The Pecking Order

[WildWolf2813]

They made it pretty clear that Dillingham was playing. Period. I don't see him going to Iowa unless it's clear after 30+ games that the NBA is just too overwhelming for him.

but when does he see the court? Yes, he'll be with the club learning and watching, but a 19-20 year old not playing at all doesn't help him either, and unless NAW never rediscovers his jumper, that backcourt of NAW and DDV seems pretty locked in even with less Conley minutes (DDV played 29 mpg last season)

I'm not sure what you're missing here Wildwolf. Finch and Connelly were pretty adamant that he's playing right away. The people that actually manage and coach the team are saying this, so I'm not sure where you are getting the impression that he's just going to ride the pine or get sent to Iowa (????).

then that's coming at somebody's expense. It's not gonna be DiVincenzo, so is it NAW? There's only but so much time to allot.

On the nights where Conley's out, that's where I DDV playing 30+ minutes a night with Dillingham playing some there.

Now if the plan is to go super small and go Dillingham/DDV/NAW/JMac /Naz, I hope they're ready to give back all the points they score, because big men will feast off that lineup.

From what we've seen Finch, no matter how much depth we have, his rotations are 8-9 max. So yes, he can talk up Rob, and TJ and Minott but would it stun me if they racked up DNP's because Finch will lean on the vets unless it's a blowout? No.

[Q-is-here]

but when does he see the court? Yes, he'll be with the club learning and watching, but a 19-20 year old not playing at all doesn't help him either, and unless NAW never rediscovers his jumper, that backcourt of NAW and DDV seems pretty locked in even with less Conley minutes (DDV played 29 mpg last season)

I'm not sure what you're missing here Wildwolf. Finch and Connelly were pretty adamant that he's playing right away. The people that actually manage and coach the team are saying this, so I'm not sure where you are getting the impression that he's just going to ride the pine or get sent to Iowa (????).

then that's coming at somebody's expense. It's not gonna be DiVincenzo, so is it NAW? There's only but so much time to allot.

On the nights where Conley's out, that's where I DDV playing 30+ minutes a night with Dillingham playing some there.

Now if the plan is to go super small and go Dillingham/DDV/NAW/JMac /Naz, I hope they're ready to give back all the points they score, because big men will feast off that lineup.

From what we've seen Finch, no matter how much depth we have, his rotations are 8-9 max. So yes, he can talk up Rob, and TJ and Minott but would it stun me if they racked up DNP's because Finch will lean on the vets unless it's a blowout? No.

Finch will go up to 10 deep in the regular season and he'll certainly go more than 8. The playoffs are a different matter. I feel like we are following different teams here.

While I do think the defense will slip, we obviously have to get better at offense. That lineup you posted above still has NAW and JMac in it so it's not a total mess defensively and NBA benches tend to go a little smaller anyway.

[Q-is-here]

One thing notable from last night's game is how NAW made a concerted effort to get others involved and play more like a PG. He was after all the first guy off the bench to replace Conley (as opposed to Dillingham) and he's been saying at press events that he is looking to do more play making this season.

While Dillingham had an impressive debut, I can't get over how damn small he looks out there. Regardless of how he does in the regular season, I just can't see him being in a contending playoff rotation. Hell, he was immediately targeted last night in a freakin' pre-season game (to his credit, held up OK against mediocre competition).

Which brings us back to NAW. Barring any further trade deadline deals, I could easily see our playoff bench being Reid, DDV, NAW, and a small dose of Ingles, but that's about it.

[Monster]

It was one preseason game but of the guys that played in the 2nd half I don't think any of those guys other than Dillingham are assured of playing any regular minutes. Obviously Ingles doesn't need to be playing many minutes in a preseason game but it seemed clear to me that at this point he is gonna be in the rotation. If someone takes his minutes that's a good problem but I don't see it initially. Especially since Finch has tended to lean on vet guys more often than not and Ingles seems to fit the type of player that Finch would like. Ingles played legit minutes on a young Orlando team that won 47 games. He is a few days older than Mike Conley I don't see any reason why he can't play some solid minutes most nights (they will probaly rest him and or play some matchups) in the rotation for this team.

I predict Donte is gonna be pretty good and will be hard to take off the floor. He won't play 30mpg but he will play at least 25mpg and probably more. That's not gonna leave much for Dillingham. Reading through Finch's comments in his sit down with Brit I thought... Hmm I don't know how much he is gonna play and that was before they added Donte. I do think they are gonna play him most games get him in for a solid but short few minute stint but maybe just one not even both halves. If NAW plays well it could make it even harder to get Dillingham minutes unless he does so well that he forces the issue which is possible. Which brings me to something I have been thinking.

It will be interesting to see how things pan out with NAW. To some extent I don't know how he fits here past this year based on the guys on the roster. Could the Wolves trade him to get something back? What would a team give up? Could the Wolves save more money this season and beyond? Could they acquire the next NAW in a deal resign them for possibly much less than what NAW will get on the market while also getting a draft asset? Tim Connelly is not afraid to pull the trigger on a deal that's pretty clear. I don't want to move on from NAW and if this last off-season is any indication getting a small asset via sign and trade for him would be a legit possibility. NAW is a pretty valuable piece to the Wolves right now I think they would have to get something pretty good back to move him but yeah.

[60WinTim]

Circling back to the pecker order...

Dilly, DDV and Minott had really good games in the preseason opener.

On DDV, not only did he get the starting nod (albeit in place of ANT), but Finch really talked up his playmaking skills this week in his post-practice talk yesterday. My money is on DDV being the first guard off the bench, subbing for Conley and giving us an ANT/DDV backcourt tomorrow night. This could be a glimpse of our future post-Conley starting backcourt!

Finch had also talked up Minott heading into camp, and he looked like an NBA player in the opener. I know Ingles can be trusted to backup Jaden, but could Minott be staking his own claim on that role? It certainly makes sense from a "future of the club" standpoint. Yet another rotation battle to keep an eye on!

And as Q has mentioned several times, both Connelly and Finch have stated that Dilly will be playing, as long as he can handle the time he is given. Dilly sure looked good as a backup PG in his first preseason game.

I think we are going to see ANT, DDV and Jaden lead the team in minutes. Rudy, Randle and NAZ will be pretty equal in minutes as they occupy most of the PF and C minutes. Minott (or Ingles?) will cleanup after Jaden, and Rob will get the leftover minutes in the backcourt.

NAW, Ingles (or Minott) and Garza is pretty good bench fodder to bring in when needed.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Circling back to the pecker order...

Dilly, DDV and Minott had really good games in the preseason opener.

On DDV, not only did he get the starting nod (albeit in place of ANT), but Finch really talked up his playmaking skills this week in his post-practice talk yesterday. My money is on DDV being the first guard off the bench, subbing for Conley and giving us an ANT/DDV backcourt tomorrow night. This could be a glimpse of our future post-Conley starting backcourt!

Finch had also talked up Minott heading into camp, and he looked like an NBA player in the opener. I know Ingles can be trusted to backup Jaden, but could Minott be staking his own claim on that role? It certainly makes sense from a "future of the club" standpoint. Yet another rotation battle to keep an eye on!

And as Q has mentioned several times, both Connelly and Finch have stated that Dilly will be playing, as long as he can handle the time he is given. Dilly sure looked good as a backup PG in his first preseason game.

I think we are going to see ANT, DDV and Jaden lead the team in minutes. Rudy, Randle and NAZ will be pretty equal in minutes as they occupy most of the PF and C minutes. Minott (or Ingles?) will cleanup after Jaden, and Rob will get the leftover minutes in the backcourt.

NAW, Ingles (or Minott) and Garza is pretty good bench fodder to bring in when needed.

I think NAW will get more consistent minutes. He's one of the best point of attack defenders around. He won't get as many minutes as Donte, but both those guys can basically play 1-3, so that gives Finch flexibility.

Man, this team is deep. Getting all these guys minutes is going to be really tough.

I'm imagining something like this:

Conley (24) / Donte/NAW / Dillingham (10)
Ant (34) / Donte/NAW
Jaden (28) / Donte/NAW
Randle (32) / Naz (10) / Minott/Ingles (6)
Rudy (32) / Naz (16)

That would basically leave 48 minutes to split between Donte and NAW, and I see Donte getting probably 28 of those minutes and NAW getting 20. I fear that Finch will need to give Randle and Rudy, and maybe even Conley more minutes, and that will leave fewer minutes for everybody else. But if it were me, that's basically the breakdown I'd be going for. We're deep enough to pull that off, and hopefully Finch doesn't keep riding the starters after the games are already over again.

In terms of lineups, it's tough to see any of those first 5 guys not starting. But I do feel like they should try to stagger Ant and Randle's minutes as much as possible so one of them is on the floor at all times.

A few combos I'd like to see--some seriously, others just for kicks:

NAW, Donte, Ant, Naz, Rudy (some spacing for Ant, plus defense on the ball and at the rim)

Dillingham, Donte/NAW, Jaden, Randle, Rudy (a balanced lineup with vets and starters to give Dillingham a solid unit to develop alongside. NAW could help him defensively/Donte could help give him more spacing)

NAW, Donte, Minott, Randle, Naz (a lineup designed to get out in transition, which we so rarely did last year)

NAW, Donte, Ant, Jaden, Rudy (defense)

Conley, Donte, Ant, Ingles, Naz (going to have some defensive problems, but man, that team should be able to space the floor)

[Q-is-here]

We go into every season thinking we're really deep and usually we end up not being as deep as we thought we were. If you look at last year's playoffs, it was really the bench that let us down in the end. And yes, that could have been covered up had KAT and Ant played like superstars in the latter half of the playoffs, but they didn't and the bench guys could have been more of a factor but they fizzled out too.

I think we are very good in the top 8, may be 9. But I really don't think when it's all said and done, Dillingham or Minott will be "plus" players for us. Sure, they probably deserve minutes, but that won't make them net positives. Too young and inexperienced. Garza is sort of weird in that he can really do some damage in the dog days of the regular season against other team's second and third units, but is too easily targeted to be much of a playoff factor.

[DNatagal]

https://l.smartnews.com/p-USWyL/dysyAC

[60WinTim]

Another solid game from Minott last night. And it has been painfully obvious Joe has a hard time staying in front of his man on defense. There is a lot of preseason action left, but I think Minott currently has the edge over Joe for a spot in the rotation.

And even with an off-shooting night, Rob continues to have a positive impact when he is on the floor. Given the statements from Conley and Finch in the offseason, there is every reason to believe Rob will also be part of the rotation to start the season.

So looking at the numbers, you need a 10 man rotation to get both NAW and Minott on the floor. And even then, Joe Ingles is riding the pine.

It's a good problem to have.

[FNG]

Another solid game from Minott last night. And it has been painfully obvious Joe has a hard time staying in front of his man on defense. There is a lot of preseason action left, but I think Minott currently has the edge over Joe for a spot in the rotation.

And even with an off-shooting night, Rob continues to have a positive impact when he is on the floor. Given the statements from Conley and Finch in the offseason, there is every reason to believe Rob will also be part of the rotation to start the season.

So looking at the numbers, you need a 10 man rotation to get both NAW and Minott on the floor. And even then, Joe Ingles is riding the pine.

It's a good problem to have.

Yeah, terrific problem! And while I understand Q's point above about feeling really good about our depth in previous seasons, this season feels different to me. There are going to be some really good players who are going to have a difficult time getting minutes this year. A year ago, I don't think many of were too worried about guys like Moore Jr., Nix. Minott, Miller and Garza not getting minutes...I know I wasn't. This year we are.

As much of an Ingles bobo as I am, signs do point to Minott having moved ahead of him in the rotation. Ingles will struggle on defense, and only making 1 out of 4 threes last night doesn't help his case. And while I still think NAW will be the first backup to Conley (despite a poor game last night), Dillingham is progressing far faster than I would have thought and may surpass him