Minnesota Sports Forum

I don't see Flip as being too concerned with positions...he's going to play the guys who work hard, can score, and play D. Bazz only falls short in the D area, and I think his new conditioning and likely improved quickness will help him there. He's still going to be strong enough to guard forwards, and since his wingspan is equal to Love's and Griffin's (and just a half inch shorter than Young), PF minutes are not out of the question when Flip wants to go small. If Shabazz impresses Flip in Mankato, he'll get his minutes.

Camden wrote:"As I said to our staff, all of the (players) here, they better be ready because (Muhammad) is going to be coming into camp with a chip on..

...his shoulder," Saunders said. "He is going to come in with a focus on what he wants to accomplish."

Where is Shabazz going to get minutes, though? He can't play small ball PF now without that bulk. He doesn't really have a SG's game. That puts him at SF, where we have Wiggins, Budinger and Brewer who can play there. Flip supposedly really likes Shabazz, so how is he going to open up minutes for him?

I really like him in a small lineup with Wiggins, Bennett, and Young. That lineup would allow Shabazz to take the easiest defensive assignment for positions 2-4 but offensively he'd be almost certain to be defended by a SF or SG. I'd take his post up game against SG's and most SF's all the time.

The Rage Monster wrote:

Camden wrote:"As I said to our staff, all of the (players) here, they better be ready because (Muhammad) is going to be coming into camp with a chip on..

...his shoulder," Saunders said. "He is going to come in with a focus on what he wants to accomplish."

Where is Shabazz going to get minutes, though? He can't play small ball PF now without that bulk. He doesn't really have a SG's game. That puts him at SF, where we have Wiggins, Budinger and Brewer who can play there. Flip supposedly really likes Shabazz, so how is he going to open up minutes for him?

I really like him in a small lineup with Wiggins, Bennett, and Young. That lineup would allow Shabazz to take the easiest defensive assignment for positions 2-4 but offensively he'd be almost certain to be defended by a SF or SG. I'd take his post up game against SG's and most SF's all the time.

This will never happen. Too weird of a lineup. I'd bet Pek or Dieng is on the floor at all times, if healthy. And if one goes down, Turiaf gets PT.

Camden wrote:

The Rage Monster wrote:

Camden wrote:"As I said to our staff, all of the (players) here, they better be ready because (Muhammad) is going to be coming into camp with a chip on..

...his shoulder," Saunders said. "He is going to come in with a focus on what he wants to accomplish."

Where is Shabazz going to get minutes, though? He can't play small ball PF now without that bulk. He doesn't really have a SG's game. That puts him at SF, where we have Wiggins, Budinger and Brewer who can play there. Flip supposedly really likes Shabazz, so how is he going to open up minutes for him?

I really like him in a small lineup with Wiggins, Bennett, and Young. That lineup would allow Shabazz to take the easiest defensive assignment for positions 2-4 but offensively he'd be almost certain to be defended by a SF or SG. I'd take his post up game against SG's and most SF's all the time.

This will never happen. Too weird of a lineup. I'd bet Pek or Dieng is on the floor at all times, if healthy. And if one goes down, Turiaf gets PT.

That feels like a negative comment...

In my opinion going with a small lineup almost involves using a PF at center so I'm not sure how it's such a weird lineup. We finally have the athletes to allow for some position flexibility so I really hope Flip thinks outside the box and throws some creative lineups out there to exploit some of our opponents weaknesses.

Rage, I have been following the Shabazz discussion to make sure there is no negativity, and I have concluded that there has not been a violation here. I think the opTIMistic take is Flip has so much talent on the roster that it might be difficult for Muhammad to get regular minutes.

As for your proposed small lineup, I actually think it has some promise. If Saunders/Mitchell can get Bennett interested in the defensive side of the ball, he has the length to defend some NBA centers. Heck, there were times the past six years when Kevin Love was playing center with 2 inches less wingspan than AB. I like the idea of the Wolves' making the other team react to them, and a lineup like the one you suggest might force some teams to pull their center off the court if they couldn't keep up with the track meet! I agree with Cam that most of the time Flip will want to have a true center on the court, but that doesn't mean he can't shake things up sometimes and get creative.

Haha thanks for your opTIMistic conclusion!

I agree with everything you said and that is one of the things that has me excited for the season. Who knows how the young guys will do but for the first time in a decade we have the players to force other teams to react to what we'll be doing.

Bazz looks plenty beastly to play as a small ball score in the post PF.

http://www.nba.com/2014/news/08/30/timberwolves-set-record-after-moving-love.ap/

The Wolves sold 300 season ticket packages last week...that is a record for this franchise, breaking the previous record set in 2011 when Rubio announced he was coming over from Spain. Talk about opTIMism!

As the article says, the Wolves have missed the playoffs for ten consecutive years, and they just traded the face of the franchise. The confluence of those two factors should have fans rushing for the exits, not clamoring to buy more tickets. I would argue that this scenario is unprecedented. I can't think of another example of a losing team trading away their star for hope, and the fans jumping on the bandwagon. Why? Two reasons:

1) Wolves' fans have really bought into Flip's plan. They don't necessarily think it is going to happen overnight, but they want to be there when it happens and are willing to be patient.

2) Wolves' fans never bought into the Kevin Love thing. While they appreciated his toughness and ability to put up unbelievable numbers, they never embraced him like fans normally embrace the face of a franchise, and never really believed he was the answer.

This is a truly unique situation we are watching unfold...

That's crazy. Fans really will pay for hope, and this core of young talent has about as much as we could ask for.

That's good news LST. I think had Flip gave in to the first offer for Love, we would have had a completely different fan reaction. Most Wolves fans can see the potential here for a great team in the near future.

I posted an article from the Denver post comparing the Carmelo and Love trades. Remember how much Denver improved after trading Melo AND Billups? I see the same thing happening with this Wolves team.

Bill Simmons would call it The Ewing Theory.