Minnesota Sports Forum

60WinTim wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:22 am

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 8:26 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 7:40 am

Yeah, that's where I'm at.

Rudy is about the 50th highest paid player in the NBA this season, with the likes of DeAndre Ayton, Brandon Ingram, and Michael Porter Jr. making more than him. He's now on a different contract than when he first came to Minnesota and his value should be measured accordingly. And I think he's a solid value and it reflects a mild regression of his skills given his age.

The issue is that his current value to the team far exceeds what it should be because of the roster construction and awful team defense being played around him. I'd love to see him play 26-28 MPG as a defensive tone setter to start halves, but then give Finch a ton of optionality to go away from him if the matchups and situation calls for it.

If Finch can't fix it soon, then the job falls squarely on Connelly since he's the one that put this roster together and didn't address any of these imbalances during the offseason.

Not only did Connelly not address the problem... he used up a lot more money to keep the problem intact.

Naz Reid is as much of a 3 on the court as he is a 5 at this point. And Randle isn't tall enough to defend centers. It's a glaring problem that the Wolves knew about and leaned into instead of trying to solve.

The Wolves last two wins were partly because they went to a zone defense late. That's fine, and it's needed at times during a season. But it's a stopgap measure, which will only work vs. certain teams, and only certain nights vs. those teams.

It's not really something they can point to and count on consistently. I don't have any answers... but the defense has been abysmal so far this season. The Wolves will figure things out enough to stack some wins, but I don't see how they can be seen as a legitimate championship contender (or even deep playoff team) with the glaring holes on the roster right now (defense w/o Rudy and the PG spot.)

The potential answer is playing down in Iowa tonight. Just sayin'...

I will not deny the Wolves have a weakness that could or should be addressed. I complained about the NAZ/Randle combo many times last year and wasn't thrilled with the prospect of doing it again this year. Although I love the foresight TC used in the draft. But I think we are overreacting just a bit. NAZ seems to have taken a dip from his normally putrid defense, but we can give him some time to come back to the mean given his sister's death. ANT missed 5 of those games, and was not helpful in his first game back. There is the defensive adjustment required with not having NAW (even though NAW's minutes were limited). But the biggest factor, IMO, is the schedule. 5 of the first 8 games have been against top-6 teams in each conference, 3 of which were against teams currently holding home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, skewing our offensive and defensive numbers for the worse. All those factors have fueled our current perceived crisis.

To the rescue! The next 4 games are against non-playoff teams. I suspect we will have a "return to the mean" feeling about this team after those 4 games, heading into a re-match with Denver.

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:35 am

60WinTim wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:22 am

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 8:26 am

Not only did Connelly not address the problem... he used up a lot more money to keep the problem intact.

Naz Reid is as much of a 3 on the court as he is a 5 at this point. And Randle isn't tall enough to defend centers. It's a glaring problem that the Wolves knew about and leaned into instead of trying to solve.

The Wolves last two wins were partly because they went to a zone defense late. That's fine, and it's needed at times during a season. But it's a stopgap measure, which will only work vs. certain teams, and only certain nights vs. those teams.

It's not really something they can point to and count on consistently. I don't have any answers... but the defense has been abysmal so far this season. The Wolves will figure things out enough to stack some wins, but I don't see how they can be seen as a legitimate championship contender (or even deep playoff team) with the glaring holes on the roster right now (defense w/o Rudy and the PG spot.)

The potential answer is playing down in Iowa tonight. Just sayin'...

I will not deny the Wolves have a weakness that could or should be addressed. I complained about the NAZ/Randle combo many times last year and wasn't thrilled with the prospect of doing it again this year. Although I love the foresight TC used in the draft. But I think we are overreacting just a bit. NAZ seems to have taken a dip from his normally putrid defense, but we can give him some time to come back to the mean given his sister's death. ANT missed 5 of those games, and was not helpful in his first game back. There is the defensive adjustment required with not having NAW (even though NAW's minutes were limited). But the biggest factor, IMO, is the schedule. 5 of the first 8 games have been against top-6 teams in each conference, 3 of which were against teams currently holding home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, skewing our offensive and defensive numbers for the worse. All those factors have fueled our current perceived crisis.

To the rescue! The next 4 games are against non-playoff teams. I suspect we will have a "return to the mean" feeling about this team after those 4 games, heading into a re-match with Denver.

Ant has been missing, Naz has gotten worse, and Ju's defense hasn't been very good either. Chris Hine described Ju's offensive style as "labor intensive", and said with him taking on so much of the offensive load, it might be impacting his defense.

Another early development in net rating involving our starting lineup: the lineup with DiVo and Ant in the backcourt is a -10.8 on the season. The lineup with DiVo and Mike is a +21.7! Too small a sample size to make any conclusions, but the stats and eye test tell me Mike is less effective coming off the bench. The starting lineup I would like to see (with Ant and Mike starting in the backcourt) hasn't happened yet this season. Even odder, Mike and Ant have not been on the court together once this season according to the 2-man lineups at nba.com!

60WinTim wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:22 am

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 8:26 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 7:40 am

Yeah, that's where I'm at.

Rudy is about the 50th highest paid player in the NBA this season, with the likes of DeAndre Ayton, Brandon Ingram, and Michael Porter Jr. making more than him. He's now on a different contract than when he first came to Minnesota and his value should be measured accordingly. And I think he's a solid value and it reflects a mild regression of his skills given his age.

The issue is that his current value to the team far exceeds what it should be because of the roster construction and awful team defense being played around him. I'd love to see him play 26-28 MPG as a defensive tone setter to start halves, but then give Finch a ton of optionality to go away from him if the matchups and situation calls for it.

If Finch can't fix it soon, then the job falls squarely on Connelly since he's the one that put this roster together and didn't address any of these imbalances during the offseason.

Not only did Connelly not address the problem... he used up a lot more money to keep the problem intact.

Naz Reid is as much of a 3 on the court as he is a 5 at this point. And Randle isn't tall enough to defend centers. It's a glaring problem that the Wolves knew about and leaned into instead of trying to solve.

The Wolves last two wins were partly because they went to a zone defense late. That's fine, and it's needed at times during a season. But it's a stopgap measure, which will only work vs. certain teams, and only certain nights vs. those teams.

It's not really something they can point to and count on consistently. I don't have any answers... but the defense has been abysmal so far this season. The Wolves will figure things out enough to stack some wins, but I don't see how they can be seen as a legitimate championship contender (or even deep playoff team) with the glaring holes on the roster right now (defense w/o Rudy and the PG spot.)

The potential answer is playing down in Iowa tonight. Just sayin'...

I will not deny the Wolves have a weakness that could or should be addressed. I complained about the NAZ/Randle combo many times last year and wasn't thrilled with the prospect of doing it again this year. Although I love the foresight TC used in the draft. But I think we are overreacting just a bit. NAZ seems to have taken a dip from his normally putrid defense, but we can give him some time to come back to the mean given his sister's death. ANT missed 5 of those games, and was not helpful in his first game back. There is the defensive adjustment required with not having NAW (even though NAW's minutes were limited). But the biggest factor, IMO, is the schedule. 5 of the first 8 games have been against top-6 teams in each conference, 3 of which were against teams currently holding home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, skewing our offensive and defensive numbers for the worse. All those factors have fueled our current perceived crisis.

To the rescue! The next 4 games are against non-playoff teams. I suspect we will have a "return to the mean" feeling about this team after those 4 games, heading into a re-match with Denver.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:44 am

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:35 am

60WinTim wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:22 am

The potential answer is playing down in Iowa tonight. Just sayin'...

I will not deny the Wolves have a weakness that could or should be addressed. I complained about the NAZ/Randle combo many times last year and wasn't thrilled with the prospect of doing it again this year. Although I love the foresight TC used in the draft. But I think we are overreacting just a bit. NAZ seems to have taken a dip from his normally putrid defense, but we can give him some time to come back to the mean given his sister's death. ANT missed 5 of those games, and was not helpful in his first game back. There is the defensive adjustment required with not having NAW (even though NAW's minutes were limited). But the biggest factor, IMO, is the schedule. 5 of the first 8 games have been against top-6 teams in each conference, 3 of which were against teams currently holding home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, skewing our offensive and defensive numbers for the worse. All those factors have fueled our current perceived crisis.

To the rescue! The next 4 games are against non-playoff teams. I suspect we will have a "return to the mean" feeling about this team after those 4 games, heading into a re-match with Denver.

Ant has been missing, Naz has gotten worse, and Ju's defense hasn't been very good either. Chris Hine described Ju's offensive style as "labor intensive", and said with him taking on so much of the offensive load, it might be impacting his defense.

Another early development in net rating involving our starting lineup: the lineup with DiVo and Ant in the backcourt is a -10.8 on the season. The lineup with DiVo and Mike is a +21.7! Too small a sample size to make any conclusions, but the stats and eye test tell me Mike is less effective coming off the bench. The starting lineup I would like to see (with Ant and Mike starting in the backcourt) hasn't happened yet this season. Even odder, Mike and Ant have not been on the court together once this season according to the 2-man lineups at nba.com!

Our start didn't hurt us in the Lakers and New York loss with Ant in the lineup. It was how played in the 2nd half of those games. When Ant was hurt our first halves weren't good and our 2nd halves were better. Mike can't and shouldn't play more than 20 minutes a night, and it's easier to do that with him coming off the bench. He can still play minutes with Ant just not to start the game.

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:51 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:44 am

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:35 am

Ant has been missing, Naz has gotten worse, and Ju's defense hasn't been very good either. Chris Hine described Ju's offensive style as "labor intensive", and said with him taking on so much of the offensive load, it might be impacting his defense.

Another early development in net rating involving our starting lineup: the lineup with DiVo and Ant in the backcourt is a -10.8 on the season. The lineup with DiVo and Mike is a +21.7! Too small a sample size to make any conclusions, but the stats and eye test tell me Mike is less effective coming off the bench. The starting lineup I would like to see (with Ant and Mike starting in the backcourt) hasn't happened yet this season. Even odder, Mike and Ant have not been on the court together once this season according to the 2-man lineups at nba.com!

Our start didn't hurt us in the Lakers and New York loss with Ant in the lineup. It was how played in the 2nd half of those games. When Ant was hurt our first halves weren't good and our 2nd halves were better. Mike can't and shouldn't play more than 20 minutes a night, and it's easier to do that with him coming off the bench. He can still play minutes with Ant just not to start the game.

True, the second half was the problem, not the first quarter. I just find it odd that Mike has played 170 minutes this season, and not 1 minute with Ant. That has to be intentional by Finchy, and must mean he is most comfortable with Ant being the PG. I don't agree, and think we might see some Ant/Mike minutes tonight.

60WinTim wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 10:22 am

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 8:26 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Nov 07, 2025 7:40 am

Yeah, that's where I'm at.

Rudy is about the 50th highest paid player in the NBA this season, with the likes of DeAndre Ayton, Brandon Ingram, and Michael Porter Jr. making more than him. He's now on a different contract than when he first came to Minnesota and his value should be measured accordingly. And I think he's a solid value and it reflects a mild regression of his skills given his age.

The issue is that his current value to the team far exceeds what it should be because of the roster construction and awful team defense being played around him. I'd love to see him play 26-28 MPG as a defensive tone setter to start halves, but then give Finch a ton of optionality to go away from him if the matchups and situation calls for it.

If Finch can't fix it soon, then the job falls squarely on Connelly since he's the one that put this roster together and didn't address any of these imbalances during the offseason.

Not only did Connelly not address the problem... he used up a lot more money to keep the problem intact.

Naz Reid is as much of a 3 on the court as he is a 5 at this point. And Randle isn't tall enough to defend centers. It's a glaring problem that the Wolves knew about and leaned into instead of trying to solve.

The Wolves last two wins were partly because they went to a zone defense late. That's fine, and it's needed at times during a season. But it's a stopgap measure, which will only work vs. certain teams, and only certain nights vs. those teams.

It's not really something they can point to and count on consistently. I don't have any answers... but the defense has been abysmal so far this season. The Wolves will figure things out enough to stack some wins, but I don't see how they can be seen as a legitimate championship contender (or even deep playoff team) with the glaring holes on the roster right now (defense w/o Rudy and the PG spot.)

The potential answer is playing down in Iowa tonight. Just sayin'...

I will not deny the Wolves have a weakness that could or should be addressed. I complained about the NAZ/Randle combo many times last year and wasn't thrilled with the prospect of doing it again this year. Although I love the foresight TC used in the draft. But I think we are overreacting just a bit. NAZ seems to have taken a dip from his normally putrid defense, but we can give him some time to come back to the mean given his sister's death. ANT missed 5 of those games, and was not helpful in his first game back. There is the defensive adjustment required with not having NAW (even though NAW's minutes were limited). But the biggest factor, IMO, is the schedule. 5 of the first 8 games have been against top-6 teams in each conference, 3 of which were against teams currently holding home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, skewing our offensive and defensive numbers for the worse. All those factors have fueled our current perceived crisis.

To the rescue! The next 4 games are against non-playoff teams. I suspect we will have a "return to the mean" feeling about this team after those 4 games, heading into a re-match with Denver.