Sure to piss off the forum

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Thanks for posting that article Carlos. Soooo, Zgoda wasn't just spitballing this thing - it's really happening!

Mitchell mentioned in the article all these ideas that he had in his head coming into camp and then having to change things once he saw things in live action. Well, no shit sherlock!!! That's why you keep those things in your head instead of spouting off about them in a radio interview and making commitments to players before a single pre-season game has been played!

I get the logic of moving Wiggins to the 2 and I kind of like it. That creates a domino effect though in which the only way Zach gets playing time is at the 1, which is frankly, not in anyone's long-term interest. I'm really hoping the end game here is that Martin gets traded for a decent asset (not a dump - a real trade where we get something of value in return!) and we can move Zach as Wiggins' backup at the 2. He has absolutely no clue how to play PG in the NBA.

[TheFuture]

The "he's a better NBA coach than any posters on the forum" argument means very little when we discuss why starting 35-year old Tayshaun Prince is a dumbass move on any team, but especially the Minnesota Timberwolves who have Kevin Martin, 20-year old Zach LaVine and 22-year old Shabazz Muhammad as alternative choices. I don't need a Coach of the Year trophy to know that is a mistake just like I didn't need a flawless understanding of the corner offense to know Rick Adelman benching Ricky Rubio for J.J. Barea in fourth quarters two seasons ago was as foolish a move as they come. Spare me.

David Khan and Kurt Rambis also know more about basketball then the rest of us, but I think we can all agree that they are bad at their basketball jobs

Ha, excellent point, alex! Although I guess I would argue that Kahn never coached and probably never played, so almost all of us likely know more about basketball than he does. Hiring him was just a gigantic Glen blunder.

And Cool, I definitely hear where you're coming from. This would be a very dull board if we all simply agreed with every move management ever made. I was certainly as vocal as most in criticizing Adelman, even though all of my basketball knowledge would easily fit in his coat pocket.

The reason I'm giving Sam the benefit of the doubt on this move is as follows:

1) Defense has been the main issue with this team the past few years, and Sam is trying to make a mark for himself by changing the defensive culture. I have always been a defense-first kind of guy, and support that wholeheartedly. I'm willing to give him some latitude here after suffering so long watching Flip's defenses.

2) While the Prince detractors talk about how our offense is really going to struggle with him in the lineup instead of Bazz, Zach or Martin, I'm not sure they are paying attention to how inept that trio has been offensively in preseason. Prince has been much more efficient on offense than any of the three the first 6 games...in fact, he has the best TS% and eFG% on the team in preseason. Bazz had a great offensive game last night, but in the first 6 games he is shooting 35% compared to 60% for Tay.

3) We don't know what's happening in practice (other than the first televised one). Once the season starts practice time is relatively limited, but in preseason there is much more time logged in practice than games. Nobody on a 16-win team should be considered a lock to start opening night the next season, and the starting lineup should be based on who performs best in preseason...both in practice and in games. Unless Tay possesses some photos of Sam in an uncompromising situation, I think it's safe to assume that since he has been named the starter, he has probably been outplaying the others on balance on both ends of the court.

Don't worry...I'll be ready to rip Sam if this starting lineup bombs and it's clear that one of the other three should have been getting his minutes. I just haven't seen any evidence in the box scores that any of them has earned it yet.

adelman deserves a leash about 1,000,000,000,000+ the leash that Sam should get...

Also, all these points about preseason are pointless. Preseason is bullshit. You can defend Zach starting at the beginning of this year based on the last month of his play last year, but can't defend him starting at the beginning of this year based on a few preseason games??

[60WinTim]

It's all explained in today's Strib. Like I wrote in the last game thread....Sam's either a genius or a moron:

http://www.startribune.com/wolves-try-to-create-mismatch-with-taller-wiggins-at-shooting-guard/335436771/

Moron.

I don't know, Lip. He still could be a moron, but I feel a whole lot better about the situation after first letting it soak in, and then reading this article.

And let me take the opportunity to say this is one of the best articles Zgoda has put together in a long, long time. Keep it up, Jerry!

And as Q mentioned, if this is successful, Martin just became a whole lot more dispensable. It means Wiggins is your feature wing, ala Kobe Bryant. It puts Zach in a position to develop as a combo guard off the bench. It puts Bazz in a position to get a lot of minutes at SF, with the opportunity to develop into the starting SF.

The new plan has definitely grown on me. Do you think Flip would have ever pursued this course? I don't.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

It's all explained in today's Strib. Like I wrote in the last game thread....Sam's either a genius or a moron:

http://www.startribune.com/wolves-try-to-create-mismatch-with-taller-wiggins-at-shooting-guard/335436771/

Moron.

I don't know, Lip. He still could be a moron, but I feel a whole lot better about the situation after first letting it soak in, and then reading this article.

And let me take the opportunity to say this is one of the best articles Zgoda has put together in a long, long time. Keep it up, Jerry!

And as Q mentioned, if this is successful, Martin just became a whole lot more dispensable. It means Wiggins is your feature wing, ala Kobe Bryant. It puts Zach in a position to develop as a combo guard off the bench. It puts Bazz in a position to get a lot of minutes at SF, with the opportunity to develop into the starting SF.

The new plan has definitely grown on me. Do you think Flip would have ever pursued this course? I don't.

Good point, Tim...Flip sometimes stuck with his plan too long for my taste, even when it was obvious it wasn't working. Sam appears much more willing to tear it all up and try something new. I think Sam is trying to change the culture to one more of accountability than one of entitlement, and those that work hard and put in maximum effort on defense are going to be rewarded. I like that...the soft country club environment is over. Martin and LaVine might have been the two most entitled beneficiaries of Flip's benevolence, continuing to start even when it was apparent Zach wasn't ready and Kevin wasn't willing to play defense. I sense that Sam has rewarded the five guys that have shown they were most on board with his system the past couple weeks, and sent a clear message to Kevin, Zach and Bazz that they have aspects of their games that need to be stepped up.

While I endorse Sam's meritocratic approach, it's troubling to me that Zach, Kavin and Bazz couldn't beat out an aging Tay Prince...doesn't make me very opTIMistic about the upcoming season. I'm going to watch Friday's scrimmage closely to see how this starting unit performs and how the reserves react to their roles, but absent a stunning turnaround in performance, my predicted wins total may drop considerably this weekend.

[Coolbreeze44]

It's all explained in today's Strib. Like I wrote in the last game thread....Sam's either a genius or a moron:

http://www.startribune.com/wolves-try-to-create-mismatch-with-taller-wiggins-at-shooting-guard/335436771/

Moron.

Exactly

[Monster]

It's all explained in today's Strib. Like I wrote in the last game thread....Sam's either a genius or a moron:

http://www.startribune.com/wolves-try-to-create-mismatch-with-taller-wiggins-at-shooting-guard/335436771/

Moron.

I don't know, Lip. He still could be a moron, but I feel a whole lot better about the situation after first letting it soak in, and then reading this article.

And let me take the opportunity to say this is one of the best articles Zgoda has put together in a long, long time. Keep it up, Jerry!

And as Q mentioned, if this is successful, Martin just became a whole lot more dispensable. It means Wiggins is your feature wing, ala Kobe Bryant. It puts Zach in a position to develop as a combo guard off the bench. It puts Bazz in a position to get a lot of minutes at SF, with the opportunity to develop into the starting SF.

The new plan has definitely grown on me. Do you think Flip would have ever pursued this course? I don't.

Good point, Tim...Flip sometimes stuck with his plan too long for my taste, even when it was obvious it wasn't working. Sam appears much more willing to tear it all up and try something new. I think Sam is trying to change the culture to one more of accountability than one of entitlement, and those that work hard and put in maximum effort on defense are going to be rewarded. I like that...the soft country club environment is over. Martin and LaVine might have been the two most entitled beneficiaries of Flip's benevolence, continuing to start even when it was apparent Zach wasn't ready and Kevin wasn't willing to play defense. I sense that Sam has rewarded the five guys that have shown they were most on board with his system the past couple weeks, and sent a clear message to Kevin, Zach and Bazz that they have aspects of their games that need to be stepped up.

While I endorse Sam's meritocratic approach, it's troubling to me that Zach, Kavin and Bazz couldn't beat out an aging Tay Prince...doesn't make me very opTIMistic about the upcoming season. I'm going to watch Friday's scrimmage closely to see how this starting unit performs and how the reserves react to their roles, but absent a stunning turnaround in performance, my predicted wins total may drop considerably this weekend.

Good post and I will add that people will disagree with me but I think Prince can still play. People say he couldn't hack it on a contender like Memphis. They traded him for Jeff Green it's not like they flat out waived the guy or something. He has always had alotnofnall-around skills and he still has those especially considering the other options who all have dramaticly different strengths and weaknesses. It will be troubling if 20 games into the season he is still the starter and nobody has overtaken the spot.

[Coolbreeze44]

It's all explained in today's Strib. Like I wrote in the last game thread....Sam's either a genius or a moron:

http://www.startribune.com/wolves-try-to-create-mismatch-with-taller-wiggins-at-shooting-guard/335436771/

Moron.

I don't know, Lip. He still could be a moron, but I feel a whole lot better about the situation after first letting it soak in, and then reading this article.

And let me take the opportunity to say this is one of the best articles Zgoda has put together in a long, long time. Keep it up, Jerry!

And as Q mentioned, if this is successful, Martin just became a whole lot more dispensable. It means Wiggins is your feature wing, ala Kobe Bryant. It puts Zach in a position to develop as a combo guard off the bench. It puts Bazz in a position to get a lot of minutes at SF, with the opportunity to develop into the starting SF.

The new plan has definitely grown on me. Do you think Flip would have ever pursued this course? I don't.

It's all explained in today's Strib. Like I wrote in the last game thread....Sam's either a genius or a moron:

http://www.startribune.com/wolves-try-to-create-mismatch-with-taller-wiggins-at-shooting-guard/335436771/

Moron.

I don't know, Lip. He still could be a moron, but I feel a whole lot better about the situation after first letting it soak in, and then reading this article.

And let me take the opportunity to say this is one of the best articles Zgoda has put together in a long, long time. Keep it up, Jerry!

And as Q mentioned, if this is successful, Martin just became a whole lot more dispensable. It means Wiggins is your feature wing, ala Kobe Bryant. It puts Zach in a position to develop as a combo guard off the bench. It puts Bazz in a position to get a lot of minutes at SF, with the opportunity to develop into the starting SF.

The new plan has definitely grown on me. Do you think Flip would have ever pursued this course? I don't.

It's all explained in today's Strib. Like I wrote in the last game thread....Sam's either a genius or a moron:

http://www.startribune.com/wolves-try-to-create-mismatch-with-taller-wiggins-at-shooting-guard/335436771/

Moron.

Exactly

It's all explained in today's Strib. Like I wrote in the last game thread....Sam's either a genius or a moron:

http://www.startribune.com/wolves-try-to-create-mismatch-with-taller-wiggins-at-shooting-guard/335436771/

Moron.

I don't know, Lip. He still could be a moron, but I feel a whole lot better about the situation after first letting it soak in, and then reading this article.

And let me take the opportunity to say this is one of the best articles Zgoda has put together in a long, long time. Keep it up, Jerry!

And as Q mentioned, if this is successful, Martin just became a whole lot more dispensable. It means Wiggins is your feature wing, ala Kobe Bryant. It puts Zach in a position to develop as a combo guard off the bench. It puts Bazz in a position to get a lot of minutes at SF, with the opportunity to develop into the starting SF.

The new plan has definitely grown on me. Do you think Flip would have ever pursued this course? I don't.

But Tim, his plan is to actually start Tay Fricking Prince at small forward! In a developmental situation Sam himself proclaimed, this makes no sense in any universe.

[60WinTim]

Cool - Development is not just about throwing the 5 youngest guys onto the court to let them figure it out (yeah, I know you know that). I am fine with priority #1 for development focusing on Wiggins and Towns in the starting lineup. Those two are our franchise players at this point. I also think that too many people are up in arms about Prince starting and not appreciating, or getting excited about, Wiggins as our starting SG. I believe that will turn into a pretty heady move by Sam.

[Carlos Danger]

I just don't think Sam's great at the ambassador part of coaching i.e. saying the right things or in some cases just keeping thoughts to himself as Q mentioned. He's already put his foot in his mouth twice...and we haven't even finished preseason yet!

1,) Saying LaVine is his starting SG and then yanking him two preseason games later
2.) Saying this year is all about youth and then going with KG and Prince as his starting lineup

I don't want to make too much of this. But at the same time it's troubling because I'm concerned Sam doesn't have a clear vision for this team like Flip did.

[60WinTim]

I think Sam's initial vision was influenced a lot by Flip. Once Sam got to work with some practice and preseason games, his vision changed according to what he saw.

One of his biggest observations was how small we were to the teams we played. Wiggins is not a big SF. Zach is not a big SG. And Towns is a long ways from being "filled out", too. There is merit to the adjustment.

If there was an area of concern, it would be ball handling. But I guess I am glad Wiggins has the opportunity to develop that part of his game...