Minnesota Sports Forum

One thing I am fairly confident about is the two constants in our crunch time lineups will be Ant and DDV, but all three other players on the floor are flexible depending on match ups, who is playing well, etc.

Finch probably needs to get the politics right with the starting lineup, but I hope he's pretty ruthless come crunch time. There are times where Conley, Rudy, Jaden and/or Randle may not make sense to close games.

Crazy how freakin' important DDV has become....

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 7:41 am One thing I am fairly confident about is the two constants in our crunch time lineups will be Ant and DDV, but all three other players on the floor are flexible depending on match ups, who is playing well, etc.

Finch probably needs to get the politics right with the starting lineup, but I hope he's pretty ruthless come crunch time. There are times where Conley, Rudy, Jaden and/or Randle may not make sense to close games.

Crazy how freakin' important DDV has become....

Yes he is important. Just think about this: the Wolves have the reigning 6th man of the year winner on their roster, and they have completed a trade designed to perhaps give him even more minutes off the bench...enhancing his chance to improve on last year's stats. And yet his teammate is now the odds on favorite in Vegas to win the 6th man award this season! Could Reid and DiVo finish 1-2 in the voting this season?

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 8:21 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 7:41 am One thing I am fairly confident about is the two constants in our crunch time lineups will be Ant and DDV, but all three other players on the floor are flexible depending on match ups, who is playing well, etc.

Finch probably needs to get the politics right with the starting lineup, but I hope he's pretty ruthless come crunch time. There are times where Conley, Rudy, Jaden and/or Randle may not make sense to close games.

Crazy how freakin' important DDV has become....

Yes he is important. Just think about this: the Wolves have the reigning 6th man of the year winner on their roster, and they have completed a trade designed to perhaps give him even more minutes off the bench...enhancing his chance to improve on last year's stats. And yet his teammate is now the odds on favorite in Vegas to win the 6th man award this season! Could Reid and DiVo finish 1-2 in the voting this season?

I honestly believe Naz falls off a bit this season. I have a hard time seeing him replicate the 3-point shooting from last year and I think his shot attempts will go down slightly. That isn't to say he isn't still a great big to have coming off the bench, but I think last year was a bit of an anomaly.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:01 am

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 8:21 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 7:41 am One thing I am fairly confident about is the two constants in our crunch time lineups will be Ant and DDV, but all three other players on the floor are flexible depending on match ups, who is playing well, etc.

Finch probably needs to get the politics right with the starting lineup, but I hope he's pretty ruthless come crunch time. There are times where Conley, Rudy, Jaden and/or Randle may not make sense to close games.

Crazy how freakin' important DDV has become....

Yes he is important. Just think about this: the Wolves have the reigning 6th man of the year winner on their roster, and they have completed a trade designed to perhaps give him even more minutes off the bench...enhancing his chance to improve on last year's stats. And yet his teammate is now the odds on favorite in Vegas to win the 6th man award this season! Could Reid and DiVo finish 1-2 in the voting this season?

I honestly believe Naz falls off a bit this season. I have a hard time seeing him replicate the 3-point shooting from last year and I think his shot attempts will go down slightly. That isn't to say he isn't still a great big to have coming off the bench, but I think last year was a bit of an anomaly.

I agree. Especially considering that he's going to be asked to cover tougher assignments on D when Rudy needs to sit. He's unfortunately our defacto backup C.

TheFuture wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:53 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:01 am

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 8:21 am

Yes he is important. Just think about this: the Wolves have the reigning 6th man of the year winner on their roster, and they have completed a trade designed to perhaps give him even more minutes off the bench...enhancing his chance to improve on last year's stats. And yet his teammate is now the odds on favorite in Vegas to win the 6th man award this season! Could Reid and DiVo finish 1-2 in the voting this season?

I honestly believe Naz falls off a bit this season. I have a hard time seeing him replicate the 3-point shooting from last year and I think his shot attempts will go down slightly. That isn't to say he isn't still a great big to have coming off the bench, but I think last year was a bit of an anomaly.

I agree. Especially considering that he's going to be asked to cover tougher assignments on D when Rudy needs to sit. He's unfortunately our defacto backup C.

I have a feeling Randle will guard the bulkier Cs when he's on the floor with Reid and we may even see Garza get minutes in those situations.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 12:07 pm

TheFuture wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:53 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:01 am

I honestly believe Naz falls off a bit this season. I have a hard time seeing him replicate the 3-point shooting from last year and I think his shot attempts will go down slightly. That isn't to say he isn't still a great big to have coming off the bench, but I think last year was a bit of an anomaly.

I agree. Especially considering that he's going to be asked to cover tougher assignments on D when Rudy needs to sit. He's unfortunately our defacto backup C.

I have a feeling Randle will guard the bulkier Cs when he's on the floor with Reid and we may even see Garza get minutes in those situations.

Yeah I think Garza is gonna play more this year and that gonna up the 3 point attempts too. He is definitely not shy about getting them up.

I feel like with Randle a lot of how he plays and mitigate some of his issues with the ball is gonna be down to coaching. It's a different situation but I felt that way about Russell too. NBA players especially a guy like Randle that's been in the league quite a while and has had plenty of success isn't gonna just do exactly what a coach says and do that but it's not like Finch doesn't have another option to play of Randle doesn't do what he is supposed to. He can play Naz for sure but he could also play a guy like Ingles at PF or if Minott is legit he could throw him how there to really get Randle's attention. I get the sense that in some ways Randle might fit more the way Finch wants to play but I need to see him play some games to see for myself. It may take time for Randle to make the adjustments IF Finch gets the best out of him. I'm excited to see how it goes.

What I also know is Connelly is not afraid to make a move to make the team better.

TheFuture wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:53 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:01 am

FNG wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 8:21 am

Yes he is important. Just think about this: the Wolves have the reigning 6th man of the year winner on their roster, and they have completed a trade designed to perhaps give him even more minutes off the bench...enhancing his chance to improve on last year's stats. And yet his teammate is now the odds on favorite in Vegas to win the 6th man award this season! Could Reid and DiVo finish 1-2 in the voting this season?

I honestly believe Naz falls off a bit this season. I have a hard time seeing him replicate the 3-point shooting from last year and I think his shot attempts will go down slightly. That isn't to say he isn't still a great big to have coming off the bench, but I think last year was a bit of an anomaly.

I agree. Especially considering that he's going to be asked to cover tougher assignments on D when Rudy needs to sit. He's unfortunately our defacto backup C.

Except on offense he could a lot of the time be guarded by slow big centers who simply cannot guard him (too slow). His numbers are going up, up, up.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 5:25 pm

TheFuture wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:53 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 10:01 am

I honestly believe Naz falls off a bit this season. I have a hard time seeing him replicate the 3-point shooting from last year and I think his shot attempts will go down slightly. That isn't to say he isn't still a great big to have coming off the bench, but I think last year was a bit of an anomaly.

I agree. Especially considering that he's going to be asked to cover tougher assignments on D when Rudy needs to sit. He's unfortunately our defacto backup C.

Except on offense he could a lot of the time be guarded by slow big centers who simply cannot guard him (too slow). His numbers are going up, up, up.

I think it's reasonable to think Naz doesn't shoot as high a percentage from 3 but the guy has improved his game every year I don't see why we can't expect him to get better overall this season too. I also wouldn't be surprised if his 3 point shooting volume goes up not down. Obviously it's a reasonable take to wonder if he drops off a bit overall but to some extent he is sort of a proven player doing a lot of what he does well for multiple seasons. Last year wasn't some sort of shocking out of this world performance other than his higher 3 point percentage.

As for his defense... In general I don't worry as much about his man defense as his ability to help in a team concept and protect the paint. One thing he did last year was significantly reducing the rate at which he fouls.

Interesting fact from Alan Horton's X: Julius Randle ranked 5th in the league last season in corner 3 assists with 279. Great news, considering (other than dunks) the corner three is the most efficient shot in basketball. We should see a lot more corner threes this season from Ant, Mike, Jaden, Naz and DiVo.