Minnesota Sports Forum

Was Okogie available? Seems like the reason he is here is to play 5 min of sustained defense to turn the tide. Might have been the night to give him an opportunity.

D'Natagal wrote:Was Okogie available? Seems like the reason he is here is to play 5 min of sustained defense to turn the tide. Might have been the night to give him an opportunity.

I was thinking the same thing last night. One thing about our second unit rotation is that there is very little defense the way Finch has it set up now. McLaughlin, Nowell, Beasley, and Prince are not great at keeping guys in front of them. I realize Prince is a heady player overall, but he is a "meh" man on man defender.

Q-was-here wrote:

D'Natagal wrote:Was Okogie available? Seems like the reason he is here is to play 5 min of sustained defense to turn the tide. Might have been the night to give him an opportunity.

I was thinking the same thing last night. One thing about our second unit rotation is that there is very little defense the way Finch has it set up now. McLaughlin, Nowell, Beasley, and Prince are not great at keeping guys in front of them. I realize Prince is a heady player overall, but he is a "meh" man on man defender.

Yeah, you guys nailed it. On nights that PatBev isn't available, JO has to see the floor if he's healthy (and I think he is). He could have helped us tonight.

All in all a fairly entertaining game against a team that is really going to enjoy Jokic-light Sabonis, even at the expense of losing a very good player in Haliburton. DLo was brilliant on offense tonight (except for that short 4th quarter stretch you guys posted about), but I gotta believe Finchy isn't happy about him not getting back on defense a few times. Board trade target Barnes looked silky smooth on offense...beautiful 3-point stroke...he's really going to benefit playing next to Sabonis. But I agree with Q that he didn't show me much on defense tonight, and I usually think of him as a pretty decent defender.

But this loss tonight is on the bench. They've been excellent the past couple weeks, but just didn't show up tonight. Let's get PatBev back, find a way to upgrade from Naz with Harrell, and get the bench hot again, and we'll be fine.

Dane Moore highlights why we need PatBev healthy and in the starting lineup:

Wolves normal starting 5 has a net rating +28.0 when they've shared the floor (235 mins).

Wolves starting lineup tonight -- McDaniels in for Beverley -- has a net rating of -5.6 when they've shared the floor (127 mins).

FNG wrote:Dane Moore highlights why we need PatBev healthy and in the starting lineup:

Wolves normal starting 5 has a net rating +28.0 when they've shared the floor (235 mins).

Wolves starting lineup tonight -- McDaniels in for Beverley -- has a net rating of -5.6 when they've shared the floor (127 mins).

Maybe Beverley should be focusing on his health so he can play more often... instead of rehashing old beefs with Russell Westbrook on Twitter.

I

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:Dane Moore highlights why we need PatBev healthy and in the starting lineup:

Wolves normal starting 5 has a net rating +28.0 when they've shared the floor (235 mins).

Wolves starting lineup tonight -- McDaniels in for Beverley -- has a net rating of -5.6 when they've shared the floor (127 mins).

Maybe Beverley should be focusing on his health so he can play more often... instead of rehashing old beefs with Russell Westbrook on Twitter.

My ebonics is a little rusty, so I'm having some difficulty understanding this conflict.

I have to separate Pat the basketball player from Pat the man. Funny, he's been one of my favorite players when he played on other teams. But watching him a lot more this season, his immaturity and punk behavior are quite annoying. I wish he would grow up a little.

That said, he has been invaluable this season. Last night showed again why we need him out there with DLo.

FNG wrote:I

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:Dane Moore highlights why we need PatBev healthy and in the starting lineup:

Wolves normal starting 5 has a net rating +28.0 when they've shared the floor (235 mins).

Wolves starting lineup tonight -- McDaniels in for Beverley -- has a net rating of -5.6 when they've shared the floor (127 mins).

Maybe Beverley should be focusing on his health so he can play more often... instead of rehashing old beefs with Russell Westbrook on Twitter.

My ebonics is a little rusty, so I'm having some difficulty understanding this conflict.

I have to separate Pat the basketball player from Pat the man. Funny, he's been one of my favorite players when he played on other teams. But watching him a lot more this season, his immaturity and punk behavior are quite annoying. I wish he would grow up a little.

That said, he has been invaluable this season. Last night showed again why we need him out there with DLo.

Agree that his act probably gets a bit tired. I'm sure a lot of the league vets just largely ignore his antics at this point and aren't really phased by it on the court.

The real question is how does his style and leadership rub off behind the scenes with the rest of the Wolves. And if he is cajoling, motivating, and encouraging them in a way that works, then he's worth far more than what we're paying him. You need vet guys in the lockerroom that can do some of the coach's dirty work. Especially with multi-millionaire dollar egos. So is he Jimmy Butler or Udonis Haslem? So far it appears like he's more Haslem.

Not trying to get this discussion off course, but let's not act like Jimmy Butler is a bad/poor leader. That wouldn't be true.

Camden wrote:Not trying to get this discussion off course, but let's not act like Jimmy Butler is a bad/poor leader. That wouldn't be true.

Yet... the end of his tenure in MN was in extremely poor form even if it was great PR for himself.