Minnesota Sports Forum

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:Closed circuit to AbeVigodaLive:

Abe, would you care to offer any commentary on the actions displayed in the photo on Page C7 of today's StarTrib?

I apologize, FNG.

Despite all signs that would point to it... I am NOT a 78-year-old suburban man who picked up his Sunday paper at the end of his driveway in his robe this morning.





[Note: But I am a xx-year-old frugal man who refuses to pay for the online StarTribune. Can you share the photo in questino?]

Sharing the photo would require technical skills beyond my abilities. The photo showed our "defensive coach on the court" frantically pointing to an opposing player he wanted a teammate to defend. We can only assume that, out of the frame, D'Angelo's own man was streaking unobstructed toward the basket.

FNG wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:Closed circuit to AbeVigodaLive:

Abe, would you care to offer any commentary on the actions displayed in the photo on Page C7 of today's StarTrib?

I apologize, FNG.

Despite all signs that would point to it... I am NOT a 78-year-old suburban man who picked up his Sunday paper at the end of his driveway in his robe this morning.





[Note: But I am a xx-year-old frugal man who refuses to pay for the online StarTribune. Can you share the photo in questino?]

Sharing the photo would require technical skills beyond my abilities. The photo showed our "defensive coach on the court" frantically pointing to an opposing player he wanted a teammate to defend. We can only assume that, out of the frame, D'Angelo's own man was streaking unobstructed toward the basket.

Ah. Gotcha. Yeah, that might be his trademark.

We don't know for certain... but there have been multiple signs/moments where Russell looks like he's doing that or something similar. And there's nothing more annoying for another basketball player than a loud blowhard teammate who doesn't hold himself accountable.

And let's be honest, these guys care about money... a great deal about money. So I imagine any locker room is stressful when a very very rich man is seen to be ripping others without taking accountability. I imagine it's even worse on losing teams. And I imagine that sort of angst and animosity can destroy a team and make it a less fun and untenable situation.

The thing is that without DLO, we just don't have the offensive firepower and shooting to compete with most teams. The Pelicans were uninspired to say the least. Something is off with that team. Of course with DLO, we aren't really competing either.

However, if one wants to take a longer-term view of building good culture and processes, he seems like one of, oh, may be three or four guys in the league you would tag with the "DO NOT HIRE AT ALL COSTS" label based on his salary burden and Abe's observations of DLO's "leadership" traits. He's like a less extreme version of Kyrie Irving - less dysfunctional than Kyrie, but also less effective as a player.

A realist like me would suggest that the team may not have a better short term record with Rubio/J-Mac as it's two point guards, but that the longer-term development of the culture and system would be on a better trajectory.

FNG wrote:Closed circuit to AbeVigodaLive:

Abe, would you care to offer any commentary on the actions displayed in the photo on Page C7 of today's StarTrib?

FNG - I'm in the same situation as Abe. Could you describe the photo?

lipoli390 wrote:

FNG wrote:Closed circuit to AbeVigodaLive:

Abe, would you care to offer any commentary on the actions displayed in the photo on Page C7 of today's StarTrib?

FNG - I'm in the same situation as Abe. Could you describe the photo?

Probably not the most offensive photo ever, but I immediately thought of Abe because he shares my negative view on DLO directing traffic on defense. The photo is a closeup of DLO pointing to a man he wants a teammate to pick up. It's a very normal thing for a defender to do...Rubio, for instance does it all the time. The irony though is that, unlike Rubio, DLO is about as unaware of team defense as almost anyone I have observed. It bugs me to see him trying to orchestrate the defense while seeming to be oblivious of the proper rotation at the proper time. Physician, heal thyself!

FNG wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

FNG wrote:Closed circuit to AbeVigodaLive:

Abe, would you care to offer any commentary on the actions displayed in the photo on Page C7 of today's StarTrib?

FNG - I'm in the same situation as Abe. Could you describe the photo?

Probably not the most offensive photo ever, but I immediately thought of Abe because he shares my negative view on DLO directing traffic on defense. The photo is a closeup of DLO pointing to a man he wants a teammate to pick up. It's a very normal thing for a defender to do...Rubio, for instance does it all the time. The irony though is that, unlike Rubio, DLO is about as unaware of team defense as almost anyone I have observed. It bugs me to see him trying to orchestrate the defense while seeming to be oblivious of the proper rotation at the proper time. Physician, heal thyself!

I could see where what DLO does in that regard might irritate some of his teammates. Russell apparently has the second worst defensive rating in the League so far this season - second only to Bagley.

We could have a long debate about what qualities you should demand from a max player. While I would throw out a lot of options, leading the league in a significant stat or two, at least for your position, would be one good indicator. And in the midst of another forgettable season, I'm happy to report that both of our max players are league leaders at their position in at least one stat.

KAT: I'm throwing out this season because he hasn't played enough games. But for 2019-20, KAT led all centers in both PPG and made 3-pointers per game. There are aspects of KAT's game that still need development, primarily on the defensive end, but leading in those two stats is certainly significant.

DLO: DLO is much maligned here as a guy who perhaps may not be worthy of a max contract, but I feel the need to report that he is the league leader among guards in one important category: he has the worst +/- of all NBA guards this season at an almost unbelievable -12.4 per game!

Second worst in the league is Derrick White at -10, although he has only played 2 games since returning from an injury and is understandably rusty. Third is our own Ricky Rubio at -7.6 in the midst of his worst season ever (but still almost a net 5 points per game better than our max salary guard. The rest of our guards are also minus except for Nowell and J-Mac, although their impact on the court is nowhere near as negative as DLO's.

Did we really need another negative +/- post about DLO? Maybe not. But when one of your players not only leads his team in a negative stat, but the whole frickin' league, it is worthy of being pointed out...especially when we are paying him almost $30 million a year on a 4-year max contract. And perhaps if the Wolves, and DLO, can turn things around, we can reply to this post in the future as being outdated and unfair.

I hope I can do that...

The Sixers should probably start thinking about trading Ben Simmons very soon. While his other numbers appear to be good, he's performing as well as D'Angelo Russell, Zach LaVine, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in ESPN's Real Plus-Minus statistic. What a bunch of bums.

Camden wrote:The Sixers should probably start thinking about trading Ben Simmons very soon. While his other numbers appear to be good, he's performing as well as D'Angelo Russell, Zach LaVine, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in ESPN's Real Plus-Minus statistic. What a bunch of bums.

Let's hope Rosas is smart enough to make the deal when Philly offers us Simmons straight up for Russell!

Yeah, Simmons doesn't show up very well in ESPN's RPM. But he is still far ahead of our max salary PG even in this measure, even though it appears to be an outlier stat for Simmons this year. Russell on the other hand consistently ranks at or near the bottom in raw +/- for his team and at his position, and I find it alarming that this season he ranks DEAD LAST among all NBA guards as well as last on the T-Wolves You're right that +/- is not the be all and end all of all stats, but to ignore the consistency of Russell's poor +/- performance and focus instead on more individual offensive stats like PPG presents an inflated and distorted picture of DLO's true value to a team. It's impossible for me to ignore that our team is substantially less competitive when DLO is on the court...regardless of what other 4 players are out there with him. That simply has to change for this team to have any chance of success.

https://twitter.com/DaneMooreNBA/status/1357448556722929664

I found this 2 minute discussion between Moore and Robson spot on and consistent with what I've always believed about the DLO trade. Analytically, DLO just doesn't fit the system that Rosas claims to want to play. And yet he is betting that paired with KAT, DLO can become a much more productive player. Because of KAT's injuries/illness, we have only seen them together for 6 games, and the small sample size results have been quite promising. A productive KAT/DLO teaming is the concept Rosas was betting on when he gave up Wiggins and a 1st round pick. Time will tell how this plays out.

But they also hint at the real reason Rosas made this deal. KAT is the undisputed cornerstone of this team, and keeping him happy is an absolute necessity if this franchise is going to have any chance. I never sensed any animosity between KAT and Wig, but they also never seemed particularly close...and they certainly weren't effective playing together. So trading for KAT's best friend was likely a necessary move, both to keep KAT happy, but also to perhaps find a playing partner that would work better than KAT/Wig. I hope we soon get the opportunity to see if this gamble works out.