Minnesota Sports Forum

Ah yes, Summer League. This is typically the apex of a Wolves' fans existence over the past decade or so, as we typically are excited to see our new toys from the draft and all negativity from the prior seasons' disappointment has melted away. This summer appears to be all froth and bubbliness - more so than almost any other from the last decade.

Summer League is fraught with challenges when evaluating players. It's not really the NBA, but the talent is a step up from your average D-1 college game. Teams don't have a lot of time to implement defensive schemes and offensive systems, yet the sheer rawness of the environment can showcase individual virtuosity. So while we can't take the good or the bad too seriously, we should feel comfortable walking away with some notion of player strengths and areas they will struggle in when the real games start.

Here are a few things I'll be looking for in evaluating our beloved Wolves:

1. Is Towns allowed to shoot 3's? - I honestly believe Towns has a chance of becoming the Center version of Kevin Love (on offense): A deadly inside-out combination that can operate in both the post and beyond the 3-point line, while at the same time keeping the ball moving and finding the open man. An inside-out 5 that pull the elite defensive bigs in the Western Conference outside of the paint would have a seismic impact on our offense. What good is DeAndre Jordan, Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard, and Rudy Gobert if they are parked out at the arc on defense? And if the opposing team goes small on us, he can take his man to the post. Him being allowed to shoot 3's suggests that our coaches see this potential as well.

2. Does LaVine turn the corner on ball screens? - One of my many frustrations with LaVine last season was going wide on screens and settling for the pull-up jumper instead of using his quickness to turn the corner and get into the paint. He did improve a bit as the season wore on. I'd like to see more.

3. Speaking of ball screens, how well do our guards fight through them on defense? - One of the worst attributes of our squad last season was our guards' inability/unwillingness to get over the top of ball screens. It constantly put us into 5 on 4 situations with our guard in no man's land. I'll be watching LaVine, Jones, and LoBrow closely to see how hard they fight over screens.

4. How does Payne do in the new hustle stats? - Considering the talent being assembled on the roster, Payne is not going earn his paycheck scoring 20PPG or by being the smartest player on the floor. Rebounding, drawing charges, winning loose balls, getting deflections. That's how he's going to get minutes on our roster. He needs to channel his inner-Faried.

5. Stats I care about - All the hustle and off-the-ball stuff: Rebounds, blocks, steals, etc. These typically aren't the types of things subject to being on a hot or cold streak. You either do them or you don't and they tend to translate from one setting to the next.

6. Stats I don't care about - Shooting percentages. Just not a big enough sample size, and unlike the other stats, people are always going through peaks and valleys with their shooting.

What are the rest of you looking for?

I think the thing I'll be watching the most is Towns, to see if he was held back at Kentucky and if he can make the skills in some of his pre-draft videos work in a real game. If any of that is actually translatable, he is going to be a monster.

After that I think I'll be watching Sam Thompson. That guy is a SC Top 10 waiting to happen, should be fun.

Good write up Q.

I think what you can take from SL is a general feel for what you think a guy can do (a real strength) or can't do (a real weakness). Ball handling could be an example either way.

Does the guy look like he belongs or can play? The examples I go to for this starts with Robbie Hummel. His first year in SL he just didn't do much he was t good he wasn't bad etc. The 2nd year he was confident doing things Robbie Hummel does playing all over the floor he looked like a basketball player and looked like he belonged. It was a pretty significant difference. The 2nd example is Derrick Williams. He never stood out much in SL heads some incrimental improvement but never wowed just like his actual NBA career.

We all know SL is a small sample and the eye test and stats can fool you but it's fun to watch guys and see how they look.

The summer league is all about Towns. Hope he shows out.

I agree that I want to see if Ryan allows Towns to shoot threes. He took three of them last night, but looked reluctant (maybe because Flip was looking). I want him to feel comfortable taking the three point shot, but also show us what he has inside.

I need more than hustle from Payne. He was a very good player at MSU, and I want to see some of that ability in Vegas. No stupid passes, no clumsy hands.

Tyus Jones is going to have a difficult assignment tomorrow night defending Russell, but I'll be watching his defense closely. I also want to see if he can show the same poise he did at Duke and last night.

Gotta finish throwing a few things in my suitcase. Live game reports coming Friday, Saturday and Monday.

Awesome LST. Glad you can be our eyes and ears on the ground in Vegas.

ahughes53 wrote:I think the thing I'll be watching the most is Towns, to see if he was held back at Kentucky and if he can make the skills in some of his pre-draft videos work in a real game. If any of that is actually translatable, he is going to be a monster.

After that I think I'll be watching Sam Thompson. That guy is a SC Top 10 waiting to happen, should be fun.

Good point on Towns and sort of gets to my question on whether he can take 3's or not. Hopefully they really try to feature him in some different ways than just in the post. I'd even like to see him operate out of some high-post sets as a facilitator.

It'll be interesting to watch the difference in play between Jones and Brown. In my mind, they are battling for the #2 PG spot (although Brown has a LOT more to lose than Jones!).

60WinTim wrote:It'll be interesting to watch the difference in play between Jones and Brown. In my mind, they are battling for the #2 PG spot (although Brown has a LOT more to lose than Jones!).

Tim, that 2nd PG spot was decided when the commissioner said "Minnesota selects Tyus Jones, PG Duke University."

I will primarily be looking too see if either Towns or Zach can be dominant. If neither are, I will be disappointed with our SL. If one is, I'll be somewhat satisfied and looking forward to further improvement by the start of the season. If both are, i'll be ecstatic and drooling over our prospects for the coming season.