Around the NBA (non-Wolves talk)

[Lipoli390]

Why are we salivating over guys that are plsying on a 4-20 team. I think most rational observers would agree it is easier to put up meaningless stats on a losing team.

I think it's pretty normal to keep an eye on former Wolves. I happen to be a huge Dunn fan (although I certainly like Butler), so I am very interested in how he progresses. He still has a ways to go to be a reliable starting PG, but the guy can guard multiple positions and could eventually be a legit starting 1, 2, or 6th man Marcus Smart type.

Yep, watching ex-Wolves is something we do here. By following their performance after we trade them, it helps us evaluate the job our POBO is doing. Yes, I agree that stats might not mean as much on a losing team, but the fact that Dunn is shooting so well is significant I think. Also, Markannen shooting so poorly makes a lot of us feel we got lucky in the Butler deal, since many thought he would be our pick at 7.

Yes. And I suspect we're all happy with the Butler deal right now. I'm not salivating over Dunn quite yet. But benthewolf should see how I drool over Butler. :). Seriously, one of the things I like about Dunn is how similar he is to Butler. Both came up the hard way. Both initially made defense their calling card. Butler developed his offensive game later. It's good to see Dunn developing on the offensive end now.

As I've said before, I don't regret the Butler deal at all even thought it could turn out to be not so good for us over the long term. But I'm one of a few here who would have preferred to deal Wiggins straight up for Butler and I believe it was reported that the Bulls would have done that deal. Nevertheless, I'm still happy we have Butler.

Ive always felt that lavine and dunn would've excelled much more under Butler and Thibs tutelage than Wiggins. Still feel Wiggins and 7 for Butler and 16 (or not even) was the better play. Retain more depth, spacing with LaVine, and a tough nosed do-shit defensive lineup with Dunn, Butler, and Gibson when needed. I also highly doubt LaVine sees the max like Andrew.

Teague/LaVine/Butler/Gibson/KAT would've been killer offensively and I don't think we lose much on defense. And if needed, sub out Dunn (who is shooting 44% from 3 on over 2 attempts per) for either guard spot.

Still a bit salty on that facet of the trade.

You're not alone in preferring Zach to Wig, Future...several others here have expressed that view. I'm not one of them, because as much as I liked Zach, I couldn't help but notice how much the team improved when Rush replaced him in the starting lineup after his injury. Zach is a marvelously athletic wing with a sweet shot, but somehow it hasn't translated yet into the ability to help his team. The lightbulb just hasn't turned on for him yet, and I'm guessing Thibs didn't know if it ever was going to. I think Zach/Wig will be a fun talker for years similar to Foye/Roy, although it will be difficult to compare them because of the different
situations they will be in.

We still have to remember we have no clue what lavine is now after the ACL injury. He has already missed more than a 1/4 of the season. Where would we be today with out him and Wiggins. Still think it is super underrated that wiggins and Kat don't miss games

Also it has been reported that Dunn and Thibs did not get along at all because of playing time. Dunn thought he should be the starter last year.

Geek -- You've provided the strong counter to what some of us wanted. Zach's post-ACL game is still a question mark and Wiggins' durability are important considerations that cut against the alternative deal some of us have suggested. To avoid a repeat of the Dunn problem, I wouldn't have signed Teague. Dunn and Tyus could have battled for the lead PG position assuming we traded Ricky to Utah and the other would still get lots of playing time, including time on the floor together. We could have put Teague's $19 million into shoring up our SF position - possibly using $10 million to sign D. Collinson if not confident in turning the PG position over to Dunn and Tyus, which would have still left us the $7 million needed to sign CJ Miles.

[Monster]

Victor Oladipo dropping 33 on the Cavs last night.

Talk about a guy that has suddenly turned a corner. He's always been an OK to solid player, but his 3-point percentage has suddenly shot up into elite territory: 44% on six attempts per game. He's also knocking down a career high 50% of his 2-point shots. Pretty crazy seeing this kind of leap from a 5th year guy, but it seems like the real deal.

One thing I thought people missed about him was that he has shot the 3 better ever season. The guy took 5 of them a game last year on a decent percentage. His efficiency and shooting percentages have actually gone up every year. Now the guy gets to basically be the guy. On the Dunc'd on podcast Dylan Murphy who was a D-league assistant talked about what he sees from that team. I highly recommend that podcast he breaks down some concepts offensively and defensively that were insightful and I felt Ali really learned about the game and what NBA teams tend to look at. Anyway he said how either he Pacers there is no star player and so nobody feels like there is a guy they have to pass to. They get to just go out there and play. In addition with Dipo doing his thing they often have multiple ball handlers that can make plays on any possession at it really stresses a defense throughout the shot clock. It's not like anyone saw this coming but I did think Dipo's offensive abilities were underrated coming into this year. They have shooting around him as well which helps.

[Monster]

Lou Williams with another big game for the Clippers in a win over the Wizards with 35 points 8 assists and just 1 turnover. He hit a deep 3 over Beal to win the game. It was a bizarre finish because the final second the Wizards got 2 tries to win it when the clock started early the first time.

[Lipoli390]

Victor Oladipo dropping 33 on the Cavs last night.

Talk about a guy that has suddenly turned a corner. He's always been an OK to solid player, but his 3-point percentage has suddenly shot up into elite territory: 44% on six attempts per game. He's also knocking down a career high 50% of his 2-point shots. Pretty crazy seeing this kind of leap from a 5th year guy, but it seems like the real deal.

One thing I thought people missed about him was that he has shot the 3 better ever season. The guy took 5 of them a game last year on a decent percentage. His efficiency and shooting percentages have actually gone up every year. Now the guy gets to basically be the guy. On the Dunc'd on podcast Dylan Murphy who was a D-league assistant talked about what he sees from that team. I highly recommend that podcast he breaks down some concepts offensively and defensively that were insightful and I felt Ali really learned about the game and what NBA teams tend to look at. Anyway he said how either he Pacers there is no star player and so nobody feels like there is a guy they have to pass to. They get to just go out there and play. In addition with Dipo doing his thing they often have multiple ball handlers that can make plays on any possession at it really stresses a defense throughout the shot clock. It's not like anyone saw this coming but I did think Dipo's offensive abilities were underrated coming into this year. They have shooting around him as well which helps.

I'm not surprised by what Dipo's doing this season. Recall that he shot 44% from behind the arc his last season of college, albeit on low volume. But he also shot 60% from the field that season. That's not a typo. He really did shoot 60% (actually 59.9). Dipo has the three things I think you need to have coming out of college to have a chance of becoming an elite guard or SF in the NBA: (1) excellent (ball-on-a-string) ball-handling, (2) either great speed with the ball or great ability to change speed and directions with the ball, and (3) a high-octane motor.

[Lipoli390]

Mainly good news for the Wolves tonight.

First, the Bucks beat the Jazz. At 13-14 the Jazz are starting to fall back a little, which shouldn't be surprising given their talent. But still see them competing for one of the final two playoff spots in the West this season. The Greek Freak had another freaky-good game with 37 points on 64% shooting from the field, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. And to think Flip took Bazz ahead of him. Bummer.

Second, the Rockets beat the Blazers. Since I can't see the Wolves catching the Rockets in the standings, it's better to see then beat a team, the Blazers, that seems to be one of our chief competitors in the 4-8 seed range. Harden had another stellar game with 48 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Third the Thunder beat the Grizzlies. I wasn't sure whether to look at this as a positive. But at this juncture, best thing for the Wolves is to thin the herd of playoff contenders as much as possible. The Grizzlies are one of those teams that look like a borderline playoff team. They've really suffered since losing Conley to injury. His return will make them a lot better. I'll be pulling for a Thunder loss most games, but not tonight.

Unfortunately, the Spurs won again. I know it shouldn't be surprising since the win came against the lowly Suns playing without Booker. But it was on the road. More importantly, it's simply a continuation of what the Spurs have done so far this season. It's amazing. The Spurs are now 19-8 without their best player who hasn't played a game yet this season. Based on talent alone, the Wolves should have 19 wins and the Spurs more like 14.

Some nice individual performances in addition to the Greek Freak. Tyreke Evans had 29 points on on 54% shooting, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and a block. What a great signing for the Grizzlies. They have a terrific front office. Dunn had 17 points on 54% shooting, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Another very nice game from Dunn. Markkenan added 15 points on 50% shooting t go with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. McLemore finally had a good game with 17points on 60% shooting, including 5-7 from behind the arc. If he has a lot of games like this one, the Grizzlies deserve a lot of credit for signing him on the cheap the way they did last summer. Finally, Kuzma had another terrific game today with 12 points on 55% shooting and 14 rebounds. Steal of the draft.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Lakers winning handily at Philadelphia and then at Charlotte is impressive to me. They are ranked 7th in Opponent eFG% and 8th in Drtg. But wait, I thought a young, inexperienced team shouldn't be able to play good defense?

It's maddening to see a team like the Lakers, with multiple rookies and 2nd/3rd year guys in their rotation play this well defensively while we had to bring in Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson to simply go from bottom 2 or 3 defense to bottom 5 defense. It says a lot about our two former #1 picks.....and our coach.

P.S. This is not a good sign for the future for Western Conference foes. The Lakers are instilling a defensive culture very early in their rebuild. It's only a matter of time before their young guys start playing better offensively.

[Wolvesfan21]

I said I would wait another 20 games to call Thibs a failure, that was 5 games ago. We'll see IF they can start playing. Especially Wiggins who is shooting like Ricky Rubio from the 3P and all these vets who can't get KAT or Wiggins to focus mentally on defense. Wiggins just doesn't give the effort half the time.

If he packs it in like Chandler Parsons then I'll be really PO'd.

[Lipoli390]

Lakers winning handily at Philadelphia and then at Charlotte is impressive to me. They are ranked 7th in Opponent eFG% and 8th in Drtg. But wait, I thought a young, inexperienced team shouldn't be able to play good defense?

It's maddening to see a team like the Lakers, with multiple rookies and 2nd/3rd year guys in their rotation play this well defensively while we had to bring in Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson to simply go from bottom 2 or 3 defense to bottom 5 defense. It says a lot about our two former #1 picks.....and our coach.

P.S. This is not a good sign for the future for Western Conference foes. The Lakers are instilling a defensive culture very early in their rebuild. It's only a matter of time before their young guys start playing better offensively.

Yes, it's maddening to say the least. As you might recall, I hated the "we're too young" narrative last season. The Thunder weren't too young when they won 50 games with a 3rd year player in Durant, a 2nd year player in Westbrook and a rookie named Harden before he was anything like he is today. I didn't expect the Wolves to make the playoffs last season, but I expected improvement and we saw very little if any. So this season, our record is significantly better with the addition of veterans Butler, Taj and Crawford, but we still have a bottom 5 defense and a stagnant office, which I maintain is part of why we have a poor defense. Yes, it says a lot about our two #1 picks and our head coach.

[Lipoli390]

Dunn has been averaging 17.8 points, 7.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game in his last 7 games.

[benthewolf [enjin:19020845]]

The Grizz are 8-18 and far from a playoff threat, but hooray for their front office. Also hooray for the 5-20 Bulls stealing Dunn from us. Their front office must be great too, dumping dead weight in Jimmy Butler. And well, the 10-15 Lakers with their shut down defense and their three 2nd and a 7th draft picks the last four seasons. They kill it in the draft unlike the dreadful Wolves.