Game Report - Wolves v. Jazz

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, those little plays just KILL us. The George Hill offensive rebound that he grabbed with 3 or 4 Wolves surrounding him; LaVine's dribble off his leg that resulted in a turnover; the missed bunnies by KAT; the Bjelly mental errors mentioned above. Our guys simply aren't making enough "winning plays", however you want to define them. It's not just about making big shots, but it's all the little things that need to happen to win games when things get tight. We consistently crumble like a house of cards.

[AbeVigodaLive]

One thing overlooked in the loss last night is Rudy Gobert. We've mentioned Towns' missed bunnies. I think there was a reason for that. The guy is so good defensively. It's not just the shots he blocks. It's that he gets inside other players' heads so much.

Everything starts with him defensively for Utah. And he's the primary reason they're so good on defense. I have a feeling they're about to make a strong move in the West and battle for homecourt with Houston and Memphis.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

A few random observations:

* To me the two bright spots last night were Zach and Belly. Belly is still inconsistent and makes some bad choices, but we are now getting good plays a higher percentage of the time IMO.

* Wiggins shot selection is pretty bad. When he is on fire, all those long twos look fine. But when they are not falling I am constantly thinking "Why not drive and either get free throws or create for a team mate?" He also has to rebound more. A good SF should get 5-8 RPG.

* Zach's shot selection was pretty good. He really drove to the hoop, especially when Gobert was sitting. I agree he should use his left hand more, as he likes to finish on the left side of the hoop but often does it via a complicated scoop with the right hand. At least he is finishing through contact now. I thought his defense was sometimes good and sometimes bad, which is an improvement in his case.

* When Towns is so down on himself, I worry not only about his psyche but also that he is thinking "We lost because I need to do more on offense". While he did miss a lot of layups, and I wish he'd go harder and get to the line, that is not why we lost. We lost because our defense and rebounding were so terrible. That is where he should be directing his energy IMO.


* I understand why the point guard rotation is so funky. Ricky has been meh, Dunn is Thibs' lotto pick but has been meh, and Tyus has shown some good game mangement. That said, Thibs is playing with fire and is going to need to make some choices. Ricky has a very powerful and active agent; I would guess Thibs has already gotten some angry calls about Ricky not playing in the 4th for 3 straight games. If this continues, you will start to hear agent-leaked rumors about Ricky being unhappy, about supposed trades under discussion, etc. Likewise Dunn is not going to develop with such short minutes.

I mostly agree with all your points, but the biggest area of agreement is the one on KAT.

I've mentioned this before, but I think Thibs needs to take a page out of Calipari's notebook and tell KAT that he needs to start playing like a big man. To start, make him guard opposing Centers and tell him that paint protection and defensive rebounding are his #1 and #2 responsibilities. I know this is currently Dieng's charter, but we've seen what his ceiling is in this regard and it's not good enough.

[Monster]

I might be in the minority... but I'm still seeing Bjelica as a net negative.

In 26 minutes... he made 2 out of 6 shots. Had a few rebounds. Meh.

Beyond that... two terrible plays stand out.

1. He took a rebound and raced down the court without what Jim Peterson called "a plan" and got hung and turned it over. While I dig the aggressiveness... something he desperately needs to play with... it was a terrible play. Fair enough.
2. There was a loose ball when the Wolves were on defense and instead of just grabbing it, he tried to flip it behind his back to Wiggins and turned it back over or knocked it out of bounds. As they cut to commercial, you could see Thibs screaming, "just grab the fucking ball!"

Granted, those are just two plays. But I'm not seeing enough on the stat sheet or with my eyes to justify them. After all, who is the team's best bench player? Is it Bjelica? 11 ppg / 7 reb / 5 fouls / 39% fg (per 36 minutes) is simply not good enough.

Just look at what Trey Lyles gave Utah last night.
Or Terrence Jones for the Pelicans.
Or Terry Rozier for the Celtics.
Or Zach Randolph for the Grizzlies.
Or Frank Kaminsky for the Hornets.

The list goes on. The Wolves have so few game changers on its bench. I'm not seeing Bjelica as a definitive plus player compared to other top reserve bigs around the league.

I didn't watch much of the game last night, but I did see the first bad Belly play you mentioned...and I cringed even though I am a Belly proponent. To Thibs' credit, he immediately called timeout and yanked Belly out of the game...good coaching move, I thought.

Jim Pete said last. If he that Belly tries to do things he can't do. I think him bringing up the point is good but I disagree with Jim in that I think Belly has the general skill level to do some of the things he does like take the ball to the basket. Jim was right on that Belly didn't have a plan and I think Belly needs to learn to pick his spots better and he is still learning what he can and can't do.

I think Abe being skeptical about him is right on. I think the people saying positive things about what they see from him have reason to feel good also. He has trended in the right direction being more aggressive both shooting and making plays with the ball. I watched sole games of Belly playing in Europe. Because he has that guard ability it means he does a dumb play here and there another player wouldn't do so he is gonna make a couple bad plays here and there because he actually has the talent to have the ball in his hands. I like him as a player and I think he is trending in the right direction but he isn't there yet and it's hard to know what exactly his upside is but I am glad we have him. I also think Thibs has given him a pretty decent chunk of freedom all things considered.

[kurrdog53 [enjin:7013678]]

Zach looks great and comfortable being the 3rd scorer, but stepping up to our top scorer when Wigs and KAT are struggling. Really love LaVine right now.

Wigs is fine and has looked great most of this young season. He is going to have off nights shooting, as defenses see him more and more. He needs to contribute when he is not scoring, which comes and goes.

KAT is pressing and feels the need to try and help any way he can on offense. He floats too much looking for 3pters. He needs to let the game come to him. If he finds himself in position to shoot and make a couple 3s, great! But stop floating. He should be working on his low-post, high percentage shot selection that can help us get a key bucket when we need one (ala Tim Duncan in his prime). He is awful in the PnR game (often looks to pop, instead of roll) and when he does he the ball, he wants to put the ball on the floor and attack, which he is not very good at. If he puts the ball on the floor, he should only do it to collapse the defense and then kick to a shooter. Last night, Zach was wide open on several possessions where KAT tried to do too much. If he works on these things and transitions to an NBA vet the way the Wiggins and LaVine have in year 3, we will be just fine in a year or 2. Just sucks to have to be this patient.

[Monster]

Zach looks great and comfortable being the 3rd scorer, but stepping up to our top scorer when Wigs and KAT are struggling. Really love LaVine right now.

Wigs is fine and has looked great most of this young season. He is going to have off nights shooting, as defenses see him more and more. He needs to contribute when he is not scoring, which comes and goes.

KAT is pressing and feels the need to try and help any way he can on offense. He floats too much looking for 3pters. He needs to let the game come to him. If he finds himself in position to shoot and make a couple 3s, great! But stop floating. He should be working on his low-post, high percentage shot selection that can help us get a key bucket when we need one (ala Tim Duncan in his prime). He is awful in the PnR game (often looks to pop, instead of roll) and when he does he the ball, he wants to put the ball on the floor and attack, which he is not very good at. If he puts the ball on the floor, he should only do it to collapse the defense and then kick to a shooter. Last night, Zach was wide open on several possessions where KAT tried to do too much. If he works on these things and transitions to an NBA vet the way the Wiggins and LaVine have in year 3, we will be just fine in a year or 2. Just sucks to have to be this patient.

You make some great observations. These young guys often have no clue what they are supposed to do. There are times Towns has a terrific matchup and they can't get him the damn ball. I don't think Rubio actually is the best post entry passer which is kinda weird but it's an underrated skill. I thought it was something Dunn excelled at in college.