Minnesota Sports Forum

Overall, it was a good preseason for the Wolves, even though it ended in a loss tonight in Brooklyn. Here are some of my main take-aways from the Wolves four preseason games:

1. The team as a whole looks much better defensively.

2. Beverley and Prince were nice additions and will significantly improve the team. Beverley adds an infectious defensive intensity and swagger this team really needed. Prince looks pretty good defensively as well. He also adds a level of professionalism and maturity this team needed. I don't think he was blowing smoke about how his ankle issues have been hurting his play the past couple seasons. He said the offseason ankle surgery has him back to the way he was before the injury and it's showing on the court. He's 27 years old, right in the heart of his prime. I see him as more of a positive contributor on the court than I envisioned before watching him in this four preseason games.

3. KAT's three-point shooting has been off this preseason and he hasn't been the offensive force he can and should be. But he looks quicker and more nimble than he's looked the last couple years. And he looks much better defensively. I though he played terrific defense throughout the four preseason games.

4. Edwards looks like he's going to pick up where he left off at the end of last season on the offensive end. But the exciting take-away from preseason is how well he played on the defensive end. His defense wasn't just improved, it was tremendous. What we saw from him this preseason was a glimpse of his potential to be a two-way star.

5. D'Angelo Russell looked very good running the offense. He pushed the pace and moved the ball, which are two things he needs to do, but often fails to do. I'm excited about a healthy DLO running the point with Towns and Edwards. Russell didn't look bad on the defensive end either and that's really encouraging.

6. Naz Reid looked really good on the offensive end and could be a nice pairing with Towns. He just keeps getting better as a scorer and he showed some passing chops as well. But he still looks limited defensively and he's not a particularly good rebounder.

7. Beasley was terrible defensively in his limited minutes, although his block tonight against the Nets was impressive. The effort is there, but he just seems to be lacking something defensively. He was obviously out of shape and he wasn't the shooter he needs to be to help this team. I still expect his shooting to come around as he rounds into shape and gets more consistent playing time. In spite of his poor defense, he's an important piece for the Wolves. Nevertheless, I still see him as a potential trade asset.

8. Bolmaro was really impressive. He looked like the real deal defensively and as a playmaker. He's tough and plays with great energy. My take away with him is to be really excited about his prospects as a high-level player who will eventually be an important part of the Wolves rotation.

9. My only overall negative take-away from the preseason is that this team still lacks adequate size. I thought the preseason underscored the need for another big as part of the regular rotation who can help this team on the boards and defensively inside.

There you have it. Overall, this preseason confirmed for me that this isn't a 50-win team, but it isn't a sub .500 team either. I'm convinced more now than before that the winner in the predictions derby on this message board will be one of us who predicted a win total in the 40s.

Lip, I agree with a lot of your bullet points, but of course not on your overall conclusion. I wish the preseason had given us more real comparisons to evaluate this team. But instead we got a lot of meaningless mismatches...two wins against teams playing their reserves, a win against Denver in which their starters blew out our starters, and finally a close loss to the Nets with Dlo resting. The preseason was entertaining, but provided me with more questions than answers:

1) I continue to say Dlo is the key to whether this team is ready to make a huge leap forward, and frankly, his history doesn't make me very confident he can get us there. The rube in me gets excited about what I saw from him this preseason (other than the Nuggets game, where he looked like...well, Dlo). But my rational head tells me players who have been in the league 6 seasons don't completely change overnight. If the DLo we saw against the Pelicans and Clippers' reserves is for real, this team will be much better than last year and he may become my favorite player on the team. Let's just say I have a lot of skepticism about that outcome right now.

2) 3-point shooting...on both offense and defense. Always a concern for our Wolves, we were worse than usual in preseason. We took a lot of them...over 40 per game...but only made 30% of them. I think we can all agree we need to shoot much better than 30% beyond the arc if we're going to win more than 30 games this season. Particularly troubling this month on 3's were KAT, Ant and Malik (Wide Load) Beasley...three guys we need to rely on for three-point shooting. Conversely the only teams that played starters we expect to see in the regular season (Denver and Brooklyn) shot 50% on threes. Defending the perimeter was a huge issue for us last season with DLo, Beasley and Ant among the main culprits, and despite enthusiasm here about our improved defense, allowing starters to make 50% of their threes is not a formula for winning. We need to close the 3-point shooting gap if we are going to improve over last year.

That said, my rubosity is kicking in after a 3-1 preseason. I want to believe in this team and actually think they will be entertaining to watch even if they're not successful, but I just see too many holes in this roster to be optimistic. Can an undersized team with a big gap in 3-point shooting be successful? Time will tell, I guess.

FNG wrote:Lip, I agree with a lot of your bullet points, but of course not on your overall conclusion. I wish the preseason had given us more real comparisons to evaluate this team. But instead we got a lot of meaningless mismatches...two wins against teams playing their reserves, a win against Denver in which their starters blew out our starters, and finally a close loss to the Nets with Dlo resting. The preseason was entertaining, but provided me with more questions than answers:

1) I continue to say Dlo is the key to whether this team is ready to make a huge leap forward, and frankly, his history doesn't make me very confident he can get us there. The rube in me gets excited about what I saw from him this preseason (other than the Nuggets game, where he looked like...well, Dlo). But my rational head tells me players who have been in the league 6 seasons don't completely change overnight. If the DLo we saw against the Pelicans and Clippers' reserves is for real, this team will be much better than last year and he may become my favorite player on the team. Let's just say I have a lot of skepticism about that outcome right now.

2) 3-point shooting...on both offense and defense. Always a concern for our Wolves, we were worse than usual in preseason. We took a lot of them...over 40 per game...but only made 30% of them. I think we can all agree we need to shoot much better than 30% beyond the arc if we're going to win more than 30 games this season. Particularly troubling this month on 3's were KAT, Ant and Malik (Wide Load) Beasley...three guys we need to rely on for three-point shooting. Conversely the only teams that played starters we expect to see in the regular season (Denver and Brooklyn) shot 50% on threes. Defending the perimeter was a huge issue for us last season with DLo, Beasley and Ant among the main culprits, and despite enthusiasm here about our improved defense, allowing starters to make 50% of their threes is not a formula for winning. We need to close the 3-point shooting gap if we are going to improve over last year.

That said, my rubosity is kicking in after a 3-1 preseason. I want to believe in this team and actually think they will be entertaining to watch even if they're not successful, but I just see too many holes in this roster to be optimistic. Can an undersized team with a big gap in 3-point shooting be successful? Time will tell, I guess.

Haha, wide load is an apt description for Beas right now.

I didn't see the NBA TV games, my xfinity package doesn't include it, ugh.

I'm not gonna conclude too much from a couple of preseason games. Glad the defense has looked improved. I think to assume our offense is going to be great is a mistake. I'm already tired of seeing the majority of Ant's shots come of 1:1 isolation from the 3 pt line, can we run him off some screen or get him moving off ball a little.

Also hope we don't have watch Kat be the trail man on majority of possessions, then end of with a Kat 3pt shot off one pass early in the clock while 3 guys stand around. A lot of this is created when Kat comes crashing the defensive boards for no reason when the rebound is already secured, then walks up the court. Would love to see him run down the court more and run to the rim as we push the ball.

1) Wolves shot really bad from 3. Think the Wolves will be better then that as the season goes on with way to many good shooters with Kat, Beasley, Dlo, Prince, Mcdaniels, possibly Ant. That is something I am not worried about.

2) Defense was better but can it keep up through a whole season. Do not expect the Wolves to be a top 10 defensive team but middle of the pack will be huge for this team.

3) Team played really hard and looks like they like each other. That is s a huge improvement for a wolves team over the year.

4) Small worry but worried that Ant is only going to score off of fast break dunks and straight iso ball. It wasn't bad but ball movement died when Ant touched the ball this preasone.

5) If Ant plays this hard on defense he has a chance to be special.

6) Rebounding could be an issue but they held their own in every game besides the Pelicans game.

7) I don't think Mcdaniels is poised for a massive breakout season (Still think he is going to be crazy valuable to this team(

8) Still have starting PF issues or starting lineup issues. Backup group does not have a guy who can just go out and get you a bucket when the offense breaks down. Finch did say Kat, Ant or Dlo should be on the court at all time during the season.

9) Pat Bev and Prince seem like better team fits for the Wolves and I in general of the Wolves 14 NBA contracted players I think every last one of them could play in situations and not be an liability.

10) Most importantly made it through camp and preseason with little to no injuries. Jmac, Okogie and Vandy have small injuries and hopefully they can play on opening day.

I will say though. We shouldn't take almost anything from these games. The Bucks and Suns were 0-7 last year in the preseason and thibs last year the Wolves were trash in the preseason and started 10-10

I'll add another. The Wolves are incredibly thin in terms of ball-handlers/shot-creators. Outside of D'Angelo Russell, Minnesota is lacking another guard that can capably get the team into their sets while being able to create shots for himself and teammates. I think some of us see Anthony Edwards as a lead guard type that's capable of doing that down the road, but he's not there yet. He doesn't look comfortable orchestrating offense for anyone besides himself. Patrick Beverley is a grizzly veteran, but his role has exclusively been as a top notch defender and three-point shooter from the point guard position. He doesn't have the handle or creativity in his game to get the offense going. And then there's Jordan McLaughlin who has shown to be capable in this role, but he's near the bottom of the depth chart for now because of the inconsistencies in his outside shot and his defensive ability.

This could be an issue all year long as we see the offense stagnate and hoist difficult shots. They're talented enough to make a lot of those, but they will need to find other ways to manufacture buckets.

Agree on Beverly. If I remember correctly, he's listed as a PG but with Houston and even LA, Harden was the primary ball handler and Bev was a floor spacer on offense. Asking him to be a primary ball handler for longer periods wouldn't be maximizing him at this time.

Good stuff Lip.

Just to add to your comments on defense, the Wolves were 9th in Drtg during the pre-season. Again, no one expects them to be top 10 for the entire regular season, but can we stay out of the bottom 8 and may be get closer to average/just below average? The pre-season is certainly a good start.

On PBev, yes, he is an awesome fit for this squad in so many ways. I love Ricky Rubio, but from a fit perspective, I almost couldn't draw up a better veteran for this team, both in attitude and role on the court. I do agree that he is very limited as a playmaker. He comes from that John Paxson/Derek Fisher/Mario Chalmers line of 3&D point guards that pair up best with lead guards and wings.

Let's hope guys like KAT, Edwards, and Beasley shake off the rust when it comes to their shot. This should be a pretty good shooting team on paper, but it didn't show in the pre-season. DLO looked pretty sharp though, which is good.

Russell is not likely to play this heavy of minutes but his preseason per 36 numbers are like pretty good. 26.8 points on 48.5% FG 50% from 3 (9.1 attempts) and 87.5% on 4.6 FT attempts 6.3 rebounds 11.4 assists and 3.4 turnovers.

Prince got up nearly 10 threes per 36 and hit 40% of them.