Minnesota Sports Forum

Derrick Williams TS% was about 1 pt lower than Ridnour's last season. It was about 5 pts higher than DC's.

Williams was down to 233 lbs before camp started. They apparently asked him to put the weight back on when Love got injured, so I don't see the weight thing being a problem. Even at his weight last season, he didn't seem to have any problems guarding SF's during switches.

sjm34 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:SJM - I'm not sure what you are talking about when it comes to Williams' playing time. He's averaged 23.2 minutes per game in his two years with the Wolves and started in 71 games. Has he been in Adelman's doghouse from time to time? Sure, but he's always made his way back into the rotation again and has started a bunch of games for us.

Q, how many minutes would Williams have logged last season had Love been healthy?

SJM, That's a hypothetical question in response to what's actually taken place. I do know that as a rookie backing up Love, he still managed to average over 20 minutes per game. I think Adelman has given him plenty of rope and the reality is that he's logged more minutes the past two seasons than almost any other Timberwolf. I just don't see how you can make the case that Adelman has inhibited his growth.

Funny how quickly this got away from the original post.

monsterpile wrote:I think the starting SF position is open for someone to win it between Bud Brewer and Williams. I think sometimes a different guy could start depending on matchups as has been pointed out Williams can handle the beefier SFs possibly better than Brewer.

Another point on Martin's defense. Gues what a lot of teams start a guy that isn't really that tough of a cover. Whover the lakers start at SF. sefalosha there is a list of wing players on good teams that are far from guys you really have to worry about beating you. at times we evenhad Luke take those guys cause you just had to stand next to themso they weren't wide open. Martin should be able to do that.

This is another reason that Corey Brewer is the best candidate to start at SF. He's going to need to guard both SFs AND SGs, with Martin always guarding the more inferior offensive wing. It's one thing to say that Derrick Williams can guard SFs - and I do agree that he's probably a better matchup for the likes of LeBron and 'Melo than Corey Brewer - but it's another thing to ask him to guard SGs and chase them around screens all night long. Corey will be asked to guard SGs as often as he's asked to guard SFs. If Williams starts, then it gives you less flexibility on guarding the wings.

One other thing about Williams at SF that I have mentioned numerous times when this debate came up on the ESPN board. I believe Adelman's reluctance to play him at the 3 had more to do with offense than defense. Everyone always goes to Williams' size and suggest that his playing weight is the biggest inhibitor to playing the 3. It's not. It's his ability to handle the ball on pick and roll. Adelman's offense requires that either wing can be the ball handler on screen and roll (along with the PG). Williams has spent his entire basketball existence as the screener. He would have a massive learning curve to run the pick and roll as the ball handler.

That's not to say that he can never play SF in certain situations, but he simply doesn't have the skills offensively, especially in Adelman's offense, to do so on a full-time basis.

Q, I agree with much of what you said in you last couple posts, nice analysis. With regards to D-Will or Brewer starting at the 3, I think that it is going to be situation and game dependent. Just like you said, when the Wing Other Than Martin (WOTM) needs to cover lebron or anothny, D-Will will start, when the WOTM needs to cover a 2 guard, Brewer will probably start.

And there will be iterations of that thought process in determining who starts there.

That said, I obviously think Bud will be coming off the bench.

Q12543 wrote:One other thing about Williams at SF that I have mentioned numerous times when this debate came up on the ESPN board. I believe Adelman's reluctance to play him at the 3 had more to do with offense than defense. Everyone always goes to Williams' size and suggest that his playing weight is the biggest inhibitor to playing the 3. It's not. It's his ability to handle the ball on pick and roll. Adelman's offense requires that either wing can be the ball handler on screen and roll (along with the PG). Williams has spent his entire basketball existence as the screener. He would have a massive learning curve to run the pick and roll as the ball handler.

That's not to say that he can never play SF in certain situations, but he simply doesn't have the skills offensively, especially in Adelman's offense, to do so on a full-time basis.

Q, neither AK, Bud or now Brewer have those ball handling skills either, so why single out DW. This is the problem I have with Adelman when it comes DW. He says that DW will need to attack the basket more if he going to play 3, yet he already attacks the basket more than any of our other 3's. Maybe Adelman could come through on what he promised in his first presser. Alter his offense to fit the skills of his players.

Markkbu - Adelman probably doesn't want to mess with his starting lineup night in and night out, but yes, on those exceptional cases like LeBron or 'Melo, it's possible he might go with D-Will or even Cunningham at the 3. And even if he doesn't, he'd probably go them very early to sub in for Brewer.

SJM - Being the ball handler on the screen and roll does not imply needing to have super advanced handles. It's more about decision making and understanding the right play to make when you are the recipient of a screen. Do you pull up off the dribble for a jumper (not exactly D-Will's strength)? Dump it off to the screener who is popping out for a jumper? Look to pass it to the screener if he rolls to the hoop? Kick it out to the perimeter if the defense collapses on the roller? Drive it all the way to the hoop? Only the last decision (drive to the hoop) requires more than a couple dribbles. But anyone who has ever watched D-Will knows that his instincts with the ball in his hands is a step slow and he tends to get tunnel vision whenever he goes to the hoop. He is not a good playmaker. The other guys aren't necessarily great playmakers, but they are all pretty good decision makers as the ball handler in pick and roll situations.

Q, I don't mean to imply that I think that Adelman is rotate starting Rubio, Martin, Love, or Pek. I am however saying that there is a degree of uncertainty of who is going to get the break down of minutes at the 3. I'm sure that Adelman is aware of that. So, have to disagree with you, about Adelman sticking with one starting lineup through the course of the the season.

Conversely, I would bet that he will try a number of lineups, to include a number of starting lineups to see which works best. Through the course of trying those lineups, he should take into account who the opponent is. I would be surprised if Adelman sticks with 1 starting lineup through the course of the year. As the year continues, I would bet that the starting lineup become more stable.

Markkbu, I think Adelman will tinker in training camp and pre-season, but assuming we stay healthy (massive question mark), my bet is that he wants things nailed down from the opening tip of the regular season onwards. The reason is that all the key players we're talking about here have either played for Adelman already or are pretty well known commodities (e.g. Brewer). As for the second unit, that's where I think he will continue to make adjustments throughout the season. We'll see how it plays out. Unfortunately, my guess is that injuries will trump experimentation and he'll be forced to try different things.