It's Not the Small Forward Position

[Lipoli390]

Since the beginning of the preseason most of us have expressed grave concern about the Wolves SF position. We've questioned whether Brewer could be a starter and whether Williams would ever be capable of playing the position. Our concern reached a fevered pitch when Budinger went down again, even though Budinger has never been a starter at any position and has never lit the world on fire.

But now, four games into the regular season, it is becoming apparent that this team does not have a SF problem. Brewer has been terrific and has convinced doubters like me that he can hold down our starting SG position competently and sometimes exceedingly well. And Williams is showing both consistency and the ability to defend the SF position. Budinger will likely be back in about six weeks and SF is his natural position. To the extent Shabazz is an NBA caliber talent, something I doubt, he is a SF, not a SG.

So this team doesn't have a SF position. However, we do have a SG problem. It's not a reflection on Kevin Martin. He's been terrific the last couple games and is a very good starting caliber SG. The problem is that we don't have a bona fide, reliable SG behind Martin. Shved plays that position, but he just doesn't look like an NBA rotation player.

What this tells me is that the Wolves should be looking to acquire a true SG to put in our rotation behind Martin. Never mind Jeff Green, Thaddeus Young and the other SFs we've talked about. This team really needs to shore up our SG position. I don't have any names off the top of my head, let's hope Flip does. Any ideas out there?

[thedoper]

That is what I was saying in the thread about trading Williams. I would rather get a solid back up shooting 2. If we offer Shved + junk for Courtneay Lee why would they say no seeing that they are throwing away their season?

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

I don't know who they can get, but I think they need someone. The West is soooo strong this year, now is not the time to be left behind. The Wolves are showing promise, but that can change quick. They need all hands on deck.

But looking at the roster:

It sounds like Turiaf and Bud are out for another month (maybe Bud sooner?). Price, Hummel and Shabazz aren't even sniffing the rotation. Gorgui played 3 total minutes in a back to back situation...and picked up 3 fouls. And Shved is giving us nothing (except for at least one ill-advised shot for about every 5 minutes he's on the court).

That leaves 8 guys: the 5 starters that have formed a solid unit, and JJ, D-Will and Dante. Of those 3 bench guys the first two are hit or miss and Dante has been mostly miss (although I think he will pick it up). Bottom line is this is putting a lot of pressure on our top guys to produce. Not to mention they are forced to play long minutes.

Even if just Gorgui and one out of these 3 guys: Hummel, Shabazz and Shved could start giving us something we would be a lot better off. But is that even possible? If you conclude the answer is no it's time for Flip to get creative fast.

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

Lip, there is a good portion of the board that knew that we didn't have a SF problem.

The empty slot at backup SG has been apparent all summer. I don't think that anyone on this board could say that they thought that Shved was the correct answer with a straight face.

I believe that Flip's original plan was 3 fold for the position. One option was playing Brewer there. That is still option for alteast part of the time. It will detract from the defensive capabilities of the first team, but is probably considered an acceptable loss.

The second most obvious solution is the same thing that we did with Bud for a bit of time last year, and that is play him at the 2. This was not done often (probably about 15% - 20% of his playing time) last year, but we know that Bud at the 2 is considered an option.

The most likely scenario is Berra and Rubio being on the court at the same time. This was done a good bit last year (over 100 minutes), so we know that Adelman will do this. It will most likely be a 3 man rotation at the 1 and 2 guard spots (rubio, martin, and berra)

When considering this issue, it is important to keep in mind that Adelman wants to play a 8-9 man rotation. When Adelam chooses to use a 8 man rotation, only 3 of those players can be guards. When Adelman wants to extend the rotation to a 9 man rotation, it seems pretty obvious to me that the plan was to pick a starting 5 and then play berra, turiaf (at the 1 and 5) and then probably bud and williams (assuming that neither started).

Considering Adelman's stance on a 8-9 man rotation, we have made significant strides when our biggest problem is who is the 9th man off the bench.

I like these problems so much more than problems that we had under Kahn.

[BloopOracle]

Give Shabazz a shot there's no reason not to give him a chance with 10-15 minutes a game

[AbeVigodaLive]

Why not go to the D League and just pluck a guy up and give him 15 minutes a game?

He'll probably have better handles and be more versatile than Muhammad.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Call it a SF. Or SG. Or PG.

But, the team still only has one guy who can break people down consistently off the dribble. That's why he got the ball at the end of the game yesterday.

Unfortunately, he's about the same height as my mom.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

One flaw with your logic is bringing in a bonafide SF pushes Brewer back to his energy role off the bench and strengthens the second unit as well. We're going to need a defensive presence in between JJ and Bud when he comes back. Brewer can guard both wing positions unlike most backup SG's that have been mentioned in the past. Bud coming back gives the second unit another scoring punch next to JJ. Brewer would provide the defensive wing presence that second unit will need to not give up as many points as they score. At least that is what I think the goal should be. The starting unit has been fine for the most part, so bringing in another player on their level will not only help them long term, but strengthen the second unit as well by pushing a current starter to that unit.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I don't think a trade is likely at this time, and I'm in the minority here. I don't think we need a trade, and really like the way this team is constructed. We are 3-1, with some good wins and just a 1-point loss on the road. No reason to panic.

Adelman has said several times that in his offense the 2 and 3 positions are interchangeable, so any discussion about SG need to center on whether the candidate can guard SG's. When you think of it this way, I see several players on the roster who can guard 2's...Martin, Shved, Brewer, Bud, and Rubio (with Barea guarding the PG). This gives Rick a lot of flexibility with his wings.

Having said this, I believe Rick can be using his roster better. I posted in another thread yesterday about coaching for the season, rather than just for a game. I'm concerned that he seems to be trying to win every game in the early going. I love winning, but Rick's strategy has two negative implications: wearing out our key players, and not developing our rookies.

I like the idea of using 9-10 guys every game (except blowouts), but I don't want those to be the same guys every game...our rookies need to get some playing time. I realize they didn't look good in the closing minutes of the OKC game, but that's how they'll learn. Cleveland is giving Anthony Bennett double figure minutes every game, and he is 0-15 from the floor and looks much worse than Shabazz and Hummel did in their brief cameo appearance. Williams, Cunningham, and Shved aren't good or consistent enough to deserve playing time every night, and should be given occasional nights off to give our rookies a shot. Muhammad played a wing position in the Pac 12 and set an all-time freshman league scoring record. He didn't distribute well, but he has shown a desire to learn and, unlike Williams, has a non-stop motor. I don't think he is anywhere near NBA-ready, but he's more ready then Bennett, and deserves a chance at the 2 and 3 (note that the only time he has hit the floor in an NBA game, he was playing SG with Hummel at SF).

No trades now...just use the roster you have more effectively.

[kms789 [enjin:6694798]]

There are some options, albeit limited ones.

Shannon Brown is the clear-cut best SG without a team.

Rip Hamilton and Raja Bell are veterans who could provide a few minutes off the bench.

There's also Malcolm Lee. After all, he was our starting SG before he got hurt last year.