Wolves at Nuggets Preseason GDT

[Wolvesfan21]

Good way to start the pre-season. Our starters beat their starters and our second unit beat their second unit.

- All four of the "regulars" - Rudy, DDV, Jaden, and Naz - looked good in their one quarter of action.

- Dillingham was a mixed bag. Still struggles to get separation and finish, which leads to some really difficult shots. OTOH, he made some nice passes and ended up with 9 assists vs. 3 TOs.

- Bones played really well. He could relegate Dillingham to the 3rd string PG if this keeps up.

- Beringer struggled a bit defensively overall, but was a real presence at the rim offensively and just always makes good decisions.

- Rocco was the other pleasant surprise along with Bones. Just a solid floor game on both ends.

- Shannon was relentless going to the hoop. And besides drawing a ton of fouls, he's showing that he can find people off his drives and not just put his head down hellbent on his own offense.

- Clark was stellar defensively. Not surprising.

I took the same from watching the little 10 minute highlight vid. I was a bit surprised that both Bones and Rocco were a bit better then I anticipated (not sure always with highlights as it can skew the overall obviously so it was nice to see my thoughts confirmed).

And it's just preseason, a slight upgrade from summer league. Obviously Denver was pretty poor with their starting unit. Nice game overall by our depth and the starters who did play a bit.

[Lipoli390]

Lip will be very pleased with Rocco’s performance. The stage does not look too big for him.

Our defense looks like it needs more work…

Yep. Last night was just the beginning of the Rocco era in Wolves lore. I couldn’t be more excited. . I didn’t watch the game but I saw Rocco’s 8 rebounds. Nice to read first hand accounts of his play from you and others.

[Lipoli390]

I’ve been super impressed with Bones. Obviously Dilly has been in foul trouble and he has ok. Bones could fight for those minutes

Yeah, Bones is basically a taller version of Dillingham with a few more years of NBA experience and shot making. That's what I'm seeing at least. I'm impressed. And he obviously got the memo on defense, as he's worked hard on that side (as has Dilly).

I didn’t see the game last night, but Bones had an obviously impressive box score. I’m a Bones fan and like that he’ll be our third PG. I can see a battle between Bones and Dilly for the #2 PG role. I disagree with you a bit on your characterization of Bones as a taller version of Dilly. I see Dilly as a far more talented player overall - quicker, more athletic, better ball skills and a much better passer than Bones. Two years from now, Dilly will be looking at Bones in his rear view mirror. But for now, they’re not that far apart and I like having both competing to slot in as Conley’s primary backup. If Conley gets hurt or falters because of age this season, I think we can rely on more minutes from Shannon and Clark to fill the gap.

[Q-is-here]

I’ve been super impressed with Bones. Obviously Dilly has been in foul trouble and he has ok. Bones could fight for those minutes

Yeah, Bones is basically a taller version of Dillingham with a few more years of NBA experience and shot making. That's what I'm seeing at least. I'm impressed. And he obviously got the memo on defense, as he's worked hard on that side (as has Dilly).

I didn’t see the game last night, but Bones had an obviously impressive box score. I’m a Bones fan and like that he’ll be our third PG. I can see a battle between Bones and Dilly for the #2 PG role. I disagree with you a bit on your characterization of Bones as a taller version of Dilly. I see Dilly as a far more talented player overall - quicker, more athletic, better ball skills and a much better passer than Bones. Two years from now, Dilly will be looking at Bones in his rear view mirror. But for now, they’re not that far apart and I like having both competing to slot in as Conley’s primary backup. If Conley gets hurt or falters because of age this season, I think we can rely on more minutes from Shannon and Clark to fill the gap.

Dilly is quick in a herky-jerky kind of way, meaning he can shake a defender with quick change of direction moves laterally and with his handle. But he seems to lack that same quickness when he makes straight-line drives and often ends up taking highly contested and difficult 3-5 foot "layups" because his defender or the helpside guy recover in time to stay in front of him. It's a concern for me.

[Wolvesfan21]

Yeah, Bones is basically a taller version of Dillingham with a few more years of NBA experience and shot making. That's what I'm seeing at least. I'm impressed. And he obviously got the memo on defense, as he's worked hard on that side (as has Dilly).

I didn’t see the game last night, but Bones had an obviously impressive box score. I’m a Bones fan and like that he’ll be our third PG. I can see a battle between Bones and Dilly for the #2 PG role. I disagree with you a bit on your characterization of Bones as a taller version of Dilly. I see Dilly as a far more talented player overall - quicker, more athletic, better ball skills and a much better passer than Bones. Two years from now, Dilly will be looking at Bones in his rear view mirror. But for now, they’re not that far apart and I like having both competing to slot in as Conley’s primary backup. If Conley gets hurt or falters because of age this season, I think we can rely on more minutes from Shannon and Clark to fill the gap.

Dilly is quick in a herky-jerky kind of way, meaning he can shake a defender with quick change of direction moves laterally and with his handle. But he seems to lack that same quickness when he makes straight-line drives and often ends up taking highly contested and difficult 3-5 foot "layups" because his defender or the helpside guy recover in time to stay in front of him. It's a concern for me.

A lot of it was garbage time, but I think Dilly shot much better from that lay up zone then I initially thought last year. Just remember seeing the stats and was like, oh OK. I'm not too concerned, but again, lots of garbage time too. So what to make of it. IDK

[Monster]

Watched this one mid-day and here are my thoughts.

Pretty good showing for game 1 without a couple key starters.

I'm not a massive Bones fan but I've made the case he might have something there. It's 1 preseason game but he looked like a vet PG or solid combo guard out there that has some juice to score. He also competed defensively and quite frankly he did some good stuff on that end. Dillingham might be able to learn from him.

Dillingham had some positive moments. It wasn't the most encouraging outing espcially when Bones played better overall but he just needs to play.

Beringer got a welcome to the NBA moment playing Jonus. Lots of fouls from bigs in this game. Beringer had plenty of positives out there. Meanwhile the biggest surprise of the game may have been the minutes Rocco had. He did some good stuff out there and looked like he wasn't some lost little puppy or whatever. Both of those teenagers were playing really good players for chunks of their minutes.

Ingles can still play. He can also get beat off the dribble.

Did anyone else think TSJ looked a little slimmer? Dude looked shot out of a cannon at times. Denver broadcasters were pretty impressed with him (and less impressed with their team's ability to stay in front of players). TSJ showed that passing he had in SL. Really impressive outing for him.

Gobert in a preseason game had a couple moments moving to finish baskets. Could he have gotten even like 5% better? That could matter.

Donte, Naz, McDaniels and Clark did their thing and played well.

Juzang...idk I was like he isn't impressive but then he had a bit of a flurry and made some shots including creating for himself. Still on the fence about him based on this preseason game even though I'm actually a fan.

Pullen actually kinda looked intriguing. He might be a nice player to have in Iowa. I should really go to a least one game this year.

Edit: Looked at the box score and Dillingham had 9 assists. I was a little surprised but also not too much. He did do well at times creating and dropping off passes and the Wolves were also really working the ball around well. I'll also add that Bones at times seemed to up the pace which is nice to see.

[Monster]

Jokic goes the entire 1st quarter and as a result do did Rudy. Really surprised TBH...

I thought that was really weird for Jokic. I didn't notice Rudy was in the whole time.

[Monster]

First possession of the half by Denver....Beringer bothers the interior layup, rebounds the subsequent miss, gives it to Dilly and then beats everyone down the floor and Dilly gets it right back to him for a dunk.

Yep that was a great sequence.

[Monster]

I didn’t see the game last night, but Bones had an obviously impressive box score. I’m a Bones fan and like that he’ll be our third PG. I can see a battle between Bones and Dilly for the #2 PG role. I disagree with you a bit on your characterization of Bones as a taller version of Dilly. I see Dilly as a far more talented player overall - quicker, more athletic, better ball skills and a much better passer than Bones. Two years from now, Dilly will be looking at Bones in his rear view mirror. But for now, they’re not that far apart and I like having both competing to slot in as Conley’s primary backup. If Conley gets hurt or falters because of age this season, I think we can rely on more minutes from Shannon and Clark to fill the gap.

Dilly is quick in a herky-jerky kind of way, meaning he can shake a defender with quick change of direction moves laterally and with his handle. But he seems to lack that same quickness when he makes straight-line drives and often ends up taking highly contested and difficult 3-5 foot "layups" because his defender or the helpside guy recover in time to stay in front of him. It's a concern for me.

A lot of it was garbage time, but I think Dilly shot much better from that lay up zone then I initially thought last year. Just remember seeing the stats and was like, oh OK. I'm not too concerned, but again, lots of garbage time too. So what to make of it. IDK

There are 2 big differences between Bones and Dillingham right now.

1. Bones isn't much taller like but he has a much longer wingspan. He is now 25 and he is far from being hefty he looks bigger. He looks closer to being a SG than a PG even though he would be undersized there.

2. Experience. Bones has played legit NBA minutes for years now and all on playoff teams. He has taken his lumps and had to fight for minutes. He likely has learned what he can and can't do with his body on defense. He has run PG including starting games. I'm not saying he is a seasoned vet but he is compared to Dillingham who also only played one season in college and it was as a bench guy.

We all know Dillingham is more talented and might be a little more physically talented than Bones ultimately but that may not play out quite yet. What I loved was in this game Bones nailed a 3 and Dillingham was up off rhe bench celebrating the shot. I get the sense that Hyland has always been a good guy but there were reports he wanted more of a shot for playing time etc in Denver and it was a bit of an issue. It seems he likely has let go of his ego and just working hard to get his shot maybe similar to what NAW did although I'm not expecting that same positive result. Bones might end up being a good player for Dillingham to be around in that regard. They do have similarities to their games.

[Wolvesfan21]

Dilly is quick in a herky-jerky kind of way, meaning he can shake a defender with quick change of direction moves laterally and with his handle. But he seems to lack that same quickness when he makes straight-line drives and often ends up taking highly contested and difficult 3-5 foot "layups" because his defender or the helpside guy recover in time to stay in front of him. It's a concern for me.

A lot of it was garbage time, but I think Dilly shot much better from that lay up zone then I initially thought last year. Just remember seeing the stats and was like, oh OK. I'm not too concerned, but again, lots of garbage time too. So what to make of it. IDK

There are 2 big differences between Bones and Dillingham right now.

1. Bones isn't much taller like but he has a much longer wingspan. He is now 25 and he is far from being hefty he looks bigger. He looks closer to being a SG than a PG even though he would be undersized there.

2. Experience. Bones has played legit NBA minutes for years now and all on playoff teams. He has taken his lumps and had to fight for minutes. He likely has learned what he can and can't do with his body on defense. He has run PG including starting games. I'm not saying he is a seasoned vet but he is compared to Dillingham who also only played one season in college and it was as a bench guy.

We all know Dillingham is more talented and might be a little more physically talented than Bones ultimately but that may not play out quite yet. What I loved was in this game Bones nailed a 3 and Dillingham was up off rhe bench celebrating the shot. I get the sense that Hyland has always been a good guy but there were reports he wanted more of a shot for playing time etc in Denver and it was a bit of an issue. It seems he likely has let go of his ego and just working hard to get his shot maybe similar to what NAW did although I'm not expecting that same positive result. Bones might end up being a good player for Dillingham to be around in that regard. They do have similarities to their games.

I thought it was primarily Bones lack of defense which kept him on the bench, he looked good in my limited highlight reel I watched.