Q12543 wrote:Awesome stuff Lip, thanks for sharing.
I like Gorgui too - his hustle and defensive communication stood out to me. But he was also benched in many 4th quarters as teams went smaller and Bjelly proved to be the more capable defender in space. He did have the best Net Rating of our 5 starters, so I guess that says something.
On his priorities, I guess I'm a little surprised he didn't rank the defensive items above 3-point shooting. Perhaps he feels like a lot of the raw materials are in place and they can organically improve a bunch more, whereas 3-point shooting is harder to improve upon quickly. The defensive organic improvement certainly didn't happen last year, except for those fleeting two weeks after the all-star break.
I asked about 3-point shooting versus defense. First of all, Thibs really wants to get a defensive wing. So it's not like that isn't near the top of his priority list. But he sees the 3-point shot as so critical to winning in the NBA today. He was telling the guys I talked to about how important 3-point shooting was in the League this past season and how it is proving even more decisive in the playoffs. He pointed out that, even though our three-point shooting improved over the previous year we were near the bottom of the League in that category. As you surmised, Thibs also stills sees great defensive potential in KAT and Wiggins. Apparently, Thibs has been talking a lot with Wiggins about emulating much of what Leonard does defensively. One thing in particular is how Leonard lets guys get by him and then quickly catches them from behind to block their shots. Thibs thinks that's something Wiggins can and should do with his quickness, hops and long arms.
Apparently, Thibs runs very disciplined practices (no surprise there). He and the entire coaching staff were really surprised when they first got here at how lacking KAT, Wiggins and LaVine were in the fundamentals of defense. So he and the coaching staff have been running the same drills and preaching the same things consistently in every practice. But to Thibs' dismay, those guys continue to revert to bad habits in games. One of the issues the coaching staff has with KAT is that he often sets himself up for defensive rebounds too early rather than closing out on shooters or filling the lane -- like Kevin Love used to do when he was here. The coaching staff doesn't think any of this is because KAT and Wiggins don't want to play on the defensive end or aren't listening to the coaching staff. They think it's old habits that they just haven't shaken yet. But Thibs apparently said he's going to figure out what he can do differently to turn these guys and the entire team around defensively. And not surprisingly, Thibs raves a lot about Dunn, who will be working all summer with a shooting coach.
One thing I forgot to mention is that Tyus Jones really won over Thibs. He likes the way Tyus can run the offense.
I asked who Thibs likes in the draft, but no one really knows.
Here are my take-aways from everything I heard today:
1. The Wolves will continue to build around KAT, Wiggins, Zach and Gorgui. KAT and Wiggins are obviously the twin pillars of the team in Thibs' mind, but Zach and Gorgui aren't far behind. Given the positive things Thibs has said about Zach and the premium Thibs puts on 3-point shooting, I can't see him trading LaVine this summer. Nor do I see him trading the guy he sees as his most improved players, Gorgui.
2. The Wolves will sign the best 3-point shooter than can get in free agency.
3. The Wolves will shop our draft pick and make a serious run at Jimmy Butler. But I don't see Thibs caving in and doing a lopsided deal. If not Jimmy, he'll look at a Paul George or someone else. The most likely Wolves player to get moved if we were to include a player of value with our pick would be Ricky. I say that, not because Thibs doesn't like or value Ricky, but because Ricky is the only player with significant trade value other than the 4 guys (KAT, Wiggins, Zach and Gorgui) who I'm convinced Thibs absolutely will not part with this summer. Moreover, Thibs high opinion of Tyus Jones and continuing confidence in Dunn suggest that he might be willing to rely on those two guys if, for example, we had a Jimmy Butler on the team through home the offense can run on a fairly regular basis. I could also see Thibs signing a PG like Collison as a FA in the even we move Ricky. Collison would give us a veteran PG to if Ricky is traded and improve our 3-point shooting.
Of course, I could be completely off on my takes. Maybe my biggest take-away today is that Thibs is a loner and a bit of a mystery. No one seems to know what he really thinks and no one is very close to him. He's a loner and a work horse. He's smart and determined. He's not close to his players, but they respect him and he stays in regular touch with them.