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

[Coolbreeze44]

Instead of the usual format, I'm just going to throw a lot of bullets at you:

- Don't be too hard on Payne tonight, he was the one guy we had who attacked the glass.

- Russell is a crafty player, reminds me of a far less athletic Marbury

- Zach was impressive, but he needs to put a full game together. Part of maturing I guess.

- I like Tyus' game, but he's definitely going to be tasked with improving his footwork on D

- The officiating sucked balls tonight, and I'm not normally one to pick on the refs

- I want to see Towns be a bigger part of the offense going forward in this SL. Let's see what he can do. Use him on more high pick and rolls. He will be tough to guard out there. He also needs to spend a lot of time in the weight room

- I'm pretty sure there isn't a 16 win team in the history of the NBA who had as much depth as the Wolves do now. It's pretty remarkable actually.

- Julius Randle will not be a star in the NBA

- Fun to see bball again. Looking forward to the rest of these games.

[Kevin Glasshands [enjin:6642795]]

Anyone else think Lavine's arms look bigger in that post game interview? Hopefully he's been bulking up a bit.

[kekgeek]

Instead of the usual format, I'm just going to throw a lot of bullets at you:

- Don't be too hard on Payne tonight, he was the one guy we had who attacked the glass.

- Russell is a crafty player, reminds me of a far less athletic Marbury

- Zach was impressive, but he needs to put a full game together. Part of maturing I guess.

- I like Tyus' game, but he's definitely going to be tasked with improving his footwork on D

- The officiating sucked balls tonight, and I'm not normally one to pick on the refs

- I want to see Towns be a bigger part of the offense going forward in this SL. Let's see what he can do. Use him on more high pick and rolls. He will be tough to guard out there. He also needs to spend a lot of time in the weight room

- I'm pretty sure there isn't a 16 win team in the history of the NBA who had as much depth as the Wolves do now. It's pretty remarkable actually.

- Julius Randle will not be a star in the NBA

- Fun to see bball again. Looking forward to the rest of these games.

I think he was involved with the offense a lot tonight, he accepted the double teams very well tonight, I hope that keeps happening to him.

Also I loved the fire with all the guys tonight they really wanted to win badly probably the best SL matchup they will get

[TAFKASP]

By the way, Crafty ----> Crappy.

Thankfully he showed better late!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, I thought Towns got plenty of touches, but they were double-teaming him for a while. The dude clearly knows how to pass. Some impressive dishes.

All three of the primary rookies - Towns, Jones, and Russell - looked a little shaky out there, with Jones being the shakiest (he was also drafted the latest). Towns was going up against Tarik Black, who man-handled him in the paint for the post part. Towns definitely needs to add some strength and toughness.

Payne hustles and tries hard. But it's hard for me to come up with many more good things to say about him.

I think LoBrow and LaVine deserve the game balls.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I don't really get why LA doubled Towns. His biggest struggles were in the post trying to score over their length and size. They gave up a lot of easy buckets by doubling him and letting him find the open cutter. Tyus has to take the next games more seriously. He looked bad and nonchalant out there. He didn't protect the ball and made some lazy moves out there. Lavine looked great. He has to keep attacking the basket. I'd like to see him iso'd more so he can blow past his guy to get a 2 on 1. He doesn't need a pick to get open. AP played hard, but he does a lot on offense that he can't finish yet. He could earn his way into the rotation if he would focus on the hustle plays and simplify his offensive game. I'd be fine with Lo Brown as the backup until Tyus beats him out. He and Lavine have good chemistry in the backcourt. Decent first game. I think we can play better. If everyone plays every game we should win the whole thing given our talent.

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

I'll just add that the postgame interview between Towns and Lavine was classic. The highlight being Lavine saying (when talking about Karl): "I'm trying to make you blush now."

Those two seem like two peas in a pod, goofy friendly guys who play hard on the court. I think it's actually good that Wiggins is more of the opposite, quiet and icy. Every good basketball team needs a healthy balance of personalities.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I bet LaVine plays one or two more games and then sits.....we'll see. He ended up getting a ton of minutes last season. My guess is that the main purpose of him playing in Summer League is to get comfortable playing the 2. If he plays well for another game or two, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they declare "mission accomplished" and then sit him to avoid any risk of injury.

[Phenom]

If Flip wants to start winning, it is probably wise to keep LoBro this year and let Tyus do the D League thing. Once we clinch the top seed in the West around the beginning of March, Flip can give Tyus some minutes to get him prepped for the following year.

[Lipoli390]

I agree that Tyus did not look NBA-ready tonight. His seemingly lazy or nonchalant approach tonight was also apparent at the scrimmage, but it didn't make him look bad then since the other squad wasn't exactly defending with any gusto. It was really disappointing to see him at one point stare at a loose ball and make no effort to retrieve it while others were diving to the floor to get it. He's small, weak and pretty slow by NBA PG standards so he needs to bring it every minute he's on the court. He has very good instincts and should eventually become a decent backup NBA PG, but he has a long way to go. I hope tonight was a wake-up call for him.

Towns' passing skills are tremendous - even better than I thought. He had a nice game overall, but he can do better and I sure he will. I liked his effort.

Payne isn't the brightest bulb on the tree, but I loved his effort tonight. He had a nice 4th quarter and was a key to the Wolves win tonight. He's an effort guy with nice length and athleticism. And he has the ability to score. I might warm up to him over time. He just needs to stop trying to do more than he's capable of on the offensive side of the ball.

LaVine was terrific. He's going to be a very good possibly great player. His play tonight was just a continuation of how he played the last 4 weeks of last season when he averaged nearly 20 points per game. If he continues to play at the level he's been playing since last March/April through tonight then he has to be our starting SG when the regular season begins. Ricky, LaVine, Wiggins, Towns and KG. That's the starting five I want to see in the regular season opener.