Minnesota Sports Forum

While I generally agree with kekgeek's sentiment that a good coach can coach up a team defense, you still need at least a few guys that are just flat out great individual and/or team defenders. You can only paper over so much with coaching.

It still feels like to me that we still have too many guys that need to be coached up or hidden. The second unit especially actually has no where to hide. With the exception of Prince, they are all liabilities defensively.

One name I have only seen brought up occasionally is this Luwawu kid playing overseas. I have never seen him, but it sounds like wing defense is his calling card. I hope he's on our front office's radar for a good, long look.

"Go ahead. My aversion to Russell has been pretty spot on. He was in the discussion for the top pick and I didn't like him there. I didn't think he was a top 5 player then and I still don't. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/rankings/2016/02/04/karl-anthony-towns-kristaps-porzingis-jahlil-okafor-justise-winslow-myles-turner-rookie-rankings/79687744/Earlier this month, he got rated 7th. I said he was an inefficient shooter and a poor defender, and the stats back up those assertions. Also, the context of my aversion to Russell were board discussed proposals to draft Russell instead of KAT and then trade Rubio. Both would have been franchise crippling moves. Are you saying you would rather Russell than KAT and we should have traded Rubio when his trade value was at its lowest?"

If by "spot on" you mean "wrong", then absolutely. And I don't believe you said he was an inefficient shooter. That would just be silly considering at the time he had just posted a remarkably efficient freshman season at Ohio State while being their lead dog. You won't admit to it, but Russell's had a pretty decent rookie campaign despite just recently getting injured.

Rookie Season Comparison:

D. Russell's Per-36 Minutes Averages: 17.2 points, 4.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 3.1 turnovers, 41.7 FG%, 35.3 3P%

R. Westbrook's Per-36 Minutes Averages: 16.9 points, 5.9 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 3.7 turnovers, 39.8 FG%, 27.1 3P%

K. Irving's Per-36 Minutes Averages: 21.8 points, 6.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.2 steals, 3.7 turnovers, 46.9 FG%, 39.9 3P%,

C. Paul's Per-36 Minutes Averages: 16.1 points, 7.8 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 2.3 turnovers, 43 FG%, 28.2 3P%

Hardaway's Per-36 Minutes Averages: 15.7 points, 6.5 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 3.5 turnovers, 46.6 FG%, 26.7 3P%

Transitioning from college to the pros as a point guard is arguably one of the hardest transitions in all of sports. Russell still looks to be a better player than you ever gave him credit for.

Also, the bolded question to end your post made me laugh. I was driving the Towns bandwagon like you are with Patrick McCaw. Looking back on the main draft thread from last year, I was super annoying about how good Towns was going to be. Don't try and paint a different picture by trying to put words in my mouth that were never there, though. I always had Towns over Russell.

I was the one saying Russell over Towns. I was wrong I still think Russell might end up the second best player in the draft in 5 years.

There are a few reasons why I still find Murray pretty intriguing despite some warts.

1. Sure he is a little undersized as a SG but Ibdinthink he has PG skills which makes him a pretty big player at that spot.

2. Volume and high percentage 3 point shooting and pretty efficient scoring in general. 20ppg on a team that was pretty talented ain't too shabby.

3. UK guys have done pretty well in the league after being drafted. Murray might be a PG but he just spent a college season being asked to be more of a Kevin Martin type. I won't be shocked if he has more to his game than he showed this year.

4. Athletic ability seems to be somewhat underrated when talking about this guy. 34" and 39.5" are his verticals leap and .3 blocks per game for a college freshman guard is not too shabby. I'm not suggesting this guy is a freak athlete but he isn't some guy that has nothing going on there.

You combine all that into a guy that's around 6'4" that may be a legit combo guard that can shoot and be creative with the ball...and he is a pretty interesting prospect with the productivity he put up as a freshman in a legit program. I don't know if I want the Wolves to draft him because right now I would love to get a front court player but it wouldn't be hard to get excited about him either. I think comparing him to Bazz even if they both can't defend a folding chair isn't fair either because Murray has a more diverse offensive game than Bazz because he can handle the ball pass and shoot.

Speaking of Russell I guess maybe he is getting his investigative journalism career started? What was his major at OSU?

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15095276/dangelo-russell-center-los-angeles-lakers-rift-video-took-nick-young-made-public

Sounds like Russell has been labeled a traitor by the attitude I have read. To the point that most of the Lakers are simply ignoring him. Kid is young, and the Los Angeles lifestyle is fast paced. But if Nick Young is your best buddy and mentor then Russell with only fail in this scenario.

Someone mentioned they may trade him this Summer. Seriously?

Jamal Murray had more turnovers than assists in college. Why do we want that guy having primary ball handling duties for us even potentially on the second unit?

slimcalhoun27 wrote:Sounds like Russell has been labeled a traitor by the attitude I have read. To the point that most of the Lakers are simply ignoring him. Kid is young, and the Los Angeles lifestyle is fast paced. But if Nick Young is your best buddy and mentor then Russell with only fail in this scenario.

Someone mentioned they may trade him this Summer. Seriously?

Question on this just, if by any chance the wolves get the 1st pick and the lakers get the 3rd would you do 1st for Russell and the 3rd.

If the wolves stay at the 5th spot would the Lakers be more inclined to trade us Russell if they kept their top 3 pick or if they lose their pick. Or do they just not trade Russell at all

I would be okay with Murray. Not a fan of the 7 footer from Utah.

I would trade the 3-5th pick for Russell if the Lakers wanted it.

The other day I was looking at DX top 100 and. Pricing who were guys on the list outside of the 2nd round. Does anyone have a guy they like and thinks has a chance to make it that you don't think will be drafted?

http://www.draftexpress.com/rankings/Top-100-Prospects/4/

It's not that long ago I would have been thrilled to get Fred VanVleet. Is Zach Auguste's D as bad as DX suggests in their write up on him? It's possible the Wolves won't have a 2nd rounder to use so maybe they can find a hidden gem with an undrafted guy. I know I am dreaming but it's what the good teams do and we want to be a good team right...? Obviously some of who would make sense depends on what direction they go with their first round pick.