Minnesota Sports Forum

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

TheFuture wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:Having KG and Pek on the books really screws this team form the point of building a roster.

Or perhaps It steered us clear of making a mistake this offseason. At least we know we have 20 mil coming off over the next two seasons when we have to worry about paying our younger players. We Have a lot of bigs, but most posters want to see a 9 man rotation anyways. Let's just hope our wings don't catch the injury bug.

Yeah, wings are still pretty thin which is why Dunn is bound to get some run at the 2. Wiggins, Rush, and Bazz are all natural 3's whereas LaVine is really our only true SG. That leaves a lot of opportunity for Dunn to get minutes behind Rubio and LaVine.

I don't mean to call you out, because you are definitely not the only one to express this, but Wiggins minutes at SG are just superior to his SF minutes.

I also think Dunn's minutes are at PG. I remember a thread on the BSPN board where everybody was like "Now when Rubio gets here, he can play SG with Flynn". Yeah that worked out. And with Rubio talking trade, Dunn is going to get every opportunity to unseat Rubio.

Assuming Thibs starts LaVine at SG, than Wiggins is going to play SF regardless if that's his best position or not. The only reason I characterize him as a natural SF is because he has prototypical SF size and isn't known for great handles. But sure, if Bazz or Rush come off the bench for LaVine and Wiggins stays on the court, Wiggins will probably go on the score sheet as a SG.

As for Dunn, I agree that the majority of his minutes will be (and should be) as our backup PG. But I absolutely see situations where he will get some minutes off the ball playing next to either Rubio or Jones.

Once again, don't take it personally because you are not the only person to say this, but where is this Lavine>Bazz mentality coming from? Bazz is good, and should get every opportunity to prove it because they have to decide to either extend him or let him go/trade him.

Not sure what more they need to see at this point, sans how he plays in a new system.

It's been three years and he's a mercurial scorer off the bench who has a nose for the ball, competes while playing lousy D and selfish offensive basketball. That's not necessarily even terrible things. He is what he is.

The question is whether that fits into what Thibodeau is trying to build...

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

TheFuture wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:Having KG and Pek on the books really screws this team form the point of building a roster.

Or perhaps It steered us clear of making a mistake this offseason. At least we know we have 20 mil coming off over the next two seasons when we have to worry about paying our younger players. We Have a lot of bigs, but most posters want to see a 9 man rotation anyways. Let's just hope our wings don't catch the injury bug.

Yeah, wings are still pretty thin which is why Dunn is bound to get some run at the 2. Wiggins, Rush, and Bazz are all natural 3's whereas LaVine is really our only true SG. That leaves a lot of opportunity for Dunn to get minutes behind Rubio and LaVine.

I don't mean to call you out, because you are definitely not the only one to express this, but Wiggins minutes at SG are just superior to his SF minutes.

I also think Dunn's minutes are at PG. I remember a thread on the BSPN board where everybody was like "Now when Rubio gets here, he can play SG with Flynn". Yeah that worked out. And with Rubio talking trade, Dunn is going to get every opportunity to unseat Rubio.

Assuming Thibs starts LaVine at SG, than Wiggins is going to play SF regardless if that's his best position or not. The only reason I characterize him as a natural SF is because he has prototypical SF size and isn't known for great handles. But sure, if Bazz or Rush come off the bench for LaVine and Wiggins stays on the court, Wiggins will probably go on the score sheet as a SG.

As for Dunn, I agree that the majority of his minutes will be (and should be) as our backup PG. But I absolutely see situations where he will get some minutes off the ball playing next to either Rubio or Jones.

Once again, don't take it personally because you are not the only person to say this, but where is this Lavine>Bazz mentality coming from? Bazz is good, and should get every opportunity to prove it because they have to decide to either extend him or let him go/trade him.

First of all you should know Q has been a very vocal guy about playing Wiggins and Bazz together in the past.

It's great you like Bazz and you feel he is good but just realize you are going to be in the minority here thinking he is better or deserves a shot over Lavine. Bazz should get a legit shot at minutes at any of SG/SF/PF. I tend to think Thibs will give him opportunities if Bazz puts in the effort which we know he will it's just whether he can execute the stuff he isn't good/established at.

Jason, LaVine and Bazz play different positions for the most part. Bazz is a SF/borderline PF and LaVine is about as pure of a SG as you will ever see. Also, from a pure functional perspective, we need LaVine's outside shooting more than we need Bazz's post-ups and hustle points. I also think anyone that has watched these two play for any extended period of time would say that LaVine has far more upside.

I love what Thibs did, he didn't get any of the needle movers and instead of overpaying in dollars and years to so-so players he signed players on team friendly deals that allow us to be very aggressive the next offseason where we will be inevitably a hotter destination due to the improvement from our core

Why do people like Bazz? He plays hard. Great. So what? He still is an atrocious defender and a black hole offensively. In his third year instead of improvement we saw a fully healthy season where his shooting percentages outside of FT's dropped and he passed the ball even less (his assists cut in half per game playing only 2.3 minutes less). He's an undersized 4. I can't imagine anyone enjoys playing with him. His game is old school in a new NBA. Frankly he could ride the bench all year and I wouldn't care. He already plays hard so I don't know what more Thibs can do to make him a better player. He doesn't have the athleticism to be a good defender and I don't know how you change the mindset of someone to become a willing passer.

Q12543 wrote:Jason, LaVine and Bazz play different positions for the most part. Bazz is a SF/borderline PF and LaVine is about as pure of a SG as you will ever see. Also, from a pure functional perspective, we need LaVine's outside shooting more than we need Bazz's post-ups and hustle points. I also think anyone that has watched these two play for any extended period of time would say that LaVine has far more upside.

It's odd that you would say that, because over half of his minutes he is classified as a SG and almost zero of his minutes are classified as PF.

Do you have a date when we'll see this Lavine "upside"? Will it involve something that's not a dunk? If you tell me, I promise to watch.

khans2k5 wrote:Why do people like Bazz? He plays hard. Great. So what? He still is an atrocious defender and a black hole offensively. In his third year instead of improvement we saw a fully healthy season where his shooting percentages outside of FT's dropped and he passed the ball even less (his assists cut in half per game playing only 2.3 minutes less). He's an undersized 4. I can't imagine anyone enjoys playing with him. His game is old school in a new NBA. Frankly he could ride the bench all year and I wouldn't care. He already plays hard so I don't know what more Thibs can do to make him a better player. He doesn't have the athleticism to be a good defender and I don't know how you change the mindset of someone to become a willing passer.

1. I can't recollect ever saying I liked how "hard" someone played. If he's getting it done, I don't care how hard he's breathing.
2. Ah, the Kahn's methodology. Decide if you like a guy, then find an obscure stat that you think backs it up. So the shooting percentage drop. Are they from the same place from the floor as the year before? Could it be from him being guarded more closely? So the assist drop. Could it be that guys were passing up shots and passing to others who then got the assist? Could it be that guys were missing shots? Was there an overall drop in assists year-to-year as a team with him on the floor? What do you think of Lebron's OPS? Or the fact that Curry seems to have a lot of touchbacks?
3. I can imagine players enjoying playing with him.
4. That is so disappointing to hear that you don't want to watch him. Maybe they can trade him for Eric Gordon so you can watch him wear a suit all for 40 games.
5. Really? You don't know what Thibs could do as a coach? That's a shock.

khans2k5 wrote:Why do people like Bazz? He plays hard. Great. So what? He still is an atrocious defender and a black hole offensively. In his third year instead of improvement we saw a fully healthy season where his shooting percentages outside of FT's dropped and he passed the ball even less (his assists cut in half per game playing only 2.3 minutes less). He's an undersized 4. I can't imagine anyone enjoys playing with him. His game is old school in a new NBA. Frankly he could ride the bench all year and I wouldn't care. He already plays hard so I don't know what more Thibs can do to make him a better player. He doesn't have the athleticism to be a good defender and I don't know how you change the mindset of someone to become a willing passer.

Khans, I like Bazz for what he is...a role player who can put up points in a hurry on nights where he is feeling it, but who never will have the complete game of a starter. And there may be a role for him on this team. I would say the percentage of this board that sees him as more than a scoring role player as less than 15%.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

TheFuture wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:Having KG and Pek on the books really screws this team form the point of building a roster.

Or perhaps It steered us clear of making a mistake this offseason. At least we know we have 20 mil coming off over the next two seasons when we have to worry about paying our younger players. We Have a lot of bigs, but most posters want to see a 9 man rotation anyways. Let's just hope our wings don't catch the injury bug.

Yeah, wings are still pretty thin which is why Dunn is bound to get some run at the 2. Wiggins, Rush, and Bazz are all natural 3's whereas LaVine is really our only true SG. That leaves a lot of opportunity for Dunn to get minutes behind Rubio and LaVine.

Q, I'm not going to disagree with what you're saying. But if Dunn has to play a lot of minutes at the 2 it is not a good thing for the Wolves. It would lend credence to your point that we are thin at the wings.

I agree with this statement, and expect Zach, Rush and Wig to take 95% of the minutes at SG. But I wouldn't be stunned if Dunn shows an improved shooting touch and ability to get to the basket and socre, and forces Thibs to play him some at the 2. And if that happens, that will be a good thing for the Wolves.

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Jason, LaVine and Bazz play different positions for the most part. Bazz is a SF/borderline PF and LaVine is about as pure of a SG as you will ever see. Also, from a pure functional perspective, we need LaVine's outside shooting more than we need Bazz's post-ups and hustle points. I also think anyone that has watched these two play for any extended period of time would say that LaVine has far more upside.

It's odd that you would say that, because over half of his minutes he is classified as a SG and almost zero of his minutes are classified as PF.

Do you have a date when we'll see this Lavine "upside"? Will it involve something that's not a dunk? If you tell me, I promise to watch.

The date is February 27, 2015. That's when LaVine became our starting SG for good this past season and what it involved was a lot of made outside shots, and yes, a few dunks too. I guess you missed it.