First Winning Streak - Wolves at Nets GDT

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe's I'm Glad I'm Not a Brooklyn Nets Fan DVR review:

- I think the Wolves fully realize just how bad the Nets are. The Wolves have 6 TOs and have put the Nets on the line for 7 free throws only 6 minutes into the game.

- 8 TOs... and 15 Nets FTAs through one quarter. LOL.

- The Wolves have three guys who cannot (will not) shoot threes in the rotation. Gobert. That's fine. But neither Dillingham nor Clark can shoot them either. As for Dillingham, he's passing up open looks. I counted three of them. It might not be a problem in early November, but it will be vs. good teams as the season goes on. It'll be disastrous in the playoffs.

- The Wolves let them linger around in the 3rd quarter. I'm not too worried (the Nets are super terrible), but bad uninspired basketball still makes for boring basketball.

- Is #8 for Brooklyn the rookie from BYU? I was SHOCKED to see he's shooting above 40% on both twos and threes this season. There's no way that can last. He looks embarrassingly overwhelmed right now. He does nothing.

- Speaking of the crappy Nets. Tonight was the first time they even were tied after a quarter. They're VERY BAD. What's worse is that i don't think they even have a 1st rd. pick this year. Houston gets their #1.

- Wolves up 7 with 7 minutes left... and they're already in the bonus. They SHOULD run away with this one.

- Julius Randle is just so steady (and efficient) this season. Shot at least 50% in every game this season. (It was amusing to see the Wolves go all out to get him his triple double.) He's been incredible all season.

- Bones Hyland back in the 3rd ahead of TJ Shannon. WHY? I understood why Dillingham didn't play much last year. But why sit anyone for Bones Hyland. There's no upside for Hyland. And he's just not a smart player. He's just a guy. Meh. (Turns out Finch might be figuring it out. Bones had a very short leash in that 3rd.)

- McDaniels is looking great on offense, especially with those mini mid-range jumpers. I'm less-than-thrilled on the other end. There was one egregious lazy play where Gobert was tangling with two while McDaniels was just standing there defensively. The Nets got the bunny putback.

- 6 awesome quarters for Divincenzo. The broken nose is the secret, apparently. (but he is a bit more feisty than most and that may be one of his best traits)

- Joan Beringer looked like a guy who hasn't played much basketball in his life. LOL.

Good takes, Abe. But regarding threes, Dillingham CAN shoot them but simply hasn’t for some reason. I suspect he’s passing up threes because Finch has been drilling him to be a playmaker rather than a shooter and has had Dilly on a short leash. I’m not worried about him when it comes to 3-point shooting since he’s been very good at it at every level before coming here. Dilly just needs to stop making bad jump passes. Eventually he’ll start shooting threes and make them. Clark, on the other hand, CAN’T hit threes. He’s been a bad three-point shooter at every level. Maybe he can develop a 3-point shot but so far it’s not there.

I agree completely with all your other takes, especially your takes on Julius and Bones.

Dillingham is 25 - 75 for his career on threes. He started 21 - 43 over his first 23 games. He's 4 - 32 in his past 31 games. The HS line is 4 feet shorter. College is a bit less than 2'... he made 64 threes in his college career. There's so much body movement on his jumper that I'm not taking him being a legit three-point shooter for granted... especially considering this 4 - 32 stretch he's on.

- Part of being ready to be an NBA lead guard is knowing when to shoot and when to pass. Dillingham has had an alarming lack of natural instinct with this. Last night he got the ball in the corner with 30 seconds to go in the corner. He was open. It was a perfect time for a 2-for-1. Instead he bypassed the three for a contested runner to negate the 2-for-1 advantage. I know he's young and learning. But this is a team with legit playoff hopes and those things will add up in big moments. We can say he needs the time to learn... which is absolutely true... but just how much does the "quarterback" of the offense need to learn to be effective?

- You simply can't be an undersized PG in today's NBA and make only 4 threes over your past 300+ minutes. Meanwhile, his current Assist/TO (while passing up threes to pass) is at 12/9. Bones Hyland, who we agree is clearly not an answer... is 6 - 19 on threes in 82 minutes. His assist/TO ratio is just as bad or even worse at 10/8. The "PG" position is such a massive liability on this team that there's no way to sugarcoat it right now. The team is using three roster spots on three liabilities.

- If Dillingham can't shoot threes, it's time to cut bait. If Dillingham is unwilling to shoot threes, it's time to cut bait. If Dillingham is so skittish and rattled from Finch's coaching that he doesn't know when to shoot or pass, it's time to cut bait with one of them.

- I just heard an interview with Finch yesterday about how HE thinks the Wolves young guys are in a great position because they're playing meaningful minutes. Again, that's HIS idea of a perfect opportunity. I'm guessing Dillingham, Minott, Shannon, et al would wholeheartedly disagree.

[Coolbreeze44]

I agree with Lip about Rob. He made 44.5% of his treys in college on good volume, so he can shoot. I attribute his silly jump passing and poor shooting are a factor of nerves. I don’t know that he believes he really belongs yet. But I would continue to think play him. When he gets comfortable, I think we will be really pleased with what we get from him. I’ve been impressed with his ability to get to the hoop, and his quickness on defense.

Joan is a different story. I think the “play Joan” calls are going to diminish. I’m still optimistic about him long term, but I agree with Abe…he looks like a guy who hasn’t played before. Play him in blowout games, but other than that, develop him in practice.

Regarding Joan, it's remarkable how different guys can look when they step up to NBA level competition. He almost looked like he didn't belong playing against summer league competition, and now he looks like he doesn't belong against the best level. He was lost last night, that's about the only way you could say it.

[rapsuperstar31]

I agree with Lip about Rob. He made 44.5% of his treys in college on good volume, so he can shoot. I attribute his silly jump passing and poor shooting are a factor of nerves. I don’t know that he believes he really belongs yet. But I would continue to think play him. When he gets comfortable, I think we will be really pleased with what we get from him. I’ve been impressed with his ability to get to the hoop, and his quickness on defense.

Joan is a different story. I think the “play Joan” calls are going to diminish. I’m still optimistic about him long term, but I agree with Abe…he looks like a guy who hasn’t played before. Play him in blowout games, but other than that, develop him in practice.

Regarding Joan, it's remarkable how different guys can look when they step up to NBA level competition. He almost looked like he didn't belong playing against summer league competition, and now he looks like he doesn't belong against the best level. He was lost last night, that's about the only way you could say it.

Iowa Wolves first game is this Friday, he should be down there at least for a bit if he's not ready to see NBA minutes.

[60WinTim]

My gut tells me Joan WILL get stints down in Iowa so he gets playing time under his belt. But those stints will be short and measured to maximize playing time versus practice time with the big club.

I will not be surprised if Rocco gets some time up with the big club during the season. He's more likely to be a candidate to fill the non-Rudy minutes than Joan this year. I'm not sure Joan is even a natural 5!

[FNG]

I agree with Lip about Rob. He made 44.5% of his treys in college on good volume, so he can shoot. I attribute his silly jump passing and poor shooting are a factor of nerves. I don’t know that he believes he really belongs yet. But I would continue to think play him. When he gets comfortable, I think we will be really pleased with what we get from him. I’ve been impressed with his ability to get to the hoop, and his quickness on defense.

Joan is a different story. I think the “play Joan” calls are going to diminish. I’m still optimistic about him long term, but I agree with Abe…he looks like a guy who hasn’t played before. Play him in blowout games, but other than that, develop him in practice.

Regarding Joan, it's remarkable how different guys can look when they step up to NBA level competition. He almost looked like he didn't belong playing against summer league competition, and now he looks like he doesn't belong against the best level. He was lost last night, that's about the only way you could say it.

Lost last night, and overpowered in his one minute against Kalkbrenner. I guess there are two ways to look at this draft pick. The negative way is to say he's clearly not ready to play meaningful minutes in the NBA. The positive way is to remind ourselves that he is remarkably gifted athletically, and is still only 18 with just a handful of years playing the game. I still think he's going to be an above average center in the NBA in a couple years.

The question is what is the best way to develop him...let him flounder in real time minutes, send him down to let him play more in the G, or leave him with the big club watching how the game is played and practicing against Rudy a couple times a week (while also getting some mop up minutes in blowouts)? I'm in favor of option 3 as I think Finchy is. Cool, what do you think?

[Q-is-here]

I agree with Lip about Rob. He made 44.5% of his treys in college on good volume, so he can shoot. I attribute his silly jump passing and poor shooting are a factor of nerves. I don’t know that he believes he really belongs yet. But I would continue to think play him. When he gets comfortable, I think we will be really pleased with what we get from him. I’ve been impressed with his ability to get to the hoop, and his quickness on defense.

Joan is a different story. I think the “play Joan” calls are going to diminish. I’m still optimistic about him long term, but I agree with Abe…he looks like a guy who hasn’t played before. Play him in blowout games, but other than that, develop him in practice.

Regarding Joan, it's remarkable how different guys can look when they step up to NBA level competition. He almost looked like he didn't belong playing against summer league competition, and now he looks like he doesn't belong against the best level. He was lost last night, that's about the only way you could say it.

Lost last night, and overpowered in his one minute against Kalkbrenner. I guess there are two ways to look at this draft pick. The negative way is to say he's clearly not ready to play meaningful minutes in the NBA. The positive way is to remind ourselves that he is remarkably gifted athletically, and is still only 18 with just a handful of years playing the game. I still think he's going to be an above average center in the NBA in a couple years.

The question is what is the best way to develop him...let him flounder in real time minutes, send him down to let him play more in the G, or leave him with the big club watching how the game is played and practicing against Rudy a couple times a week (while also getting some mop up minutes in blowouts)? I'm in favor of option 3 as I think Finchy is. Cool, what do you think?

It's all of the above in my opinion (not that you asked for it!). I don't think he should be in Iowa full-time like Jaylen Clark was for a long chunk of last season (20 games total), but going down to play a home stretch of two or three games would probably be helpful. I don't think they need to force feed him minutes because eventually a big is going to get hurt and he will play then.

Clint Capela played a total of 90 minutes with Houston his rookie year and he ultimately turned out OK, although he did play 30+ games that year in the G-League. Daniel Gafford had very spotty playing time in his first two seasons while only playing three games in the G-League and he turned out to be a decent Center.

I think a lot of what Joan needs to work on is simply getting stronger and being more physical. He has great instincts already and those will only get better.

But yeah....he doesn't look ready yet for real NBA action.

[Coolbreeze44]

I agree with Lip about Rob. He made 44.5% of his treys in college on good volume, so he can shoot. I attribute his silly jump passing and poor shooting are a factor of nerves. I don’t know that he believes he really belongs yet. But I would continue to think play him. When he gets comfortable, I think we will be really pleased with what we get from him. I’ve been impressed with his ability to get to the hoop, and his quickness on defense.

Joan is a different story. I think the “play Joan” calls are going to diminish. I’m still optimistic about him long term, but I agree with Abe…he looks like a guy who hasn’t played before. Play him in blowout games, but other than that, develop him in practice.

Regarding Joan, it's remarkable how different guys can look when they step up to NBA level competition. He almost looked like he didn't belong playing against summer league competition, and now he looks like he doesn't belong against the best level. He was lost last night, that's about the only way you could say it.

Lost last night, and overpowered in his one minute against Kalkbrenner. I guess there are two ways to look at this draft pick. The negative way is to say he's clearly not ready to play meaningful minutes in the NBA. The positive way is to remind ourselves that he is remarkably gifted athletically, and is still only 18 with just a handful of years playing the game. I still think he's going to be an above average center in the NBA in a couple years.

The question is what is the best way to develop him...let him flounder in real time minutes, send him down to let him play more in the G, or leave him with the big club watching how the game is played and practicing against Rudy a couple times a week (while also getting some mop up minutes in blowouts)? I'm in favor of option 3 as I think Finchy is. Cool, what do you think?

Fungo, I'm in between option 2 and 3. He clearly needs court time but I also think he gains valuable insight by being with the big club. Maybe if he plays significant minutes in Iowa early, it will help him learn at a faster rate when he's up with the Wolves.

[AbeVigodaLive]

It's very clear that Beringer needs to learn to play basketball... not even NBA basketball... just basketball.

He's still so damn young. Let him go to Iowa and learn the game while working on expanding his skills and mind.




[Note: NBA teams don't practice much during the season. And I'm guessing he's being taught very specific things when there is practice, in games or even the Stay in Shape League. Maybe he could develop more than a rim runner... but he needs time playing the game to know for sure.]

[Lipoli390]

Abe's I'm Glad I'm Not a Brooklyn Nets Fan DVR review:

- I think the Wolves fully realize just how bad the Nets are. The Wolves have 6 TOs and have put the Nets on the line for 7 free throws only 6 minutes into the game.

- 8 TOs... and 15 Nets FTAs through one quarter. LOL.

- The Wolves have three guys who cannot (will not) shoot threes in the rotation. Gobert. That's fine. But neither Dillingham nor Clark can shoot them either. As for Dillingham, he's passing up open looks. I counted three of them. It might not be a problem in early November, but it will be vs. good teams as the season goes on. It'll be disastrous in the playoffs.

- The Wolves let them linger around in the 3rd quarter. I'm not too worried (the Nets are super terrible), but bad uninspired basketball still makes for boring basketball.

- Is #8 for Brooklyn the rookie from BYU? I was SHOCKED to see he's shooting above 40% on both twos and threes this season. There's no way that can last. He looks embarrassingly overwhelmed right now. He does nothing.

- Speaking of the crappy Nets. Tonight was the first time they even were tied after a quarter. They're VERY BAD. What's worse is that i don't think they even have a 1st rd. pick this year. Houston gets their #1.

- Wolves up 7 with 7 minutes left... and they're already in the bonus. They SHOULD run away with this one.

- Julius Randle is just so steady (and efficient) this season. Shot at least 50% in every game this season. (It was amusing to see the Wolves go all out to get him his triple double.) He's been incredible all season.

- Bones Hyland back in the 3rd ahead of TJ Shannon. WHY? I understood why Dillingham didn't play much last year. But why sit anyone for Bones Hyland. There's no upside for Hyland. And he's just not a smart player. He's just a guy. Meh. (Turns out Finch might be figuring it out. Bones had a very short leash in that 3rd.)

- McDaniels is looking great on offense, especially with those mini mid-range jumpers. I'm less-than-thrilled on the other end. There was one egregious lazy play where Gobert was tangling with two while McDaniels was just standing there defensively. The Nets got the bunny putback.

- 6 awesome quarters for Divincenzo. The broken nose is the secret, apparently. (but he is a bit more feisty than most and that may be one of his best traits)

- Joan Beringer looked like a guy who hasn't played much basketball in his life. LOL.

Good takes, Abe. But regarding threes, Dillingham CAN shoot them but simply hasn’t for some reason. I suspect he’s passing up threes because Finch has been drilling him to be a playmaker rather than a shooter and has had Dilly on a short leash. I’m not worried about him when it comes to 3-point shooting since he’s been very good at it at every level before coming here. Dilly just needs to stop making bad jump passes. Eventually he’ll start shooting threes and make them. Clark, on the other hand, CAN’T hit threes. He’s been a bad three-point shooter at every level. Maybe he can develop a 3-point shot but so far it’s not there.

I agree completely with all your other takes, especially your takes on Julius and Bones.

Dillingham is 25 - 75 for his career on threes. He started 21 - 43 over his first 23 games. He's 4 - 32 in his past 31 games. The HS line is 4 feet shorter. College is a bit less than 2'... he made 64 threes in his college career. There's so much body movement on his jumper that I'm not taking him being a legit three-point shooter for granted... especially considering this 4 - 32 stretch he's on.

- Part of being ready to be an NBA lead guard is knowing when to shoot and when to pass. Dillingham has had an alarming lack of natural instinct with this. Last night he got the ball in the corner with 30 seconds to go in the corner. He was open. It was a perfect time for a 2-for-1. Instead he bypassed the three for a contested runner to negate the 2-for-1 advantage. I know he's young and learning. But this is a team with legit playoff hopes and those things will add up in big moments. We can say he needs the time to learn... which is absolutely true... but just how much does the "quarterback" of the offense need to learn to be effective?

- You simply can't be an undersized PG in today's NBA and make only 4 threes over your past 300+ minutes. Meanwhile, his current Assist/TO (while passing up threes to pass) is at 12/9. Bones Hyland, who we agree is clearly not an answer... is 6 - 19 on threes in 82 minutes. His assist/TO ratio is just as bad or even worse at 10/8. The "PG" position is such a massive liability on this team that there's no way to sugarcoat it right now. The team is using three roster spots on three liabilities.

- If Dillingham can't shoot threes, it's time to cut bait. If Dillingham is unwilling to shoot threes, it's time to cut bait. If Dillingham is so skittish and rattled from Finch's coaching that he doesn't know when to shoot or pass, it's time to cut bait with one of them.

- I just heard an interview with Finch yesterday about how HE thinks the Wolves young guys are in a great position because they're playing meaningful minutes. Again, that's HIS idea of a perfect opportunity. I'm guessing Dillingham, Minott, Shannon, et al would wholeheartedly disagree.

I’m not worried about Dilly’s 3-point shooting. He was over 40% from behind the college arc and it’s likely he’ll adjust to the NBA arc. He shot 34% from behind the NBA arc last season. If you look back on the careers of many great NBA guards you’ll see similar 3-point percentages in their first season. Meanwhile, it’s crystal clear that Finch is pushing Dilly hard to focus on facilitating over shooting. I’m fine with that because it’s part of taking the long view and getting Dilly to develop into what the team needs and what Dilly needs to be successful. The sample size is still extremely small. If Dilly loses playing time it should be over his dumb jump passes, not his three-point shooting.

You’re probably right that Dillly, Minott, and Shannon would disagree with Finchy’s comment. .