Minnesota Sports Forum

coolbreeze44 wrote:

Camden wrote:

coolbreeze44 wrote:

Camden wrote:

coolbreeze44 wrote:

Camden wrote:Okafor looked just okay in the first half today. 4 points on 2-2 shooting, but just didn't get it going until the latter half. Second half, he played bully ball, he showed finesse and footwork. Still showed that he's not going to make an impact on defense. Rather stay out of foul trouble than contest shots at the rim. Overall a good performance. What you see is what you get with him, in my opinion. A potentially dominant low post scorer, good rebounder and a mediocre defender.

Stanley struggled a bit today. He was getting to the rim at will, which was impressive, just had too many layup attempts roll all around the rim without going down. Had a potential and-one basket roll out late when they needed it the most and you could see how exhausted he looked because of it. Otherwise he was decent. Knocked down a couple threes. Made the right passes out of the post when doubled. Got in foul trouble, but still managed to play smart and make an impact. Hopefully he bounces back.

Yeah but Cam, you think Thad is a good defender.

I do. And you think he's the worst defender in franchise history. We're so far apart in our view of Young that it's mindless to keep bringing it up. It was just a week or two ago you said he was an embarrassment on both ends of the floor. You hate Thad Young. We get it.

Are you going to say he wasn't an embarrassment on both ends of the floor?

I think your posts in this thread are getting us off course. You're searching for a Thad Young argument, and I've had a large number of them already. Do remember you told me to go fuck myself. So, quite frankly, they get tiresome. I've said my thoughts on him as a player. If you haven't comprehended them, well, that's on you.

I'm getting us off course? Who has to read your senseless drivel about Young every goddam day?
"Oh, Thad had his hands up on defense, excellent work by him".

Fuck, I've never been so pissed off at anybody on this board.

Go to sleep. You're acting like a child.

I didn't think I clicked on a Thad young discussion thread? Am I drunk, did I forget how to read, are two people bickering like old ladies, or is someone else drunk and attempting to bait someone into a bitch fight? I can't quite figure it out...

In Karl Towns' last two games, he's played 31 minutes in both of them.

vs UGA: 15 pts (6-11 FG, 3-3 FT), 13 rebs, 3 ast, 2 blk

@ FLA: 19 pts (6-10 FG, 7-7 FT), 8 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk

Seems like Calipari's loosening up his reigns on Towns just a bit and the big guy's responded well. Towns was the best player on the court tonight for either team. Gobbling up tough rebounds and finishing through double teams. Basically, he played like a man's man.

At best I can see someone saying he's above average. Rebounds are an important factor in defense especially at PF. For me, in order for someone to be a GOOD defender they should be able to hold their own against everyone else at their position and Thad simply can't do that.

I agree with you quite a bit, but you have been thumping the Thad horn a lot lately so Cool has a point there. In general I think you overrate Thad a bit, but I see him as a good role player to have off the bench with his ability to score in different ways, play both PF/SF and decent passing. He just doesn't make sense starting next to either of our C's if we can help it.

If Towns continues to improve and ends up here would you want Thad starting over him?

TheGrey08 wrote:At best I can see someone saying he's above average. Rebounds are an important factor in defense especially at PF. For me, in order for someone to be a GOOD defender they should be able to hold their own against everyone else at their position and Thad simply can't do that.

I agree with you quite a bit, but you have been thumping the Thad horn a lot lately so Cool has a point there. In general I think you overrate Thad a bit, but I see him as a good role player to have off the bench with his ability to score in different ways, play both PF/SF and decent passing. He just doesn't make sense starting next to either of our C's if we can help it.

If Towns continues to improve and ends up here would you want Thad starting over him?

I get the significance of rebounding, but Thad does do a lot of good things on defense, including hold his own against others at his position. He needs to be paired with a guy that can clean up the glass. We know that.

I'm not sure if anyone's realized this, but if I don't bring up Thad in a positive manner in those GDT threads, nobody will. Why? I have no idea. This board is funny about making Young the scapegoat for everything. Some nights he deserved it, but more often than not it was unjustified. And lately, he's been a very productive player! The other night he played good in a WIN and still received little to no credit. Hell, bleed said Z-Bo just didn't wanna score on Thad and that's why he didn't. Come on. I sound like a broken record now. Give credit where credit is due. For the large part, this forum is incapable of doing that with him. So, yes, I intentionally toot his horn when he plays well. And as it looks, I was correct in saying we'd see the real Thad Young when he had some help around him.

And I'm a big Towns fan, as you know. I'd want him thrown in the fire immediately. Also, I'd be interested in seeing a Rubio - Wiggins - Young - Towns - Pekovic lineup if that was the case. We'd be really big and still have Martin - Muhammad - Dieng off the bench.

Thad gets criticized because he is the second highest paid player on the team at 9 million, yet he needs other players to make him both try hard and play well. That's not ok. Nobody else on the team makes more than 6.8 million other than Pek and while Pek is constantly injured, he is typically a very consistent player on the court no matter who he is playing with. Nobody but you cares about Thad because everybody but you has realized he doesn't fit on this team and should go elsewhere so we can get a better fit. Thad has been the scapegoat for everything because he and Mo have been the only 2 veterans playing significant minutes during some of the worst basketball in this franchise's history. Mo makes significantly less and we know that he is just a backup PG who can shoot you in or out of a game on any night, but Thad was supposed to be a veteran leader on this team and he shut it down until his good teammates came back. You seem to think everything he does well makes up for everything he lacks, but it simply doesn't. He doesn't fit defensively, he can't rebound at all and he doesn't stretch the floor. How does 14 PPG and 1.8 SPG cover his ass for all of that? You always talk about his production versus his man, but he is one of the worst help defenders and team defenders I have ever seen. He doesn't challenge anything at the basket and doesn't help any of his teammates out who do put up a fight by boxing their guy out. He spends so much time watching the play happen when it isn't his guy who has the ball that makes him a huge negative on that end. Love got a pass from me for his faults because he was elite in multiple areas (scoring, rebounding, shooting for a big and his outlet passing). Thad does nothing at an elite level except maybe be a successful gambler on the defensive end so I don't give him a pass for his faults like you are willing to overlook like they aren't that big of a deal.

Camden wrote:In Karl Towns' last two games, he's played 31 minutes in both of them.

vs UGA: 15 pts (6-11 FG, 3-3 FT), 13 rebs, 3 ast, 2 blk

@ FLA: 19 pts (6-10 FG, 7-7 FT), 8 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk

Seems like Calipari's loosening up his reigns on Towns just a bit and the big guy's responded well. Towns was the best player on the court tonight for either team. Gobbling up tough rebounds and finishing through double teams. Basically, he played like a man's man.

Very good to see. I'm rooting for all these prospects to play well. I'd love nothing more than for Flip to have a really hard decision to make.

Kaminsky had an average game last night. I think he'll continue to get overlooked because he's a senior.

But I think he'd be a great bench big. A poor man's Serge Ibaka?

lloydbraun wrote:Kaminsky had an average game last night. I think he'll continue to get overlooked because he's a senior.

But I think he'd be a great bench big. A poor man's Serge Ibaka?

I see him as a better Spencer hawes personally. I Think he would be a great bench big too.

Camden wrote:
I get the significance of rebounding, but Thad does do a lot of good things on defense, including hold his own against others at his position. He needs to be paired with a guy that can clean up the glass. We know that.

I'm not sure if anyone's realized this, but if I don't bring up Thad in a positive manner in those GDT threads, nobody will. Why? I have no idea. This board is funny about making Young the scapegoat for everything. Some nights he deserved it, but more often than not it was unjustified. And lately, he's been a very productive player! The other night he played good in a WIN and still received little to no credit. Hell, bleed said Z-Bo just didn't wanna score on Thad and that's why he didn't. Come on. I sound like a broken record now. Give credit where credit is due. For the large part, this forum is incapable of doing that with him. So, yes, I intentionally toot his horn when he plays well. And as it looks, I was correct in saying we'd see the real Thad Young when he had some help around him.

And I'm a big Towns fan, as you know. I'd want him thrown in the fire immediately. Also, I'd be interested in seeing a Rubio - Wiggins - Young - Towns - Pekovic lineup if that was the case. We'd be really big and still have Martin - Muhammad - Dieng off the bench.

He may do some good things on D, but he does some bad things too and those offset for me. He doesn't do enough good things on D to swing the pendulum enough to call him a good defender IMO.

I've seen people mention his better play a few times of late. Probably not enough, I get that, but he played SO bad for much of the season it's hard to jump on that bandwagon. He definitely has played better which is great, but I still don't see him fitting as starting PF with anyone we have or may bring in. I don't mind seeing him start at SF some, but definitely not PF. I like him off the bench at either PF or SF if his salary comes down from that 9-10 mill.

As for the Grizz game, yeah he had a good night, but I'm not going to act like Z Bo was playing anywhere near the top of his game. I'm not saying that Thad didn't affect him and play well against him, just that Z Bo looked bad on his own and didn't really need any help to do so lol.