Preseason GDT: Timberwolves at Nuggets

[FNG]

Gotta admit that was fun. Yeah, Nowell has some talent. And Bolmaro has a future, I think. Footwork looks like McDaniels long ago when he was young and good.

I'm in kinda a good mood right now, so I'll save my comments on our starters...

[Lipoli390]

I've been high on Nowell since he entered the NBA draft and I was thrilled the Wolves got him in the 2nd round. He's always been a scorer and he'll be one in the NBA. He's smart, plays hard and defends. He came out of college after only two years and he played in the G-League for almost his entire rookie season. He's about to start only his third NBA season. We just need to be patient. He'll be fine.

[kekgeek]

Kekgeek individual player grades:
Dlo- C- (would of been a D without the last 2 3s)
Edwards: B
McDaniels: D+
Vanderbilt: C
Kat: C+
Beverley: B
Beasley: C-
Okogie: A
Prince: B+
Naz: B+
Jmac: A+
Layman: B+
Nowell: B-
Bolmaro: A-
Knight: C
Wright: C

Team offense: C-
Team Defense: B+
Overall: B

Solid win and showed off that the Wolves don't have a player in my opinion that is unplayable

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Jaylen Nowell is doing the most with these late game minutes. The kid is definitely talented.

He served me right for ripping him earlier; he took over the game late. But.....12 points on 12 shots. In the regular course of action he still misses just too many goddamn open 3's. That's supposed to be his biggest strength and he has yet to show any kind of consistency from outside.

[Lipoli390]

Jaylen Nowell is doing the most with these late game minutes. The kid is definitely talented.

He served me right for ripping him earlier; he took over the game late. But.....12 points on 12 shots. In the regular course of action he still misses just too many goddamn open 3's. That's supposed to be his biggest strength and he has yet to show any kind of consistency from outside.

He'll get there, Q. I'm not worried about Nowell. I'm more concerned about some of our starters. And how about Okogie? Is this the real Okogie - the guy we thought we might be getting when Thibodeau drafted him, namely a 38% three-point shooter who could defend? If this is the Okogie we can expect to see in the regular season, that's a big positive for this team.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Kekgeek individual player grades:
Dlo- C- (would of been a D without the last 2 3s)
Edwards: B
McDaniels: D+
Vanderbilt: C
Kat: C+
Beverley: B
Beasley: C-
Okogie: A
Prince: B+
Naz: B+
Jmac: A+
Layman: B+
Nowell: B-
Bolmaro: A-
Knight: C
Wright: C

Team offense: C-
Team Defense: B+
Overall: B

Solid win and showed off that the Wolves don't have a player in my opinion that is unplayable

I think Wright and may be Knight are unplayable against non G-league NBA players. Knight, for being a smart guy, makes a lot of stupid fouls and does other dumb things like block the ball out of bounds when he could easily do otherwise. And Wright has minimal playmaking or shooting skills. He's a point guard in title only.

Don't really disagree with your grades though. I'd may be give Edwards a C+ or B-. Our starters got crushed for the most part by Denver's starters so hard to give any of those guys a decent grade.

McDaniels hasn't looked very good on either end unfortunately.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Jaylen Nowell is doing the most with these late game minutes. The kid is definitely talented.

He served me right for ripping him earlier; he took over the game late. But.....12 points on 12 shots. In the regular course of action he still misses just too many goddamn open 3's. That's supposed to be his biggest strength and he has yet to show any kind of consistency from outside.

He'll get there, Q. I'm not worried about Nowell. I'm more concerned about some of our starters. And how about Okogie? Is this the real Okogie - the guy we thought we might be getting when Thibodeau drafted him, namely a 38% three-point shooter who could defend? If this is the Okogie we can expect to see in the regular season, that's a big positive for this team.

We'll see on Nowell. He's on year 3 with 2 years of college. And his development has been almost textbook in terms of getting plenty of reps in the G-league, summer league, and then getting worked for some regular rotation minutes. While he has some decent all-around game, he's paid to do one thing above average and that's shoot the ball. We're really going to need him if Edwards or Beasley get hurt.

Okogie has been impressive. He's kind of like Vando where if you narrow down his role enough and have shooters and other talent around him, he can provide some decent value.

[Lipoli390]

Jaylen Nowell is doing the most with these late game minutes. The kid is definitely talented.

He served me right for ripping him earlier; he took over the game late. But.....12 points on 12 shots. In the regular course of action he still misses just too many goddamn open 3's. That's supposed to be his biggest strength and he has yet to show any kind of consistency from outside.

He'll get there, Q. I'm not worried about Nowell. I'm more concerned about some of our starters. And how about Okogie? Is this the real Okogie - the guy we thought we might be getting when Thibodeau drafted him, namely a 38% three-point shooter who could defend? If this is the Okogie we can expect to see in the regular season, that's a big positive for this team.

We'll see on Nowell. He's on year 3 with 2 years of college. And his development has been almost textbook in terms of getting plenty of reps in the G-league, summer league, and then getting worked for some regular rotation minutes. While he has some decent all-around game, he's paid to do one thing above average and that's shoot the ball. We're really going to need him if Edwards or Beasley get hurt.

Okogie has been impressive. He's kind of like Vando where if you narrow down his role enough and have shooters and other talent around him, he can provide some decent value.

Q - You refer to 2 years of college as if it's a lot. There was a time not too long ago when entering the NBA draft after 3 years of college was considered considered too soon - something that only players like Michael Jordan dared do. Chauncey Billups came to the NBA after 2 years of college and it took him more than three NBA seasons bouncing around from team to team before his game came together. Let's at least see where Nowell is a couple months into the regular season of his third year before we get too frustrated. I agree that he'll be important to this team if Edwards or Beasley gets hurt. So like you, I'm anxious to see Nowell become a more consistent shooter. But I won't start to worry or get frustrated unless we're seeing the same level of inconsistently from him in January. I'll give him a few months of regular season games to get his shooting on track.

[Leado01]

Quick against the grain comment. Jake Laymen looked good

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Quick against the grain comment. Jake Laymen looked good

Jake is a reliable 3-point shot away from being a really valuable hybrid forward off the bench. But that's been kind of the story with a bunch of guys that have come through this franchise.