Minnesota Sports Forum

For some reason they are covering the Wolves' first practice live today at 3PM CDT on NBA TV. 3 1/2 hours of coverage! If you're at work and want to get paid for watching it, here's the internet link!

http://www.nba.com/live1/

longstrangetrip wrote:For some reason they are covering the Wolves' first practice live today at 3PM CDT on NBA TV. 3 1/2 hours of coverage! If you're at work and want to get paid for watching it, here's the internet link!

http://www.nba.com/live1/

Reasons?!?!?

The last two #1 overall picks, Lavine the slam dunk Champ, Tyus Jones the Final four MVP, KG, Euroleague MVP and 2 pass first PGs in Rubio and Miller likely serving up some dunks, and like half the roster has ties to another country. I am not just being a homer there are plenty of reasons to pick the Wolves for a look in on TC practice. :)

monsterpile wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:For some reason they are covering the Wolves' first practice live today at 3PM CDT on NBA TV. 3 1/2 hours of coverage! If you're at work and want to get paid for watching it, here's the internet link!

http://www.nba.com/live1/

Reasons?!?!?

The last two #1 overall picks, Lavine the slam dunk Champ, Tyus Jones the Final four MVP, KG, Euroleague MVP and 2 pass first PGs in Rubio and Miller likely serving up some dunks, and like half the roster has ties to another country. I am not just being a homer there are plenty of reasons to pick the Wolves for a look in on TC practice. :)

Maybe, monster...I don't know. I guess I'm more of a T-wolves fan than an NBA fan because I can't imagine spending 5 minutes watching any other team practice! But I'm getting a kick out of watching this, I have to admit. The new trainer ran the show for the first half hour, but now it's Sam and his assistants working on some very basic stuff...doesn't seem a lot different from the way high school practices are conducted. footwork, not leaving your feet on defense, etc. Interesting inside look with Sam miked up.

Lots of Defense coaching. Good to see.

Sam likes Bazz. Loved his comment look the players in this gym. "We could score 92 points a game without me calling a play, so we are going to work on stopping people."

Unbelievable focus on defense...they're 75 minutes into practice and no offense yet. Pretty clear that is going to be Sam's focus. Notable quotes from Sam: "this is the way we're going to do it now", after working on perimeter rotation, and "we're not going to do it like that anymore". KG is intense and they are letting him coach on defense too. Everyone is focused and listening intently. The coaching is surprisingly granular...proper defensive stance, not biting on fakes, etc. Sam never stops talking, and most of it is positive reinforcement...but when something is done wrong, he stops and has them redo it until he is sure everyone understands.

Sam just said " WE WILL GUARD THIS YEAR!"

Rubio is doing everything everyone else is doing, but Pek is doing his own thing on the sidelines with the trainers.

Sam shows his hand as he sends out his first 2 5X5 teams for more defensive practice:

First team: Rubio, Lavine, Wig, KG and Towns (just as most of you predicted)

Second team: Miller, Martin, Bazz, Payne and Dieng

Thanks for posting link LST. Yep. All defense. KG runs some of practice. Rubio looks fine - running all over. Now I just need to figure out who Sam calls "6 pack". I think LaVine?

Liked the Milt Newton interview. Milt was a pretty good interview - similar to Flip's style. Much more polished than Sam was. Put any Rubio trade rumors to rest.

Carlos Danger wrote:Thanks for posting link LST. Yep. All defense. KG runs some of practice. Rubio looks fine - running all over. Now I just need to figure out who Sam calls "6 pack". I think LaVine?

Ha, I think so! Look at how quick KG is as they practice traps.

Got a small window into the world of Adrian Payne. Sam singled him out three times in a row on not guarding properly and/or getting to a spot. Still pulling for AP. But seems like a slow learner (at least in this practice).

PS - did we crash this site? Having troubles getting in this afternoon.