Around the NBA (non-Wolves talk)

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Don't disagree Monster. I've been saying for a while that the NBA has more talent and depth than ever before in its history. And I'm pretty convinced Golden State would crush most of the great teams from past eras.

[Monster]

Don't disagree Monster. I've been saying for a while that the NBA has more talent and depth than ever before in its history. And I'm pretty convinced Golden State would crush most of the great teams from past eras.

The talent has been going up no doubt and the intruiging talent is really fun. Jokic might be the Sabonis of our time. I still think it's unfair at times to compare eras. I do think those Lakers and Celtics teams from the 80's would have been pretty tough to play against. Those teams were pretty loaded both having multiple HOFers on the roster. I can't go any farther back than that I wasn't alive/aware before those teams. Would a guy like Simmons or GF be as able to do what they do with the physical play of 20 years ago? That's not knocking their talent but it's interesting to think about.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Rubio leading the Jazz in scoring at 15 ppg (29% 3's and he's taking 5 per game). Ouch.

[Monster]

Its been a good night for the Wolves with WC teams losing. The Nets are right there with Portland in the 4th quarter. It would be nice to see them hold on but The Blazers have come up hot to start the quarter.

The last few minutes of this game Ed Davis is the only true big on the floor. Hollis jefferson has been a big factor on both ends and Russell has been terrific...except hitting FTs. lol Nice win for the Nets. They actually played D.

[Lipoli390]

The Nets held on an won tonight. So the Blazers, Spurs and Jazz all lost to Eastern Conference teams. The Thunder finally won a game, beating the Clippers. Couldn't have had a better off night for the Wolves. It's good to see the Clippers fade and start to look like the lottery-bound or borderline playoff team I thought they'd be going into this season. One less real rival for the Wolves. The Jazz also appear to be fading and playing down to the level of their talent. The Spurs are still 7-5 after tonight's loss. We need them to lose as much as possible before Leonard returns. The Thunder will ultimately rise to the level of their talent, bu their slow start should help the Wolves in a battle for seeding down the road. Of course, the Wolves have to take matters into their own hands and win. It's critical that the Wolves beat the Suns on Saturday and I think it's also important to beat the Jazz to cap off this road trip.

In other news, my guy, John Collins, had 18 points, 8 boards and 2 blocks in 27 minutes tonight. Another guy the Wolves could have drafted, Giannis (the Greek Freak), dominated tonight with 38 points, 12 boards, 5 assists and 4 blocks. Josh Jackson finally had a good game with 18 points on 50% FG shooting along with 6 rebounds and 2 steals. I'm not sure yet whether his head is screwed on straight, but he's a tremendous talent. He rebounds, forces turnovers and plays defense. Jason Tatum had a decent night tonight as he continues to stay within striking distance of Ben Simmons for ROY honors this season.

The Celtics are amazing. Kyrie Irving goes down 2 minutes into the game and the Celtics still win their 10th consecutive game tonight. Tatum and Brows are looking like terrific picks. But hats off to their young head coach.

If I could swap our head coach for any other head coach in the League, I'd swap him for Brad Stevens. I'd swap Thibs for a number of other head coaches, but Stevens would be my first choice. If I could add one current NBA player from another team to the Wolves roster, it would be the Greek Freak.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Great recap Lip. Yes, everything went our way tonight with the East-West matchups all going in favor of the East.

I watched some of that Bucks/Spurs game. The thing I noticed is just how damn hard these two teams played and how well they move the ball. The NBA is as deep and talented as ever, which is why I'm perhaps not as enamored with our squad as others might be. It's all relative!

[Monster]

I just watched the last few minutes of the Hawks Pistons game because after watching the condensed game I saw Collins was in on the last few minutes. I like Collins and he obviously did some good things in this game but in theses few minutes there were a couple of plays that reflect the concern of the college scouting reports on him.

1. Collins comes off Drummond to contest a player going at the rim. The player misses and Drummond is in position for the rebound. Drummond gets the rebound puts the ball up misses and tips it back in and Collins never left his feet despite being a step away from him.

2. Collins is being involved in 2 man game defensively and on one play he probably should have been called for defensive 3 seconds as he was in no-man's land. He then comes up for no reason as Drummond was near the baseline and Drummond is left wide open behind him for at least a couple seconds so he gets an easy dunk.

Now when it comes to offense Collins does a lot of good things. He seems comfortable receiving passes and looking to move the ball. He does a pretty good job of setting screens and then making cuts to the basket or going to the dunker's spot. 3 of the 4 shots I saw him make were dunks and the other was a contested and therefore nice finish like 6 feet out in front of the rim. So far Collins takes over 85% of his shots within 10 feet of the rim including 62.5 percent at the rim. 26% of his FGs are dunks and he is shooting 74% from the FT line which shows he likely does have a jumper and the small sample of shots he has taken from outside of 10 feet are plenty good. He is putting up some impressive numbers in only 20 minutes per game.

Also Schroeder is a fun player to watch.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

To Lip's credit, Collins looks like a good player...on the offensive side at least. But there are a lot of comments about his very poor defense and why it is difficult to play him against the other team's starters...he is playing behind 2 SFs (Prince and Babbitt), because he just can't stop anyone. It will be interesting to see if Collins can develop into even an average NBA defender, because if he can, his rebounding and scoring could make him a very good NBA player.

The East went 4-0 on the road last night and is now 3 games better than the West! This is a very interesting trend that none of us predicted...it really is beginning to look like the young stars and coaches in the East could be turning the tide against the aging stars and established coaches in the West. Will be fun to monitor as the season progresses.

[Monster]

To Lip's credit, Collins looks like a good player...on the offensive side at least. But there are a lot of comments about his very poor defense and why it is difficult to play him against the other team's starters...he is playing behind 2 SFs (Prince and Babbitt), because he just can't stop anyone. It will be interesting to see if Collins can develop into even an average NBA defender, because if he can, his rebounding and scoring could make him a very good NBA player.

The East went 4-0 on the road last night and is now 3 games better than the West! This is a very interesting trend that none of us predicted...it really is beginning to look like the young stars and coaches in the East could be turning the tide against the aging stars and established coaches in the West. Will be fun to monitor as the season progresses.

LST I am curious where you have seen other comments about Collins defense thus far this year?

[Monster]

FWIW

https://twitter.com/kpelton/status/929420250017181696

2017 draft WARP leaderboard
Jayson Tatum 1.2
Lauri Markkanen 0.9
John Collins 0.9
Kyle Kuzma 0.5
OG Anunoby 0.4
Jordan Bell 0.4
Lonzo Ball 0.2
Jonathan Isaac 0.2
Bam Adebayo 0.2
Nobody else positive