Duke13 wrote: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.
So basically a kg and a prince to surround kat and wiggs. We have our prince in cov, so our kg is....deng?
I mean that team with a young wiggs and kat were pretty good defensively.
Duke13 wrote: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.
Q12543 wrote: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.
Covington and Siakam are nearly identical in terms of length, weight and size. Their defensive rebounding skills are pretty close and Covington is actually better shot blocker than Siakam. So even though Siakam plays much closer to basket, their ability to defend bigs is not much different.
Q12543 wrote: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.
Covington and Siakam are nearly identical in terms of length, weight and size. Their defensive rebounding skills are pretty close and Covington is actually better shot blocker than Siakam. So even though Siakam plays much closer to basket, their ability to defend bigs is not much different.
Mmmm, not sure where you are getting your numbers. At the combine, Siakam beat Covington in height, wingspan, and standing reach by a couple inches and weighed 15 lbs more. The other thing about Siakam is on the offensive side he can actually exploit a mis-match where Covington is simply a stretch 3 or 4 who has a pretty limited offensive arsenal.
...by the way, I love Covington on this squad. I just don't see any inherent advantage of putting him at the 4 vs. the 3 other than lack of other options (which is actually the case right now after the Saric trade).
Q12543 wrote:...by the way, I love Covington on this squad. I just don't see any inherent advantage of putting him at the 4 vs. the 3 other than lack of other options (which is actually the case right now after the Saric trade).
It's probably worth seeing what it would take to retain Gibson after all other homerun type swings have been taken. Make no mistake about it, we will miss what he brings next year.
Q12543 wrote:...by the way, I love Covington on this squad. I just don't see any inherent advantage of putting him at the 4 vs. the 3 other than lack of other options (which is actually the case right now after the Saric trade).
It's probably worth seeing what it would take to retain Gibson after all other homerun type swings have been taken. Make no mistake about it, we will miss what he brings next year.
I've been wondering for weeks what kind of money he is going to get. Would you pick Deng or Gibson or if the price is right both? I'd take both for the right price but I also want young guys to have opportunities both for guys on the roster and a guy we might sign in a few weeks.
Q12543 wrote:...by the way, I love Covington on this squad. I just don't see any inherent advantage of putting him at the 4 vs. the 3 other than lack of other options (which is actually the case right now after the Saric trade).
It's probably worth seeing what it would take to retain Gibson after all other homerun type swings have been taken. Make no mistake about it, we will miss what he brings next year.
I've been wondering for weeks what kind of money he is going to get. Would you pick Deng or Gibson or if the price is right both? I'd take both for the right price but I also want young guys to have opportunities both for guys on the roster and a guy we might sign in a few weeks.
Assuming Gibson wants to return to Minnesota and would do so on a reasonable deal, I would prioritize him after pursuing Russell. I think he's the type of player and leader you don't let walk away if you have the means to keep him. Additionally, we have a need for what he brings. He'd easily be our second best big on the roster and I think he'd continue to be a good mentor for Towns (and also Reid if he proves capable of sticking around).
I would offer him two years at $12M total and hope he accepted. In my mind, he'd start next to Towns to begin games, but would primarily be Towns' replacement at the center spot when he's getting a breather also allowing more time for Covington to play the stretch-four spot that Rosas has a vision of.
I agree with Q about not playing Cov at the 4. Seems like we are taking away his greatest advantage, and begging teams to post him up. Cov like most of our team doesn't have a really strong base to move to the 4.
My biggest concern with the team overall is with Saunders. Hopefully having more wings will allow him to cut Wig's minutes considerably. It is the only thing this team hasn't tried with Wig. Wig's was completely defiant when Saunders instituted his silly practice game scoring techniques, stating that he would still take the long twos when he felt comfortable. If Culver or Okogie look up to it, I would pull Wig out of the starting lineup the first time he goes against our offensive plan.
I am also on board with Cam on re-signing Taj. I thought he was the best move THibs made while in charge.
I don't want Cov as our full time 4 but he did play 1214 possessions playing the 4 in his last year with the Sixers what came to 23% of his total possessions were at the 4
