GDT: Kings vs. Wolves

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FNG
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Re: GDT: Kings vs. Wolves

Post by FNG »

Lip, I agree that J-Mac has a very good game. He consistently works hard, and his quickness and activity helps him overcome his size deficiency on defense. And his willingness to push the pace fits Finch's fast pace preference. I felt that DLO handled the ball too much during the Saunders era, even when he was on the court with Ricky or JMac, and his slow, probing style almost felt like a return to the Teague era...albeit with more scoring punch. It was only one game and perhaps the absence of Beasley/Nowell forced Finch to play DLO at SG, but it certainly seemed that Finch was directing DLO to play off the ball. It's almost like Finch said "We have two good facilitating PGs...keep cutting and moving, and they (or KAT) will get you the ball". Good to see.

One other thing I didn't mention in my game report because it was probably even more evident to those watching on TV, the Holmes/Whiteside combo is really intimidating on defense. I almost gave Ant a break for once for relying on his 3-point shot rather than attacking...those two guys are big, mean and scary inside! I know Culver is far from being Ant, but we all saw what happened when he made the poor choice to go inside. KAT showed off his toughness again by giving us 36 minutes against those two monsters.
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AbeVigodaLive
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Re: GDT: Kings vs. Wolves

Post by AbeVigodaLive »

lipoli390 wrote:

I'd like to see the Wolves move Ricky this off season and give JMac a real contract. He's much quicker than Ricky. And unlike Ricky, he can shoot. He can finish layups and even dunk and he can hit perimeter shots. When JMac shoots you expect it to go in. When Ricky shoots, you expect the opposite. Probably the best game the Wolves have played since acquiring DLO was last season's game in Miami. I recall that JMac and DLO had a lot of time together on the court and it worked. JMac did most of the ball-handling while DLO played mostly off the ball. But when DLO was the lead guard, JMac was a guy who could get buckets. So I'm all in on having DLO as a second PG on the floor, playing primarily off the ball. But I'd rather see him out there with JMac than Ricky.



McLaughlin is shooting 37.7%.
Rubio is shooting 38.3%.

Neither is good enough.




[Note: McLaughlin shot 48.9% last season in almost the same amount of games and minutes... so we're yet to find out if that was the anomaly... or this season is the anomaly. It's probably fair to cut the difference?]
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FNG
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Re: GDT: Kings vs. Wolves

Post by FNG »

Abe, I agree that neither of our PG's is a good shooter. J-Mac was a good shooter in college, but my confidence level is not as high as Lip's when he shoots now. But I don't want either of them looking for their shot if they're out there with KAT. Jaden. Ant and DLO. Take the open shot if it's there, but otherwise get the ball into our scorers' hands. Ricky and JMac took 11 shots total Monday night in 47 minutes, and that was fine with me. I would like to see more of the same tonight.
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Q12543 [enjin:6621299]
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Re: GDT: Kings vs. Wolves

Post by Q12543 [enjin:6621299] »

McLaughlin has taken a step back from last season and has not given the front office reason to give him a contract. And at age 24, there is no reason to believe there is a bunch of untapped upside left. This seems to be a typical trajectory for a Wolves prospect - provide some level of excitement and hope early and then gradually come down to earth to become the mediocre-at-best player our franchise is great at "developing".

I'm convinced Bolmaro will be brought over next season. Whether we keep Ricky and have Bolmaro as our 3rd string PG or whether we trade Ricky and make him our primary backup is TBD.
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Camden [enjin:6601484]
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Re: GDT: Kings vs. Wolves

Post by Camden [enjin:6601484] »

It's a shame J-Mac hasn't had a consistent role this season because I think he's closer to last year's version of himself than this year's, but Minnesota will likely let him go when the season concludes and we'll never get to know. He showed enough for me last year to want to see him penciled in as the team's backup point guard. Clearly, the front office didn't agree with that thought when they traded for Rubio.
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Lipoli390
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Re: GDT: Kings vs. Wolves

Post by Lipoli390 »

Camden wrote:It's a shame J-Mac hasn't had a consistent role this season because I think he's closer to last year's version of himself than this year's, but Minnesota will likely let him go when the season concludes and we'll never get to know. He showed enough for me last year to want to see him penciled in as the team's backup point guard. Clearly, the front office didn't agree with that thought when they traded for Rubio.


AbeVigodaLive wrote:
lipoli390 wrote:

I'd like to see the Wolves move Ricky this off season and give JMac a real contract. He's much quicker than Ricky. And unlike Ricky, he can shoot. He can finish layups and even dunk and he can hit perimeter shots. When JMac shoots you expect it to go in. When Ricky shoots, you expect the opposite. Probably the best game the Wolves have played since acquiring DLO was last season's game in Miami. I recall that JMac and DLO had a lot of time together on the court and it worked. JMac did most of the ball-handling while DLO played mostly off the ball. But when DLO was the lead guard, JMac was a guy who could get buckets. So I'm all in on having DLO as a second PG on the floor, playing primarily off the ball. But I'd rather see him out there with JMac than Ricky.



McLaughlin is shooting 37.7%.
Rubio is shooting 38.3%.

Neither is good enough.




[Note: McLaughlin shot 48.9% last season in almost the same amount of games and minutes... so we're yet to find out if that was the anomaly... or this season is the anomaly. It's probably fair to cut the difference?]


JMac shot well last season and in college. He has a track record as a far more efficient shooter than Ricky. I don't put much stock in JMac's stats this year. His minutes have been limited and he hasn't been given anything approaching a consistent role. He can dunk and Ricky can't even finish layups. In my view, it's not even close between the two when it comes to confidence in their ability to score the ball. Again, I'll add that JMac is much quicker.

Note that I'm not advocating for JMac to be our starting PG. But I do see him as a more effective backup PG than Ricky and someone who can share court time with DLO.
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AbeVigodaLive
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Re: GDT: Kings vs. Wolves

Post by AbeVigodaLive »

lipoli390 wrote:
Camden wrote:It's a shame J-Mac hasn't had a consistent role this season because I think he's closer to last year's version of himself than this year's, but Minnesota will likely let him go when the season concludes and we'll never get to know. He showed enough for me last year to want to see him penciled in as the team's backup point guard. Clearly, the front office didn't agree with that thought when they traded for Rubio.


AbeVigodaLive wrote:
lipoli390 wrote:

I'd like to see the Wolves move Ricky this off season and give JMac a real contract. He's much quicker than Ricky. And unlike Ricky, he can shoot. He can finish layups and even dunk and he can hit perimeter shots. When JMac shoots you expect it to go in. When Ricky shoots, you expect the opposite. Probably the best game the Wolves have played since acquiring DLO was last season's game in Miami. I recall that JMac and DLO had a lot of time together on the court and it worked. JMac did most of the ball-handling while DLO played mostly off the ball. But when DLO was the lead guard, JMac was a guy who could get buckets. So I'm all in on having DLO as a second PG on the floor, playing primarily off the ball. But I'd rather see him out there with JMac than Ricky.



McLaughlin is shooting 37.7%.
Rubio is shooting 38.3%.

Neither is good enough.




[Note: McLaughlin shot 48.9% last season in almost the same amount of games and minutes... so we're yet to find out if that was the anomaly... or this season is the anomaly. It's probably fair to cut the difference?]


JMac shot well last season and in college. He has a track record as a far more efficient shooter than Ricky. I don't put much stock in JMac's stats this year. His minutes have been limited and he hasn't been given anything approaching a consistent role. He can dunk and Ricky can't even finish layups. In my view, it's not even close between the two when it comes to confidence in their ability to score the ball. Again, I'll add that JMac is much quicker.

Note that I'm not advocating for JMac to be our starting PG. But I do see him as a more effective backup PG than Ricky and someone who can share court time with DLO.



I was just pointing out that our eyes might be deceiving us... this season.

Heck, Rubio averages a pretty pathetic 11.2 points per 36. But McLaughlin is even worse at only 9.2 ppg, with free throws being the only real differentiator. Both players offer excellent Assist/TO ratios... with Rubio averaging slightly more assists and TOs. But neither guy scores much. And they both are poor shooters right now.

Both guys have seemingly struggled with their roles, so that angle/excuse works for both of them, too.


------


Last year, McLaughlin played in 30 games... started 2... averaged 19.7 mpg.
This year, McLaughlin has played in 31 games... started 2... averaging 20.6 mpg.


------


Neither has played close to good enough. For me, it's not an either/or... it's "who's next?"
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Carlos Danger
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Re: GDT: Kings vs. Wolves

Post by Carlos Danger »

AbeVigodaLive wrote:
I was just pointing out that our eyes might be deceiving us... this season.

Heck, Rubio averages a pretty pathetic 11.2 points per 36. But McLaughlin is even worse at only 9.2 ppg, with free throws being the only real differentiator. Both players offer excellent Assist/TO ratios... with Rubio averaging slightly more assists and TOs. But neither guy scores much. And they both are poor shooters right now.

Both guys have seemingly struggled with their roles, so that angle/excuse works for both of them, too.


------


Last year, McLaughlin played in 30 games... started 2... averaged 19.7 mpg.
This year, McLaughlin has played in 31 games... started 2... averaging 20.6 mpg.


------


Neither has played close to good enough. For me, it's not an either/or... it's "who's next?"


Completely agree with your take. And if we look at advanced stats, McLaughlin is dead last on the team in TS%. Rubio's TS% is actually better than Edwards - unbelievable. Several people on this forum might be able to beat some of these guys in a game of horse.
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