Minnesota Sports Forum

Forgot to mention... but... to pile on from FNG's post... watching the bench go nuts is part of the entertainment.

I like to see it. And it was indeed fun to see Russell leading the charge with the enthusiasm. At the very least, I like to hope these guys are having fun and enjoying the experience and rooting for "team."

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Forgot to mention... but... to pile on from FNG's post... watching the bench go nuts is part of the entertainment.

I like to see it. And it was indeed fun to see Russell leading the charge with the enthusiasm. At the very least, I like to hope these guys are having fun and enjoying the experience and rooting for "team."

Yeah, it's been a terrible season, but it was fun the see the enthusiasm coming from the bench, and Dlo was the most fun to watch in the 4th. I can't help it...I tend to like Dlo as a person. He seems to be quite a bit more deep and intelligent than the typical NBA player. His ability to speak intelligently on current issues though doesn't seem to translate to the court. Some poor defenders are defensively dumb and some are just lazy...Dlo seems to have both qualities. When someone else's man gets into the lane, his instincts to help out are correct. But he ends up screwing up in two ways. First, he tends to only half-heartedly reach rather than use his feet a la Jaden and Josh, so he really doesn't "help" much at all in the lane. Second, he invariably leaves himself in a position after his "help" that he has no chance of providing any meaningful defense on his open man in the corner. It's painful to watch, and I'm not sure how Finch/Vanterpool can correct him. This may sound extreme, but I'd be tempted to say "Dlo, please don't try to help in the lane...just focus on your guy so he doesn't get so many open looks". Sad, but I'm afraid that's the most we can hope for from Dlo on defense. How would you guys try to coach him up? He's such an elite scorer that I would love to be able to turn him into a plus player.

FNG wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Forgot to mention... but... to pile on from FNG's post... watching the bench go nuts is part of the entertainment.

I like to see it. And it was indeed fun to see Russell leading the charge with the enthusiasm. At the very least, I like to hope these guys are having fun and enjoying the experience and rooting for "team."

Yeah, it's been a terrible season, but it was fun the see the enthusiasm coming from the bench, and Dlo was the most fun to watch in the 4th. I can't help it...I tend to like Dlo as a person. He seems to be quite a bit more deep and intelligent than the typical NBA player. His ability to speak intelligently on current issues though doesn't seem to translate to the court. Some poor defenders are defensively dumb and some are just lazy...Dlo seems to have both qualities. When someone else's man gets into the lane, his instincts to help out are correct. But he ends up screwing up in two ways. First, he tends to only half-heartedly reach rather than use his feet a la Jaden and Josh, so he really doesn't "help" much at all in the lane. Second, he invariably leaves himself in a position after his "help" that he has no chance of providing any meaningful defense on his open man in the corner. It's painful to watch, and I'm not sure how Finch/Vanterpool can correct him. This may sound extreme, but I'd be tempted to say "Dlo, please don't try to help in the lane...just focus on your guy so he doesn't get so many open looks". Sad, but I'm afraid that's the most we can hope for from Dlo on defense. How would you guys try to coach him up? He's such an elite scorer that I would love to be able to turn him into a plus player.

It's up to the player.

Russell was given a $117M contract for doing things his way. Right or wrong.

If he wants to get better of defense, he will. If he doesn't, there's not much the Wolves can do about it.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Forgot to mention... but... to pile on from FNG's post... watching the bench go nuts is part of the entertainment.

I like to see it. And it was indeed fun to see Russell leading the charge with the enthusiasm. At the very least, I like to hope these guys are having fun and enjoying the experience and rooting for "team."

Yeah, it's been a terrible season, but it was fun the see the enthusiasm coming from the bench, and Dlo was the most fun to watch in the 4th. I can't help it...I tend to like Dlo as a person. He seems to be quite a bit more deep and intelligent than the typical NBA player. His ability to speak intelligently on current issues though doesn't seem to translate to the court. Some poor defenders are defensively dumb and some are just lazy...Dlo seems to have both qualities. When someone else's man gets into the lane, his instincts to help out are correct. But he ends up screwing up in two ways. First, he tends to only half-heartedly reach rather than use his feet a la Jaden and Josh, so he really doesn't "help" much at all in the lane. Second, he invariably leaves himself in a position after his "help" that he has no chance of providing any meaningful defense on his open man in the corner. It's painful to watch, and I'm not sure how Finch/Vanterpool can correct him. This may sound extreme, but I'd be tempted to say "Dlo, please don't try to help in the lane...just focus on your guy so he doesn't get so many open looks". Sad, but I'm afraid that's the most we can hope for from Dlo on defense. How would you guys try to coach him up? He's such an elite scorer that I would love to be able to turn him into a plus player.

It's up to the player.

Russell was given a $117M contract for doing things his way. Right or wrong.

If he wants to get better of defense, he will. If he doesn't, there's not much the Wolves can do about it.

Except use him as a reserve as Finch seems to prefer. We simply can't give up 1.7 points per possession when he is in even if he is giving us 1.5 on offense (I just made those numbers up, but the gap does seem to be historically accurate). And Dlo might buy in. "Dlo we'll give you $30 million a year, but you're going to come off the bench and not finish close games if we have the lead. We'll try to give you 25-30 minutes per game, and you don't have to play defense". I'd take it. Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams took it, and for less money. Would Dlo?

FNG wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

FNG wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Forgot to mention... but... to pile on from FNG's post... watching the bench go nuts is part of the entertainment.

I like to see it. And it was indeed fun to see Russell leading the charge with the enthusiasm. At the very least, I like to hope these guys are having fun and enjoying the experience and rooting for "team."

Yeah, it's been a terrible season, but it was fun the see the enthusiasm coming from the bench, and Dlo was the most fun to watch in the 4th. I can't help it...I tend to like Dlo as a person. He seems to be quite a bit more deep and intelligent than the typical NBA player. His ability to speak intelligently on current issues though doesn't seem to translate to the court. Some poor defenders are defensively dumb and some are just lazy...Dlo seems to have both qualities. When someone else's man gets into the lane, his instincts to help out are correct. But he ends up screwing up in two ways. First, he tends to only half-heartedly reach rather than use his feet a la Jaden and Josh, so he really doesn't "help" much at all in the lane. Second, he invariably leaves himself in a position after his "help" that he has no chance of providing any meaningful defense on his open man in the corner. It's painful to watch, and I'm not sure how Finch/Vanterpool can correct him. This may sound extreme, but I'd be tempted to say "Dlo, please don't try to help in the lane...just focus on your guy so he doesn't get so many open looks". Sad, but I'm afraid that's the most we can hope for from Dlo on defense. How would you guys try to coach him up? He's such an elite scorer that I would love to be able to turn him into a plus player.

It's up to the player.

Russell was given a $117M contract for doing things his way. Right or wrong.

If he wants to get better of defense, he will. If he doesn't, there's not much the Wolves can do about it.

Except use him as a reserve as Finch seems to prefer. We simply can't give up 1.7 points per possession when he is in even if he is giving us 1.5 on offense (I just made those numbers up, but the gap does seem to be historically accurate). And Dlo might buy in. "Dlo we'll give you $30 million a year, but you're going to come off the bench and not finish close games if we have the lead. We'll try to give you 25-30 minutes per game, and you don't have to play defense". I'd take it. Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams took it, and for less money. Would Dlo?

DLO is not going to change his ways defensively and is not going to accept a permanent role off the bench. We're stuck with him until he gets traded or isn't re-signed. As Abe said, he's been rewarded with a massive contract and has basically gone from team to team without ever showing any desire to change his ways defensively. If it couldn't happen with Draymond Green and Steve Kerr in his ear, it sure as hell isn't happening here.

There is a chance that DLO could actually play "some" defense if the team was competitive. His only good year statistically was when the Nets made the playoffs. When the team he was on didn't, he also tanked.

So while he is part of the problem for sure, I see a little ray of hope that if this team with DLO becomes close to playoff bound he may just flip a switch and play hard on defense as well.

I do think effort is a major factor in his lack of defense. You put him on the Lakers or Clippers for instance right now, I bet his defense improves quite a bit.

Q, I agree with you that Dlo's D is what it is...it ain't gonna change. But I'm not convinced he won't accept a role off the bench. Dane Moore tweeted yesterday that Finch and Dlo talked about continuing to come off the bench, and Dlo was "cool with it". There was no modifying clause like "for the time being" or "until he is fully healed", and he even said that the minutes restriction was up to 30...hardly a minutes restriction at all. So they have an understanding now that Dlo will be 6th man and still play up to 30 minutes. Maybe that will change, but it also might not...and Dlo didn't seem to be pouting on the bench as we put the game away in the 4th. He gets his money, he gets to be instant offense and perhaps score even more points per minutes than he does in a starting role, and he isn't expected to defend a high-scoring wing. What's not to like? I also don't see the downside. Unhappy players usually show their displeasure on the defensive end...could Dlo be any worse on defense?

It's clearly his best role right now and, to his credit, Finch has recognized it...hopefully Dlo continues to buy into it. A high-scoring Dlo off the bench with a neutral on/off (like last night) is his ceiling in my opinion

FNG wrote:Q, I agree with you that Dlo's D is what it is...it ain't gonna change. But I'm not convinced he won't accept a role off the bench. Dane Moore tweeted yesterday that Finch and Dlo talked about continuing to come off the bench, and Dlo was "cool with it". There was no modifying clause like "for the time being" or "until he is fully healed", and he even said that the minutes restriction was up to 30...hardly a minutes restriction at all. So they have an understanding now that Dlo will be 6th man and still play up to 30 minutes. Maybe that will change, but it also might not...and Dlo didn't seem to be pouting on the bench as we put the game away in the 4th. He gets his money, he gets to be instant offense and perhaps score even more points per minutes than he does in a starting role, and he isn't expected to defend a high-scoring wing. What's not to like? I also don't see the downside. Unhappy players usually show their displeasure on the defensive end...could Dlo be any worse on defense?

It's clearly his best role right now and, to his credit, Finch has recognized it...hopefully Dlo continues to buy into it. A high-scoring Dlo off the bench with a neutral on/off (like last night) is his ceiling in my opinion

There is absolutely no way on God's green earth that DLO comes off the bench for this team long-term - at least under his current contract. And if Finch doesn't budge, I expect his agent to demand a trade.

And by the way, while I love Rubio, he's not the answer as starting PG either based on his decline in abilities from just last season.

I think this arrangement may last as long as the end of the season, but if DLO is on the roster and healthy come training camp next season, he'll be starting. Book it.

WolvesFan21 wrote:There is a chance that DLO could actually play "some" defense if the team was competitive. His only good year statistically was when the Nets made the playoffs. When the team he was on didn't, he also tanked.

So while he is part of the problem for sure, I see a little ray of hope that if this team with DLO becomes close to playoff bound he may just flip a switch and play hard on defense as well.

I do think effort is a major factor in his lack of defense. You put him on the Lakers or Clippers for instance right now, I bet his defense improves quite a bit.

I agree that if DLO was integrated into an existing team with a culture of winning and defensive intensity, he'd probably assimilate to some degree and play better. This year and last year's version of the Lakers for example. That ain't happening on the Wolves since it's two best defenders are a 20-year old rookie and one-way role player.

Scoring off the bench will be a huge gap when DLo moves back to starting. Its been tough to ascertain how much we'd gain on offense with him there with KAT and Ant. Dlo and KAT still have very few minutes together even since DLo has been back. I think eventually some time has to go into these two (along with Ant) getting some meaningful playing time together. I think what is clear is that we need another competent professional off the bench who can score and defend, easy said than done on the Wolves.