Q12543 wrote:Abe, Those Celtic perimeter players are a bunch of freakin' bulldogs defensively. Crowder, Smart, Bradley....goodness they are relentless. If our perimeter guys could fight over screens half as well as that bunch does we would be in much better shape defensively. And there are no easy leak outs either. Those guys haul ass back.
Makes those 124 points look even more impressive...
[Note: Although I've noticed Boston gets into track meets from time to time. Giving up 110+ 10 times in the past 22 games.]
Wonder if that's because their group of bigs are less than ideal defensively. Olynyk, Sullinger, Johnson and Zeller aren't imposing defensively. They can be scored on if you get through their perimeter guys.
They are 3rd in Pace and 4th in defensive efficiency. That's exactly where I'd love our squad to be at some point - where we can run, but also still play tight defense. Now we don't have the perimeter bulldogs those guys do, but perhaps KAT becomes a much more dominant force defensively with time. I agree that their interior bigs are less than ideal defensively.
Wiggins deserves the criticism that has been heaped on him from this game however I will remind people that he had a few hustle plays in This game that seem to be forgotten. He got back and forced the turnover that led to Dieng's 3 at the end of the quarter not to mention he made the correct pass to Dieng for the shot. There were a couple other times 50/50 balls ended up in his hands. It feels like Wiggins the last 2 months has battled more on the boards and he still needs to improve there but I don't think he is a lost cause on those other aspects that make a player worthwhile. It's certainly something he should be criticized for and Peterson was ripping him in this game plenty for not being locked in and Wiggins was deserving of those comments.
One thing that got me in that first half was that 2nd unit just didn't seem to have a clue how to operate on offense that that wasn't just on Tyus. Think about the guys on the floor many of them have t really spent much time together and yeah Martin and Bazz together probably isn't the best thing. (More on that later) Sam did make an adjustment in the 2nd half sprinkling here and there more instead of pretty much just that bench rotation and it was a good thing.
The odd thing about Martin is I think he is a guy that benefits from being in a system. He is very good at moving without the ball finding easy ways to score. He played for Adelman and alot of what Adelman did was have guys of that type run around get open and spot up. I would say the offense the Wolves have run hasn't been too good for Martin and he has been playing a. Purple different roles starting coming off the bench playing with various lineups. Honestly with only a chunk of games left in a season teams are probably smart to not add Martin right. Ow because he is out of sync to begin with and it would take time for him to acclimate. I don't want to let Martin off the hook or make him sound like some guy that sucks and is dependent on this or that but I think sometimes people forget that some players do better when they know what their teammates are goin to do and what in being run. Also there was that stretch in this game Martin was giving absolutely max effort on D and created a couple plays on that end. It's been rough after the all-star break he has been more like good/bad Lavine in him making bonehead plays and then hitting some 3's drawing a foul or two etc.
In a way I think Bazz is similar to Martin (which is a big part of the problem of them playing together) in that I think he can find spots to get easy baskets if he knows where he can get to those spots. Obviously both guys also have iso games also and Bazz is better right now there than Martin. Put both guys on the floor together and you have 2 guys that have strengths of trying to get to certain spots on the floor for easy buckets with cuts and cults etc and neither guy is particularly good at creating for other players...yeah it's not a good combination plus obviously they aren't good on the defensive end. It's going to be interesting seeing those guys playing with Tyus though because they are at least guys that spot up for 3's as targets for Tyus on possible drive and kick plays.
kekgeek1 wrote:Can I just say I love crowder, but this came out of nowhere. Crowder was like the mavericks 9th to 10th man then he was traded and broke out. Let's cool down on the wiggins trading he is 6th all time in scoring before his 21st birthday. He struggled but let's hope he bounces back instead of trying to trade him after every bad game
And when he came into the league it was generally believed his offense would be a work in progress. Let's not sugar coat this, for his age he IS an elite scorer in this league. I see the same things some complain about. The lack of motor, the occasional disinterest, and lack of overall impact on the stat sheet. Those are all valid concerns that are difficult to argue against. But don't forget how easily he can score most nights, and realize he has every physical trait to become not just a good but great defender. Also remember those nights when he's simply willed us to victory with yes, his aggressiveness and drive at the end of games.
I think some of you are so disappointed that he's not going to be the next Lebron, Curry, or Kobe, that you gloss over the fact he's a pretty good player. So maybe he's not going to be a superstar, so what? Every team in the league would like to have him, and every one would be willing to give up a helluva lot more than Jae Crowder.
I'm a huge Jae Crowder fan and would love to have him on our team. But choosing between Crowder and Wiggins I'll still take the 20 year old already scoring 20 points per game and with huge remaining upside. That's in spite of some serious and increasing doubts I'm having about whether Wiggins has what it takes to come anywhere close to reaching his potential.
Camden wrote:I think I'll stay out of this Wiggins discussion before something I say gets spun into "Cam hates Andrew Wiggins" two weeks from now when he's on a hot stretch of games. The last thing I need are words that aren't even mine being thrown in my face, which has happened more than once on this board when it pertains to Wigs.
Lip, if you're still reading, what Hawaiian island(s) are you planning on going to? I went to Maui in January for 10 days and it was absolutely beautiful. At the time, it was mating season for whales so on our whale watching voyage we saw easily 40 whales, maybe more, which is a lot for one trip. We even got to see whale birth which was pretty rare. The captain of our boat said that he had been taking visitors out over two years and that's just the third time he had ever seen that. The reason told to us was that the whales stayed closer to the shore than they normally do to mate because the water's warmer there than it is further away from land. If the baby whale is born into too cold of water, there's a sadly high chance that the baby will die of hypothermia. Interesting stuff, really. So, if you have the time and necessary funds (wasn't terribly expensive), I'd absolutely recommend that you experience that. And if you're a fan of fried calamari, there's no place to get it better than Hawaii. Absolutely exquisite. There are also a ton of luaus to choose from and as touristy as it sounds, that was a lot of fun. I'd enjoy sharing more with you when you get back, that is if you're willing to share your Hawaiian experience, but I completely understand if you wouldn't want to. Have a fantastic trip!
Hey Cam. We're going to Maui too. I've never been to the Hawaiian islands before so I'm pretty excited. We will check on whale watching. That sounds really cool. Let me know if you have any other recommendations. I'll fill you in when I get back.
