Minnesota Sports Forum

It seems like the last 3-4 years we stock pile some "talent," fans get excited, and the whole thing falls apart. It goes without saying that this group is different and the vision Flip had (and Mitchell seems to be doing well with thus far) is very very exciting and methodical.

First disclaimer: It is still very early in the season and there is more reason to be excited than pessimistic.

Early on, I was very concerned on how the roles of many of these young players and veterans would shape out. I think we are now, after the Atlanta game, seeing true consistency in the rotation. Whether we agree with it or now. I was worried about where the shots would come from off the bench with Martin, Shabazz, Lavine and Bjelica competing for shots. It is now clear that Martin is given the green light to search for his shot as he has throughout his career. I am ok with this because it is about the only strength in his game and seems to be effective when other players struggle. Lavine's role is to learn the PG position. I still would love to see him be the future at SG, but he looked much improved last night in Atlanta. Shabazz will simply have to wait his turn and make good on the opportunities he gets. Not great for him, but pretty good for a team that now has some scoring depth off the bench.

The most exciting part of this vision is to truly see how Flip/Mitchell planned on using KG/Tayshaun and Miller. KG and Tayshaun are currently starters and are seemingly playing the game the right way every night, even when their bodies cannot perform like seasons of old. They, along with Miller, seem very engaged in huddles and one on one with teammates. We had NONE of this last year. It will not be long, maybe even this season, when TP and KG get relegated to the bench permanently. I believe Bjelica will be the stretch 4 for this team in the very near future. He needs to improve his feel for the NBA and defense, but is much closer than I ever thought he might be. Shabazz, Lavine and Wiggins will eat up the minutes and production from Tayshaun.

My biggest concerns is Gorgui is not progressing and seems lost and slow out there. Pek is going to come back at some point, but it is clear that KAT needs to get as much time as possible. Do we need to think about packaging assets at some point? Pek or Gorgui likely need to go, but that may be a different conversation.

This team has a LOT of work to do and its easy to get excited after 6 games, but the pieces are truly in place to be a playoff team SOONER than later. Kudos to Flip and Sam and the players!

i would also say probably in contrary with what most guys are thinking, that older bodies needs more time to warm up, i mean Tayshun cannot push himself too hard in offseason, you can see that Tayshun is getting better and his role is helping him also, as when he is with team to teach our perimeter guys how to defend, he cannot afford to go out there and play without effort

Andre/KG are probably too old tho at this point, but i expect KG to do a little bit better than now

with Gorgui, is that possible that because we played so terribly in past seasons so that no good team needed to try hard against us, we probably overvalued him a lot?

m4gor wrote:i would also say probably in contrary with what most guys are thinking, that older bodies needs more time to warm up, i mean Tayshun cannot push himself too hard in offseason, you can see that Tayshun is getting better and his role is helping him also, as when he is with team to teach our perimeter guys how to defend, he cannot afford to go out there and play without effort

Andre/KG are probably too old tho at this point, but i expect KG to do a little bit better than now

with Gorgui, is that possible that because we played so terribly in past seasons so that no good team needed to try hard against us, we probably overvalued him a lot?

Or, Towns is actually that good.

Pekovic was a nice center and it was obvious he was better than Dieng. But he simply couldn't stay healthy for any decent period of time. Dieng is a backup C in the NBA. Nothing wrong with that. But it's good to see the Wolves not forced (yet?) to push guys too far too much in their roles.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

m4gor wrote:i would also say probably in contrary with what most guys are thinking, that older bodies needs more time to warm up, i mean Tayshun cannot push himself too hard in offseason, you can see that Tayshun is getting better and his role is helping him also, as when he is with team to teach our perimeter guys how to defend, he cannot afford to go out there and play without effort

Andre/KG are probably too old tho at this point, but i expect KG to do a little bit better than now

with Gorgui, is that possible that because we played so terribly in past seasons so that no good team needed to try hard against us, we probably overvalued him a lot?

Or, Towns is actually that good.

Pekovic was a nice center and it was obvious he was better than Dieng. But he simply couldn't stay healthy for any decent period of time. Dieng is a backup C in the NBA. Nothing wrong with that. But it's good to see the Wolves not forced (yet?) to push guys too far too much in their roles.

Towns has nothing to do with that, Towns is already great quality starting center with sky high potential.. What i am saying is that because we saw Gorgui play well in games/time which did not matter at all, we are overvaluing him a bit, as now when we want to use him as a backup in close games, he looks overwhelmed ..

A lot of hate on Gorgui Dieng. Sigh. I like Gorgui. He was a fantastic draft pick. You look at that draft...Dieng is currently tied for 4th in Win Shares and second in VORP. I'm not sure what people want. He hasn't proven to be a starting caliber center. I get that. But he's been a very solid role player. He's super cheap. Why is that bad? With Towns, Dieng's role will be reduced. He hasn't played great so far. But we are 6 games in.....let's not cut the guy yet - ok? He has a decent track record (about a 17 PER and a double/double per 36). Is he really the weak spot on this team? I certainly am not seeing it.

i am the last guy who would cut somebody after few games, i am not hating on him, all i say is that we maybe valued him too high

m4gor wrote:i am the last guy who would cut somebody after few games, i am not hating on him, all i say is that we maybe valued him too high

Who is "we"? And what's "too high value?"

Dieng was drafted late in the 1st round. That's where we've pulled guys like: Paul Grant, Ndudi Ebi, Wayne Ellington or Tyus Jones this year. A lot of guys picked in the late rounds never amount to anything. We got a very good rotational guy. That's all I'm aware anyone has said about him. It's why we drafted Towns when it became obvious Pek's career is in jeopardy vs. saying "Dieng's our guy".

Again....I do not understand the problem anyone has with Dieng. He's put up good numbers as a rotational/fill in guy. We're not building the franchise around him. He'll probably complete his (cheap) contract here and move on. But we got great value out of the guy. If we got similar value out of all our players we'd be San Antonio Spur like. There are guys on this team making a lot more money than Dieng who produce far less.

I don't understand the Dieng criticism either. I think he's a valuable team member only in his 3rd year on a cheap rookie contract.

My issue with Dieng is one of expectations. I thought he'd be a defensive ace coming out of Louisville and he's severely disappointed. Yes, the very fact he's a rotation big man in the NBA makes someone drafted in that slot a "success", but he doesn't fit what I think we really need as a team.

Q12543 wrote:My issue with Dieng is one of expectations. I thought he'd be a defensive ace coming out of Louisville and he's severely disappointed. Yes, the very fact he's a rotation big man in the NBA makes someone drafted in that slot a "success", but he doesn't fit what I think we really need as a team.

My thoughts exactly! We thought we were getting a rim protecting big that was offensively challenged, what we got was a defensive liability that is better offensively than expected.

I also agree with Carlos, if this team is to truly contend for an extended period of time with a core of Wig, KAT, Rubio, and maybe Lavine then they have to figure out a way to consistently find serviceable rotation players with those late first round picks and either flip them for picks toward the end of their cheap contracts or just let them walk. For example, they have get good at finding the Bud's of the world on their rookie deals, not paying for them on the free agent/trade market once their cost equals or exceeds their value.