AbeVigodaLive wrote:LaVine is already a better player than I expected. I'm glad I was wrong about him.
He really should get a left hand though on those driving layups... but yes... cool to see the development/improvement in his game. He's fun to watch when he's moving toward the hoop or rising for a jumper.
Surprised you said this Abe; LaVine has markedly improved his ability to finish with his left hand. He still occasionally uses his right when going left, but more often than not, he's using his left with good results.
While LaVine has historically been a poor defender, I thought he was absolutely locked in last night. He gave the team 110% on both ends of the court.
AbeVigodaLive wrote:LaVine is already a better player than I expected. I'm glad I was wrong about him.
He really should get a left hand though on those driving layups... but yes... cool to see the development/improvement in his game. He's fun to watch when he's moving toward the hoop or rising for a jumper.
Surprised you said this Abe; LaVine has markedly improved his ability to finish with his left hand. He still occasionally uses his right when going left, but more often than not, he's using his left with good results.
While LaVine has historically been a poor defender, I thought he was absolutely locked in last night. He gave the team 110% on both ends of the court.
I dunno. I'm still seeing him do that right-handed layup on the left side of the hoop thing. Multiple times over the past few games.
He still makes some of them. But there have been times when it makes an easy shot more difficult or is more defensible by the opposing bigs.
It really is such a small quibble though, overall. The guy continues to surpass expectations. I can't think of too many Wolves players who I've been more wrong about with their development...
AbeVigodaLive wrote:LaVine is already a better player than I expected. I'm glad I was wrong about him.
He really should get a left hand though on those driving layups... but yes... cool to see the development/improvement in his game. He's fun to watch when he's moving toward the hoop or rising for a jumper.
Surprised you said this Abe; LaVine has markedly improved his ability to finish with his left hand. He still occasionally uses his right when going left, but more often than not, he's using his left with good results.
While LaVine has historically been a poor defender, I thought he was absolutely locked in last night. He gave the team 110% on both ends of the court.
I dunno. I'm still seeing him do that right-handed layup on the left side of the hoop thing. Multiple times over the past few games.
He still makes some of them. But there have been times when it makes an easy shot more difficult or is more defensible by the opposing bigs.
It really is such a small quibble though, overall. The guy continues to surpass expectations. I can't think of too many Wolves players who I've been more wrong about with their development...
Abe those right handed finishes on the left side of the rim are something I have noticed also. He seems to finish plenty of them though. I think in SOME cases he actually is able to get a different angle on a shot blocker in a unique way. His ability to finish around the basket with a variety of shots is pretty impressive. His next thing is doing a better job of protecting the ball going to the basket as he still has issues getting stripped.
* To me the two bright spots last night were Zach and Belly. Belly is still inconsistent and makes some bad choices, but we are now getting good plays a higher percentage of the time IMO.
* Wiggins shot selection is pretty bad. When he is on fire, all those long twos look fine. But when they are not falling I am constantly thinking "Why not drive and either get free throws or create for a team mate?" He also has to rebound more. A good SF should get 5-8 RPG.
* Zach's shot selection was pretty good. He really drove to the hoop, especially when Gobert was sitting. I agree he should use his left hand more, as he likes to finish on the left side of the hoop but often does it via a complicated scoop with the right hand. At least he is finishing through contact now. I thought his defense was sometimes good and sometimes bad, which is an improvement in his case.
* When Towns is so down on himself, I worry not only about his psyche but also that he is thinking "We lost because I need to do more on offense". While he did miss a lot of layups, and I wish he'd go harder and get to the line, that is not why we lost. We lost because our defense and rebounding were so terrible. That is where he should be directing his energy IMO.
* I understand why the point guard rotation is so funky. Ricky has been meh, Dunn is Thibs' lotto pick but has been meh, and Tyus has shown some good game mangement. That said, Thibs is playing with fire and is going to need to make some choices. Ricky has a very powerful and active agent; I would guess Thibs has already gotten some angry calls about Ricky not playing in the 4th for 3 straight games. If this continues, you will start to hear agent-leaked rumors about Ricky being unhappy, about supposed trades under discussion, etc. Likewise Dunn is not going to develop with such short minutes.
In listening to Thibs, he puts a high priority on avoiding turnovers and being "solid" defensively vs. gambling for steals. If I know this, then I'm sure Ricky and Dunn know this. So I wonder why both guys continue to take so many chances? Ricky threw at least two risky behind the back passes on routine ball rotations, one was nearly stolen. He was pulled shortly thereafter (IIRC). Both Ricky and Dunn gamble for steals pretty often too.
I mean, if you like to do something, but you know it is going to get you pulled, why still do it?
PS: I wish they would stop tracking blocked shots. Then maybe Towns and Dieng would just wall up on guys who are driving instead of letting them go by and then unsuccessfully trying to block the shot from behind. Hate that.
I might be in the minority... but I'm still seeing Bjelica as a net negative.
In 26 minutes... he made 2 out of 6 shots. Had a few rebounds. Meh.
Beyond that... two terrible plays stand out.
1. He took a rebound and raced down the court without what Jim Peterson called "a plan" and got hung and turned it over. While I dig the aggressiveness... something he desperately needs to play with... it was a terrible play. Fair enough.
2. There was a loose ball when the Wolves were on defense and instead of just grabbing it, he tried to flip it behind his back to Wiggins and turned it back over or knocked it out of bounds. As they cut to commercial, you could see Thibs screaming, "just grab the fucking ball!"
Granted, those are just two plays. But I'm not seeing enough on the stat sheet or with my eyes to justify them. After all, who is the team's best bench player? Is it Bjelica? 11 ppg / 7 reb / 5 fouls / 39% fg (per 36 minutes) is simply not good enough.
Just look at what Trey Lyles gave Utah last night.
Or Terrence Jones for the Pelicans.
Or Terry Rozier for the Celtics.
Or Zach Randolph for the Grizzlies.
Or Frank Kaminsky for the Hornets.
The list goes on. The Wolves have so few game changers on its bench. I'm not seeing Bjelica as a definitive plus player compared to other top reserve bigs around the league.
Wile E Coyote wrote:One other thought on the Wolves' PG situation.
In listening to Thibs, he puts a high priority on avoiding turnovers and being "solid" defensively vs. gambling for steals. If I know this, then I'm sure Ricky and Dunn know this. So I wonder why both guys continue to take so many chances? Ricky threw at least two risky behind the back passes on routine ball rotations, one was nearly stolen. He was pulled shortly thereafter (IIRC). Both Ricky and Dunn gamble for steals pretty often too.
I mean, if you like to do something, but you know it is going to get you pulled, why still do it?
PS: I wish they would stop tracking blocked shots. Then maybe Towns and Dieng would just wall up on guys who are driving instead of letting them go by and then unsuccessfully trying to block the shot from behind. Hate that.
I'm ok with Rubio taking risks with his passes. He's earned that freedom.
AbeVigodaLive wrote:I might be in the minority... but I'm still seeing Bjelica as a net negative.
In 26 minutes... he made 2 out of 6 shots. Had a few rebounds. Meh.
Beyond that... two terrible plays stand out.
1. He took a rebound and raced down the court without what Jim Peterson called "a plan" and got hung and turned it over. While I dig the aggressiveness... something he desperately needs to play with... it was a terrible play. Fair enough.
2. There was a loose ball when the Wolves were on defense and instead of just grabbing it, he tried to flip it behind his back to Wiggins and turned it back over or knocked it out of bounds. As they cut to commercial, you could see Thibs screaming, "just grab the fucking ball!"
Granted, those are just two plays. But I'm not seeing enough on the stat sheet or with my eyes to justify them. After all, who is the team's best bench player? Is it Bjelica? 11 ppg / 7 reb / 5 fouls / 39% fg (per 36 minutes) is simply not good enough.
Just look at what Trey Lyles gave Utah last night.
Or Terrence Jones for the Pelicans.
Or Terry Rozier for the Celtics.
Or Zach Randolph for the Grizzlies.
Or Frank Kaminsky for the Hornets.
The list goes on. The Wolves have so few game changers on its bench. I'm not seeing Bjelica as a definitive plus player compared to other top reserve bigs around the league.
I 100% agree Abe. My comment was more about Belly's play the past week vs. his play last year where he was AWOL for long stretches.
Relative to other teams, our bench including Belly is just flat out terrible. Trey Lyles looked terrific last night, and I don't know why he didn't just start in place of Favors.
AbeVigodaLive wrote:I might be in the minority... but I'm still seeing Bjelica as a net negative.
In 26 minutes... he made 2 out of 6 shots. Had a few rebounds. Meh.
Beyond that... two terrible plays stand out.
1. He took a rebound and raced down the court without what Jim Peterson called "a plan" and got hung and turned it over. While I dig the aggressiveness... something he desperately needs to play with... it was a terrible play. Fair enough.
2. There was a loose ball when the Wolves were on defense and instead of just grabbing it, he tried to flip it behind his back to Wiggins and turned it back over or knocked it out of bounds. As they cut to commercial, you could see Thibs screaming, "just grab the fucking ball!"
Granted, those are just two plays. But I'm not seeing enough on the stat sheet or with my eyes to justify them. After all, who is the team's best bench player? Is it Bjelica? 11 ppg / 7 reb / 5 fouls / 39% fg (per 36 minutes) is simply not good enough.
Just look at what Trey Lyles gave Utah last night.
Or Terrence Jones for the Pelicans.
Or Terry Rozier for the Celtics.
Or Zach Randolph for the Grizzlies.
Or Frank Kaminsky for the Hornets.
The list goes on. The Wolves have so few game changers on its bench. I'm not seeing Bjelica as a definitive plus player compared to other top reserve bigs around the league.
I didn't watch much of the game last night, but I did see the first bad Belly play you mentioned...and I cringed even though I am a Belly proponent. To Thibs' credit, he immediately called timeout and yanked Belly out of the game...good coaching move, I thought.
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I think we need to play Dieng with the second unit and Bjelica with the starting unit a lot more than we currently do. I still think Dieng's best role is that of the first big off the bench. It would also hopefully mean less minutes for Aldrich, who has been a complete waste of oxygen when he's on the floor.
