Lakers at Wolves GDT

[AbeVigodaLive]

I wondered if TC missed an opportunity when Deandre Jordan signed with the Pelicans last week...

No.

No. He did not.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Randle credits quitting (or cutting back?) on weed to a great offseason. It's paying off offensively. Still don't like his fit on the team, but you can't argue with his ability to eat innings as a scorer.

Innings eater... I like that description for Randle's game.

It has a ceiling. But, damn it if the guy doesn't produce when he's on the court.

Part of it is that it doesn't look great... but he's become a bit underrated (or maybe it's just him being the national media whipping boy seems tired at this point). So many talking heads can't resist mentioning all his foibles even when they praise him.

He may get a bad rap nationally, but some of the local pundits may be going too far the other way. Guys like Dane Moore and Kyle Thiege are saying he is going to be an all star this season. Maybe...he's been great in the first five games. And his bucket that put us ahead with ten seconds to go was clutch. We need Ant back, but it's a blessing to have a reliable #2 like Ju who also is going to lead the team in assists for the second straight year.

We'll see what happens (it might depend on how many wins the Wolves have).

But Randle has been ridiculously consistent so far this season.

- Shot 50%+ every game.
- 19 - 33 points
- 4 - 7 rebounds
- 6 assists in 4 of the 5 games

[Q-is-here]

The thing with Randle is for whatever reason his ability to score doesn't seem to do much to elevate the team as a whole. Think Zach LaVine/DeMar DeRozan/Bradley Beal....all guys that can get you points but rarely are they driving a lot of winning.

[FNG]

The thing with Randle is for whatever reason his ability to score doesn't seem to do much to elevate the team as a whole. Think Zach LaVine/DeMar DeRozan/Bradley Beal....all guys that can get you points but rarely are they driving a lot of winning.

Q, you have named two players (Zach and DeMar) who are on my list of guys who notoriously fare poorly in on/off stats...granted only one measure of driving winning and not reliable with a small sample size, but a fairly good one in my opinion when measured over several years. Ju actually looks pretty good by this measure...he leads the team this season, and has been positive 6 of the past 8 seasons. I guess I would ask how you would define "driving winning". He's also been a key player on two different teams that made their conference finals each of the past two years (although admittedly he only played 49 games for the Knicks that season). As further evidence that he indeed does drive winning, compare the Wolves' record in the thirteen games he was out (5-8) to their record when he played including playoffs (58-39) last season.

I was a Julius detractor early in his career and still during his Knicks years, but I have turned around on him. And the above paragraph are two fairly compelling pieces of evidence that he does indeed drive winning.

[Coolbreeze44]

Couple observations. One reason you have the 6'-10" Jaden guarding other teams point guards is he is still the best option to do so. At least until Clark comes back. As he's gotten bigger and even taller, he's not able to navigate around screens like he could 3 years ago. But I still see the same effort. It has to be exhausting for a guy that size to fight through picks all night, play over 40 minutes, and be counted on offensively with Ant out.

If we had ANYONE that could provide rim protection other than Rudy, would he play very much? Let's be honest, we are playing 4 on 5 on the offensive end because of his futility on that side. Other than setting screens he has no purpose. Another contract that's killing us.

How far would a package starting with Randle, Jaden, and Rob go toward trading for Giannis? Something to think about.

[AbeVigodaLive]

The thing with Randle is for whatever reason his ability to score doesn't seem to do much to elevate the team as a whole. Think Zach LaVine/DeMar DeRozan/Bradley Beal....all guys that can get you points but rarely are they driving a lot of winning.

Sure. But it's why I still like the "innings eater" tag.

Randle is able to keep chugging away in the middle innings, keeping things close regardless of what else is happening, for teams until someone else comes in to finish.

[Q-is-here]

The thing with Randle is for whatever reason his ability to score doesn't seem to do much to elevate the team as a whole. Think Zach LaVine/DeMar DeRozan/Bradley Beal....all guys that can get you points but rarely are they driving a lot of winning.

Q, you have named two players (Zach and DeMar) who are on my list of guys who notoriously fare poorly in on/off stats...granted only one measure of driving winning and not reliable with a small sample size, but a fairly good one in my opinion when measured over several years. Ju actually looks pretty good by this measure...he leads the team this season, and has been positive 6 of the past 8 seasons. I guess I would ask how you would define "driving winning". He's also been a key player on two different teams that made their conference finals each of the past two years (although admittedly he only played 49 games for the Knicks that season). As further evidence that he indeed does drive winning, compare the Wolves' record in the thirteen games he was out (5-8) to their record when he played including playoffs (58-39) last season.

I was a Julius detractor early in his career and still during his Knicks years, but I have turned around on him. And the above paragraph are two fairly compelling pieces of evidence that he does indeed drive winning.

I'm probably being a little harsh comparing him to LaVine especially, whose net rating and on/off stats are notoriously bad over multiple, multiple seasons. But it's in that same mold of player whose high scoring belies his overall contributions.

I should have put an emphasis on my original statement that he doesn't drive a lot of winning. You cite the Knicks team, but isn't it pretty damning just how far they went in the playoffs without him that year?? I certainly don't think Randle is a negative player, but I also think replacing his usage and role on the team wouldn't be all that difficult.

As for the stats, he's 5th in On-Off rating this season of the guys that have played regularly. Last season he was 7th in On-Off rating among our "Eight Starters".

In terms of his net rating while on the floor (which doesn't compare to what happens when he's off), he's 6th out of the guys playing regularly this year and last year he was 8th out of our eight starters.

Again, I don't see him as a negative player, but I honestly don't think it would be that hard to replace his production and contributions if he were moved.

[Lipoli390]

Just watched the second half again. A few take-aways:

1. We got back within striking range with an 11-2 run at the end of the third quarter when Dilly and then Bones were running the point. That’s encouraging, especially when you consider that Dilly is early in his development both physically and skill wise.

2. Mike Conley was terrific on both ends in our late 4th quarter run to take the lead. That’s encouraging for two reasons. First, it shows he has some game left in short spurts. Second, it’s a reminder that a small PG with developed skills and a more developed physique can be effective both offensively and defensively in the NBA — again a reminder that dismissing Dilly at this juncture doesn’t make sense.

3. Donte brings great energy and effort to the court.

4. Jaden was tremendous in this stretch.

5. Our most experienced, smartest vets made some terrible mistakes in this stretch. Mike Conley passed the ball to a player in the backcourt, which was an obvious back court violation. That’s an inexcusable mistake for any player, especially a veteran. If Dilly or Shannon had made that mistake Finch would have sat them on the bench immediately. Donte committed an incredibly dumb, blatant offensive foul shoving a defender with his right arm but getting absolutely no advantage. Again, if Dilly or Shannon had made that mistake, Finch would have yanked them. And of course, there was Rudy’s defensive blunder on the last player of the game. Bottom line is that our inexperienced young players are being yanked and punished for making mistakes you’d expect from young inexperienced players. Meanwhile, our experienced vets get a pass on mistakes they absolutely should not be making. We wonder why Minott is thriving in Boston. There’s no magic to it - no special coaching tactics. It’s a simple matter of giving Minott time to play and allowing him to play through his mistakes. We’re the third worst defensive team in the NBA with Dilly and Shannon (especially Dilly) getting almost no playing time. How much worse can we be with Dilly and Shannon playing a lot more? And at least playing them can pay dividends down the road by facilitating the development of their games. You can’t say the same about the older vets.

[Wolvesfan21]

The thing with Randle is for whatever reason his ability to score doesn't seem to do much to elevate the team as a whole. Think Zach LaVine/DeMar DeRozan/Bradley Beal....all guys that can get you points but rarely are they driving a lot of winning.

Defense, or lack there of. They also are all ball hogs a bit, so that in some way effects the team by, others guys simply not touching the ball much (my turn your turn offense is rarely effective) to maybe the other guys not feeling part of the game and thus not giving enough effort on defense?

Whatever it is, there is something to it for sure. Because they are effective scoring, not winning.

[Wolvesfan21]

Just watched the second half again. A few take-aways:

1. We got back within striking range with an 11-2 run at the end of the third quarter when Dilly and then Bones were running the point. That’s encouraging, especially when you consider that Dilly is early in his development both physically and skill wise.

2. Mike Conley was terrific on both ends in our late 4th quarter run to take the lead. That’s encouraging for two reasons. First, it shows he has some game left in short spurts. Second, it’s a reminder that a small PG with developed skills and a more developed physique can be effective both offensively and defensively in the NBA — again a reminder that dismissing Dilly at this juncture doesn’t make sense.

3. Donte brings great energy and effort to the court.

4. Jaden was tremendous in this stretch.

5. Our most experienced, smartest vets made some terrible mistakes in this stretch. Mike Conley passed the ball to a player in the backcourt, which was an obvious back court violation. That’s an inexcusable mistake for any player, especially a veteran. If Dilly or Shannon had made that mistake Finch would have sat them on the bench immediately. Donte committed an incredibly dumb, blatant offensive foul shoving a defender with his right arm but getting absolutely no advantage. Again, if Dilly or Shannon had made that mistake, Finch would have yanked them. And of course, there was Rudy’s defensive blunder on the last player of the game. Bottom line is that our inexperienced young players are being yanked and punished for making mistakes you’d expect from young inexperienced players. Meanwhile, our experienced vets get a pass on mistakes they absolutely should not be making. We wonder why Minott is thriving in Boston. There’s no magic to it - no special coaching tactics. It’s a simple matter of giving Minott time to play and allowing him to play through his mistakes. We’re the third worst defensive team in the NBA with Dilly and Shannon (especially Dilly) getting almost no playing time. How much worse can we be with Dilly and Shannon playing a lot more? And at least playing them can pay dividends down the road by facilitating the development of their games. You can’t say the same about the older vets.

Nice points. On Dilly, I'm not as optimistic he's going to be borderline all star as I use to be, expectations and all. I just was hoping he was further along then he is, given last year and all summer to make progress. I guess he's in a fine spot considering age still. Still, he's going to have to be great on offense because I think he's probably always going to be a negative on defense. Can his potential positive offense overtake the negative and by how much is the question in my mind.

It's just so hard being patient with young players. I bet for coaches it's even harder. You just got to see that 1% growth here and there and let it add up over the long haul.

Also Minott is my dude I said would come back strong this season (after Finch refused to play him anymore last year). He just needed a little more marinating.