mil game

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

I went to the game, here are the things I noticed:

Not having Rubio run the offense really hurt us. Brewer, Levine, Wiggins is not a great combo, kind of a waste having pek out there with that group. It was mass chaos

The team appeared to pretty much run the offense on the fly, it just didn't seem like there was structure to whatever they were doing. Pek, JJ, and Brewer would randomly wave people around out on the floor.

I have not looked ato the box score but there was very few fast breaks

Mil collapsed in the paint most the night, they focused on pek - he didn't look that greatest on offense.

Levine looked like a rookie running a whole new offense - the lart 5 min or so he did take charge for the first time in the game and showed he has the aggressiveness in him to take over a game. I know it is only 5 minute snapshot but I got the feeling he will be a game closer once he gets his game polished. He gave up a lot of points via bad turnovers.

JJ sucks, Williams is the perfect backup sg/pg for us and what we all wished jj would have been.

Wiggin was ok, Parker out shined him though. Parker had the game deciding shut it down spinning slam dunk in traffic to make the crowd yell. He was a force the whole game. Wiggins did get the place to say wow twice, once was when he schooled someone on a drive and dunked with the other 4 watching him.

Bennett looked really good out there, he was a bright spot.


Odd observation - Bud was not really feeling the whole team comaraderie thing. He blew off someone wanting to high 5 him once and there were a few other moments where he just pretty much acted like fuck off. I wonder if he is unhappy about his roll and why there is trade rumors now. Or maybe it is the trade rumors that are causing it.

[worldK]

Thanka apoll. Appreciate it.

[Brandon BassHole [enjin:8183321]]

Ya i saw that Jabari Parker dunk on a vine, it was pretty impressive especially because there was less than two mins

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Thanks for the first hand report, Apollo...nice to have with no TV last night. Sorry you had to watch a game with no Rubio, but I think it's good that Flip gave LaVine some run at PG. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who's going to lose confidence, so any court time has to help him develop.

Your positive comments about Bennett were echoed by Flip. Really great to see a throw in on the Love deal playing so well...hope he keeps it up.

Your Bud comment is really interesting, and something we will have to monitor. It's odd that he would be pouting on a night where he got some minutes and also produced, but you may be right...he may be pissed about the deal rumors. I thought Flip responded very positively to the media. Doesn't sound like Bud though, does it?

[60WinTim]

Thanks, apollo!

It's encouraging to see (hear) Bennett and Bud played well. Looks like Mo was decent in his limited minutes.

Pek must have missed some bunnies again. We know he'll eventually shake off the rust -- hopefully it's not the rust holding his ankle together... One thing I have noticed in Pek's two games are his ability to set people up for scoring opportunities. He had a couple of very nice passes to cutters in his first game, and I see he had two assists last night as well. That's a nice addition to his game if it continues!

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

I think Bennett will end up starting at PF after 25 games. Young has the scoring touch for sure but Bennett just has a stronger presence on the court and when when he gets comfortable with the offense I think he is going to take off.

Thinking about how Levine played at the end of the game reminded me a bit of jj when he takes over a game (the good times) - driven to score to make his team wins. That stood out because we have not had a game finisher for a long time, I was happy to see it - I just hope his talent catches up otherwise we will have another jj.

Youngs rebounding - I noticed twice in this game that there was a rebound that any 3 of our guys could have gotten it equally and Youngs first instinct is to turn and run up court and let anyone else get it. In one case because no one went after the ball which just happened to be bouncing along all by its lonesome self and we had 3 guys just assume someone else was going to grab it, a buck player runs to it and got the loose ball. That NEVER happened with Love, ever. I now also appreciate Loves guaranteed boxing out of the PF as well.

[Monster]

Thanks for the report. That's weird about Bud he has struck me as a nice guy or whatever so maybe he was just really focused or something. I read on Twitter Flip said they are not shopping him but what if Bud see's all the young wings and a rebuilding team and said he wants out if a deal can happen? TOTAL speculation but that would be different than shopping him imo.

The question about Parker is how good of a defender he will be. His offensive potential is obviously high. Its sort of opposite for Wiggins he projects as a good defender and good offensive player but will he be good enough on that end to be great. Happy the Bucks have a player like Parker and some young guys that give them legit hope.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Apollo, you and I are on the same page with respect to AB, although I think Flip will work him into the starting lineup earlier than 25 games...provided Bennett truly is the guy we saw in SL, college and the first two preseason games, and not the horrible rookie year Bennett. It's just seems so clear that Young's and Bennett's talents are substantial but very different, and much better suited to role reversal.

Thanks for the insight about Young's rebounding. I haven't seen him enough to understand why his numbers have always been substandard, both in college and in Philly, because his work ethic and athleticism seem to be components that would indicate a decent rebounder. Your observation that he may be more interested in getting out on the fast break is informative. That shouldn't be the PF's role...we have athletic wings to do that. Maybe Flip can convince Thad that he needs to focus more on cleaning up the defensive glass...that could really help him become a more complete player.

I don't know if you read the Wolves coverage in the Star Trib, apollo, but there were some quotes from him in the Sunday paper that made me feel that he is happier than he indicated at the game you were at. I hope so, because I think he can be a contributor this year.

[Monster]

Apollo, you and I are on the same page with respect to AB, although I think Flip will work him into the starting lineup earlier than 25 games...provided Bennett truly is the guy we saw in SL, college and the first two preseason games, and not the horrible rookie year Bennett. It's just seems so clear that Young's and Bennett's talents are substantial but very different, and much better suited to role reversal.

Thanks for the insight about Young's rebounding. I haven't seen him enough to understand why his numbers have always been substandard, both in college and in Philly, because his work ethic and athleticism seem to be components that would indicate a decent rebounder. Your observation that he may be more interested in getting out on the fast break is informative. That shouldn't be the PF's role...we have athletic wings to do that. Maybe Flip can convince Thad that he needs to focus more on cleaning up the defensive glass...that could really help him become a more complete player.

I don't know if you read the Wolves coverage in the Star Trib, apollo, but there were some quotes from him in the Sunday paper that made me feel that he is happier than he indicated at the game you were at. I hope so, because I think he can be a contributor this year.

I can tell you from watching highlights and some games on youtube that is what Thad does getting up the court instead of rebounding. Some of that is because he contests a lot of perimter shots and keeps going like Brewer does. There are a number of times its probably the right basketball play but a different approach for a PF. Its gonna madden people at times. I do hope Flip can get him to calm that down a bit but idk.

It sounds like Bennett has been good in camp good in games but Let's not get too hyped up here. Thad had been a legit rotation player since coming into the league Bennett is gonna have to play really well to beat Thad out.

About the long 2's LaVine and Bennett are both guys that like to take those shots and it could be a bad thing but right now if they are good shots fine take em. LaVine if he turns into a really good player those shots are gonna be where he is gonna be really effective with that guardable jumper.

I'm surprised GR3 didn't get more run.

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

The high 5 event I saw: the 2nd quarter just ended, we had made a play at the end of the quarater and every one was celebrating while they walked off the court into the dressing room (everyone had to walk across the court). Someone came up to Bud and wanted to high five him. Bud looked him right in his face andown pointed to where the whole team was walking. No idea what he said but but the other guy turned and walkEd into the dressing room. I started looking closer at bud during breaks the rest of the game and he was not laughing and joking with his teammates. Maybe he was just ultra focused because he knows his job is on the line.