CoolBreeze's 2 Things I Didn't Like Tonight Plus 1

[Coolbreeze44]

Really enjoyed the comeback last night. Gotta little misty watching the Rubio interview after the game too. It NEVER gets old beating the Lakers, especially in LA. Like many Wolves - Lakers games, you could see it setting up for Kobe dramatics at the end. I want to personally thank Byron Scott for going away from him on the last shot. So we escape with the W and 1-0 sounds sweet to me. Here is the season opening 2 + 1:

1) As a coach one thing I never do is have all 2nd line players on the court at the same time. Sam really was responsible for the big lead the Lakers built in the 2nd quarter. You have to maintain a mix of first and 2nd line players so you don't get exposed like we did. As some have said repeatedly on here, that 2nd unit he had on the floor just can't get it done defensively. Some said the offense bogged down when Zach came in the game, and it did. But the main reason it did was we were constantly taking the ball out of our own basket and therefore getting nothing in transition.

2) If I ever see Kevin Martin taking another shot with the game on the line, it will definitely be one more time too many. You all know the definition of insanity right. Trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Well that was insane last night and we were fortunate to have survived it. Kudos to Martin for providing offense during the comeback, but still, he was 0-5 from behind the arc. And his constant hunting of shots takes other guys (like Wiggins) out of the game.

Plus 1 - At guard from El Masnou, Spain, he wears #9 - Ricky Rubio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ummmm, yeah that was a performance for the ages. 28 - 14 and only one turnover. Combine those numbers with a special defensive effort and it was simply a great game for our leader. Please stay healthy Ricky. We have a chance in most games with you running the show. Honorable mention goes out to Towns who is going to be a special player. Can't wait to see what he looks like in 40 games.

And that's CoolBreeze's 2 things I didn't like tonight Plus 1.

[Monster]

The last shot sucked that's fine but Martin hunting shots was a big reason we were in that game IMO. 0-5 from 3 but he took 12 FTs and hit 11. Lavine could learn a lot from that. Attack Zach.

[Coolbreeze44]

The last shot sucked that's fine but Martin hunting shots was a big reason we were in that game IMO. 0-5 from 3 but he took 12 FTs and hit 11. Lavine could learn a lot from that. Attack Zach.

Yeah, I'd like to see the treatment Zach would get if he went 0-5 from behind the arc.

[Squishypoo [enjin:6648839]]

Zach needs a lot of work at PG. I think the 2nd team would run a lot better with miller running the show.. 1st team looked great... When pek returns do you guys see them putting both him and dieng on the 2nd team at PF/C ?

[mjs34]

Zach needs a lot of work at PG. I think the 2nd team would run a lot better with miller running the show.. 1st team looked great... IF pek returns do you guys see them putting both him and dieng on the 2nd team at PF/C ?

I fixed that for ya!

[mjs34]

Cool like your points, particularly on the second unit. It is only the first game, so I will give Sam some time, but it is hard to condone watching a team like the lakers go on a 21-5 run to finish the first quarter. We need to be a little more proactive in those situations.

Clearly, Zach just isn't going to be productive as a PG. I think Sam needs to tell Martin to bring the ball up, and then tell Zach his is the SG in the lineup. Both Zach and AW looked like deer in the headlights last night.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Bottom line: we have a roster problem at the wings, although we seem to have different opinions of what that problem is.


As I see it, we've got 5 guys (arguably 6 because Bjelica could play SF), and there isn't really an obvious rotation because of their flaws, mostly on the defensive end.

-Despite his lack of energy, Wiggins needs to start and play, because he can play both ways and he's about our only defender on the wing, plus he's clearly a part of the future of this franchise.

-Bazz is great offensively, but not so good defensively (although I like his defensive hustle and think he can get better). This makes him a good partner with Wiggins on the wing. The problem with playing him too much with Wiggins is that it leaves LaVine and Martin to play together, and that's a defensive sieve.

-Count me as one of the LaVine skeptics, but I think it's fair to say that while he can handle the ball and could score a ton of points and create his own shot (which we really need), he doesn't (yet) do it consistently or efficiently and he's not good defensively. Any of you who care about advanced stats know LaVine is clearly a net negative so far, the question that divides us is whether he's worth the playing time to develop into something better. Sam's solution, like Flip's, is to play him at the 1, but most of us agree that our offense is terrible when he's at the point.

-I'm more positive on Martin than some of you. He's our best and most proven scoring wing, and he can get to the line consistently. But yes, he is a real weakness defensively. That means playing him on the wing with LaVine is bad news, and that's even worse when you put LaVine at the point and run a perimeter or LaVine, Martin, and Bazz, which is what happened last night, along with Bjelica at the 4. That was just an invitation for a layup line.

-Prince is long, and he is more defensive oriented, but he's old and shouldn't see many minutes. The problem is, for defensive purposes, he actually fits pretty decently with some of these other offensive guys, although I don't think starting him next to Wiggins is necessarily the best move.


There's really no good solution here. 1) LaVine at the point gives everybody playing time, but really kills our offense and with Martin and Bazz alongside him, also our defense. 2) You could cut Prince out completely, but then whenever Wiggins is not on the floor, we've got two bad defensive players on the wings. 3) I'm sure some of you would like to trade Martin, but are you really that confident in LaVine and Bazz offensively yet?

In my opinion, probably the least worst option would be 2 with Wiggins and ? starting, but play Prince spot minutes whenever LaVine or Martin are not getting it done. Then play Tyus or Miller more at the backup PG spot, though that could raise more defensive problems. I kind of miss LoBrow, because he was really our best on-the-ball perimeter defender along with Wiggins. In the long run, depending on how LaVine develops this year, I'd look to trade either LaVine or Martin for a more defensive-oriented wing around the trade deadline, so we wouldn't have to rely on Prince.

[Monster]

The last shot sucked that's fine but Martin hunting shots was a big reason we were in that game IMO. 0-5 from 3 but he took 12 FTs and hit 11. Lavine could learn a lot from that. Attack Zach.

Yeah, I'd like to see the treatment Zach would get if he went 0-5 from behind the arc.

True

Ok I think I had a realization of the frustration of Martin for a few people maybe specifically Cool. Martin is like a couple guys I play ball with that are good players and one on one can get a shot anytime they want. They are good players not complete ball hogs but they are scorers and will drive you nuts when they do get tunnel vision and do not pass. When those guys are rolling and doing their thing it often doesn't do much for the offensive flow. Of course sometimes you just need a guy to get some points. Matin is out there to score but he also is a guy capable of playing team basketball but he will revert to being a scorer which he is very good at. Ok so Cool is a coach and I that absolutely influences how he looks at everything. He seems to be a guy that wants more sharing of the basketball. Martin both good and bad will stand in the way of that at times. I am sure Cool has plenty of guys he has coached like I have described and it drives him nuts. If the player just sucked that would be one thing but it's maybe another level when they actually have talent. What do you think Cool does any of that ring true?

Now that we talked about one scorer let's move onto another. I feel like I am going to consider Zach more as a project for a while than the near future starter. That doesn't mean I have given up on him or think he has totally sucked or whatever. Abe described it well I the game thread when he said there will be various ups and downs with him. Last night was a good example of it and I came out of the game feeling more positive than negative about what he gave the team. He will get minutes but they are likely going to fluctuate and the role he plays may vary. I think that's fine. I think he can develop that way and it's possible he earns a much more significant role than that this year. I am going to be patient with him. He has some skillset to be a supporting player like a nice 3 point shot but he strikes me more as a higher useage guy but he doesn't seem to have the feel for that yet. He can earn more time by playing better defense and I think he has taken some steps there. I am going to sit back and sort of watch the progress with him instead of getting too high and low with him. I think we will see some legit positive progress with him this year like we did last season.

[Monster]

Bottom line: we have a roster problem at the wings, although we seem to have different opinions of what that problem is.


As I see it, we've got 5 guys (arguably 6 because Bjelica could play SF), and there isn't really an obvious rotation because of their flaws, mostly on the defensive end.

-Despite his lack of energy, Wiggins needs to start and play, because he can play both ways and he's about our only defender on the wing, plus he's clearly a part of the future of this franchise.

-Bazz is great offensively, but not so good defensively (although I like his defensive hustle and think he can get better). This makes him a good partner with Wiggins on the wing. The problem with playing him too much with Wiggins is that it leaves LaVine and Martin to play together, and that's a defensive sieve.

-Count me as one of the LaVine skeptics, but I think it's fair to say that while he can handle the ball and could score a ton of points and create his own shot (which we really need), he doesn't (yet) do it consistently or efficiently and he's not good defensively. Any of you who care about advanced stats know LaVine is clearly a net negative so far, the question that divides us is whether he's worth the playing time to develop into something better. Sam's solution, like Flip's, is to play him at the 1, but most of us agree that our offense is terrible when he's at the point.

-I'm more positive on Martin than some of you. He's our best and most proven scoring wing, and he can get to the line consistently. But yes, he is a real weakness defensively. That means playing him on the wing with LaVine is bad news, and that's even worse when you put LaVine at the point and run a perimeter or LaVine, Martin, and Bazz, which is what happened last night, along with Bjelica at the 4. That was just an invitation for a layup line.

-Prince is long, and he is more defensive oriented, but he's old and shouldn't see many minutes. The problem is, for defensive purposes, he actually fits pretty decently with some of these other offensive guys, although I don't think starting him next to Wiggins is necessarily the best move.


There's really no good solution here. 1) LaVine at the point gives everybody playing time, but really kills our offense and with Martin and Bazz alongside him, also our defense. 2) You could cut Prince out completely, but then whenever Wiggins is not on the floor, we've got two bad defensive players on the wings. 3) I'm sure some of you would like to trade Martin, but are you really that confident in LaVine and Bazz offensively yet?

In my opinion, probably the least worst option would be 2 with Wiggins and ? starting, but play Prince spot minutes whenever LaVine or Martin are not getting it done. Then play Tyus or Miller more at the backup PG spot, though that could raise more defensive problems. I kind of miss LoBrow, because he was really our best on-the-ball perimeter defender along with Wiggins. In the long run, depending on how LaVine develops this year, I'd look to trade either LaVine or Martin for a more defensive-oriented wing around the trade deadline, so we wouldn't have to rely on Prince.

I don't like the idea of Bjelica playing much SF. I don't think he is going to do very well there defensively right now. Leave him at PF.

Ideally to me at this point Bazz and Lavine step up and make even us Martin supporters wonder if there is a spot for him in the future as a terrific bench scorer. Of course if that happens this team may not be a seller because they may be competing on most nights. Prince has to play at this point it's him and Rubio and Wiggins playing any sort of defense worth noting right now on the perimeter. Martin is more of a vet and is putting forth effort and has length. Lavine is putting forth effort has a few less lapses and as a backup PG has a size advantage. Bazz puts forth effort and seems to be making better rotations. Prince is a placeholder but right now somewhat of a badly needed one in limited minutes. Hopefully that changes.

[TXviking [enjin:6602528]]

Something I noticed was that Sam motioned to Zach a few times to speed it, get the ball moving. Whereas Ricky calls out a play and is at the half court right away.

Is this an issue? Or is it changing Zach's role during preseason and slowing his role out of the start?