thedoper wrote:Ive got the Clippers feed and Mike Fratello has been making fun of our coaching the whole game.
Anything in particular?
He started with the 3s. He said our coaches said their philosophy is to take a lot of threes. He said you cant call it a philosphy without first making them. He said why be bottom of the league in %.
Then he was making fun of our small ball. We're looking like amateurs. Its sad.
I've been posting too small all night. But that's not really our coaches fault.
Its our coaches fault for not pushing back on the "system" approach to team building. Basketball will always be about matchups. The teams are too small to boil down your approach to one philosophy. Saunders is too green to know what to fight for, hes digging his own grave.
That's why Rosas hired Saunders as his head coach. You might recall Rosas going on and on at the time about how he and Ryan were aligned. Rosas isn't up to the job he's in and he didn't want a strong experienced head coach who could challenge him. At least that's the way I see it.
lipoli390 wrote:A few thoughts, largely echoing the thoughts of others on this board:
1. Juancho continues to confirm the view most of us had that Rosas really screwed up giving him that contract. As many of us thought at the time, Juancho is an and-of-bench player who should be playing for the NBA minimum.
2. Okogie is more valuable to this team than a lot of people realize or acknowledge. There's a reason he's been starting and his absence is clearly having a negative impact on this team.
3. Culver's shot isn't fixed. Going 0-10 was a rude awakening for many of us (myself included) who thought he might have turned the corner. I still like him and he deserves praise for pulling down 10 boards tonight. But 0-10 from the field is unacceptable. Well, at least he didn't miss any free throws.
4. KAT is a great player and we're seeing just how horrible this team is without him. Remember that Butler didn't get this team into the playoffs by himself a few seasons ago. No player, except maybe LeBron can do that. KAT, even at 21/22 years old back then was instrumental in getting the Wolves to the playoffs as our #2 guy and one other all-star behind Butler.
5. If KAT is out for the 2-3 months that all the medical websites identify as the recovery time for a "mild" wrist dislocation, then we had better hope we can replicate something close to last year's lottery lock and end up in the top 4. Because without KAT for 2 months (or even a month) I don't see how this Wolves team makes the playoffs in the West.
Lip, I'm not a big Okogie guy but you're right about him and this team. We need his physicality badly and it's really missed when he's not in there.
The Wolves have a lot of players learning how to play NBA games. It's a bigger issue when the team's best player is out. The thing is that you don't figure out how to play basketball in a week. Or a couple of weeks. Or even a year in most cases.
Some guys go their entire careers without figuring it out. Talent can win out every once in a while, but you need to know how to play to sustain any level of success.
How many guys on the Wolves know how to play basketball at a high level?
Saunders says the game got away when players started to deviate from the game plan and do their own thing. He's frustrated but said they're only 4 games in and has confidence they'll find themselves.
- From Jon K
This stuff worries me because has Ryan lost the locker room already. In the 1st Q they already not listening to him
kekgeek1 wrote:Saunders says the game got away when players started to deviate from the game plan and do their own thing. He's frustrated but said they're only 4 games in and has confidence they'll find themselves.
- From Jon K
This stuff worries me because has Ryan lost the locker room already. In the 1st Q they already not listening to him
You put together a team of scorers... who are still learning how to play and you're gonna get guys stepping out from the game plan. This shouldn't be rocket science for Rosas, Saunders and whoever else was involved in putting this crew together.
Rubio isn't enough... and not nearly good enough... to carry that big of a load.
[Note: Obviously, Towns will help. But again... talent alone isn't enough.]
kekgeek1 wrote:Saunders says the game got away when players started to deviate from the game plan and do their own thing. He's frustrated but said they're only 4 games in and has confidence they'll find themselves.
- From Jon K
This stuff worries me because has Ryan lost the locker room already. In the 1st Q they already not listening to him
I wish someone would have asked Ryan Saunders what exactly the gameplan was because I think his reaction would have been priceless. More importantly, I'd like for him and Gersson Rosas to break down the "system" they keep talking about step by step, element by element. There is no cohesiveness or organization with the way this team is built or how it plays.
kekgeek1 wrote:Saunders says the game got away when players started to deviate from the game plan and do their own thing. He's frustrated but said they're only 4 games in and has confidence they'll find themselves.
- From Jon K
This stuff worries me because has Ryan lost the locker room already. In the 1st Q they already not listening to him
I wish someone would have asked Ryan Saunders what exactly the gameplan was because I think his reaction would have been priceless. More importantly, I'd like for him and Gersson Rosas to break down the "system" they keep talking about step by step, element by element. There is no cohesiveness or organization with the way this team is built or how it plays.
Yes, I'd love to see someone ask him that question and I agree that the look on Ryan's face would be priceless or maybe just plain empty. As your post clearly suggests, Gersson wouldn't be able to break down the "system" that way. Instead, we'd hear platitudes and cliche phrases like "space and pace," "playing fast," "open court." I've been around long enough to know that people who use platitudes and cliches like Rosas does generally don't know much. I think we have some good scouts in this organization who have identified young talent like Naz Reid and JMac. But from the beginning, I've seen Rosas as another in a long line of bad basketball executives hired by Glen Taylor. He actually reminds me a lot of David Kahn, although I don't think he's that bad.
Russell and Edwards with 0 FT attempts tonight. This system doesn't work if you don't get the ball to the rack and dish out to 3pt shooters. With the Suns it was Nash/Amare PnR attacking the basket/mid-range. Harden alone relentlessly attacks the basket and shoots double digit free throws every night which sets up up their version. Get to the basket first. 3 pointers are secondary to that action. Stop trying to make it the primary look on a team full of bad shooters.
Also, if your team is deviating from the game plan call a fucking timeout before the lead gets to 30. We would chip away, give it right back and then they went on a run and Ryan just stood on the sideline and watched it completely balloon out of control. If you blow through your timeouts so be it. That's what you do when your team is playing badly and not playing the way they are supposed to.
khans2k5 wrote:Russell and Edwards with 0 FT attempts tonight. This system doesn't work if you don't get the ball to the rack and dish out to 3pt shooters. With the Suns it was Nash/Amare PnR attacking the basket/mid-range. Harden alone relentlessly attacks the basket and shoots double digit free throws every night which sets up up their version. Get to the basket first. 3 pointers are secondary to that action. Stop trying to make it the primary look on a team full of bad shooters.
Spot on man. You have two better option versus the contested 3P pull up. Either making the layup and/or getting to the line or finding a teammate for an open 3.
But the main thing I'm taking away is KAT is the defensive leader on this team, he went out and our defense went to crap. KAT should be considered for DPOY (ok maybe a little hyperbole, lol). I'm not at all impressed with Naz, he's good for a FA young guy, but poor for an NBA starter. Then Juancho turd and Layman simply never rebound well it seems. At one point we had Ed Davis, Juancho and Layman on the court. It was ugly.
