SL Game 4 - Wolves vs. Suns

[Q-is-here]

Behold Amari Bailey. He managed 7 turnovers in only 21 minutes of action, earned a technical foul in crunch time, and was a -16 despite playing mostly with the starters, all of whom were positive in +/-.

[Q-is-here]

Fantastic recovering from Dilly after the poor start

And this is why we just gotta ride out the growing pains. The pedigree is there.

Young, coachable. I’d have a different opinion if he wasn’t working on his game or his body but he is and whether he keeps playing or not, he’s got 2 more months to gear up.

It was encouraging to see for sure. Was also turnover free in the second half I believe. Clark came up big in the 4th as well.

Beringer got frustrated and was mostly a non-factor in the 2nd half.

[kekgeek]

Thunder won. Not looking good for the SL wolves

[Lipoli390]

As SL has progressed we can see the value of sample size. As the sample increases the cream rises and you get a better measure of who has what it takes to be an NBA player and who doesn’t.

Here’s a list of those who do:

1. Terrence Shannon Jr. — TSJ showed it right away because he’s that good and so advanced as a 24/25 year old with five years of college experience. TC said yesterday that he sees TSJ becoming and elite two-way player and I agree.

2. Jalen Clark — Clark continues to show elite defense and with more games we’ve seen his shooting come around. He’s obviously ready right not to contribute at the NBA level.

3. Rob Dillingham — Before today, Dilly was a mixed bag but a positive overall, showing flashes but also having lapses with turnovers and missed shots at the rim. Nevertheless, he was the starting PG on a 3-0 Wolves team before today and he had a lot to do with that success. Today, it took it up a notch and showed nearly the whole package in the 2nd half, especially the 4th quarter. He put the team on his back and carried the Wolves to this win over a very good Suns SL team and he did it without TSJ. The only thing missing from his game in the second half was three-point accuracy. Otherwise, he was hitting mid-range shots as he had been in the first three games but also finishing at the rim and not turning the ball over. His defense in the 4th quarter was outstanding. Take a look in particular at his defense in on possession with around 2:30 left in the game. I have no doubt he’s ready, although because of his age and inexperience as well as the demands of his position, he’ll have struggles the older more experienced guys like TSJ and Clark won’t.

4. Leonard Miller — Yes, I’m including him. It’s uncomfortable watching him sometimes because of the way he plays but the guy rebounds and scores at a high level consistently every single game. He can handle the ball pretty well too. What I’ve noticed over the last couple games, especially today, is that he’s improved his defense a lot. I thought he was terrific defensively today. He’s also shown the ability to pass the ball. Today he had one especially impressive bounce pass on a fast break in the 4th. Is he ready to step in right now and give quality positive minutes at the NBA level. I think so, although I don’t see him at the sale level as TSJ, Clark or Dilly right now.

5. Tristin Newton — I now understand why the Wolves front office has him pegged for our third two-way contract. I had profound doubts after the first two games but I can now see that he brings a pretty mature game and high basketball IQ along with good physical strength and toughness.

6. Joan Beringer — I remain convinced he has what it takes to be an NBA player and perhaps a really good one down the road. But the larger the sample size the more it’s become apparent to me he’s not ready. He should get a lot of G-League minutes and perhaps he’ll be NBA-ready by the second half of the season. I love the potential but he has a lot of development ahead of him.

7. Rocco — He hasn’t played much or been particularly impressive in his limited minutes. But you can’t write off an 18 year old with a 9’7” standing reach. I thought he showed very good hands and pretty good agility and speed for someone his size. I loved how he competed, including diving to the floor for the ball in the first or second game. Does he have what it takes to be an NBA player? I’m not sure but I think so.

I have serious doubts about the NBA potential of any of our other SL players we’ve seen on the court thus far. I had high hopes for Bailey after the first few games, but I’m having a hard time overlooking his utterly terrible he looked today. I want to believe in the potential of Edwards and I’ve gone back and forth on him to date. Thinking about what we’ve seen from him over the full four games he’s played, I’ve finally concluded he’s not an NBA caliber player and never will be. I’m not sure about Cain. I like him and I’m not ready to dismiss the notion that he might have NBA potential.

No matter what happens the rest of this year’s SL, we should be very pleased with what we’ve seen and the young talent we have in this organization.

[FNG]

Lip, I agree with your player by player assessment almost 100%. Perhaps my only disagreement is your comment about Rob missing shots at the rim. We saw this in the first game (I'm not sure about game 2), but I thought his finishing in the past two games was excellent. His speed and ability to contort his body makes up for his lack of size...I am really impressed with his ability to finish at the rim. I agree there will be ups and downs this season and that he will improve as the season goes on. I also think we need to expect he may play more than the 10-15 minutes I have been thinking. Finchy likes playing two PGs together at times, so we should expect to see Rob and Mike playing next to each other at times. Rob finding Mike in the corner where he has been over 50% on threes the past 4 years is an exciting thought.

I think all of us are excited about what we have seen from our two tall draft picks, but as SL progressed, most of us became a little more realistic about how ready they are. Joan is going to be very good, and his timeline might be perfect for us...ready to contribute about the time Rudy is slowing down. But I'm still thinking any injuries to bigs this season will provide an opportunity for Miller and even Edwards instead of our teenagers.

What can we say about Miller? It's difficult to have confidence that he can be an NBA player, but then we see him score and rebound so easily at this level. It kind of reminds me of what Buddy Ryan said when he released Cris Carter much to the Vikings' benefit: "All he does is score touchdowns!" I guess we can say about Miller "All he does is put up double doubles in SL and G League!". Time will tell whether this will translate to the real NBA, but I think we will know a lot more about him by the end of this season. I'm intrigued, but still skeptical.

And then there is Tristen Newton. We haven't talked about him much, but we won this game because our coach subbed in him (+18) for Bailey (-16). He's a good insurance policy.

[FNG]

Thunder won. Not looking good for the SL wolves

Yeah, it will be a tough pill to swallow if we finish 4-0 and not advance. First and foremost we need the Hornets to beat the Spurs today, because we have no chance of having a better point differential than the Spurs but we could finish ahead of the Hornets. And we need some of the other 3-0 teams to either lose (Raptors) or win by such a small difference that they don't pass us in point differential (Hawks and Clippers). Unfortunately it looks like we may finish just outside of the top 4, but there is a chance. I'd like to watch another SL game or two.

[Q-is-here]

I believe every team gets a 5th game. The top four have a mini-Final Four tournament, meaning two teams will play a 6th game. Now whether we sit all our main guys in a non-Final Four consolation game is another question. They for sure won't play Shannon if it doesn't mean anything and perhaps Dilly and Clark don't play either.

[FNG]

I believe every team gets a 5th game. The top four have a mini-Final Four tournament, meaning two teams will play a 6th game. Now whether we sit all our main guys in a non-Final Four consolation game is another question. They for sure won't play Shannon if it doesn't mean anything and perhaps Dilly and Clark don't play either.

Ah, it looks like that is correct, Q. The 5th game is either a semifinal game or a consolation game, correct? So the analysis I provided earlier is still valid in terms of what our 5th game will end up meaning.

[Q-is-here]

I believe every team gets a 5th game. The top four have a mini-Final Four tournament, meaning two teams will play a 6th game. Now whether we sit all our main guys in a non-Final Four consolation game is another question. They for sure won't play Shannon if it doesn't mean anything and perhaps Dilly and Clark don't play either.

Ah, it looks like that is correct, Q. The 5th game is either a semifinal game or a consolation game, correct? So the analysis I provided earlier is still valid in terms of what our 5th game will end up meaning.

We are for sure playing a 5th game and we absolutely have a chance to make the Final Four, which would be cool. Like you said, it helps that the Spurs play Charlotte, as that will automatically eliminate one of the seven remaining undefeated teams besides us.

To me the game to watch (for those sickos like me that actually care about all this, LOL) is Toronto vs. Golden State. We really want Golden State to win that game! I think that would dramatically improve our chances of getting in.

[FNG]

I believe every team gets a 5th game. The top four have a mini-Final Four tournament, meaning two teams will play a 6th game. Now whether we sit all our main guys in a non-Final Four consolation game is another question. They for sure won't play Shannon if it doesn't mean anything and perhaps Dilly and Clark don't play either.

Ah, it looks like that is correct, Q. The 5th game is either a semifinal game or a consolation game, correct? So the analysis I provided earlier is still valid in terms of what our 5th game will end up meaning.

We are for sure playing a 5th game and we absolutely have a chance to make the Final Four, which would be cool. Like you said, it helps that the Spurs play Charlotte, as that will automatically eliminate one of the seven remaining undefeated teams besides us.

To me the game to watch (for those sickos like me that actually care about all this, LOL) is Toronto vs. Golden State. We really want Golden State to win that game! I think that would dramatically improve our chances of getting in.

Ha, not sicko at all...SL is easy for most fans to ignore, because there are so many nonrostered players out there with little chance of ever making an NBA team. But the Wolves have 8 guys on their SL roster who are also either fully rostered or 2-way. And at least 3 of them are expected to get meaningful minutes this season. So it's logical that Wolves fans are much more invested in their SL team's performance than other fans are. Let's get a few more games!