Minnesota Sports Forum

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 9:46 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 8:21 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 7:43 am

If he ever starts hitting the 3-point shot again, then he will entrench himself as the "8th starter" and Shannon/Dilly will be fighting for 9th man minutes. Really a shame how Shannon has become a shell of what he was in the pre-season and last year's playoff (albeit brief) stints. We know it's in him to do better!

TJ will turn it around for sure. 100% the guy is legit. Not sure why he's not playing up to his speed, but he'll be fine.

Clark is huge also, we just got to have that guy play every night. Without his defense we are stinky poo poo.

I agree on both TJ and Clark. We tend to rush to conclusions on extremely small sample sizes. Players have rough patches and need to play through them. That’s especially true for inexperienced players. Unfortunately, we have a head coach who doesn’t have the patience to let that process play out for our younger or less experienced players. As a result, we are not developing our draft picks the way we should and are squandering their value.

Cooper Flagg was the top pick in this year’s draft and widely regarded as a generational prospect. He’s averaging 32.5 minutes per game while scoring 13.4 points and shooting only 37.3% from the field and 28.6% from behind the arc. Mike Conley averaged 26 minutes per game in 53 games his rookie season while averaging only 9.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds.

Cooper Flagg gets 32.5 minutes per game while shooting 37.3% from the field as a PF. Meanwhile Dillingham averaged only 10.5 minutes per game as a rookie and is getting even less playing time so far this season. If you extrapolate Dilly’s rookie stats to the 32.5 minutes Flagg is averaging, Dilly’s averages last season would have been 14 points, 6.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals. Note that Dilly’s shot 44% from the field and nearly 34% from behind the arc — both substantially better than Flagg’s shooting numbers. The Wolves recent draft picks — Dillingham, TJ and Clark — have to get significant, consistent minutes if we want them to develop and help this team become a sustainable true championship contender with Ant and Jaden. I actually think all three - especially Clark - can help us a lot right how. If they get the sort of playing time they need to develop then all three can certainly be very positive contributors for us the second half of the season or at least by the end of the season.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 7:49 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 7:22 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 01, 2025 10:54 pm Defense showed up finally.....

More specifically, Rudy showed up. He finally started contesting shots out of the drop rather than just dropping and allowing guys to get off clean looks. He was a monster in the 2nd half. Not sure we can expect that from him every night though.

100%, 88 Def Rating when Rudy played last night, an even unbelievable 150 when he was off!!!!!!!!!

We go from best defense in the league to the worst with one guy! We can't compete without Rudy out there for some reason (not just this game, this season).

FNG wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 12:29 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 7:49 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 7:22 am

More specifically, Rudy showed up. He finally started contesting shots out of the drop rather than just dropping and allowing guys to get off clean looks. He was a monster in the 2nd half. Not sure we can expect that from him every night though.

100%, 88 Def Rating when Rudy played last night, an even unbelievable 150 when he was off!!!!!!!!!

We go from best defense in the league to the worst with one guy! We can't compete without Rudy out there for some reason (not just this game, this season).

And surprisingly we had a 133 offensive rating when Rudy was out there! Finchy has been talking about getting him more involved in the offense. and it happened last night...9 shot attempts when he hadn't had more than 7 in the first 5 games. He looked more active on the offensive glass, and his screens in dribble handoffs led to a lot of open looks. Winning games with Ant out is a challenge, but I think it will be nearly impossible if Rudy misses games.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 12:12 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 9:46 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 8:21 am

TJ will turn it around for sure. 100% the guy is legit. Not sure why he's not playing up to his speed, but he'll be fine.

Clark is huge also, we just got to have that guy play every night. Without his defense we are stinky poo poo.

I agree on both TJ and Clark. We tend to rush to conclusions on extremely small sample sizes. Players have rough patches and need to play through them. That’s especially true for inexperienced players. Unfortunately, we have a head coach who doesn’t have the patience to let that process play out for our younger or less experienced players. As a result, we are not developing our draft picks the way we should and are squandering their value.

Cooper Flagg was the top pick in this year’s draft and widely regarded as a generational prospect. He’s averaging 32.5 minutes per game while scoring 13.4 points and shooting only 37.3% from the field and 28.6% from behind the arc. Mike Conley averaged 26 minutes per game in 53 games his rookie season while averaging only 9.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds.

Cooper Flagg gets 32.5 minutes per game while shooting 37.3% from the field as a PF. Meanwhile Dillingham averaged only 10.5 minutes per game as a rookie and is getting even less playing time so far this season. If you extrapolate Dilly’s rookie stats to the 32.5 minutes Flagg is averaging, Dilly’s averages last season would have been 14 points, 6.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals. Note that Dilly’s shot 44% from the field and nearly 34% from behind the arc — both substantially better than Flagg’s shooting numbers. The Wolves recent draft picks — Dillingham, TJ and Clark — have to get significant, consistent minutes if we want them to develop and help this team become a sustainable true championship contender with Ant and Jaden. I actually think all three - especially Clark - can help us a lot right how. If they get the sort of playing time they need to develop then all three can certainly be very positive contributors for us the second half of the season or at least by the end of the season.

I'm going to slightly side with Finch. He's sees these guys in practice and scrimmages every day, I don't. I get his short leash and young players are bound to make mistakes. However guys can develop still in practice, in Iowa, even on their own studying film. I don't think they have to play to get better, but I agree the leash could be longer.

As far as FLagg, He was the number 1 pick, he's going to get a much longer leash then any other rookie, plus Dallas isn't super deep either.

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 1:26 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 12:12 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 9:46 am

I agree on both TJ and Clark. We tend to rush to conclusions on extremely small sample sizes. Players have rough patches and need to play through them. That’s especially true for inexperienced players. Unfortunately, we have a head coach who doesn’t have the patience to let that process play out for our younger or less experienced players. As a result, we are not developing our draft picks the way we should and are squandering their value.

Cooper Flagg was the top pick in this year’s draft and widely regarded as a generational prospect. He’s averaging 32.5 minutes per game while scoring 13.4 points and shooting only 37.3% from the field and 28.6% from behind the arc. Mike Conley averaged 26 minutes per game in 53 games his rookie season while averaging only 9.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds.

Cooper Flagg gets 32.5 minutes per game while shooting 37.3% from the field as a PF. Meanwhile Dillingham averaged only 10.5 minutes per game as a rookie and is getting even less playing time so far this season. If you extrapolate Dilly’s rookie stats to the 32.5 minutes Flagg is averaging, Dilly’s averages last season would have been 14 points, 6.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals. Note that Dilly’s shot 44% from the field and nearly 34% from behind the arc — both substantially better than Flagg’s shooting numbers. The Wolves recent draft picks — Dillingham, TJ and Clark — have to get significant, consistent minutes if we want them to develop and help this team become a sustainable true championship contender with Ant and Jaden. I actually think all three - especially Clark - can help us a lot right how. If they get the sort of playing time they need to develop then all three can certainly be very positive contributors for us the second half of the season or at least by the end of the season.

I'm going to slightly side with Finch. He's sees these guys in practice and scrimmages every day, I don't. I get his short leash and young players are bound to make mistakes. However guys can develop still in practice, in Iowa, even on their own studying film. I don't think they have to play to get better, but I agree the leash could be longer.

As far as FLagg, He was the number 1 pick, he's going to get a much longer leash then any other rookie, plus Dallas isn't super deep either.

Finch saw Josh Minott in practice every day last season.

https://www.si.com/nba/timberwolves/ons ... er-in-east

This team is terrible without at least Rudy or Ant on the floor. That’s not sustainable. Being that dependent on just those two players and a 38 year old PG with obviously fading skills is not going to get this team back to the Western Conference finals this season much less position the team for a championship this season or over the remainder of Ant’s contract. Building through the draft means giving the players you draft significant, consistent minutes at least by their second season if you want to develop them and actually find out what they can provide.

I think it’s pretty clear this team will not win a championship with Ant, Randle, Rudy and Conley as its core absent a significant trade unless one or more of our recent draftees becomes a major positive contributor. Clark, TJ and Dilly all have the potential to become major positive contributors to this team, but we’ll never know if they’re not put on the court for major minutes over an extended period and allowed to fail. It doesn’t matter whether a player was the 1st pick or 8th pick. The Mavs are playing Cooper because they want to develop and evaluate him in an effort to eventually get from him what they intended when they drafted him at #1. There is no reason to not apply that same approach to the 8th pick or the 23rd pick or even a 2nd round pick like Clark who shows promise.

I’m not sure how good this team will be this season with Clark, TJ and Dilly getting 20+ minutes per game. I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up a better team by the end of this season if we did that. I’ll note that our come-back against the Lakers wasn’t limited to the last stretch of the 4th when Conley and our other starters were playing. The comeback was triggered just as much by the 11-2 Wolves run at the end of the 3rd when PG duties were split between Bones and Dilly. Even if playing our recent draftees means taking a step back this season, now is the time to do that knowing we have our 1st round pick for this season.

I think Finch, like many on this board, only sees the flaws and mistakes of our less experienced players. That was true of Minott and I think it is true of their perspective on our other draft picks - Dilly, TJ, Clark, and Miller.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 2:21 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 1:26 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 12:12 pm

I'm going to slightly side with Finch. He's sees these guys in practice and scrimmages every day, I don't. I get his short leash and young players are bound to make mistakes. However guys can develop still in practice, in Iowa, even on their own studying film. I don't think they have to play to get better, but I agree the leash could be longer.

As far as FLagg, He was the number 1 pick, he's going to get a much longer leash then any other rookie, plus Dallas isn't super deep either.

Finch saw Josh Minott in practice every day last season.

https://www.si.com/nba/timberwolves/ons ... er-in-east

This team is terrible without at least Rudy or Ant on the floor. That’s not sustainable. Being that dependent on just those two players and a 38 year old PG with obviously fading skills is not going to get this team back to the Western Conference finals this season much less position the team for a championship this season or over the remainder of Ant’s contract. Building through the draft means giving the players you draft significant, consistent minutes at least by their second season if you want to develop them and actually find out what they can provide.

I think it’s pretty clear this team will not win a championship with Ant, Randle, Rudy and Conley as its core absent a significant trade unless one or more of our recent draftees becomes a major positive contributor. Clark, TJ and Dilly all have the potential to become major positive contributors to this team, but we’ll never know if they’re not put on the court for major minutes over an extended period and allowed to fail. It doesn’t matter whether a player was the 1st pick or 8th pick. The Mavs are playing Cooper because they want to develop and evaluate him in an effort to eventually get from him what they intended when they drafted him at #1. There is no reason to not apply that same approach to the 8th pick or the 23rd pick or even a 2nd round pick like Clark who shows promise.

I’m not sure how good this team will be this season with Clark, TJ and Dilly getting 20+ minutes per game. I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up a better team by the end of this season if we did that. I’ll note that our come-back against the Lakers wasn’t limited to the last stretch of the 4th when Conley and our other starters were playing. The comeback was triggered just as much by the 11-2 Wolves run at the end of the 3rd when PG duties were split between Bones and Dilly. Even if playing our recent draftees means taking a step back this season, now is the time to do that knowing we have our 1st round pick for this season.

I think Finch, like many on this board, only sees the flaws and mistakes of our less experienced players. That was true of Minott and I think it is true of their perspective on our other draft picks - Dilly, TJ, Clark, and Miller.

I got us winning it all so we'll see. Also Finch has been playing more and more of the youth too, like you said Dilly was a spark in that Laker game. But do you really start playing Dilly more minutes then Conley and DDV? I guess you would say yes, I'd say it depends on how the player is playing that game.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 3:02 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 2:21 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 1:26 pm

Finch saw Josh Minott in practice every day last season.

https://www.si.com/nba/timberwolves/ons ... er-in-east

This team is terrible without at least Rudy or Ant on the floor. That’s not sustainable. Being that dependent on just those two players and a 38 year old PG with obviously fading skills is not going to get this team back to the Western Conference finals this season much less position the team for a championship this season or over the remainder of Ant’s contract. Building through the draft means giving the players you draft significant, consistent minutes at least by their second season if you want to develop them and actually find out what they can provide.

I think it’s pretty clear this team will not win a championship with Ant, Randle, Rudy and Conley as its core absent a significant trade unless one or more of our recent draftees becomes a major positive contributor. Clark, TJ and Dilly all have the potential to become major positive contributors to this team, but we’ll never know if they’re not put on the court for major minutes over an extended period and allowed to fail. It doesn’t matter whether a player was the 1st pick or 8th pick. The Mavs are playing Cooper because they want to develop and evaluate him in an effort to eventually get from him what they intended when they drafted him at #1. There is no reason to not apply that same approach to the 8th pick or the 23rd pick or even a 2nd round pick like Clark who shows promise.

I’m not sure how good this team will be this season with Clark, TJ and Dilly getting 20+ minutes per game. I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up a better team by the end of this season if we did that. I’ll note that our come-back against the Lakers wasn’t limited to the last stretch of the 4th when Conley and our other starters were playing. The comeback was triggered just as much by the 11-2 Wolves run at the end of the 3rd when PG duties were split between Bones and Dilly. Even if playing our recent draftees means taking a step back this season, now is the time to do that knowing we have our 1st round pick for this season.

I think Finch, like many on this board, only sees the flaws and mistakes of our less experienced players. That was true of Minott and I think it is true of their perspective on our other draft picks - Dilly, TJ, Clark, and Miller.

I got us winning it all so we'll see. Also Finch has been playing more and more of the youth too, like you said Dilly was a spark in that Laker game. But do you really start playing Dilly more minutes then Conley and DDV? I guess you would say yes, I'd say it depends on how the player is playing that game.

In defense of Finch, he's in the West where just last season we had to fight like hell just to stay out of the play-in. It's easy to say play the young guys, but what if they really do suck? It may cost us a trip to the playoffs. By the way, don't go look at Dillingham and Shannon's net rating. Hint: It's a deep, deep, red!

Having said that, I think the key young guys that need to play are getting appropriate minutes for now: Clark, Shannon, and Dillingham. We'll see what happens when Ant is back. I'm OK with Beringer soaking it all in for now. It's hard to believe that Rudy/Randle/Reid all stay 100% healthy this season. He will get his shot at the rotation soon enough.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 2:21 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 1:26 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 02, 2025 12:12 pm

I'm going to slightly side with Finch. He's sees these guys in practice and scrimmages every day, I don't. I get his short leash and young players are bound to make mistakes. However guys can develop still in practice, in Iowa, even on their own studying film. I don't think they have to play to get better, but I agree the leash could be longer.

As far as FLagg, He was the number 1 pick, he's going to get a much longer leash then any other rookie, plus Dallas isn't super deep either.

Finch saw Josh Minott in practice every day last season.

https://www.si.com/nba/timberwolves/ons ... er-in-east

This team is terrible without at least Rudy or Ant on the floor. That’s not sustainable. Being that dependent on just those two players and a 38 year old PG with obviously fading skills is not going to get this team back to the Western Conference finals this season much less position the team for a championship this season or over the remainder of Ant’s contract. Building through the draft means giving the players you draft significant, consistent minutes at least by their second season if you want to develop them and actually find out what they can provide.

I think it’s pretty clear this team will not win a championship with Ant, Randle, Rudy and Conley as its core absent a significant trade unless one or more of our recent draftees becomes a major positive contributor. Clark, TJ and Dilly all have the potential to become major positive contributors to this team, but we’ll never know if they’re not put on the court for major minutes over an extended period and allowed to fail. It doesn’t matter whether a player was the 1st pick or 8th pick. The Mavs are playing Cooper because they want to develop and evaluate him in an effort to eventually get from him what they intended when they drafted him at #1. There is no reason to not apply that same approach to the 8th pick or the 23rd pick or even a 2nd round pick like Clark who shows promise.

I’m not sure how good this team will be this season with Clark, TJ and Dilly getting 20+ minutes per game. I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up a better team by the end of this season if we did that. I’ll note that our come-back against the Lakers wasn’t limited to the last stretch of the 4th when Conley and our other starters were playing. The comeback was triggered just as much by the 11-2 Wolves run at the end of the 3rd when PG duties were split between Bones and Dilly. Even if playing our recent draftees means taking a step back this season, now is the time to do that knowing we have our 1st round pick for this season.

I think Finch, like many on this board, only sees the flaws and mistakes of our less experienced players. That was true of Minott and I think it is true of their perspective on our other draft picks - Dilly, TJ, Clark, and Miller.

I got us winning it all so we'll see. Also Finch has been playing more and more of the youth too, like you said Dilly was a spark in that Laker game. But do you really start playing Dilly more minutes then Conley and DDV? I guess you would say yes, I'd say it depends on how the player is playing that game.