Minnesota Sports Forum

I think Lavine has potential to be a good defensive player but I do think he has to prove it before I pencil him in as an asset on defense. He showed some positive signs last year especially off the ball but like Abe and Q have said he needs to come along a lot farther.

Dieng has shown more impact there especially last season and his career block steal numbers combined with some decent rebounding are pretty good actually. His ability to play out on the perimeter improved quite a bit. He also found ways to be more effective as a post defender at times using his strengths which oddly means utilizing his quickness and poking the ball away. It helps they went out and got a guy like Aldrich and even Jordan Hill who have some bigger bodies to deal with guys that he and Towns struggled with at times.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:I think it's a huge reach to even put LaVine is the "potential" group of great defenders... considering just how far he has to go to get there.

He's been largely a terrible defender. That's like saying potentially Dieng could be a great three point shooter.

"It could happen!"

Abe - You are such a grouch. :). My category was "good to great defenders." LaVine becoming a "good" defender isn't the sort of enormous unfathomable stretch you are suggesting. I'll add that neither Flip nor any basketball evaluator of his caliber has, to my knowledge, suggested that Gorgui will be a good much less great 3-point shooter. Flip himself, on the other hand, expected LaVine to becoming a very good defender based on Zach's defensive stats in college and his great (not just good) lateral quickness. I'm not predicting Zach will be great or even good. I was just noting his "potential" to be good or better if Flip's evaluation was correct. Given Flip's analysis and Zach's lateral quickness/athleticism, his potential to be a good defender is certainly more than just an extension of the notion that "anything can happen." Time will tell.

lipoli390 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:I think it's a huge reach to even put LaVine is the "potential" group of great defenders... considering just how far he has to go to get there.

He's been largely a terrible defender. That's like saying potentially Dieng could be a great three point shooter.

"It could happen!"

Abe - You are such a grouch. :). My category was "good to great defenders." LaVine becoming a "good" defender isn't the sort of enormous unfathomable stretch you are suggesting. I'll add that neither Flip nor any basketball evaluator of his caliber has, to my knowledge, suggested that Gorgui will be a good much less great 3-point shooter. Flip himself, on the other hand, expected LaVine to becoming a very good defender based on Zach's defensive stats in college and his great (not just good) lateral quickness. I'm not predicting Zach will be great or even good. I was just noting his "potential" to be good or better if Flip's evaluation was correct. Given Flip's analysis and Zach's lateral quickness/athleticism, his potential to be a good defender is certainly more than just an extension of the notion that "anything can happen." Time will tell.

Dieng's career average on corner 3's is 38.5% :)

Lol. Thanks, Monster - I hadn't seen that stat. I think it's clear Dieng WILL be a GREAT 3-point shooter. I'm sure Abe would agree. :)

I've always liked Gorgi too. I think he has a home here. He's proven to be a worthy starter at the 4. And it's very possible he regresses a bit, but if that happens, I hope we sign him as our backup center for a few more years. Either way we win.

BizarroJerry wrote:I've always liked Gorgi too. I think he has a home here. He's proven to be a worthy starter at the 4. And it's very possible he regresses a bit, but if that happens, I hope we sign him as our backup center for a few more years. Either way we win.

I agree that Gorgui's proven himself to be a worthy starter at the 4 for us. I don't think he'll regress. I think he'll be at least slightly improved over last season given his limited number of years in the League and his tremendous work ethic. He is really driven and extremely smart. Those types of players tend to improve more than most. He'll never be an all-star, but he's a terrific starter on a team like the Wolves that has at least two other all-star caliber players in its starting lineup. My concern is that we won't be able to keep him here financially over the long haul because I suspect he'll get a huge offer some some team.

To me Gorgi is solid, but will always be the weak link in the starting lineup. Not a horrible problem, but something we might have to think about before signing him to a big contract.