A couple thoughts on some of our bench players

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

Alexi has been playing well for the past short span of games. As i'm sure most of you remember, he did have some decent spans of games last year,so we all now that he may revert. And his ability to play well, then go back to playing like doodoo is well known.

That said, this month,in 16 MPG he is shooting .426 FG%, .476 from 3, over .500 eFG%, and grabbing a couple boards and a couple assists adding over 1 SPG and less than 1 TOPG. In addition, he plays some very good defense. I'm sure that we all remember that he had multiple games last year with 10 or more dimes.......so we know that he can create. Probably,most importantly, he is leaving the ground without knowing what he is going to do with the ball much less.


JJ has had a couple decent games this month from 3 land, but aside from those he hasn't done much very well as of late (excluding 1 decent shooting night and 3 different 5 assist games this month).

So it looks like Alexi might start to get a few more minutes at backup PG. That is sort of scary, but it might be good........and seriously.......what is more disappointing than watching JJ play PG. He is more effective at PG than he is fun to watch....but only barely.


Turiaf has been a bit of a stud lately. Since his return he has averaged 6.3 RPB and 1 BPG in a bit over 16 MPG. That puts him in the top 25 in the league in RPM and BPM. That is sorta cool.


Bud still has a ways to go before he contributes constantly. A number of people predicted that.....hopefully that will turn around soon......that said, he is still hitting his 3s (.308) better than the Wolves did last year as a team (.305)


Dieng is in the top 20 in the league in BPM (2nd actually) and RPM....and he is shooting 1.000 in his past 5 games (3 shots)..........I'd really like to see him get a bit more burn. The guy is athletic enough to play either the 4 or the 5 IHMO. Dieng and Turiaf together would provide very good "rim protection" even if that term is not a real term.


Hummel seems well out of the rotation......I think that he is a good last man off the bench anyway.

Thoughts complete.

[KiwiMatt]

Shved is breaking in to some form which is good to see. I still have high hopes for him, but he NEEDS to play more PG. This is his position and it's good to see that Adelman is giving him more ball handling duties even when playing next to Barea.

As for Barea, I just fail to see a position for him on this team. It's evident that we need a playmaking PG on the second unit to get guys like Budinger involved. Barea struggles to get other guys good shots and when his shot isn't falling (which is happening more often than not) he offers little else. Would like to see him traded for an expiring contract and possibly a future late 1st round pick. I',

Muhammad and Dieng need game time, and quality game time not just scrap time in blow out games.

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

Wow....was I wrong about Shved getting minutes.......that might change.....maybe not

[shahidi124 [enjin:6591729]]

Wow....was I wrong about Shved getting minutes.......that might change.....maybe not

He broke his nose two minutes into the game last night, that's why he got no minutes. But he WAS the first player off the bench which is a good sign.

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

Thanks for the info shahidi!