Game Report: I have seen the light!

[60WinTim]

Well stated on all accounts, Abe. When you think about the young core of LaVine, Wiggins and KAT all being just 20 years old, it's actually surprising they perform as well as they do. It bodes well for a couple years down the road, but suggest a bumpy ride in the meantime. Sam winds up being just a babysitter this year...

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

[quote=@6635642

https://soundcloud.com/wolves-radio/sam-mitchell-postgame-22?in=wolves-radio/sets/12-15-wolves-vs-denver

What a load of crap by Sam in that post game interview.

"At the moment we play basketball, but we aren't playing basketball"

Um Sam you coach the team so it's your job to get this team 'playing' basketball.

That was a really dumb comment by Sam. I was just pulling into my garage and feeling pretty good about his presser up until then, but that comment floored me.

LST - Sam wasn't impressing me at his presser even before he added to his list of idiocies. He sounded lost and frustrated. The only positive is he wasn't quite as pompous as he usually is. The guy just isn't very smart. It's that simple.

[Lipoli390]

[quote=@6635642

https://soundcloud.com/wolves-radio/sam-mitchell-postgame-22?in=wolves-radio/sets/12-15-wolves-vs-denver

What a load of crap by Sam in that post game interview.

"At the moment we play basketball, but we aren't playing basketball"

Um Sam you coach the team so it's your job to get this team 'playing' basketball.

That was a really dumb comment by Sam. I was just pulling into my garage and feeling pretty good about his presser up until then, but that comment floored me.

LST - Sam wasn't impressing me at his presser even before he added to his list of idiocies. He sounded lost and frustrated. The only positive is he wasn't quite as pompous as he usually is. The guy just isn't very smart. It's that simple.

I'm a defense first guy, Lip, so I liked the press conference (until the dumb line at the end). Sam isn't going to throw Martin under the bus and also is too stubborn to admit he is playing him too much, so instead he talked around the topic by saying he was going to help the defense by tweaking the rotations. When pressed by someone about how he was going to tweak, he said he had some ideas but needed to sleep on it. But I heard a hidden message that Martin won't be starting tonight, and that has to be a good thing. If I'm wrong and he instead makes another move destined to fail defensively, I will be disappointed.

[60WinTim]

LST - you said you would be disappointed if Zach replaced KMart because it would leave Wiggins at SF where he does not have as much of an advantage as he has at SG.

But my counter to that is Zach is blossoming right before our very eyes. He is rapidly improving at all facets of the game and is ahead of Wiggins in many statistically categories. He has earned the right to be the starting SG more so than Wiggins has shown he deserves to be the starting SG.

I am confident many people will say "I told you so" in regards to Zach starting at SG. That's fine. I don't have a big problem with the path Sam has taken to reach this point. People forget that individual development and team chemistry doesn't happen overnight. It is a process of trying things, seeing how players develop, and making adjustments based on what happens on the court. And not in a knee-jerk fashion.

(although I do have a problem with Sam in other areas of the game, such as his offensive schemes, etc.)

[Lipoli390]

LST - Another note on Sam's presser. Even before his idiotic comment, all Sam did was express his frustration with the defense. So I'm not surprised his comment resonated with you. But think about it. He offered no insights, no meaningful analysis. Anyone off the street could and wild have made the same comments - basically venting frustration. And Sam offerd no possible remedies other than another rotation tweak, which will probably be a return to what he's already done. We should expect a lot more from the team's head coach! I don't see anything praiseworthy from Sam's presser.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

[quote=@6635642

https://soundcloud.com/wolves-radio/sam-mitchell-postgame-22?in=wolves-radio/sets/12-15-wolves-vs-denver

What a load of crap by Sam in that post game interview.

"At the moment we play basketball, but we aren't playing basketball"

Um Sam you coach the team so it's your job to get this team 'playing' basketball.

That was a really dumb comment by Sam. I was just pulling into my garage and feeling pretty good about his presser up until then, but that comment floored me.

LST - Sam wasn't impressing me at his presser even before he added to his list of idiocies. He sounded lost and frustrated. The only positive is he wasn't quite as pompous as he usually is. The guy just isn't very smart. It's that simple.

I'm a defense first guy, Lip, so I liked the press conference (until the dumb line at the end). Sam isn't going to throw Martin under the bus and also is too stubborn to admit he is playing him too much, so instead he talked around the topic by saying he was going to help the defense by tweaking the rotations. When pressed by someone about how he was going to tweak, he said he had some ideas but needed to sleep on it. But I heard a hidden message that Martin won't be starting tonight, and that has to be a good thing. If I'm wrong and he instead makes another move destined to fail defensively, I will be disappointed.

I'll welcome dropping Martin from the starting lineup. But this team's defensive woes go beyond starting Martin. If all Sam does is go back to his early season starting lineup, replacing Martin with Prince, that will just further confirm the void between Sam's ears. Going back to the original starting lineup MAY result in a marginal improvement defensively, but the starting offense will suffer and bench defense will be even worse. A shorter more stable rotation might help us on both sides of the ball, especially team defense.

And what about development and building for the future? More playing time for guys who won't be here in 2 seasons is an unacceptable answer to this team's current problems.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

I want to see a shorter rotation with Martin and Bazz sitting on the bench. Lavine, KAT, Wiggins and Dieng all should be able to handle big minutes.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

LST - you said you would be disappointed if Zach replaced KMart because it would leave Wiggins at SF where he does not have as much of an advantage as he has at SG.

But my counter to that is Zach is blossoming right before our very eyes. He is rapidly improving at all facets of the game and is ahead of Wiggins in many statistically categories. He has earned the right to be the starting SG more so than Wiggins has shown he deserves to be the starting SG.

I am confident many people will say "I told you so" in regards to Zach starting at SG. That's fine. I don't have a big problem with the path Sam has taken to reach this point. People forget that individual development and team chemistry doesn't happen overnight. It is a process of trying things, seeing how players develop, and making adjustments based on what happens on the court. And not in a knee-jerk fashion.

(although I do have a problem with Sam in other areas of the game, such as his offensive schemes, etc.)

Yeah, I've softened on my knee-jerk take last night that I will be disappointed if Sam's only move is to have Zach replace Kevin...it's so important to me to not have KMart starting halves that I will be fine if Sam makes that move. My preference though is this:

1) Put Tay in the starting lineup and leave Wig at SG.
2) Give Zach significant minutes backing up Ricky at PG, and if KMart is having a off night shooting, also some minutes at SG
3) Give Belly a break for a few games by giving his minutes to Payne. Don't get me wrong... I like Belly better than Payne at PF. But Belly has been a mess at both ends of the court since he got hurt and needs some time on the bench to either heal or get his head screwed on right.

[Lipoli390]

LST - Brief responses to your two points:

1. Prince -- I think the standard stock disclaimer applies here. Past performance is not indicative of future results. I'll add that I think our recent defensive problems go way beyond one player versus another in the starting lineup. I do think we will be better off with Martin out of the starting lineup. His bad shots alone hurt us and lead to points on the other end. I think starting Zach rather than Prince over Martin would be a bigger positive because it would add another ballhandler as well as scorer to the lineup. Zach is also a better rebounder and passer than Prince.

2. Development. Zach's ballhandling is fine. It's Wiggins who needs to substantially improve in that area. But that will have to be an off-season project.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

LST - Brief responses to your two points:

1. Prince -- I think the standard stock disclaimer applies here. Past performance is not indicative of future results. I'll add that I think our recent defensive problems go way beyond one player versus another in the starting lineup. I do think we will be better off with Martin out of the starting lineup. His bad shots alone hurt us and lead to points on the other end. I think starting Zach rather than Prince over Martin would be a bigger positive because it would add another ballhandler as well as scorer to the lineup. Zach is also a better rebounder and passer than Prince.

2. Development. Zach's ballhandling is fine. It's Wiggins who needs to substantially improve in that area. But that will have to be an off-season project.

Lip, I agree that Zach's ballhandling is better than Wig's (Wig has shaky hands and doesn't seem to be improving his handle like I would have expected), but I still see room for significant improvement. A simple entry pass to a guy posting up (Towns, Wig, Bazz) is a skill that he needs to be able to execute regardless of what guard position he is playing, but he is far from proficient at it.. The more ballhandling reps he gets, the quicker he will improve...just look at his year-over-year improvement. I'm still quite bullish on Zach and think he will be a very good player regardless of what position he plays. Sam and Flip both consistently said (say) the same thing when asked what Zach's position is..."Guard".