Grizz at Wolves, Redux GDT

[Leado01]

Amen, whoever said he looks high has never been high.

Guys, Karl-Anthony Towns, Malik Beasley, and Ricky Rubio have played like absolute shit tonight and here you are running your keyboard fingers talking about D'Angelo Russell, who has played a fine -- not spectacular -- game overall. This is absolute lunacy. This is exactly what I'm talking about. It's exhausting and this board is usually smarter than this.

[FNG]

I'm out of town, so didn't see the game, so I appreciate this thread. We should not be losing to a fringe team like Memphis so decisively, so it's important to get to the reasons why this game was so bad. Coaching? Subpar performance by our stars? Rotation experimentation? Maybe a little of all? I don't know, but I'm certainly not happy about the result tonight, and looking for some insights.

RJH had a terrific line score. Is it strictly garbage time stuff, or is he a legitimate candidate for the starting PF role? I note that starting PF Layman only had 3 rebounds and was a -10 in 23 minutes. Might RJH or Juancho (who also appears to have had a solid game) be better options as starting PF? ( I fully admit I'm biased here, because I just don't see Sunshine as a viable PF option because of his size).

I'm glad to hear the positive comments about Edwards because I love his potential, but his box score is frankly not very good- 1-7 on three pointers and 5 turnovers for starters. Please elaborate on what made his game tonight so positive.

I've read through this thread and acknowledge the differences in opinion on Russell. I myself recognize his talent, but overall am a detractor...the career numbers don't lie. But his line tonight doesn't look too bad, and I note that even though he is a notorious underperformer in plus/minus, he had the best number tonight among the starters (I admit this is a low bar, because KAT and Beasley were terrible tonight, and I'm on record as saying Layman and Okogie are not legitimate NBA starters). But let's give credit where credit is due. D-Lo has his deficiencies for sure, but tonight he was clearly our most effective starter. My question is- how did he look matched up against Morant?

Rubio had a poor game- a minus 16 with only 4 assists against 3 TO's is not what we have grown to expect from Ricky. What's going on? Adapting to a role of the bench? Lost a step and not the player he was last year? Or just the 2nd preseason game and we should all relax. What did you guys see?

I see a lot of positive comments about Edwards on this thread, and I'm quite high on him. But his line score is not very good. 1-7 on threes and 5 turnovers is not gong to cut it for a starting NBA SF. How was his shot selection? Was he 1-7 because of poor decisions, poor mechanics, or just poor luck? How was his defense tonight? Help a guy out here who is out if FS North range!

I see that his box score is horrible, but what was KAT's demeanor on the court, My god, 3-12 for the field and 5 TO's is dreadful, but I might feel a little more positive if he at least looked engaged on the court and it was just a bad night, Did his defense at all compensate for his horrible offensive performance, or was this just an all-around terrible night for KAT? We all know this is a 25-win team at best if KAY is disengaged. Has there been any sign from him in the first 2 games that he is emotionally strong enough to earn his $30 million?

Thanks guys. I'm not able to watch the games and feeling confused and down about this second game. I appreciate any answers to my questions.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I like RHJ's energy. Seriously, the Wolves players I like the least these past two games are KAT and DLO. Well, I should add H-Gomez to the list. Beasley hasn't played well, but i like his attack mentality and energy. The guys I like the most are Nowell and Culver. Tonight, I'm also liking Edwards and RHJ.

Well... the rub is that Hollis-Jefferson and Nowell have something to play for... their jobs.

The max contract guys got paid. They have their spots. The mid-tier guys just got paid and/or drafted. They have their spots.





[Note: The Grizzlies didn't play like they're going through the motions.]

[Monster]

I'm out of town, so didn't see the game, so I appreciate this thread. We should not be losing to a fringe team like Memphis so decisively, so it's important to get to the reasons why this game was so bad. Coaching? Subpar performance by our stars? Rotation experimentation? Maybe a little of all? I don't know, but I'm certainly not happy about the result tonight, and looking for some insights.

RJH had a terrific line score. Is it strictly garbage time stuff, or is he a legitimate candidate for the starting PF role? I note that starting PF Layman only had 3 rebounds and was a -10 in 23 minutes. Might RJH or Juancho (who also appears to have had a solid game) be better options as starting PF? ( I fully admit I'm biased here, because I just don't see Sunshine as a viable PF option because of his size).

I'm glad to hear the positive comments about Edwards because I love his potential, but his box score is frankly not very good- 1-7 on three pointers and 5 turnovers for starters. Please elaborate on what made his game tonight so positive.

I've read through this thread and acknowledge the differences in opinion on Russell. I myself recognize his talent, but overall am a detractor...the career numbers don't lie. But his line tonight doesn't look too bad, and I note that even though he is a notorious underperformer in plus/minus, he had the best number tonight among the starters (I admit this is a low bar, because KAT and Beasley were terrible tonight, and I'm on record as saying Layman and Okogie are not legitimate NBA starters). But let's give credit where credit is due. D-Lo has his deficiencies for sure, but tonight he was clearly our most effective starter. My question is- how did he look matched up against Morant?

Rubio had a poor game- a minus 16 with only 4 assists against 3 TO's is not what we have grown to expect from Ricky. What's going on? Adapting to a role of the bench? Lost a step and not the player he was last year? Or just the 2nd preseason game and we should all relax. What did you guys see?

I see a lot of positive comments about Edwards on this thread, and I'm quite high on him. But his line score is not very good. 1-7 on threes and 5 turnovers is not gong to cut it for a starting NBA SF. How was his shot selection? Was he 1-7 because of poor decisions, poor mechanics, or just poor luck? How was his defense tonight? Help a guy out here who is out if FS North range!

I see that his box score is horrible, but what was KAT's demeanor on the court, My god, 3-12 for the field and 5 TO's is dreadful, but I might feel a little more positive if he at least looked engaged on the court and it was just a bad night, Did his defense at all compensate for his horrible offensive performance, or was this just an all-around terrible night for KAT? We all know this is a 25-win team at best if KAY is disengaged. Has there been any sign from him in the first 2 games that he is emotionally strong enough to earn his $30 million?

Thanks guys. I'm not able to watch the games and feeling confused and down about this second game. I appreciate any answers to my questions.

RHJ played some of his minutes guarding Jonus V so in that case it wasn't garbage time. He came in and started his run of good play when Memphis was still playing rotation guys.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

Amen, whoever said he looks high has never been high.

Guys, Karl-Anthony Towns, Malik Beasley, and Ricky Rubio have played like absolute shit tonight and here you are running your keyboard fingers talking about D'Angelo Russell, who has played a fine -- not spectacular -- game overall. This is absolute lunacy. This is exactly what I'm talking about. It's exhausting and this board is usually smarter than this.

Did you hear that they quit testing this year? I'm sure there's plenty of guys taking advantage of that:)

[FNG]

I would love to see culver and Rondae starting the next game over okogie and layman. I think that would improve the starting lineup instantly.

Yep, there's no question in my mind that Sunshine and Josh are role players at best...I hope that Ryan is just giving them a chance to see what they can do (or what they can bring back in trade value), because all of us here know neither is NBA starting caliber.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

I would love to see culver and Rondae starting the next game over okogie and layman. I think that would improve the starting lineup instantly.

Yep, there's no question in my mind that Sunshine and Josh are role players at best...I hope that Ryan is just giving them a chance to see what they can do (or what they can bring back in trade value), because all of us here know neither is NBA starting caliber.

Totally agree. Culver and rhj have looked really good (good point that rhj is/was playing for a job though). I'd like to see dlo, culver, edwards, rhj, towns as the starters.

[worldK]

RHJ can play. He is one of those guys that will always be overlooked because he cant shoot and doesn't have ideal size. But he can play and make a positive impact. Not a starting caliber/
big minutes guy but can be an effective contributing 20-24min guy. He is also our best option at the 4'over layman and juancho.

[TheFuture]

Edwards overthinking. Like the bounce in energy with him and McDaniels out there together.

Very rare case of wanting a player to be more selfish and just take the shot they have in front of them.

Yeah he needs more Bazz. Haha

Oh god, he could be exciting on very rare occasions, but it was like he was programmed to lock onto the basket whenever the ball touched his hands. Usually, it was the wrong decision. Worst AI design ever.

[TheFuture]

Is it too early to fire Rosas?

Yeah, Taylor is too cheap to bite another contract, especially when considering selling.