Dieng and Shabazz

[shahidi124 [enjin:6591729]]

Shabazz played really well tonight. As opposed to Monday night where he was trying to do way too much, he stayed within himself tonight and got most of his buckets off offensive boards and layups. He got to the line at a decent clip and ended up with 11pts 4rbs on 6 shots. He was pretty relentless crashing the offensive glass and looked good out there. Played good defense as well.

Dieng looked awesome. He had 6pts, 9rbs, 4blks, 3assts and really anchored the defense at the end of the game. The lineup that was trotted out for the last 6 minutes were Dieng, Brown, Hummel, Jeffers, and another walk on I don't remember. Dieng rotated well on defense and was constantly crashing the boards. He could be good sitting in the high post dishing out assists as guys make cuts, as he is pretty good at reading the floor and can make nice, crisp passes. He is a pretty vocal and animated guy and looks to have some good potential in the future.

DISCLAIMER: I watched the grainiest video feed ever, so Dieng may have actually been Turiaf and I wouldn't be surprised

[worldK]

Both rookies played well today. Dieng impressed with his passing and blocks. 1 of the signings i really liked this past summer was the signing of turiaf. Ive said it when we signed him that he would be the perfect veteran center to let dieng learn from. Both have similiar strength(shot blocking and passing for a big). Dieng has more potential and if he stays healthy, would be a very good backup c down the line.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yup, good to see those two guys play well, along with Jeffers.

It was also good to see Shved play an efficient and effective game for the second straight evening. And he's playing against starters these last couple of games, so I take his performance a bit more seriously.

It might be tough to fill those last couple of roster spots. At the end of the day, we need shooters, defenders, and wings. Chris Johnson may be on the outside looking in with Pek, Dieng, Turiaf, Cunningham, and Williams all locked up under contract. Budinger's injury and Martin's fragility means things bode well for Jeffers and/or Hummel.

[Volans19]

Am I looking too much into Chris Johnson not getting any playing time or does it seem like he's on his way out? After such a strong performance last season I think that it's kind of a shame that Adleman isn't giving him any playing time.

But if CJ is going to be cut I'd be all right with keeping Jeffers and Hummel, those two have really impressed me this pre-season.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Nice to see our draft choices putting up some nice numbers tonight...gotta love 7 offensive rebounds from Dieng and Muhammad.

I couldn't watch any of the game tonight, but I'm impressed with the box score. Looks like their starters were on the court more than ours, so more evidence that we have a lot of depth to work with this year. Good win.

On the negative side, none of our expected starters showed much in the box score. I recognize that 4 games in 6 nights is difficult, and it looks like Rick is taking good care of his players. But hopefully he will start to ramp up the starters' minutes so they can begin to develop some chemistry before opening night.

[Monster]

On Twitter today Brit Robison noted he wondered if CJ was in trouble and the AP guy that covers the Wolves Said he thinks he is out. I like CJ, but I also don't think he is anything special and the reality is we probably need wings worse than another backup big. Adelman talked up Brown's D last night so that is good for his chances.

[60WinTim]

Another guy that's really surprised me is AJ Price. He has looked very poised and has done a lot of good things.

Brown and Hummel have played fine, too. But it seems unlikely the Wolves will carry 3 rookies this year. I will not be surprised if CJ is traded/waived and both Price and Jeffers are kept.

Oh, and Dieng has impressed the bajeebers out of me! (Shabazz has been a pleasant surprise as well)

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Just noticed that our three draftees only had 1 turnover between them for the night...very nice.

On the negative side, no assists for Shabazz again. Did he make an attempt to get his teammates involved, or was it the black hole Shabazz tonight?

I think the writing on the wall is pretty clear forChris Johnson, since he hasn't seen the court at all in three games. I don't disagree with Adelman's decision, because we seem to be well set at center and PF. I like a lot of what I see in CJ's game, so I hope he is able to catch on with some other team.

[worldK]

long, shabazz got most of his points and attempts off putbacks and running the break. He wasnt a blakhole in the offense in that he didnt hold onto the ball and was running the system.

I agree that the writing is in the wall for cj. Pek,turiaf and dieng are the 5's and love and dante will get most of the pf minutes with dw available for pf minutes as well. I think hummel and price/jeffers will make the teakm. I like brown, but that would be too many rookies for the team.

[thedoper]

I think one play with Shabazz really stood out to me tonight. I think it was his second basket that he got off the post. Ricky waved him into the post and knew right where to give it to him and it was automatic even though it bounced in. It was good to see Ricky immediately be able to identify Bazz's strength.That chemistry never really happened with JJ nor do I expect that it will since it is JJ. Also I think Shabazz looks very athletic, which was a knock on him. He really knows how to control his body and use it to his advantage and makes his moves with a lot of strength. Plus he has great anticipation to get to the ball.