2017 Offseason Part 2

[60WinTim]

Tolliver is a Creighton alum, same school as Patton. Just sayin'

[Lipoli390]

I don't think we need to sign guys specifically for defense. I hear people saying we need more rim protection but we are the only team in the league to start two centers. What else can we do?? By this boards omission we have a top level defensive PG, Butler is a great two way player. Bottom line is our defensive improvement is dependent on Wig and Kat showing effort which will equal improvement. Kat was a matador defending the PnR, same with G. I think the team is better off starting Belly, assuming he is healthy. I think they should look to deal both Gorgi and Rubio to free up salary and see what they can get back that fits the team better. They are both bad fits with this core. Dunc'd on talked openly about the need for us to find a better PG. JVC said our point guard play was below average last year.

Doper -- I agree that the key to defensive improvement beyond the addition of Butler will be the defensive develpment of KAT and Wiggins. We can't spend money on additional players to cover up the defensive failings of two of our three core guys. If we end up going down that path, this thing isn't going to work and we'll be in yet another rebuilding process in a couple years. So KAT and Wiggins have to step up and improve substantially on the defensive side of the ball. They clearly have the physical size and talent to succeed; it's a matter of attitude and understanding. Butler will take some of the defensive pressure off those two guys, but hopefully he'll press them to improve.

[Monster]

Tolliver is a Creighton alum, same school as Patton. Just sayin'

I'm gonna be repping the Creighton stuff I have amassed over the years a little more now. :)

[Monster]

One interesting thing the Wolves will have going for them that Jim Peterson pointed out today is the Wolves ability to get to the FT line. This is how the Wolves players ranked last year in top FTs made.

Butler 3rd
Wiggins 19th
Towns 28th
Rubio 41st

Wiggins actually got the line more the previous year and Towns could move up in that category.

[Coolbreeze44]

One interesting thing the Wolves will have going for them that Jim Peterson pointed out today is the Wolves ability to get to the FT line. This is how the Wolves players ranked last year in top FTs made.

Butler 3rd
Wiggins 19th
Towns 28th
Rubio 41st

Wiggins actually got the line more the previous year and Towns could move up in that category.

Holy Hannah. I didn't realize Butler lived at the line like that. That's big.

[Monster]

One interesting thing the Wolves will have going for them that Jim Peterson pointed out today is the Wolves ability to get to the FT line. This is how the Wolves players ranked last year in top FTs made.

Butler 3rd
Wiggins 19th
Towns 28th
Rubio 41st

Wiggins actually got the line more the previous year and Towns could move up in that category.

Holy Hannah. I didn't realize Butler lived at the line like that. That's big.

Yeah me neither. He jumped from back to back seasons of getting the the line 7.1 times to 8.9 this year and...he is up to 86.5% from the line. Dude just keeps getting better every year. Last year he put up 24-6-5.5 and almost 2 steals and turned the ball over only 2.1 times a game. Oh and he was a top flight defender as well.

[Coolbreeze44]

How many teams in the league boast 3 players in the top 16 in scoring average last year? That's right just one, the Minnesota Timberwolves. Think about that. There's 30 teams and most don't have even one in that group.

[Coolbreeze44]

And all three of those guys shot better from behind the arc than both Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Maybe our 3 point shooting woes aren't as bad as we make them out to be. It makes some sense that Westbrook's percentage would be what it is, but it seems like Harden hardly ever misses when we play him.

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

And all three of those guys shot better from behind the arc than both Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Maybe our 3 point shooting woes aren't as bad as we make them out to be. It makes some sense that Westbrook's percentage would be what it is, but it seems like Harden hardly ever misses when we play him.

Very interesting. The Wolves ranked middle of the pack as far as points per game. I feel they need a shooter off the bench, but I feel that fixing the defense is a better approach to winning games. It's not as sexy, but winning ugly is better than losing pretty. I don't think the Wolves starters will have any problems putting points on the board.

[thedoper]

I don't think we need to sign guys specifically for defense. I hear people saying we need more rim protection but we are the only team in the league to start two centers. What else can we do?? By this boards omission we have a top level defensive PG, Butler is a great two way player. Bottom line is our defensive improvement is dependent on Wig and Kat showing effort which will equal improvement. Kat was a matador defending the PnR, same with G. I think the team is better off starting Belly, assuming he is healthy. I think they should look to deal both Gorgi and Rubio to free up salary and see what they can get back that fits the team better. They are both bad fits with this core. Dunc'd on talked openly about the need for us to find a better PG. JVC said our point guard play was below average last year.

Doper -- I agree that the key to defensive improvement beyond the addition of Butler will be the defensive develpment of KAT and Wiggins. We can't spend money on additional players to cover up the defensive failings of two of our three core guys. If we end up going down that path, this thing isn't going to work and we'll be in yet another rebuilding process in a couple years. So KAT and Wiggins have to step up and improve substantially on the defensive side of the ball. They clearly have the physical size and talent to succeed; it's a matter of attitude and understanding. Butler will take some of the defensive pressure off those two guys, but hopefully he'll press them to improve.

Geez Lip, you're lumping me into the same person as Duke. I know we've both criticized Rubio but I didn't remember what this was about.