Around the league thread

[Wolvesfan21]

Yeah, I gotta believe organizational culture and leadership, starting with ownership and down into both the business and basketball operations have some impact on team performance. Clearly, how talented and skilled your players are is by far the #1 factor, but I do wonder if overall organizational culture is roughly equivalent to coaching in terms of importance - and may be even more so since presumably the culture that permeates the rest of the organization would affect coaches too.

GSW made the playoffs 1 time in 15 years before they got Klay and Steph. That's Wolves bad.

The Clippers were a complete joke until they acquired Paul to go along with Blake and Jordan. They made the playoffs 1 time in 14 seasons, utterly terrible. ESPN always made fun of them. Oh at least we are not the Clippers. lol

What turned them around? Great players. That's all it boils down to. Could we have those pieces on the roster? I'm not sure I can answer that either way right now with any conviction. I'm optimistic but skeptical as well.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Julius Randle is currently averaging:
23.2 points,
10.9 rebs,
5.5 assists

Per @bball_ref,
Only five other players in NBA history have matched or exceeded those averages over the first 30 games of a season:

Oscar in 1962
Wilt in 1967
Kareem in 1979
KG in 2005
Giannis in 2019

Firstly, that's awesome for Julius Randle. That's elite company. Secondly, there's absolutely no reason why Karl-Anthony Towns shouldn't be on this list. He has that kind of skill set. All it takes is being featured on offense and we can't even get that right.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Julius Randle is currently averaging:
23.2 points,
10.9 rebs,
5.5 assists

Per @bball_ref,
Only five other players in NBA history have matched or exceeded those averages over the first 30 games of a season:

Oscar in 1962
Wilt in 1967
Kareem in 1979
KG in 2005
Giannis in 2019

Firstly, that's awesome for Julius Randle. That's elite company. Secondly, there's absolutely no reason why Karl-Anthony Towns shouldn't be on this list. He has that kind of skill set. All it takes is being featured on offense and we can't even get that right.

Whew. Good thing Jokic (27.4 / 11.1 / 8.6) has only played 28 games so far... ahem...

Or, that the parameters were 23.2 ppg and not 11.6 reb or 5.7 asts... or else Sabonis (21.5 / 11.6 / 5.7 ) would have made a really "historical" list and not Randle.

This isn't to knock Randle or what he's doing... I just chuckle about the hoops the media jumps through to create historical importance/significance to things to try to quantify them or make them more "newsworthy."

[thedoper]

Wait a second!! Are we trying to imply that our owner may be part of the problem with this team? Its really too bad there arent mechanisms to punish ineptitude by ownership. Its bad for the league. Its really too bad someone cant get Taylor on tape doing or saying something reprehensible. I cant see anything really changing until Taylor gets his corrupted mitts off of this franchise. Taylor gave Thibs both positions which was a huge organizational mistake. Taylor publicly lobbied for Ryan as well, giving Rosas the green light to make another organizational mistake. The few fans that are left of this team are in for more heartbreak.

Anyone going to read KG's book that comes out on the 23rd? Im certainly interested to hear his Wolves insights.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Wait a second!! Are we trying to imply that our owner may be part of the problem with this team? Its really too bad there arent mechanisms to punish ineptitude by ownership. Its bad for the league. Its really too bad someone cant get Taylor on tape doing or saying something reprehensible. I cant see anything really changing until Taylor gets his corrupted mitts off of this franchise. Taylor gave Thibs both positions which was a huge organizational mistake. Taylor publicly lobbied for Ryan as well, giving Rosas the green light to make another organizational mistake. The few fans that are left of this team are in for more heartbreak.

Anyone going to read KG's book that comes out on the 23rd? Im certainly interested to hear his Wolves insights.

Absolutely not. I find celebrity/politician/athlete/Celebrity CEO books that they write (mostly about themselves) to be self-indulgent and largely for financial and reputational gain. It's a pet peeve of mine.

[thedoper]

Wait a second!! Are we trying to imply that our owner may be part of the problem with this team? Its really too bad there arent mechanisms to punish ineptitude by ownership. Its bad for the league. Its really too bad someone cant get Taylor on tape doing or saying something reprehensible. I cant see anything really changing until Taylor gets his corrupted mitts off of this franchise. Taylor gave Thibs both positions which was a huge organizational mistake. Taylor publicly lobbied for Ryan as well, giving Rosas the green light to make another organizational mistake. The few fans that are left of this team are in for more heartbreak.

Anyone going to read KG's book that comes out on the 23rd? Im certainly interested to hear his Wolves insights.

Absolutely not. I find celebrity/politician/athlete/Celebrity CEO books that they write (mostly about themselves) to be self-indulgent and largely for financial and reputational gain. It's a pet peeve of mine.

Yeah usually I feel the same way. But I'm a fan and it clouds my judgement. I read lots of music biographies as a result. But no doubt there will be a lot of self-indulgence in this one.

[FNG]

Julius Randle is currently averaging:
23.2 points,
10.9 rebs,
5.5 assists

Per @bball_ref,
Only five other players in NBA history have matched or exceeded those averages over the first 30 games of a season:

Oscar in 1962
Wilt in 1967
Kareem in 1979
KG in 2005
Giannis in 2019

Firstly, that's awesome for Julius Randle. That's elite company. Secondly, there's absolutely no reason why Karl-Anthony Towns shouldn't be on this list. He has that kind of skill set. All it takes is being featured on offense and we can't even get that right.

No question Randle is having a terrific season, and his stats do put him in rare company. And while I agree that there's no reason KAT shouldn't be on that list...in the future, that is... there are two big reasons he shouldn't be on the list this season. First, he's still coming back from a long Covid layoff after a devastating offseason in which he lost several family members. We have no idea how long he was feeling symptoms before he went on leave, or how he feels physically and mentally right now. Secondly and at least as important, he's far from recovered from his wrist injury. Two days ago, he said "I'm still not recovered from it whatsoever". Whatsoever! Center is a grueling position to play in the NBA, and if we can take Karl at his word, he's still in a lot of pain and far from 100%. Personally, I think we should be grateful we're getting 21.8/10.6/3.3 and almost 2 blocks a game from a guy still trying to come back from Covid and a painful wrist injury.

There's a narrative oft-repeated here that Ryan isn't properly using KAT, but I'm not sure I see a big difference between how Ryan is using KAT and how Thibs is using Randle during his best season ever. Julius is averaging a whopping 1.8 shots per game more than KAT. Doesn't seem like a huge difference in shots per game, especially considering Towns isn't healthy. Also, I have a difficult time joining the "Ryan doesn't know how to use KAT" chorus because I've heard the "KAT isn't used enough" mantra with his two previous coaches too (I wasn't here during the Thibs/Mitchell years so I don't know if the same complaints were being voiced here back then...but I sure heard it elsewhere). I note that Ryan is getting KAT more shots per game this year despite his Covid/injury than Thibs got him in his last full season coaching him.

KAT is our best offensive player, so like everyone, I want him to get as many shot attempts as he can. And the fact that Ryan got him 17.8 shots per game just last season when KAT was healthy, there's no question that KAT will be back at that level once he is closer to 100% again.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

FNG, I think if you add up the difference in FGAs, FTAs, and Assists, it's clear that Julius Randle is materially getting more touches and opportunities to take shots and make plays than KAT. You can't just look at FGAs since a lot of possessions end with being fouled or dealing out an assist.

Also, we know that KAT has a bit of a martyr complex. I don't want to be insensitive here, but that complex existed prior to the pandemic and his wrist injury. It's always hard for me to take everything KAT says at 100% face value.

[FNG]

I think those are fair points, Q. My main point is KAT's usage seems to me to be more of a KAT problem than a Ryan problem, because none of the three coaches he has played with have been able to get him enough touches. While this year is likely due to Covid/injury, it's a mystery to me why three different coaches have had limited success in making KAT the center of the offense when he was healthy. I think that we all know that some players have a knack for getting themselves in a position to get the ball, and there seems to be mounting evidence that is not one of KAT's strengths. His failure to roll in the fateful final play of regulation was puzzling to many of us and perhaps evidence of his lack of instinct in this aspect of the game. Perhaps. I'm also open to the possibility that none of Mitchell/Thibs/Saunders had sufficient creativity to feature KAT more, and that there is a coach out there who can do it. Again maybe.

But if I had to guess, I suspect KAT will play for at least one more coach during his career, and that he will never be a volume shooter or a guy who runs the offense in Jokic-like fashion.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I think those are fair points, Q. My main point is KAT's usage seems to me to be more of a KAT problem than a Ryan problem, because none of the three coaches he has played with have been able to get him enough touches. While this year is likely due to Covid/injury, it's a mystery to me why three different coaches have had limited success in making KAT the center of the offense when he was healthy. I think that we all know that some players have a knack for getting themselves in a position to get the ball, and there seems to be mounting evidence that is not one of KAT's strengths. His failure to roll in the fateful final play of regulation was puzzling to many of us and perhaps evidence of his lack of instinct in this aspect of the game. Perhaps. I'm also open to the possibility that none of Mitchell/Thibs/Saunders had sufficient creativity to feature KAT more, and that there is a coach out there who can do it. Again maybe.

But if I had to guess, I suspect KAT will play for at least one more coach during his career, and that he will never be a volume shooter or a guy who runs the offense in Jokic-like fashion.

You may be right that it's a KAT problem to a degree. One way he has never helped himself is his half-ass screen setting. Setting a great screen for a guard is often the surest way to get an open look for yourself, as it tends to force the opposing big to come off coverage in order to contain the ball handler.