Minnesota Sports Forum

After a slow start to the season, Iowa now leads their division and is 8-2 in their last 10. I'm not sure if we have any NBA-caliber rotation players yet or not on that squad, but winning games and building a winning culture is paramount at all levels of this franchise. Good to see.

Q12543 wrote:Monster, I like Jefferson's activity level, but he isn't much of a defensive presence. Still, as an energy 4 off the bench, there might be some potential.

I agree about his defense to a certain degree. I've had those same thoughts. I think his defensive value is a guy that can switch onto various players and hold up ok which probably is fine as a deeper bench guy. The Iowa Wolves in general seem to be improving as a defensive team overall so that's a positive.

Just to compare Jefferson to some other bigs in the G-league I was checking out various guys yesterday. There are some other good players but Jefferson stacks up well enough. I ended up seeing what Matt Costello's was doing and the guy is still putting up some numbers. 10-8 with 2.5 blocks in just under 24mpg. Oh and guess what? He is taking and making 3's. It's just 2 a game at 34.6% but it's encoruaging. I'm guessing they have some legit bigman depth there which is why he doesn't play more.

What keeps me a bit intruiged by Jefferson other than the consistency he produces is that he has SOME scoring ability to be able to create for himself especially facing up. In this latest game he actually crossed over a guy and went to the rim and scored. Another possession he faked a pass and went straight down the lane for an easy finish. He seems to be able to finish more like a guard contorting his body than a energy big. That's part of what remind me of Taj with him. I'm not suggesting the guy is gonna do some of this at the next level but he can actually do stuff with the ball not just a guy that plays hard which he also does.

There are so many big man options out there depending on what you want and there are a bunch of new guys in this draft too. The other thing I like is the guy just seems to know how to play. There is value in that even if the potential isn't super high.

Q12543 wrote:After a slow start to the season, Iowa now leads their division and is 8-2 in their last 10. I'm not sure if we have any NBA-caliber rotation players yet or not on that squad, but winning games and building a winning culture is paramount at all levels of this franchise. Good to see.

Agreed Q. I think it's a nice development since this is a brand new team. I'm not saying this is significant but like you said it's good to see.

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Monster, I like Jefferson's activity level, but he isn't much of a defensive presence. Still, as an energy 4 off the bench, there might be some potential.

I agree about his defense to a certain degree. I've had those same thoughts. I think his defensive value is a guy that can switch onto various players and hold up ok which probably is fine as a deeper bench guy. The Iowa Wolves in general seem to be improving as a defensive team overall so that's a positive.

Just to compare Jefferson to some other bigs in the G-league I was checking out various guys yesterday. There are some other good players but Jefferson stacks up well enough. I ended up seeing what Matt Costello's was doing and the guy is still putting up some numbers. 10-8 with 2.5 blocks in just under 24mpg. Oh and guess what? He is taking and making 3's. It's just 2 a game at 34.6% but it's encoruaging. I'm guessing they have some legit bigman depth there which is why he doesn't play more.

What keeps me a bit intruiged by Jefferson other than the consistency he produces is that he has SOME scoring ability to be able to create for himself especially facing up. In this latest game he actually crossed over a guy and went to the rim and scored. Another possession he faked a pass and went straight down the lane for an easy finish. He seems to be able to finish more like a guard contorting his body than a energy big. That's part of what remind me of Taj with him. I'm not suggesting the guy is gonna do some of this at the next level but he can actually do stuff with the ball not just a guy that plays hard which he also does.

There are so many big man options out there depending on what you want and there are a bunch of new guys in this draft too. The other thing I like is the guy just seems to know how to play. There is value in that even if the potential isn't super high.

Yes, he's very good with either hand and can face guys up and take it to the tin. But he still seems a little too skinny which impacts his defense and offensively he doesn't have a jumper. It's tough to survive these days as a non-stretch 4 that is a bit undersized.

To me, Kenneth Faried is an NBA level comparison for Jefferson (I know it's not perfect). He's an energy 4 that looks fantastic out there with his hustle and rebounding, but then you look at his minutes and they keep diminishing year after year. He simply isn't very good defensively and can't hit outside shots. Hustle and rebounding from your 4 or backup 4 isn't good enough these days.

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Monster, I like Jefferson's activity level, but he isn't much of a defensive presence. Still, as an energy 4 off the bench, there might be some potential.

I agree about his defense to a certain degree. I've had those same thoughts. I think his defensive value is a guy that can switch onto various players and hold up ok which probably is fine as a deeper bench guy. The Iowa Wolves in general seem to be improving as a defensive team overall so that's a positive.

Just to compare Jefferson to some other bigs in the G-league I was checking out various guys yesterday. There are some other good players but Jefferson stacks up well enough. I ended up seeing what Matt Costello's was doing and the guy is still putting up some numbers. 10-8 with 2.5 blocks in just under 24mpg. Oh and guess what? He is taking and making 3's. It's just 2 a game at 34.6% but it's encoruaging. I'm guessing they have some legit bigman depth there which is why he doesn't play more.

What keeps me a bit intruiged by Jefferson other than the consistency he produces is that he has SOME scoring ability to be able to create for himself especially facing up. In this latest game he actually crossed over a guy and went to the rim and scored. Another possession he faked a pass and went straight down the lane for an easy finish. He seems to be able to finish more like a guard contorting his body than a energy big. That's part of what remind me of Taj with him. I'm not suggesting the guy is gonna do some of this at the next level but he can actually do stuff with the ball not just a guy that plays hard which he also does.

There are so many big man options out there depending on what you want and there are a bunch of new guys in this draft too. The other thing I like is the guy just seems to know how to play. There is value in that even if the potential isn't super high.

Yes, he's very good with either hand and can face guys up and take it to the tin. But he still seems a little too skinny which impacts his defense and offensively he doesn't have a jumper. It's tough to survive these days as a non-stretch 4 that is a bit undersized.

To me, Kenneth Faried is an NBA level comparison for Jefferson (I know it's not perfect). He's an energy 4 that looks fantastic out there with his hustle and rebounding, but then you look at his minutes and they keep diminishing year after year. He simply isn't very good defensively and can't hit outside shots. Hustle and rebounding from your 4 or backup 4 isn't good enough these days.

Q that's actually an interesting comp. I think the difference between those guys is that Jefferson is built more for the modern NBA game. Fariid is plenty strong at his size but I don't think he does well when he has to guard perimeter guys. He also basically never takes shots outside of 10 feet. Jefferson can hit more of midrange shots at the d-league level he looks like he may be able to extend his range at least somewhat. I think him being skinny allows him to stay with guys when there are switches. The reality is if Jefferson is the player Fariid is we should sign him now to the longest term cheap contract possible! So yeah I mean we can keep our expectations in check. Lol

Part of why Fariid doesn't play (including his flaws which include health) is Denver has like 30,789 talented bigs on that squad. There are probably teams including the Wolves (when someone inthe front court is hurt) that could use a guy like that playing some minutes some nights. Salary is keeping him from finding another place to play even as a part time guy it's a bit of a shame but he has plenty of cash and if he REALLY wanted out I bet he could give up a lot of cash to go somewhere else so yeah. :)

I've been waiting years to be able to watch and dig into a developmental team so thanks for engaging with me a bit. I'll say this for Amile it's hard to find a stat looking at the BBrefernce page that doesn't put him as the Iowa Wolves best player. PER, offensive and defensive rating ,VORP, win shares, TS% etc the guy is at the top or 2nd in basically everything that matters even FT rate. It's just G-league stats and a handful of games still AND like you said we don't know if there are any NBA players on that roster but what he is doing is worth being happy to see. He is a first year player in that league even if he was a highly experienced player playing at a top college program. Who would have thought coming into the season this guy would be their best player at this point and arguably one of the best bigs in this league? IF he keeps this up he will be making some decent money playing basketball somewhere beyond the G-league soon enough whether it's the NBA Europe or some other international league.

What's up with Patton?

I thought we recalled him but there's no playing time for him with us. Even in our recent blowouts, Thibs plays Gorgui a long time and then goes to Aldrich down the stretch. Actually, I don't think I've seen him on the bench. Am I missing something?

Why not keep that guy in Iowa and get him more playing time? We need to develop that project to see if he was actually worth that pick.

SameOldDrew wrote:What's up with Patton?

I thought we recalled him but there's no playing time for him with us. Even in our recent blowouts, Thibs plays Gorgui a long time and then goes to Aldrich down the stretch. Actually, I don't think I've seen him on the bench. Am I missing something?

Why not keep that guy in Iowa and get him more playing time? We need to develop that project to see if he was actually worth that pick.

He and Anthony brown get called up when Iowa has a break in schedule. Don't worry he is getting restricted minutes down in Iowa because of his injury before the season

Drew, As Kek mentioned, Patton was called up ever so briefly a couple weeks ago but didn't get a chance to play. He was then sent back down to Iowa where he has continued to play consistent minutes. He gets around 15-19 minutes per game and he has played 11 games with them. My sense is that he is going to continue playing in Iowa for the foreseeable future.

I don't know if you have seen the back and forth Monster and I have had on various Iowa Wolves players, but I can tell you that Patton looks far from NBA-ready. He only plays limited minutes and the results are pretty mixed when he does play. In my opinion, he needs to earn more playing time in Iowa and show demonstrable improvement there before we bring him up to the big league club. He will learn more playing meaningful minutes in meaningful games in Iowa than playing minimal garbage time minutes in Minneapolis.

To me, the biggest red flag with him is his lack of motor....Yikes!

Q12543 wrote:Drew, As Kek mentioned, Patton was called up ever so briefly a couple weeks ago but didn't get a chance to play. He was then sent back down to Iowa where he has continued to play consistent minutes. He gets around 15-19 minutes per game and he has played 11 games with them. My sense is that he is going to continue playing in Iowa for the foreseeable future.

I don't know if you have seen the back and forth Monster and I have had on various Iowa Wolves players, but I can tell you that Patton looks far from NBA-ready. He only plays limited minutes and the results are pretty mixed when he does play. In my opinion, he needs to earn more playing time in Iowa and show demonstrable improvement there before we bring him up to the big league club. He will learn more playing meaningful minutes in meaningful games in Iowa than playing minimal garbage time minutes in Minneapolis.

To me, the biggest red flag with him is his lack of motor....Yikes!

Ugh, yeah, I skimmed over your back and forth, but I wasn't sure where he was now.

My man OG hasn't exactly been ripping it up, although I love his defense, and getting a guy like him or even trading down to nab Bell, Ojeleye, or Bolden would have given us a versatile forward who could potentially take Bjelly's role but with more defense (leading to a much bigger impact on the team than basic stats can measure). We need an athletic versatile 3 and D guy who can guard multiple positions and stretch the floor without needing many shots rather than another center. It's a real crapshoot, especially after the lottery, but you might as well get a guy who fits where the league is going and what our team needs are. We all broke down how statistically impressive John Collins was in college, and Lip's arguments on that guy are persuasive, but I can see the argument against a player like that given that we already have plenty of good scoring big men who can operate down low, and Collins can't really stretch the floor and isn't known as a great defender. I'd rather have a great role player like Bell or OG (assuming they keep developing as they seem to be). But I'd rather have ANY of those guys than Patton. Just doesn't make sense to have drafted him with Towns and G. already on the roster. Sigh.

SameOldNudityDrew wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Drew, As Kek mentioned, Patton was called up ever so briefly a couple weeks ago but didn't get a chance to play. He was then sent back down to Iowa where he has continued to play consistent minutes. He gets around 15-19 minutes per game and he has played 11 games with them. My sense is that he is going to continue playing in Iowa for the foreseeable future.

I don't know if you have seen the back and forth Monster and I have had on various Iowa Wolves players, but I can tell you that Patton looks far from NBA-ready. He only plays limited minutes and the results are pretty mixed when he does play. In my opinion, he needs to earn more playing time in Iowa and show demonstrable improvement there before we bring him up to the big league club. He will learn more playing meaningful minutes in meaningful games in Iowa than playing minimal garbage time minutes in Minneapolis.

To me, the biggest red flag with him is his lack of motor....Yikes!

Ugh, yeah, I skimmed over your back and forth, but I wasn't sure where he was now.

My man OG hasn't exactly been ripping it up, although I love his defense, and getting a guy like him or even trading down to nab Bell, Ojeleye, or Bolden would have given us a versatile forward who could potentially take Bjelly's role but with more defense (leading to a much bigger impact on the team than basic stats can measure). We need an athletic versatile 3 and D guy who can guard multiple positions and stretch the floor without needing many shots rather than another center. It's a real crapshoot, especially after the lottery, but you might as well get a guy who fits where the league is going and what our team needs are. We all broke down how statistically impressive John Collins was in college, and Lip's arguments on that guy are persuasive, but I can see the argument against a player like that given that we already have plenty of good scoring big men who can operate down low, and Collins can't really stretch the floor and isn't known as a great defender. I'd rather have a great role player like Bell or OG (assuming they keep developing as they seem to be). But I'd rather have ANY of those guys than Patton. Just doesn't make sense to have drafted him with Towns and G. already on the roster. Sigh.

Yeah, not sure what the logic was other than Thibs playing a long game. I was fine with it simply because I wanted a rotation where we FINALLY didn't have to rely on a rookie for anything. Now I realize this particular rookie class has been really special, but we were coming off of years of having to try to integrate rookies into our rotation (Shabazz and Dieng; then Wiggins and LaVine; then KAT and Tyus; then Dunn) and they seemed to always be net minuses, even if they showed signs of promise.