Naz Reid

[FNG]

Naz becomes an important piece for us with KAT out, and so far he seems to be meeting the challenge. My eye test tells me that he looks quick out there at both ends of the court, and he seems to have the potential to be a very good shot blocker. His stat line looks good. 19.8/8.6 per 36 with 2.5 blocks. While his 3-point shooting has been off this season (welcome to the club), he has a nice TS% of 59.2%. His WS/48 of .111 trails only Rudy, KAT and JMac, and he has one of only 5 positive net ratings on basketballreference.com (along with the 3 guys just mentioned plus SloMo). Those are very good stats, and he is an easy guy to cheer for.

One cause for alarm: Chris Hine reports that Naz is much more effective playing center than PF. 72% of his minutes have been at center, and the Wolves are a +2.8 in those minutes. But in the 28% of his minutes at PF, the Wolves are a -15.8! You would think Naz would get more minutes at PF next to Rudy with KAT out, but that doesn't appear to be a good strategy. Probably a better idea to give him all of Rudy's bench minutes, and give most of the PF minutes to SloMo and Jaden.

Anyway, a very nice season for Naz so far.

[Lipoli390]

Naz becomes an important piece for us with KAT out, and so far he seems to be meeting the challenge. My eye test tells me that he looks quick out there at both ends of the court, and he seems to have the potential to be a very good shot blocker. His stat line looks good. 19.8/8.6 per 36 with 2.5 blocks. While his 3-point shooting has been off this season (welcome to the club), he has a nice TS% of 59.2%. His WS/48 of .111 trails only Rudy, KAT and JMac, and he has one of only 5 positive net ratings on basketballreference.com (along with the 3 guys just mentioned plus SloMo). Those are very good stats, and he is an easy guy to cheer for.

One cause for alarm: Chris Hine reports that Naz is much more effective playing center than PF. 72% of his minutes have been at center, and the Wolves are a +2.8 in those minutes. But in the 28% of his minutes at PF, the Wolves are a -15.8! You would think Naz would get more minutes at PF next to Rudy with KAT out, but that doesn't appear to be a good strategy. Probably a better idea to give him all of Rudy's bench minutes, and give most of the PF minutes to SloMo and Jaden.

Anyway, a very nice season for Naz so far.

Good post, FNG. I've been a big Naz fan since watching him live in his first Summer League with the Wolves. That was a great Summer League that featured Naz Reid and JMac.

[kekgeek]

Naz becomes an important piece for us with KAT out, and so far he seems to be meeting the challenge. My eye test tells me that he looks quick out there at both ends of the court, and he seems to have the potential to be a very good shot blocker. His stat line looks good. 19.8/8.6 per 36 with 2.5 blocks. While his 3-point shooting has been off this season (welcome to the club), he has a nice TS% of 59.2%. His WS/48 of .111 trails only Rudy, KAT and JMac, and he has one of only 5 positive net ratings on basketballreference.com (along with the 3 guys just mentioned plus SloMo). Those are very good stats, and he is an easy guy to cheer for.

One cause for alarm: Chris Hine reports that Naz is much more effective playing center than PF. 72% of his minutes have been at center, and the Wolves are a +2.8 in those minutes. But in the 28% of his minutes at PF, the Wolves are a -15.8! You would think Naz would get more minutes at PF next to Rudy with KAT out, but that doesn't appear to be a good strategy. Probably a better idea to give him all of Rudy's bench minutes, and give most of the PF minutes to SloMo and Jaden.

Anyway, a very nice season for Naz so far.

Good post, FNG. I've been a big Naz fan since watching him live in his first Summer League with the Wolves. That was a great Summer League that featured Naz Reid and JMac.

Naz has been really solid when at Center this year. Wolves have been terrible with him at PF, like league low in net rating bad with him at PF.

Naz has improved this year but I still think it's his last year on the wolves

[Q-is-here]

Naz becomes an important piece for us with KAT out, and so far he seems to be meeting the challenge. My eye test tells me that he looks quick out there at both ends of the court, and he seems to have the potential to be a very good shot blocker. His stat line looks good. 19.8/8.6 per 36 with 2.5 blocks. While his 3-point shooting has been off this season (welcome to the club), he has a nice TS% of 59.2%. His WS/48 of .111 trails only Rudy, KAT and JMac, and he has one of only 5 positive net ratings on basketballreference.com (along with the 3 guys just mentioned plus SloMo). Those are very good stats, and he is an easy guy to cheer for.

One cause for alarm: Chris Hine reports that Naz is much more effective playing center than PF. 72% of his minutes have been at center, and the Wolves are a +2.8 in those minutes. But in the 28% of his minutes at PF, the Wolves are a -15.8! You would think Naz would get more minutes at PF next to Rudy with KAT out, but that doesn't appear to be a good strategy. Probably a better idea to give him all of Rudy's bench minutes, and give most of the PF minutes to SloMo and Jaden.

Anyway, a very nice season for Naz so far.

Good post, FNG. I've been a big Naz fan since watching him live in his first Summer League with the Wolves. That was a great Summer League that featured Naz Reid and JMac.

Naz has been really solid when at Center this year. Wolves have been terrible with him at PF, like league low in net rating bad with him at PF.

Naz has improved this year but I still think it's his last year on the wolves

All of the "two-big" player pair net ratings are in the negative: Gobert-KAT; Gobert-Reid; KAT-Reid.

You have to follow the data and so far it suggests the skepticism of a lot of the NBA pundits was correct. It's just really hard to play two bigs these days with the way the ball moves on defense and the mobility it requires. On offense, they take up a lot of space! And the rebounding advantage just isn't there....even if it was, would it be enough to make up for the mobility deficit?

(and Giannis/Lopez doesn't apply here. Yes, Giannis is big, but he moves like a cheetah. It's like the best of both worlds).

[Lipoli390]

Naz becomes an important piece for us with KAT out, and so far he seems to be meeting the challenge. My eye test tells me that he looks quick out there at both ends of the court, and he seems to have the potential to be a very good shot blocker. His stat line looks good. 19.8/8.6 per 36 with 2.5 blocks. While his 3-point shooting has been off this season (welcome to the club), he has a nice TS% of 59.2%. His WS/48 of .111 trails only Rudy, KAT and JMac, and he has one of only 5 positive net ratings on basketballreference.com (along with the 3 guys just mentioned plus SloMo). Those are very good stats, and he is an easy guy to cheer for.

One cause for alarm: Chris Hine reports that Naz is much more effective playing center than PF. 72% of his minutes have been at center, and the Wolves are a +2.8 in those minutes. But in the 28% of his minutes at PF, the Wolves are a -15.8! You would think Naz would get more minutes at PF next to Rudy with KAT out, but that doesn't appear to be a good strategy. Probably a better idea to give him all of Rudy's bench minutes, and give most of the PF minutes to SloMo and Jaden.

Anyway, a very nice season for Naz so far.

Good post, FNG. I've been a big Naz fan since watching him live in his first Summer League with the Wolves. That was a great Summer League that featured Naz Reid and JMac.

Naz has been really solid when at Center this year. Wolves have been terrible with him at PF, like league low in net rating bad with him at PF.

Naz has improved this year but I still think it's his last year on the wolves

All of the "two-big" player pair net ratings are in the negative: Gobert-KAT; Gobert-Reid; KAT-Reid.

You have to follow the data and so far it suggests the skepticism of a lot of the NBA pundits was correct. It's just really hard to play two bigs these days with the way the ball moves on defense and the mobility it requires. On offense, they take up a lot of space! And the rebounding advantage just isn't there....even if it was, would it be enough to make up for the mobility deficit?

(and Giannis/Lopez doesn't apply here. Yes, Giannis is big, but he moves like a cheetah. It's like the best of both worlds).

Well said, Q. It's the point I've been harping on since the Gobert trade was made. You're right and the data supports your observation that the two-big formula doesn't work well in today's NBA. I think I've made the same point you made here about Giannis. He's really quick and mobile -- not even close to being a big in the mold of KAT, Gobert, etc. In my experiences when the vast majority of others (not necessarily everyone) with knowledge about a subject think you're wrong on that topic, you usually are.

[kekgeek]

Naz becomes an important piece for us with KAT out, and so far he seems to be meeting the challenge. My eye test tells me that he looks quick out there at both ends of the court, and he seems to have the potential to be a very good shot blocker. His stat line looks good. 19.8/8.6 per 36 with 2.5 blocks. While his 3-point shooting has been off this season (welcome to the club), he has a nice TS% of 59.2%. His WS/48 of .111 trails only Rudy, KAT and JMac, and he has one of only 5 positive net ratings on basketballreference.com (along with the 3 guys just mentioned plus SloMo). Those are very good stats, and he is an easy guy to cheer for.

One cause for alarm: Chris Hine reports that Naz is much more effective playing center than PF. 72% of his minutes have been at center, and the Wolves are a +2.8 in those minutes. But in the 28% of his minutes at PF, the Wolves are a -15.8! You would think Naz would get more minutes at PF next to Rudy with KAT out, but that doesn't appear to be a good strategy. Probably a better idea to give him all of Rudy's bench minutes, and give most of the PF minutes to SloMo and Jaden.

Anyway, a very nice season for Naz so far.

Good post, FNG. I've been a big Naz fan since watching him live in his first Summer League with the Wolves. That was a great Summer League that featured Naz Reid and JMac.

Naz has been really solid when at Center this year. Wolves have been terrible with him at PF, like league low in net rating bad with him at PF.

Naz has improved this year but I still think it's his last year on the wolves

All of the "two-big" player pair net ratings are in the negative: Gobert-KAT; Gobert-Reid; KAT-Reid.

You have to follow the data and so far it suggests the skepticism of a lot of the NBA pundits was correct. It's just really hard to play two bigs these days with the way the ball moves on defense and the mobility it requires. On offense, they take up a lot of space! And the rebounding advantage just isn't there....even if it was, would it be enough to make up for the mobility deficit?

(and Giannis/Lopez doesn't apply here. Yes, Giannis is big, but he moves like a cheetah. It's like the best of both worlds).

Well said, Q. It's the point I've been harping on since the Gobert trade was made. You're right and the data supports your observation that the two-big formula doesn't work well in today's NBA. I think I've made the same point you made here about Giannis. He's really quick and mobile -- not even close to being a big in the mold of KAT, Gobert, etc. In my experiences when the vast majority of others (not necessarily everyone) with knowledge about a subject think you're wrong on that topic, you usually are.

I don't necessarily disagree with you two in theory. I well say though the Kat/Gobert pairing statistically was producing an above average defense in the 87th percentile of all NBA lineupes. I'm not saying that pairing has destined to succeed or will be successful in the playoffs but 20 games wolves were really good at defense statistically when Kat and Gobert played together

Offense is where that pairing was not successful.

[thedoper]

I've really noticed Naz's speed this year being his advantage. Its impressive the pace he is playing at out there. He's completely transformed his body and it is paying off. Wish he was a better help defender and more effective at the 4, but I could honestly see that coming. He's legitimately good and does nice things when he's on the floor.

[Wolvesfan21]

Naz becomes an important piece for us with KAT out, and so far he seems to be meeting the challenge. My eye test tells me that he looks quick out there at both ends of the court, and he seems to have the potential to be a very good shot blocker. His stat line looks good. 19.8/8.6 per 36 with 2.5 blocks. While his 3-point shooting has been off this season (welcome to the club), he has a nice TS% of 59.2%. His WS/48 of .111 trails only Rudy, KAT and JMac, and he has one of only 5 positive net ratings on basketballreference.com (along with the 3 guys just mentioned plus SloMo). Those are very good stats, and he is an easy guy to cheer for.

One cause for alarm: Chris Hine reports that Naz is much more effective playing center than PF. 72% of his minutes have been at center, and the Wolves are a +2.8 in those minutes. But in the 28% of his minutes at PF, the Wolves are a -15.8! You would think Naz would get more minutes at PF next to Rudy with KAT out, but that doesn't appear to be a good strategy. Probably a better idea to give him all of Rudy's bench minutes, and give most of the PF minutes to SloMo and Jaden.

Anyway, a very nice season for Naz so far.

Good post, FNG. I've been a big Naz fan since watching him live in his first Summer League with the Wolves. That was a great Summer League that featured Naz Reid and JMac.

Naz has been really solid when at Center this year. Wolves have been terrible with him at PF, like league low in net rating bad with him at PF.

Naz has improved this year but I still think it's his last year on the wolves

All of the "two-big" player pair net ratings are in the negative: Gobert-KAT; Gobert-Reid; KAT-Reid.

You have to follow the data and so far it suggests the skepticism of a lot of the NBA pundits was correct. It's just really hard to play two bigs these days with the way the ball moves on defense and the mobility it requires. On offense, they take up a lot of space! And the rebounding advantage just isn't there....even if it was, would it be enough to make up for the mobility deficit?

By the end of the year the starting 5 will be top 10 in both offense and defense. I just can't see them failing on both ends to be great.
(and Giannis/Lopez doesn't apply here. Yes, Giannis is big, but he moves like a cheetah. It's like the best of both worlds).

Well said, Q. It's the point I've been harping on since the Gobert trade was made. You're right and the data supports your observation that the two-big formula doesn't work well in today's NBA. I think I've made the same point you made here about Giannis. He's really quick and mobile -- not even close to being a big in the mold of KAT, Gobert, etc. In my experiences when the vast majority of others (not necessarily everyone) with knowledge about a subject think you're wrong on that topic, you usually are.

I don't necessarily disagree with you two in theory. I well say though the Kat/Gobert pairing statistically was producing an above average defense in the 87th percentile of all NBA lineupes. I'm not saying that pairing has destined to succeed or will be successful in the playoffs but 20 games wolves were really good at defense statistically when Kat and Gobert played together

Offense is where that pairing was not successful.

By the end of the year the starting unit will be top 10 in both offense and defense. I just can't see them failing like they have rebounding and scoring in the first 20 games. We'll have to wait for KAT to get back and hopefully the injury doesn't linger either. The thing is with Rudy the guys were learning to play in a new system. Ant had never even played with a big that rolled to the hoop before.

It's not surprising they started slow. Even though defensively they were solid. The points will come as well.

[Monster]

I've really noticed Naz's speed this year being his advantage. Its impressive the pace he is playing at out there. He's completely transformed his body and it is paying off. Wish he was a better help defender and more effective at the 4, but I could honestly see that coming. He's legitimately good and does nice things when he's on the floor.

Good post. Ultimately he just looks like a better player this year like you said a lot of that is his physical body. I say that even with him not hitting his 3's yet. My guess is he will improve there at least somewhat but he is also hitting 2/3rd of his 2 point shots. He is starting to look like a guy some team might think could be a low end starting center that can also be a threat from 3. It's worth noting he is shooting a career low 10% of his 3's from the corners. There is probably some upside from him on 3's if he took a greater volume from those spots.

[Q-is-here]

Naz becomes an important piece for us with KAT out, and so far he seems to be meeting the challenge. My eye test tells me that he looks quick out there at both ends of the court, and he seems to have the potential to be a very good shot blocker. His stat line looks good. 19.8/8.6 per 36 with 2.5 blocks. While his 3-point shooting has been off this season (welcome to the club), he has a nice TS% of 59.2%. His WS/48 of .111 trails only Rudy, KAT and JMac, and he has one of only 5 positive net ratings on basketballreference.com (along with the 3 guys just mentioned plus SloMo). Those are very good stats, and he is an easy guy to cheer for.

One cause for alarm: Chris Hine reports that Naz is much more effective playing center than PF. 72% of his minutes have been at center, and the Wolves are a +2.8 in those minutes. But in the 28% of his minutes at PF, the Wolves are a -15.8! You would think Naz would get more minutes at PF next to Rudy with KAT out, but that doesn't appear to be a good strategy. Probably a better idea to give him all of Rudy's bench minutes, and give most of the PF minutes to SloMo and Jaden.

Anyway, a very nice season for Naz so far.

Good post, FNG. I've been a big Naz fan since watching him live in his first Summer League with the Wolves. That was a great Summer League that featured Naz Reid and JMac.

Naz has been really solid when at Center this year. Wolves have been terrible with him at PF, like league low in net rating bad with him at PF.

Naz has improved this year but I still think it's his last year on the wolves

All of the "two-big" player pair net ratings are in the negative: Gobert-KAT; Gobert-Reid; KAT-Reid.

You have to follow the data and so far it suggests the skepticism of a lot of the NBA pundits was correct. It's just really hard to play two bigs these days with the way the ball moves on defense and the mobility it requires. On offense, they take up a lot of space! And the rebounding advantage just isn't there....even if it was, would it be enough to make up for the mobility deficit?

By the end of the year the starting 5 will be top 10 in both offense and defense. I just can't see them failing on both ends to be great.
(and Giannis/Lopez doesn't apply here. Yes, Giannis is big, but he moves like a cheetah. It's like the best of both worlds).

Well said, Q. It's the point I've been harping on since the Gobert trade was made. You're right and the data supports your observation that the two-big formula doesn't work well in today's NBA. I think I've made the same point you made here about Giannis. He's really quick and mobile -- not even close to being a big in the mold of KAT, Gobert, etc. In my experiences when the vast majority of others (not necessarily everyone) with knowledge about a subject think you're wrong on that topic, you usually are.

I don't necessarily disagree with you two in theory. I well say though the Kat/Gobert pairing statistically was producing an above average defense in the 87th percentile of all NBA lineupes. I'm not saying that pairing has destined to succeed or will be successful in the playoffs but 20 games wolves were really good at defense statistically when Kat and Gobert played together

Offense is where that pairing was not successful.

By the end of the year the starting unit will be top 10 in both offense and defense. I just can't see them failing like they have rebounding and scoring in the first 20 games. We'll have to wait for KAT to get back and hopefully the injury doesn't linger either. The thing is with Rudy the guys were learning to play in a new system. Ant had never even played with a big that rolled to the hoop before.

It's not surprising they started slow. Even though defensively they were solid. The points will come as well.

That's a fair take Doper, but I've turned skeptical. Ultimately Finch will need to be held to account if we continue to see player after player underperform versus his career averages. KAT's injury may have bought him some time!