Minnesota Sports Forum

Small ball is used by most teams because their 5 most skilled players happen to be conventional guards and wings. But when your best players include big players with guard skills, NOW you have a big advantage. LeBron and Durant are two of the best examples of this.

I view Lauri as much more mobile than you guys I don't see a statue at all. I've said before that I think he can drive just like belly can and unlike a lot of these other Statue Shooters you compare him to

khans2k5 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Saw a tweet quoting Thibs that he wants a tough, shot blocking center next to KAT. That should all but end the Markkanen talk as he is none of the above lol. Again, nothing but the best from Chad Ford tying us to another stretch 4 because he has no information regarding who our team actually wants.

So either Thibs wants to zig when everybody else is zagging... or he's really behind the times.

How can you say he's behind the times when very good teams like LAC, Utah, SA and Memphis are built like that? GS is the only successful small ball team in the league. Teams like SA and CLE only bust it out when it's needed against GS. Otherwise they play 2 bigs most of the time. Small ball is overrated as a necessary way to build. Only 3 teams are good at it in the whole league and they happen to have most of the best players in the league to do it at such a high level. Just because they are the 3 best teams right now doesn't mean that's the only way to build your team. Plenty of other successful teams who just haven't won titles still play a rim protecting center and 2 bigs in general.

Utah found more success this season with Joe Johnson playing some small-ball 4. Memphis started the transition with Randolph coming off the bench. San Antonio is a classic zig/zag team (can't dispute their results).

I simply think that Towns is a transcendent player as a stretch 5 who can exploit any matchup at any time. For a team already dismal defensively, I don't see how bringing in a 7-footer to guard in space is going to help on that end.

I do believe, however, that Markkenan can do some things offensively if his outside shot is legit. I just think there's a limit there in a lot of matchups if he can't exploit smaller players guarding him.

BloopOracle wrote:I view Lauri as much more mobile than you guys I don't see a statue at all

It's not that he's a statue. Can he get around other 4's who guard him on the perimeter or post up 3's who guard him? That's the skillset that matters. These are NBA athletes, not D1 college players. Mobility in college looks a lot different than the pros. Can he hang with either on the other end of the court as well? If he can't, then he doesn't have NBA mobility and will become a statue on the perimeter.

khans2k5 wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:I view Lauri as much more mobile than you guys I don't see a statue at all

It's not that he's a statue. Can he get around other 4's who guard him on the perimeter or post up 3's who guard him? That's the skillset that matters. These are NBA athletes, not D1 college players. Mobility in college looks a lot different than the pros. Can he hang with either on the other end of the court as well? If he can't, then he doesn't have NBA mobility and will become a statue on the perimeter.

khans2k5 wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:I view Lauri as much more mobile than you guys I don't see a statue at all

If you don't think he can easily blow by NBA 4's I don't know what to tell you it's stated in pretty much every scouting video. I don't need a lesson on college ball either, the scouts are the ones saying he can blow by 4's in the videos. Markkanen is ranked this high for a reason guys despite how bad you want to typecast him with players shorter, less agile, and have a slow release.

BloopOracle wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:

60WinTim wrote:Smoke Screen!!!

Alan Horton? @WolvesRadio 2m2 minutes ago
More
Thibs wouldn't comment on specific players but when asked about Markkanen he smiled & said "shooting is one of our needs."

hmm he must be able to tell the difference between a unique 7 foot agile 3 point shooter and lazy comparisons to other white 3 point shooters who arent nearly as tall or agile like Ryan Anderson and Adam Morrison. Says something about how rare Markkanen is when you have to reach that far back in time

Whether Markkenan is 6'9" or 7'6"... it doesn't matter if (1) he can't hurt smaller guys on the block... (2) can't defend smaller guys on the perimeter.

It matters when they can't defend him on the other end, the smaller guy has to play defense too

Yes. That's part of my point. Maybe Markkenan can shoot over everybody on the perimeter. But guys, even with a height disadvantage, can take away some of his outside shooting prowess by overplaying him out there.

That's why he needs to be able to be able to hurt those types of guys inside so teams can't simply go small vs. the Wolves and negate Markkenan offensively and exploit him defensively.

I don't see them affecting a quick release from a 7 footer very well, thats why I think the Ryan Anderson claims are ridiculous. Of course you can play a wing on a 6'8 dude. Ryan also has an extremely slow release as well, not as bad as Gorgui but it is subpar.

That doesn't seem to jive with literally hundreds of comments about Ryan Anderson's shot from NBA professional scouts, coaches, players and even writers.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Saw a tweet quoting Thibs that he wants a tough, shot blocking center next to KAT. That should all but end the Markkanen talk as he is none of the above lol. Again, nothing but the best from Chad Ford tying us to another stretch 4 because he has no information regarding who our team actually wants.

So either Thibs wants to zig when everybody else is zagging... or he's really behind the times.

How can you say he's behind the times when very good teams like LAC, Utah, SA and Memphis are built like that? GS is the only successful small ball team in the league. Teams like SA and CLE only bust it out when it's needed against GS. Otherwise they play 2 bigs most of the time. Small ball is overrated as a necessary way to build. Only 3 teams are good at it in the whole league and they happen to have most of the best players in the league to do it at such a high level. Just because they are the 3 best teams right now doesn't mean that's the only way to build your team. Plenty of other successful teams who just haven't won titles still play a rim protecting center and 2 bigs in general.

Utah found more success this season with Joe Johnson playing some small-ball 4. Memphis started the transition with Randolph coming off the bench. San Antonio is a classic zig/zag team (can't dispute their results).

I simply think that Towns is a transcendent player as a stretch 5 who can exploit any matchup at any time. For a team already dismal defensively, I don't see how bringing in a 7-footer to guard in space is going to help on that end.

I do believe, however, that Markkenan can do some things offensively if his outside shot is legit. I just think there's a limit there in a lot of matchups if he can't exploit smaller players guarding him.

If Towns can't defend the rim as the 5, then we have almost no chance at ever being successful and so far he's been garbage protecting the rim without KG playing next to him. Towns should be a 5, but if he doesn't step it up as a rim protector someone else needs to be put there even if it means taking away some of his mismatch potential on the offensive end. Defense starts at the rim. It won't matter how big of a mismatch he is at the 5 if we can't stop anyone on the other end. That's why the Warriors/Cavs series wasn't close. GS could protect the rim with Durant and Green and Cleveland was giving up good look after good look at the rim. Those small ball lineups work best with a guy who can protect the rim aka Green, Gasol, Gobert, etc. If Towns is gonna be a matador it just won't work here and I don't think we should risk another season of bad defense in hopes he gets it and starts challenging people at the rim.

BloopOracle wrote:I view Lauri as much more mobile than you guys I don't see a statue at all. I've said before that I think he can drive just like belly can and unlike a lot of these other Statue Shooters you compare him to

I agree with that. I was quite surprised how well he moves. I think he is a unique player. If rebounding/defense is the biggest long term need at the 4 he may not be that player. But he certainly seems athletic for his size.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:

60WinTim wrote:Smoke Screen!!!

Alan Horton? @WolvesRadio 2m2 minutes ago
More
Thibs wouldn't comment on specific players but when asked about Markkanen he smiled & said "shooting is one of our needs."

hmm he must be able to tell the difference between a unique 7 foot agile 3 point shooter and lazy comparisons to other white 3 point shooters who arent nearly as tall or agile like Ryan Anderson and Adam Morrison. Says something about how rare Markkanen is when you have to reach that far back in time

Whether Markkenan is 6'9" or 7'6"... it doesn't matter if (1) he can't hurt smaller guys on the block... (2) can't defend smaller guys on the perimeter.

It matters when they can't defend him on the other end, the smaller guy has to play defense too

Yes. That's part of my point. Maybe Markkenan can shoot over everybody on the perimeter. But guys, even with a height disadvantage, can take away some of his outside shooting prowess by overplaying him out there.

That's why he needs to be able to be able to hurt those types of guys inside so teams can't simply go small vs. the Wolves and negate Markkenan offensively and exploit him defensively.

I don't see them affecting a quick release from a 7 footer very well, thats why I think the Ryan Anderson claims are ridiculous. Of course you can play a wing on a 6'8 dude. Ryan also has an extremely slow release as well, not as bad as Gorgui but it is subpar.

That doesn't seem to jive with literally hundreds of comments about Ryan Anderson's shot from NBA professional scouts, coaches, players and even writers.

You mean where they compliment him on his granny style shooting? If you want to look in a bubble and compare his release to 2008 PF's with scouting reports yes it was fast. Look at him shoot now with how he has to bring the ball down and then raise up every time to shoot and tell me that's fast.

thedoper wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:I view Lauri as much more mobile than you guys I don't see a statue at all. I've said before that I think he can drive just like belly can and unlike a lot of these other Statue Shooters you compare him to

I agree with that. I was quite surprised how well he moves. I think he is a unique player. If rebounding/defense is the biggest long term need at the 4 he may not be that player. But he certainly seems athletic for his size.

shit he's from Finland, his family has learned for generations how to move with big bodies!