Minnesota Sports Forum

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/practice-report-oct-26-2013


[indent] Adelman noted that he would ideally like a nine-man rotation, but notes that he might have to put it at 10 early on.

"I really today know if it's going to be nine or 10," Adelman said. "... We know four out of the five starters, sure, I know J.J. behind Ricky, D.C.'s (Dante Cunningham) been very good, Ronny's been very good. It's going to be hard."

The starting small forward position looks like it will come down to Corey Brewer and Derrick Williams. Brewer is one of the league's best players coming off the bench, so it's tempting for Adelman to have him coming off the bench as an energy guy.[/indent]


So, what do YOU expect the rotation to be?

I think ten guys are going to get regular minutes: Rubio, Love, Martin, Pek, Brewer, Cunningham, Turiaf, Barea, Shved, and Williams. Rubio, Love, Martin, and Pek should see 30+ minutes every night. Brewer will almost certainly see 20+ minutes. After that, it's going to come down to matchups and how well guys are playing.

While I favor Brewer in the starting lineup, the reality is that who starts at SF is not that momentous in the larger scheme of things. The key to our season lies almost 100% on the health of Rubio, Love, Martin, and Pek. If those four can stay reasonably healthy, we should win our fair share of games.

Q12543 wrote:I think ten guys are going to get regular minutes: Rubio, Love, Martin, Pek, Brewer, Cunningham, Turiaf, Barea, Shved, and Williams. Rubio, Love, Martin, and Pek should see 30+ minutes every night. Brewer will almost certainly see 20+ minutes. After that, it's going to come down to matchups and how well guys are playing.

While I favor Brewer in the starting lineup, the reality is that who starts at SF is not that momentous in the larger scheme of things. The key to our season lies almost 100% on the health of Rubio, Love, Martin, and Pek. If those four can stay reasonably healthy, we should win our fair share of games.

Agreed. And out of the 10 guys you listed, I expect Shved's minutes to be reduced when Budinger returns. I'd think that Barea will get close to 20 minutes too with how well he's played in pre-season and his ability to penetrate defenses. He's also one of our better shooters. How many minutes do you think JJ will get a night?

As for your second point: very true, Q. As long as the core four are able to play, this team will win games. I think Love is going to have one of his best seasons yet and might be in the best shape I've ever seen him in. Same goes for Ricky.

I also think it would be wise on some games depending on the matchup to give Pek reduced minutes or even the night off. I know that's not going to be the popular move, but any ways that we can ensure Pek's health come playoff time would be a good move in my opinion. It would also allow Dieng to get more minutes and bring him along with his development. So maybe on the second game of a back-to-back or maybe against a really inferior team such as Philly for instance Adelman would pull back on pek's minutes.

I find Adelman's comment very intriguing... that he wants to go with 9, but will likely have to go with 10 in the early going. Here's how I interpret this comment. He sees Bud as a viable 2 or 3, and until he comes back, he only has Shved as a true backup to Martin. So he has to play Shved in the early going. And either Williams, or possibly Muhammad, will be the 10th player backing up Corey in Bud's absence.

But everything changes when Bud comes back. Assuming everyone is healthy, and none of the three guys on the outside (Williams, Shved and Muhammad) have played so well that they are deemed to be indispensable, Rick can dial it back to his preferred 9-man rotation. I think this 9-man rotation would have Love, Cunningham, Brewer and Bud manning the 3 and 4 positions, and Bud also backing up Martin at the 2. So:

Pek, Ronny

Love, Cunningham

Brewer, Cunningham, Bud

Martin, Bud

Rubio, Berea

And Williams, Shved and Shabazz warm the bench. Some awfully promising players not making it into the rotation!

Anyone have a different idea of who Adelman sees in his preferred 9-man rotation? Obviously he wants to keep everyone as happy as he can, and also limit the minutes of his core 9, so the non-rotation guys will get some minutes too.

longstrangetrip wrote:I find Adelman's comment very intriguing... that he wants to go with 9, but will likely have to go with 10 in the early going. Here's how I interpret this comment. He sees Bud as a viable 2 or 3, and until he comes back, he only has Shved as a true backup to Martin. So he has to play Shved in the early going. And either Williams, or possibly Muhammad, will be the 10th player backing up Corey in Bud's absence.

But everything changes when Bud comes back. Assuming everyone is healthy, and none of the three guys on the outside (Williams, Shved and Muhammad) have played so well that they are deemed to be indispensable, Rick can dial it back to his preferred 9-man rotation. I think this 9-man rotation would have Love, Cunningham, Brewer and Bud manning the 3 and 4 positions, and Bud also backing up Martin at the 2. So:

Pek, Ronny

Love, Cunningham

Brewer, Cunningham, Bud

Martin, Bud

Rubio, Berea

And Williams, Shved and Shabazz warm the bench. Some awfully promising players not making it into the rotation!

Anyone have a different idea of who Adelman sees in his preferred 9-man rotation? Obviously he wants to keep everyone as happy as he can, and also limit the minutes of his core 9, so the non-rotation guys will get some minutes too.

If Cunningham actually plays the 3 I will vomit in my mouth. No way I put him ahead of Williams as the 3rd SF. It would only prove to me that this is just about Adelman having a man crush on Cunningham and just disliking Williams.

If Cunningham actually plays the 3 I will vomit in my mouth. No way I put him ahead of Williams as the 3rd SF. It would only prove to me that this is just about Adelman having a man crush on Cunningham and just disliking Williams.