Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:

Volans19 wrote:I wonder why we haven't seen Payne?

Payne was the only guy on our expended roster who saw no action tonight. It was a DNP Coach's Decision. I'd say it's crystal clear that Payne did something that put him in Sam's doghouse. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. This is the guy who rolled his eyes in disgust when Flip, the guy who rescued him fron NBA oblivion, substituted him out of a game. The term head case comes to mind.

I'm not sure that the DNP-CD was punitive...I think it's more likely that Sam is trying to determine what his forward rotation is going to be, and is going to feature certain guys in these pre-season games to see who emerges. Last night it was Rudez' turn, and I think he led the team in minutes playing both forward positions. I don't think that signals that Mitchell is high on Rudez, just that he is trying to assess whether he should keep him or not. I think he knows Payne will be on the final roster, bet he's not sure about Rudez. Now, it Payne doesn't play against Toronto, then we'll know something is up.

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

shahidi124 wrote:Are we leaving the corner 3 open by design? I swear, Bulls had at least 10 open 3s from there. There looked to be too much help in the paint at times by multiple guys when it wasn't needed which lead to the corner being wide open

You are absolutely correct that there is zero reason to sag off on perimeter players to double or help on post-ups. This is a perennial problem with this team and it demonstrates their lack of recognition that defending the 3-point shot is far more important than allowing a player like Gasol to operate in the post one-on-one. I'm fine with post guys taking contested jump hooks and turnarounds. Those are much less efficient shots than corner 3's.

The other thing this team needs to think about is the hard hedge/trap off ball screens. The goal is to ensure that there is no dribble drive penetration, but if the ball handler can get a pass off to the roll man, it's instantly a 4 on 3 situation.....which typically leads to an open 3 or dunk.

I concur with the thoughts of these posts.

Yep, shahidi and Q nailed it in describing the Wolves' continuing defensive woes. I've never seen an NBA team give up so many uncontested threes. NBA players will make an uncontested three, and the 50% bonus on the shot can really add up. Sam needs to make it a priority to guard the perimeter, otherwise we're in for a lot of games like last night. That first quarter was tough to watch.

longstrangetrip wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Volans19 wrote:I wonder why we haven't seen Payne?

Payne was the only guy on our expended roster who saw no action tonight. It was a DNP Coach's Decision. I'd say it's crystal clear that Payne did something that put him in Sam's doghouse. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. This is the guy who rolled his eyes in disgust when Flip, the guy who rescued him fron NBA oblivion, substituted him out of a game. The term head case comes to mind.

I'm not sure that the DNP-CD was punitive...I think it's more likely that Sam is trying to determine what his forward rotation is going to be, and is going to feature certain guys in these pre-season games to see who emerges. Last night it was Rudez' turn, and I think he led the team in minutes playing both forward positions. I don't think that signals that Mitchell is high on Rudez, just that he is trying to assess whether he should keep him or not. I think he knows Payne will be on the final roster, bet he's not sure about Rudez. Now, it Payne doesn't play against Toronto, then we'll know something is up.

Yep you can't play everyone in preseason and last night was some good matchup for Rudez playing as a PF because they were hanging out on the perimeter. Toronto has some of those guys too so Rudez may get some more minutes there. I couple see Payne getting minutes against Biyambo when he plays PF.

I think Payne's DNP is totally a doghouse situation. I think Payne pissed off Sam.

longstrangetrip wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Volans19 wrote:I wonder why we haven't seen Payne?

Payne was the only guy on our expended roster who saw no action tonight. It was a DNP Coach's Decision. I'd say it's crystal clear that Payne did something that put him in Sam's doghouse. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. This is the guy who rolled his eyes in disgust when Flip, the guy who rescued him fron NBA oblivion, substituted him out of a game. The term head case comes to mind.

I'm not sure that the DNP-CD was punitive...I think it's more likely that Sam is trying to determine what his forward rotation is going to be, and is going to feature certain guys in these pre-season games to see who emerges. Last night it was Rudez' turn, and I think he led the team in minutes playing both forward positions. I don't think that signals that Mitchell is high on Rudez, just that he is trying to assess whether he should keep him or not. I think he knows Payne will be on the final roster, bet he's not sure about Rudez. Now, it Payne doesn't play against Toronto, then we'll know something is up.

LST -- EVERYONE on the Wolves roster except Payne saw the floor last night. Eyes open, head up - it was a doghouse situation for Payne last night. I have no doubt Payne WILL play against Toronto. Typically a player messes up and he's held out one game not two unless he messes up again.

lipoli390 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Volans19 wrote:I wonder why we haven't seen Payne?

Payne was the only guy on our expended roster who saw no action tonight. It was a DNP Coach's Decision. I'd say it's crystal clear that Payne did something that put him in Sam's doghouse. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. This is the guy who rolled his eyes in disgust when Flip, the guy who rescued him fron NBA oblivion, substituted him out of a game. The term head case comes to mind.

I'm not sure that the DNP-CD was punitive...I think it's more likely that Sam is trying to determine what his forward rotation is going to be, and is going to feature certain guys in these pre-season games to see who emerges. Last night it was Rudez' turn, and I think he led the team in minutes playing both forward positions. I don't think that signals that Mitchell is high on Rudez, just that he is trying to assess whether he should keep him or not. I think he knows Payne will be on the final roster, bet he's not sure about Rudez. Now, it Payne doesn't play against Toronto, then we'll know something is up.

LST -- EVERYONE on the Wolves roster except Payne saw the floor last night. Eyes open, head up - it was a doghouse situation for Payne last night. I have no doubt Payne WILL play against Toronto. Typically a player messes up and he's held out one game not two unless he messes up again.

Could be, lip...Adreian just seems to me to be a Mitchell kind of player, 100% effort all the time. But maybe something happened in practice and last night was punitive. I definitely thought the quick hooks for Wiggins and Prince were punitive last night.

I watched the game this morning, and came away with some different observations. For those who might have been giving Zach a pass due to Butler's prowess, Butler and Wiggins were matched up on each other for the vast majority that they were both on the court, while Zach was matched up with Snell (no slouch).

Those ripping Wiggins (including Stacy King) might want to pay attention to Butler's box score. The max player fell prey to the same situation AW did. They basically cancelled each other out. Wiggins shadowed him defensively, and denied him the ball or just shut him down. I'll take that trade off for our ROY with one year of experience, any day.

I am hoping Zach is struggling because he is feeling added pressure with the higher expectations. More than willing to give him the rest of the preseason to get things turned around.

Towns is looking the like the real deal, but you can tell he needs a little time to get the game to slow down for him. I do think he is looking the part of a franchise guy offensively.

Tyus really impressed me in this game. He really looks like a Miller clone, in that he has a very good command mentally of the offense, but also we need help hiding defensively.

I was very disappointed in Brown, and can't see what he brings to the table other than size. He was guarding the perimeter in Flip style opening the gate for his man to drive uncontested, and really has no average/above average skill offensively. He is a big reason that Wiggins didn't show much offensively, as Brown was unable to get him the ball, whether it was on a fast break, or in the half court while WIggins was cutting to the basket. I am not sure of the turnovers, but there were several horrible passes target wise, not to mention he telegraphs almost all of them,

Love Stacy King and the "Winnipeg is only 100 miles from mpls" comment. Then a few minutes later coming back from a break the play by play guy was correcting him on the time zone and King lets fly with the effinheimer. Just Classic!

Agree with the comments on the sagging defense. What really sucks is they generally don't sag enough to help in the paint. It is just poor fundamental BB, and something that needs to be corrected before the season started. I think we need to be patient considering that most of these issues have been accepted for the last couple of seasons. It is going to take time to change habits. I always say that it is a lot easier to train a dog the first time. I am sure it is no different on the BB court.

@JerryZgoda: If you wondered why AP didn't play last nite, even w/ KG's 10 mins Sam says he won't/can't play all PFs every game. Says AP will play Monday

monsterpile wrote:@JerryZgoda: If you wondered why AP didn't play last nite, even w/ KG's 10 mins Sam says he won't/can't play all PFs every game. Says AP will play Monday

Good thing we have Lip to tell us when Sam lies his ass off... ;-)

60WinTim wrote:

monsterpile wrote:@JerryZgoda: If you wondered why AP didn't play last nite, even w/ KG's 10 mins Sam says he won't/can't play all PFs every game. Says AP will play Monday

Good thing we have Lip to tell us when Sam lies his ass off... ;-)

I wonder if he has fell behind Rudez on the PF depth chart. I was thinking he would be our 3rd PF and Center this year. (3rd if Pek is not healthy)