We played the part of the Jazz tonight. Here we had a couple days rest playing at home against a team coming off of a game last night and they outscrapped us for the win. Disappointing.
- LaVine deserved more strangles than hugs tonight. Just a lot of ill-advised shots and turnovers again. His off the dribble pull up 2 with one foot on the 3-point line is the worst shot in the history of basketball (and I'm only slightly exaggerating).
- Jeremy Lin and Ed Davis put on a pick and roll clinic against LaVine and Payne. I think they had like 3 or 4 plays in a row that ended with an easy layup or dunk for Ed Davis. KG should hold a summertime pick and roll defensive boot camp for all of our bigs with two seasons or less. It's just ridiculous how bamboozled we get.
- Good to see Wiggins make a 3-point shot! J-Pete talked about how Wiggins has to work so hard to get his points. He used the example of using the defender's resistance against him in post up situations where he can easily make a spin move. Instead, Wiggins labors against the defender and usually takes a tough turnaround jumper. I also think rising up and taking more 3's would make his life a bit easier. I love the hard drives to the hoop too, but man, he makes things difficult on himself.
- Dieng, Hamilton, and Payne are all power forwards defensively. These guys are helpless against anything inside of 5 feet of the hoop.
- Chase Budinger is the best PF on the roster right now (I don't count part-time headcount, like KG). That's really pathetic. The bright side is that his value continues to climb. I know a lot of folks here have written him off. But front offices haven't forgotten his first few years in Houston, where he was a fundamentally sound and efficient wing option off the bench.
Agreed with everything Q said, and I'll add a couple other tidbits of my own.
- Lo Brown can play on my team any day. He organizes the offense, is capable of getting to the rim and defensively he's a pest, but a fundamentally-sound one. I like him. As Jim Pete said, he's solid.
- How many loose balls and rebounds did Payne just fumble away out of bounds? Or how about the times he catches the ball, looks left to pass, looks right to pass, then shoots. My god. It's rough to watch. I'm not a fan.
- Gorgui might be the most clueless player in the NBA when it comes to the shot/game clock. Possessions end in violations or end of quarters without a shot being put up because he's oblivious to something so simple.
- Budinger's the best PF we have. Q said this, but midway through the 2nd quarter, I thought the same damn thing. It's sad that it's come to that. Kudos to Chase, though, for rising to the occasion (finally) and producing when he's on the floor. When healthy, he actually is a pleasure to watch and he's a good ball player. How about his throwdown and game-tying three? I got pumped.
- Wiggins AND LaVine are going to be stars. Yes, I'm grouping Zach in with Andrew on this one. As they develop, they're going to be a ton of fun to watch and root for. At the same time, good luck guarding them on the wings. Need to get stronger without adding too much bulk. They're quickness is such a weapon.
Disappointed that we lost. i may be in the minority, but I want to see us win as many games as possible. I want the young guys to learn and believe they can win at this level.
Off topic, but i saw the sixers won today. They have 1 player that I have been following for a while and that is robert covington. I just searched for his salary and found that he is signed for the next 3 years at 1m/yr each! Holy cow, what a steal for the sixers! i though he was a free agent that we could make a play for.
Q12543 wrote:We played the part of the Jazz tonight. Here we had a couple days rest playing at home against a team coming off of a game last night and they outscrapped us for the win. Disappointing.
- LaVine deserved more strangles than hugs tonight. Just a lot of ill-advised shots and turnovers again. His off the dribble pull up 2 with one foot on the 3-point line is the worst shot in the history of basketball (and I'm only slightly exaggerating).
- Jeremy Lin and Ed Davis put on a pick and roll clinic against LaVine and Payne. I think they had like 3 or 4 plays in a row that ended with an easy layup or dunk for Ed Davis. KG should hold a summertime pick and roll defensive boot camp for all of our bigs with two seasons or less. It's just ridiculous how bamboozled we get.
- Good to see Wiggins make a 3-point shot! J-Pete talked about how Wiggins has to work so hard to get his points. He used the example of using the defender's resistance against him in post up situations where he can easily make a spin move. Instead, Wiggins labors against the defender and usually takes a tough turnaround jumper. I also think rising up and taking more 3's would make his life a bit easier. I love the hard drives to the hoop too, but man, he makes things difficult on himself.
- Dieng, Hamilton, and Payne are all power forwards defensively. These guys are helpless against anything inside of 5 feet of the hoop.
- Chase Budinger is the best PF on the roster right now (I don't count part-time headcount, like KG). That's really pathetic. The bright side is that his value continues to climb. I know a lot of folks here have written him off. But front offices haven't forgotten his first few years in Houston, where he was a fundamentally sound and efficient wing option off the bench.
I hope we never need you to try and talk someone off a ledge. After this season I'm sure some of our fans are out there right now. You could honestly make Tim depressed.
Curious if anyone agrees with this observation: it seems like Adreian Payne thinks he clearly belongs in the NBA already. By that I mean, he gets a block or a big rebound and he stares down the opponent, flashes "Dion Waiters" syndrome by breaking a play and just trying to create off the dribble, basically a bunch of dumb plays where he thinks he is better than he really is.
If you ever watch Ed Davis (who has been in the league for a few years), he is the IDEAL player for a team like the Wolves (and a player I wish Payne could emulate). He just is so fluid with his movements, busts his ass on every play to fight for playing time, and never really shows emotion when he does something good (almost as if he EXPECTS to do good things....weird).
Just a casual observation watching Payne lately. That guy who posted the huge double-double against LAC a few weeks ago has not reappeared since. At all.
Our front court sucks. Start Chase at the 4 until Bennett is healthy. Give Bennett a crack at it. We have to overhaul the front court this offseason. Flip has really failed. He spent 2 first round picks on PFs with nothing to show for it.
