CoolBreeze's 2 Things I Didn't Like Tonight Plus 1

[Coolbreeze44]

Well we split the weekend, and after how I felt after the game last night I'll take it. Didn't like we had to do it shorthanded, but it was a game we really needed and we got it. Here is the ak-FORTY SEVEN edition of the 2 + 1:

1) Thibs, STFU once in a while. I don't care who you are, that's going to get old eventually. I don't know if the crowd was relatively quiet tonight, but you could clearly here the foghorn on nearly every trip down the court. I sincerely hope this is a breaking-in type thing. I worry a little about the health of the coach too.

2) I don't want to unnecessarily criticize KAT tonight, but he's just trying to do too much. I can handle the poor shooting as I know he will have more good shooting nights than not. But it seems he's trying to score 5 points every time he gets the ball. He will make 3 or 4 moves when a simple power up will work. It looks like he's put a lot of pressure on himself to carry the team. He's still just 20 years old and we just need him to mature at his own pace. We have other good players. Just be Karl and he will be great.

Plus 1: # 22 was pretty good tonight. He usually bounces back pretty well from an off game, tonight he was dominant. He scored in a ton of different ways: 3's, turn-around J's, Euro step drives, back door cuts for dunks, spin moves to the tin. His handle is much better and Thibs is starting to trust him more with the ball in his hands. And I think his defense is coming along too. Maybe some of the advanced stats guys can speak to this, but he appears to be winning his individual matchup more often than not. I wish that last 3 had dropped, you never know how many chances you will get to drop 50. But it was good he was on our side tonight, and his performance kept me out of the therapist chair, at least for a while.

And that's Cool's 2 things I didn't like + 1.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I was at the game tonight, Cool, and you can't believe how annoying Thibs is in person. I also worry about his health...he looks like a heart attack ready to happen. And there's this weird thing going on with his right hand...it moves spasmodically almost all the time during games.

But I'm glad the injuries forced Thibs' hand and led him to what I've been advocating for several months...Wig at the 2. With his improved ball handling and long distance, there's no question in my mind that his position needs to be SG. Not only did he score 47 points tonight, but his length makes him so much more effective on defense...he frustrated Nick Young all night. And his 4 rebounds is just fine for a SG (but would be substandard for a SF).

I still think Thibs was hoping to land Luol Deng in the offseason to allow Wig to move to the 2 and give him Zach's scoring power off the bench. Deng looked tired tonight, so I felt good about us not getting him. And Belly's new quickness with his weight loss makes him a more viable option at the 3. I don't know if he can consistently perform at a level close to what he did tonight, but he sure looked terrific tonight. The Lakers are a talented offensive team, but with two of our poorer defenders (Zach and Bazz) not in the rotation, our defense looked very good tonight. This isn't knee jerk because I have been talking about this for months, but I would love to see Thibs start (and give most of the minutes) to Wig at the 2. I think he showed tonight the kind of 2-way superstar potential he has if allowed to play a more comfortable position. Start Wig and Belly at the wings, and let Zach light things up off the bench.

Finally, it was fun to see Adreian Payne play like he did at MSU. He worked hard, played under control and made his shots, and really bailed out the second unit when it looked like things were slipping away.

[Coolbreeze44]

LST, I was almost alone in my crusade to not sign Deng during the offseason. I've been wrong on plenty, but I was right on that.

[kekgeek]

I was unable to watch Thibs post game thoughts but Jon K tweeted saying that he gushed about the length that Belly and Wiggins brought in the starting lineup. So it will be interesting to see.

My thoughts on the subject I want to see it again (we might get to because Lavine was limping bad) but I still want Lavine to start. But it is an easy switch just have Lavine be the first one pulled in the rotation and bring in Belly. Then the second unit can be Tyus/Dunn, Lavine, Belly/Bazz, Belly/Payne and Cole. We have to be careful of with Lavine he is still a huge part of our future and we don't to lose him because he has worked his ass off to win the starting job.

One more thing did belly play well tonight because he was playing the 3 or did he play well tonight because he got to play with Ricky and the rest of the starters for extended period of time and he is not asked to "run" the offense coming off the bench.

[kekgeek]

Huge credit to Payne also, he might be my least favorite Wolves player of all time but he did his job tonight. Was super under control, he hit his shots and his one miss I thought was a really good take to the rim. He played very good defense also. He has all the physical tools to be a good role player but he dosen't have the bball IQ but he must be showing something in practice because Thibs played him over Hill who is a proven vet in this league. So congrats to Payne that away to do your job.

[Lipoli390]

Flip certainly believed in Payne. So maybe we've all been way to harsh in our critiques of Payne. Perhaps all he needed was a top notch coaching staff and more time. Just one game, but what a lift it would be if Payne could consistently give us games like tonight's, reminiscent of his impressive college career at MSU.

[kekgeek]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHG7qlvxgj4

Here is wiggins 47 points in a video. From 4:23 to 4:56 I was loving these play sets for Wiggins, there was another possession that was not shown where Wiggins kicked out to Rubio and then Rubio found Tyus for a 3 in the corner. Really good play sets late in the game

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Flip certainly believed in Payne. So maybe we've all been way to harsh in our critiques of Payne. Perhaps all he needed was a top notch coaching staff and more time. Just one game, but what a lift it would be if Payne could consistently give us games like tonight's, reminiscent of his impressive college career at MSU.

I'm probably Payne's biggest supporter on this board, Lip, because I thought he was such a do-everything guy at MSU...but even I have been enormously unhappy with his play. Last night was completely different...he didn't have any "Payne moments". Maybe Thibs can get more out of him than Flip/Sam could, but I think we all look at that with skepticism...after all, he really only saw the court last night because 3 guys were out. But his length at PF can be game changing if he can play under control, so I'm still hopeful.

Speaking of length, that was the highlight last night. There were times (particularly when Mosgov was out) that we were taller than the Lakers at every position, and that really makes a difference. Most of us have had the experience of playing against a longer opponent, and we know how frustrating it can be...on both ends of the court. Wig especially looked like a wild animal that had just been let out of his cage...you could tell he really savored the opportunity to play most of the game at SG. The Wolves lack bulk and what will hurt us some nights. But if Thibs can be confident in putting longer lineups out there, I think that will create some matchups that we can really exploit. My optimism level is back after last night.

Only two disappointments last night: KAT's tendency to force things (he should not have taken more shots than Wig last night) and the crowd. The good news about KAT is that he plays hard, but sometimes I think he needs to take a deep breath and dial it back a bit...his passing skills are so good I think he can easily be a 5 APG guy if he looks to pass first. Finally, I was really disappointed with the Sunday night crowd...almost nobody upstairs and lots of empty seats downstairs. Such a poor crowd for a 6pm game against the Lakers (who still draw because of the mystique) shows this town doesn't believe in this team yet. A few more games like last night will turn that around quickly.

[Shumway]

Thanks Cool. Your performance in delivering the 2+1 remains inconsistent this year, but we all appreciate when you show up to play.

I think one of the things we'd all hoped for from Wiggins was improves scoring efficiency, and to date he has certainly delivered that. The 3 point shooting will probably cool off to a degree, but he seems to have made major strides this year.

Perhaps we all need to be more prepared for bumps along the way. Things rarely go in straight lines in terms of development. With KAT this year, and the Wolves record (it was easy to think 500 ball the last 20 games would continue to trend up on a linear fashion) and probably with Wiggins last year. Sometimes our straight line expectations are unrealistic. But that doesn't mean progress isn't being made. Really happy to bank a good win and a great game from Drew.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

KAT was just ice cold last night. I didn't notice too many bad shots he took. He missed some wide open outside shots that he normally makes. He missed four free throws. It was just one of those nights and luckily we didn't need him. There will be other nights we need those shots to go down.