Pacers at Wolves GDT

[60WinTim]

Cool! Looks like the game will be broadcast after all...

Darren Wolfson ?@DarrenWolfson 25m25 minutes ago
A heads-up for those w/ League Pass: #Twolves-Pacers is listed tonight. But no actual telecast in place. Probably is the in-arena feed.


The pre-season ends with 3 games in 4 days. Coincidently, the regular season begins with four sets of 3 games in 4 days. Will we perhaps see the beginnings of a regular rotation tonight?!?

[Phenom]

Will Budinger need to be showcased anymore or will he be benched to prevent injury?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Will Budinger need to be showcased anymore or will he be benched to prevent injury?

I see Budinger/Brewer as our back up wings to Martin/Wiggins. I honestly don't think he's going anywhere unless we get a decent return. And those pairings are pretty complementary with each other.

[60WinTim]

Will Budinger need to be showcased anymore or will he be benched to prevent injury?

I see Budinger/Brewer as our back up wings to Martin/Wiggins. I honestly don't think he's going anywhere unless we get a decent return. And those pairings are pretty complementary with each other.

Which begs the question "who is the odd man out?"

Hummel seems to have value for depth at PF (as shown against OKC). Barea seems to have value for depth at PG (but will DNPs cause problems?).

Does it come down to choosing between GR3 and Shabazz?

I'm inclined to think Barea will be out, but I wouldn't bet money on it (but I am betting on .500+).

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Tim, I really thought Barea would be gone by now, but I'm not sure LaVine is ready to play PG. If Mo or Rubio get hurt, we would be in deep trouble.

Assuming we can't get a good value in a trade of someone like Budinger, than the guy I would probably be willing to dump without much in return is Shabazz. I just don't have confidence that he can ever develop into anything other than a volume shooter that is extremely limited in other facets of the game.

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

Q - I think if we lose Rubio for an extended period, or lose MO for that matter it will have a big impact on our wins - but our season is lost before it starts and getting Levine playing time can only help for next year.

He had a lot of turnovers in his first game against a very fast/young team. I suspect his game will catch up to the speed of the nba.

[bleedspeed]

My toughts on the final roster:

PG: Rubio, MWilliams, Barea
SG: Martin, Brewer, Lavine
SF: Wiggins, Budinger, Shabazz
PF: Young, Bennett, GR3
C: Pekovic, Dieng, Turiaf

It would be nice to have a backup PF that has some more length.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I'm back in Minneapolis, so I'm going to buy tickets on the street tonight...really looking forward to seeing this young, athletic team.

I watched the Bulls/Cavs last night, and they made it look like a regular season game, so I hope Flip starts to play his expected rotations too. No more starting lineups based on who won yesterday's scrimmage. I honestly don't think he knows what those rotations are going to look like.

I want to see them play zone and trap like they did against OkC, with lots of steals and dunks. I haven't seen if Muhammad or Bennett are playing, but I hope so...they are both second year X factors I believe.

I wonder why Flip didn't release Heslip yesterday along with Fez. It's the obvious move to get down to 16, so it seems a little odd to delay it. Bleedspeed, I see you have Hummel being the final cut, but I think he's close to a lock to make the final 15. His terrific performance against OkC sealed the deal for him, I think. I'm guessing the final cut will be GR3, but I'm hoping someone will give us a second round pick for JJ, or next best case, that we just release him outright. I couldn't watch the game Monday night, but his stats were terrible. It looks odd to cut him after Flip has been praising him so much in pre-season, but I suspect much of that was just an attempt to build up his value.

I'm going to focus on Young a lot tonight to try to learn why his rebounding numbers are so poor, and to get a better idea about his ability to defend. And I'm obviously excited to get my first look at Wiggins, LaVine, Mo, GR3 and maybe AB.

Game report to follow if I score some good seats on the street.

[bleedspeed]

LST, I know you are right on Hummel. I would love a enforcer type PF that is 6'10". If someone gives us a hard foul Flip could pull him off the bench and return the favor. I don't see any tough guys on this team. I see a few strong guys, but nobody tough to push back if someone Bynum's Lavine or Wiggins. Maybe Hummel is that guy.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

LST, I know you are right on Hummel. I would love a enforcer type PF that is 6'10". If someone gives us a hard foul Flip could pull him off the bench and return the favor. I don't see any tough guys on this team. I see a few strong guys, but nobody tough to push back if someone Bynum's Lavine or Wiggins. Maybe Hummel is that guy.

I know what you're saying, bleed. I didn't like his game much, but Stiemsma was that kind of guy...able to get under the other team's skin, and not afraid to give the hard foul. I'm afraid that's not Robbie, though. He'll give Flip a smart game and rebound and shoot well (last year, notwithstanding), but he's never been particularly physical. Ronny is a nice guy off the court, but I wouldn't want to get on his bad side on the court. I think he's the closest thing we have to an enforcer, and Flip shouldn't be afraid to use him when other teams are pushing us around.