monsterpile wrote:I watched it earlier this evening.
Beverly is awesome.
The end they have a picture of everyone and it was interesting way to gauge how tall Bolmaro is.
Finch isn't particularly good at smiling and looking comfortable for pictures. He can use some mentoring from Rosas in that regard. Lol
Monster - I had the same reaction to Beverley. He really is a culture changer. I was also really impressed by Finch. He has a great commanding presence and is obviously really smart. I like what he said about Vanderbilt playing hard when the Wolves were down by 20 and that he earned a starting role.
I see Finch, Elston Turner and Patrick Beverley creating a culture of accountability we haven't had here in a long time. I like that we've accumulated a number of players now who are relentless, high-energy competitive guys - namely Beverley, Vanderbilt, Bolmaro, and lest we forget, Beasley. I know Beasley isn't a good defender. But he's a highly competitive, high motor player who can help foster the development of a more competitive culture. I think KAT is highly competitive; he just needs to show more maturity and smarts on the court. I don't know if DLO fits well with a culture of accountability and intense competitiveness. We'll see.
60WinTim wrote:I know many of you are trying to be conservative. But with the changes made and the FO gushing about culture, etc., it will be pretty disappointing, if not an abject failure, if the Wolves do not make the playoffs this year...
Now we're talking. Let's play!
I see the opTIMists are coming out of the woodwork! Good to see you guys are waking up from your slumber.
I'm somewhere between FNG's defeatist attitude heading into this season and the bubbly optimism we're starting to see percolate here. The reality is, this team was barely a .500-ish squad with most of its existing roster healthy and playing in the final third of last season. And a lot of those games were against beaten down/tanking teams. And for all of Finch's accomplishments in unlocking a pretty potent offense, he did absolutely nothing to influence our defensive woes.
And I'll add, Q, that describing my forecast of a 50% increase in wins (largest in the league) as a "defeatist attitude" may be the most T-Wolfian comment ever! When you're a Wolves fan (which we all are here) we can find any tree limb of hope to cling to in the torrential flood of losses!
Let's keep in mind that the Wolves will play 10 more games next season. So I think the 50% increase in wins needs to be extrapolated to a full 82-game schedule. By my calculation, that would mean 39 wins (39-43). My prediction is 43-39, which should be enough to make the playoffs. So the Wolves only need to scratch out 4 more wins than FNG is predicting. How's that for positive spin? :)
60WinTim wrote:I know many of you are trying to be conservative. But with the changes made and the FO gushing about culture, etc., it will be pretty disappointing, if not an abject failure, if the Wolves do not make the playoffs this year...
Now we're talking. Let's play!
I see the opTIMists are coming out of the woodwork! Good to see you guys are waking up from your slumber.
I'm somewhere between FNG's defeatist attitude heading into this season and the bubbly optimism we're starting to see percolate here. The reality is, this team was barely a .500-ish squad with most of its existing roster healthy and playing in the final third of last season. And a lot of those games were against beaten down/tanking teams. And for all of Finch's accomplishments in unlocking a pretty potent offense, he did absolutely nothing to influence our defensive woes.
And I'll add, Q, that describing my forecast of a 50% increase in wins (largest in the league) as a "defeatist attitude" may be the most T-Wolfian comment ever! When you're a Wolves fan (which we all are here) we can find any tree limb of hope to cling to in the torrential flood of losses!
Let's keep in mind that the Wolves will play 10 more games next season. So I think the 50% increase in wins needs to be extrapolated to a full 82-game schedule. By my calculation, that would mean 39 wins (39-43). My prediction is 43-39, which should be enough to make the playoffs. So the Wolves only need to scratch out 4 more wins than FNG is predicting. How's that for positive spin? :)
https://vimeo.com/65921206
Lol. I love that skit!!! I'd forgotten about that one, but i remember loving it back in the day. It's just as fresh and hilarious today.
It's so funny that Chevy Chase played Ford straight without even attempting to actually replicate how he looked like or his speech. Yet hilarious nonetheless!
When Vando was on the floor with DLO, Ant, and KAT last season:
- 92 minutes over 11 games
- ORtg of 121.8
- DRtg of 102.5
- Net Rating of +19.3
For what it's worth, there were only three games and 23 minutes where all five of Ant, Vando, DLO, KAT and McDaniels were on the floor together (including that last Dallas game that Tim alludes to):
- ORtg of 166.7
- DRtg of 129.8
- Net Rating of +36.9
Obviously neither of these samples are very large. So let's just look at Vando by himself:
- 64 games played
- Ortg of 108.1 (7th best on the team)
- Drtg of 109.2 (4th best on the team)
- Net rating of -1.1 (2nd best on the team after KAT)
Bottom line....he should be starting. I'm leery of him playing heavy minutes, as I think that takes away from his primary strength (all out hustle), so I view him more as a bench player that is a token starter, averaging ~ 20MPG on most nights.
monsterpile wrote:I watched it earlier this evening.
Beverly is awesome.
The end they have a picture of everyone and it was interesting way to gauge how tall Bolmaro is.
Finch isn't particularly good at smiling and looking comfortable for pictures. He can use some mentoring from Rosas in that regard. Lol
Monster - I had the same reaction to Beverley. He really is a culture changer. I was also really impressed by Finch. He has a great commanding presence and is obviously really smart. I like what he said about Vanderbilt playing hard when the Wolves were down by 20 and that he earned a starting role.
I see Finch, Elston Turner and Patrick Beverley creating a culture of accountability we haven't had here in a long time. I like that we've accumulated a number of players now who are relentless, high-energy competitive guys - namely Beverley, Vanderbilt, Bolmaro, and lest we forget, Beasley. I know Beasley isn't a good defender. But he's a highly competitive, high motor player who can help foster the development of a more competitive culture. I think KAT is highly competitive; he just needs to show more maturity and smarts on the court. I don't know if DLO fits well with a culture of accountability and intense competitiveness. We'll see.
Lip I can't remember have you seen some of the clips of Turner's media availability talking about defense? Most of it were some of the quotes I believe you posted but he wasn't really sugar coating anything but he was also just looking for some basics. I said when Blair left it may end up being sort of a good thing. Turner might be that experienced guy I thought might benefit this coaching staff.
It's kinda weird but I honestly forgot that Finch was on McHale's coaching staff for the whole time McHale was there and stayed when JB Bickerstaff was the interim. It makes sense now why I get the sense he is a bit like McHale then I'm looking to play towards player strengths. Which reminds me of another interesting thing from the Metta a world peace video he talked about how When he was with the Pacers Larry Bird was there all the time when he was the GM working with players etc. it really is a different time now. McHale was the same way when he was a GM he was working directly with players daily. I think players who are the top guys in an organization might still be able to do that to some extent but they have to have other people who are executives. I wonder if Ainge in Boston worked closely with players. I wonder what Brad Stevens role is like.
I believe Finch is one guy that has said Russell has a very high BBIQ. Brit Robison who is not a fan of guys that score and play no D has basically said he thinks Russell is highly intelligent but as a person and about the game. He has said he thinks Russell sometimes tells you what you may want to hear but he thinks at those times Russell is doing it in a very calculated way. Brit is sort of an amusing curmudgeonly guy but for him to get impressed about things sometimes is a challenge so I find when he says stuff like that about Russell interesting. Then you have what Metta World Peace said about Russell when he was playing him one on one when they were with the Lakers...
The Wolves also added Knight and Wright a couple guys that play with energy and Wright especially seems like he has a ton of dog in him. Finch said Bolmaro is not afraid McLaughlin never gets rattled. This is still a young team and not one I would consider tough in any way but I think there are some steps in the right direction there.
Q12543 wrote:When Vando was on the floor with DLO, Ant, and KAT last season:
- 92 minutes over 11 games
- ORtg of 121.8
- DRtg of 102.5
- Net Rating of +19.3
For what it's worth, there were only three games and 23 minutes where all five of Ant, Vando, DLO, KAT and McDaniels were on the floor together (including that last Dallas game that Tim alludes to):
- ORtg of 166.7
- DRtg of 129.8
- Net Rating of +36.9
Obviously neither of these samples are very large. So let's just look at Vando by himself:
- 64 games played
- Ortg of 108.1 (7th best on the team)
- Drtg of 109.2 (4th best on the team)
- Net rating of -1.1 (2nd best on the team after KAT)
Bottom line....he should be starting. I'm leery of him playing heavy minutes, as I think that takes away from his primary strength (all out hustle), so I view him more as a bench player that is a token starter, averaging ~ 20MPG on most nights.
Great information, Q, and quite persuasive...I'm in agreement.
Q12543 wrote:When Vando was on the floor with DLO, Ant, and KAT last season:
- 92 minutes over 11 games
- ORtg of 121.8
- DRtg of 102.5
- Net Rating of +19.3
For what it's worth, there were only three games and 23 minutes where all five of Ant, Vando, DLO, KAT and McDaniels were on the floor together (including that last Dallas game that Tim alludes to):
- ORtg of 166.7
- DRtg of 129.8
- Net Rating of +36.9
Obviously neither of these samples are very large. So let's just look at Vando by himself:
- 64 games played
- Ortg of 108.1 (7th best on the team)
- Drtg of 109.2 (4th best on the team)
- Net rating of -1.1 (2nd best on the team after KAT)
Bottom line....he should be starting. I'm leery of him playing heavy minutes, as I think that takes away from his primary strength (all out hustle), so I view him more as a bench player that is a token starter, averaging ~ 20MPG on most nights.
Great information, Q, and quite persuasive...I'm in agreement.
Q I think you might be right about Vando not playing big time minutes but I would hope he could be productive in more like 25mpg than only 20. If this season he is only playing 20mpg that makes me thing he isn't playing partially well when the Wolves don't exactly have another compelling option at the moment in terms of regular minutes other than playing Reid With Towns. I think one other factor is that playing him a few less minutes might be good since he did have all those injuries in the past.
Q12543 wrote:When Vando was on the floor with DLO, Ant, and KAT last season:
- 92 minutes over 11 games
- ORtg of 121.8
- DRtg of 102.5
- Net Rating of +19.3
For what it's worth, there were only three games and 23 minutes where all five of Ant, Vando, DLO, KAT and McDaniels were on the floor together (including that last Dallas game that Tim alludes to):
- ORtg of 166.7
- DRtg of 129.8
- Net Rating of +36.9
Obviously neither of these samples are very large. So let's just look at Vando by himself:
- 64 games played
- Ortg of 108.1 (7th best on the team)
- Drtg of 109.2 (4th best on the team)
- Net rating of -1.1 (2nd best on the team after KAT)
Bottom line....he should be starting. I'm leery of him playing heavy minutes, as I think that takes away from his primary strength (all out hustle), so I view him more as a bench player that is a token starter, averaging ~ 20MPG on most nights.
Thanks for posting the info, Q. No doubt these were among the win-driving metrics Finch was alluding to in reference to Vando. I'm not prepared to concede that Vando's minutes should be strictly limited to something like 20 per game. There have been super high-energy players in the past who played major starter minutes. Dennis Rodman is a good example. I'd put Gary Payton and Michael Jordan in that category as well. I can see Vando starting and playing between 25-30 minutes per game without losing his energy or his edge. I think Monster makes a good point, however, about limiting Vando's minutes in light of his injury history.
