Wolves Defense after 6 Games

[bleedspeed]

Back on topic. I think a lot of the improvement comes from players. I would be interesting to see how the teams with Rubio/KG/Wiggins did last year. Add in Towns and Prince and we just have a lot better defenders on the court than what we walked out last year.

[Monster]

So Bjelica improves the defense, I like the sound of that!! Was it Kahn that drafted him?

Yup, although I think a bunch of credit goes to one of the euro scouts. But Kahn drafted and brought over Rubio, brought over Pek, and drafted Bjelica. I think we have a couple other euro guys from his stint as well.

I seem to recall Kahn having an emphasis on Euro scouting or was that in place prior to his arrival?

I am older than your mama so I don't remember things like that. We did have Euro scout(s), but Kahn may have beefed it up... Somebody had to scout Targuy, or whatever his name was!

Tanguy, oh the memories!!

One last thought to finish this off shoot topic but Ronzone was hired right before 2010 draft where they added Bjelica. For what it's worth I know Wolfson is one person that tends to give Ronzone more credit for that selection than Kahn. Ultimately Kahn's successful draft picks include Rubio, Hummel and Bjelica.

Here is an old article about Ronzone leaving and a breakdown of his time with the Wolves.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/6923026/minnesota-timberwolves-tony-ronzone-part-ways

[Monster]

Tim the article was mostly about Towns and Wiggins so it wasn't all encompassing of how the Wolves were winning etc. it certainly could have mentioned Sam and the coaching staff though but it was a pretty well written piece.

[60WinTim]

Okay, SP, we kind of hijacked Bleed's thread...

I didn't read the original article, but has a gaping hole in what Bleed quoted. How about Sam Mitchell. He is responsible for the change in defensive principles. He is responsible for the emphasis on defense at the beginning, and through training camp, preseason and now. He is responsible for starting the best defensive lineup he could construct from the roster he was given.

The players deserve all the credit they can get. But to not mention Sam is doing him a disservice.

I'll give Sam credit to a point. Yes they're greatly improved, especially the starting five, but of those only two were on the team to begin last year, and only one played the majority of the games. I imagine if our current starting five were there for Flip last year we would have been giving all kinds of credit to Flip's coaching job too! About the only thing that I see as possibly different, Sam vs. Flip, is being unsure Flip would have started Prince.

Sam has the team playing hard for 48 minutes though, and other than rotations that an amateur like me doesn't understand he's doing just fine!

Edit: Forgot to add "F'ck a bag of Bleed!"

Here's where I think you are wrong about Sam vs Flip. On that first day of practice Sam had to repeatedly correct last years players about how to defend their man. Last year (Flip) used the strategy of a defender forcing their man in one direction, towards a help defender. Sam's change was to have the defender try to stay in front of their man for as long as possible, regardless of the direction their man went. The idea was to not give up straight line drives to the basket (last year), but force an extra step or two so that help defenders had more time to react. That's all Sam.

[TAFKASP]

Okay, SP, we kind of hijacked Bleed's thread...

I didn't read the original article, but has a gaping hole in what Bleed quoted. How about Sam Mitchell. He is responsible for the change in defensive principles. He is responsible for the emphasis on defense at the beginning, and through training camp, preseason and now. He is responsible for starting the best defensive lineup he could construct from the roster he was given.

The players deserve all the credit they can get. But to not mention Sam is doing him a disservice.

I'll give Sam credit to a point. Yes they're greatly improved, especially the starting five, but of those only two were on the team to begin last year, and only one played the majority of the games. I imagine if our current starting five were there for Flip last year we would have been giving all kinds of credit to Flip's coaching job too! About the only thing that I see as possibly different, Sam vs. Flip, is being unsure Flip would have started Prince.

Sam has the team playing hard for 48 minutes though, and other than rotations that an amateur like me doesn't understand he's doing just fine!

Edit: Forgot to add "F'ck a bag of Bleed!"

Here's where I think you are wrong about Sam vs Flip. On that first day of practice Sam had to repeatedly correct last years players about how to defend their man. Last year (Flip) used the strategy of a defender forcing their man in one direction, towards a help defender. Sam's change was to have the defender try to stay in front of their man for as long as possible, regardless of the direction their man went. The idea was to not give up straight line drives to the basket (last year), but force an extra step or two so that help defenders had more time to react. That's all Sam.

Don't you think having KAT in the middle makes Sam's strategy work where Flip didn't have a rim protector so his strategy had to be different? It's kinda like the 3-pointer controversy, Flip didn't have many players that could shoot the 3 at a decent clip so he got labeled as a being anti-3-pointer guy. As a coach you can't force players into a system they cannot execute, you have to adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of the players.

[60WinTim]

Okay, SP, we kind of hijacked Bleed's thread...

I didn't read the original article, but has a gaping hole in what Bleed quoted. How about Sam Mitchell. He is responsible for the change in defensive principles. He is responsible for the emphasis on defense at the beginning, and through training camp, preseason and now. He is responsible for starting the best defensive lineup he could construct from the roster he was given.

The players deserve all the credit they can get. But to not mention Sam is doing him a disservice.

I'll give Sam credit to a point. Yes they're greatly improved, especially the starting five, but of those only two were on the team to begin last year, and only one played the majority of the games. I imagine if our current starting five were there for Flip last year we would have been giving all kinds of credit to Flip's coaching job too! About the only thing that I see as possibly different, Sam vs. Flip, is being unsure Flip would have started Prince.

Sam has the team playing hard for 48 minutes though, and other than rotations that an amateur like me doesn't understand he's doing just fine!

Edit: Forgot to add "F'ck a bag of Bleed!"

Here's where I think you are wrong about Sam vs Flip. On that first day of practice Sam had to repeatedly correct last years players about how to defend their man. Last year (Flip) used the strategy of a defender forcing their man in one direction, towards a help defender. Sam's change was to have the defender try to stay in front of their man for as long as possible, regardless of the direction their man went. The idea was to not give up straight line drives to the basket (last year), but force an extra step or two so that help defenders had more time to react. That's all Sam.

Don't you think having KAT in the middle makes Sam's strategy work where Flip didn't have a rim protector so his strategy had to be different? It's kinda like the 3-pointer controversy, Flip didn't have many players that could shoot the 3 at a decent clip so he got labeled as a being anti-3-pointer guy. As a coach you can't force players into a system they cannot execute, you have to adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of the players.

Well, you could be right. The "better players" to play defense is absolutely true. But I'm not convinced Flip would have a different defensive strategy, let alone focus on it like Sam has.

[Monster]

Okay, SP, we kind of hijacked Bleed's thread...

I didn't read the original article, but has a gaping hole in what Bleed quoted. How about Sam Mitchell. He is responsible for the change in defensive principles. He is responsible for the emphasis on defense at the beginning, and through training camp, preseason and now. He is responsible for starting the best defensive lineup he could construct from the roster he was given.

The players deserve all the credit they can get. But to not mention Sam is doing him a disservice.

I'll give Sam credit to a point. Yes they're greatly improved, especially the starting five, but of those only two were on the team to begin last year, and only one played the majority of the games. I imagine if our current starting five were there for Flip last year we would have been giving all kinds of credit to Flip's coaching job too! About the only thing that I see as possibly different, Sam vs. Flip, is being unsure Flip would have started Prince.

Sam has the team playing hard for 48 minutes though, and other than rotations that an amateur like me doesn't understand he's doing just fine!

Edit: Forgot to add "F'ck a bag of Bleed!"

Here's where I think you are wrong about Sam vs Flip. On that first day of practice Sam had to repeatedly correct last years players about how to defend their man. Last year (Flip) used the strategy of a defender forcing their man in one direction, towards a help defender. Sam's change was to have the defender try to stay in front of their man for as long as possible, regardless of the direction their man went. The idea was to not give up straight line drives to the basket (last year), but force an extra step or two so that help defenders had more time to react. That's all Sam.

Don't you think having KAT in the middle makes Sam's strategy work where Flip didn't have a rim protector so his strategy had to be different? It's kinda like the 3-pointer controversy, Flip didn't have many players that could shoot the 3 at a decent clip so he got labeled as a being anti-3-pointer guy. As a coach you can't force players into a system they cannot execute, you have to adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of the players.

Well, you could be right. The "better players" to play defense is absolutely true. But I'm not convinced Flip would have a different defensive strategy, let alone focus on it like Sam has.

Flip wanted to play some zone last season and the way the roster was set up it made some sense. That likely affected how he wanted to play defense. It's pretty obvious Sam isn't interested in playing zone. Lol

[TAFKASP]

Okay, SP, we kind of hijacked Bleed's thread...

I didn't read the original article, but has a gaping hole in what Bleed quoted. How about Sam Mitchell. He is responsible for the change in defensive principles. He is responsible for the emphasis on defense at the beginning, and through training camp, preseason and now. He is responsible for starting the best defensive lineup he could construct from the roster he was given.

The players deserve all the credit they can get. But to not mention Sam is doing him a disservice.

I'll give Sam credit to a point. Yes they're greatly improved, especially the starting five, but of those only two were on the team to begin last year, and only one played the majority of the games. I imagine if our current starting five were there for Flip last year we would have been giving all kinds of credit to Flip's coaching job too! About the only thing that I see as possibly different, Sam vs. Flip, is being unsure Flip would have started Prince.

Sam has the team playing hard for 48 minutes though, and other than rotations that an amateur like me doesn't understand he's doing just fine!

Edit: Forgot to add "F'ck a bag of Bleed!"

Here's where I think you are wrong about Sam vs Flip. On that first day of practice Sam had to repeatedly correct last years players about how to defend their man. Last year (Flip) used the strategy of a defender forcing their man in one direction, towards a help defender. Sam's change was to have the defender try to stay in front of their man for as long as possible, regardless of the direction their man went. The idea was to not give up straight line drives to the basket (last year), but force an extra step or two so that help defenders had more time to react. That's all Sam.

Don't you think having KAT in the middle makes Sam's strategy work where Flip didn't have a rim protector so his strategy had to be different? It's kinda like the 3-pointer controversy, Flip didn't have many players that could shoot the 3 at a decent clip so he got labeled as a being anti-3-pointer guy. As a coach you can't force players into a system they cannot execute, you have to adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of the players.

Well, you could be right. The "better players" to play defense is absolutely true. But I'm not convinced Flip would have a different defensive strategy, let alone focus on it like Sam has.

Flip wanted to play some zone last season and the way the roster was set up it made some sense. That likely affected how he wanted to play defense. It's pretty obvious Sam isn't interested in playing zone. Lol

Why would you play zone with capable man defenders? Nice for a change of pace, but not your base defense.

[Monster]

Okay, SP, we kind of hijacked Bleed's thread...

I didn't read the original article, but has a gaping hole in what Bleed quoted. How about Sam Mitchell. He is responsible for the change in defensive principles. He is responsible for the emphasis on defense at the beginning, and through training camp, preseason and now. He is responsible for starting the best defensive lineup he could construct from the roster he was given.

The players deserve all the credit they can get. But to not mention Sam is doing him a disservice.

I'll give Sam credit to a point. Yes they're greatly improved, especially the starting five, but of those only two were on the team to begin last year, and only one played the majority of the games. I imagine if our current starting five were there for Flip last year we would have been giving all kinds of credit to Flip's coaching job too! About the only thing that I see as possibly different, Sam vs. Flip, is being unsure Flip would have started Prince.

Sam has the team playing hard for 48 minutes though, and other than rotations that an amateur like me doesn't understand he's doing just fine!

Edit: Forgot to add "F'ck a bag of Bleed!"

Here's where I think you are wrong about Sam vs Flip. On that first day of practice Sam had to repeatedly correct last years players about how to defend their man. Last year (Flip) used the strategy of a defender forcing their man in one direction, towards a help defender. Sam's change was to have the defender try to stay in front of their man for as long as possible, regardless of the direction their man went. The idea was to not give up straight line drives to the basket (last year), but force an extra step or two so that help defenders had more time to react. That's all Sam.

Don't you think having KAT in the middle makes Sam's strategy work where Flip didn't have a rim protector so his strategy had to be different? It's kinda like the 3-pointer controversy, Flip didn't have many players that could shoot the 3 at a decent clip so he got labeled as a being anti-3-pointer guy. As a coach you can't force players into a system they cannot execute, you have to adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of the players.

Well, you could be right. The "better players" to play defense is absolutely true. But I'm not convinced Flip would have a different defensive strategy, let alone focus on it like Sam has.

Flip wanted to play some zone last season and the way the roster was set up it made some sense. That likely affected how he wanted to play defense. It's pretty obvious Sam isn't interested in playing zone. Lol

Why would you play zone with capable man defenders? Nice for a change of pace, but not your base defense.

Since you can't ask Flip buy these DVDs

http://www.championshipproductions.com/cgi-bin/champ/p/Basketball/Flip-Saunders-Match-Up-Zone-Defense-and-Special-Drills-Part-I-II_BD-02687.html

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I think we all agree that the first 6 games have been a remarkable defensive turnaround from last year. It will be interesting to see if they can keep it up with KG and Wiggins out tonight.

I found it interesting that the article compared the Wolves to last year's Bucks, but didn't make the obvious similarity between the two teams...both brought in defensive-minded coaches, who had an immediate impact.

In the Wolves' instance, new players make a big difference too. There's no question that KG, Prince and Towns have all had a very positive impact on this team. I have also been pleasantly impressed with Belly's defense, although despite the numbers cited in the article, I don't believe we become a better defensive team when he replaces KG. I think the numbers are skewed because KG only faces starters, while Belly gets to play against some reserves late in the first quarter. That said, I still think he is a terrific defender