Here come the Suns..and I say..it's all right...GDT

[Lipoli390]

To be fair... KAT was matched up vs. Dragan Bender. And then Something-Something Acy.

Nobody really stops those guys. You only hope to contain them.

Lol. Good point, Abe.

[Lipoli390]

KAT made it look easy last night. While it isn't saying much against Phoenix, it is nice to have CLEARLY the best player on the floor for a game. Defensively, he was pretty bad in the first quarter but then he seemed to pick up the intensity as the game wore on.

Watching Okogie shoot the ball makes me wonder why he's had such a struggle this year. His shot mechanics and arc look pretty damn good to me. It was good to see him hit multiple 3's in a game. If he can master that shot, we're going to have the SG version of RoCo on our hands. But how many times do we say (only if....) about our young guys over the years. The "if" never seems to happen.

I thought the same thing about Josh's mechanics last night, and it gave me some hope. But he has shot so poorly this season, he has a long way to go before I'm a believer. If you take out his two recent hot games, his 3-point percentage is in the low 20s for the season.

So good to see KAT stay aggressive without fouling...ZERO fouls last night. Maybe the coaches are getting through to him.

I agree, but that does come at the cost of defense early in games. You could see he was clearly holding back.

Herein lies one of the problems with building your offense around a Center. It's why it is so important we surround KAT with plus defenders, including a more rugged, defensive-oriented backup Center to eventually replace Dieng.

Maybe...I agree KAT was a little passive on defense early in the game. But I don't think he has to be. I think the key for him staying in games is 1) staying vertical on defense and not swatting at the ball and 2) being careful on offense not to hook or push off with his left arm. He did both of these successfully last night, and needs to continue to work on this.

I think you're both right. KAT can continue to improve his defense while minimizing his fouls by doing what LST suggests. However, he can only do so much if players keep penetrating and coming at him. Jim Peterson has made this point frequently throughout the season. You're perimeter defenders have to consistently stop or at least slow down opposing player penetration. As Jim has said, no big man can defend well, much less defend without fouling when opposing players are easily penetrating a coming at him. NBA wings and guards are way too athletic and skilled for even the best bigs to consistently defend effectively without fouling.

Imagine Covington and Okogie as our two starting wings with Okogie hitting at least 43% of his FGs and 35% of his threes. Then add Tyus Jones as our starting PG. Envision a defensive, rim-protecting big man to back up and sometimes play with KAT. Assume Rose, Taj and Saric are also on the roster. Imagine all that as KAT continues to improve his defense while also learning to limit his fouls. Finally, assume a good head coach -- possibly Ryan Saunders although the jury is still out on him. That's a darn good team.

None of the things I've listed are wild fantasy. Somehow getting a second star to pair with KAT remains a fantasy for now. Could Okogie become that star? Possibly. Could we get a future star in the 12-15 range of this year's draft? Possibly.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

KAT made it look easy last night. While it isn't saying much against Phoenix, it is nice to have CLEARLY the best player on the floor for a game. Defensively, he was pretty bad in the first quarter but then he seemed to pick up the intensity as the game wore on.

Watching Okogie shoot the ball makes me wonder why he's had such a struggle this year. His shot mechanics and arc look pretty damn good to me. It was good to see him hit multiple 3's in a game. If he can master that shot, we're going to have the SG version of RoCo on our hands. But how many times do we say (only if....) about our young guys over the years. The "if" never seems to happen.

I thought the same thing about Josh's mechanics last night, and it gave me some hope. But he has shot so poorly this season, he has a long way to go before I'm a believer. If you take out his two recent hot games, his 3-point percentage is in the low 20s for the season.

So good to see KAT stay aggressive without fouling...ZERO fouls last night. Maybe the coaches are getting through to him.

I agree, but that does come at the cost of defense early in games. You could see he was clearly holding back.

Herein lies one of the problems with building your offense around a Center. It's why it is so important we surround KAT with plus defenders, including a more rugged, defensive-oriented backup Center to eventually replace Dieng.

Maybe...I agree KAT was a little passive on defense early in the game. But I don't think he has to be. I think the key for him staying in games is 1) staying vertical on defense and not swatting at the ball and 2) being careful on offense not to hook or push off with his left arm. He did both of these successfully last night, and needs to continue to work on this.

I think you're both right. KAT can continue to improve his defense while minimizing his fouls by doing what LST suggests. However, he can only do so much if players keep penetrating and coming at him. Jim Peterson has made this point frequently throughout the season. You're perimeter defenders have to consistently stop or at least slow down opposing player penetration. As Jim has said, no big man can defend well, much less defend without fouling when opposing players are easily penetrating a coming at him. NBA wings and guards are way too athletic and skilled for even the best bigs to consistently defend effectively without fouling.

Imagine Covington and Okogie as our two starting wings with Okogie hitting at least 43% of his FGs and 35% of his threes. Then add Tyus Jones as our starting PG. Envision a defensive, rim-protecting big man to back up and sometimes play with KAT. Assume Rose, Taj and Saric are also on the roster. Imagine all that as KAT continues to improve his defense while also learning to limit his fouls. Finally, assume a good head coach -- possibly Ryan Saunders although the jury is still out on him. That's a darn good team.

None of the things I've listed are wild fantasy. Somehow getting a second star to pair with KAT remains a fantasy for now. Could Okogie become that star? Possibly. Could we get a future star in the 12-15 range of this year's draft? Possibly.

That team has a lot of defensive potential, but offensively it has some issues with outside shooting and perimeter shot creating, especially in the starting 5. It really require major improvement from Tyus and Okogie.

[AbeVigodaLive]

KAT made it look easy last night. While it isn't saying much against Phoenix, it is nice to have CLEARLY the best player on the floor for a game. Defensively, he was pretty bad in the first quarter but then he seemed to pick up the intensity as the game wore on.

Watching Okogie shoot the ball makes me wonder why he's had such a struggle this year. His shot mechanics and arc look pretty damn good to me. It was good to see him hit multiple 3's in a game. If he can master that shot, we're going to have the SG version of RoCo on our hands. But how many times do we say (only if....) about our young guys over the years. The "if" never seems to happen.

I thought the same thing about Josh's mechanics last night, and it gave me some hope. But he has shot so poorly this season, he has a long way to go before I'm a believer. If you take out his two recent hot games, his 3-point percentage is in the low 20s for the season.

So good to see KAT stay aggressive without fouling...ZERO fouls last night. Maybe the coaches are getting through to him.

I agree, but that does come at the cost of defense early in games. You could see he was clearly holding back.

Herein lies one of the problems with building your offense around a Center. It's why it is so important we surround KAT with plus defenders, including a more rugged, defensive-oriented backup Center to eventually replace Dieng.

Maybe...I agree KAT was a little passive on defense early in the game. But I don't think he has to be. I think the key for him staying in games is 1) staying vertical on defense and not swatting at the ball and 2) being careful on offense not to hook or push off with his left arm. He did both of these successfully last night, and needs to continue to work on this.

I think you're both right. KAT can continue to improve his defense while minimizing his fouls by doing what LST suggests. However, he can only do so much if players keep penetrating and coming at him. Jim Peterson has made this point frequently throughout the season. You're perimeter defenders have to consistently stop or at least slow down opposing player penetration. As Jim has said, no big man can defend well, much less defend without fouling when opposing players are easily penetrating a coming at him. NBA wings and guards are way too athletic and skilled for even the best bigs to consistently defend effectively without fouling.

Imagine Covington and Okogie as our two starting wings with Okogie hitting at least 43% of his FGs and 35% of his threes. Then add Tyus Jones as our starting PG. Envision a defensive, rim-protecting big man to back up and sometimes play with KAT. Assume Rose, Taj and Saric are also on the roster. Imagine all that as KAT continues to improve his defense while also learning to limit his fouls. Finally, assume a good head coach -- possibly Ryan Saunders although the jury is still out on him. That's a darn good team.

None of the things I've listed are wild fantasy. Somehow getting a second star to pair with KAT remains a fantasy for now. Could Okogie become that star? Possibly. Could we get a future star in the 12-15 range of this year's draft? Possibly.

That team has a lot of defensive potential, but offensively it has some issues with outside shooting and perimeter shot creating, especially in the starting 5. It really require major improvement from Tyus and Okogie.

Not only would spacing be suspect... who's creating anything off the dribble? That's a double whammy.

Tyus Jones can play in this league (ideally as a backup) but there's a reason he's often been paired with a Derrick Rose or Jimmy Butler type who can also create.

Jones is a facilitator... not a creator. There's a huge difference.

[Monster]

Just finished watching the game and got through the first page of this thread but I'll give some thoughts now.

Bayless has been a really solid player for the Wolves and tonight he did what we always want some guy that comes to the Wolves that had been a good 3 point shooter previously...hit 3's. I think the thing that's been the best about him which I did not expect was comptetent defense.

Deng can play which means we did let go of a guy I liked in Nunnally but a couple guys we have kept around in Deng and Bayless have helped this squad. It's nice to see.

Edit: A few people said they would like to see Deng back next year. Count me in. He can take Tolliver's spot and maybe even get some minutes onna semi-regular basis depending on who else stays. It would be awesome to keep Taj but I'd guess he would have to take a discount deal after the last 2 seasons he has put together and even though he isn't a floor spacer.