Minnesota Sports Forum

TheGrey08 wrote:Why not Adrien in place of Rudez instead? Payne at least has the physical tools so we might as well keep him around for now. He also wasn't that bad tonight.

I guess I would support that. But to draw an analogy to something else that was going on last night, talking about Adrein vs. Rudez is kind of like discussing who you would prefer as the Republican nominee...Jindal or Pataki.

60WinTim wrote:Pretty humorous reading through this thread. Bitch and moan, bitch and moan, then YEA!

These first few games are all about building chemistry. It's nice to get that, and get a win at the same time.

Come on Tim, that's what we do best on this board...don't take away our core competency!

I want to add some more praise for Rubio, who was damn near perfect last night. I saw some maturity in him that I think will serve him well. I would argue that he was spectacular without being flashy last night. The only classy "Ricky" moment I remember last night was his one no look assist. Ricky playing with youthful flair is entertaining, but Ricky playing a more effective, steady game will bring more wins.

longstrangetrip wrote:

TheGrey08 wrote:Why not Adrien in place of Rudez instead? Payne at least has the physical tools so we might as well keep him around for now. He also wasn't that bad tonight.

I guess I would support that. But to draw an analogy to something else that was going on last night, talking about Adrein vs. Rudez is kind of like discussing who you would prefer as the Republican nominee...Jindal or Pataki.

I was at the Iowa state fair when Pataki gave his speech. Carson had a nice crowd earlier that had good energy. Pataki I am not sure had someone even holding a sign for him. Ok maybe not that bad but it was pretty sad. Then I heard his speech and knew why only a few people were milling around.

longstrangetrip wrote:I want to add some more praise for Rubio, who was damn near perfect last night. I saw some maturity in him that I think will serve him well. I would argue that he was spectacular without being flashy last night. The only classy "Ricky" moment I remember last night was his one no look assist. Ricky playing with youthful flair is entertaining, but Ricky playing a more effective, steady game will bring more wins.

LST - Great point. I noticed that at the start of the game. The team is so much better when he is pushing the ball and attacking. Rick pushed him away from that and now we have guys that can run with him.

bleedspeed177 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:I want to add some more praise for Rubio, who was damn near perfect last night. I saw some maturity in him that I think will serve him well. I would argue that he was spectacular without being flashy last night. The only classy "Ricky" moment I remember last night was his one no look assist. Ricky playing with youthful flair is entertaining, but Ricky playing a more effective, steady game will bring more wins.

LST - Great point. I noticed that at the start of the game. The team is so much better when he is pushing the ball and attacking. Rick pushed him away from that and now we have guys that can run with him.

One thing that Rubio has improved every year that is pretty significant is his taking care of the ball. It kinda bugged me one preseason game when an announcer said how he had too many turnovers. A pure passing PG that makes passes at times nobody else can make averaged less than 3 turnovers a game the last 2 years and it's too many? No

42 pages of posts... holy shitballs! OK. I get to chime in now:

- Rubio was fantastic. Wonderful game. He took command. Took shots with confidence and made those shots. Also finished better than he has in the past. Also played solid D, which we expect. All NBA type of performance.

- Towns. I'm not known as a Wolves optimist. But, damn. He's fluid, but not in the Mark Blount-let-me-stand-over-here-away-from-the-fray-and-launch-jumpers-while-counting-my-money sort of way. Not a perfect performance, but nobody expected that. I'm impressed. I'm eager to see more.

- Wiggins. Ummm... I don't want to say anything negative or run the risk of starting a 2,358 page thread. But I've heard he was ailing a bit. Maybe that was part of it.

- Garnett. Helpful... when he's on the court. He'll be sitting more than playing this season though.

- Kevin Martin. Obviously, he can score. Obviously, the Wolves need him to score. But, there's going to be some ugly nights. (and some good ones) I guess everybody just has to live with it going in. Martin knows he's out there for one reason... and seems intent on living up to that. The final offensive set for MN was beyond terrible. A clearout for Martin to launch a 21 foot contested jumper? They need to work on that. He's not that type of player. Hopefully, Mitchell isn't that type of coach.

- LaVine. He'll entice. Entertain. Disappoint. Frustrate. Excite. All in the same game... usually every game. I still contend his NBA future is as that combo guard off the bench you bring in to impact the game immediately. Maybe not Gerald Green v.2.0... but we can "hope" for Jamal Crawford v.2.0. Basically, the Wolves version of Lou Williams. Oh, his defense remains terrible.

- Dieng. Not super impactful tonight. But I think he's still ready to be one of the Wolves most consistently capable players this season.

- Bjelica. For not seeing the guy play before... it felt pretty close to what I expected. The guy isn't a game-changer when he's out there. But he's also not out of his element either. He seems to be a legit NBA player who can help by doing several things. Glad he's here.

- Prince. That boxscore will be the norm. Low minutes. Mostly 1s, 2s, and 0s across it.

- Payne. Only played 3+ minutes. Still annoyed me during that time.

- These teams are not good. I got a kick out of Jalen Rose on the ESPN broadcast. He could barely (actually, he couldn't) hide his disdain for covering this game. He admitted the only reason it was on was because of Kobe Bryant (the #1 and #2 didn't hurt either). And the look he gave Sage Steele when she asked if either team was a "playoff team" was awesome. No sugarcoating it. No appeasing the local audiences watching. No covering up for a dumb question by a colleague. He just glared at her before getting up and leaving to draw attention to the absurdity of the question.

- Good win on the road vs. a team near the same level.

- Damn. Rubio was really really good last night.

monsterpile wrote:
One thing that Rubio has improved every year that is pretty significant is his taking care of the ball. It kinda bugged me one preseason game when an announcer said how he had too many turnovers. A pure passing PG that makes passes at times nobody else can make averaged less than 3 turnovers a game the last 2 years and it's too many? No

He could have had a few more assists last night too. I haven't finished watching all the game yet, but I did see one half court outlet over the shoulder to Prince that was like Brady to Gronkowski. Just absolutely perfect. Prince flubbed the layup but was fouled, so it still led to points.

Carlos Danger wrote:

monsterpile wrote:
One thing that Rubio has improved every year that is pretty significant is his taking care of the ball. It kinda bugged me one preseason game when an announcer said how he had too many turnovers. A pure passing PG that makes passes at times nobody else can make averaged less than 3 turnovers a game the last 2 years and it's too many? No

He could have had a few more assists last night too. I haven't finished watching all the game yet, but I did see one half court outlet over the shoulder to Prince that was like Brady to Gronkowski. Just absolutely perfect. Prince flubbed the layup but was fouled, so it still led to points.

Every PG in the league, heck every good player in the league, makes good passes that don't get the assist because of fouls, missed shots, et al.

K-Mart deserves a little love for picking up full court in the 3rd quarter. It certainly helped the defensive energy on the 2nd unit, which was a big part of the comeback.