Rosa's vision

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

According to Rosa's, the plan is to play 1 pg, 3 wings, and 1 big.

"Robert Covington is a guy that has the most success at the four offensively," said Rosas -- reclassifying how Covington is going to be viewed under this regime -- when he was asked if the roster is now unbalanced. "For us to be able to put a group of wings like we're going to be able to put on the floor at certain points this year gives us a lot of versatility, gives us some shooting. Gives us playmaking. That's how we want to play. For us to be able to execute that vision, we have to be built differently."

More moves are yet to come. Rosas made that clear -- stating he won't be finished tweaking the roster until the season starts, and that this is just step one of that progression. But to asses the roster as it stands today, the assumption should be that the starting lineup will be the same as last season with a simple swap out of Saric for Culver -- Andrew Wiggins and Covington will be sliding up a position to the three and four, respectively.

"For us, positionally, it is a different game. We talked about where we're at in the NBA now. You have four perimeters. Point guard, three wings and a big," said Rosas. "It's just the game is played differently now. We feel like our wings are versatile."

Teague and possibly tyus.
Okogie and Culver, the wings.
Wiggs and cov, have played 2,3, and spot 4 minutes.
Kbd, I think can play some 3 or 4.
Kat and dieng as our bigs.

Then I look at our picks. Ideally, we want a dynamic guy at pg, (which was Garland or even dlo). But, we also need multiple wings with size and versatility. And Culver was the best available if this was the plan. So, I'm starting to believe Rosa's had a 1a and 1b in play for the 6.

Nowell also fits as the pg in this system as another floor spacer, but is strong enough to guard up.

Teague
Culver/okogie
Wiggs
Roco
Kat

Can this work?

Offensively, we could be fun. But defense will be a problem again due to a lack of size and rim protection.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, this could be a big problem defensively. It's also kinda ironic that the team that just won the title started a behemoth of a Center and 6"9 power forward.

[Duke13]

This is definitely the way the league is going. Covington is 6'9, granted a much different build then Pascal. I like the idea of playing Covington at the 4, most team play this way no. Starting lineups may not also look less traditional like this but a lot of minutes are spent with no big on the floor, with all wings and guards playing. To me this is utilizing Kat, putting spacing around him, for this plan to work he needs to be better defensively. I hate the theory that just because we are bad defensively we need to but another big next to Kat. Flawed thinking in my view! Nice vision Rosas!!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

This is definitely the way the league is going. Covington is 6'9, granted a much different build then Pascal. I like the idea of playing Covington at the 4, most team play this way no. Starting lineups may not also look less traditional like this but a lot of minutes are spent with no big on the floor, with all wings and guards playing. To me this is utilizing Kat, putting spacing around him, for this plan to work he needs to be better defensively. I hate the theory that just because we are bad defensively we need to but another big next to Kat. Flawed thinking in my view! Nice vision Rosas!!

No doubt there are plenty of lineup shifts where 3 wings and a PG make sense. But the best teams have the versatility to go big when necessary OR they have a 4 with legit size AND small-ball skills like Draymond Green, LeBron James, Giannis, etc. Covington is none of those.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

This is definitely the way the league is going. Covington is 6'9, granted a much different build then Pascal. I like the idea of playing Covington at the 4, most team play this way no. Starting lineups may not also look less traditional like this but a lot of minutes are spent with no big on the floor, with all wings and guards playing. To me this is utilizing Kat, putting spacing around him, for this plan to work he needs to be better defensively. I hate the theory that just because we are bad defensively we need to but another big next to Kat. Flawed thinking in my view! Nice vision Rosas!!

No doubt there are plenty of lineup shifts where 3 wings and a PG make sense. But the best teams have the versatility to go big when necessary OR they have a 4 with legit size AND small-ball skills like Draymond Green, LeBron James, Giannis, etc. Covington is none of those.

I don't know if cov can be a full time 4, but I do think we have some versatility behind him.

I think kbd, has some of the small ball skills in his repertoire.
Dueng can also match up with bigger pfs that post up when needed.

A guy like Beverley, I think woukd mitigate alot of our issues because I don't think hed get blown up as much on switches in the paint.

If Culver or point wiggs can be more of a facilitator, I think okogie as our Beverley/Marcus smart type pg can make some sense. We would be able to switch everything and would at least be able to bother people. Kind of how the Raptors defend.

[Monster]

This is definitely the way the league is going. Covington is 6'9, granted a much different build then Pascal. I like the idea of playing Covington at the 4, most team play this way no. Starting lineups may not also look less traditional like this but a lot of minutes are spent with no big on the floor, with all wings and guards playing. To me this is utilizing Kat, putting spacing around him, for this plan to work he needs to be better defensively. I hate the theory that just because we are bad defensively we need to but another big next to Kat. Flawed thinking in my view! Nice vision Rosas!!

No doubt there are plenty of lineup shifts where 3 wings and a PG make sense. But the best teams have the versatility to go big when necessary OR they have a 4 with legit size AND small-ball skills like Draymond Green, LeBron James, Giannis, etc. Covington is none of those.

Sure but none of those teams has a Towns. Covington is also a more volume 3 point shooter than all but LeBron. Also the guys you just mentioned are headed toward the hall of game so...yeah. Obviously we need more talent.

The people who liked the idea of Brandon Clarke next to Towns probably should be plenty intrigued by the idea of slotting Covington there instead. I'm also not convinced Rosas is absolutely planning on plugging in Covington as the 4. KBD fits there also and i'd Like to bring back Deng to play some minutes there if that's the route they want to go. He could play a role similar to what Jared Dudley did last year (playing less but be a smart vet guy) for the Nets and should be vet min cheap.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

This is definitely the way the league is going. Covington is 6'9, granted a much different build then Pascal. I like the idea of playing Covington at the 4, most team play this way no. Starting lineups may not also look less traditional like this but a lot of minutes are spent with no big on the floor, with all wings and guards playing. To me this is utilizing Kat, putting spacing around him, for this plan to work he needs to be better defensively. I hate the theory that just because we are bad defensively we need to but another big next to Kat. Flawed thinking in my view! Nice vision Rosas!!

No doubt there are plenty of lineup shifts where 3 wings and a PG make sense. But the best teams have the versatility to go big when necessary OR they have a 4 with legit size AND small-ball skills like Draymond Green, LeBron James, Giannis, etc. Covington is none of those.

Sure but none of those teams has a TownsSure but none of those teams has a Towns. Covington is also a more volume 3 point shooter than all but LeBron. Also the guys you just mentioned are headed toward the hall of game so...yeah. Obviously we need more talent.

The people who liked the idea of Brandon Clarke next to Towns probably should be plenty intrigued by the idea of slotting Covington there instead. I'm also not convinced Rosas is absolutely planning on plugging in Covington as the 4. KBD fits there also and i'd Like to bring back Deng to play some minutes there if that's the route they want to go. He could play a role similar to what Jared Dudley did last year (playing less but be a smart vet guy) for the Nets and should be vet min cheap.

....but that's my point. KAT has yet to demonstrate he can anchor the paint defensively. If he could, by all means, start Covington at the 4.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

This is definitely the way the league is going. Covington is 6'9, granted a much different build then Pascal. I like the idea of playing Covington at the 4, most team play this way no. Starting lineups may not also look less traditional like this but a lot of minutes are spent with no big on the floor, with all wings and guards playing. To me this is utilizing Kat, putting spacing around him, for this plan to work he needs to be better defensively. I hate the theory that just because we are bad defensively we need to but another big next to Kat. Flawed thinking in my view! Nice vision Rosas!!

No doubt there are plenty of lineup shifts where 3 wings and a PG make sense. But the best teams have the versatility to go big when necessary OR they have a 4 with legit size AND small-ball skills like Draymond Green, LeBron James, Giannis, etc. Covington is none of those.

I don't know if cov can be a full time 4, but I do think we have some versatility behind him.

I think kbd, has some of the small ball skills in his repertoire.
Dueng can also match up with bigger pfs that post up when needed.

A guy like Beverley, I think woukd mitigate alot of our issues because I don't think hed get blown up as much on switches in the paint.

If Culver or point wiggs can be more of a facilitator, I think okogie as our Beverley/Marcus smart type pg can make some sense. We would be able to switch everything and would at least be able to bother people. Kind of how the Raptors defend.

KBD is still just an "in theory...." type player. The reality is he's done nothing in this league.

Beverley would be fantastic for this team. Would love to have him in the fox hole as long as he doesn't go all Butler on the young'uns.

[Monster]

This is definitely the way the league is going. Covington is 6'9, granted a much different build then Pascal. I like the idea of playing Covington at the 4, most team play this way no. Starting lineups may not also look less traditional like this but a lot of minutes are spent with no big on the floor, with all wings and guards playing. To me this is utilizing Kat, putting spacing around him, for this plan to work he needs to be better defensively. I hate the theory that just because we are bad defensively we need to but another big next to Kat. Flawed thinking in my view! Nice vision Rosas!!

No doubt there are plenty of lineup shifts where 3 wings and a PG make sense. But the best teams have the versatility to go big when necessary OR they have a 4 with legit size AND small-ball skills like Draymond Green, LeBron James, Giannis, etc. Covington is none of those.

Sure but none of those teams has a TownsSure but none of those teams has a Towns. Covington is also a more volume 3 point shooter than all but LeBron. Also the guys you just mentioned are headed toward the hall of game so...yeah. Obviously we need more talent.

The people who liked the idea of Brandon Clarke next to Towns probably should be plenty intrigued by the idea of slotting Covington there instead. I'm also not convinced Rosas is absolutely planning on plugging in Covington as the 4. KBD fits there also and i'd Like to bring back Deng to play some minutes there if that's the route they want to go. He could play a role similar to what Jared Dudley did last year (playing less but be a smart vet guy) for the Nets and should be vet min cheap.

....but that's my point. KAT has yet to demonstrate he can anchor the paint defensively. If he could, by all means, start Covington at the 4.

So what are the Wolves supposed to do between now and when they add a DPOY or HOF to play next to Towns? I'm not even married to the idea of Covington (who happened to be a guy that if healthy might be in the DPOY conversation) playing the 4.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

This is definitely the way the league is going. Covington is 6'9, granted a much different build then Pascal. I like the idea of playing Covington at the 4, most team play this way no. Starting lineups may not also look less traditional like this but a lot of minutes are spent with no big on the floor, with all wings and guards playing. To me this is utilizing Kat, putting spacing around him, for this plan to work he needs to be better defensively. I hate the theory that just because we are bad defensively we need to but another big next to Kat. Flawed thinking in my view! Nice vision Rosas!!

No doubt there are plenty of lineup shifts where 3 wings and a PG make sense. But the best teams have the versatility to go big when necessary OR they have a 4 with legit size AND small-ball skills like Draymond Green, LeBron James, Giannis, etc. Covington is none of those.

Sure but none of those teams has a TownsSure but none of those teams has a Towns. Covington is also a more volume 3 point shooter than all but LeBron. Also the guys you just mentioned are headed toward the hall of game so...yeah. Obviously we need more talent.

The people who liked the idea of Brandon Clarke next to Towns probably should be plenty intrigued by the idea of slotting Covington there instead. I'm also not convinced Rosas is absolutely planning on plugging in Covington as the 4. KBD fits there also and i'd Like to bring back Deng to play some minutes there if that's the route they want to go. He could play a role similar to what Jared Dudley did last year (playing less but be a smart vet guy) for the Nets and should be vet min cheap.

....but that's my point. KAT has yet to demonstrate he can anchor the paint defensively. If he could, by all means, start Covington at the 4.

So what are the Wolves supposed to do between now and when they add a DPOY or HOF to play next to Towns? I'm not even married to the idea of Covington (who happened to be a guy that if healthy might be in the DPOY conversation) playing the 4.

They could go get a relatively cheap veteran big man that can actually defend the paint and rebound at a high level, like Ed Davis or Dewayne Dedmond and start him next to KAT. That means KAT can avoid early foul trouble by having someone next to him doing the dirty work in the paint while he saves himself for offense and late game defensive effort. You basically play these guys at the start of each half for an 8-10 minute stint and that's pretty much it, unless matchups dictate otherwise.