alexftbl8181 wrote:Wolves still haven't played a top with a top half offense
If I understand what you are saying, I think you are suggesting the Wolves haven't played a top half offense yet. That is an incorrect statement. Actually both the Lakers and the Trailblazers are ranked in the top ten offenses so far this year.
I'm going to go off a bigger sample size then 4 games and say that the Blazers and Lakers aren't a top half of the league offensive team
Could be, but right now they rank in the top 10. I actually think they are good offensive teams, but the Lakers can't stop anybody and I think the Blazers will come down to earth eventually defensively. the Lakers could really use a couple defensive stoppers like KG and Prince in their starting lineups :) .
We're now 10% of season played and still .500. And we're still better than I thought. We just played a competitive game against the defending champs without our starting PG. I'm content. Our Defensive Rating has dropped a little, but is still standing at 3rd best in franchise history after playing Golden State. Wiggins has got it going and is now averaging 20 pts/game. Towns continues to play great. The bench has played a little better especially Payne and Bazz. I have zero complaints right now. Especially if you go back and look at the Wins Prediction thread. We're exceeding expectations at the 10% mark. I know a lot of people are frustrated at LaVine being stuck at back up PG. I don't like it either. But LaVine is playing better than last year. I don't think the experience as a PG will hurt him. It may even help him - who knows. Injuries and trades are going to happen as the season progresses. A lot will change. But so far, so good as far as I'm concerned.
I'm actually very happy with the way this team has played. The amount of wins this team has this year is of less importance to me, all I wanted to see was potential. And finally I'm seeing a lot of it . There's hope on the horizon.
Wow, hard to believe we are third in the league in defense after getting torched by Golden State last night...that was a track meet! But we are, and 4-4 on top of that despite Rubio missing a quarter of the games so far. The defense, Towns, and Belly have all exceeded my expectations.
What do we need to keep it going and stay near .500? Most here (but not me) would say we need to move Zach to SG. Not only is that not going to happen, I don't think it's the right move...I like Wig and Martin getting the minutes there. No, if I could make one change, it would be this...SHOOT MORE THREES! After last night, we are dead last in the league in 3-point attempts with only 14.4 a game. And I'm not buying any arguments that our lack of attempts is due to a lack of competent 3-point shooters on the roster, because we actually rank in the top half of the league in 3-point percentage. I'm comfortable with 11 of the 15 guys on the roster shooting a three when they are open...everyone but KG, Gorgui, Andre, and Pek. Not designing more 3-point plays and encouraging more 3-point shooting has been my biggest disappointment in Mitchell this year. His Toronto teams didn't hold back from taking 3's, and their rosters didn't have as many shooters as we do. Sam needs to loosen the reins and encourage more 3's if we are going to continue to linger around .500.
longstrangetrip wrote:Wow, hard to believe we are third in the league in defense after getting torched by Golden State last night...that was a track meet! But we are, and 4-4 on top of that despite Rubio missing a quarter of the games so far. The defense, Towns, and Belly have all exceeded my expectations.
What do we need to keep it going and stay near .500? Most here (but not me) would say we need to move Zach to SG. Not only is that not going to happen, I don't think it's the right move...I like Wig and Martin getting the minutes there. No, if I could make one change, it would be this...SHOOT MORE THREES! After last night, we are dead last in the league in 3-point attempts with only 14.4 a game. And I'm not buying any arguments that our lack of attempts is due to a lack of competent 3-point shooters on the roster, because we actually rank in the top half of the league in 3-point percentage. I'm comfortable with 11 of the 15 guys on the roster shooting a three when they are open...everyone but KG, Gorgui, Andre, and Pek. Not designing more 3-point plays and encouraging more 3-point shooting has been my biggest disappointment in Mitchell this year. His Toronto teams didn't hold back from taking 3's, and their rosters didn't have as many shooters as we do. Sam needs to loosen the reins and encourage more 3's if we are going to continue to linger around .500.
Yeah this team does need to take and make more 3's. I will say this though shooting 3's like we want to see happen is about confidence and mentality (plus some work on technique to be physically ready to load it up) and it's not as simple as just flinging them up there. There is a mental aspect of being ready to shoot that shot before you even get it. Some guys take time to really figure that out even if you plead with them to be ready and take the damn shot. If all the 3 point shooters on this team were more like Bazz we would be taking at least 10 more 3's per game. What I have seen from Sam this year is he has NOT discouraged 3 point shots he has been more frustrated because guys haven't shot them. Bjelica has come along but he still hesitates more than I would like but he is firing them up there now and with success. I think there is more of a green light for shooting 3's than last year from what I have seen.
Could the offense create more 3's? Yeah probably. Personally I don't have an issue with the offense so far guys need to execute better in it which will come. Do I think it's great? No. Are the Wolves looking competent out there as a team? Yeah. My guess is the offense is gonna be a work in progress all year.
longstrangetrip wrote:Wow, hard to believe we are third in the league in defense after getting torched by Golden State last night...that was a track meet! But we are, and 4-4 on top of that despite Rubio missing a quarter of the games so far. The defense, Towns, and Belly have all exceeded my expectations.
What do we need to keep it going and stay near .500? Most here (but not me) would say we need to move Zach to SG. Not only is that not going to happen, I don't think it's the right move...I like Wig and Martin getting the minutes there. No, if I could make one change, it would be this...SHOOT MORE THREES! After last night, we are dead last in the league in 3-point attempts with only 14.4 a game. And I'm not buying any arguments that our lack of attempts is due to a lack of competent 3-point shooters on the roster, because we actually rank in the top half of the league in 3-point percentage. I'm comfortable with 11 of the 15 guys on the roster shooting a three when they are open...everyone but KG, Gorgui, Andre, and Pek. Not designing more 3-point plays and encouraging more 3-point shooting has been my biggest disappointment in Mitchell this year. His Toronto teams didn't hold back from taking 3's, and their rosters didn't have as many shooters as we do. Sam needs to loosen the reins and encourage more 3's if we are going to continue to linger around .500.
Yeah this team does need to take and make more 3's. I will say this though shooting 3's like we want to see happen is about confidence and mentality (plus some work on technique to be physically ready to load it up) and it's not as simple as just flinging them up there. There is a mental aspect of being ready to shoot that shot before you even get it. Some guys take time to really figure that out even if you plead with them to be ready and take the damn shot. If all the 3 point shooters on this team were more like Bazz we would be taking at least 10 more 3's per game. What I have seen from Sam this year is he has NOT discouraged 3 point shots he has been more frustrated because guys haven't shot them. Bjelica has come along but he still hesitates more than I would like but he is firing them up there now and with success. I think there is more of a green light for shooting 3's than last year from what I have seen.
Could the offense create more 3's? Yeah probably. Personally I don't have an issue with the offense so far guys need to execute better in it which will come. Do I think it's great? No. Are the Wolves looking competent out there as a team? Yeah. My guess is the offense is gonna be a work in progress all year.
I agree with your take that confidence is a major element in shooting more threes, but I think Sam could do more to encourage this. Frankly, he doesn't sound a whole lot different than Flip when he talks about threes publicly, and maybe that is a reason some of our guys look hesitant to pop a three even when they are open...I don't know. I have seen Belly, Ricky, Towns, Prince and even Martin hold up when it looks like they have an open look at a three. If I could change one thing about Sam's coaching this year, I would like to hear him encouraging the team publicly (and privately) to shot more threes. Maybe this is happening privately, we don't know, but he isn't saying the right things publicly. Come on Sam...get these guys shooting 10 more threes a game!
Can't complain about 4 - 4... with 4 road wins! That's better than I (and most other people) expected.
And I won't complain about Towns. I like him. A lot. If you look at Tim Duncan from his rookie season until his 18th (or whatever it is), he's remarkably consistent. In fact, his PER 36 numbers are mind-boggling consistent. In the smallest sample sizes of smallest sample sizes comparison... check out Towns over the past 4 games:
17 / 13 / 4
17 / 12 / 3
19 / 3 / 3
17 / 11 / 0
Rookies and younger players tease. They're usually consistent with their inconsistency. I know it's only a 4-game stretch, but I've been impressed by Towns' consistency.
longstrangetrip wrote:Wow, hard to believe we are third in the league in defense after getting torched by Golden State last night...that was a track meet! But we are, and 4-4 on top of that despite Rubio missing a quarter of the games so far. The defense, Towns, and Belly have all exceeded my expectations.
What do we need to keep it going and stay near .500? Most here (but not me) would say we need to move Zach to SG. Not only is that not going to happen, I don't think it's the right move...I like Wig and Martin getting the minutes there. No, if I could make one change, it would be this...SHOOT MORE THREES! After last night, we are dead last in the league in 3-point attempts with only 14.4 a game. And I'm not buying any arguments that our lack of attempts is due to a lack of competent 3-point shooters on the roster, because we actually rank in the top half of the league in 3-point percentage. I'm comfortable with 11 of the 15 guys on the roster shooting a three when they are open...everyone but KG, Gorgui, Andre, and Pek. Not designing more 3-point plays and encouraging more 3-point shooting has been my biggest disappointment in Mitchell this year. His Toronto teams didn't hold back from taking 3's, and their rosters didn't have as many shooters as we do. Sam needs to loosen the reins and encourage more 3's if we are going to continue to linger around .500.
Yeah this team does need to take and make more 3's. I will say this though shooting 3's like we want to see happen is about confidence and mentality (plus some work on technique to be physically ready to load it up) and it's not as simple as just flinging them up there. There is a mental aspect of being ready to shoot that shot before you even get it. Some guys take time to really figure that out even if you plead with them to be ready and take the damn shot. If all the 3 point shooters on this team were more like Bazz we would be taking at least 10 more 3's per game. What I have seen from Sam this year is he has NOT discouraged 3 point shots he has been more frustrated because guys haven't shot them. Bjelica has come along but he still hesitates more than I would like but he is firing them up there now and with success. I think there is more of a green light for shooting 3's than last year from what I have seen.
Could the offense create more 3's? Yeah probably. Personally I don't have an issue with the offense so far guys need to execute better in it which will come. Do I think it's great? No. Are the Wolves looking competent out there as a team? Yeah. My guess is the offense is gonna be a work in progress all year.
I agree with your take that confidence is a major element in shooting more threes, but I think Sam could do more to encourage this. Frankly, he doesn't sound a whole lot different than Flip when he talks about threes publicly, and maybe that is a reason some of our guys look hesitant to pop a three even when they are open...I don't know. I have seen Belly, Ricky, Towns, Prince and even Martin hold up when it looks like they have an open look at a three. If I could change one thing about Sam's coaching this year, I would like to hear him encouraging the team publicly (and privately) to shot more threes. Maybe this is happening privately, we don't know, but he isn't saying the right things publicly. Come on Sam...get these guys shooting 10 more threes a game!
He has said Dieng has a green light to shoot a corner three back in preseason which was a surprise to me honestly. After guys have traveled at the 3 point line more than once cameras have shown him yell "shoot the ball!". Could Sam do more to encourage guys to shoot 3's? Sure but that's not the only offensive issue he has to consider.
I Would be interested to hear from anyone that has done coaching or played on a team where guys were told or begged to take 3 point shots but hesitated. I've seen it at my crappy level of basketball quite a bit and some are plenty capable. One of the guys I play with looks to finally have broken through in that area working on his shot and really letting it fly when he has a good opportunity. If so he is gonna be a nicer weapon as a stretch big. I hope it carries over to the real games starting Monday. :)
AbeVigodaLive wrote:Can't complain about 4 - 4... with 4 road wins! That's better than I (and most other people) expected.
And I won't complain about Towns. I like him. A lot. If you look at Tim Duncan from his rookie season until his 18th (or whatever it is), he's remarkably consistent. In fact, his PER 36 numbers are mind-boggling consistent. In the smallest sample sizes of smallest sample sizes comparison... check out Towns over the past 4 games:
17 / 13 / 4
17 / 12 / 3
19 / 3 / 3
17 / 11 / 0
Rookies and younger players tease. They're usually consistent with their inconsistency. I know it's only a 4-game stretch, but I've been impressed by Towns' consistency.
Yeah, Towns has been sensational on both ends of the court. Last night he missed some shots that he is normally going to make...otherwise he would have scored 20 again. I honestly can't find any glaring weaknesses in this guy's game, even at 19...it's scary to think of what his upside might be after this kind of start.
