Minnesota Sports Forum

The cliché in the NBA is that it doesn't matter who starts games, it's more important who finishes them. But I'm not sure the players agree. Sure, they want to be out there when the game is on the line, but I think they like starting a game also. Comments from Muhammad and Martin this week certainly makes it seem like being a starter is an important thing to them. I think KG, Wig and Ricky are locks to start at their positions, so we can concentrate on who will be the starter at SG and center. Let's track the center starter in this thread.

The consensus on this board seems to be that Towns is almost a lock to be the starting center. While recognizing his enormous potential and that #1 picks usually start right from the beginning, I'm not so sure in this case. Here's why I'm leaning toward Dieng at this time:

1) Mitchell has tipped his hand that he wants Zach to start at SG. If Wig and Zach are already in the starting lineup, I'm not sure he wants another young guy starting with them. Rather than starting the game with 3 guys around 20 years old, he may prefer having a third year guy out there for balance. I don't think Sam will be swayed by any thoughts that the #1 pick is entitled to start...Sam seems to be more of a "you gotta earn it kind of guy".

2) While it's difficult to compare the two tournaments they played in, there's no question that Gorgui had a far superior summer. Towns did some nice things in Vegas and worked hard, and put up some good numbers with 12.8 and 7.2. But he also really struggled to hold his position defensively and averaged over 6 fouls per 30 minutes guarding centers who are far from being NBA starters (Tariq Black, Bobby Portis, Jack Coolie, Arnett Moultrie and Rakeem Christmas). I'm sure Sam will be taking the fouling into consideration when he names his starter. Gorgui had a terrific summer tournament...averaging 23 PPG, 15 RPG and 3.7 assists. And only 3 fouls per game. Granted, we're talking about different levels of competition, and they are difficult to compare, but Gorgui's 2014 summer league stats were better than Karl's this year.

3) We will all be watching the rotations Mitchell uses in pre-season, but I couldn't help noticing who he put out there as his first unit in the first practice...Rubio, Lavine, Wig, KG and Dieng. Maybe it means nothing, but I sense it was an indication of where Sam's head is now. That can certainly change though.

As I have said in other threads, if Towns can dominate Dieng in practice and take away the starting job, that will be a very good thing for the Wolves. Based on what I saw in Vegas though, Towns needs a lot more refinement in his game before he's ready to be an NBA starter. Since the Wolves have an acceptable alternative at center (remember Gorgui was a double double machine after Pek got hurt G's rookie year, although he admittedly did not excel on defense), it seems better for Karl's development to begin games watching the flow from the bench, and then get most of his playing time against the other team's backup center. Remember, as Sam has said publicly, Karl only had 39 college games playing only 20 MPG. It seems to me like a better idea to let him learn the NBA game with less pressure rather than throwing him out there as a starter right away.

First pre-season game is just 4 days away. Gentlemen, place your bets! It's close to a toss-up for me mostly because #1's generally start, but I'm guessing it will be Gorgui at this point in time.

I agree with you LST. I think it is likely that Dieng starts. Sam seems to be dropping subtle hints on both positions. He is clearly very high on Lavine, and is also concerned with playing Towns too many minutes. Either way, I expect Towns and G to play a similar amount of minutes, and I would prefer to see Towns on the floor with KG, although Dieng could really benefit from that as well.

Martin has changed his tune considerably from the start of week regarding his status, which is likely due to Mitchell having a talk with him.

Am I the only one that feels Towns would drive me crazy in one day on the court with him. He seems like a really odd character.

Towns fouls a lot. Let's say you start him and he picks up 2 quick ones and goes to the bench frustrated with himself. That's not development. He can get his starting job after he gets more experience under his belt.

As with Zach, I am sure Towns will be given every opportunity to earn the starting position during the pre-season. If he's ready for it, great. If not, he will still get plenty of minutes, especially with Pek sidelined for at least the first month...

I tend to lean toward Towns starting but I am not really to concerned about it. This team is about development and Towns is a big part of the future. Toe this year is kinda a big year for Dieng. He is far from a finished project and can get better on both sides of the ball and has potential to do so. I think this season I would like to try and get a stronger sense of what we have with him. Is he a key rotation guy or a possible starter? Some one else mentioned fit together in the Zach thread. It could come down to that chemistry between different combos of players either starting or off the bench. I'll say this that Dieng's feet did not look too quick in some basic side to side defensive drills in that first practice. I don't want to take too much from that but it was interesting in that isolated instance.

After the pathetic history at the C position the Wolves have 3 guys on the roster that at end up being the best Centers the team has had in the franchise history or at least being in the conversation. Having both Dieng and Towns most of us don't fret that much about Pek and some just worry about his contract. This is so different than its been for the Wolves in the past. Normally we would be praying Pek comes back because we are playing a total stiff as a starter or a guy out of position at that spot. It's nice to have some legit young options for once plus KG also and even Payne has the length for the position too.

Monster, you're probably right in not being concerned with who starts at center. It's probably not any more important than other topics like who our 15th man is going to be. But we're in the final weeks before the season starts and we're running out of topics!

You make a good point about how set we may be at center...Towns, Dieng and Pek should be the best collection we have ever had, especially with long guys like KG and Payne also available. The potential center depth if Pek returns healthy in December is another reason I think Sam might be favoring Dieng at center. He has to be looking out a year or two to the post-KG era, and he might be thinking Dieng at center and Towns at PF might be his most logical pairing.

Well, we will get our first indication of Sam's thinking when he rolls out his two starting teams Monday night...that is, if he decides to play a first and second team against each other (unlike the summer scrimmage). I'm predicting Rubio, Zach, Wig, KG and Dieng against Miller, Martin, Bazz, Bjelica and Towns. And the fun thing is that doesn't sound like a blowout...we have depth!

Hmm. Prince can't find his way into a 10-man rotation? Yes, our depth seems pretty good...

60WinTim wrote:Hmm. Prince can't find his way into a 10-man rotation? Yes, our depth seems pretty good...

Shh, Tim...I don't want Tay, Ty and Adreian to know yet! Actually, we'll let Adreian play on KG's off nights.

longstrangetrip wrote:Monster, you're probably right in not being concerned with who starts at center. It's probably not any more important than other topics like who our 15th man is going to be. But we're in the final weeks before the season starts and we're running out of topics!

You make a good point about how set we may be at center...Towns, Dieng and Pek should be the best collection we have ever had, especially with long guys like KG and Payne also available. The potential center depth if Pek returns healthy in December is another reason I think Sam might be favoring Dieng at center. He has to be looking out a year or two to the post-KG era, and he might be thinking Dieng at center and Towns at PF might be his most logical pairing.

Well, we will get our first indication of Sam's thinking when he rolls out his two starting teams Monday night...that is, if he decides to play a first and second team against each other (unlike the summer scrimmage). I'm predicting Rubio, Zach, Wig, KG and Dieng against Miller, Martin, Bazz, Bjelica and Towns. And the fun thing is that doesn't sound like a blowout...we have depth!

Part of the reason why I don't have a strong opinion on who starts at C is there are good considerations for either way and I like both guys. Both guys probably will play some at PF at some point this season also you may even be able to play them together. They both have sort of unique and diverse games in their own way. Picking between these guys is a good problem to have. It's nice. Lol

I've made my case for both SG and C positions. I'll just simply state my picks.

SG: Kevin Martin
C: Karl-Anthony Towns