Minnesota Sports Forum

Thanks for posting the video, FNG. My take-aways were the same as your. Really impressive young man. Clearly intelligent and self-aware. You can tell he loves to play basketball. And there are no questions about his motor. To the contrary, he's been praised for his high-rev motor and worth ethic. I really hope Q turns out to be right about this guy. He's really talented and seems like the sort of guy who will reach his potential, assuming he can stay healthy.

Camden wrote:FNG,

It's awesome to have fresh and new basketball minds with some well-thought posts find there way here. How did you actually find this place out of curiosity?

Welcome to the board!

Thanks for the welcome, Camden. I was talking pre-draft with a couple pals that I share season's tickets with, and one of them mentioned that he regularly reads this board. He also reads a KFAN message board, but I don't think he posts often if at all on either- just uses them as a source of information. I lurked for a week before the draft and was quite impressed with the knowledge displayed here and generally the courteous nature- posters clearly disagree sometimes, but it seems disagreements are usually aired respectfully (unlike some of the disagreements I have with my buddies- it's ok...we're old friends :) ).

I'm a long-suffering Wolves' fan but also quite intrigued by the odd collection of talent they have going into this season. I've never felt so clueless about how a Wolves' team might fare in the upcoming season...they could win 25 and they could win 50, I just don't know. Anyway, it should be fun to see how the mystery unravels.

Welcome FNG, fuckin new guy! Awesome. We always have a wins prediction thread so yeah I'm with you. This team could be anything.

FNG wrote:

Camden wrote:FNG,

It's awesome to have fresh and new basketball minds with some well-thought posts find there way here. How did you actually find this place out of curiosity?

Welcome to the board!

Thanks for the welcome, Camden. I was talking pre-draft with a couple pals that I share season's tickets with, and one of them mentioned that he regularly reads this board. He also reads a KFAN message board, but I don't think he posts often if at all on either- just uses them as a source of information. I lurked for a week before the draft and was quite impressed with the knowledge displayed here and generally the courteous nature- posters clearly disagree sometimes, but it seems disagreements are usually aired respectfully (unlike some of the disagreements I have with my buddies- it's ok...we're old friends :) ).

I'm a long-suffering Wolves' fan but also quite intrigued by the odd collection of talent they have going into this season. I've never felt so clueless about how a Wolves' team might fare in the upcoming season...they could win 25 and they could win 50, I just don't know. Anyway, it should be fun to see how the mystery unravels.

It's great to have you! I'm sorta invested in a couple of the players on this team but really I don't have any expectations at this point just along for the ride. I agree it's hard to really get a handle on what the executions are for wins. Unless injuries happen I don't see them being super terrible but a lot has to go right for them to get to 40 wins even.

Welcome, too! I tend to be the opTIMistic one. You won't believe the restraint I am displaying by not gushing about the awesome job Rosas has done to re-shape this roster. You can be skeptical about the defense, but we actually are stocked full of NBA talent! We always seemed to complain about how bare the talent cupboard was for the Wolves. And now we are struggling to find playing time for everyone!

Q, I just had to bump this one. I tip my hat to you for sniffing out Vando's potential. It has been fun to experience his fast-track to being an effective rotation player for the Wolves, and maybe more!

FNG -- thanks for the posting the Vando interview. It's 20+ minutes, but is really informative and refreshing to hear about his path thus far. He is an easy guy to root for, and definitely has the skill and talent to do something in this league.

https://giphy.com/gifs/bulls-dennis-rodman-jUKjhobkyI4INAW9NV/fullscreen

60WinTim wrote:Q, I just had to bump this one. I tip my hat to you for sniffing out Vando's potential. It has been fun to experience his fast-track to being an effective rotation player for the Wolves, and maybe more!

FNG -- thanks for the posting the Vando interview. It's 20+ minutes, but is really informative and refreshing to hear about his path thus far. He is an easy guy to root for, and definitely has the skill and talent to do something in this league.

Thanks Tim!

As I've mentioned before, it was only because I spent a fairly significant amount of time watching him in the G-League that I even knew anything about him. I was certainly not familiar with his body of work as a prep or Kentucky player. Kudos to our front office in making sure he was part of that trade package- they obviously were familiar with his background and upside.

I just hope he stays healthy and keeps ironing out the rough edges in his game.

Vanderbilt started last season as an unknown prospect to most with minimal expectations. He opened some eyes early on with his nonstop motor and hustle. Then the shine came off a bit as he was thrust into a more prominent role, as his poor hands and over-exuberance at times led to fumbled passes, poorly given fouls, and foolish turnovers. Then as the team got healthier and Edwards became more of a focal point, he seemed to settle back into a more limited, but effective, role.

Bottom line....We need to re-sign him in the absence of any big move to get a big-time PF. I don't think he's the ideal starting big next to KAT, but he isn't bad and he IS an ideal bench big that provides instant energy and "do shit" stats in the event someone else emerges as a better starting option.

He defends. He rebounds. He plays hard. He was a positive player last season in nearly ever advanced stat category (win shares, VORP, PER). KAT's best player pairing was with Vanderbilt in terms of net rating. The KAT-Edwards-Vanderbilt was one of our best 3-man lineups. He fits well with our "stars". Bring him back!

Yeah, I'm a little surprised he's still out there. It would be nice if he didn't have to start, but he's a decent rotational big.