Minnesota Sports Forum

Why did Bennett only play 4 minutes last night? Anyone know?

bleedspeed177 wrote:Why did Bennett only play 4 minutes last night? Anyone know?

Read that he was benched by Saunders. I don't know the specifics.

That's the dangerous thing with this Wolves squad. Losing can grow and grow into a groundswell of apathy and losing that takes over an organizations' entire culture. Now, while it could be argued that the Wolves basketball operations already has that losing culture embedded... it was a fresh start with Saunders and Wiggins.

With the veterans out injured, however, the young kids are learning some bad habits. Robson pointed out effort inconsistencies from the vets after the Pelicans massacre. Then, he pointed out Thad Young's indifference the other night. There's no leadership right now. Bad habits are being learned. A stench of failure is setting in.

Is there anybody capable of stemming the tide on the roster?

- Pek. No. He's part of the problem.
- Martin. No. He is the problem.
- Mo Williams. No. He's more NBA mercenary for hire than building block or role model.
- Brewer. Maybe. But he's just not consistent enough. And I don't think he commands respect. Besides, he might be out the door pretty soon.
- Thad Young. No. We're finding out quickly. There's a reason he's about to play for back-to-back 60+ loss teams.
- Rubio. The only hope, by default. But he's still trying to find his own place in this league. To put him as the on-court/off-court leader without actually proving much on the court may be unfair for him... and the youngsters.

bleedspeed177 wrote:Why did Bennett only play 4 minutes last night? Anyone know?

I was assuming it was his knee again, but after reading a couple tweets this morning, apparently Flip was upset with him and wanted to send a message. I was watching his four minutes, although admittedly not focusing on him, and didn't see any glaring mistakes. But Flip did. With all of our young guys, I'm comfortable with Flip having these teaching moments. Unlike Adelman at the end of his career, I think Flip can bench a guy without hurting his confidence or alienating him, so I hope he keeps doing it. I hope I'm right. I would have liked to have seen AB in there last night, but if Flip's teaching ultimately makes Bennett better, I'm all for it.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:

Master Summoner wrote:

Camden0916 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:Well. time to go watch future Wolf Okafor on ESPN.

Towns* :)

Seconded, I'm hoping for Towns all the way. I don't see nearly the player in Okafor that I see in Towns.

You'd think the board would be all for Towns over Okafor after watching our defense this year. Okafor's majorly suspect on that end of the floor, and offensively he's limited. He's a low post animal, but limited nonetheless. Towns is going to be a defensive anchor as well as being able to kill in the P&R/P&P, off reb and potentially spot ups (ala K-Love). Still developing as a post presence, imo, but the tools are there (especially touch and intelligence).

Both are great kids and winners, but I'm taking Towns over Okafor 10 times out of 10. Marc Gasol or Al Jefferson?

I agree with you guys that Towns seems to have the higher upside over Okafor. I was merely saying that I was changing the channel to watch Okafor, who was the only one of the top 3 that was on last night.

I haven't seen Towns yet. But I've been very impressed with Okafor.

This Towns guy must be dominating because it seems like Okafor is toying with the competition as an 18 year old.

Okafor is toying with collegiate competition but that's just it. I don't see him being nearly the force in the NBA, as there will be centers nightly who can body him up and push him off his spots. I don't think he'll even be as good as Big Al. Towns has so much more versatility. Inside, outside, passing, defense, and more athleticism than oka for. Towns looks to be the complete package. I do wish he had gone somewhere other than Kentucky so we could see a lot more minutes of him and to see him be the unparalleled star/ leader of a team. If you haven't watched him yet you really should make an attempt to soon.

TheFuture wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:

Master Summoner wrote:

Camden0916 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:Well. time to go watch future Wolf Okafor on ESPN.

Towns* :)

Seconded, I'm hoping for Towns all the way. I don't see nearly the player in Okafor that I see in Towns.

You'd think the board would be all for Towns over Okafor after watching our defense this year. Okafor's majorly suspect on that end of the floor, and offensively he's limited. He's a low post animal, but limited nonetheless. Towns is going to be a defensive anchor as well as being able to kill in the P&R/P&P, off reb and potentially spot ups (ala K-Love). Still developing as a post presence, imo, but the tools are there (especially touch and intelligence).

Both are great kids and winners, but I'm taking Towns over Okafor 10 times out of 10. Marc Gasol or Al Jefferson?

I agree with you guys that Towns seems to have the higher upside over Okafor. I was merely saying that I was changing the channel to watch Okafor, who was the only one of the top 3 that was on last night.

I haven't seen Towns yet. But I've been very impressed with Okafor.

This Towns guy must be dominating because it seems like Okafor is toying with the competition as an 18 year old.

Okafor is toying with collegiate competition but that's just it. I don't see him being nearly the force in the NBA, as there will be centers nightly who can body him up and push him off his spots. I don't think he'll even be as good as Big Al. Towns has so much more versatility. Inside, outside, passing, defense, and more athleticism than oka for. Towns looks to be the complete package. I do wish he had gone somewhere other than Kentucky so we could see a lot more minutes of him and to see him be the unparalleled star/ leader of a team. If you haven't watched him yet you really should make an attempt to soon.

I'll check out Towns when I get a chance.

But some things translate... some don't. I haven't seen anything from Okafor that indicates it wouldn't translate to the pros. Remember, we're also in an era with a dearth of top-notch centers. A lot of teams don't have guys to keep bigs off the blocks. Especially guys that big, strong and skilled.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

TheFuture wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:

Master Summoner wrote:

Camden0916 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:Well. time to go watch future Wolf Okafor on ESPN.

Towns* :)

Seconded, I'm hoping for Towns all the way. I don't see nearly the player in Okafor that I see in Towns.

You'd think the board would be all for Towns over Okafor after watching our defense this year. Okafor's majorly suspect on that end of the floor, and offensively he's limited. He's a low post animal, but limited nonetheless. Towns is going to be a defensive anchor as well as being able to kill in the P&R/P&P, off reb and potentially spot ups (ala K-Love). Still developing as a post presence, imo, but the tools are there (especially touch and intelligence).

Both are great kids and winners, but I'm taking Towns over Okafor 10 times out of 10. Marc Gasol or Al Jefferson?

I agree with you guys that Towns seems to have the higher upside over Okafor. I was merely saying that I was changing the channel to watch Okafor, who was the only one of the top 3 that was on last night.

I haven't seen Towns yet. But I've been very impressed with Okafor.

This Towns guy must be dominating because it seems like Okafor is toying with the competition as an 18 year old.

Okafor is toying with collegiate competition but that's just it. I don't see him being nearly the force in the NBA, as there will be centers nightly who can body him up and push him off his spots. I don't think he'll even be as good as Big Al. Towns has so much more versatility. Inside, outside, passing, defense, and more athleticism than oka for. Towns looks to be the complete package. I do wish he had gone somewhere other than Kentucky so we could see a lot more minutes of him and to see him be the unparalleled star/ leader of a team. If you haven't watched him yet you really should make an attempt to soon.

I'll check out Towns when I get a chance.

But some things translate... some don't. I haven't seen anything from Okafor that indicates it wouldn't translate to the pros. Remember, we're also in an era with a dearth of top-notch centers. A lot of teams don't have guys to keep bigs off the blocks. Especially guys that big, strong and skilled.

Okafor is big and strong, but he's mostly a below the rim player. He also doesn't seem to deny much at the rim, or have the athleticism to provide much in terms of help defense. Towns would fit much better here, especially if we're stuck with pek for the next 3 years.

My list is going 1a Towns, 1b Mudiay, 3 Okafor, 4 Stanley Johnson.

If I'm picking #1 I'm pulling my hair out over who to pick out of Towns and Mudiay when I look at our team needs.