Life Without ANT - Warriors at Wolves GDT

[Q-is-here]

The first quarter and part of the 2nd half the old wolves were back getting outworked by the likes of Georges Niang. Big fan of Niang but geez. The Wolves got themselves back in it and made it interested in the 2nd half but they couldn't overcome playing like shit earlier in the game.

Well another WTF are you doing game from Ball. He played better in the 2nd half but the expectations are quite a bit higher than what he has provided the last 2 games.

TJ is an absolute force

Nice last couple games from Trey Lyles.

Bones helped give the Wolves a chance in this one making some shots.

Beringer with another plenty solid game.

Overall some guys ended up having nice games including Kuminga but the team wasn't good. Idk if they were kinda let down from the Edwards new or what but I hope they play more like they were in the first 4 games than that one.

Yaxel is a player. I really liked him coming out of college but wasn't fully convinced he was gonna translate at the next level. Heck of a start for him and another example of it's not always the youngest players that have potential etc.

I think the surprising thing about Yaxel is the volume scoring. He's averaging 23PPG! And it doesn't look fluke-ish. He has a real maturity to his game. I was impressed. The knock on him coming out of school was his age, but if he's already this good this early into his rookie contract then it was a GREAT pick by Golden State.

[FNG]

I predicted that Kuminga and TJ would be gone at the deadline. I didnt see Rudy as the body that would be traded, but he might not be the answer at center with this lineup. He looks out of sorts, and with the league treating him like a punching bag around the rim, it is going to be tough sledding going forward. If he could hit a free throw at better than 50% clip it would be harder to justify the hack-a-Rudy. Heck, the entire team sucks at free throws right now, with the exception of TJ.

Just to put a stop on the "dump Rudy next offseason to sign JK" speculation... Even if you could simply eliminate Rudy (maybe he doesn't pick up his player option?), it would not move the Wolves salary low enough to offer JK anything more than the MLE.

My hope: JK is happy enough that he is willing to sign a 2-year MLE deal (with a 3rd year player option for his own security), and then be free to sign a bigger deal once he has his Bird Rights.

I'll put another stop to the "dump Rudy" discussion, although I know it will fall on deaf ears . The best analysis I have ever heard about Rudy was when I heard a smart guy say "Rudy's mistakes are very loud, and the things he does well are very quiet...but the good far outweighs the bad". Joan is just the opposite...very loud good things (like when he makes a spectacular block or dunk) and very quiet but numerous bad things. We all get frustrated when Rudy fumbles the ball, but we don't talk enough about his elite defense (and yes, it is still elite), his defensive rebounding, his ability to keep offensive possessions alive with tip backs, and his screening (which is as good as any center in the Association). We also don't talk about his court knowledge...how he knows exactly where to go when he sees a guard being doubled or in trouble, and how for some reason his hands aren't made of stone when he catches the ball at the top of the key. And finally how quickly he gets rid of the ball to the right person when he catches the ball at the top of the key. In contrast Joan hasn't learned to do many of these small, but important things, and will really profit from at least another season of watching a future HOF center. All of little things add up, and lead to the dramatic difference in on/off numbers we currently see and will continue to see the rest of the season...the Wolves are a plus 4.9 on/off when Rudy is on the court, and a minus 15.6 for Joan.

Joan is going to be terrific...he has the size, athleticism and drive to be a really good 2-way center. But I think we're being naive to think a raw 19-year-old who has played a lot more soccer than basketball in his life is ready to be a starting center in the NBA. My long-term expectations for him are high, but my hopes for this season is that we survive the minutes Rudy is off the court as Joan continues to learn to play a game he has only played for 6 years. I would love to be wrong and see Joan be right away what a lot of us want him to be, but I am quite certain that we will continue to win the minutes Rudy is on the court and lose Joan's minutes...and hopefully that gap diminishes as the season progresses.

[FNG]

The first quarter and part of the 2nd half the old wolves were back getting outworked by the likes of Georges Niang. Big fan of Niang but geez. The Wolves got themselves back in it and made it interested in the 2nd half but they couldn't overcome playing like shit earlier in the game.

Well another WTF are you doing game from Ball. He played better in the 2nd half but the expectations are quite a bit higher than what he has provided the last 2 games.

TJ is an absolute force

Nice last couple games from Trey Lyles.

Bones helped give the Wolves a chance in this one making some shots.

Beringer with another plenty solid game.

Overall some guys ended up having nice games including Kuminga but the team wasn't good. Idk if they were kinda let down from the Edwards new or what but I hope they play more like they were in the first 4 games than that one.

Yaxel is a player. I really liked him coming out of college but wasn't fully convinced he was gonna translate at the next level. Heck of a start for him and another example of it's not always the youngest players that have potential etc.

I think the surprising thing about Yaxel is the volume scoring. He's averaging 23PPG! And it doesn't look fluke-ish. He has a real maturity to his game. I was impressed. The knock on him coming out of school was his age, but if he's already this good this early into his rookie contract then it was a GREAT pick by Golden State.

I couldn't agree more. I loved him in college, but he is a much better pro than he was in college...the game just seems to suit him. Yes, Q, his maturity is noticeable. And they even have him handling the ball as a point forward at times, and he's really good at it. Boozer is coming on strong and the first 2 picks in the draft are going to be good too, but Yaxel is my pick for ROY right now.

[rapsuperstar31]

Yeah I don't mean to come across as overly critical cause I agree with you and have been very impressed with that aspect of his defense and just the buy in is great to see.

Speaking of buy in, JK is certainly bought in to what he need to do for this team. There could be some difficult decisions coming next summer, but let's not worry about that now lol

I don’t think next summer’s decision will be difficult. Move on from Rudy to create salary space for Kuminga.

He's under contract, no?

I agree with you, but they'll have to pull levers to make that happen

Kuminga or Rudy? Both have player options next season. 38 million for Rudy, and 6.3 million for Kuminga. Rudy can opt out at any time (today, next week, in June) and agree to an extension as soon as he opts out. Or he can opt in and play on an expiring contract. If Rudy plans on staying here for a few years, ideally he opts out and takes a pay cut to round the roster out. Kuminga can opt out and sign anywhere, the most we could open up for him is the 15 or so million mle, but getting that far below the apron might be tough, especially if they want to re-sign Donte and keep everyone.

[FNG]

I don’t think next summer’s decision will be difficult. Move on from Rudy to create salary space for Kuminga.

He's under contract, no?

I agree with you, but they'll have to pull levers to make that happen

Kuminga or Rudy? Both have player options next season. 38 million for Rudy, and 6.3 million for Kuminga. Rudy can opt out at any time (today, next week, in June) and agree to an extension as soon as he opts out. Or he can opt in and play on an expiring contract. If Rudy plans on staying here for a few years, ideally he opts out and takes a pay cut to round the roster out. Kuminga can opt out and sign anywhere, the most we could open up for him is the 15 or so million mle, but getting that far below the apron might be tough, especially if they want to re-sign Donte and keep everyone.

I think you nailed it, Rap. My guess is that JK wants to make as much money as he can, and after a successful season, is going to price himself out of our ability to resign him. And I suspect that Rudy wants to play 3-4 more years and knows the cap pressure we're under, so will be willing to sign a very team-friendly extension. I'd love to keep JK long term, but it's difficult to see how that could happen. But with TC, anything could happen. We'll have to wait to see, I guess.

[DNatagal]

I predicted that Kuminga and TJ would be gone at the deadline. I didnt see Rudy as the body that would be traded, but he might not be the answer at center with this lineup. He looks out of sorts, and with the league treating him like a punching bag around the rim, it is going to be tough sledding going forward. If he could hit a free throw at better than 50% clip it would be harder to justify the hack-a-Rudy. Heck, the entire team sucks at free throws right now, with the exception of TJ.

Just to put a stop on the "dump Rudy next offseason to sign JK" speculation... Even if you could simply eliminate Rudy (maybe he doesn't pick up his player option?), it would not move the Wolves salary low enough to offer JK anything more than the MLE.

My hope: JK is happy enough that he is willing to sign a 2-year MLE deal (with a 3rd year player option for his own security), and then be free to sign a bigger deal once he has his Bird Rights.

I'll put another stop to the "dump Rudy" discussion, although I know it will fall on deaf ears . The best analysis I have ever heard about Rudy was when I heard a smart guy say "Rudy's mistakes are very loud, and the things he does well are very quiet...but the good far outweighs the bad". Joan is just the opposite...very loud good things (like when he makes a spectacular block or dunk) and very quiet but numerous bad things. We all get frustrated when Rudy fumbles the ball, but we don't talk enough about his elite defense (and yes, it is still elite), his defensive rebounding, his ability to keep offensive possessions alive with tip backs, and his screening (which is as good as any center in the Association). We also don't talk about his court knowledge...how he knows exactly where to go when he sees a guard being doubled or in trouble, and how for some reason his hands aren't made of stone when he catches the ball at the top of the key. And finally how quickly he gets rid of the ball to the right person when he catches the ball at the top of the key. In contrast Joan hasn't learned to do many of these small, but important things, and will really profit from at least another season of watching a future HOF center. All of little things add up, and lead to the dramatic difference in on/off numbers we currently see and will continue to see the rest of the season...the Wolves are a plus 4.9 on/off when Rudy is on the court, and a minus 15.6 for Joan.

Joan is going to be terrific...he has the size, athleticism and drive to be a really good 2-way center. But I think we're being naive to think a raw 19-year-old who has played a lot more soccer than basketball in his life is ready to be a starting center in the NBA. My long-term expectations for him are high, but my hopes for this season is that we survive the minutes Rudy is off the court as Joan continues to learn to play a game he has only played for 6 years. I would love to be wrong and see Joan be right away what a lot of us want him to be, but I am quite certain that we will continue to win the minutes Rudy is on the court and lose Joan's minutes...and hopefully that gap diminishes as the season progresses.

I would never want to "dump" a player that has value. It would need to be a vslue+ type of trade for me. The only issue is there are few starting centers that may be available to improve the roster at a reasonable contract amount that doesn't make things worse. Rudy isn't going anywhere. But if TC gets an itchy trigger finger, it will be discussed at length by the talking heads on ESPN.

[AussieWolf3]

I predicted that Kuminga and TJ would be gone at the deadline. I didnt see Rudy as the body that would be traded, but he might not be the answer at center with this lineup. He looks out of sorts, and with the league treating him like a punching bag around the rim, it is going to be tough sledding going forward. If he could hit a free throw at better than 50% clip it would be harder to justify the hack-a-Rudy. Heck, the entire team sucks at free throws right now, with the exception of TJ.

Just to put a stop on the "dump Rudy next offseason to sign JK" speculation... Even if you could simply eliminate Rudy (maybe he doesn't pick up his player option?), it would not move the Wolves salary low enough to offer JK anything more than the MLE.

My hope: JK is happy enough that he is willing to sign a 2-year MLE deal (with a 3rd year player option for his own security), and then be free to sign a bigger deal once he has his Bird Rights.

I'll put another stop to the "dump Rudy" discussion, although I know it will fall on deaf ears . The best analysis I have ever heard about Rudy was when I heard a smart guy say "Rudy's mistakes are very loud, and the things he does well are very quiet...but the good far outweighs the bad". Joan is just the opposite...very loud good things (like when he makes a spectacular block or dunk) and very quiet but numerous bad things. We all get frustrated when Rudy fumbles the ball, but we don't talk enough about his elite defense (and yes, it is still elite), his defensive rebounding, his ability to keep offensive possessions alive with tip backs, and his screening (which is as good as any center in the Association). We also don't talk about his court knowledge...how he knows exactly where to go when he sees a guard being doubled or in trouble, and how for some reason his hands aren't made of stone when he catches the ball at the top of the key. And finally how quickly he gets rid of the ball to the right person when he catches the ball at the top of the key. In contrast Joan hasn't learned to do many of these small, but important things, and will really profit from at least another season of watching a future HOF center. All of little things add up, and lead to the dramatic difference in on/off numbers we currently see and will continue to see the rest of the season...the Wolves are a plus 4.9 on/off when Rudy is on the court, and a minus 15.6 for Joan.

Joan is going to be terrific...he has the size, athleticism and drive to be a really good 2-way center. But I think we're being naive to think a raw 19-year-old who has played a lot more soccer than basketball in his life is ready to be a starting center in the NBA. My long-term expectations for him are high, but my hopes for this season is that we survive the minutes Rudy is off the court as Joan continues to learn to play a game he has only played for 6 years. I would love to be wrong and see Joan be right away what a lot of us want him to be, but I am quite certain that we will continue to win the minutes Rudy is on the court and lose Joan's minutes...and hopefully that gap diminishes as the season progresses.

We all talk about those things and are very aware of them regarding Gobert. I know Gobert has earned a reputation nationally that is unfair, but 99% of the folks here are aware of his virtues, and his loud mistakes. Which is why it's noteworthy for us to comment on his poor play.

The numbers you site just aren't that compelling off 5 games of data. Rudy's net on/off is the worst of the starters, and Joan is playing with backups or blended lineups.

Bottom line is that Rudy hasn't made a FG in like 13 tries and has how many turnovers? It's inexcusably bad even if he continues to be the leagues best floor raiser on defense. To be honest, if he continues to play this way, I'm not sure that you can call him a starting caliber center on a contending team.

Not a lot is being asked of him here: hold on to the ball and finish with force at the rim. He makes it look hard but it shouldn't be this hard for a professional athlete.

He's gotta be better, flat out, period.