Camden wrote:I'm just gonna say it -- I don't want a big man who tries to take charges. Leave that for the guards and pesky forwards. I want a big man that will stand tall, stay on his feet and wall up against the offensive player(s). Dieng has NEVER been that player and Towns is inconsistent in this area.
I agree with you, Cam. But Gorgui doesn't have the lower body strength to wall up in that way. My point was that he at least stands in and takes charges. He'll also block some shots. That's getting the most out of what he has. Ideally, I'd like to have a big who defends down low in the way you described. Unfortunately, that's not Gorgui or Saric and never will be. KAT has improved and will probably improve some more, but tough interior defense in the way you described will never be his strength. And as much as we all love Taj, he's not particularly good defensively down low either.
So I'd like to see us get the kind of big you described to pair with KAT. But I don't know who that could be. I'd also like to have some perimeter players who can stay in front of the guy they're guarding for more than a millisecond and who will do what Gorgui does -- i.e, step in and take a charge.
Saric actually walls up quite a bit. I think part of Saric's problem is the defense is so broken he has no idea what to do and then he can't play smart defense because...not much of that happens. Now you can make the argument that Saric might not be long enough but I think the strength and skill is there but admittedly like a lot of thing on this team (including Saric overall) is far from certain.
Taking charges (for bigs) is often sort of a bonus skill. It helps make up for other stuff that flawed guys don't do. Dieng has gotten stronger the past couple years but after he lost that weird he from his illness or whatever I liked more what I saw from him as his unique but flawed way of playing like a guard being pesky and gambling when playing individual defense. Dieng SHOULD wall up more as he has enough length it would likely work well enough. Instead he goes for too many blocks. It felt like he was back to making more plays that way this season than he was for over a year. Dieng has some strengths that can make him useful. I don't want to sound like I am pumping up Dieng especially defensively but I also don't think he is a lost cause on the roster if utilized in a way that makes some sense. I think he can be a solid bench player since he isn't going anywhere for the next year.
Towns has some thing he does that can be useful defensively but it feels like he is underachieving considering his overall gifts. I thought he made some legit progress this year which is encouraging. I'm not saying a new defensive scheme could unlock a DPOY player or something but I wonder if it could get more out of him. I hope the Wolves bring in someone with a legit resume in that area. JB Bickerstaff and Frank Vogel are options I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are some other good options out there. I'd like to get someone like the Rockets have with what's his name that was the head coach of the baby nuggets years ago.
Camden wrote:I'm just gonna say it -- I don't want a big man who tries to take charges. Leave that for the guards and pesky forwards. I want a big man that will stand tall, stay on his feet and wall up against the offensive player(s). Dieng has NEVER been that player and Towns is inconsistent in this area.
I agree with you, Cam. But Gorgui doesn't have the lower body strength to wall up in that way. My point was that he at least stands in and takes charges. He'll also block some shots. That's getting the most out of what he has. Ideally, I'd like to have a big who defends down low in the way you described. Unfortunately, that's not Gorgui or Saric and never will be. KAT has improved and will probably improve some more, but tough interior defense in the way you described will never be his strength. And as much as we all love Taj, he's not particularly good defensively down low either.
So I'd like to see us get the kind of big you described to pair with KAT. But I don't know who that could be. I'd also like to have some perimeter players who can stay in front of the guy they're guarding for more than a millisecond and who will do what Gorgui does -- i.e, step in and take a charge.
Saric actually walls up quite a bit. I think part of Saric's problem is the defense is so broken he has no idea what to do and then he can't play smart defense because...not much of that happens. Now you can make the argument that Saric might not be long enough but I think the strength and skill is there but admittedly like a lot of thing on this team (including Saric overall) is far from certain.
Taking charges (for bigs) is often sort of a bonus skill. It helps make up for other stuff that flawed guys don't do. Dieng has gotten stronger the past couple years but after he lost that weird he from his illness or whatever I liked more what I saw from him as his unique but flawed way of playing like a guard being pesky and gambling when playing individual defense. Dieng SHOULD wall up more as he has enough length it would likely work well enough. Instead he goes for too many blocks. It felt like he was back to making more plays that way this season than he was for over a year. Dieng has some strengths that can make him useful. I don't want to sound like I am pumping up Dieng especially defensively but I also don't think he is a lost cause on the roster if utilized in a way that makes some sense. I think he can be a solid bench player since he isn't going anywhere for the next year.
Towns has some thing he does that can be useful defensively but it feels like he is underachieving considering his overall gifts. I thought he made some legit progress this year which is encouraging. I'm not saying a new defensive scheme could unlock a DPOY player or something but I wonder if it could get more out of him. I hope the Wolves bring in someone with a legit resume in that area. JB Bickerstaff and Frank Vogel are options I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are some other good options out there. I'd like to get someone like the Rockets have with what's his name that was the head coach of the baby nuggets years ago.
Monster - All excellent points. Regarding Saric, he just seems a step slow defensively. I don't think he lacks length. He looks really long in person. As you indicated, it's hard to assess individual players defensively on this team given how bad the team has been collectively on that end of the floor. And it's especially difficult to assess our bigs defensively when opposing players can penetrate against our perimeter defenders so easily. It's interesting how much better Towns looked defensively when Covington was playing. I'm with you in wanting to see a modern defensive guru on the the Wolves coaching staff.
The problem with Saric is he gets the "white big guy from Europe" treatment from the officials, just like Bjelica. So he has zero margin for error and never gets the benefit of the doubt on 50/50 calls.
The reality is we need an elite or borderline elite defensive big next to KAT for 20+ minutes per game. We saw how good this team was defensively with a creaky KG playing next to KAT and Prince on the wing. We have our wing defender in Covington, but we need to upgrade Wiggins and upgrade Taj/Saric. Offense isn't a worry....KAT is only going to get better on that end. Let him put his attention there, as he will never be elite defensively given all the energy he needs to burn getting buckets and boards.
Can somebody explain why the Warriors aren't playing their next game until Saturday? Seems like they should be switching with Denver. Why do they get three full days off between games?
sjm34 wrote:Can somebody explain why the Warriors aren't playing their next game until Saturday? Seems like they should be switching with Denver. Why do they get three full days off between games?
Don't know if this is the reason but Moda Center has an event for Brian Tumor event on Saturday so don't know if that is why
sjm34 wrote:Can somebody explain why the Warriors aren't playing their next game until Saturday? Seems like they should be switching with Denver. Why do they get three full days off between games?
Don't know if this is the reason but Moda Center has an event for Brian Tumor event on Saturday so don't know if that is why
I never considered the previously scheduled events. Makes sense.
thedoper wrote:Jokic is fun to watch. I hope he's not seriously injured.
I didn't watch the game. What happened to Jokic? I agree he's fun to watch. Look at the box score, he put up great numbers tonight with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals. Murray has also been terrific this series. He apparently came up huge tonight with 34 points on 50% shooting from the field while hitting 11 of 11 free throws. Then there was Millsap with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal. Imagine KAT playing with Murray, Millsap, Harris and Barton instead of Wiggins, Teague and Gibson or Dieng. Rosas has his work cut out for him.
thedoper wrote:Jokic is fun to watch. I hope he's not seriously injured.
I didn't watch the game. What happened to Jokic? I agree he's fun to watch. Look at the box score, he put up great numbers tonight with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals. Murray has also been terrific this series. He apparently came up huge tonight with 34 points on 50% shooting from the field while hitting 11 of 11 free throws. Then there was Millsap with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal. Imagine KAT playing with Murray, Millsap, Harris and Barton instead of Wiggins, Teague and Gibson or Dieng. Rosas has his work cut out for him.
I know I defend thibs a lot on this board but it's like 2 bad mistakes can kill you.
Flip selected Lavine over Harris (Arguments can be made for lavine but I like Harris more)
If thibs selected Murray over Dunn he wouldn't had to spend for Teague.
Maybe a Rubio, lavine and pick could of been had for Jimmy.
If we didn't sign give gorgui the extension good chance Millsap would be a wolf. I mean he visited the wolves but we couldn't create the cap space.
There would be a situation we could be going into this offseason with a Murray/ Wiggins/Cov (I am assuming we still trade Jimmy)/Millsap/ Towns with Saric off the bench.
Once again I get the Dunn pick even though I liked Murray a ton more on draft night. But it's crazy to think what one pick can free fall the team.
thedoper wrote:Jokic is fun to watch. I hope he's not seriously injured.
I didn't watch the game. What happened to Jokic? I agree he's fun to watch. Look at the box score, he put up great numbers tonight with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals. Murray has also been terrific this series. He apparently came up huge tonight with 34 points on 50% shooting from the field while hitting 11 of 11 free throws. Then there was Millsap with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal. Imagine KAT playing with Murray, Millsap, Harris and Barton instead of Wiggins, Teague and Gibson or Dieng. Rosas has his work cut out for him.
He tweeked his ankle at the end of the game. Came back in and finished, but any big like that worries me when they start limping. They run such a unique offense, really interesting to watch.
