Iowa Wolves

[rapsuperstar31]

34 6 and 6 debut for Shannon for the Iowa wolves on 13-23 shooting.

[Q-is-here]

34 6 and 6 debut for Shannon for the Iowa wolves on 13-23 shooting.

Iowa Wolves now 5-1 and largely due to the play of our guys under contract - Nix, Miller, Clark, and now Shannon. The team we beat today had been 4-0.

I didn't watch today's game, but I have seen a few of the others and I can at least speak to Nix, Miller, and Clark.

Nix - He is playing the role of lead guard and is basically the G-League's version of an all-star guard. He scores, distributes, and defends at a high level. His biggest weakness is decision making, as he sometimes takes bad shots and is fairly turnover prone.
Outlook - He could definitely play some backup PG minutes. He is strong as hell and is kind of a badass out there. The problem is he sometimes bites off more than he can chew and his outside shot is inconsistent.

Miller - This is now his 3rd year in the G-League, as he bypassed college and played down there two years ago before being drafted. He mostly plays PF, which exposes him a lot less defensively. He scores in a variety of ways and he's the 2nd best rebounder in the G-League.
Outlook - I just don't see a path for him, at least not this season. We already have three other bigs ahead of him that are great offensively, but defensively challenged in Randle, Reid, and Garza. We don't need anymore one-way offensive bigs on this roster! After the KAT trade, our bigs are even more skewed towards offense with Rudy literally being the only one that is a plus defender.

Clark - While Clark is 23 years old, this is his first year of real professional action and effectively his rookie year. He's basically a defensive specialist that gets buckets in transition or because he's left wide open beyond the arc. So they are using him as a pure 3&D shooting guard in Iowa. But he is very disruptive defensively, averaging 3.5 steals per game while playing only 28MPG.
Outlook - I'm not sure he will ever see any meaningful NBA minutes this year, as Shannon is still ahead of him in the rotation and he's not even seeing minutes yet either (thus his G-League debut today). I could see his ceiling being a Gary Payton II or Alex Caruso type of player.

I''m not going to do a write-up on Jesse Edwards. He needs a ton of work to ever have a hope of making an NBA roster.

[Leado01]

I don't disagree with your write up. I'm wondering why you didn't include Shannon in the write-up.

I know he's our 9th, 10th, 11th guy with the Wolves, but I fear that he will get into some bad habits in the G league as he can pretty much score at will at the rim against this competition which he can't do against NBA defenses.

I still feel like Shannon/Dilly/NAW/Naz and one starter can play at break neck speed and play the kind of "chaos defense" we had to play early in Finch's career just as a change of pace against the younger and "middling" teams our starters aren't motivated to play hard against...I'd like to see that.

[Q-is-here]

I don't disagree with your write up. I'm wondering why you didn't include Shannon in the write-up.

I know he's our 9th, 10th, 11th guy with the Wolves, but I fear that he will get into some bad habits in the G league as he can pretty much score at will at the rim against this competition which he can't do against NBA defenses.

I still feel like Shannon/Dilly/NAW/Naz and one starter can play at break neck speed and play the kind of "chaos defense" we had to play early in Finch's career just as a change of pace against the younger and "middling" teams our starters aren't motivated to play hard against...I'd like to see that.

I didn't include Shannon because it was only one game and I didn't watch it. I was commenting on the guys that have been full-time G-League players since the Tipoff portion of the season began down there and I have seen them multiple times.

I do agree that the "chaos defense" fits better with the younger portion of our roster. Right now we are stuck between guys that are better suited to a more conservative style of defense (Rudy, Randle and Conley specifically) and a more scramble-style defense that puts two on the ball more often, does more trapping, and is quicker in rotation.

[rapsuperstar31]

Timberwolves PR
@Twolves_PR
NEWS: @Timberwolves
recall forward Leonard Miller from G League affiliate @iawolves
. Minnesota also transfers guard Daishen Nix from @iawolves

[Q-is-here]

Timberwolves PR
@Twolves_PR
NEWS: @Timberwolves
recall forward Leonard Miller from G League affiliate @iawolves
. Minnesota also transfers guard Daishen Nix from @iawolves

Makes sense. Those guys have perhaps gotten all that they can out of the G-League at this point and may only go back down in the event it just helps them stay sharp. The other thing this may do is give Clark and Edwards more opportunities to work on their offensive games. Nix and Miller really dominated the ball and took the majority of shots.

Per Game Numbers through 6 games:
Miller - 25 pts/13.5 rebs/3.3 Assts/52.6FG%/35.7 3pt%
Nix - 24 pts/5.2 rebs/7.8 Assts/36.7FG%/25.5 3pt%

One might ask what on earth Nix was doing taking so many shots at those percentages, but he also got to the line a ton and did make his fair share of assists. He's a very aggressive player on both ends, for better or worse. Definitely not your typical game manager PG like Jordan McLaughlin.

[Q-is-here]

Net Ratings of the regular starting 5 through 6 games in Iowa (excluding Shannon, who just played the one game so far):

Orting/DRting/Net
Jaylen Clark - 108.9/92.7/+16.2
Leonard Miller - 112.8/98.6/+14.2
Daishen Nix - 110.4/99.6/+10.8
Trevor Keels - 109.6/102.9/+6.6
Jesse Edwards - 101.3/105.3/-4.0

While Clark doesn't do much on offense, he obviously is having a profound effect on the defense. He's pretty damn elite on that end. And he certainly isn't hurting the offense because he mostly stays in his lane and doesn't try to do too much. He's playing the exact role that he would for the big league squad.....but he should probably be challenged a bit more to stretch himself offensively. After all, it is a developmental league!

[Q-is-here]

Iowa Wolves keep rollin' with a 121-112 win led by three guys under contract - Clark, Shannon Jr., and Miller.

With Nix being promoted to the big league team, it allowed some other guys to handle the ball and make plays. Nix is pretty ball dominant, so it was a nice opportunity for others to shine.

Clark - 23pts/6 rebs/3 assts/+16
Shannon Jr. - 32 pts/2 rebs/4 assts/+19
Miller - 21 pts/5 rebs/6 assts/+9

Quick notes:
- Shannon Jr. is a relentless driver to the hoop. He drew a ton of fouls. He also made a few nice dump off passes off drives, which led to easy buckets.
- Clark was once again a menace on defense. He also went 5-7 from 3 and looked pretty damn good the handful of times he was allowed to run half-court sets. I'm NOT saying he can eventually play PG, but when Nix was with the squad Clark basically just stood in the corner on offense. It was nice to see him take on a bigger role in this game offensively and thrive.
- Miller looks better this year defensively than last year, but then again he is surrounded by some better talent on that end.

[rapsuperstar31]

Iowa Wolves keep rollin' with a 121-112 win led by three guys under contract - Clark, Shannon Jr., and Miller.

With Nix being promoted to the big league team, it allowed some other guys to handle the ball and make plays. Nix is pretty ball dominant, so it was a nice opportunity for others to shine.

Clark - 23pts/6 rebs/3 assts/+16
Shannon Jr. - 32 pts/2 rebs/4 assts/+19
Miller - 21 pts/5 rebs/6 assts/+9

Quick notes:
- Shannon Jr. is a relentless driver to the hoop. He drew a ton of fouls. He also made a few nice dump off passes off drives, which led to easy buckets.
- Clark was once again a menace on defense. He also went 5-7 from 3 and looked pretty damn good the handful of times he was allowed to run half-court sets. I'm NOT saying he can eventually play PG, but when Nix was with the squad Clark basically just stood in the corner on offense. It was nice to see him take on a bigger role in this game offensively and thrive.
- Miller looks better this year defensively than last year, but then again he is surrounded by some better talent on that end.

I caught most of the 4th quarter last night. Just in the little bit I watched, Clark was very impressive. He looked very confident in his shot with a side step 3 in the corner, a few contested 3's, and some nice passes. Miller had a clutch block on a 3pt shot that he grabbed and had a clutch fast break dunk. Shannon played with so much more confidence than he played in Summer League, pre season, and garbage time. It seems Shannon needs to the ball in his hands often, give him the ball at the top of the key and let him survey the court and drive it hard to the hoop. Some of his shots at the rim would be harder to finish with NBA centers, but there is something there we could use on the main team.

[Q-is-here]

Iowa Wolves keep rollin' with a 121-112 win led by three guys under contract - Clark, Shannon Jr., and Miller.

With Nix being promoted to the big league team, it allowed some other guys to handle the ball and make plays. Nix is pretty ball dominant, so it was a nice opportunity for others to shine.

Clark - 23pts/6 rebs/3 assts/+16
Shannon Jr. - 32 pts/2 rebs/4 assts/+19
Miller - 21 pts/5 rebs/6 assts/+9

Quick notes:
- Shannon Jr. is a relentless driver to the hoop. He drew a ton of fouls. He also made a few nice dump off passes off drives, which led to easy buckets.
- Clark was once again a menace on defense. He also went 5-7 from 3 and looked pretty damn good the handful of times he was allowed to run half-court sets. I'm NOT saying he can eventually play PG, but when Nix was with the squad Clark basically just stood in the corner on offense. It was nice to see him take on a bigger role in this game offensively and thrive.
- Miller looks better this year defensively than last year, but then again he is surrounded by some better talent on that end.

I caught most of the 4th quarter last night. Just in the little bit I watched, Clark was very impressive. He looked very confident in his shot with a side step 3 in the corner, a few contested 3's, and some nice passes. Miller had a clutch block on a 3pt shot that he grabbed and had a clutch fast break dunk. Shannon played with so much more confidence than he played in Summer League, pre season, and garbage time. It seems Shannon needs to the ball in his hands often, give him the ball at the top of the key and let him survey the court and drive it hard to the hoop. Some of his shots at the rim would be harder to finish with NBA centers, but there is something there we could use on the main team.

Yeah, really nice to see Clark flash an all-around game versus being just more of a defensive specialist. Obviously it gets a lot harder at the next level, but you gotta start somewhere.

As for Shannon, if you squint hard enough, you can see a future where we play more of a spread dribble-drive motion offense (like the Celtics). Ant, DDV, Dillingham, and Shannon all have the ability to shoot it from 3 or put the ball on the floor and get to the bucket or collapse the defense and kick it out to one of the other guys for an open shot. We just need the right kind of bigs to play this style. Reid certainly fits the bill offensively, but is so dependent on having a big 5 next to him on defense. It's tough to find 5s that can both defend the paint and shoot it. Al Horford is the perfect archetype.