Minnesota Sports Forum

Q-was-here wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

FNG wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:

FNG wrote:Odd game last night, but I'm feeling quite good after gutting out a win...especially after what I thought was an excellent team performance against Denver the night before. Q is right...we don't win that game without Russell's superb clutch shooting in the 4th quarter. We're going to get that every 10-15 games or so, and it's always exciting to watch when he gets hot...very Jamal Crawford-like. But do we even need DLo's 4th quarter heroics if he (and Ant, by the way) play any defense at all in the first three quarters? I noted a couple times what Kekgeek noted... the veterans showing their disgust for DLo's hanging around in the paint rather than rotating to the perimeter shooter. It's what I see on the faces of several of our coaches when I go to games. Maybe, just maybe, our veterans can get Russell to play defense consistently like he did for moments in the 4th quarter...that would really change the fortunes of this team.

But I'm going to celebrate last night's win, because I almost bailed at the end of the 3rd quarter. Kyle Anderson is an incredible basketball player...I've said it before, but I would love to see him as our starting PG when KAT returns (he says it's his best position), with whoever is hot between DLo and Nowell providing fire power off the bench.

Ant has taken a step back the past two games, but two other young guys are finally playing the way we hoped they would. McDaniels impresses me more and more each game defensively, and he's now scoring reliably from the corners while also showing some nifty moves in the paint. And how about Jaylen Nowell the past 5 games? His 3-point shot is still off, but his ability to create and convert his mid-range shot is getting better and better. And while he's not always effective on defense, you can't question his effort. I'm not giving up on his chances of being a solid contributor off the bench.

Great win...now let's take 2 off of Houston!

So you are proposing an Anderson, Ant, Jaden, KAT, and Gobert starting lineup if we are fully healthy and DLO is traded or otherwise dispositioned? That is a really interesting thought.

I don't think it would happen, Q, unless Russell were traded without getting a starting caliber PG in return, but I would love to see it. I was living in LA when Kyle was playing PG ahead of Lavine at UCLA, and I always marveled at the way he ran an offense. But Pop decided he was a SF, not a PG, and there was no room for him at PG for Memphis either with Conley and Morant. I think his three teams have done him a disservice playing him at forward, when he had so much success in college as a facilitating guard and has always called himself a PG. SloMo has a 9.6 positive rating with Rudy and 9 with Jaden, and he's also positive with KAT and Ant. I think he could really unlock Rudy's offensive potential, and we would also have a very long and effective defense. Plus, many of us have dreamed of DLO in a 6th man role...he would provide offense off the bench, and it would be much easier to hide him on defense against reserves.

I like this rotation even more if JMac is ever able to recover from the worst calf history ever, and can be our PG off the bench....this allows DLo to play off-ball in a more of a SG role.

Makes too much sense...probably why it won't happen :cry: .

The 4 man unit is Slow Mo/Ant/Jaden/Gobert have have been so freaking good this year. That 4 man unit is in the 98th percentile of all nba lineups at a +13.3 pts per 100 possessions. That 4 man unit most common 5th has been Dlo and that has also been fantastic +14.2 per 100 possessions 82nd percentile. Lineups when when 4 man unit plays and that fifth isn't Dlo (33% of possessions that 4 man unit has played without Dlo, 66% with) is also fantastic 11.4 pts per 100 possessions (96th percentile). Prince as their fifth have destroyed people but small sample size. When that 5th man he a big (Kat or Naz) it has been really bad but it's legit only 10 possessions so you can't anything from that.

Just overall I don't care who starts but that 4 man unit should play together a ton though out the game.

I think one thing that has really helped SloMo (and it's also very un-Wolves like) is that the shooting gods have smiled upon him this season. You just can't leave him open out there without some sort of close out. He will make those open 3's.

Having said that, the 5th guy in that 4-man lineup does need to be a shooter since Gobert is also in the game, so it should either be Prince, KAT, or DLO.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:This win was emblematic of this team's identity. The team was built to score. Not having KAT's 23-25 efficient points per game hurts a lot for that reason. But it's still a scoring team with Edwards, DLO, Nowell, Naz and the remaining cast. In the previous game against Denver, the Wolves scored a lot of points but came up just short with Edwards and DLO below their scoring averages. In this game, Edwards and DLO both did what they can do offensively and the result was a win. Some would argue that DLO's performance enhances his trade value and enhances the opportunity to trade him for good value. I would argue that tonight's game is a reason to keep him. As I've said before, his has his faults but he's a guy who can put the team on his shoulders and turn what should be a loss into a win. That's what he did tonight, but he's done it a number of times including last season's play-in game against the Clippers.

Tonight's game also underscored the value of Kyle Anderson. Cam has been critical of Finch's coaching this season for good reason even though we've disagreed about that from time to time, but he appropriately praised his coaching tonight. I've been highly critical of Connelly for the Gobert deal, but I'll take this opportunity to praise him as I have before for signing Anderson.

Edwards, Anderson, McDaniels and Prince can all defend as well as score and it looks like McDaniels is starting to take a bit of a leap offensively. So there's no reason this team should be terrible defensively. Our front office needs to recognize who we are with Ant as our centerpiece - i.e., an offensively skilled, high-scoring team. As this organization continues to build this team, it should focus on and have a roster suited to that identity. That's why Nowell still makes sense for this team in spite of how frustrating he can be at times. He's still young and there's more growth there we can and should expect from him. I'd add Garza to the list of players on this roster I view as keepers along with Ant, McDaniels, Anderson, Prince and KAT. DLO remains a question mark in my mind, but tonight's game was reminder that he could be a good long-term fit.

Thanks Lip, we will check in with you after the next game to get your latest knee jerk reactions.

WolvesFan21 wrote:Finch also thinks JMac is better then DLO. With the playoffs on the line he benched DLO.

So either 99% of posters and professional coaches see DLO one way or one poster here is right that DLO is actually a superstar being held back by coaches and fans.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:And damn it, TIM...

I had missed it, but now I can't unsee "Rapters."

FNG wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:And damn it, TIM...

I had missed it, but now I can't unsee "Rapters."

Yeah, eye noticed that two

leado01 wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:Finch also thinks JMac is better then DLO. With the playoffs on the line he benched DLO.

So either 99% of posters and professional coaches see DLO one way or one poster here is right that DLO is actually a superstar being held back by coaches and fans.

DLO had a bad series against Memphis. I can tell you with 100% certainty Finch doesn't think Jmac is better than DLO, or even a better fit. We've seen ANT get short leashed in the last two weeks on 4-5 occasions, do you then conclude that Finch thinks Matt Ryan or Jalen Nowell are better than ANT?

Another thing I read hear earlier this week was that some veterans were yelling at DLO for missing rotations or clogging up the middle (the clogging up the middle one really cracked me up because DLO had made the rotation to plug the middle that otherwise left the rim wide open). The Prince yelling was a response to DLO reminding him to go under a particular screen, the Anderson yelling was a bit passive aggressive as he was yelling a DLO to be louder on calling out rotations because ANT had dropped 2 in 2 ends).

That's not speculation...that report comes from the bench.