Indy at Wolves GDT

[Lipoli390]

Abe's 1st Traditional DVR Review Gimmick of the Season:

- You gave a good example of why Bones is not a pure PG. But I think there’s way too much concern about the PG position. A classic, true PG isn’t necessary in today’s NBA, especially for a team like ours with ball-dominant shot-creators like Ant and Randle. Overall, Bones did a nice job of bringing the ball up, getting us into our offensive and keeping the ball moving. We need players who can handle the ball to take ball pressure off Ant, break down the defense a bit on dribble penetration and hit open shots. Bones did that well last night although his shooting was a bit off; Conley did not, although he made a couple nice plays down the stretch. Shannon looks like he can do that for us. I think Dilly can also. And I’ll repeat what I’ve written before - Dilly is a gifted passer.

Yeah. I agree that the league is changing with the PG position, so you don't need Chris Paul/Steve Nash timing out there... but, it's also one more reason why I'm puzzled by the Dillinham pick.

Good point on the Dillingham pick. My guess is that they saw three things in Dilly they liked for this team with Ant and Julius:

1. Dillingham was probably the best ball-handler and quickest with the ball among the player they could trade up to get, which made him a player who could take ball pressure off Ant

2. I suspect they saw that Dilly had the best innate passing ability among the players they could get trading up, which made him a guy who could effectively get the ball to our elite scorers (Ant and Julius). Dilly’s not a guy who can orchestrate the offense at an elite level like Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Stockton, etc., but he still has the makings of an elite passer.

3. His 40+% 3-point percentage in college probably led our front office to conclude that he’d give us more perimeter shooting on feeds from Ant and Julius in the paint.

It’s not clear yet whether Dilly will match the expectations of our front office, but I can see why they targeted him as a good fit for this team. His defense is a question mark because of his size, but obviously our front office knew that when they traded up for him. I suppose they figured we had enough elite defenders — Rudy, Jaden, Ant, NAW (eventually Clark) — to allow for a some weaker defenders like Dilly, Naz and Julius in the rotation.

If the Bones we saw last night is the guy we see consistently the rest of the season, then I’m content with a combo platter of Bones, Mike, Donte and Shannon rotating in as Ant’s backcourt mate or paired with Clark at times. Note that Shannon was playing the point and running the offense when he was in the game last night. I thought he did well except for a couple mistakes. We’ll just have to see how Dilly develops. It’s likely that injuries or other factors will eventually give Dilly some extended playing time at some point in the season. I still see Dilly emerging as a really good player for us but probably not until next season when he’s 21, stronger and more experienced. There’s no getting around the fact that Dilly is physically very young and has not had a lot of high-level playing time - only one year of college at around 25 minutes per game and very limited on-court action as a rookie last season. His performance in Summer League was a positive omen.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I don't know Lip... I think the bar is settling pretty low right now with Dillingham.

We saw different things from Summer League.

I saw a TO prone guy (4+ per game) who shot less than 40% from the field... largely against has beens and never will bes.

We can keep pushing that he's so young... but it's looking like the Wolves will get very little from their #8 pick for two seasons when he still has a relatively good value contract.

So when we compare him to contemporaries... those two "lost" seasons are part of the equation, especially for a team with lofty expectations that was counting on him. He'll have even more to make up for down the line to justify the trade and pick.

Right now, his closest comp in an underwhelming draft is another undersized lead guard... who coincidentally was his college teammate.



[Note: Hope we get to see Dillingham over the next two weeks to see how his development is going... and hopefully improving.]

[Lipoli390]

I don't know Lip... I think the bar is settling pretty low right now with Dillingham.

We saw different things from Summer League.

I saw a TO prone guy (4+ per game) who shot less than 40% from the field... largely against has beens and never will bes.

We can keep pushing that he's so young... but it's looking like the Wolves will get very little from their #8 pick for two seasons when he still has a relatively good value contract.

So when we compare him to contemporaries... those two "lost" seasons are part of the equation, especially for a team with lofty expectations that was counting on him. He'll have even more to make up for down the line to justify the trade and pick.

Right now, his closest comp in an underwhelming draft is another undersized lead guard... who coincidentally was his college teammate.



[Note: Hope we get to see Dillingham over the next two weeks to see how his development is going... and hopefully improving.]

I see your perspective, Abe. My eye test tells me there’s a really good PG in Dilly that will eventually emerge. There’s some objective evidence to support my optimism:

- Last season Dilly was a +9 when on the court with Ant in 200 minutes and +10 on the court with Naz in 300 minutes

- Last season he was third on the team behind Ant and Julius in drives to the hoop. Ant and Julius were the only two Wolves players who averaged more than 5 drives per game. Dilly averaged 4 in very limited minutes.

- He had very good Summer League stats except for shooting percentage - averaging 17.3 points, 6.5 assists, and 3.8 rebounds. More importantly, he improved over the course of his four Summer League games.

- He played in 49 games last season. He only averaged 10.5 minutes per game but his numbers per 36 minutes were impressive, including 15.3 points, 6.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals. He shot 44% from the field and 34% from behind the arc.

It’s way too soon it seems to write him off given his age and his lack of playing experience. I see the quickness, savvy and instincts in his game. I also see a gifted passer who sees the play develop and passes to the spot exactly as the player he’s passing to arrives. He’s ambidextrous and can fire laser passes with either hand. Those are the things you can see when you watch him play. He just needs to play a lot more and get stronger. Playing time is up to the coach and circumstances. Getting stronger is a given for a 20 year old.

Having said all that, the fact that he’s not getting meaningful playing time tells me the Wolves coaching staff shares some of your doubts.