I can feel it...

[Carlos Danger]

The Dieng over KAT thing was addressed a couple days ago by Sam in a Strib article:
http://www.startribune.com/timberwolves-reserve-center-dieng-gets-nod-as-the-closer/357387871/

In a nutshell - he likes Dieng's defense against the Pick n' Roll over KAT. In addition, the team has gone on a couple runs lately with Dieng out there - so it makes sense to stick with what's working. Bottom line - he likes both guys and both are good players. If you play well - you will be on the court under Sam. Nothing wrong with that. And after a slow first couple weeks of the season, Dieng has come back around to play very well again. His PER is now back up to 17.0. He's currently tied for second on the team in Win Shares and VORP. And all that production is coming from a guy who is one of the lowest paid players on the team. I really don't get what some people on here have to bitch about with him - but whatever. He's pretty much turned into this year's Thad Young for the board and suddenly I'm Cam aka the only guy defending him.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I appreciate your defense of Gorgui, Anthony. I get down on him sometimes because his game is so awkward at times and also because he seems to have lost the nice passing skills he was showing last year. But you're right, his stats are very good (he's now the 6th T-Wolf with a PER over 17) and he has been closing out games very well recently. I've read Sam's comments about his superiority over KAT in PnR defense, but I honestly don't know if I agree. I'm going to the game tomorrow, so I'll focus a little more on that with both of them.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

KAT gave Steph Curry troubles when he switched on him out of the PnR. I don't think Sam is right on this one. Maybe KAT had a couple bad games, but the ceiling he's already shown in the PnR is crazy.

[TAFKASP]

Develop them both, I love the fact that with Dieng coming on the Wolves have two young and improving talents at the 5! Are there two more likeable guys? Dieng isn't perfect, KAT has the ability to be closer to perfect, but I love that they both bring it, especially late in games!!

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

KAT gave Steph Curry troubles when he switched on him out of the PnR. I don't think Sam is right on this one. Maybe KAT had a couple bad games, but the ceiling he's already shown in the PnR is crazy.

That's my take also, khans. But I wonder if I'm missing something because I trust Sam's defensive eye more than mine. But it very well may be that he is just wrong on this one.

[Monster]

Hey I have been in Dieng's corner also. I still think Martin has a slight edge over Dieng in the Rid our whipping boy award but Dieng is moving up the charts because Martin actually deserves to get ripped for missing shots.

The bottom line for me is Towns has played pretty good but is a rookie big man and quite frankly if you can keep any big at any age at 30 minutes or less because you actually have the talent behind them that's pretty sweet. Dieng has been playing much better and at times the last 4 games he has given the Wolves a boast in some area Towns wasn't. Like Sam said that doesn't mean Towns has screwed up its just that Dieng has played well why not let him get rolling. I bet Wiggins would be playing less minutes than he has if Bazz would have stepped up more defensively. That could still happen.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I mentioned this in the game thread from yesterday, but Dieng was slow to contest on two consecutive jumpers - the first by Griffin and the second by Paul - that were absolute daggers against us late in the game.

Having said that, Towns was in the game on those plays too, so this wasn't even a Towns vs. Dieng issue. It was just a Dieng issue in terms of his ability to get out and contest perimeter shots.

I think Dieng has definitely played better of late and I don't have a problem with Smitch giving him some more rope. But that rope may have been a bit too long yesterday. I would have preferred KG out there for the final few minutes for his defense.

[Carlos Danger]

There was a blurb in today's Strib about Towns and Dieng making each other bettere and getting a chance to play together. That's sometime I hope to see a little more of - especially if Pek can come back and play some. Here's the relevant section and link to whole thing:

Twin towers

Mitchell experimented with big men Gorgui Dieng and Karl-Anthony Towns together in the closing minutes Sunday for one of the few times this season.

"Those two guys play hard together, work extremely hard together," Mitchell said. "They're both getting better. They pull for one another. They're best of friends. I love my combination of our two young centers. We got 31 points and 18 rebounds out of both of them. If we can do that consistently, we'll be OK."

http://www.startribune.com/wolves-notes-bjeleica-returns-from-knee-injury-after-four-games/358497831/

[Monster]

I mentioned this in the game thread from yesterday, but Dieng was slow to contest on two consecutive jumpers - the first by Griffin and the second by Paul - that were absolute daggers against us late in the game.

Having said that, Towns was in the game on those plays too, so this wasn't even a Towns vs. Dieng issue. It was just a Dieng issue in terms of his ability to get out and contest perimeter shots.

I think Dieng has definitely played better of late and I don't have a problem with Smitch giving him some more rope. But that rope may have been a bit too long yesterday. I would have preferred KG out there for the final few minutes for his defense.

Dieng (and probably Towns) on Blake seemed like a lot to ask because Griffin is so mobile. Sam may have thought KG and Belly didn't have a lot left in the tank and also felt Dieng gave him more than Payne. What's ridiculous about some of the lineups Sam can throw out there is Wiggins is the worst FT shooter and you have Towns Dieng Martin and Lavine are guys all above 85% from the line and plenty of other guys have shot well there with only KG Prince and Belly struggling. Crazy. Good luck beating the Wolves at the end of a game fouling them and putting them in the line. I really like that Bazz seems to have an improved stroke because that's going to always be a big part of his game and he needs to convert there.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

One of the things J-Pete mentioned is how the ball tends to stick in KAT's hands at times. He can be indecisive and it stops the flow of the offense, which is understandable given his inexperience. I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

As long as this team is hanging around the .400 to .500 range in terms of record, I really can't complain too much. We can certainly question Sam's piece-part moves, but they are exceeding expectations in the overall scheme of things (at least in my opinion).

It's even stickier in Gorgui's hands. Neither one of them have been great this year at moving the ball, though both are known to be good passers. Dieng has an AST% of 5.5 this year while Towns is at 5.8%. There's really no logical excuse for Sam to be going with G over KAT to end games. He's just being himself, same clueless Sam.