Wolves destroy Wizards : (no John Wall)

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think I want to revise any earlier commentary about Utah. They're gonna stay in the playoff race.

They have their best player (Gobert) out. Leading scorer (Hood) out. Two more rotation guys out. And they beat Denver by 29 points.

They've won 4 of their past 5 games... winning by 40, 30, 13 and 29. How? They have a system. They have a culture. They have accountability. I watched a play tonight where some no-name guy drove the lane, missed the layup, got knocked to the floor.

He raced at full speed immediately to get back in the play. And got the rebound on the other end. Even though the Jazz had a double digit lead at the time. THAT IS WINNING BASKETBALL.

[Monster]

It is what it is at this point. The Wolves are decent... but a flawed team. Fortunately, it looks like enough to make the playoffs... probably. The West fringe playoff teams are falling off. The Clippers are out. The Grizzlies are hanging on... barely. Utah still has Gobert out. It's gonna take a huge collective shitfest not to make the playoffs. That being said...

- While I'm not about to go full LST and spend literally thousands of posts blaming Thibs for everything... things are becoming clear. He's not reaching his players very well. The game might have passed him by. And little things like in-game timeouts are really terrible. Wiggins bomb bailed them out already this season. But check out this scenario.

58.6 seconds left. Wiz Timeout. They score instantly on a set play layup. Thibs calls his last timeout with 55 seconds left. What? Why? Shouldn't the Wolves play been discussed already in the huddle they just had?

- The bench sucks. When they get to play. Too many minutes for the starters... again.

- Better defensive effort. And I think that's in part because of Tyus Jones. He was supposed to be a sieve defensively. I'm not seeing it. Positioning/awareness goes a long way. IF he can develop a better jump shot... the guy is looking at a 10+ year career. Good for him.

- Remember the Suns' 7 seconds or less approach to basketball? The Wolves have passed them with their 5 seconds or less strategy...

Too bad they waste 19 seconds waiting for those final 5.

- Wall didn't play. That will be Beal's worst game of the season. And they still won. Mike Scott?

- Wolves 3 - 6 vs. the weak East now.

I like the breakdown Abe. I just looked up Mike Scott's numbers for this year. They are pretty good.

I'll say this about some of the iso possessions in this game. At least they spread the hell out and seemed to know what they were supposed to do instead of bumbling around like they were still running a play like 6th graders. They got better looks than they have. I still don't like it but at least the execuation was somewhat more palatable. One of the critisms of Scott Brooks in OKC was they didn't move the ball enough. I haven't heard that the Wizards have really made significant progress in that area under Brooks. I'd like to see a list of current head coaches that really seem to get their team to move the ball.

I think for the Wolves it's not as much ball movement as it is player movement. It's one thing to isolate a guy on one side of the floor, but then you can still run a bunch of action to free up cutters. Fatigue might be a factor too. It's tough to make hard basket cuts when your legs are tired.

I 100% agree with you Q. Watch the 1st quarter action compared to the 4th. Still a lot of iso but everyone is moving off things early in the game

Agreed.

I'll say this though I'd rather have guys standing basically around the 3 point line than the bumbling movement that's i have seen at times. If guys are cutting at the wrong time it will just clog things up. I absolutely agree with the idea that smart movement even in ISO is a good idea but espcially late in the game I haven't seen it from this team yet.

[Monster]

Muhammad has one more short contract before he's out of the league.

Sound like hyperbole? Maybe. After all, he's shown he can score a bit in the past. But can you name a more one-dimensional wing/guard in the league who isn't a plus player in any particular area? In another era, he'd be a better player. His selfish style and lack of shooting limits him significantly in 2017.

Certainly not hyperbole if he can't do more than he has so far.

It seems to me like the game is moving more away from specialists than ever before. So far Thibs offseason moves of Taj, Butler and Teague have shown nice returns. Holding out to get Bazz back and forgoing getting other guys instead? Horrific. Oh well not every move works out and at least Bazz is playing for the min and therefore replaceable either now, a few weeks, the offseason or...all of the above. Lol

[thedoper]

How Bazz gets so much more flack than Gorgui around here is silly too me. G gets more playing time, is more of a negative impact statistically because of his minutes, and makes it impossible for us to carry a legit 6th man on this roster because of his salary. G was my greatest hope for an improved bench and many nights been the worst player in the floor. So horrible.

[AbeVigodaLive]

How Bazz gets so much more flack than Gorgui around here is silly too me. G gets more playing time, is more of a negative impact statistically because of his minutes, and makes it impossible for us to carry a legit 6th man on this roster because of his salary. G was my greatest hope for an improved bench and many nights been the worst player in the floor. So horrible.

There are many stats available that indicate that Dieng is offering a lot more than Muhammad on the court.

Dieng has struggled with fewer minutes... but not as bad as Muhammad. For example... he has +.5 OBPM with a -1.6DPM and a 114ORtg and 111DRTG. His PER is 15.6. (basketballreference).

Muhammad is -2.5 OBPM and -3.4 DPBM with a 103 OTRG and 114 DTRG. His PER is 9.9.


[Note: By the way, Wiggins PER was at 14.8 before tonight. He is -1.7 OBPM and -1.6 DBPM. But for the first time, he has a positive VORP -- +0.1. YES!!!!!!!]

[Lipoli390]

It is what it is at this point. The Wolves are decent... but a flawed team. Fortunately, it looks like enough to make the playoffs... probably. The West fringe playoff teams are falling off. The Clippers are out. The Grizzlies are hanging on... barely. Utah still has Gobert out. It's gonna take a huge collective shitfest not to make the playoffs. That being said...

- While I'm not about to go full LST and spend literally thousands of posts blaming Thibs for everything... things are becoming clear. He's not reaching his players very well. The game might have passed him by. And little things like in-game timeouts are really terrible. Wiggins bomb bailed them out already this season. But check out this scenario.

58.6 seconds left. Wiz Timeout. They score instantly on a set play layup. Thibs calls his last timeout with 55 seconds left. What? Why? Shouldn't the Wolves play been discussed already in the huddle they just had?

- The bench sucks. When they get to play. Too many minutes for the starters... again.

- Better defensive effort. And I think that's in part because of Tyus Jones. He was supposed to be a sieve defensively. I'm not seeing it. Positioning/awareness goes a long way. IF he can develop a better jump shot... the guy is looking at a 10+ year career. Good for him.

- Remember the Suns' 7 seconds or less approach to basketball? The Wolves have passed them with their 5 seconds or less strategy...

Too bad they waste 19 seconds waiting for those final 5.

- Wall didn't play. That will be Beal's worst game of the season. And they still won. Mike Scott?

- Wolves 3 - 6 vs. the weak East now.

I like the breakdown Abe. I just looked up Mike Scott's numbers for this year. They are pretty good.

I'll say this about some of the iso possessions in this game. At least they spread the hell out and seemed to know what they were supposed to do instead of bumbling around like they were still running a play like 6th graders. They got better looks than they have. I still don't like it but at least the execuation was somewhat more palatable. One of the critisms of Scott Brooks in OKC was they didn't move the ball enough. I haven't heard that the Wizards have really made significant progress in that area under Brooks. I'd like to see a list of current head coaches that really seem to get their team to move the ball.

I think for the Wolves it's not as much ball movement as it is player movement. It's one thing to isolate a guy on one side of the floor, but then you can still run a bunch of action to free up cutters. Fatigue might be a factor too. It's tough to make hard basket cuts when your legs are tired.

You nailed it, Q. Player movement (lack thereof) is the main problem. It's even more apparent watching games in the arena. Fatigue could be part of the problem. For example, our lack of movement off the ball was worse tonight in the 4th quarter than in previous quarters. But it's never good and I've watched games where there is almost no off-ball movement early in the 1st quarter. This is by design, not happenstance. Thibs runs a methodical, iso offense. But we shouldn't be surprised because that's what he ran in Chicago. But there he had an elite iso player/PG named Derrick Rose. We don't have a player anything close to that type/caliber on this team -- not Wiggins, not Butler, not Teague. Too bad we couldn't swap Wiggins for Kyrie. Then this style might work.

I can see why Thibs swapped Ricky for Teague and agreed to pay Teague $19 million per year for 3 years. Teague was much closer than Ricky to the type of iso PG Thibs had in Rose. But unfortunately, Teague isn't close to what Rose's caliber back in the Chicago days. So here we are. Thibs has one style and only one style. It's not conducive to success in today's NBA and to have any chance of success it needs personnel we don't have. Thibs may have visions of reliving his glory days in Chicago, but ultimately he'll probably skip the glory and move directly to getting fired. For me, that day can't come soon enough.

[thedoper]

How Bazz gets so much more flack than Gorgui around here is silly too me. G gets more playing time, is more of a negative impact statistically because of his minutes, and makes it impossible for us to carry a legit 6th man on this roster because of his salary. G was my greatest hope for an improved bench and many nights been the worst player in the floor. So horrible.

There are many stats available that indicate that Dieng is offering a lot more than Muhammad on the court.

Dieng has struggled with fewer minutes... but not as bad as Muhammad. For example... he has +.5 OBPM with a -1.6DPM and a 114ORtg and 111DRTG. His PER is 15.6. (basketballreference).

Muhammad is -2.5 OBPM and -3.4 DPBM with a 103 OTRG and 114 DTRG. His PER is 9.9.


[Note: By the way, Wiggins PER was at 14.8 before tonight. He is -1.7 OBPM and -1.6 DBPM. But for the first time, he has a positive VORP -- +0.1. YES!!!!!!!]

I didn't say Muhammad had better stats than G. I said Gs bad stats have a greater impact on the team because he gets more minutes than Bazz. Thanks for your copy and pasting though.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

We crap the bed in the 4th because the starters are tired.

Thibs needs to make better used of those timeouts to get his guys a breather.

Thibs needs to get better bench players.

Thibs needs to do a better job of staggering the starters if he doesn't trust the bench.

Game in and game out; it's always the same.

Starters get a lead.
Bench bows the lead and gives opposition the momentum.
Starters use energy to fight back.
Dead legs to close the 4th.

[Wolvesfan21]

We crap the bed in the 4th because the starters are tired.

Thibs needs to make better used of those timeouts to get his guys a breather.

Thibs needs to get better bench players.

Thibs needs to do a better job of staggering the starters if he doesn't trust the bench.

Game in and game out; it's always the same.

Starters get a lead.
Bench bows the lead and gives opposition the momentum.
Starters use energy to fight back.
Dead legs to close the 4th.

Yep've seen this Movie too many times and it sucks. Time to write a new script. Thibs should have his picture in the Dictionary next to insanity.

Now the Wolves go on the road, likely losing the next two. Certain games you have to win, when you start losing games at home against avg. teams with their best player out then your in trouble.

[AbeVigodaLive]

How Bazz gets so much more flack than Gorgui around here is silly too me. G gets more playing time, is more of a negative impact statistically because of his minutes, and makes it impossible for us to carry a legit 6th man on this roster because of his salary. G was my greatest hope for an improved bench and many nights been the worst player in the floor. So horrible.

There are many stats available that indicate that Dieng is offering a lot more than Muhammad on the court.

Dieng has struggled with fewer minutes... but not as bad as Muhammad. For example... he has +.5 OBPM with a -1.6DPM and a 114ORtg and 111DRTG. His PER is 15.6. (basketballreference).

Muhammad is -2.5 OBPM and -3.4 DPBM with a 103 OTRG and 114 DTRG. His PER is 9.9.


[Note: By the way, Wiggins PER was at 14.8 before tonight. He is -1.7 OBPM and -1.6 DBPM. But for the first time, he has a positive VORP -- +0.1. YES!!!!!!!]

I didn't say Muhammad had better stats than G. I said Gs bad stats have a greater impact on the team because he gets more minutes than Bazz. Thanks for your copy and pasting though.

Not sure what you're trying to do here.

Muhammad gets more flack because he's played like one of the worst players in the league. Dieng is playing like a slightly above average bench guy on a bit above average team... and has actually made contributions to win games.

We can parse out specific percentages for players responsibilities based on mpg and salaries in some convoluted spreadsheet if you want. Or, continue to simply call out Muhammad for playing horrible basketball on both ends of the court, regardless of playing time or salary.

Psssst... there's a reason his minutes are down. And it might have something to do with his lack of on-court success.