise win or 2.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I thought I'd ask the following questions here yet again and see if I get different answers this time.

1. Why doesn't this team rely more on pick-and-roll action?

2. Who should we blame for that negligence given the personnel on the roster?

3. What needs to happen for that change to take place?

Not the worst questions.

And for me... this still goes back to Tim Connelly.

If Finch simply isn't going to be a PnR coach... then he'll be replaced by Connelly's choice who is a PnR coach. And it will be justified if Finch simply refused to accommodate the new player(s). But that would simply make me even more frustrated by the Gobert trade... and waste at least one season in what was already an overpay for Gobert.

Connelly is the one who turned over the proverbial apple cart, not the players who were playing an entirely different way or even the coach who was making progress and having success coaching his preferred style.

Maybe it'll all work out in the end. But nearing one season in... it's looking more like one of the worse trades in recent NBA history than a successful trade to push the Timberwolves forward.

[AbeVigodaLive]

A win would have been a nice steal for playoff positioning, but I'm not going to take much from a game where literally half of the starting lineups of both teams including 4 max players (plus a $25 million guy) were missing, plus some key reserves! It had all the makings of a preseason game in that regard, so I didn't take the time to watch it. Still, with so many reserves forced to play big minutes, this was a tossup game like any preseason game that we had to steal to improve our playoff chances, and we didn't.

Box score comments:
1)Nice to see such a big offensive game from Naz, but the Warriors' 16 (!) offensive rebounds and 13 more rebounds in total tells us about our squad's rebounding problems when both Rudy and KAT are out.

2) Austin Rivers can't be putting the ball up 12 times in a game when he only makes two of them...he's just not an adequate NBA offensive player, and simply can't be that much focus on offense.

3)We're not going to win many games when Ant makes only 5 out of 19 shots, and has only 1 free throw and 5 turnovers...that's a bad game by anyone's standard.

On to the next one, I guess...

If they want to even be a play in team they will probably have to make up for it with a surprise win or 2.

With 13 of the final 20 on the road... and most vs. decent to good teams... the Wolves might need about 5 surprise wins while also not squandering 4th quarter leads and games vs. teams they're expected to beat.

[Lipoli390]

I thought I'd ask the following questions here yet again and see if I get different answers this time.

1. Why doesn't this team rely more on pick-and-roll action?

2. Who should we blame for that negligence given the personnel on the roster?

3. What needs to happen for that change to take place?

Not the worst questions.

And for me... this still goes back to Tim Connelly.

If Finch simply isn't going to be a PnR coach... then he'll be replaced by Connelly's choice who is a PnR coach. And it will be justified if Finch simply refused to accommodate the new player(s). But that would simply make me even more frustrated by the Gobert trade... and waste at least one season in what was already an overpay for Gobert.

Connelly is the one who turned over the proverbial apple cart, not the players who were playing an entirely different way or even the coach who was making progress and having success coaching his preferred style.

Maybe it'll all work out in the end. But nearing one season in... it's looking more like one of the worse trades in recent NBA history than a successful trade to push the Timberwolves forward.

You observation is spot on and obvious to anyone who isn't obsessed with believing in the Gobert deal.

[Monster]

I thought I'd ask the following questions here yet again and see if I get different answers this time.

1. Why doesn't this team rely more on pick-and-roll action?

2. Who should we blame for that negligence given the personnel on the roster?

3. What needs to happen for that change to take place?

Not the worst questions.

And for me... this still goes back to Tim Connelly.

If Finch simply isn't going to be a PnR coach... then he'll be replaced by Connelly's choice who is a PnR coach. And it will be justified if Finch simply refused to accommodate the new player(s). But that would simply make me even more frustrated by the Gobert trade... and waste at least one season in what was already an overpay for Gobert.

Connelly is the one who turned over the proverbial apple cart, not the players who were playing an entirely different way or even the coach who was making progress and having success coaching his preferred style.

Maybe it'll all work out in the end. But nearing one season in... it's looking more like one of the worse trades in recent NBA history than a successful trade to push the Timberwolves forward.

You observation is spot on and obvious to anyone who isn't obsessed with believing in the Gobert deal.

I actually think Finch thought he could do more on offense with Gobert than Gobert was/is capable of. That's a miscalculation for Finch and the front office. That's probably only a piece of everything to consider. I was a little optimistic about the additional stuff Gobert could do but wasn't all in on that. I figured worst case scenario he just becomes a way more effective tim running lob threat. Turns out that was a little more complicated than I was expecting too.

I'll mention here that Towns isn't a good pick and roll player. Overall it feels like that is something the NBA doesn't do much of anymore. Maybe I'm wrong on that as I don't watch many games outside the Wolves.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I'll mention here that Towns isn't a good pick and roll player. Overall it feels like that is something the NBA doesn't do much of anymore. Maybe I'm wrong on that as I don't watch many games outside the Wolves.

We've been over this before, but Karl-Anthony Towns is actually a really good pick-and-roll player. What he lacks in screen-setting he makes up for with mobility, finesse, and touch on the dive that most bigs don't possess. He averages 1.20 PPP on that playtype, which is well above average. The frequency has typically been a bit underwhelming, but I still contend that is largely a coaching issue.

[Lipoli390]

I'll mention here that Towns isn't a good pick and roll player. Overall it feels like that is something the NBA doesn't do much of anymore. Maybe I'm wrong on that as I don't watch many games outside the Wolves.

We've been over this before, but Karl-Anthony Towns is actually a really good pick-and-roll player. What he lacks in screen-setting he makes up for with mobility, finesse, and touch on the dive that most bigs don't possess. He averages 1.20 PPP on that playtype, which is well above average. The frequency has typically been a bit underwhelming, but I still contend that is largely a coaching issue.

I had the same opinion as Monster until I ready your post, Cam. I see the distinction. We all know KAT's a poor screener, but you're right that he's a good scorer on the P&R. He has terrific hands, footwork, quickness and coordination. There are really no holes in KAT's offensive game other than his deficiency as a screener.