Brooklyn_Wolves wrote:How about this break down: Zach and Wig start, at 6 min mark Rush comes in for Zach and him and Wig finish the 1Q,. At the start of 2Q Zach and Bazz come in and play til 8 min mark, then Rush and Wig come in to finish the half. This way Wig gets 16 min, Zach 14, Rush 10 and Bazz 8. Zach and Wig still start but spend only 6 min on the floor together. In the second half something similar can happen but Zach finishes and gets a little more minutes.
We're better off taking our lumps now for the sake of learning how to win together than break it up for a few wins now maybe. Zach/Wiggins is going to be on the floor at the end of games. They have to learn how to play together at some point.
Thibs was asked in the post-game press conference something along the lines of whether the team is better off with Rush instead of LaVine. Thibs just laughed and said Zach's been really good for us this season. We need more from our bench. Bazz's play the past couple weeks and Rush's play tonight are good signs for better production from the bench. That helps in two ways. First, it gives us better play to keep games close when our bench guys are in. Second, it will allow Thibs to cut back a bit on the starters' minutes in which case they'll be more fresh when they're in, especially in the 4th.
Its all about putting combinations that play well together. Ricky got Bazz going tonight, but I'm not sure we see the same Bazz when he plays with Dunn. Rush too plays well with Ricky and KAT but with Bazz and Dunn, he disappears. I really hope that if Thibs ever replaces Ricky as starter we keep him to run the second unit as he is elite at getting an offense going and getting guys great shots, plus he keeps turnovers down, rebounds well and plays disruptive defense.
TeamRicky wrote:Its all about putting combinations that play well together. Ricky got Bazz going tonight, but I'm not sure we see the same Bazz when he plays with Dunn. Rush too plays well with Ricky and KAT but with Bazz and Dunn, he disappears. I really hope that if Thibs ever replaces Ricky as starter we keep him to run the second unit as he is elite at getting an offense going and getting guys great shots, plus he keeps turnovers down, rebounds well and plays disruptive defense.
Maybe that is the big switch. I've thought about that too. We wouldn't lose much with Dunn running first team. Bazz has always been better with Ricky.
TeamRicky wrote:Its all about putting combinations that play well together. Ricky got Bazz going tonight, but I'm not sure we see the same Bazz when he plays with Dunn. Rush too plays well with Ricky and KAT but with Bazz and Dunn, he disappears. I really hope that if Thibs ever replaces Ricky as starter we keep him to run the second unit as he is elite at getting an offense going and getting guys great shots, plus he keeps turnovers down, rebounds well and plays disruptive defense.
Maybe that is the big switch. I've thought about that too. We wouldn't lose much with Dunn running first team. Bazz has always been better with Ricky.
While I see this as a possibility, Dunn is going to have to show a hell of a lot more improvement for Thibs to be able to tell Ricky with a straight face that he needs to start coming off the bench.
I wouldn't be shocked that is Rubio is here after the trade deadline that he moves to the bench and Dunn becomes the starter to develop. That is a pretty good observation.
Thibs has been riding his rotation for better or worse. Jon K in a few of the recent podcasts has wondered why Thibs hasn't shook up the rotation and has said he thinks Thibs should. He says Thibs is trying to get the young 3 better (and to some extent Dunn) by getting them minutes. He wonders if letting some guys sit at times may help matters but Thibs has kept running those guys out there. I can see benefits to either approach. It's funny how the conventional wisdom was that Thibs would be playing vets more minutes than people would like and it's the complete opposite he is basically playing the young guys good and bad and playing the long game. It's led o frustration because the record but I think it's probably a good development all things considered.
OK I watched the game. Good teams have players step up with top guys are out. Rush stepped up bigtime. Lets be honest if Lavine had hit that percentage of shots even only with 12 points but had 3 blocks people would probably be happy enough with the performance in a win. Rush and Bazz in particular stepped up. Thats a good thing. Maybe the Wolves can get more from them as the season goes on or even rest Lavine longer so he is healthier when he gets back.
Third game with Zach out and we win big. I'm sure Zach will get his starting gig back but I really think we'd play better now with Zach in more of a bench role. I hope Zach misses a few more games so we can see if this trend continues.
