Minnesota Sports Forum

I'm pretty happy with our young guys this season and I'm glad Saunders is giving them all a chance to contribute. I'm encouraged by the early season play of Okogie, Culver, Layman, Martin and (after last night), KBD. I'm still high on Nowell and Reid and I liked what I saw from McLaughlin.

I'm still not sure about Vonleh and Bell.

Kat and wiggs are still in the same age group as all those guys.

As much as we may want to take a glass is half full view of Culver, the bottom line is that he has been a net negative when on the floor and any team that was not balancing long-term development with short term results like us would have benched him or put him the G-League by now.

Of all rookies that have played 15 minutes+ per game, he's one of the worst in terms of overall production and efficiency. Now, those stats tend to measure offense better than defense, so I don't think they capture the full extent of his defensive impact, which is pretty solid to me. But offensively, he's a train wreck, perhaps worse than even Okogie was last year.

A few other thoughts:

- Okogie has been great defensively, but contributes to our chronic spacing problems on offense with his horrible 3-point shot. Still, he's managed to be a net positive because of all the other things he does well. He's the type of guy you want in your lineup despite the poor shooting. The problem is he's often out there with two or three other non-shooters, thus creating major issues for our offense.

- Layman has been solid. Even though he isn't a flamethrower, he has a good enough 3-point shot that opposing teams know they can't just give that shot to him. His ability to be a threat from 3 and make strong basket cuts makes him a nice asset.

- Martin has either been terrific or horrific. He had two good games in a row, sandwiched between three horrible outings where he basically couldn't make a shot. You can't go 0-13 from 3 across three different games! Not sure how anyone can be happy with that kind of inconsistency.

- KBD has overall been a very "meh" prospect. I need to see a lot more than one good night before getting excited. Plus he's not that young anymore.

- Too soon to tell with Nowell. He was making shots in the G-League, but we all know that is almost meaningless once they step onto the Target Center court, which has rendered all but the most resilient players as impotent from beyond the arc.

- Reid has a lot of offensive skill, especially his potential as a shooter and passer playing in Ryan's newfangled offense, but I question his defensive chops. That Iowa team gives up a ton of points and he is on the floor a lot as their Center.

It's the most Timberwolves thing ever for Wig to get off to a good start and then get derailed by a death in the family and illness. It wouldn't shock me one bit if he doesn't return to that form again this year.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:It's the most Timberwolves thing ever for Wig to get off to a good start and then get derailed by a death in the family and illness. It wouldn't shock me one bit if he doesn't return to that form again this year.

The guy still has 66 games to get back into form. That seems like enough time...

I'm not as impressed with the young Wolves as others... especially if you compare them to other young players around the league, they're pretty pedestrian.

Okogie and Culver are probably the two most promising... and neither has proven capable of shooting. That really hurts the long-term prospects of this club if they can't be plus shooters. We're seeing the limitations of the "system" when those guys are necessary to make shots.

It also makes them redundant in a way.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:It's the most Timberwolves thing ever for Wig to get off to a good start and then get derailed by a death in the family and illness. It wouldn't shock me one bit if he doesn't return to that form again this year.

The guy still has 66 games to get back into form. That seems like enough time...

It sure is, but the question is will he? One key is his 3 point stroke. It's been badly broken since the return. The other is him staying aggressive and not settling. I could have choked him the other night when he chose not to dunk the ball and then missed both free throws. I'll be very happy if he can quickly put up another 25-7-5 game.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:It's the most Timberwolves thing ever for Wig to get off to a good start and then get derailed by a death in the family and illness. It wouldn't shock me one bit if he doesn't return to that form again this year.

The guy still has 66 games to get back into form. That seems like enough time...

It sure is, but the question is will he? One key is his 3 point stroke. It's been badly broken since the return. The other is him staying aggressive and not settling. I could have choked him the other night when he chose not to dunk the ball and then missed both free throws. I'll be very happy if he can quickly put up another 25-7-5 game.

So really, it would be the most Wiggins thing ever for him to be derailed by missing three games... and reverting back to previous levels.

I think he'll be fine. Although I just don't think he's a plus three point shooter, which will limit his potential a bit. But as long as he continues to erase/minimize the terrible stepback two pointers and has the spacing to be productive passing... I think he'll have a nice bounce back season.

I'd still like to see him traded, however, if good value can be obtained.

I have no faith that Wiggins 3-ball is any better than in years' past. The big thing I am hoping is sustained are the aggressive drives to the hoop, the better handle (literally hanging onto the ball better), and improved floor vision. That still doesn't necessarily make him an all-star caliber wing, but if he does those things well it at least makes him a net positive contributor.