I'm Not Kekgeek's grades G12 Kings@Wolves

[Q-is-here]

Ant - B
Rudy - B-
Randle - A
Jaden - B-
DDV - A
Naz - B-
Clark - C+
Conley - B
Dilly - C-

[60WinTim]

I'm really happy with the ANT/DDV backcourt. Both guys can fill up the stat sheet. The test will be how they do against teams that press, like OKC. We'll see.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Nice to get a win out of an ugly game.

I was worried we were going to lose Jaden for weeks there when he slipped.

Speaking of which, am I crazy, or is there a condensation problem in Target Center? Our floors seem to be slippery more often than the road floors to me.

[FNG]

Solid job of grading, Q. I attended my first game last night (kek and lip are correct...the green court looks better in person), and my appreciation for Mike is always enhanced when I watch him live. He does things that you don't always see on TV...a true floor general.

Naz was terrible in the first half, and I was actually surprised that Finchy stayed with him for so many minutes. But it's good that he did, because he was instrumental in our pulling away in the second half. At one point in the game he was a -12, but he ended up even. He deserves his B-.

I thought Rudy seemed uninspired in this game, and I would give him a C-. It wasn't really his fault that Sabonis went off, because they were screening him away with repeated pick and rolls (our near league worst pick and roll defense was on display last night). But he seemed disinterested on the boards. It's a recurring problem...when he doesn't get many shots (only 6 last night in 34 minutes), it seems to impact him on defense and on the boards.

And then there is Clark. Finchy seems to be appreciating him more, as he got 22 minutes last night. He needs 20+ every night, because we almost always outscore our opponent when he's out there...a +9 last night. It's amazing how his box score can be so unimpressive (1 for 5 shooting and no rebounds or assists) and still have such a positive impact on the game. Such a gritty player!

[AussieWolf3]

I thought Rudy seemed uninspired in this game, and I would give him a C-. It wasn't really his fault that Sabonis went off, because they were screening him away with repeated pick and rolls (our near league worst pick and roll defense was on display last night). But he seemed disinterested on the boards. It's a recurring problem...when he doesn't get many shots (only 6 last night in 34 minutes), it seems to impact him on defense and on the boards.

Complete BS if true!
They were feeding him constantly throughout the game on pick and roll actions, at a much higher clip than we've seen in the past. But Rudy can't do shit with the ball more than 3 feet from the basket

[FNG]

I thought Rudy seemed uninspired in this game, and I would give him a C-. It wasn't really his fault that Sabonis went off, because they were screening him away with repeated pick and rolls (our near league worst pick and roll defense was on display last night). But he seemed disinterested on the boards. It's a recurring problem...when he doesn't get many shots (only 6 last night in 34 minutes), it seems to impact him on defense and on the boards.

Complete BS if true!
They were feeding him constantly throughout the game on pick and roll actions, at a much higher clip than we've seen in the past. But Rudy can't do shit with the ball more than 3 feet from the basket

Yeah, they did seem to try to get him involved more, and that's why he got to the line so often (he's gotta make those FT though). I disagree with your take that he can't do shit away from the basket though. One of the reasons our offense is clicking when he is out there is he sometimes is making quick decisions with the ball when he gets it in the lane and is doubled...he has gotten very good at making the right read and getting a quick pass out to the open man beyond the arc. You're right though that he is terrible if he tries to drive to the basket from more than 3 feet away.

He just looked lackadaisical to me last night. Hopefully his mind was on tonight's game, because he wasn't present last night...especially on the boards, We do need to get him more shots though. Last night was a rare win when he gets fewer than 7 shots. We're 4-1 when he has 7 or more, and only 3-3 when he doesn't.

[rapsuperstar31]

I thought Rudy seemed uninspired in this game, and I would give him a C-. It wasn't really his fault that Sabonis went off, because they were screening him away with repeated pick and rolls (our near league worst pick and roll defense was on display last night). But he seemed disinterested on the boards. It's a recurring problem...when he doesn't get many shots (only 6 last night in 34 minutes), it seems to impact him on defense and on the boards.

Complete BS if true!
They were feeding him constantly throughout the game on pick and roll actions, at a much higher clip than we've seen in the past. But Rudy can't do shit with the ball more than 3 feet from the basket

He did have a couple of great catches by Rudy standards on tough passes, and made a wild up and under layup.

[FNG]

I thought Rudy seemed uninspired in this game, and I would give him a C-. It wasn't really his fault that Sabonis went off, because they were screening him away with repeated pick and rolls (our near league worst pick and roll defense was on display last night). But he seemed disinterested on the boards. It's a recurring problem...when he doesn't get many shots (only 6 last night in 34 minutes), it seems to impact him on defense and on the boards.

Complete BS if true!
They were feeding him constantly throughout the game on pick and roll actions, at a much higher clip than we've seen in the past. But Rudy can't do shit with the ball more than 3 feet from the basket

He did have a couple of great catches by Rudy standards on tough passes, and made a wild up and under layup.

Also Rap, as Q has pointed out, our league-leading 3-point shooting and spread offense has really opened up the lane for Rudy. He obviously catches the ball much better when he has space.

[AussieWolf3]

Complete BS if true!
They were feeding him constantly throughout the game on pick and roll actions, at a much higher clip than we've seen in the past. But Rudy can't do shit with the ball more than 3 feet from the basket

He did have a couple of great catches by Rudy standards on tough passes, and made a wild up and under layup.

Also Rap, as Q has pointed out, our league-leading 3-point shooting and spread offense has really opened up the lane for Rudy. He obviously catches the ball much better when he has space.

Here's my question, and maybe it's stupid, but why can't we run these same actions with Jaden playing at the 5? I don't think you can run it as your starting line up or anything but

Ant/Conley
DDV/Clark/Ant
Naz/Shannon(?)
Randle
Jayden

Is really good combination imo, and it's puts Randle and Naz in better position to do what they're good at offensively and defensively.

[FNG]

He did have a couple of great catches by Rudy standards on tough passes, and made a wild up and under layup.

Also Rap, as Q has pointed out, our league-leading 3-point shooting and spread offense has really opened up the lane for Rudy. He obviously catches the ball much better when he has space.

Here's my question, and maybe it's stupid, but why can't we run these same actions with Jaden playing at the 5? I don't think you can run it as your starting line up or anything but

Ant/Conley
DDV/Clark/Ant
Naz/Shannon(?)
Randle
Jayden

Is really good combination imo, and it's puts Randle and Naz in better position to do what they're good at offensively and defensively.

Difficult to say, because that lineup (with Clark) has only been together for 7 minutes. I pointed out somewhere else though that a similar non-Rudy lineup (swapping Mike in for Ant) has one of our best net ratings...albeit in only 20 minutes. So we don't know, but I suspect that lineup would really struggle to rebound.