Timberwolves statistics + Trends.

[AbeVigodaLive]

- 33 players get more FGAs than KAT does per game. 32 players get more FTAs than KAT per game. Everybody knows about his defense. But almost everybody agrees this guy is arguably the most skilled big man on offense in the league. Maybe focus on that to offset his weaknesses. Heck, there are some (Zach Lowe) who think he might be one of the most skilled and versatile scoring bigs in NBA history. Every stat suggests that he's efficient while shooting from every spot on the floor.

Yet those numbers I posted indicate he's being wasted. Either build around the "superstar" player... or trade him for a wing superstar who can make more of an impact every time he steps on the court regardless of how the opposing team guards him... or what teammates are on the court with him.

- Over the last 10 games... Derrick Rose has taken 144 shots. He's taken only 14 free throws. And it's not like he's not attacking... he's taken only 25 three point attempts.

The numbers suggest he should be getting many more free throws. Only 1.4 per game is laughable... even if he was a catch-and-shoot specialist. Heck... Robert Covington has 34 free throw attempts in his last 10 games... even though 68 of his 123 attempts are three pointers.

Any explanations?

- The Wolves average 28.5 three point attempts on the season. But oh oh... look closer. They haven't taken more than 28 three point attempts in any of the past 6 games. They're averaging 22.8 per game in that stretch. And the team is 2 - 4. Coincidence? Fluke? Or trend in the wrong direction?

The league average is 31.2 attempts per game.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Dont think anyone is going to argue with you. Kat needs to be the focal point of our offense. But is that on our ball dominant guards (rose and teague) or is that on our coaches. Teague doesnt know how to play the pnr with kat while rose doesnt even look at kat. You know who works well with kat? Dont laugh but its Wiggins. Im guessing that half of kats 3pt makes come from wiggys passes. We go to their 2 man 2 or 3 times a game, and its efficient.

Ps

Look up the w-l numbers of when kat gets the most shots vs when rose gets the most shots.

8~2 when kat has more than 16 shots per game.
2~6 when rose gets more than 16 shots per game.
5~4 when wiggs gets at least 16 shots.

I cut it off at 16 as a best guess for most shots per game. I think the numbers would be similar if we got more exact.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Dont think anyone is going to argue with you. Kat needs to be the focal point of our offense. But is that on our ball dominant guards (rose and teague) or is that on our coaches. Teague doesnt know how to play the pnr with kat while rose doesnt even look at kat. You know who works well with kat? Dont laugh but its Wiggins. Im guessing that half of kats 3pt makes come from wiggys passes. We go to their 2 man 2 or 3 times a game, and its efficient.

If that's true... 1/2 of Wiggins' assists are for KAT's three point attempts... and that's pathetic as well.

KAT has 52 three pointers this season. Wiggins only has 52 assists.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Good stuff here. It is absolutely criminal that he is not among the top 10-15 players in the league in shot attempts. And it's not like the list above him is exclusively ball handling guards and wings that theoretically are in a better position to create shots for themselves. Anthony Davis, Embiid, Griffin, Love, Vucevic, and Aldridge are all ahead of him in FGA per game. And it's not like all of these guys are playing with brilliant play making point guards.

I don't think KAT is the greatest screen and roller, but still, that's no excuse for ranking this low on the list.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Just for fun...

Spencer Dinwiddie had 14 free throw attempts yesterday and 18 fgas... including 6 three pointers.


[Edit: Rookie, Luka Doncic, took 15 ftas last night. 14 fgas... including 6 threes.]

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

On Rose, he has been eye candy for anyone lamenting the disappearance of the mid-range game. Nearly a third of his shots come from 10 foot+ 2 pointers. We've seen his array of push shots, bankers, and pull up jumpers. He is also pretty crafty around the rim, often able to use his body to shield defenders while putting just the right amount of english on the ball to sink shots off the back board. It's high-skilled stuff indeed, but yeah, he's not really throwing his body or arms into people and drawing fouls.

While Rose has been way more than expected offensively, I do wonder about the sustainability of his current efficiency. The shots he's taking are what most coaches desperately want their players to avoid.

Between Rose, Dieng, and Wiggins, we have three of the most "long/mid-range 2" dependent players in the NBA.

[AbeVigodaLive]

On Rose, he has been eye candy for anyone lamenting the disappearance of the mid-range game. Nearly a third of his shots come from 10 foot+ 2 pointers. We've seen his array of push shots, bankers, and pull up jumpers. He is also pretty crafty around the rim, often able to use his body to shield defenders while putting just the right amount of english on the ball to sink shots off the back board. It's high-skilled stuff indeed, but yeah, he's not really throwing his body or arms into people and drawing fouls.

While Rose has been way more than expected offensively, I do wonder about the sustainability of his current efficiency. The shots he's taking are what most coaches desperately want their players to avoid.

Between Rose, Dieng, and Wiggins, we have three of the most "long/mid-range 2" dependent players in the NBA.

Posted this one the other day...

Rose averaged 18.0 ppg / 3.8 reb / 4.4 apg / 47.1% fg his last season in NYK... when he was deemed virtually unplayable by any team trying to win... and assumed to be headed for China sooner than later.

He's at 18.5 ppg / 3.0 reb / 4.5 apg / 49.2% fg this season. The only outlier is that he's shooting 47.7% on three pointers. Considering he hadn't even hit 30% of his three pointers since 2014 when he only played 10 games... should we reasonably expect anything different than the player considered to be a net negative in NY and unplayable in CLE?

[Monster]

On Rose, he has been eye candy for anyone lamenting the disappearance of the mid-range game. Nearly a third of his shots come from 10 foot+ 2 pointers. We've seen his array of push shots, bankers, and pull up jumpers. He is also pretty crafty around the rim, often able to use his body to shield defenders while putting just the right amount of english on the ball to sink shots off the back board. It's high-skilled stuff indeed, but yeah, he's not really throwing his body or arms into people and drawing fouls.

While Rose has been way more than expected offensively, I do wonder about the sustainability of his current efficiency. The shots he's taking are what most coaches desperately want their players to avoid.

Between Rose, Dieng, and Wiggins, we have three of the most "long/mid-range 2" dependent players in the NBA.

Posted this one the other day...

Rose averaged 18.0 ppg / 3.8 reb / 4.4 apg / 47.1% fg his last season in NYK... when he was deemed virtually unplayable by any team trying to win... and assumed to be headed for China sooner than later.

He's at 18.5 ppg / 3.0 reb / 4.5 apg / 49.2% fg this season. The only outlier is that he's shooting 47.7% on three pointers. Considering he hadn't even hit 30% of his three pointers since 2014 when he only played 10 games... should we reasonably expect anything different than the player considered to be a net negative in NY and unplayable in CLE?

Good thread abe.

Personally I didn't understand how Rose was supposed to be so terrible after than Knick's season. One reason? He took over 40% of his shots at the rim that year and hit over 55% of them. I said after that season he should be playing as an off guard off the bench. Seems like he is doing exactly that here and pretty successful. The Lack of FTs is kinda weird he isn't attacking as much lately but there are times he should be getting some calls. That offensive foul call he had go against him last night was terrible. Overall I don't think he has been quite as good offensively the last stretch of games but I also think teams are game planning for him. He has to make an adjustment and some of that has been not attacking the rim quite as much in the half court.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

So are we all still enjoying watching this team? That's what we all said a week ago. Lakers are a game out of first in the West. Suns are only bad team in the West.

Is it time to crank up the lottery thread?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

So are we all still enjoying watching this team? That's what we all said a week ago. Lakers are a game out of first in the West. Suns are only bad team in the West.

Is it time to crank up the lottery thread?

I'm still enjoying watching this team. It's been an 0-3 road trip, but I found all three games much more entertaining than any game in the last west coast debacle. The new Philly guys are fun to watch, Wig is closer to the player we want him to be, Rose is playing like MVP Rose, and the second team provides great energy when they're on the court. We're still stuck with Thibs and I think we would have a few more wins without him, but overall, I'm enjoying this team.