Minnesota Sports Forum

Q12543 wrote:KAT at career highs in all of the big shooting categories:

2 pt% - 59%
3 pt% - 43%
FT% - 84%
TS% - 65% (this is absolutely sick - Steph Curry/Kevin Durant territory).

Get this man more touches!

Amen. He needs more opportunities, especially in the post.

4th highest frequency of shots within 6 ft. Worst opponent FG% at this range. A major component our league 3rd worst opponent eFG% is yet again from easy baskets inside. Our interior D sucks yet again.

thedoper wrote:4th highest frequency of shots within 6 ft. Worst opponent FG% at this range. A major component our league 3rd worst opponent eFG% is yet again from easy baskets inside. Our interior D sucks yet again.

KAT has taken a step back on defense since that mid-season stint where he looked really good. And Dieng has been horrible. Still, you need your perimeter guys to fight over screens and recover. That doesn't always happen either.

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:4th highest frequency of shots within 6 ft. Worst opponent FG% at this range. A major component our league 3rd worst opponent eFG% is yet again from easy baskets inside. Our interior D sucks yet again.

KAT has taken a step back on defense since that mid-season stint where he looked really good. And Dieng has been horrible. Still, you need your perimeter guys to fight over screens and recover. That doesn't always happen either.

Jim Pete repeatedly points to the failure of our perimeter defenders to keep guys in front of them as a big part of the problem with our interior defense. It's a combination. But it's really hard to stop today's NBA wings and guards once they've penetrated into the paint.

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:4th highest frequency of shots within 6 ft. Worst opponent FG% at this range. A major component our league 3rd worst opponent eFG% is yet again from easy baskets inside. Our interior D sucks yet again.

KAT has taken a step back on defense since that mid-season stint where he looked really good. And Dieng has been horrible. Still, you need your perimeter guys to fight over screens and recover. That doesn't always happen either.

Jim Pete repeatedly points to the failure of our perimeter defenders to keep guys in front of them as a big part of the problem with our interior defense. It's a combination. But it's really hard to stop today's NBA wings and guards once they've penetrated into the paint.

Every team gets penetration in the NBA. The great defensive teams have bigs that rotate and elite atheletes are met with resistance. We have one that physically can't in Gorgui, and one that can when he feels like it in KAT. Yes it's a combination and it becomes very challenging when Jamal is out there, but our bigs have been pathetic on D.

thedoper wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:4th highest frequency of shots within 6 ft. Worst opponent FG% at this range. A major component our league 3rd worst opponent eFG% is yet again from easy baskets inside. Our interior D sucks yet again.

KAT has taken a step back on defense since that mid-season stint where he looked really good. And Dieng has been horrible. Still, you need your perimeter guys to fight over screens and recover. That doesn't always happen either.

Jim Pete repeatedly points to the failure of our perimeter defenders to keep guys in front of them as a big part of the problem with our interior defense. It's a combination. But it's really hard to stop today's NBA wings and guards once they've penetrated into the paint.

Every team gets penetration in the NBA. The great defensive teams have bigs that rotate and elite atheletes are met with resistance. We have one that physically can't in Gorgui, and one that can when he feels like it in KAT. Yes it's a combination and it becomes very challenging when Jamal is out there, but our bigs have been pathetic on D.

I tend to give a lot of weight to what Jim Pete says on this topic since he's actually played as a big in the NBA. Statistically, KAT has our best defensive rating - better than Taj and even better than Butler. Other than Butler, the defensive ratings of our guards and wings are downright pathetic. Boston doesn't have great defensive bigs, but every rotation player on that team has a high defensive rating. The point is that it's a combination. It's fashionable to single out our bigs, but it's really hard to know how much of their defensive struggles are tied to the poor defense of our perimeter players. The reverse is also true. The bottom line is that the Wolves are still a bad defensive team compared to the other top teams in the League. It's a team thing - either bad coaching or a collection of bad defensive players.

Lip, It sounds like you got that defensive rating number from Basketball Reference. Let me remind folks that the Ortg and Drtg on the basketball reference Per 100 Possession page is NOT the same as defensive rating and offensive rating used in almost any other context. In this case, it incorporates box score stats as a big factor. KAT's rebounding and blocks help bolster his defensive rating. Not that those are unimportant things to do, but when you think of all the nuances of defense, box score related stats only capture a small portion of what makes a good defender.

I combine eye test, NBA player defensive rating (which is how many points per 100 possessions the team allows when said player is on the court), box score stats, and defensive RPM from ESPN. No single data point is valid in isolation, but you can paint a pretty good picture when you combine all of the above.

While there have been improvements, both KAT and Wiggins still aren't where they need to be defensively. KAT's issues have a bigger impact on the team because of the position he plays.

lipoli390 wrote:

thedoper wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:4th highest frequency of shots within 6 ft. Worst opponent FG% at this range. A major component our league 3rd worst opponent eFG% is yet again from easy baskets inside. Our interior D sucks yet again.

KAT has taken a step back on defense since that mid-season stint where he looked really good. And Dieng has been horrible. Still, you need your perimeter guys to fight over screens and recover. That doesn't always happen either.

Jim Pete repeatedly points to the failure of our perimeter defenders to keep guys in front of them as a big part of the problem with our interior defense. It's a combination. But it's really hard to stop today's NBA wings and guards once they've penetrated into the paint.

Every team gets penetration in the NBA. The great defensive teams have bigs that rotate and elite atheletes are met with resistance. We have one that physically can't in Gorgui, and one that can when he feels like it in KAT. Yes it's a combination and it becomes very challenging when Jamal is out there, but our bigs have been pathetic on D.

I tend to give a lot of weight to what Jim Pete says on this topic since he's actually played as a big in the NBA. Statistically, KAT has our best defensive rating - better than Taj and even better than Butler. Other than Butler, the defensive ratings of our guards and wings are downright pathetic. Boston doesn't have great defensive bigs, but every rotation player on that team has a high defensive rating. The point is that it's a combination. It's fashionable to single out our bigs, but it's really hard to know how much of their defensive struggles are tied to the poor defense of our perimeter players. The reverse is also true. The bottom line is that the Wolves are still a bad defensive team compared to the other top teams in the League. It's a team thing - either bad coaching or a collection of bad defensive players.

I agree with you and Jim Pete that every layer of our D can improve. Jamal is easily the worst defender I have ever seen on the wing. But we still have the league worst d inside 6 feet. I have become closer to Steve Kerr that opponent fg%, turnovers, and assists are the main team stats to look at. Drtg on Basketball reference has never reflected much in my mind. KAT has been back to awful on D since he found out he's an all star. There is no way around it based on our results.

Centers score a league worst 17.2 pts, at a 4th worst 56%, and grab a 4th worst 10.6 rebounds against us. We are pathetic inside, no way around it. Both G and Towns routinely leave their man and don't have the skill to rotate back to cover the basket. Each get beat regularly 1 on one as well. Couple this with our league worst D from inside 5 feet and there is an obvious problem here.

thedoper wrote:Centers score a league worst 17.2 pts, at a 4th worst 56%, and grab a 4th worst 10.6 rebounds against us. We are pathetic inside, no way around it. Both G and Towns routinely leave their man and don't have the skill to rotate back to cover the basket. Each get beat regularly 1 on one as well. Couple this with our league worst D from inside 5 feet and there is an obvious problem here.

Some of your points here reminds me of last week in a 2 part feature in the Athletic Britt Robison sat down with Jim Peterson. One of the things they talked about was how some guys don't guard space well. They both said that's one of Belly's strengths that he doesn't overcommit when he helps and is often able to guard 2 players because he can get back to his man.