Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:KAT played like a superstar tonight. When he plays like he did we are so damn tough to beat.

Good win on the road. I think we are what we are a 500ish team. Will that be enough to make the playoffs probably not but I still like some of the pieces we have.

With the current roster and head coach, I'd agree we're a .500 team this season. I also agree that we have some nice pieces. KAT is obviously the key piece around which this team has to be built. But going forward, I also like Covington, Okogie, Tyus and maybe Saric. I'd also like to see Taj stay with the team beyond this season. Saric has to show he can consistently knock down his three-pointers. And Okogie also has to develop a consistent jumper. KAT really needs a second star if this team is ever going to be a true contender. It's crystal clear that Wiggins will never be that second star. I just don't know how this team can get the second star it needs.

Dario Saric shot 39.3% 3P over the course of the 2017-18 season and 36.9% 3P in 22 games with the Wolves. To me, he's quite clearly more of a "core" piece than Tyus Jones or Josh Okogie at this point. I could make the case that he's a top-10 player at his position. Minnesota has to make keeping him a priority.

longstrangetrip wrote:Watched the 4th quarter and really enjoyed watching this team with Tyus (and Bayless) at the point. Great win against a Miami team that has been hot recently. How good this team looks when a PG decides to feature KAT, who really stuffed the stat sheet tonight. Nice to see KAT with 6 blocks and Tyus with 5 steals. Wig with another poor game with 5-16 and, at least according to Alan Horton, complete defensive ineptitude against Wade...maybe his D was better in the first half, because somehow he was a team-best +19.

I continue to think Tyus Jones needs to be our starting PG. He has never done anything other than win, plays terrific defense, and knows how to get KAT and other scorers involved. This team would be so much more successful with Rose backing up Tyus, and Okogie splitting minutes with Wig.

I thought wiggs was decent on defense.

Wade did shoot 2/3 on him though for the game, so i guess that qualifies as defensive ineptitude? He also had the second best drtg and best netrtg among all players.

His offense was the problem. Too many finger rolls and weak takes to the rim when he just needs to throw it down. Just baffling.

Camden wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:KAT played like a superstar tonight. When he plays like he did we are so damn tough to beat.

Good win on the road. I think we are what we are a 500ish team. Will that be enough to make the playoffs probably not but I still like some of the pieces we have.

With the current roster and head coach, I'd agree we're a .500 team this season. I also agree that we have some nice pieces. KAT is obviously the key piece around which this team has to be built. But going forward, I also like Covington, Okogie, Tyus and maybe Saric. I'd also like to see Taj stay with the team beyond this season. Saric has to show he can consistently knock down his three-pointers. And Okogie also has to develop a consistent jumper. KAT really needs a second star if this team is ever going to be a true contender. It's crystal clear that Wiggins will never be that second star. I just don't know how this team can get the second star it needs.

Dario Saric shot 39.3% 3P over the course of the 2017-18 season and 36.9% 3P in 22 games with the Wolves. To me, he's quite clearly more of a "core" piece than Tyus Jones or Josh Okogie at this point. I could make the case that he's a top-10 player at his position. Minnesota has to make keeping him a priority.

I also think we haven't seen the full extent of his passing skills yet.

crazy-canuck wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:Watched the 4th quarter and really enjoyed watching this team with Tyus (and Bayless) at the point. Great win against a Miami team that has been hot recently. How good this team looks when a PG decides to feature KAT, who really stuffed the stat sheet tonight. Nice to see KAT with 6 blocks and Tyus with 5 steals. Wig with another poor game with 5-16 and, at least according to Alan Horton, complete defensive ineptitude against Wade...maybe his D was better in the first half, because somehow he was a team-best +19.

I continue to think Tyus Jones needs to be our starting PG. He has never done anything other than win, plays terrific defense, and knows how to get KAT and other scorers involved. This team would be so much more successful with Rose backing up Tyus, and Okogie splitting minutes with Wig.

I thought wiggs was decent on defense.

Wade did shoot 2/3 on him though for the game, so i guess that qualifies as defensive ineptitude? He also had the second best drtg and best netrtg among all players.

His offense was the problem. Too many finger rolls and weak takes to the rim when he just needs to throw it down. Just baffling.

Thanks for the information, c-c. I didn't watch the game until the 4th quarter, but had the radio on during the third, and Alan Horton wasn't holding back in criticizing Wig's defense against Wade. I did suspect that his effort must have been better in the first half because his +/- was very good despite yet another poor offensive game.

Tyus might have been going against guys that aren't PGs but those guys are pretty big and he got what he wanted and one time got a deflection pressed up on Winslow who played terrific in this game and has been playing well. Bayless has a nice start to the game but wasn't not as good as time went on. Some of that was other guys taking bad shots. He doesn't suck on defense.

Can we like loan Wiggins to the Heat and let them develop him for like 50 games or something? Derrick Jones Jr I watched him a few times last year in the G-league. Crazy athletic not unskilled but not refined. Played dumb at times didn't play hard all the time. I'm sure this game he played better than usual but obviously the guy is playing well enough to get minutes even on an injury depleted team. It feels like the heat are a team that takes a bunch of guys and gets the best out of them. I actually don't think Wiggins played bad in this game but Jones Jr had a heck of a game for someone who was on the fringes of the league a few months ago. The Miami announcers were surprised at how easy Wiggins was getting to his right hand in this game. As for Wiggins D I don't know if it was any good or not...well Miami has how many point in the first quarter...but anyway Wade was scoring on everyone including Covington. I know how shooting percentages aren't great but the guy can still play.

Q makes a good point about Okogie. He needs to calm down SOME. How much? Idk but i'll Say this he already gets some benefit of the doubt from officials and he still fouls too much. Still he was like Corey Brewer on speed in this game and he gives you a bunch of energy plus his passing is nice.

Towns was a beast. Bam needs to learn to box out.

There were some mind boggling bad calls from the officials in this game some both ways. That shot clock violation they reviewed and took away Towns basket the Miami broadcast showed it clearly hit the rim and they thought for sure it didn't.

Anywho good win the Wolves came to play in this game and it was a welcome sight. Spolstra did not look very happy most of this game.

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:KAT played like a superstar tonight. When he plays like he did we are so damn tough to beat.

Good win on the road. I think we are what we are a 500ish team. Will that be enough to make the playoffs probably not but I still like some of the pieces we have.

With the current roster and head coach, I'd agree we're a .500 team this season. I also agree that we have some nice pieces. KAT is obviously the key piece around which this team has to be built. But going forward, I also like Covington, Okogie, Tyus and maybe Saric. I'd also like to see Taj stay with the team beyond this season. Saric has to show he can consistently knock down his three-pointers. And Okogie also has to develop a consistent jumper. KAT really needs a second star if this team is ever going to be a true contender. It's crystal clear that Wiggins will never be that second star. I just don't know how this team can get the second star it needs.

Dario Saric shot 39.3% 3P over the course of the 2017-18 season and 36.9% 3P in 22 games with the Wolves. To me, he's quite clearly more of a "core" piece than Tyus Jones or Josh Okogie at this point. I could make the case that he's a top-10 player at his position. Minnesota has to make keeping him a priority.

I also think we haven't seen the full extent of his passing skills yet.

Last night Saric went 2/3 from three and hit all his FTs for 13 points in 19 mins. He took a couple bad shots but that's still a pretty good line plus he blocked Whiteside once which was pretty sweet.

Just watched the game again. Wiggins was actually pretty good defensively overall. But his shooting was terrible as he ended up shooting 5-16 (31.2%) from the field. Interestingly, he missed a lot of shots going to the rim, not just perimeter jumpers. He just doesn't go up strong. He is who he is. Andrew's been rebounding much better this season, but he had only 2 rebounds in the Miami game.

Yes, KAT was a beast. He and Tyus were the most important keys to the Wolves win. But others who played particularly well were Taj, Saric and Okogie. All three of these guys always seemed to be around the ball. Okogie didn't shoot well, but as usual he was disruptive on the defensive end and managed to pull down 6 rebounds in 23 minutes. Saric hit 2 of 3 three-pointers and played well defensively. I loved his block on Whiteside. Taj was his usual efficient, reliable self.

A good win against a decent team on the road.

As I mentioned earlier, this game further illuminated the core players this team needs to build around - KAT, Tyus, Okogie, Covington and Saric. For the right price, I'd also include Gibson. Those are my five or six core pieces. If we can keep Rose on a reasonable contract, I'd do it. But I don't think Rose will stay unless Thibodeau stays. I'm not sure what to do about Wiggins. I don't see us getting good trade value for him. Teague needs to go. I'd like to believe we can deal him before the Feb. trade deadline, but the best chance of clearing his salary would be via free agency with Teague getting a multi-year deal from another team that he'd prefer over collecting his remaining $19 million from the Wolves next season. Without Teague on the books, I think the Wolves could spend the entire MLE next season without paying the luxury tax. The Wolves could get a nice piece with the MLE. I think we're stuck with Gorgui, but at least he's playing better this season.

lipoli390 wrote: Andrew's been rebounding much better this season, but he had only 2 rebounds in the Miami game.

Sometimes, I feel like a stat nerd... but often... I feel like it's warranted.

Per 36 minutes, Wiggins is averaging a whopping 0.1 more rebounds per game (4.4 vs. 4.3) than last season... and fewer rebounds than he did as a rookie.

And considering the Wolves have struggled mightily on the defensive glass this season (#29 in the league)... the team needs more from him on the boards.

I see several people say Wiggins defense is better, I think it is but only every so often. It's a very small improvement. If he wants to be a great player (not sure about that) he needs to significantly improve his defense and intensity. He should be looking at Okogie and RoCo and trying to emulate them. Kind of sad that the max player need to learn from a Rook and a 10 mill a year guy.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

lipoli390 wrote: Andrew's been rebounding much better this season, but he had only 2 rebounds in the Miami game.

Sometimes, I feel like a stat nerd... but often... I feel like it's warranted.

Per 36 minutes, Wiggins is averaging a whopping 0.1 more rebounds per game (4.4 vs. 4.3) than last season... and fewer rebounds than he did as a rookie.

And considering the Wolves have struggled mightily on the defensive glass this season (#29 in the league)... the team needs more from him on the boards.

There were more than a couple times this game where he either failed to box out or chase a long rebound that ended up going into Miami's hands. He makes an occiasonal effort rebound, but most of the time he's simply not willing to put in the work for it. This is one of many frustrating things that haven't changed a lick (or gotten worse) since he came into the league.