Minnesota Sports Forum

Is Anthony Tolliver available?

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:I didn't watch the first half. I watched the second half and was pleased with the energy and sense of urgency. The key now is to get that wheel in motion to start games. There was a small stretch of play where the tempo increased a little and the team started launching more 3s. I got a jolt of energy when Zach got the ball and raced down the court, missed a shot and Wiggins put it back with a dunk. This team can play like that and should.

In the limited minutes I saw, Thad looked more like they guy many of us were excited about. He was much more active on D, albeit over matched still. Hopefully he turns a corner from that standpoint of assertiveness.

I really like what I see from Wiggins game to game. He is showing ability to score in many ways and do it under control against a variety of defenders. Through all of this salty garbage that we have seen on the court this season, I feel so relieved about Wiggins. He is going to be very good, at a minimum.

1) Yes we should play fast, and we rarely do.

2) You are absolutely kidding me with your Thad comments tonight, right?

3) Wiggins is going to be great, not good. But you can see his biggest weakness is strength. He touches so many balls that he doesn't control. He just needs to get in the weight room. But I tell you what, his handle is al lot better than some of you think. He's just too deferential to his teammates.

2) No, actually. Thad had a little fire tonight that has been missing. Obviously he has played a very uninspired stretch of basketball in the last month but when the team finally showed some heart, he followed suit, IMO. I absolutely hope he can bring some more consistency of being assertive.

We were watching two different games. I saw him get just abused underneath the basket without even attempting to put up a fight. He flat out quit on multiple possessions. I don't think the guy has any guts at all.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:I didn't watch the first half. I watched the second half and was pleased with the energy and sense of urgency. The key now is to get that wheel in motion to start games. There was a small stretch of play where the tempo increased a little and the team started launching more 3s. I got a jolt of energy when Zach got the ball and raced down the court, missed a shot and Wiggins put it back with a dunk. This team can play like that and should.

In the limited minutes I saw, Thad looked more like they guy many of us were excited about. He was much more active on D, albeit over matched still. Hopefully he turns a corner from that standpoint of assertiveness.

I really like what I see from Wiggins game to game. He is showing ability to score in many ways and do it under control against a variety of defenders. Through all of this salty garbage that we have seen on the court this season, I feel so relieved about Wiggins. He is going to be very good, at a minimum.

1) Yes we should play fast, and we rarely do.

2) You are absolutely kidding me with your Thad comments tonight, right?

3) Wiggins is going to be great, not good. But you can see his biggest weakness is strength. He touches so many balls that he doesn't control. He just needs to get in the weight room. But I tell you what, his handle is al lot better than some of you think. He's just too deferential to his teammates.

2) No, actually. Thad had a little fire tonight that has been missing. Obviously he has played a very uninspired stretch of basketball in the last month but when the team finally showed some heart, he followed suit, IMO. I absolutely hope he can bring some more consistency of being assertive.

We were watching two different games. I saw him get just abused underneath the basket without even attempting to put up a fight. He flat out quit on multiple possessions. I don't think the guy has any guts at all.

Well I have already agreed that he is over matched. I, again, am speaking of when the tempo increased, when the team came together as a whole, and Thad got out in the open floor. He showed some fire like in the Philly days. For instance, when Mo made that awful entry pass into him when he was posting Nate Rob, he was able to corral the ball even after being swarmed by 2 other Nuggets. He needs to be put in a position to succeed, like every other role player. I hate his passiveness as much as the next guy but also understand his potential value. He could be a solid X factor if this team plays the right way.

The main problem with Thad is that he is physically overmatched at the PF position. He's really a small forward so he routinely gets abused defensively near the hoop. He almost never blocks out and is one of the worst rebounders I've ever seen at the PF position. Yet I'm not sure he's quick enough to defend most SFs in the League and he's a poor rebounder even by SF standards. On the offensive end he's a poor ballhandler and mediocre shooter at best. He gets steals and can get you some points. That's it. On a good team he's an 8th or 9th guy in the rotation. Unfortunately he's been thrust into a role he's not up to.

Of course the whole team is bad defensively. But I'd have to put Mo and Thad at the top of the list as our poorest defenders. Do I hold them to a slightly higher standard than our youngsters? Yes. They should be much better defenders than the rookies and second-year players we have in the rotation. But even without a slightly higher standard, I'd rate Mo as our worst defender.

I didn't see the game. Looks like another good game for Wiggins, Bazz, and Dieng. That is a good sign. I seriously think a lineup of Rubio/Bazz/Wiggins/Adrien/Dieng would look a ton better then what we are seeing. I hope we get to see a good deal of that soon.

Any lineup with Rubio involved is better than what we're seeing. We need him back so dearly.

Camden wrote:Any lineup with Rubio involved is better than what we're seeing. We need him back so dearly.

One quality of Rubio's that makes a huge difference, and might not be quantifiable with statistics, is his ability to put people in the right place. He's a director, and while he can't physically make others convert buckets, he's the only one on this team that can put them in a position to be successful. At least then we will be able to tell if it's the utter lack of structure/offense, or the players themselves lacking talent. All I know right now is there are a few young kids succeeding individually in spite of the injuries and coaching.

GymRat, Good point on Rubio and where we desperately need his leadership most is on defense. While he can only do so much individually, I'm hoping that he lights a fire under his team mates. Goodness knows that the coaching staff has not gotten through to them and no other vet has the credibility (or desire) to play this role.