Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:

TheSP wrote:If KG and Tay were playing the final minutes of every close game I would agree it's a problem. On the other hand I think Sam just doesn't want to see extended, 76ers like losing streaks. This team has the expectation of winning, long losing streaks could sap that, especially with young players accustomed to winning at lower levels.

With all the frustration with Sam earlier in the season I feel he's settling in pretty well. He's no longer going with the hockey style line changes, he's playing more interesting combinations together, specifically KAT and G. He's pushing the team to compete and win, without losing the focus on growing the youth!

With our young talent, including the veteran Rubio, we shouldn't need Prince and KG playing significant minutes to prevent 76er-like losing streaks.

The results are saying otherwise. I too would think the quality of young talent should be getting us more wins than they are and I wouldn't be against laying much of that blame at Sam's feet. I simply disagree with the idea that KG and Tay getting a little more crunch time run occasionally will prevent the youth from growing nor prevent the team from accessing player/team growth and/or needs.

The takeaway for me isn't that KG and Tay got more run, it's that the play of the younger players necessitated it. The fact that they're 1/3 of the way through the season and they're regressing should tell Taylor all he needs to know short of a big turnaround. What do I think it's telling him? That the team is poorly constructed in terms of balance and quality, consistent, efficient shooters and it's poorly coached. Bottom line, and one none of us here would be surprised by, they need a high quality basketball person to run this organization free to make the hard decisions, not babysitting Glenn.