Minnesota Sports Forum

I was re-watching the twolves playoff run to the WCF the other day (trying to restore hope somehow) and it struck me again how nice of a blend of talent that team had!

Cassell - Clutch Scorer, closer, vocal leader, he used to get in KGs face and challenge him when he got passive.......defense suspect

Sprew - Defense, Offense, did what we needed, tested playoff vet...........didnt seem very vocal, operated behind the scenes, let Sam do the yelling

Hassell - Defense, Defense, Defense, could give you 10 pts a game, hit a three here and there...

KG - all world big, inside, outside, rebound, Defense....need a bird in his ear once in a while to get him fired up...Sam Cassell...

E Johnson.....decent sized center....played Defense, got you some rebounds....nice fit next to KG


Wally....Scorer off the bench, suspect D at times but could carry the offense to give starters a breather

Hoiberg....3 pt specialist, could play some pt when Sam was out, solid D not special

Candi-man....Rim protector, above average Def, 7 footer...had a few post moves so could scorer on occasion

Martin/THUD...back up point guard...pretty average...Martin played for the playoff run due to Thud being hurt



So I know the make up of each team can be different and chemistry comes in a lot of flavors etc. But I thought it fun to contemplate how possibly roles for our current team (2 years in the future from now?) compare from the roles our last Twolves playoff team contained. Just to get perspective.....


1. KG translates to Wiggins........I see what could be similarities between these two. Of course, Wiggins must continues his growth and turn into an all world wing. If so there is a chance that he'd contribute along the lines of what KG did in the 2004 run. He even has a little of that passiveness in him like KG did. Maybe getting a churping bird like a Sam Cassell to fire him up down the road will be good. It would have to be someone he respects who has rings that would come here as FA....

2. Wally translates to Bazz.......Some similiarities here in that they are both suited to be scorers off the bench, instant offense types. I could see equal contribution

3. Rubio translates to Spree........Defense, some offense but not the primary scorer, intangibles like assists, steals, 50/50 balls.......Rubio could contribute on an equal level as Spree did......

4. Cassell translates to combination of PEK/Lavine.........not sure where we get Cassells cold blooded money scoring. Could it be a combination of PEK/Lavine?? LAvine would need a lot of growth to become the scorer Sammy was but the tools ar there. Any short coming could be made up by PEK.

5. Hassell to ??.........This team needs a defense first defense only player. Maybe we draft defense specialist PF to but next to PEK? Okafor/Towns/Cauley-Steins?

6. Candi Man tranlates to Dieng...........Gorgi can give a similar contribution as Candi

7. E Johnson translates to the other half of PEK/Lavine.........so PEK/Lavine need to give us the same contribution as Cassell/E Johnson did.........The main loss I see here is Sam had leadership qualities off the charts. PEK don't have that....LaVine needs to step up here.

8. Hoiberg translates to ?? Troy Daniels........We need to keep searching for the Fred hoiberg glue guy 3 pt specialist. Daniels has really cooled off. Hopefully he can develop.


Well its a stretch but I figured it'd be good for some conversation anyway........Main point is to say I loved the chemistry on that 2004 team and made me think about current chemistry a little......

Nice post, Mael. I especially like your Wiggins-KG analogy. The Bazz-Wally comparison also has some legs to it. After that, as you acknowledged, the analogies or comparisons get pretty tenuous.

I do see LaVine becoming a vocal leader and clutch scorer somewhat in the mold of Sam. LaVine has a lot of moxy and is loaded with talent. He won't instantly command the level of respect Sam commanded based on a championship history. I see the LaVine and Wiggins relationship developing along the lines of the Westbrook-Durant duo. Two talented contemporaries forming the core of the team with the wing player as the main guy of the two while the other emerges as themore vocal, aggressive one.

I don't see the Dieng-Kandiman comparison at all. Dieng is an all out effort guy - the opposite of the Kandiman. I see Dieng as a more talented E Johnson to the extent he's comparable at all to anyone on that 2004 roster. So I think we have a leg up on the 2004 team at center.

Beyond that, I don't see any comparables. Ricky and Spree are way too different for me to compare them even as to their role on the team. Spree could really light it up as a scorer with jump shots and dribble penetration. He was also sort of a dark personality. Ricky's game and personality are so different from Spree's that I can't connect the two at all, although I appreciate your effort to connect them defensively. I predict that Pek won't be on our roster in two years. He may be with us next season, but not after that.

When people (stat heads) use a bunch of fancy stats and ignore the vital importance of chemistry in the NBA game... point to that 2004 team.

1.9 ppg
5.0 ppg

That's the scoring average for two starters. Add in Darrick Martin's 3.4 ppg in the WCF... and it's pretty amazing that team won even two games against the Lakers. By the way, has anybody ever had as bad of a season as Darrick Martin. Sure, he was a deep backup... but he shot only 29% during the season.

Then, dropped to 27% in the playoffs. And he was a subpar defender too. Yikes.


[Note: One small quibble, Madsen actually was part of a three-headed monster at Center and played just as much or more than Olowakandi.]

Hi Lip...Thanks for the response to my somewhat "cheesy" post. I figured it would at least be food for thought.

I'm with you on the Dieng-Kandiman view point. Dieng will give 110% the energy Kandi gave. The thing I worry about with our centers is who do we have that can guard Dwight Howard, Marc Gasol, or Cousins? Once we get back to the post season we'll start encountering those guys and throwing PEK and Dieng at them is a negative +/- any way you slice it. Kandi wasn't the energy type but he had the size needed.

Your right on Ricky and Spree too. Do we need to add a Spree type dark, quiet, assassin type to give this team some character?

Thanks Abe...Your right.......Forgot to put Mad Dog down on the list. Is he a closer match to Dieng because of his effort level? Maybe we get a 7 foot big like Kandi out of Serbia that lacks effort at times. Raduljica??