Minnesota Sports Forum

TeamRicky wrote:

thedoper wrote:Ricky and Towns are supposed to be our best defenders and they are becoming our worst. Slim points it out correctly, Ricky's instincts aren't enough. His athleticism is just not NBA level.

Totally untrue BS. Your haterade on Ricky is tiring.

Teamricky....what games are you watching unless this is pure sarcasm. If Ricky could attack the rim and finish, or hit a Sam Cassel 15' shot, then defense wouldn't be his only strength. And that factor is subpar against any PG who is athletic and can push the rock and attack.

Westbrook had more assists than our starting 5 combined.

TeamRicky wrote:

thedoper wrote:Ricky and Towns are supposed to be our best defenders and they are becoming our worst. Slim points it out correctly, Ricky's instincts aren't enough. His athleticism is just not NBA level.

Totally untrue BS. Your haterade on Ricky is tiring.

I don't hate Ricky. I think he'd be a great back up point on the Cavs or Warriors and I'd like to see him be in playoff basketball in that situation. But for whatever reason he never developed the strength to fight through screens which is essential in a league where everyone but him can shoot.

Although I do think you should trademark haterade, I'd drink it.

I don't get it, at least Towns was a willing passer last year. He simply will not pass the basketball anymore. It seems like his Dad has gotten in his head and he's playing for himself.

My point is this, our team leader is unfortunately Rubio. And he struggles often both offensively and defensively. I'm not sure the reason but the frustration on his face to me looks contagious and offputting to the rest of the babies. Wiggins is a corpse, lavine is a zombie and towns looks like he wants to yell and be passionate but is trying to be politically correct which is his fall back image.

I want to see the Pistons of the late 80's/90's as a persona for these guys but unfortunately we don't have a leader to display that. Someone nasty, someone brash, someone who will jump over you and another who wants the damn rock when it counts. None are Rubio, He needs to be be that guy, but is not!

slimcalhoun27 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:

thedoper wrote:Ricky and Towns are supposed to be our best defenders and they are becoming our worst. Slim points it out correctly, Ricky's instincts aren't enough. His athleticism is just not NBA level.

Totally untrue BS. Your haterade on Ricky is tiring.

Teamricky....what games are you watching unless this is pure sarcasm. If Ricky could attack the rim and finish, or hit a Sam Cassel 15' shot, then defense wouldn't be his only strength. And that factor is subpar against any PG who is athletic and can push the rock and attack.

10 assists, 7 rebounds and no turnovers for Ricky tonight playing against the best PG in basketball...not sure I agree that defense is his only strength.

Our win in OkC last March seems like a distant memory.

Towns and Ricky were terrible defensively tonight. But those two were just the tip of the iceberg for our horrible defense tonight. I would love to have a player like Westbrook on our team. Unfortunately we don't.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I don't get it, at least Towns was a willing passer last year. He simply will not pass the basketball anymore. It seems like his Dad has gotten in his head and he's playing for himself.

Cool, when he gets the Ball, not one player is making a move, making a cut, or trying to get open. How good would Kat be if Lavine or Wiggins were back cutting or running the court like Rip Hamilton did back in the day? It's flaccid basketball.

slimcalhoun27 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I don't get it, at least Towns was a willing passer last year. He simply will not pass the basketball anymore. It seems like his Dad has gotten in his head and he's playing for himself.

Cool, when he gets the Ball, not one player is making a move, making a cut, or trying to get open. How good would Kat be if Lavine or Wiggins were back cutting or running the court like Rip Hamilton did back in the day? It's flaccid basketball.

Might be another chicken or the egg thing. Do they not move because the pass never comes, or does the pass not come because they aren't moving. My belief is there is plenty of options to move the ball, it's just not happening. At a minimum he should be passing out of the post more often to open 3 point shooters, which I saw on multiple possessions tonight.

longstrangetrip wrote:

slimcalhoun27 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:

thedoper wrote:Ricky and Towns are supposed to be our best defenders and they are becoming our worst. Slim points it out correctly, Ricky's instincts aren't enough. His athleticism is just not NBA level.

Totally untrue BS. Your haterade on Ricky is tiring.

Teamricky....what games are you watching unless this is pure sarcasm. If Ricky could attack the rim and finish, or hit a Sam Cassel 15' shot, then defense wouldn't be his only strength. And that factor is subpar against any PG who is athletic and can push the rock and attack.

10 assists, 7 rebounds and no turnovers for Ricky tonight playing against the best PG in basketball...not sure I agree that defense is his only strength.

Our win in OkC last March seems like a distant memory.

Not sure 10/7 versus Westbrook is a solid night since Westbrook could care less about guarding him since Ricky toooooook 4 shots and hit 1. Your point is for Ricky? To have three guys average 20 plus points and Ricky only average 7 assists a game this year doesn't say much to me. Lavine, Towns and Wiggins average 66 points a game and Ricky is assisting only on 14 of those points. Something is significantly off isn't it?