Kuminga Presser

[Wolvesfan21]

I don't think it matters if he is open or not open. Awkward or a social butterfly. People put way too much of an emphasis on player sports interviews. All i care about is what happens on the court.

I don't think we do really care, just something to talk about.

[Lipoli390]

I don't think it matters if he is open or not open. Awkward or a social butterfly. People put way too much of an emphasis on player sports interviews. All i care about is what happens on the court.

I don't think we do really care, just something to talk about.

Yep!

[FNG]

I agree that we probably give more attention to pressers than is warranted. But they are a first indication of a player's personality, and as we learned last season, "moodiness" can be a factor in a team's success.

We've talked a lot about JK in this thread, but as much of a fan that I am of TC, I thought he was rather weird in this presser. Three things that got my attention:

1) As monster pointed out, it's unusual to not have the GM or coach lead off a presser with opening remarks...it was odd to go directly to questions.

2) When TC was asked about the process of recruiting JK, he said "you want to sell, but you don't want to recruit." What??? I have no idea what he meant by that. Everything we have read about the efforts of TC, Finchy, Ant, etc, tells me there was a lot of recruiting and selling going on! Maybe someone can translate for me.

3) A reporter said something like "Jonathan, it looks like you are betting on yourself". Before he could complete his question, TC interrupted to say something like "don't use the work 'betting'". I think he was trying to make some kind of a joke, but JK gave him a funny look. It was awkward again.

Nothing really important here...just thought it wasn't one of TC's best days.

[Lipoli390]

I agree that we probably give more attention to pressers than is warranted. But they are a first indication of a player's personality, and as we learned last season, "moodiness" can be a factor in a team's success.

We've talked a lot about JK in this thread, but as much of a fan that I am of TC, I thought he was rather weird in this presser. Three things that got my attention:

1) As monster pointed out, it's unusual to not have the GM or coach lead off a presser with opening remarks...it was odd to go directly to questions.

2) When TC was asked about the process of recruiting JK, he said "you want to sell, but you don't want to recruit." What??? I have no idea what he meant by that. Everything we have read about the efforts of TC, Finchy, Ant, etc, tells me there was a lot of recruiting and selling going on! Maybe someone can translate for me.

3) A reporter said something like "Jonathan, it looks like you are betting on yourself". Before he could complete his question, TC interrupted to say something like "don't use the work 'betting'". I think he was trying to make some kind of a joke, but JK gave him a funny look. It was awkward again.

Nothing really important here...just thought it wasn't one of TC's best days.

FNG - I also noticed that TC was unusually awkward. I overlooked it but your post here brought that point back into my head. The betting thing was a really awkward attempt to be funny. The recruit v selling thing was nonsensical but maybe it had something to do with the atmosphere now in the immediate aftermath of the Kawhi findings. Maybe in TC’s mind the term recruiting includes financial inducements, while selling in his mind simply means selling the team - i.e., convincing Kuminga that this Wolves team is right for him. It’s a silly distinction, but these basketball execs aren’t linguists or lawyers.

[Monster]

One thing was interesting was Connelly said soke pretty high praise for Kuminga's dribble drive game. I went back and looked at some highlights and definitely can handle the ball and for a PF even in the new NBA it's probably gonna be an advantage on that end. I wondered how he might compare to some other players and one guy that came to mind is Jerami Grant. Grant was a better shot blocker and eventually took a leap shooting the ball but Kuminga was a better rebounder and scorer in general. I watched some highlights from their rookie years. There are some comparisons that can be made.

I saw today someone on Twitter said Kuminga had some real stretches of success when he got a shot. I looked at some splits. On BB reference they have what looks to be a breakdown of stats of a range of how many minutes they played in games. When Kuminga plays over 30mpg those stats are...well pretty good.

I'm sure there will be situations and games where I'll be like oh this is why he didn't get the minutes you might have expected in GS but I'm starting to get more intrigued by him.

[BeenLurkin]

One thing that just popped into my mind today about Kuminga is that if there is a side of a dysfunctional relationship that Draymond Green is on and another side that Kuminga is on….gonna be an easy call. The vitriol that Draymond seems to have for everyone wearing a wolves jersey, specifically Rudy, maybe helps Kuminga lock in mentally. An us vs them mentality. A spite mentality. Kuminga can Show Draymond what a jerkoff he is by fitting in defensively with Rudy.

[FNG]

One thing that just popped into my mind today about Kuminga is that if there is a side of a dysfunctional relationship that Draymond Green is on and another side that Kuminga is on….gonna be an easy call. The vitriol that Draymond seems to have for everyone wearing a wolves jersey, specifically Rudy, maybe helps Kuminga lock in mentally. An us vs them mentality. A spite mentality. Kuminga can Show Draymond what a jerkoff he is by fitting in defensively with Rudy.

Actually Draymond was and is a big proponent of JK...almost a father/son relationship. Nobody treated JK better in his years with Golden State than Draymond, and I imagine they will remain close.

[BeenLurkin]

I was unaware of that. Most recent Google blurb about that dynamic though is Draymond trashing Kuminga agent getting him a bad deal. Kinda another example of Draymond being out of pocket. Talking about another man’s money publicly would not sit well with me. And many big brother dynamics are complicated at best. Kuminga saw draymond knock Poole out. Probably a bit intimidating. Wonder how much was Kuminga trying to get online and not get knocked out next.

In any way my hope is that Draymond isn’t still in Kuminga a head while he is trying to acclimate to playing defense side by side with Rudy…

[Monster]

I was unaware of that. Most recent Google blurb about that dynamic though is Draymond trashing Kuminga agent getting him a bad deal. Kinda another example of Draymond being out of pocket. Talking about another man’s money publicly would not sit well with me. And many big brother dynamics are complicated at best. Kuminga saw draymond knock Poole out. Probably a bit intimidating. Wonder how much was Kuminga trying to get online and not get knocked out next.

In any way my hope is that Draymond isn’t still in Kuminga a head while he is trying to acclimate to playing defense side by side with Rudy…

It seems more Draymond is worried about only making 6 million a year and money is one way to keep you from being a priority. That's a fair concern I think it's pretty clear the Wolves are all in on Kuminga he is gonna have to suck pretty bad to not keep his spot.

I was reading more about the Draymond Kuminga relationship and Jarrett Jack was Draymond's vet at GS and Jack played with Kuminga as a vet guy for the G-league ignite or whichever team that was. Jack was very impressed with Kuminga and told Draymond. Supposedly GS asked Draymond about Kuminga before the draft and he was like let's get Kuminga here..

I think Draymond having Kuminga's back is probably a good thing even though Draymond seems a little crazy at this point. I remember there were various NBA vets that were a big fan of Wiggins including Butler even if Wiggins was frustrating. Wiggins ended up being a key piece on a championship team and still is an effective NBA starter. Draymond doesn't seem like a guy that plays around so if he still gives a shit about you that seems like a good thing.

I think you are ultimately onto something about the Wolves simply being a better spot for Kuminga than GS and that goes beyond just a clear opportunity. Playing defense next to Gobert will be different. Gobert has expectations from players playing with him but isn't gonna be as intense or what we as I'd assume Draymond is. Gobert is a rim protector you can funnel things to him in a way You can't with Draymond and I don't think Draymond is quite the defender he once was but it's also possible the defensive talent around him isn't as good including Curry being older now.