Game Report - Wolves v. Pelicans

[m4gor [enjin:6667447]]

Did anyone else find it hilarious that Anthony Davis was upset with DC last night? AD was shoving Pek with both hands most of the night and even got a foul called on Pek at one point for it. Then when DC gets into him a little bit, he gets all bent out of shape about it. I couldn't stop laughing, and apparently either could DC. Dante is a very easy guy to like. I love listening to his comments they have on from time to time.

well, he was really frustrated because even though he pushed PEK with two hands and everything he has, he was unable to move PEK by an inch :-D, this is aspect which is overlooked by many, PEK has such a strong base that basically noone can establish deep positions against him, AD later in the game stopped to try to rebound when he was against PEK, which was hilarious :-D

btw. i also think that PEKs ability to catch pass isnt much different from other bigs, it is not like that you can catch everything, there is so little space in the paint and pocket passes gotta be really spot on, it is easy to blame big

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, I didn't quite get the Petersen comment on Pek's hands either. On the other hand, I don't think they are as bad as some of us think sometimes. Instead, what we see as "poor hands" is someone that actually has short arms and just can't get to the ball when it appears to be in his area. I don't know how many times I thought he had great offensive rebounding position and somehow the ball ends up slipping past him.

As for Shabazz, I don't know what to think. He's really looked bad in any extended action I saw in summer league and pre-season. And in 42 minutes of sporadic action in real NBA games, he's produced zero steals, zero assists, zero blocks, and 25% shooting. That hardly screams more playing time. But then again, our entire bench has been horrid, so I can appreciate the calls by fans to at least try him out. I think Adelman knows that Shved could be an X-factor for this team and he is giving him a ton of rope to work through his problems. The guy can clearly put the ball on the floor and make plays. This is something Shabazz simply can't do. He's more of a PF in a wing's body. He can move without the ball and get shots up quickly, but he can't put the ball on the floor and break down a defense. Shved has that capability and Adelman is trying desperately to get his confidence up. That means Shabazz continues sitting for now.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Yeah, I didn't quite get the Petersen comment on Pek's hands either. On the other hand, I don't think they are as bad as some of us think sometimes. Instead, what we see as "poor hands" is someone that actually has short arms and just can't get to the ball when it appears to be in his area. I don't know how many times I thought he had great offensive rebounding position and somehow the ball ends up slipping past him.

As for Shabazz, I don't know what to think. He's really looked bad in any extended action I saw in summer league and pre-season. And in 42 minutes of sporadic action in real NBA games, he's produced zero steals, zero assists, zero blocks, and 25% shooting. That hardly screams more playing time. But then again, our entire bench has been horrid, so I can appreciate the calls by fans to at least try him out. I think Adelman knows that Shved could be an X-factor for this team and he is giving him a ton of rope to work through his problems. The guy can clearly put the ball on the floor and make plays. This is something Shabazz simply can't do. He's more of a PF in a wing's body. He can move without the ball and get shots up quickly, but he can't put the ball on the floor and break down a defense. Shved has that capability and Adelman is trying desperately to get his confidence up. That means Shabazz continues sitting for now.

I want Muhammad to play, so we can put all these "he should be playing more" threads to bed.

Or, so we can start a whole bunch of "Adelman is old and bitter and needs to go" threads. Personally, I don't think he's ready. And he might never be, for reasons q describes. But, having tangible proof is better than random guessing... I guess. With as many blowouts as this team has had, you'd think there'd be more minutes somewhere.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

42 sporadic minutes is hardly a good sample size. I'd like to see about 20 minutes or so for 5 straight games until Bud gets back.

Free Shabazz! (or send him to D-league, just do something with him)

[mjs34]

I want him to play for two reasons. His downside would put him on equal footing with most of current bench players that are getting time. Guys who seem to be very adept at dribbling off their foot, tripping over lines on the court, and forgetting who they are supposed to be guarding. The upside is maybe he really does have a knack for scoring the ball.

Q, I agree with your assessment of his skills which makes me ask, why did we draft him. It sure seems that McCollum possessed the skillset that was needed on this team. Dieng is apparently too raw to play under Adelman. It doesn't seem like there was any communication between Adleman and Flip during the draft.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Lloyd, Adelman also has tons of sample size from practice, which none of us see. In addition, Shabazz did nothing in the summer league or pre-season to justify playing time. Just throwing the guy out there for 20 MPG for 5 straight games when the season hangs in the balance and nearly every game is critical is a tough thing to ask of a coach in a "win now" mode.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I want him to play for two reasons. His downside would put him on equal footing with most of current bench players that are getting time. Guys who seem to be very adept at dribbling off their foot, tripping over lines on the court, and forgetting who they are supposed to be guarding. The upside is maybe he really does have a knack for scoring the ball.

Q, I agree with your assessment of his skills which makes me ask, why did we draft him. It sure seems that McCollum possessed the skillset that was needed on this team. Dieng is apparently too raw to play under Adelman. It doesn't seem like there was any communication between Adleman and Flip during the draft.

I agree! I have no idea what the hell Flip was thinking and I don't know what Adelman thought either. I've never liked the pick and it was the first indication to me that Flip is just like all the other GMs we've had, which generally means they rely more on reputation, workouts, and combine results than actual deep in-game statistics and analysis from their full body of work in college. Anyone who watched Shabazz could see that the guy couldn't dribble, pass, or score going right....just gaping holes for an alleged "elite" wing prospect. My thought all along is that he needs to re-fashion himself into a 3 & D player that focuses on using his sturdy frame to play tough positional defense and then work endlessly to refine his outside shot. I'm not giving up on him completely, but I certainly think it was a poorly thought-out pick.

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

Q, I agree with your assessment of his skills which makes me ask, why did we draft him. It sure seems that McCollum possessed the skillset that was needed on this team. Dieng is apparently too raw to play under Adelman. It doesn't seem like there was any communication between Adleman and Flip during the draft.

Being injured fit more with last year's skill set than this year's for the wolves.

[mjs34]

Q, I agree with your assessment of his skills which makes me ask, why did we draft him. It sure seems that McCollum possessed the skillset that was needed on this team. Dieng is apparently too raw to play under Adelman. It doesn't seem like there was any communication between Adleman and Flip during the draft.

Being injured fit more with last year's skill set than this year's for the wolves.

Maybe that's why Flip signed an injured Bud. He felt he missed out on McCollum so he wanted to assure our injury prone quota was met.

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

Q, I agree with your assessment of his skills which makes me ask, why did we draft him. It sure seems that McCollum possessed the skillset that was needed on this team. Dieng is apparently too raw to play under Adelman. It doesn't seem like there was any communication between Adleman and Flip during the draft.

Being injured fit more with last year's skill set than this year's for the wolves.

Maybe that's why Flip signed an injured Bud. He felt he missed out on McCollum so he wanted to assure our injury prone quota was met.

LOL........ya.....flip forgot which skill sets that we were going after.