Minnesota Sports Forum

Q-was-here wrote:

Camden wrote:Nobody wants to hear this, but Walker Kessler would be a really nice partner in the pick-and-roll with D'Angelo Russell considering he dives hard to the rim versus popping out after every screen like Karl-Anthony Towns does. Those two would probably be good for a handful of buckets every game just in that action. For all of the credit Chris Finch rightly deserves, he's still not utilized D-Lo in the pick-and-roll nearly enough.

The problem is the other end of the court Cam. They don't work well together defensively because Kessler is likely best in drop coverage, which forces the guard to fight like hell over ball screens. That's not exactly DLO's strong suit.

Ha, well that's true too!

Sundog60 wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:

Camden wrote:Nobody wants to hear this, but Walker Kessler would be a really nice partner in the pick-and-roll with D'Angelo Russell considering he dives hard to the rim versus popping out after every screen like Karl-Anthony Towns does. Those two would probably be good for a handful of buckets every game just in that action. For all of the credit Chris Finch rightly deserves, he's still not utilized D-Lo in the pick-and-roll nearly enough.

The problem is the other end of the court Cam. They don't work well together defensively because Kessler is likely best in drop coverage, which forces the guard to fight like hell over ball screens. That's not exactly DLO's strong suit.

Ha, well that's true too!

FWIW in the 2 games I watched Auburn didn't really play him in drop coverage. He was out on the perimeter even switching at times.

I ran across this kinda fun article that idk if it really means anything but kinda fun to look at. :)

https://hoopshype.com/lists/slowest-stars-nba-draft-combine-kevin-durant-rudy-gobert/

https://twitter.com/jakepaynting/status/1540350447541960706?s=10&t=bkaJ8ZSquf1x9JZtI4u_Hg

You guys tell me what you think. It's a short clip and the guy tweeting about it was impressed by Kessler's movement. I was also impressed. But I was even more impressed with Kessler's basketball awareness that seems evident in this video.

I am pleased that the team added 2 guys that project to be able to help make the team a stronger defense and not a total loss on the other end. I am quite optimistic about this draft.

Q-was-here wrote:

Camden wrote:Nobody wants to hear this, but Walker Kessler would be a really nice partner in the pick-and-roll with D'Angelo Russell considering he dives hard to the rim versus popping out after every screen like Karl-Anthony Towns does. Those two would probably be good for a handful of buckets every game just in that action. For all of the credit Chris Finch rightly deserves, he's still not utilized D-Lo in the pick-and-roll nearly enough.

The problem is the other end of the court Cam. They don't work well together defensively because Kessler is likely best in drop coverage, which forces the guard to fight like hell over ball screens. That's not exactly DLO's strong suit.

Walker Kessler is likely best in drop coverage, sure, and so was Jarrett Allen in Brooklyn when D'Angelo Russell was there. The Nets somehow managed to have a respectable defense (14th in DRtg) with him playing the most minutes on the team... primarily in drop coverage. It's never going to be D-Lo's strength, but you can get by with him defensively. That's been proven multiple times now in two different schemes.

The observation was that Kessler would be a good fit with Russell in the pick-and-roll, which was an action that Minnesota didn't utilize nearly enough last year. It's an entire wrinkle offensively that the Timberwolves couldn't go to, and instead relied on their best players winning in isolation. It'd be nice to not have to do that again this season.

monsterpile wrote:I ran across this kinda fun article that idk if it really means anything but kinda fun to look at. :)

https://hoopshype.com/lists/slowest-stars-nba-draft-combine-kevin-durant-rudy-gobert/

That's definitely a fun read.

Kessler went back to working on his shot the last few months. There is some other fun stuff on the Q and A after the article. He does actually know Edwards.

https://www.yahoo.com/now/walker-kessler-spent-months-rediscovering-051210361.html

monsterpile wrote:Kessler went back to working on his shot the last few months. There is some other fun stuff on the Q and A after the article. He does actually know Edwards.

https://www.yahoo.com/now/walker-kessler-spent-months-rediscovering-051210361.html

Good article. I didn't know that Walker Kessler's dad is from Minnesota.

Yes he moves pretty well, I was expecting a stiff like Taco Fall. Excited that he has quite a bit of work to do lower his body fat percentage to league average, should give him another kick in the mobility department! He also seems fantastic at using verticality, hopefully towns can pick up on that.