Love me some Bazz

[thedoper]

http://www.twincities.com/2016/08/24/wolves-shabazz-muhammad-hopes-tom-thibodeaus-influence-helps-defense/

Yes he has his warts as a player. But a lot of the discussion when we got him was about his attitude etc being a potential problem. As far as being coachable he has been a total pro since coming in the league as far as I can tell. Love this article. I've been pro-Muhammad since before he was drafted and suspect that Thibs is actually going to play him and play him to his strengths similar to how Flip started to use Bazz when we saw a significant uptick in Bazz's stats.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Bazz has been very good in terms of his effort level and attitude. Whatever concerns existed on those fronts coming out of college never really materialized, which is a good thing.

However, some of the concerns about him as a player really did hold true. His defense, passing, and ball handling are all lackluster and he's proven to be a net negative when on the floor.

One of his problems defensively is he moves laterally like he has cement blocks tied to his feet. He's just plain slow east-west, which is what makes him less of a liability against big 3's and small-ball 4's than true wings that can put the ball on the floor and run pick and rolls.

We'll see how things go for him this year, he certainly seems to have the right attitude and work ethic to keep improving in some areas.

[thedoper]

Bazz has been very good in terms of his effort level and attitude. Whatever concerns existed on those fronts coming out of college never really materialized, which is a good thing.

However, some of the concerns about him as a player really did hold true. His defense, passing, and ball handling are all lackluster and he's proven to be a net negative when on the floor.

One of his problems defensively is he moves laterally like he has cement blocks tied to his feet. He's just plain slow east-west, which is what makes him less of a liability against big 3's and small-ball 4's than true wings that can put the ball on the floor and run pick and rolls.

We'll see how things go for him this year, he certainly seems to have the right attitude and work ethic to keep improving in some areas.

I don't see it that way. His defense has been consistently bad, yes. But he has had stretches of really being an asset. Under Flip he lead the league in ppt and there was huge buzz about his potential. Flip started him at the 2 when matchups dictated it, and it was working. Then he got injured. He came back and Sam buried him on the bench with no clue how to use him and no PG on the second unit. Now we have a competent coach again, and I suspect he's going to show improvement in all areas.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Bazz has been very good in terms of his effort level and attitude. Whatever concerns existed on those fronts coming out of college never really materialized, which is a good thing.

However, some of the concerns about him as a player really did hold true. His defense, passing, and ball handling are all lackluster and he's proven to be a net negative when on the floor.

One of his problems defensively is he moves laterally like he has cement blocks tied to his feet. He's just plain slow east-west, which is what makes him less of a liability against big 3's and small-ball 4's than true wings that can put the ball on the floor and run pick and rolls.

We'll see how things go for him this year, he certainly seems to have the right attitude and work ethic to keep improving in some areas.

I don't see it that way. His defense has been consistently bad, yes. But he has had stretches of really being an asset. Under Flip he lead the league in ppt and there was huge buzz about his potential. Flip started him at the 2 when matchups dictated it, and it was working. Then he got injured. He came back and Sam buried him on the bench with no clue how to use him and no PG on the second unit. Now we have a competent coach again, and I suspect he's going to show improvement in all areas.

We'll see....I do think we have the opportunity to surround him with talent that is more complementary. For example, if he is out there with Rush or LaVine and Bjelly - guys that love to hang out beyond the arc - it can really open up cutting lanes and post-ups for him. Defensively, having Rubio or Dunn along with Aldrich or Towns will also help.

[Monster]

Bazz has been very good in terms of his effort level and attitude. Whatever concerns existed on those fronts coming out of college never really materialized, which is a good thing.

However, some of the concerns about him as a player really did hold true. His defense, passing, and ball handling are all lackluster and he's proven to be a net negative when on the floor.

One of his problems defensively is he moves laterally like he has cement blocks tied to his feet. He's just plain slow east-west, which is what makes him less of a liability against big 3's and small-ball 4's than true wings that can put the ball on the floor and run pick and rolls.

We'll see how things go for him this year, he certainly seems to have the right attitude and work ethic to keep improving in some areas.

I don't see it that way. His defense has been consistently bad, yes. But he has had stretches of really being an asset. Under Flip he lead the league in ppt and there was huge buzz about his potential. Flip started him at the 2 when matchups dictated it, and it was working. Then he got injured. He came back and Sam buried him on the bench with no clue how to use him and no PG on the second unit. Now we have a competent coach again, and I suspect he's going to show improvement in all areas.

We'll see....I do think we have the opportunity to surround him with talent that is more complementary. For example, if he is out there with Rush or LaVine and Bjelly - guys that love to hang out beyond the arc - it can really open up cutting lanes and post-ups for him. Defensively, having Rubio or Dunn along with Aldrich or Towns will also help.

I'll say it again Bazz lateral quickness seems less of a problem than it was. Team defense is his biggest problem and at least he put forth effort in it last year.

Again as for Sam's use or lack of use of him it was based on a roster crunch how truly bad Bazz was on defense early and then also he basically made Bazz work to be a more complete player on offense not just get him the ball in good spots. I thought it led so some progress on both ends. Like Q said hopefully no matter what group he plays with he can have some guys that better compliment him than especially that all nearly all scoring group the Wolves utilized early on last year.

I think we should give credit to Bazz for being a good guy hard worker etc. Remember this guy had some problems with weight at times and his dad has some issues. Bazz was supposed to be a top guy and instead of letting that get to him he has seemingly worked his butt off for the last couple years. Lets hope it pays off. Flip liked him and there was enough talk about other teams having interest that makes me think some other franchises value him. He really does seem like a guy Thibs could like. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. Thibs has some young guys develop under him so there is some hope for Bazz.

[Lipoli390]

Thibs has already referred to Bazz as a "prolific scorer." I was shocked when I heard Thibs say that given Thibs' tendency to avoid hyperbole about any player. I think we'll see his scoring blossom under Thibs with better teammates surrounding him on our second unit. And let's not forget the fact that Bazz is a terrific offensive rebounder. The defense? Well, it's been pretty bad. But he'll be surrounded by much better defensive talent on the second unit with Dunn, Cole Aldrich and Jordan Hill. So we'll see. But I'm looking forward to seeing how Bazz performs this upcoming season.

[Monster]

Thibs has already referred to Bazz as a "prolific scorer." I was shocked when I heard Thibs say that given Thibs' tendency to avoid hyperbole about any player. I think we'll see his scoring blossom under Thibs with better teammates surrounding him on our second unit. And let's not forget the fact that Bazz is a terrific offensive rebounder. The defense? Well, it's been pretty bad. But he'll be surrounded by much better defensive talent on the second unit with Dunn, Cole Aldrich and Jordan Hill. So we'll see. But I'm looking forward to seeing how Bazz performs this upcoming season.

Lip I'll agree so was surprised he wen that far but it's also not that outlandish in some ways. It seems there have been some more advanced stats in the past that suggest Bazz is pretty prolific as a scorer. I'm sure Thibs is well aware of them. How many players score in double figures in 20mpg off the bench? Post Allstar Bazz averaged 12.5 in just under 22mpg. That's pretty good. He wasn't exactly a featured guy either although he was unleashed more down the stretch an was surrounded by teammates that weren't awful for him to play next to more often. Bazz said Thibs wanted to use him at SG SF and PF. Fans have been saying this for a couple years now although some suggest he can't play SG even though that's a good spot for him because a lot of SGs won't be able to guard him. Who cares if he can't dribble there are plenty of reasonably successful NBA wings that are far from creative ball handlers. I'm interested to see how Thibs utilizes Bazz and also what effect his coaching and system has on him as well.

What bugs me is people say Thibs is all about defense blah blah he won't like a guy who is basically just a scorer. Look at his PGs they are basically about scoring. Oh and Thibs has to have a scoring PG? That's ridiculous too the guys he had were best utilized as scorers and the team wasn't exactly flush with guys that we're going to go out and get buckets. Thibs coached to what he could get out of those guys he didn't tell them to be distributors or whatever which obviously would have not worked.

[bleedspeed]

So which Wolf has a breakout season? I would think Belly and Shabazz are high on that list.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

So which Wolf has a breakout season? I would think Belly and Shabazz are high on that list.

Two good choices, bleed, but I have to go with Belly. His play the last half of the season was exceptional, and he has a history of playing like that in Europe...it's reasonable for us to expect that he will build on what he did the last half of the season and have a breakout year.

I think we also know who Bazz is after 3 years in the pros and a year of college...an explosive scorer and offensive rebounder who doesn't pass and struggles on defense. And I don't think it's reasonable to expect anything different from him just because we have a new coach. Bazz's problems on defense are not due to lack of effort...he just doesn't seem to "get it", and I don't think Thibs will be any more successful than Sam and Flip in getting him to understand defense...it's an internal issue for Bazz, I think. I believe Bazz will continue to be what he has been the past three years...a high-scoring option off the bench that Thibs can turn to on nights when he is on. I love Bazz's passion for the game, but he is what he is. I suspect this will be his last year with us.

[Monster]

So which Wolf has a breakout season? I would think Belly and Shabazz are high on that list.

Two good choices, bleed, but I have to go with Belly. His play the last half of the season was exceptional, and he has a history of playing like that in Europe...it's reasonable for us to expect that he will build on what he did the last half of the season and have a breakout year.

I think we also know who Bazz is after 3 years in the pros and a year of college...an explosive scorer and offensive rebounder who doesn't pass and struggles on defense. And I don't think it's reasonable to expect anything different from him just because we have a new coach. Bazz's problems on defense are not due to lack of effort...he just doesn't seem to "get it", and I don't think Thibs will be any more successful than Sam and Flip in getting him to understand defense...it's an internal issue for Bazz, I think. I believe Bazz will continue to be what he has been the past three years...a high-scoring option off the bench that Thibs can turn to on nights when he is on. I love Bazz's passion for the game, but he is what he is. I suspect this will be his last year with us.

LST Belly only played 14 games after the all star break while to compare Bazz played 28. If we are taking 14 games as a sample size...