CoolBreeze's 2 Things I Didn't Like Tonight Plus 1

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

One thing to keep in mind is that it was our 4th game in six nights. Perhaps we had some fatigue still lingering from the west coast trip, where they had just played a B-to-B on Sunday/Monday, then had to travel back.

But yeah, it's definitely a low for the season. It's not easy having a bunch of young guys play. And the (healthy) vets just don't have the talent to compete. Young, Williams, and Brewer can all play a role off the bench on a good team, but right now they are being asked to take lead roles, surrounded by a bunch of rookies and 2nd year guys. They aren't equipped to handle it.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I hope you keep up the 2+1, cool...either that or an in-person game report is always a nice kick start to some post-game discussion. Unfortunately the rest of this month is going to have some ugly blowouts for our Wolves, and some of that apathy Abe talks about is going to settle in. Blowouts, apathy, and the holidays will likely lead to less participation in the board. There's just not that much to talk about until Ricky and Martin get back.

I listened to an abbreviated Funkadelic driving home this afternoon...nothing too enlightening from Flip, but there were a couple insights. He said it's often more difficult for young players to learn defensive assignments than it is for them to learn the offense, and that has a lot to with the terrible defense right now...that and injuries of course. He also said Shabazz tweaked an ankle during the game, and when Barreiro asked him if that's why he only played 15 minutes, Flip made it sound like it was more a teaching moment for Bazz. Flip says Shabazz doesn't always understand spacing on offense, and as a result can clog things up. Finally Flip admitted that the team was feeling down after all the recent losses, and sounded frustrated when Dan asked about Ricky and Pek's timetable.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

But LST, I thought this season was going to be so much more fun watching all the young guys grow and develop? What happened?

The fact is that re-building (this is our 3rd try dating back to the original KG trade that yielded us Al Jefferson) is a tough, painful process. A lot of you looked at this season with rose-colored glasses and it's quickly turned ugly. This roster was built like a house of cards: The second one or two key guys went down, everything collapsed to pieces because we just don't have the experience, talent or skills to compete at all in the Western Conference.

I think Shabazz eventually will "get it" on defense and offense, but it might take another year or two. I still don't think he will ever be a great all-around wing, as he is extremely limited as a ball-handler and playmaker. However, he could eventually become a real force coming off the bench. He just has to learn the nuances of offensive spacing, defensive rotations, and avoiding dumb fouls. These are the little things that don't show up in box score stats, yet contribute greatly to winning basketball.

Bennett appears to be another low-IQ player that can be frustrating to watch at times. He's a disaster defensively, like so many of our other players. And offensively he makes very poor use of his sturdy frame and athleticism. It's nice that he has a decent outside shot, but he's way too reliant on that for his offense.

I won't get into LaVine as he is clearly playing out of position. That should be pretty clear to us by now. And Wiggins is at least a halfway decent defender, but his handles and mid-range game are very weak. He's being expected to do things that he's simply not capable of doing yet.

It's going to get worse before it gets better....

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Q, you know what happened...we lost the most valuable quarter of our roster. No team in the NBA survives that. I thought it was great fun watching the young guys in the first five games, and I even had fun at the two home games I went to (Knicks and Bucks). Those seven games were as fun as most games I watched the past five years. I posted a poll where I maintain we would be 9-8 and optimistic right now without the devastating injuries. Flip said yesterday that the losing has taken its toll on his players, and it's taken its toll on me and others on this board too. I don't care if you are the Wolves, OkC or whoever. Any franchise's second team just isn't going to beat another team's starters, and that is what our young players are being asked to do.

You're right...as bad as Wednesday night was, it's going to get worse before it gets better. The Rockets are favored by 7 here tonight, but once the gamblers hear that Williams and Shabazz aren't likely to play (get ready for another game of Zach and Corey at the point!), that number has to go way up. It's difficult to see us staying within 15 tonight if Houston takes this game seriously at all.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

One other guy I forgot to mention in my post above is Gorgui Dieng. More than anyone, he has disappointed me. I had high hopes of his defensive potential dating back to when we drafted him and watching him play last season. But his ability to get steals and blocks belies his true defensive impact, which is hugely negative.

If you really want to know why we have to go zone so often, you can start with Gorgui. He is simply not capable of guarding post players one-on-one - even post players that are smaller than him. They simply muscle him out of the lane and easily score near the rim. The last guy I saw with such poor balance and core strength is Ryan Hollins. Remember him? Everyone loved him too at first because of his length and athleticism. But unfortunately he was a huge liability because he was so easily pushed around in the paint.

So while it's fun to see how Gorgui has evolved his game offensively, I would trade that improvement off 10 out of 10 times for him to become a stout defensive presence. He as much as anyone is killing us on that side of the floor. I hope the team finds some guru over this next offseason to work with him on lower body strength and balance.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I have to agree with you, q, that Dieng has disappointed me defensively this year. I loved him the first 5 games, and thought we were significantly better when he was on the court. Yes, he got pushed around by bigger guys like Gasol, but I also saw him altering a lot of shots. I haven't seen that since then.

But I don't agree that Flip's use of our ineffective zone starts with Gorgui. I think it clearly starts with the inability of Mo and Zach to stop the opposing guard's penetration. I don't find it coincidental that Gorgui's defense appears so much less effective since Ricky got hurt.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I'm with Phenom and others, this should be our last rebuilding effort. Keep Rubio, our 5 young guys, and swap a couple vets Flip sees fit for trades, but no overhaul. If we can't do it with this young group, then Glen should sell and move to Seattle. This is the last bad season I can handle as a fan.

[bleedspeed]

I'm with Phenom and others, this should be our last rebuilding effort. Keep Rubio, our 5 young guys, and swap a couple vets Flip sees fit for trades, but no overhaul. If we can't do it with this young group, then Glen should sell and move to Seattle. This is the last bad season I can handle as a fan.

I would plan on 2-3 year more bad seasons at this point with some improvement along the way.

[mjs34]

I'm starting to realize that this team is destined for 20 win seasons until we get a real coach. The fact that he is calling out Bennett's defense, tells me Flip doesn't have the first clue about coaching. Bennett is far and away our best defensive big, and other than Ricky, easily has the highest defensive IQ on this team. Bennett is the only big that understands how to stop a PnR, unfortunately that goes out the window when guys like Mo and Cory completely give up once a pick is set. Bennett is receiving zero help when from the perimeter or down low when flashing on the ball handler. Most of those passes back to the rolling big are over the top which is where the help should come. Bennett is playing this perfectly, but Flip is calling him out. Maybe it isn't Bennett's IQ we should be questioning.

Watch Young or Hummel if you want to see what not to do on a show. They both rush out, but never stop the ball handler's attack, usually turning their back trying to find their man, rather than stopping the ball handler's penetration. No matter how well a player fights through a screen, they have lost the advantage of positioning and a showing big has to give that back to them. That isn't happening with any of our bigs other than Bennett.

We can call out Bennett's motor, but there isn't anything in his play that suggests he doesn't get it. I've watched him very closely over the last week, and I have come to two conclusions. Bennett is setting up in the low block on several occasions a game, but we aren't getting him the ball there. It is only when he positions out top that he actually receives a pass. He is clearly taking way too many long two's but that just groups him in the rest of the team. Defensively, is the lone bright spot coming off the bench. The zone is killing this team, asking for too many rotations from players who don't understand when to make them.

If Flip really wants to improve the defense, it starts with removing Cory. This guy puts so much stress on a defense when taking into account the unnecessary gambles and the giving up after screens and picks, that it is a wonder they don't isolate on him exclusively. Cory's chaotic activity may be fun to watch, but he is a complete mess when it comes to team play.

Offensively, I continually come back to the same question. How is it that guys like Bud, Brewer, Robbie and Young are all allowed to take 3's, but Bennett is not? He has one of the smoothest strokes I have seen from 22 feet. How is it that we are questioning Bazz's offensive spacing. He is the guy scoring the ball effectively, so maybe the other players should be accountable for spacing. Like Young screwing up a 4/1 against Philly by stepping into Mo's path and deflecting the pass intended for Wiggins. Bazz may be missing assignments on defense, but his scoring is more than anyone could ask for a second year player, who plays limited minutes.

Flip, stop calling out the young guys when all of our veterans have huge holes in their games. They are the ones costing us victories.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I admit to being a Flip apologist much of the time, but I found myself nodding several times as I read sjm's post.