Minnesota Sports Forum

AbeVigodaLive wrote:I can't tell if Tim and FNG are being facetious or not.

LOL.

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:I'm really afraid Kat talent has fallen off a cliff

Lol. He's coming back from a serious injury and a really long layoff. When you come back this late in the season after that sort of layoff you're playing at a pre-season level while everyone else is running on all cylinders. KAT is only 27 years old. Last season he averaged over 24 points,10 rebounds, nearly 4 assists, 1 block and 1 steal per game. He had his his third highest eFG percentage in his career last season as well. His talent hasn't fallen off. That's nonsense. He's just getting his legs under him after a long layoff. As it turns out, he was critical to tonight's win, dominating in the low post down the stretch. That's was the Towns we've seen over the years.

If Ant becomes the star he can be, he'll be our #1 guy -- a two-way super star. KAT will be a great #2 in his prime the next few seasons. And Jaden will be an all-defensive stud with a very nice developing offensive game. The hysterical negativity towards Towns right now is nuts. Among other things, people start seeing negatives that aren't' there. I saw one post saying his defense keeps getting worse. In fact, his defense was pretty good last season - 22nd in the League. We finished 10 games over .500 with KAT last season even though Ant and Jaden weren't nearly as good as they've been this season. Put a healthy KAT out there a full season with the Ant and Jaden we've season this season plus Conley and Anderson and this team could be really good. Maybe it works with Rudy, maybe not. But KAT's not the problem this season and he'll be a huge positive for this team going forward if he can just get back to last season's form - which is highly likely given his age and his talent.

You are right, heat of the moment overreaction. Kat was looking slow, the stem cell procedure this offseason and him looking passive got me worried with his worse offensive production his first 21 games.

I did overreact though

FNG wrote:Good question, Monster...I also like both NAW and JMac as long as they both provide what they do best. My preference for who Finchie has on the court depends on need...if we need someone who can guard a productive wing and Jay-DEE is on the bench, my preference is NAW. But if Conley is taking a breather, I want JMac out there in his place...not NAW.

I think you know I put a lot of stock (when the sample size is large) in on/off numbers...I have a fondness for outscoring the opponent ;) . And as Jim Pete has said a couple times this season..."Good things seem to happen whenever JMac is on the court". That take is supported by the numbers. The Wolves have outscored their opponent by 7.4 points per 100 possessions this season (only Mike Conley is better)...we are 1.8 points better on offense, and a very strong 5.6 points better on defense when JMac is playing. And this is not a new phenomenon...only KAT had a better on/off than JMac last season. Even the biggest on/off skeptics can't ignore positive data that extends over 2 seasons like that! NAW in contrast has not been good in on/off this season...he's a negative 7.1 with us, and he was a negative 3.3 with Utah. I don't have stats to support this, but it seems to me that he performs better as a wing than as a PG.

I kind of cringe when either one of them puts up a 3-pointer (there are usually better options out there), but I guess they both have to let it fly if they are wide open. It's interesting that they have identical career 3-point success (or lack thereof) at 33.7%. NAW has been much more successful for the entire season this year though, but I'm more interested in how they are doing recently. In the last 10 games, JMac has made 42.9% of his threes, while NAW is struggling at 27.3%

Long answer, but NAW is the answer if we need a defensive wing...Finchie just needs to tell him to not force the threes. But JMac has to be the guy to spell Conley at PG, not NAW.