Minnesota Sports Forum

Q12543 wrote:Watching Derrick Williams and that dumb mop of a hair-do clowning on the sidelines without a prayer of ever getting into a game....smh.

I just turned on the game and Gerald Green is playing.

Horford has been able to score in the post in this series when I have been watching.

That was a nice finish there in transition by Brown.

Another great half by Horford. 6 points, 3 rebounds, and a -21.

Man, think about how valuable this experience has been for Jaylen Brown. He's been put through the gauntlet going up against LeBron and Cleveland, but you have to believe this will do nothing but help him. It's such a shame none of our young guys have ever experienced anything close to this.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19491943/zach-lowe-cleveland-cavaliers-tristan-thompson-becoming-elite-role-player-nba

Great Zach Lowe article on Tristan Thompson. Easily my favorite player in this series. I think he brings the same it factor on the defensive end as draymond without all the bullshit. Going to be a fun series.

thedoper wrote:http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19491943/zach-lowe-cleveland-cavaliers-tristan-thompson-becoming-elite-role-player-nba

Great Zach Lowe article on Tristan Thompson. Easily my favorite player in this series. I think he brings the same it factor on the defensive end as draymond without all the bullshit. Going to be a fun series.

Draymond is a better defender, but Thompson is very good, no doubt. I love the way he gets down into a proper stance when switching onto smaller guys on the perimeter. When you have bigs that can play small, you have a strategic advantage because he can punish small ball on the boards, yet not give up a lot defensively on perimeter switches.

He's the exact type of player the Wolves could use in terms of his attitude and fit into a non-scoring role that adds a ton of value in other ways.

thedoper wrote:http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19491943/zach-lowe-cleveland-cavaliers-tristan-thompson-becoming-elite-role-player-nba

Great Zach Lowe article on Tristan Thompson. Easily my favorite player in this series. I think he brings the same it factor on the defensive end as draymond without all the bullshit. Going to be a fun series.

It's a shame how Zach Lowe has been swallowed up by ESPN. His articles/podcasts are much less frequent... and much harder to find.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

thedoper wrote:http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19491943/zach-lowe-cleveland-cavaliers-tristan-thompson-becoming-elite-role-player-nba

Great Zach Lowe article on Tristan Thompson. Easily my favorite player in this series. I think he brings the same it factor on the defensive end as draymond without all the bullshit. Going to be a fun series.

It's a shame how Zach Lowe has been swallowed up by ESPN. His articles/podcasts are much less frequent... and much harder to find.

I know that is why I kind of make a point to post/share when they're out.

I can think of a more annoying frontcourt than Green and Zaza. Such goons.

Jeff Van Gundy does a great job calling out rules the League needs to work on. One is how much contact, holding, and grabbing is allowed in the low post, yet a guard driving to the hoop can hardly be touched. Now I'm all for keeping the game called clean for dribble drive guys. But then the same should apply to low post players. Guys like Zaza and Green shouldn't be allowed to regularly mug, hold, and wrestle opposing bigs.

The other is the carry. When they re-played that Durant post-up on Irving, it was shockingly blatant how much he carried the ball. If we want to start tipping the balance a little more toward the defense, then carries and travels need to get called more tightly.

All of this along with the stop-on-a-dime coming-around-a-pick-to-draw-contact-on-the-defender-while-flailing-up-a-shot play (I'd still call it a foul, but a non-shooting foul, just like the rip-through move) needs to get addressed to make the game even better.