Wolves v Nuggets GDT - DLO dominates

[thedoper]

The best part is we get to watch them do that to us again tomorrow.

[kekgeek]

D'Angelo Russell: "I don't think we're ready to win yet. We're still figuring out how to lose. Sounds crazy, but the way you lose says a lot about the team. Today, how we lost, was a good way to lose."

So I like Dlo and believe he can be an important piece to winning bball with Kat but shit like this is why the Wolves are the worst organization in sports. This is why you should care about winning at the end of the year last year. Such a pathetic organization that is cool with losing

[kekgeek]

Abe's Late Night DVR Review:

- That 3rd quarter... huh? 10 points and 6 assists from Russell. Nice! Actually, it was awesome. The passing was exceptional. A couple of big shots. The energy from Russell was palpable. The other 3 quarters? 8 points. 1 assist. I don't know whether to be hopeful... or more ticked. But I think that's sort of the D. Russell experience.

- So the Wolves made concerted effort to split up Russell and Rubio. 30 minutes for Russell... 18 for Rubio. I think this is a critical point moving forward. It's not sustainable They HAVE to figure out how to play together. Otherwise, trading for Rubio was a massive misfire from Rosas. Obviously, they didn't agree to pay Rubio $34M and give up a the #17 for Russell's backup -- and if they did -- Rosas is worse than David Kahn.

- Edwards' passing. YES. I didn't expect that. I dug a couple of them, especially, the left-handed assist off the bounce.

- Beasley plays with energy. And he can get buckets. I don't dig the off-court stuff... but he's a professional player. He'd be a rotation guy for a lot of teams.

- Ed Davis seems... well... "fine." But ugh... He gets NO respect from opposing defenses. You put him out there with guys like Culver and Hernangomez and defenses can rest a bit needing to close out on guys.

- Good energy from Culver. But him becoming Josh Okogie v2.0 just won't be good enough. I can see the Wolves really using one of those guys. Not both. I'd put one of them at the top of any prospective Wolves trades.

-----------

- Denver didn't play well... until it mattered. The change was stark. And obvious. Just another NBA game. We've seen more of these types of games than any other franchise over the past 15+ years.

Dane Moore talked about the Rubio and Russell thing a lot today. Apparently Ryan asked DLO how he can help get him going and dlo didn't want Rubio in the lineup together because it kills PnR because Rubio is no threat to shoot. Don't think we are going to see a ton of Rubio/dlo lineups

[Lipoli390]

Beasley was an excellent signing, he's retained his three-point shooting that earned him that contact. Now he seems to be improving his finishing ability and is a surprisingly good rebounder!

I agree. But he's always been a good rebounder. In fact that was one of the positives in draft reviews on him coming out of college. He's also always been a good 3-point shooter - averaging around 38% in his NBA career to date. So I'm not surprised. He was the acquisition I really liked last Spring at the trade deadline. What I didn't realized about him was how much dog he has in him. He's a fierce competitor and plays hard every minute of every game he plays. I had misgivings about re-signing him given his off-court stuff, but I've never had any doubts about him as a player. If he's beyond his off-court issues, he'll turn out to be Gersson's best acquisition by the time Gersson is done here - which I hope isn't too far off.

[FNG]

At least all is right in the world again- Russell has assumed his rightful position of worst +/- on the team tonight. I hate to keep harping on it, but it's really quite astounding how consistently negative he is.

-110 in the last 4 games combined. That's incredible. He did look like an all-star for about 8 or so minutes in that 3rd quarter.

To add some further context to that amazing stat, Q, the Wolves are only -95 in those 4 games. that means the Wolves are a +15 when D-Lo is not on the court! I'm not going to take the time to research this, but we'd be hard pressed to find a player who is hurting his team more than D-Lo is right now...and I'm certain we couldn't find a max player who is doing so much damage.

[Wolvesfan21]

Are you guys seeing this camera angle on Culver's free throws? It's perfect for seeing the knuckleball he puts up there. Literally nothing is different from last year. WTF were they working on with him!? It looks no different. This doesn't happen with Toronto, Miami, San Antonio....

Pressure can bring back old bad habits. I'm disappointed to see it. I really like rooting for him cause he plays tough and hard.

Agree, really was hoping he'd be a big factor for us this season based on what we saw in the pre-season, but his shot mechanics are broken. If an extended Covid offseason can't fix his shot then nothing will.

More time, he needs to put up 10,000 free throws with correct mechanics.

[Wolvesfan21]

Nuggets- "we're done fucking around with you clowns."

DLO looks and plays like a clown except that 3rd quarter. Is DLO going to be like Wiggins where once every blue moon we'll see him play like a superstar?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

At least all is right in the world again- Russell has assumed his rightful position of worst +/- on the team tonight. I hate to keep harping on it, but it's really quite astounding how consistently negative he is.

-110 in the last 4 games combined. That's incredible. He did look like an all-star for about 8 or so minutes in that 3rd quarter.

To add some further context to that amazing stat, Q, the Wolves are only -95 in those 4 games. that means the Wolves are a +15 when D-Lo is not on the court! I'm not going to take the time to research this, but we'd be hard pressed to find a player who is hurting his team more than D-Lo is right now...and I'm certain we couldn't find a max player who is doing so much damage.

To be fair, DLO probably overlaps with the other team's starting unit/stars more than any other player. You put Ed Davis, Juancho, and Culver out there with him and he's basically playing with one arm tied behind his back. Still, those numbers are incredible because they show how much of a gap exists between DLO and other teams' top 2 players. While I don't think he's as bad as the numbers suggest, he's not even close to an all-star caliber guard in today's NBA. There are at least 15 other PGs I'd rather have running my team.

[FNG]

At least all is right in the world again- Russell has assumed his rightful position of worst +/- on the team tonight. I hate to keep harping on it, but it's really quite astounding how consistently negative he is.

-110 in the last 4 games combined. That's incredible. He did look like an all-star for about 8 or so minutes in that 3rd quarter.

To add some further context to that amazing stat, Q, the Wolves are only -95 in those 4 games. that means the Wolves are a +15 when D-Lo is not on the court! I'm not going to take the time to research this, but we'd be hard pressed to find a player who is hurting his team more than D-Lo is right now...and I'm certain we couldn't find a max player who is doing so much damage.

To be fair, DLO probably overlaps with the other team's starting unit/stars more than any other player. You put Ed Davis, Juancho, and Culver out there with him and he's basically playing with one arm tied behind his back. Still, those numbers are incredible because they show how much of a gap exists between DLO and other teams' top 2 players. While I don't think he's as bad as the numbers suggest, he's not even close to an all-star caliber guard in today's NBA. There are at least 15 other PGs I'd rather have running my team.

Q, after 5 years of watching him in the NBA, I think we're way past the "to be fair" stage with D-Lo. Yes, he almost always starts games so he plays a lot of minutes against the opponent's best players. But still, he consistently puts up +/- numbers worse than the other starters...no matter who they are! Juancho and Culver also started both halves with D-Lo, but they ended the game only -7 and -8, respectively. You don't often see huge discrepancies like that in your starting lineup, but you regularly do with Russell. The difference was Russell got his second foul, and the other starters (other than Davis, who was saddled with D-Lo for almost all his minutes) got the benefit of a few minutes with a true PG.

He's such a puzzle to me, because I recognize his enormous potential. And we all love those 8-minute runs he sometimes puts up that make us sit up and say "hmmm, maybe...". But the more I watch him, the more I realize who he is...although his style is much more "old man" and much less athletic, ultimately he is Zach LaVine. They're both guys who can fire up a fan base with a 30-point night, but at the end of the day the box score will show yet another -20.

3 NBA GM's have given up on him, and he's still only 24. The question for the Wolves is this: can Rosas find another sucker who will take his contract off our hands?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

At least all is right in the world again- Russell has assumed his rightful position of worst +/- on the team tonight. I hate to keep harping on it, but it's really quite astounding how consistently negative he is.

-110 in the last 4 games combined. That's incredible. He did look like an all-star for about 8 or so minutes in that 3rd quarter.

To add some further context to that amazing stat, Q, the Wolves are only -95 in those 4 games. that means the Wolves are a +15 when D-Lo is not on the court! I'm not going to take the time to research this, but we'd be hard pressed to find a player who is hurting his team more than D-Lo is right now...and I'm certain we couldn't find a max player who is doing so much damage.

To be fair, DLO probably overlaps with the other team's starting unit/stars more than any other player. You put Ed Davis, Juancho, and Culver out there with him and he's basically playing with one arm tied behind his back. Still, those numbers are incredible because they show how much of a gap exists between DLO and other teams' top 2 players. While I don't think he's as bad as the numbers suggest, he's not even close to an all-star caliber guard in today's NBA. There are at least 15 other PGs I'd rather have running my team.

Q, after 5 years of watching him in the NBA, I think we're way past the "to be fair" stage with D-Lo. Yes, he almost always starts games so he plays a lot of minutes against the opponent's best players. But still, he consistently puts up +/- numbers worse than the other starters...no matter who they are! Juancho and Culver also started both halves with D-Lo, but they ended the game only -7 and -8, respectively. You don't often see huge discrepancies like that in your starting lineup, but you regularly do with Russell. The difference was Russell got his second foul, and the other starters (other than Davis, who was saddled with D-Lo for almost all his minutes) got the benefit of a few minutes with a true PG.

He's such a puzzle to me, because I recognize his enormous potential. And we all love those 8-minute runs he sometimes puts up that make us sit up and say "hmmm, maybe...". But the more I watch him, the more I realize who he is...although his style is much more "old man" and much less athletic, ultimately he is Zach LaVine. They're both guys who can fire up a fan base with a 30-point night, but at the end of the day the box score will show yet another -20.

3 NBA GM's have given up on him, and he's still only 24. The question for the Wolves is this: can Rosas find another sucker who will take his contract off our hands?

My answer (which I mention in the DLO thread as well) is no, they won't find another sucker and they are going to have to find a way to make the best of the situation. In my mind, the only way to do that with a player like DLO is to dilute his influence and responsibilities. That means Rosas needs to continue the hunt for a 2nd star to go along with KAT. While that guy was originally supposed to be DLO, it's clear he's not up to the task. So while the front office can continue the facade of DLO being one of our stars, they need to keep hunting for an actual 2nd star.