Minnesota Sports Forum

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 9:40 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 9:37 pm

kekgeek wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 7:47 pm

100%. All my grades are not my feelings of how they will be long term.

Your grade seems to reflect your anti-Minott bias. . Honestly, Minott’s defense today was smothering. And of course, he also brought great energy and rebounding. He made some nice passes as well. The shot wasn’t there, but it wasn’t terrible. He was our 4th best player after TSJ, Nix and Hifi. The big drop off was after Minott. So my grades are exactly the same as yours except I’m giving Minott a B.

The Leonard Miller hater club is alive and well. If you guys think he was a D, I officially think your opinions are trash. LOL

I like the push-back, KG!

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 9:37 pm

kekgeek wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 7:47 pm

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 6:14 pm

I don't disagree with the grade for Clark, but I'm going to give the guy a pass seeing as he has not played in a competitive game like this for well over a year.

100%. All my grades are not my feelings of how they will be long term.

Your grade seems to reflect your anti-Minott bias. . Honestly, Minott’s defense today was smothering. And of course, he also brought great energy and rebounding. He made some nice passes as well. The shot wasn’t there, but it wasn’t terrible. He was our 4th best player after TSJ, Nix and Hifi. The big drop off was after Minott. So my grades are exactly the same as yours except I’m giving Minott a B.

Honestly that could be the case Lip, we all have our biases and mine could be showing here, even though I try my best to not have them.

I do not think Minott played bad at all, I guess I was a little disappointed that he just seemed like another guy in SL in his 3rd year. I mean should our 3rd year player be our 4th best player? I’m not sure. I do think good on ball defense was good today and I thought his drives were a lot more in control today. I thought he was very solid

Crazysauce wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 9:29 pm Think what concerns me most with Dillys game is missing his baskets near the hoop. He looked very uncomfortable around the rim. Hopefully just jitters but got to make those easy ones.

Shannon was great. Really liked what I saw from him. Nice to see Clark back. Hopefully gets up to speed quickly. Miller's defense leaves much to be desired as does Dillys. Nice to see the win.

Dillingham has on tape said that he is nervous in iso/going to the rim because he is small.

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 8:39 pm Reed Shephard had a great game. 23 points on 9 for 17 shooting with 4 triples, 4 rebounds, 5 assists one steal and 3 BLOCKS and was plus 21. Could be the ROY!!

Well, as long as we’re overreacting to summer league, Reed will have to beat out TSJ who had 25 pts on 9-14 shooting

Just finished watching the game and reading through this and Lip's report thread.

I'll do a breakdown of the players as well.

Nix he was by far the best of the 2 way players and it wasn't even close. He had a couple bad plays/turnovers later in the first quarter and I wondered if he was simply tired. He played the entire 1st quarter and was on the floor to start the 2nd. I thought that was weird. Maybe they are trying to challenge him in making the right plays or something and seeing if he can don't while tired? Anyways he played well. I was watching him closely on his FTs and was glad he kept getting fouled because he hasn't been a good FT shooter. His one miss it looked like his shot/release was somewhat different than the other FTs he made. Hopefully he keeps making a positive impression.

TSJ overall was really impressive. I had seen a headline that he really shined in this game before I watched it so I knew that going on and quite frankly sometimes when guys have a big scoring game it's because they just make shots. Imo that wasn't the case in this game. He was doing a lot of good stuff out there. He did have some turnovers but he was really impressive on offense overall. Best player by far.

I wasn't watching Minott's D too closely (so much to watch) but I was paying more attention later in the game and it looked like a positive and probably partly why he was in the game although with Miller out there were fewer options. His offense shooting or handling the ball looks no better than before but if you consider him more of a Brandon Clarke guy then he did that type of thing just fine and for sure looked more like he could guard on the perimeter more than that type of guy. Idk if he is an NBA player at this point to be honest. Right now he is an energy and effort guy and those guys do have value. He also continues to look automatic from the FT which is a real positive for a effort energy guy that you may even consider deploying for certain possessions at the end of the game...although that's unlikely.

Miller. No clue about his defense but who cares about what his 3 point shot looks like it does go in. He made strides in that aspect in the G-league last year but offense isn't his issue. It's too bad he got hurt it would be good to see more of him whether it's good or bad...hopefully not bad. I honestly didn't watch him close enough to say how he did but he was pretty productive in a short amount of minutes.

Dilly didn't make shots and I think he did take a couple bad ones. Still like Q said he did some good things as an actual PG and personally I didn't think his D looked bad and he did have a couple possessions where he made plays on that end. Of course compared to all the other guards he was the worst on that end but that may not be a fair comparison.

Which brings us to Hifi. It's one game but wow he looked like the guy we thought Dillingham would be as but also was an absolute pest with massive effort on D. If he keeps up his play he is going to get at least a 2-way deal somewhere and at this point I hope it's with the Wolves. Summer league is for guards but I thought his quickness and scoring ability really stood out.

Jesse Edwards. I like him and he did some good things but I can see why he was an ok rebounder in college despite having so much length. He just isn't strong and his hands seem just ok. I think he was ok on defense and he did wall up a few times. It's just one game but he will need to to more to cement his 2-way contract status.

Ledee's box score doesn't look good especially since he had 4 fouls but to be honest he was simply a better player than Edwards. He isn't as big but there were times his D was more impactful down the stretch and he just looked like he knew what he was doing out there on both ends. He was fouled 2-3 times in that 4th going for rebounds. Edwards is Tall and long Ledee is a man child but doesn't have length. The Wolves were going for the win and I think it was wise to go with Ledee down the stretch. If they were really going for it they could have put in Hifi for Dillingham but that's not what you do when you have invested so much in Dillingham so that is the right call.

Jaylen Clark idk he looked fine he isn't out there to score. He looks like he has a pretty decent handle so I think he can attack when there are some obvious opportunities and there is a base there if he can be smart enough to make enough decisions as a combo guard. It's tough to expect too much from him coming off a major injury. I remember someone with the Wolves say he was really strong. That did look to be the case. I saw a couple plays where he was defending and he was not moved at all by the offensive player and was basically manhandling the guy without actually fouling him. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Wieskamp made a 3 and missed another one. Whatever. Lol

Overall it was a good win guys played with lots of energy and effort. They did keep letting the Pels get back in the game but for the first summer league game only having 11 turnovers is honestly pretty impressive. They were out rebounded though.

kekgeek wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 4:54 pm

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 4:51 pm

kekgeek wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 4:46 pm

He’s just so much older than everyone in college. I understand why he fell to an extent but great start from here at SL

I'll never understand why age is such a big deal if you are already really good and developed physically. He's one of the best two-way players in college basketball with an NBA body, but oh my god he's too old! Why does that suddenly make you a middling prospect??

I agree with you. However I know there was a study done on how old prospects do in the NBA and the results have been really bad for old prospects lately. Jamie Jacques is a rare exception from last year

Let's not forget that his legal issues probably had some effect on his draft position.

One of the questions I have about him is his 3 point shot. Are you getting a guy that can make them or will he be below average like his first season at Illinois? I really liked Jamie Jacques and thought he could be successful at the next level but there were real concerns about his size length etc who was he going to be able to guard. Also he was a poor 3 point shooter and was well below average his rookie year as well. Teams have definitely missed on some older players recently late in the first and in the 2nd round that supposedly didn't have upside offensively. Hopefully we got a real good player in TSJ we could really use a legit rotation player that helps now and grows into a pretty good player.

Sundog wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 7:01 am

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 8:39 pm Reed Shephard had a great game. 23 points on 9 for 17 shooting with 4 triples, 4 rebounds, 5 assists one steal and 3 BLOCKS and was plus 21. Could be the ROY!!

Well, as long as we’re overreacting to summer league, Reed will have to beat out TSJ who had 25 pts on 9-14 shooting

It wasn't just a summer league game, Reed was in my opinion the best prospect in the draft. So he would have been my favorite for ROY even before game one. But that was an impressive debut. And yes TSJ did well, but I just don't see him getting to the rim like that all the time in NBA playoff games and he's going to have to work on his handles and passing or he's going to be picked on. I love TSJ's attack style but I also want to see how well he can shoot from outside as we got a lot of guys who can attack the rim already and he's going to have to shoot well outside to open up the driving lanes.

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 2:40 pm

Sundog wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 7:01 am

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 8:39 pm Reed Shephard had a great game. 23 points on 9 for 17 shooting with 4 triples, 4 rebounds, 5 assists one steal and 3 BLOCKS and was plus 21. Could be the ROY!!

Well, as long as we’re overreacting to summer league, Reed will have to beat out TSJ who had 25 pts on 9-14 shooting

It wasn't just a summer league game, Reed was in my opinion the best prospect in the draft. So he would have been my favorite for ROY even before game one. But that was an impressive debut. And yes TSJ did well, but I just don't see him getting to the rim like that all the time in NBA playoff games and he's going to have to work on his handles and passing or he's going to be picked on. I love TSJ's attack style but I also want to see how well he can shoot from outside as we got a lot of guys who can attack the rim already and he's going to have to shoot well outside to open up the driving lanes.

Yes, Reed is going to be special. There’s a reason he was the #3 pick in the draft and I have no doubt he’ll end up the best player in this draft class. When you shoot 52% from behind the arc and average 2.5 steals per game in 29 minutes as a college freshman you’ve got something special going on. As everyone on this board knows, I wanted to trade up for him. Reed’s performance yesterday simply confirmed what I already concluded about him. But it was fun to get a live look at him put his special skills on display.

Things will obviously get tougher for both Reed and Terrence against real NBA competition. Both will undoubtedly have their struggles as rookies. But they’re both going to be very good eventually.

We've talked about Rob's poor shooting night, and based on his college performance, I expect that to turn around...hopefully starting Sunday. But is he perhaps also a "do shit" kind of player? In addition to his 5 assists (and no turnovers) he also had 5 rebounds, a steal, and a blocked shot. I don't expect him to be a shot blocker (he only had 2 in college!), but his 5 rebounds should not be a surprise...he averaged 5 per 36 minutes in college. Size is important in rebounding, but sometimes quickness and a nose for the ball can make up for a lack of size. Nice to see him get the 5 boards last night.

FNG wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 2:54 pm We've talked about Rob's poor shooting night, and based on his college performance, I expect that to turn around...hopefully starting Sunday. But is he perhaps also a "do shit" kind of player? In addition to his 5 assists (and no turnovers) he also had 5 rebounds, a steal, and a blocked shot. I don't expect him to be a shot blocker (he only had 2 in college!), but his 5 rebounds should not be a surprise...he averaged 5 per 36 minutes in college. Size is important in rebounding, but sometimes quickness and a nose for the ball can make up for a lack of size. Nice to see him get the 5 boards last night.

I agree, FNG. Those 5 rebounds impressed me the most. More than anything, rebounding is about effort and as you noted “a nose for the ball.” Those are the things you can’t teach. The reason I see Rob potentially becoming a really good possibly great starting PG down the road is that he has those foundational characteristics you can’t team PLUS elite handles, quickness and shot-making ability. He’s long enough to guard most PGs given his quickness. The only negative about his relatively slight frame. But seeing him in person, he’s not rail thin. So I see him adding significant muscle weight over the next few years. He’ll never have Brunson’s size, but won’t need it to be great.