Minnesota Sports Forum

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Bazz's interview was great. He's already been working with Thibs for a month. Seems very self aware of where we needs to improve.

Well, good for him. His work ethic has never been in question. Court awareness (on both ends), b-ball IQ, certain fundamentals, etc. are what's lacking.

Well the only way to address those deficiencies is with hard work and self awareness, Although b-ball IQ still seems like an abstract fundamental skill to me.

60WinTim wrote:Sid needs to be retired!

They've been saying that since I was born.

Wiggins confidence is through the roof this year. He seems focused.

thedoper wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Bazz's interview was great. He's already been working with Thibs for a month. Seems very self aware of where we needs to improve.

Well, good for him. His work ethic has never been in question. Court awareness (on both ends), b-ball IQ, certain fundamentals, etc. are what's lacking.

Well the only way to address those deficiencies is with hard work and self awareness, Although b-ball IQ still seems like an abstract fundamental skill to me.

Well Thibs is considered one of the best of not the best defensive basketball coaches in the game so I'm not sure that really makes Sam look that bad. In addition we all know Sam took over in a unique situation and had a very different outcome. He was concentrating on developing guys and did very basic stuff. Sam wasn't a defensive coach and nobody on that staff was known for that so yeah. Heck KG was the likely defensive savant if there was one. Rick Adelman and his staff was probably the best defensive group of coaches Bazz has had in the league so far. Yeah impressive huh? Thibs must seems like a complete genius.

I've been realizing that some of the things I do whether it's on the court of daily life that is well not up to par or as good as I would like it is because I really do not have a process of how to do that task. Obviously there are some things I could find some sort of process for but still suck at because I dont have the interest or talent to get good at. There are plenty of other things including very basic daily tasks that it would be so much more effective if I was more intentional of how I did them instead of just doing them however and when I got around to it. My guess is that a player like Bazz may have never really gotten those defensive processes and we know it's not a strength. He has had a different coach teaching those defensive processes the last 4 years of his basketball career. MAYBE having one of the best coaches in that area work with him on that he can find a process and therefore habits and his own intuition of how to do things defensively and he can make some real strides. There are 2 things he has going for him that give me legit hope.

1. He actually puts forth the effort. He tries, he hustles etc that's pretty significant on that end.

2. Physically he has improved since coming into the league. He isn't as much of a liability moving laterally. His overall physical makeup has strengths (he is strong) and weaknesses (isn't the longest at SF) but overall I think he has actually progressed to the place where that's not what is holding him back. It's the mental aspect so it will be interesting to see if that improves.

On the other end obviously he has some good things going for him and has figured out some processes of how to score attack around the basket both getting rebounds and scoring but some of those processes have to be modified so he can fit into a team better along with improving other skills. Listening to Zimmer talk about how they want their guys to do things and even Sam last year makes me realize just how much coaching is about these little things. It's something we probably can all learn from and another reason why coaching is really a grind.

Sid was hard on Ricky. Insane. Asked him if he still wants to be traded before anyone started.

thedoper wrote:Bazz's interview was great. He's already been working with Thibs for a month. Seems very self aware of where we needs to improve.

This is exciting news in my opinion. Don't forget that Bazz was the Wiggins of his class in high school...the guy everyone projected to be the #1 pick after one year in college. And then he set the Pac 10 record for freshman scoring. His pro career so far has been subpar, but perhaps Rick, Flip and Sam weren't able to get everything out of him. I love that thibs has taken an interest in him (it seems) and that Bazz is so enthusiastic about him. Color me guardedly optimistic.

longstrangetrip wrote:

thedoper wrote:Bazz's interview was great. He's already been working with Thibs for a month. Seems very self aware of where we needs to improve.

This is exciting news in my opinion. Don't forget that Bazz was the Wiggins of his class in high school...the guy everyone projected to be the #1 pick after one year in college. And then he set the Pac 10 record for freshman scoring. His pro career so far has been subpar, but perhaps Rick, Flip and Sam weren't able to get everything out of him. I love that thibs has taken an interest in him (it seems) and that Bazz is so enthusiastic about him. Color me guardedly optimistic.

Welcome back LST. We missed you on the Bazz train. I'm glad you still have faith.

thedoper wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

thedoper wrote:Bazz's interview was great. He's already been working with Thibs for a month. Seems very self aware of where we needs to improve.

This is exciting news in my opinion. Don't forget that Bazz was the Wiggins of his class in high school...the guy everyone projected to be the #1 pick after one year in college. And then he set the Pac 10 record for freshman scoring. His pro career so far has been subpar, but perhaps Rick, Flip and Sam weren't able to get everything out of him. I love that thibs has taken an interest in him (it seems) and that Bazz is so enthusiastic about him. Color me guardedly optimistic.

Welcome back LST. We missed you on the Bazz train. I'm glad you still have faith.

Yeah, I might have even been the conductor on that train after the draft and through his first year. He was such a prolific scorer, and I thought he would eventually become at least an average defender. I got disenchanted though in his second and third years. His defense didn't seem to improve, and his disinterest in passing the basketball really started to bug me...especially on fast breaks when he would try to beat 3 defenders. I didn't hear his interview, but your report is exactly what I want to hear. Bazz is such an easy guy to cheer for because he always works hard, and because despite his fall from #1 prospect to NBA bench guy, he doesn't seem to be a prima donna. I really hope thibs can find a way to get the most out of him.

Here is a fairly recent interview with Bazz. Nothing really earth shattering but he is saying a lot of the right things.

http://uproxx.com/dimemag/shabazz-muhammad-tom-thibodeau-kevin-garnett/2/

Wiggins said that when he's right, the only person that can stop him is himself. Have I ever said how much I love this guy?