Minnesota Sports Forum

I just watched his media day interview, and came away as excited for Bazz this year as anyone. I don't think we can completely discount him as a possible starter this year, although I think it's unlikely with Wiggins, LaVine and Martin at the wings. He does seem like a Sam Mitchell kind of guy though...serious, focused, hard-working, and with an intense desire to get better. Check out his interview...he says all the right things. He's been working on his defense...says sometimes his motor works against him, and he needs to play more under control(I agree). He has focused on his right hand all summer, and says he is as comfortable with it as his left (I doubt it, but it's still good to hear). He's been working on his outside shot and wants to be known as a good 3-point shooter. He's been working on his ballhandling and sees lots of improvement. And he really advocates for more court time paired with Wiggins, something Britt Robson calls for ad nauseum.

You have to admire his confidence. He is so confident in his abilities that it borders on braggadocio, but somehow he gets away with it. You can just see that he sees himself as not only a starter in the NBA but an All Star. I'm looking forward to a breakout season for him this year if he can stay healthy. It will be fun to see him and Wig matched up tonight!

They guy has to stay healthy this year. He was really starting to flash last year until he got hurt - again. We still can't say for sure if he's turned the corner or just flashed on a hot streak. He needs to show it for a full season. But - like most on here, I see him as a 6th man scoring machine vs. a starter. I base that on what I saw last year. He touches the ball - he's gonig to try to score. Not much passing or defense. He was like every guy that plays pickup at my gym.

Health is his key. He got his first real shot last year and impressed. I don't think it is a flash in the pan with him. I really would love to see him Wiggins and LaVine use up most of the minutes at SG/SF and Martin be traded to a team that has an injury or needs a SG, but this time not giving him away. We need something back.

I just watched the Media Day pC with Bazz. Really impressive says a lot about being there for his team working on defense his game etc. he looks like a different player physically than 2 years ago. He looks in better shape and he just looks so comfortable and confident. He has flaws like any young player but the only thing holding him back from being an effective rotation player is staying healthy. I have seen enough to say he is not a flash in the pan. He can play. We know his strengths and weaknesses it's going to be fun to see how he looks out there this year. He made strides last year both in his game and physically if he does that again this year and stays healthy...wow

We have a lot nice guys. Wiggins, Towns, LaVine, and Rubio. I like that Shabazz has a little nasty to him. I hope we can find a young PF finish off this teams young core.

Excited for Bazz, but a little disturbed by his severe weight swings. He's shed something like 40 lbs. since early summer. That combined with the intensity of his workouts seems like he might be taking things to an extreme as it relates to his body.

I like Andre Miller's approach. He actually rests in the offseason. I kind of wonder if more players should simply take an extended period of the offseason and completely unplug themselves from basketball activities. That's not to say they let themselves go to hell in a handbasket. I think maintaining a good diet and some level of aerobic work makes sense. But the weightlifting, intense training, and even avoiding a basketball for a few weeks probably does a lot to renew the body and the mind.

Q12543 wrote:Excited for Bazz, but a little disturbed by his severe weight swings. He's shed something like 40 lbs. since early summer. That combined with the intensity of his workouts seems like he might be taking things to an extreme as it relates to his body.

I like Andre Miller's approach. He actually rests in the offseason. I kind of wonder if more players should simply take an extended period of the offseason and completely unplug themselves from basketball activities. That's not to say they let themselves go to hell in a handbasket. I think maintaining a good diet and some level of aerobic work makes sense. But the weightlifting, intense training, and even avoiding a basketball for a few weeks probably does a lot to renew the body and the mind.

Completely agree with you on the weight swing concerns. Sheesh. That's not normal and can't be good. Remember last year? He and Turiaf both did the extreme workouts to get in shape. Turiaf comes into camp the best shape of his life and promptly never plays all year because he's hurt. Good grief. I think there's a middle ground between beer/pizza all summer and P90X all summer.

I agree that Bazz would seem to be the perfect 6th man. He can come in and put up points in a hurry. On a team that doesn't have Andrew Wiggins at the 3, I could see him becoming a starter. But on this team his best value would seem to be as instant offense off the bench. He's a little bit redundant with K-Mart that way. Might make me think about moving Martin also.

Carlos Danger wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Excited for Bazz, but a little disturbed by his severe weight swings. He's shed something like 40 lbs. since early summer. That combined with the intensity of his workouts seems like he might be taking things to an extreme as it relates to his body.

I like Andre Miller's approach. He actually rests in the offseason. I kind of wonder if more players should simply take an extended period of the offseason and completely unplug themselves from basketball activities. That's not to say they let themselves go to hell in a handbasket. I think maintaining a good diet and some level of aerobic work makes sense. But the weightlifting, intense training, and even avoiding a basketball for a few weeks probably does a lot to renew the body and the mind.

Completely agree with you on the weight swing concerns. Sheesh. That's not normal and can't be good. Remember last year? He and Turiaf both did the extreme workouts to get in shape. Turiaf comes into camp the best shape of his life and promptly never plays all year because he's hurt. Good grief. I think there's a middle ground between beer/pizza all summer and P90X all summer.

I think it's pretty clear Bazz is a guy that has some issues with his weight and he reminds me a little bit of Kevin Love to a certain extent who just looked like a guy that would never completely look like a basketball player but he absolutely transformed his body but it wasn't all great either there were some swings back and forth. The weight swings are a concern but I think of Bazz stays serious those will go away even if he gets an injury. I will also bet that down the road he will take some time away from the game and maybe training also after the season but to a certain extent he couldn't afford to do that this summer. He seems energized by working out with Frank that's a good thing.

Turiaf working out with crazy Frank to me means nothing when it comes to him being hurt last year. He has a history of being hurt it would have been surprising if he stayed healthy that's the reality.

monsterpile wrote:
Turiaf working out with crazy Frank to me means nothing when it comes to him being hurt last year. He has a history of being hurt it would have been surprising if he stayed healthy that's the reality.

There is this thing called "irony" which is defined as: a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.

Turiaf was injury prone. He did the training to make himself better/more durable. He came to camp in the best shape of his life according to him. Then he proceeded to play the least games of his NBA career because his body let him down.