Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:- "Rubio made some nice steals, but defensively he was not good tonight. Rose should not be able to get into the paint that easily."

Rose shot 6-20 tonight and was hounded by Rubio. I thought the exact opposite of you. Think the Wolves bigs put unnecessary attention on Rose and continued to leave Gasol wide open too much as well.

Normally I'm a big fan of Rubio's defense and he did get the steals and was solid on the glass. But Rose got into the paint a lot and kicked it out a number of times to a wide open shooter, so it was more about how he set up others. I think one of the problems is Rubio kept going over the screens. That's a good strategy with Steph Curry or Damian Lillard. I don't think it's necessary with Rose. I'm not sure if that's on Rubio or on Mitchell, but there was no need to go over the screens on Rose.

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:- "Rubio made some nice steals, but defensively he was not good tonight. Rose should not be able to get into the paint that easily."

Rose shot 6-20 tonight and was hounded by Rubio. I thought the exact opposite of you. Think the Wolves bigs put unnecessary attention on Rose and continued to leave Gasol wide open too much as well.

Normally I'm a big fan of Rubio's defense and he did get the steals and was solid on the glass. But Rose got into the paint a lot and kicked it out a number of times to a wide open shooter, so it was more about how he set up others. I think one of the problems is Rubio kept going over the screens. That's a good strategy with Steph Curry or Damian Lillard. I don't think it's necessary with Rose. I'm not sure if that's on Rubio or on Mitchell, but there was no need to go over the screens on Rose.

As someone that coaches, when it comes to a strategic issue, it would first be a coaching problem. Its hard to imagine that Rubio would forget or ignore implicit order to go under screens against certain players. That said, Rubio is as susceptible to letting the best point guards penetrate as just about anyone else. Its hard to gauge a perimeter players defense on so many possessions over a game. They will get beat plenty. It comes down to the point of attack, challenging the catch and the shot, and getting some stops during the winning sequences that makes a good to great defender.

Q12543 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:Dieng had a helluva game. 24 points, 10 of 13 Fgs, 4 of 4 Fts, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, a block and only 1 turnover. Plus a game high +10.

He and KAT carried us this game until the last couple minutes when Wiggins took over. He also drew a couple charges.

We talk so much about Towns (rightfully so) and Wiggins and LaVine, but I don't think Dieng gets enough love and his play lately should start to change that.

He arguably had the most positive impact on the team last year, statistically the #1 midrange shooter in the entire league last year (!), a great FT shooter (especially for a big), and he has continued to play well this year, especially when given minutes. He's got defensive lapses occasionally, but not THAT often, and he more than makes up for it with hustle plays, blocks and steals. His defense isn't as good as we might have been hoping coming out of college, but it's pretty good all told. And he's offensively our second surest option after Towns on the entire team. And he's been getting better each year. Dude's legit.

We do really need a big defensive banger to go down low with Towns and Dieng. Those two both get pushed around a bit. If we get a guy like that (Festus Ezili-type of guy ideally) we should have a very good frontcourt going forward. Ian Mahinmi is a free agent and fits the bill--good defensive presence, 6th in the league in defensive box plus-minus, and has a higher defensive rating this year than Gobert!). Whiteside is a numbers monster, but he's going to command crazy money and I don't know if his impact on the team as a whole is nearly as big as his boxscore suggest. Biyombo could be a cheaper option (not sure if he's a free agent though). Would it be crazy to see if Noah would take less money this offseason? Dude was DPOY and an MVP candidate a couple years ago. Obviously somebody younger than Noah or Mahinmi would be preferable, but I don't know who that would be. And if Noah could come even in the ballpark of having the defensive presence he used to have, holy cow, that Towns-Noah-Dieng would be a pretty good front court. I'd also be happy with Mahinmi if the price was right. I liked him in Dallas, but he's taken a statistical step up this year and could be too expensive.

EDIT: I still kind of miss Jeff Adrien. If he were a few inches taller, he'd fit in very well.

SameOldNudityDrew wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:Dieng had a helluva game. 24 points, 10 of 13 Fgs, 4 of 4 Fts, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, a block and only 1 turnover. Plus a game high +10.

He and KAT carried us this game until the last couple minutes when Wiggins took over. He also drew a couple charges.

We talk so much about Towns (rightfully so) and Wiggins and LaVine, but I don't think Dieng gets enough love and his play lately should start to change that.

He arguably had the most positive impact on the team last year, statistically the #1 midrange shooter in the entire league last year (!), a great FT shooter (especially for a big), and he has continued to play well this year, especially when given minutes. He's got defensive lapses occasionally, but not THAT often, and he more than makes up for it with hustle plays, blocks and steals. His defense isn't as good as we might have been hoping coming out of college, but it's pretty good all told. And he's offensively our second surest option after Towns on the entire team. And he's been getting better each year. Dude's legit.

We do really need a big defensive banger to go down low with Towns and Dieng. Those two both get pushed around a bit. If we get a guy like that (Festus Ezili-type of guy ideally) we should have a very good frontcourt going forward. Ian Mahinmi is a free agent and fits the bill--good defensive presence, 6th in the league in defensive box plus-minus, and has a higher defensive rating this year than Gobert!). Whiteside is a numbers monster, but he's going to command crazy money and I don't know if his impact on the team as a whole is nearly as big as his boxscore suggest. Biyombo could be a cheaper option (not sure if he's a free agent though). Would it be crazy to see if Noah would take less money this offseason? Dude was DPOY and an MVP candidate a couple years ago. Obviously somebody younger than Noah or Mahinmi would be preferable, but I don't know who that would be. And if Noah could come even in the ballpark of having the defensive presence he used to have, holy cow, that Towns-Noah-Dieng would be a pretty good front court. I'd also be happy with Mahinmi if the price was right. I liked him in Dallas, but he's taken a statistical step up this year and could be too expensive.

EDIT: I still kind of miss Jeff Adrien. If he were a few inches taller, he'd fit in very well.

I've been pushing for DeJuan Blair, would be a very cheap bench big and is a free agent I believe.

D. Blair is a shell at this point.

The league's move to a more pace and space game isn't helping out a 6'7", 270-pound guy with bad knees.

Bass and Booker are food fit. Strong enough to bang inside and mobile enough to guard on the perimeter. Both available in summer FA.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:D. Blair is a shell at this point.

The league's move to a more pace and space game isn't helping out a 6'7", 270-pound guy with bad knees.

I'm not suggesting he get heavy minutes, but for a couple million a year, I think he could be valuable to spell our other bigs and pick up a couple boards/fouls.

Drew, I'm with you on Mahinmi and Noah as guys who could help this team and potentially come cheap. Both guys can be defensive monsters.

BizarroJerry wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:D. Blair is a shell at this point.

The league's move to a more pace and space game isn't helping out a 6'7", 270-pound guy with bad knees.

I'm not suggesting he get heavy minutes, but for a couple million a year, I think he could be valuable to spell our other bigs and pick up a couple boards/fouls.

Blair is not good. I'd rather roll with Belly than Blair. Better bigs to sign or acquire cheaply would include Mahinmi, Noah, Gibson, Ezeli, Marvin Williams, Olynyk, Henson, Booker, Patterson, Jerebko, Frye, LaVoy Allen, Pachulia and Bass.

What's the Rhino up to these days?