Minnesota Sports Forum

Slow Saturday here in LA, so I just spent a depressing hour looking at the stats of every 2013 first rounder. I did this because of my frustration with Shabazz's lack of playing time. Do I think that Shabazz is totally NBA ready? Of course not. But the stats of other rookies prove that they are not ready yet either. The difference is that all coaches other than Adelman are taking the long view, and understand that even though rookies are going to screw up often, it's important for the development of a team to get them involved right away.

As I mentioned in my Shabazz-specific thread, the two first rounders getting the fewest minutes are Shabazz and Dieng. ALL other first rounders are getting more minutes than our rookies. And I think that is clearly about Adelman, not about our rookies. Yes, I recognize he gave Wes Johnson and Derrick Williams rookie minutes, but for god's sake look at the rosters those years! Adelman just didn't have any options and had to play his rookies. Many of us are frustrated with the quality of our roster this year, but we clearly have better options than the Gelabales and Amundsons of prior years. I find Adelman's disdain for playing his rookies this year bordering on pathological, and terrible for the team long term.

Here are some of the rookies getting double digit minutes this year, and the stat or stats that say he is not ready yet:

Bennett: 10 minutes 27% shooting
VO: 32 29% on threes and 3.3 turnovers per game
Porter 10 33% FG%
Zeller 17 37 FG%
McLemore 24 36 FG% and more turnovers than assists
KCP 24 34% on threes and less than one assist per game
Burke 29 39FG%
McCollum 13 29% on threes and more turnovers than assists
MCW 35 28% on threes and 3.4 turnovers per game
GreekFreak 23 26% on threes and as many turnovers as assists
Scroeder 13 10% on threes
Bullock 10 38FG% 29% on threes, more turnovers than assists
Goodwin 11 11% on threes and more turnovers than assists


Some of the big men (Olynyk, Adams, Gobert, Plumlee) actually have decent, if not spectacular stats. Please note that most of the players I listed above are wings, so 3-point shooting and assists are valid stats. Do you think the stats above are what those franchises expected of those players when they drafted them. Certainly not long-tern, but by giving them a chance to make mistakes as rookies, they are counting on them to improve and become great contributors in the future.

Both Adelman and Saunders have complimented Shabazz on his work ethic in practice. What he is missing is real game experience. With his elite pedigree, he deserves the chance to turn the ball over and miss shots like the rookies above are doing.

Rick, free Shabazz! And if you just don't have the stomach for watching rookies struggle anymore, please retire!

His 4.2 minutes are averaged from 11 games too. He has over 20 DNPs.

It's about time some of you guys have crossed over to my side of this argument.

WildWolf2813 wrote:It's about time some of you guys have crossed over to my side of this argument.

I've been there with you and Doper, WW, but a little more patiently. My patience is gone now...

We saw 6 1/2 minutes tonight.......what are your thoughts now?

I'd like to see him play more, but I haven't really see much yet (in his NBA games) that lead me to think that he'll help us win games. And we need to win more games.

Excellent initial post btw.......I had no idea Adelman was that bad........always nice to see the supporting facts.

markkbu wrote:We saw 6 1/2 minutes tonight.......what are your thoughts now?

I'd like to see him play more, but I haven't really see much yet (in his NBA games) that lead me to think that he'll help us win games. And we need to win more games.

You can't gather much of anything in those kind of minutes in a blowout good or bad.

Like I said, the same people that wanted to value his summer league struggles completely dismiss how he played in D-League, so it's pretty much a certainty that if he went on a scoring rampage in 6 minutes of garbage time, people would find a way to devalue that as well.

You can't sum up someone in that small of a sample size either way. What they can do is at least make him an option worthwhile in bigger spots, the same way we were able to at least see how Hummel could do given those opportunities.

We won't know if he can help us win games until he gets that opportunity, and that's all any Shabazz or Dieng supporter is asking for.

Dieng has some fire. I love what he brought tonight. Shabazz has to take everything he gets when he's out there. There is no set offense happening at that point in the game. I liked having the rooks out there with Shved though. I hope it will happen more but doubt it.

markkbu wrote:We saw 6 1/2 minutes tonight.......what are your thoughts now?

I'd like to see him play more, but I haven't really see much yet (in his NBA games) that lead me to think that he'll help us win games. And we need to win more games.

I think Shabazz will ultimately suck, but he also has the talent and is really raw so even if he does suck he absolutely needs the minutes and this team won't make the playoffs with out a damn good trade.