Minnesota Sports Forum

Two games down, one to go for me. I thought I would share a few thoughts about what I have seen so far.

1) This is a terrific event...really glad I came! Surprisingly big crowds (locals, friends and families, celebs in from LA, and fans like me)...had to open up the upper deck both days so far because the lower bowl was full. Hard Rock Hotel is walking distance if you come this year (or next)...great idea, because catching a cab out of Thomas & Mack is difficult.

2) Laker fans continue to be insufferable. Before the game Friday I heard lots of talk about how dominant Randle was going to be and how they were going to be in the hunt for a championship this year...it was great to see the Wolves shut them up, at least for awhile! They were back at it yesterday. A couple guys insisted that it was a travesty that Clarkson wasn't ROY...he's a nice player, but come on!

3) Surprised to hear the Embiid news. I saw him yesterday before I heard the news, and he was walking so well I wondered why he wasn't playing. Too bad for the kid.

4) Kristaps Porzingis is going to be fun to watch develop. He's not very physical and obviously needs to add some weight, but he is very skilled. He scored 12 points in 18 minutes on only 5 shots. He was credited with 3 rebounds, but he is not a good rebounder...gets pushed around too easily. Offensively he sees the court very well and will be a great playmaker. He made several nice passes yesterday, but was credited with no assists because his teammates didn't convert. I was also impressed with his defense. Although he's not strong, his ridiculous length and quick feet make him a formidable defender. All the talk on draft night was that he isn't ready to contribute yet, but he looked at least as ready as Towns and Russell.

5) One guy who is ready to contribute right away is Okafor...very impressed with him yesterday against the same Laker centers who were so tough on Towns the night before. Everything we knew about him pre-draft is readily on display...huge hands, terrific footwork and post game, good size and length, great vision and passing ability. With Embiid out for the season, there's no reason he can't be an 18 and 10 guy this year and be the ROY. The big surprise for me yesterday was his defense. Granted Black and Upshaw don't present much of a challenge offensively, but his footwork and help defense both looked very good to me. Had a couple nice blocks, despite his rep as not being a rim protector.

6) Most of you watched him yesterday, but Bobby Portis also looks ready to contribute. He was an inside-playing PF at Arkansas, but Hoiberg has him playing center with a green light on threes, and he looked very comfortable shooting them. Good move by Fred, because the Bulls are set at PF, and Portis could give him some good minutes backing up Noah.

7) I was not impressed with Cauley-Stein. He does run the court well, but is inclined to give up defensive rebounding responsibility in order to leak out. His offensive game is non-existent, and at least in the one game I watched him, he was not very impressive defensively either.

I'll post separately with some Wolves thoughts.

The Okafor highlights against the Lakers were very impressive. He is going to be a force offensively. I think he got over analyzed a bit.

Wolves reviews after two games:

Towns: You can see the obvious talent there, but he is really getting pushed around. I think everyone would agree that Portis looked more ready to contribute right away yesterday, although Towns will likely start and Portis will back up Noah. KAT's playmaking has been a very pleasant surprise. He surveys the court well and looks to get teammates involved. His physical gifts are easy to see also...long, fast, and not at all awkward. He also shows a nice shooting touch while warming up, but that hasn't appeared yet during the games.

His rebounding has been the big disappointment for me. Although they said he got nine yesterday, a lot of them were "soft" uncontested rebounds, and he only had three on Friday. He seems to approach rebounding very cautiously and doesn't box out very well defensively. He was a great college rebounder, so I'm attributing this to getting used to the NBA. I have to believe his rebounding will be fine, but I want to see more on Monday.

Jones: A very nice bounce back game yesterday. He plays with a lot of poise and always has his head up and eyes moving. He was much more vocal and intense yesterday than Friday. A couple times he looked like he was forcing things on drives to the basket, but he has great body control and a knack for getting bail-out fouls. In general he seems to let the game come to him, and doesn't turn the ball over much. I thought his defense was very good on Friday, and at least adequate yesterday...it's been a pleasant surprise. I think he will be a good back up to Rubio.

Payne: Clearly the most pleasant surprise of the first two games, looking much more like the lottery pick he was coming out of MSU. He is showing a much better motor than he did last year, and has to a difficult guy to play against because of his size and activity. His offense is clumsy and will never be above average, but he does show some nice footwork and post moves close to the basket. But his real value is on the boards and defense. He goes after every rebound as if the thinks it should be his. Defensively, he looks nothing like the guy we cringed at last season. He is by far the most vocal defensive player, and his instincts are so much better than last year. The first two games it is easy to see why Izzo raved about him on defense.

LaVine: It's difficult to watch this guy and not get excited, although he's maddening to watch sometimes too. He didn't shoot well yesterday, and some of that could be attributed to his cut finger. But he also forces things sometimes, and settles for an off-balance jumper rather than attacking the basket. He's a guy who needs to harness his incredible physical gifts...if he does, he could be a very good player.

On the negative side, he continues to be a poor defender...both his intelligence and effort can be questioned at times. Clarkson lit him up Friday, and even Vander Blue looked like he could score at will on Zach early in the game yesterday. I did notice a lot more focus by Zach in the second half, and I thought his defense was actually pretty good. I'm not giving up on Zach's defensive potential...he could end up a plus defender.

Brown: He had a terrific first game, but reverted back to the mean yesterday. As others have pointed out, he has an old man's game...I likened him to a poor man's Walt Frazier (later in his career) without the shooting. That said, he has improved his shooting also. Defense is better than what we are accustomed to coming off the bench. I would not be opposed to him making the team as a second or third PG, but he's not going to be a difference maker.

Heslip: Can we end this experiment now? He's not young, and can only do one thing...shoot threes, and even that was terrible yesterday.

Jeffers: He's not NBA material, but he's a very important SL player...the kind of guy whose contributions are far beyond the box score.

Everyone else: When you can't put the ball in the hoop in the pre-game warm up, you're probably not going to look very good in the game.

Here's what I want to see Monday:

-more offense through Towns and better intensity rebounding
-Zach focusing on getting to the basket, taking uncontested threes and playing better defense
-continued improvement from Tyus
-continued intensity from Payne, with much more offensive control;

Good write ups thanks for the observations in person. One thing I notice about Towns is he pursues loose balls way out of his area. There has been twice I remember he went after balls in the corner once gaining possession and the other saving the ball from going out of bounds. If I was him I might be scared of Payne coming over after rebounds and killing me at times also. Lol I do think his overall rebounding as being a little lacking but I think I've seen enough not to worry about it either.

monsterpile wrote:Good write ups thanks for the observations in person. One thing I notice about Towns is he pursues loose balls way out of his area. There has been twice I remember he went after balls in the corner once gaining possession and the other saving the ball from going out of bounds. If I was him I might be scared of Payne coming over after rebounds and killing me at times also. Lol I do think his overall rebounding as being a little lacking but I think I've seen enough not to worry about it either.

Good points, monster...I like Towns' effort also. You're right...a couple of his rebounds that I described as uncontested were actually "hustle" rebounds. Karl seems to be using his foot speed and length to get rebounds, rather than classic boxing out. When he develops this part of his game, he should become a terrific rebounder.

Knee-jerk reaction:

Where's this Towns 3pt shot everyone was praising before the draft?

Thanks for the write-ups LST, good stuff.

I watched Okafor in his first summer league game in Utah and then I watched him yesterday, which was his 4th. He showed a lot more pep in his step yesterday. I could easily see him winning rookie of the year. Him and Noel make for a really good offensive/defensive tandem. And like LST said, Okafor's defense, especially when he's guarding someone straight-up, is actually quite good. He's an immovable object inside and does a really good job walling up. It's weakside defense and PnR where he'll struggle a bit more.....sort of reminds me of Pek.

khans2k5 wrote:Knee-jerk reaction:

Where's this Towns 3pt shot everyone was praising before the draft?

Khans, that is knee-jerk. Did you actually think old-school Flip and his staff was going to let Towns jack up 3's right out of the gate?

Unlike Hoiberg and other progressive coaches, Flip eases into these things.We all know he's not going to encourage someone to shoot 3's, especially a rookie big man.

I can see Towns' develop his long-range game in the same way Love did. We may not really see him step out and hit that shot consistently until his 2nd or 3rd season. But there is no question he has the potential to get there eventually.

Q12543 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Knee-jerk reaction:

Where's this Towns 3pt shot everyone was praising before the draft?

Khans, that is knee-jerk. Did you actually think old-school Flip and his staff was going to let Towns jack up 3's right out of the gate?

Unlike Hoiberg and other progressive coaches, Flip eases into these things.We all know he's not going to encourage someone to shoot 3's, especially a rookie big man.

I can see Towns' develop his long-range game in the same way Love did. We may not really see him step out and hit that shot consistently until his 2nd or 3rd season. But there is no question he has the potential to get there eventually.

In 2-3 years was not the scouting report. The scouting report was him lighting it up from downtown in his workouts like it was effortless. The scouting report was his lack of 3pt prowess in college was due to his coach just not letting him shoot 3's. And that's my point. I think he was overhyped and people weren't saying 2-3 years to put it together. They were saying more versatile now. It's early, but I'm going to periodically bring this up until Towns proves me wrong because some of us took a lot of flak for raising questions on Towns.

khans2k5 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Knee-jerk reaction:

Where's this Towns 3pt shot everyone was praising before the draft?

Khans, that is knee-jerk. Did you actually think old-school Flip and his staff was going to let Towns jack up 3's right out of the gate?

Unlike Hoiberg and other progressive coaches, Flip eases into these things.We all know he's not going to encourage someone to shoot 3's, especially a rookie big man.

I can see Towns' develop his long-range game in the same way Love did. We may not really see him step out and hit that shot consistently until his 2nd or 3rd season. But there is no question he has the potential to get there eventually.

In 2-3 years was not the scouting report. The scouting report was him lighting it up from downtown in his workouts like it was effortless. The scouting report was his lack of 3pt prowess in college was due to his coach just not letting him shoot 3's. And that's my point. I think he was overhyped and people weren't saying 2-3 years to put it together. They were saying more versatile now. It's early, but I'm going to periodically bring this up until Towns proves me wrong because some of us took a lot of flak for raising questions on Towns.

Oh, relax. Who are you so angry with anyway? Cam is no longer here.