Camden wrote:
It just pisses me off that we were robbed of seeing this for 82 games. That's on Sam.
It sucks, but now that it's almost over and the Wolves could be in position to add yet another young, inexpensive cog to their wheel I'm not sweating it. If Milt does his job with this pick and free agency the Wolves should end their playoff drought next year!
The reality is that however the hell Zach got to this point damn it's freaking awesome just utilize and keep developing him from here on out and I am happy. It's amazing where he is at right now.
Serious question here. Does Sam's 'tough love' approach with Zach deserve any credit? Did Sam's approach break Zach down and demand a level of fundamentals that provided a foundation for Zach to develop from?
I alluded to it in another thread, but I'd love to know Zach's impression of Sam now that he's getting the minutes and he's succeeding. Does he have some level of respect Sam's approach, or does he feel that he's made the progress he has in spite of Sam?
My vote is more in spite of than because of simply for the fact that he was playing out of position for a large chunk of the year because of Sam while looking like a decent player most of the time he got spot minutes at the 2. What is Zach doing extremely differently now than early in the season that Sam could be credited coaching him up on? He has confidence now which has always been the scary what if he develops this thing with his physical tools. I don't see how Sam gave him that confidence with the way he jerked him around all year. I think that just came from playing his natural position and getting playing time with the right guys which he could have had all season. I guess if Sam deserves any credit, he finally got out of his own way playing this starting lineup and hasn't been up his own ass with matchup lineups recently. It only took our talent basically forcing his hand being an offensive powerhouse to happen though which is frustrating because we could have been playing like this possibly as early as coming into the all-star break and tried to add a role player at the deadline who could have helped.
Zach had confidence since the day he stepped into the complex. That isn't something new. But mentally the game seems to have slowed down quite a bit for him. He's eliminated a lot of the careless mistakes and he's just balling now.
What confidence was he showing out on the court? He has the physical tools to take on anyone and he was notorious for letting hard hedges shut down his PnR game and he wasn't hitting shots consistently. Those are confidence issues. The pass he made to G in overtime last night off the hard hedge doesn't happen a year ago. Him shooting 48% from 3 in this recent stretch is a confidence thing. He has the same form he always has had and now they're going in a lot more frequently. I don't know how you can say he came in with confidence from day 1 when he definitely didn't play like it. He looked like a lost kid out there a lot and now he looks like a real offensive threat. I haven't seen many people say that guy has a lot of confidence, but he looks lost out there. Being in top mental shape for the game and confidence go hand in hand.
He played like a rookie playing out of position, not like someone lacking confidence. The media covering the team has talked about his supreme confidence in himself for two years. You know better?
Apparently he was just dumb and timid yet still the most confident guy out there then. All I know is how confident guys play the game from watching it for years and he wasn't playing with high confidence because he was messing up basic plays and looked lost out on the court. Saying you're confident in your abilities and playing like it are two different things. If reports came out that Belly was the most confident in his game than he's ever been this year would you believe it? No, because his game doesn't match up with that. Saying it and playing it are two different things.
Yeah, I think LaVine's always felt confident in his ability. He's always been confident in his shot and his physical gifts. I think he did look and play lost, but that's because he was playing out of position, not because he was unsure of himself.
As for Shumway's question, I don't see anything different with LaVine's game except he's being played at his natural position. It's funny how just playing the position you're supposed to play will make you look that much better. I can't give Mitchell much credit for that simply because it took him 50+ games to realize that LaVine's a shooting guard, and a damn good one.
Instead, I give LaVine more credit because he hung in there, did what our ignorant head coach asked him to do, played without complaining, and then when he got the chance to run away with the starting SG position, he did just that.
The way Towns has talked and played like since day 1 is what it looks like to do so with high confidence from the start. I just don't see how someone can say from day 1 Zach came in with the attitude of I'm better than you and then played that way and it's not playing out of position or mistakes that leads me to say that. Zach didn't shoot like that or play like that. His game involved a lot of settling early (pulling up for long two's instead of going all the way to the basket, picking up his dribble when being hard hedged and struggling to get rid of the ball, etc.). I just don't see guys with high confidence doing that across the league. Playing with confidence and settling when you have the better physical tools aren't really paired together often.
khans2k5 wrote:The way Towns has talked and played like since day 1 is what it looks like to do so with high confidence from the start. I just don't see how someone can say from day 1 Zach came in with the attitude of I'm better than you and then played that way and it's not playing out of position or mistakes that leads me to say that. Zach didn't shoot like that or play like that. His game involved a lot of settling early (pulling up for long two's instead of going all the way to the basket, picking up his dribble when being hard hedged and struggling to get rid of the ball, etc.). I just don't see guys with high confidence doing that across the league. Playing with confidence and settling when you have the better physical tools aren't really paired together often.
If I ever hear one person associated with or covering the team say Zach has had a confidence issue, I'll give your point some credence. What you're saying is the opposite of everything we've ever heard about him.
khans2k5 wrote:The way Towns has talked and played like since day 1 is what it looks like to do so with high confidence from the start. I just don't see how someone can say from day 1 Zach came in with the attitude of I'm better than you and then played that way and it's not playing out of position or mistakes that leads me to say that. Zach didn't shoot like that or play like that. His game involved a lot of settling early (pulling up for long two's instead of going all the way to the basket, picking up his dribble when being hard hedged and struggling to get rid of the ball, etc.). I just don't see guys with high confidence doing that across the league. Playing with confidence and settling when you have the better physical tools aren't really paired together often.
If I ever hear one person associated with or covering the team say Zach has had a confidence issue, I'll give your point some credence. What you're saying is the opposite of everything we've ever heard about him.
There were several stories written about LaVine being a pretty confident dude. Here's one from his rookie year:
khans2k5 wrote:The way Towns has talked and played like since day 1 is what it looks like to do so with high confidence from the start. I just don't see how someone can say from day 1 Zach came in with the attitude of I'm better than you and then played that way and it's not playing out of position or mistakes that leads me to say that. Zach didn't shoot like that or play like that. His game involved a lot of settling early (pulling up for long two's instead of going all the way to the basket, picking up his dribble when being hard hedged and struggling to get rid of the ball, etc.). I just don't see guys with high confidence doing that across the league. Playing with confidence and settling when you have the better physical tools aren't really paired together often.
If I ever hear one person associated with or covering the team say Zach has had a confidence issue, I'll give your point some credence. What you're saying is the opposite of everything we've ever heard about him.
Saying it and playing it are different. He'll always say it. He wasn't always playing like it. That's all I'll say.
khans2k5 wrote:The way Towns has talked and played like since day 1 is what it looks like to do so with high confidence from the start. I just don't see how someone can say from day 1 Zach came in with the attitude of I'm better than you and then played that way and it's not playing out of position or mistakes that leads me to say that. Zach didn't shoot like that or play like that. His game involved a lot of settling early (pulling up for long two's instead of going all the way to the basket, picking up his dribble when being hard hedged and struggling to get rid of the ball, etc.). I just don't see guys with high confidence doing that across the league. Playing with confidence and settling when you have the better physical tools aren't really paired together often.
If I ever hear one person associated with or covering the team say Zach has had a confidence issue, I'll give your point some credence. What you're saying is the opposite of everything we've ever heard about him.
Saying it and playing it are different. He'll always say it. He wasn't always playing like it. That's all I'll say.
khans2k5 wrote:The way Towns has talked and played like since day 1 is what it looks like to do so with high confidence from the start. I just don't see how someone can say from day 1 Zach came in with the attitude of I'm better than you and then played that way and it's not playing out of position or mistakes that leads me to say that. Zach didn't shoot like that or play like that. His game involved a lot of settling early (pulling up for long two's instead of going all the way to the basket, picking up his dribble when being hard hedged and struggling to get rid of the ball, etc.). I just don't see guys with high confidence doing that across the league. Playing with confidence and settling when you have the better physical tools aren't really paired together often.
If I ever hear one person associated with or covering the team say Zach has had a confidence issue, I'll give your point some credence. What you're saying is the opposite of everything we've ever heard about him.
Saying it and playing it are different. He'll always say it. He wasn't always playing like it. That's all I'll say.
I'm grateful for that.
Yay. Asshole Cool came out to play. There's that belittling attitude of yours that always improves the quality of this board.
khans2k5 wrote:The way Towns has talked and played like since day 1 is what it looks like to do so with high confidence from the start. I just don't see how someone can say from day 1 Zach came in with the attitude of I'm better than you and then played that way and it's not playing out of position or mistakes that leads me to say that. Zach didn't shoot like that or play like that. His game involved a lot of settling early (pulling up for long two's instead of going all the way to the basket, picking up his dribble when being hard hedged and struggling to get rid of the ball, etc.). I just don't see guys with high confidence doing that across the league. Playing with confidence and settling when you have the better physical tools aren't really paired together often.
If I ever hear one person associated with or covering the team say Zach has had a confidence issue, I'll give your point some credence. What you're saying is the opposite of everything we've ever heard about him.
Saying it and playing it are different. He'll always say it. He wasn't always playing like it. That's all I'll say.
I'm grateful for that.
Yay. Asshole Cool came out to play. There's that belittling attitude of yours that always improves the quality of this board.
As opposed to your incessant arguments without any basis that create needless back and forth. To use your advice: GTFO
khans2k5 wrote:The way Towns has talked and played like since day 1 is what it looks like to do so with high confidence from the start. I just don't see how someone can say from day 1 Zach came in with the attitude of I'm better than you and then played that way and it's not playing out of position or mistakes that leads me to say that. Zach didn't shoot like that or play like that. His game involved a lot of settling early (pulling up for long two's instead of going all the way to the basket, picking up his dribble when being hard hedged and struggling to get rid of the ball, etc.). I just don't see guys with high confidence doing that across the league. Playing with confidence and settling when you have the better physical tools aren't really paired together often.
If I ever hear one person associated with or covering the team say Zach has had a confidence issue, I'll give your point some credence. What you're saying is the opposite of everything we've ever heard about him.
Saying it and playing it are different. He'll always say it. He wasn't always playing like it. That's all I'll say.
I'm grateful for that.
Yay. Asshole Cool came out to play. There's that belittling attitude of yours that always improves the quality of this board.
As opposed to your incessant arguments without any basis that create needless back and forth. To use your advice: GTFO
You're right. Building confidence leading to better play isn't a real thing. Guys just always have it from the beginning, right? The yips aren't real. Extended slumps aren't real. They all have the confidence from the beginning and it's external forces keeping them from playing like it. Zach must have been a real confident guy the whole time he was statistically the worst player in the NBA last year, right?
