Grizz at Wolves, Redux GDT

[60WinTim]

Well, I will get this one started. I wasn't as disappointed in the first game as many of you were. It was simply a starting point and the real interest is the changes and improvements we see going forward.

The first point of interest for me is the starting lineup. It will be pretty anti-climatic if we start the same 5 players. Ryan said don't read much into the lineups early on. Well, if he trots out the same starting 5, then that says he is not going to mix and match to find a best starting 5 -- he has already pre-determined how he plans to start the season. Not only will it be anti-climatic, it will be somewhat disappointing, at least for me. I want to see some other combinations.

I want to see a heck of a lot more ball movement and assists. More than 12 minutes from Rubio, and perhaps a starting role ought to help in this area -- sharing the ball can be contagious!

And while I am interested in seeing more out of our young players (Edwards, McDaniels and Vando), I am especially interested in how Nowell is used and how he performs. If they continue to run him out there as a PG as they did last game, I think we might be saying goodbye to McLaughlin...

[Monster]

Well, I will get this one started. I wasn't as disappointed in the first game as many of you were. It was simply a starting point and the real interest is the changes and improvements we see going forward.

The first point of interest for me is the starting lineup. It will be pretty anti-climatic if we start the same 5 players. Ryan said don't read much into the lineups early on. Well, if he trots out the same starting 5, then that says he is not going to mix and match to find a best starting 5 -- he has already pre-determined how he plans to start the season. Not only will it be anti-climatic, it will be somewhat disappointing, at least for me. I want to see some other combinations.

I want to see a heck of a lot more ball movement and assists. More than 12 minutes from Rubio, and perhaps a starting role ought to help in this area -- sharing the ball can be contagious!

And while I am interested in seeing more out of our young players (Edwards, McDaniels and Vando), I am especially interested in how Nowell is used and how he performs. If they continue to run him out there as a PG as they did last game, I think we might be saying goodbye to McLaughlin...

Good points Tim.

I'm a big Nowell supporter and he played well but I'm not comfortable with him being the guy if we need a PG for any length of time. I think it's possible he could be up for the role but to me he looks like a scorer who was running the offense than a PG. it's possible that could work but it's hard not to want McLaughlin back after the way he played. During my broadcast they were playing highlights of last season. At one point like 3-4 plays were J-Mac dunks. We should bring him back I think he is a legit NBA rotation (On a good team) talent. Having said that it would be good to see Nowell get some more run.

Also the starting lineup didn't seem to be the problem in the previous game. Layman played well so unless Memphis trots our a true big instead of Kyle Anderson then Layman should keep his spot and see what happens. If they aren't going to play Rubio many minutes then starting him makes little sense with no real 3rd PG.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Thanks for starting this thread, Doug. There are some good thoughts here that I agree with. I'm also curious to see what starting five the Golden Boy runs out there tonight. I'd like to see Ryan Saunders incorporate Ricky Rubio into the starting five and adjust the rotations thereafter. I'd like to see Malik Beasley coming off the bench and entering the game maybe a third of the way through the first quarter for Rubio or D'Angelo Russell and then leaving the floor later in the quarter.

I'd also like to see more Jarrett Culver in tonight's game. I thought he was quietly pretty good in the first game despite limited action. Why not throw him in the starting five in Josh Okogie's slot at the three and see how he performs? It should be an open competition to see who gets the nod there.

And like every other Wolves fan, I'm sure, I'm curious to see how Jaylen Nowell plays after semi breaking out in an NBA game, albeit a pre-season exhibition against scrubs and G-League talent. If he plays well yet again and shows that the perimeter shooting isn't limited to his time in Iowa, then that will be reassuring. I just finished reading about how he changed much of his off-season regimen to get his body better prepared for the season and how he wants to be in the rotation this year. He played like it the other night. Can he do it again?

I want to see a more aggressive, more confident Anthony Edwards tonight. I don't care about makes or misses right now, but I want to see him attack. I need to see him make a decisive effort to get to the rim. That is where he's at his best using his strength, length, bulk, athleticism, and ambidextrous touch to finish at the rim. Please, no more contested pull-up jumpers. The flashbacks of Andrew Wiggins aren't good for my mental health.

And lastly, I want to see Karl-Anthony Towns make some shots. I thought he looked good the other night and he was focused on what he was doing, but the shots just weren't falling for him. Obviously, I don't expect that to continue. He's the best shooting big of all-time. But for his sake I don't want to see him get into any sort of a slump or dry spell. The questions about his mother and her unfortunate passing will only get worse and more frequent if Towns' game is shaky or up and down.

[thedoper]

I'd like to see some ball movement and to see Ja at least work for something. May be a lot to ask with this squad.

[Lipoli390]

Good thoughts, WinTim.

I agree with you completely on wanting to see a lot more ball movement. Unfortunately, ball movement isn't something that flows naturally when DLO is running the offense; hence, the need to pair DLO with Ricky for much of the game. I believe the Wolves' best post trade deadline games were those in which JMac had a prominent role.

I also share your desire to see more of the young guys, including McDaniels, Edwards and Nowell, but especially Nowell. I thought the Nowell pick last year was one of the few really good moves Rosas has made thus far. The way Nowell played the other night was the way he's always played throughout his two college seasons and his G-League season. I don't think he was given enough of an opportunity with the Wolves last season. When the dust settles, he might turn out to be our best perimeter shooter after KAT. And he's also a good ball-handler with a strong body and pretty good instincts, so he can be more than just a shooter.

I'm with Cam in wanting to see a more aggressive and confident Edwards tonight. I re-watched the last game and Edwards actually looked better to me on a second viewing. He made some nice passes and was active on both ends of the court. I like his game face, which shows an intensity I never saw of faces of past draft disappointments like Wiggins, Wes Johnson and Derrick Williams. I wouldn't be as troubled by his reluctance to attack the basket if he didn't show the same reluctance in college. But maybe it's in him and just hasn't come out yet.

I also agree with Cam in wanting to see more Culver even if it means cutting into Okogie's minutes.

[FNG]

I want to see almost all the things you guys want to see. Ryan may have other ideas though. He may use this game to continue to test the "unknown" guys, and then go with his real rotation in the final preseason game. As I mentioned in the previous game thread, Ryan knows exactly who Ricky is from his 9 years as an NBA PG, but many of the other guys have some question marks. The J-Mac delayed decision may be dependent upon how comfortable Ryan feels about giving significant minutes in the regular season to D-Lo at PG rather than the two, and he also wants to get a good look at our abundance of young wings (Culver, Okogie, Edwards, Nowell, Layman, Beasley, Brown and Hagan), so I wouldn't be surprised to see D-Lo playing a lot of PG tonight again. As much as I want to see Ricky out there (and expect him to play 30mpg once the season starts), we may only see him for 12 again tonight.

It would be nice to have a PF begin to establish himself as the leading candidate going into the season. Layman looked the best in Game 1, but I just don't think we can afford his subpar rebounding at the 2...he's much more of a 3 in my opinion. So I'm hoping one of our other PF's can begin to put some daylight between him and the other contenders.

[Leado01]

Coaching should still be focused on evaluating talent. Who is g-league? Who is squad?

I do like Rubio coming off bench early and pairing with Beasley/Okogie as much as poor rebounding will allow (all 3 are good rebounder for position...but similar positions!!).

I thought Beasley was our most dynamic player in opener frankly and foresee a transition attack that leads to Okogie/Beasley hitting the trailer (Towns) with high frequency!

Edwards should fill that Beasley/Okogie role as well.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

What I'm curious about...

- My assumption in seeing the 1st game's starting lineup is that you don't mess around with guys like Beasley and Rubio, meaning you make your decision early on their role, communicate it to them, and then stick with it for at least 15-20 games. I'm curious to see if I was right about that and whether the only position he tinkers with is the 4 as far as the starting lineup is concerned.

- Does Edwards look less clueless and more decisive? I'm with Cam - not worried as much about shots going in at this point.

- While we shouldn't concern ourselves with shooting percentages in such a small sample size, I do agree it actually matters for someone like Nowell and his place on this roster. If he keeps making shots and plays with poise, I'm curious to see how that may shake some things up heading into the regular season.

- Does anyone else not already locked into a top 6 or 7 role besides Nowell make some noise tonight? What if Hagans and Nowell played really well for example? Where would that leave J-Mac?

I also hope they win. It shouldn't matter, but it kind of does for this franchise.

[thedoper]

I personally like Rubio coming off the bench as I have always thought his ideal role is as a Back up PG.

Would like to test Culver at Okogie's minutes as lead perimeter defender. I want to see him on Ja as an experiment of throwing Culver's length at him and see how much dog Culver actually has. I know many here like his talent, I feel he's been way to tentative since he's been here. I'd like to see him force fed some defensive pressure.

Guards and primary ball handlers have killed us forever on this team, I want to see Ryan actually adjust to address this. I know that talented players get theirs, but being marginally better against stars is the statistical difference between shitty D (the Wolves) average to great D. Because of Ja's unique talent, I think the Griz are a nice testing ground for defensive schemes though I fear Ja will only play a little this game.

[60WinTim]

To both FNG's and Q's queries on PF and does anyone else make some noise, I really like what I saw in McDaniels' brief stint. I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more run for him tonight.

I am with Cam (and others) in wanting to see Rubio start tonight. But I have sort of resigned myself to Q's perspective that Ryan has already settled in on Rubio's role to start the season.