Minnesota Sports Forum

60WinTim wrote:It has already been said that Rush will start in Zach's place...

As it should be, we need some type of offense off the bench

Sheesh. Just saw the news. What a kick in the nuts. I wanted these young guys to keep playing together and hopefully continue to grow/improve together. Grrr. We'll see what happens now. I agree with SP, Bazz now has a new window of opportunity. I just don't know if he's a fit with the starters because Bazz shoots so much and never passes (how does that affect Towns/Wiggins?). We'll see. Maybe now will be the time to start switching things up. The trade deadline is coming up too...

Argh! Terrible news. A few thoughts:

- It makes sense that Brandon Rush starts. I think Thibs' wants Bazz's energy and production off the bench. Rush is a vet that has been in this position before (most notably for an extended stretch when Harrison Barnes was hurt).

- Since I highly doubt Rush will play more than 20-25 minutes per game and Thibs won't want to burn Bazz out too much, I suspect we'll see him go to a 9-10 man rotation, with Tyus and Dunn getting some time at the 1 and 2. Aldrich will be the 10th man on nights we need some size off the bench.

- As D'Natagal mentioned, injuries happen. We have been extremely fortunate this season (and most of last season) with injuries. I hate to say it, but it wasn't going to last. The good news is that we aren't overly dependent on just one guy. We should be able to weather this storm. The problem is that now we have very little room for error in terms of other guys getting hurt.

- For those that want to see Wiggins at the 2 full time, your wish has been granted (although I realize you didn't want it to happen this way!). He will still play some 3 when Dun and Jones are in the back court, but he will play the majority of his minutes with Rush and Bazz at the other wing.

- KAT, Wiggins, and Rubio are now going to have even more opportunities to make plays for others, as the LaVine/Dieng 2-man game that Thibs often used is no longer there.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:Wow, out for the season...really sad news for one of my favorite Wolves. What a tough kid though, huh? Didn't he play another 5 minutes after he hurt it? I think he went down in the first half and went to the bench, but then started the second half and played a few minutes.

As sad as this is for Zach, I tend to agree with misty, BW and khans...the Wolves might actually play better the rest of the season, and this news does not eliminate us from playoff contention. Zach had a nice game last night, but he has far and away the worst plus/minus on the team this year...hard to see how replacing his minutes with Rush and Bazz is a bad thing.

Bad news for Zach, but not necessarily bad news for the Wolves.

So let me get this straight. You lose one of the big 3, and this is a good thing? I feel like you guys are playing a joke on me and I'm the only one not in on it.

I think it's just guys trying to find some sort of silver lining. Sometimes when a guy goes down, someone else steps in and surprises. A recent example for football fans was when Bridgewater went down and then we rolled to a 5-0 start with his replacement (we won't mention what happened after that - but it really wasn't the QB's fault).

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:Wow, out for the season...really sad news for one of my favorite Wolves. What a tough kid though, huh? Didn't he play another 5 minutes after he hurt it? I think he went down in the first half and went to the bench, but then started the second half and played a few minutes.

As sad as this is for Zach, I tend to agree with misty, BW and khans...the Wolves might actually play better the rest of the season, and this news does not eliminate us from playoff contention. Zach had a nice game last night, but he has far and away the worst plus/minus on the team this year...hard to see how replacing his minutes with Rush and Bazz is a bad thing.

Bad news for Zach, but not necessarily bad news for the Wolves.

So let me get this straight. You lose one of the big 3, and this is a good thing? I feel like you guys are playing a joke on me and I'm the only one not in on it.

I don't think we have a big 3 as you put it. Teams that have a big 3 win way more games. Zach is just a young guy Wolves hope will become good one day. And that plan just hit a speed bump. But as far as this season goes it doesn't carry any effect. We may lose some offense but can get better on defense as we won't see a putrid defensive Zach/Drew combo. You should wait before jumping on posters that have opinions different from yours.

Carlos Danger wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:Wow, out for the season...really sad news for one of my favorite Wolves. What a tough kid though, huh? Didn't he play another 5 minutes after he hurt it? I think he went down in the first half and went to the bench, but then started the second half and played a few minutes.

As sad as this is for Zach, I tend to agree with misty, BW and khans...the Wolves might actually play better the rest of the season, and this news does not eliminate us from playoff contention. Zach had a nice game last night, but he has far and away the worst plus/minus on the team this year...hard to see how replacing his minutes with Rush and Bazz is a bad thing.

Bad news for Zach, but not necessarily bad news for the Wolves.

So let me get this straight. You lose one of the big 3, and this is a good thing? I feel like you guys are playing a joke on me and I'm the only one not in on it.

I think it's just guys trying to find some sort of silver lining. Sometimes when a guy goes down, someone else steps in and surprises. A recent example for football fans was when Bridgewater went down and then we rolled to a 5-0 start with his replacement (we won't mention what happened after that - but it really wasn't the QB's fault).

It's a lot of that, Anthony...there is some silver lining searching in play here. But as much as I love Zach's attitude, energy and upside, his subpar numbers are difficult to ignore. The Wolves have been outscored by 117 points this year when Zach is on the court, and nobody else on the team is even close to that number. And then there are the defensive stats that we have analyzed ad nauseum in another thread. Beyond the individual stats is the fact that the Wolves have simply won at a higher rate when Zach has been out. Yes, Zach is one of the Big Three and a big part of our future, but he is also clearly the least ready for the NBA game of the Big Three, and replacing him in the lineup with Rush is more likely to help our playoff chances than hurt them...his defense is just that much better.

Cool, nobody is saying this is a good thing. I love so much about Zach and feel for him big time right now. And losing a half season isn't a good thing for his continuing development. But the fact that we have played better with Rush in the lineup instead of Zach is quite clear...at this stage of their careers, Wig/Rush is a more effective 2-way wing combo than Wig/Zach.

Bad news for Zach, not the greatest news for this franchise long term, but not a tragedy for those of us still entertaining playoff hopes this season.

well said, LST

I obviously don't know anything, but I think Zach would have helped tonight.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I obviously don't know anything, but I think Zach would have helped tonight.

Zach would have been bitchslapped like the rest of these soft tissue mofos. Always fold whenever they face a rugged hustle team. Very predictable.
I guess I could see him helping if he got loco hot from outside.

I just saw this. Time to go young. Jones and Dunn should get 20+ minutes a night. Lots of burn for Payne and Shabazz. Cap Wiggins, KAT, and Rubio at 32 minutes a night.