longstrangetrip wrote:0-4 now with Rubio nursing the "mild hammy". Today I think most would agree that Zach and Andre were just fine at the point offensively, but a LaVine/Miller rotation at PG is just not going to be as strong defensively as a Rubio/LaVine rotation. Memphis was last in the league in shooting before the game, but today they shot 56% and 53% on threes! Some of it is just Memphis progressing up to the mean, but some if it was the Wolves leaving jump shooters open. That just doesn't happen if Ricky is starting at PG, as we saw the first 6 games of the year.
I was surprised that Sam substituted Miller in for Bazz down by one point with 4 minutes to go, and the results were predictably not good. While Zach had a good matchup in the 4th quarter Friday with little George Hill, I think he's overmatched against a brawnier, tougher Tony Allen. He took a lot of shots and made some, but as others have noted, some of them were poor choices. Miller/LaVine looked good together Friday night, but Sam made the wrong choice today, and the minus 7 for the pairing was predictable. Tony Allen can make even experienced SF's make bad decisions, so I don't know why Sam thought that was a good end of game matchup for Zach.
Miller had played really well all game I think that was why he put him in. You make a good point though about matchups.
He scored and assisted well (as he always will...he's still a cagey offensive player), but his gambling and poor footwork really hurt us on defense. I found his defense painful to watch today...there's a reason he was a -17.
Don't get me wrong, monster...I like Miller and prefer to see him over Tyus as the backup PG while Rubio is out. But he's not the PG you want on the court when you need stops.
longstrangetrip wrote:Yeah, Martin was terrible. Gorgui had a good game though, and Wiggins continues to be aggressive out there...he's had five terrific games since getting called out by Ricky. He's a stud.
If we can get Rubio back, I think this team is going to be pretty good.
"If we can get ______back we are going to be pretty good..." yuck I am tired of reading this and typing it every year. It's just so disheartening.
I'm a big Rubio fan and even I'm getting sick of it.
I typed it, and it even made me a little sick...sorry, guys :oops: .
longstrangetrip wrote:Yeah, Martin was terrible. Gorgui had a good game though, and Wiggins continues to be aggressive out there...he's had five terrific games since getting called out by Ricky. He's a stud.
If we can get Rubio back, I think this team is going to be pretty good.
"If we can get ______back we are going to be pretty good..." yuck I am tired of reading this and typing it every year. It's just so disheartening.
I'm a big Rubio fan and even I'm getting sick of it.
I typed it, and it even made me a little sick...sorry, guys :oops: .
I wasn't saying you shouldn't say it, it is true, just that I'm getting sick of saying it myself.
longstrangetrip wrote:0-4 now with Rubio nursing the "mild hammy". Today I think most would agree that Zach and Andre were just fine at the point offensively, but a LaVine/Miller rotation at PG is just not going to be as strong defensively as a Rubio/LaVine rotation. Memphis was last in the league in shooting before the game, but today they shot 56% and 53% on threes! Some of it is just Memphis progressing up to the mean, but some if it was the Wolves leaving jump shooters open. That just doesn't happen if Ricky is starting at PG, as we saw the first 6 games of the year.
I was surprised that Sam substituted Miller in for Bazz down by one point with 4 minutes to go, and the results were predictably not good. While Zach had a good matchup in the 4th quarter Friday with little George Hill, I think he's overmatched against a brawnier, tougher Tony Allen. He took a lot of shots and made some, but as others have noted, some of them were poor choices. Miller/LaVine looked good together Friday night, but Sam made the wrong choice today, and the minus 7 for the pairing was predictable. Tony Allen can make even experienced SF's make bad decisions, so I don't know why Sam thought that was a good end of game matchup for Zach.
Miller had played really well all game I think that was why he put him in. You make a good point though about matchups.
He scored and assisted well (as he always will...he's still a cagey offensive player), but his gambling and poor footwork really hurt us on defense. I found his defense painful to watch today...there's a reason he was a -17.
Don't get me wrong, monster...I like Miller and prefer to see him over Tyus as the backup PG while Rubio is out. But he's not the PG you want on the court when you need stops.
The reality is the only PG we have to really get stops when it matters was in street clothes today.
- Effing Memphis coming into this game was pretty much last in all the shooting stats and then they come in and knock down everything. And a lot of those 3's were contested too. Argh!
- The good news is that it looks like Zach's shot is on track (gee, may be that's why a lot of us want him to be a shooting guard) and Andrew had another efficient scoring night as well. Both these guys take some tough-ass shots though. At least Zach gets 3's up in volume, but Wiggins takes a lot of long pull-up 2's off the dribble and he rarely makes them. Either pull the trigger from 3 or try to get all the way to the hoop young fella!
- Dieng did some good things out there, but he still hasn't learned how to square up on people driving to the hoop. How many times does he have to whiff on block attempts before he learns to stop giving up driving lanes by opening up his hips!?
- Martin had another stinker of a game. If Zach continues to shoot and score like this, it definitely makes Martin all the more moveable.
- KAT is coming down to earth at bit. He had a solid game, but not the type of star-struck performances we saw earlier. That's fine....he's learning and went up against one of the best today.
- I thought overall the team put in a pretty good effort defensively, but Memphis made a bunch of long 2's and contested 3's. Like I said in the beginning....so frustrating!
- Can we win a home game some day!? Whatever happened to home court advantage? Teams love to come into Target Center.
Q there are times Dieng does a really good job containing then there are other times. I think he has had more times where he does better than he did last year going against guards because he gets lower in a stance. I think you were the one to first call him the Corey Brewer of centers. His upside is probably a little higher than that but we have seen Brewer be a very effective player. That's what I see Dieng as being though and that could be really useful. He has been really really active on the boards going all out after balls the last few games.
