Shabazz/Dieng vs. McCollum
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:30 pm
We have had ample opportunities as Timberwolves fans to analyze certain either/or decisions management has made...the two most prominent ones arguably being Roy/Foye and Love/Mayo. The 2013 decision ultimately probably won't have the same impact as the aforementioned, but we all love a debate, so it should be fun to revisit this one as the year progresses.
Flip had several options when his turn came up at #9, but I want to frame this discussion as a choice between what he did (trading the pick for what ultimately turned into Shabazz and Dieng) or the most likely alternative decision (CJ McCollum). We have had a chance to see all three players in Vegas Summer League, so what is the early consensus about which of the alternatives would be more valuable to the Wolves: Shabazz and Dieng, or McCollum?
I have been quite critical of Muhammad's performance in Vegas, but I'm going to go a different direction here and say that, based on Summer League alone, Flip's choice looks pretty good right now. CJ McCollum led the summer league in scoring and provided some highlight reel moments, but I would argue he had a lot to do with the 0-4 record of his team in the games in which he played. CJ was never a great distributor in college, and struggled as a facilitator in Vegas too, only averaging 3.4 assists despite his ample minutes. And defensively he consistently struggled, whether he was assigned to a point guard or a bigger SG. I don't think Portland can count him for either assists or defense, so his contribution is going to have to come as a shooter. His point totals were impressive, but his efficiency was terrible. In his four games, he shot a very poor 36.6% and only 31.3% on threes. With his other limitations, this is not going to cut it for CJ. Now I predicted that he would struggle at first in Summer League because the defenders were going to be so much bigger and faster than what he saw in his years in the Patriot League, so I expect to see some improvement as he gets used to the pace of the NBA game. But on the other hand, the defenders he will see when the regular season starts will likely be much better than what he saw this past week.
Dieng and Muhammad had their own struggles. There were times when Dieng looked lost, but there were other times where you could see that he will be am immediate improvement over Steamer. And he has an enormous upside, with his physical gifts and only having played basketball for 5 years. Many of us have expressed our dissatisfaction with Muhammad's performance, and his production was much less than what I was expecting. Defensively, he showed an impressive motor and effort, but lacked discipline at times and seemed lacking in some basic defensive concepts. Like in college, he again averaged less than an assist per game, but he displayed much more interest in getting his teammates involved. He has a nice touch on his drop bounce passes inside, and as others have said, he deserved to have a couple more assists per game if his big men had caught the ball better. And his shooting percentages were much better than CJ's, averaging 41% from the floor with a respectable 38.3 % on threes. I know this is Summer League only, but Adelman would be thrilled if Shabazz could duplicate those numbers this season.
I say round one clearly goes to the tag team of Shabazz and Dieng. I suspect that there will be some differences of opinion on this one, so let's start the discussion.
Flip had several options when his turn came up at #9, but I want to frame this discussion as a choice between what he did (trading the pick for what ultimately turned into Shabazz and Dieng) or the most likely alternative decision (CJ McCollum). We have had a chance to see all three players in Vegas Summer League, so what is the early consensus about which of the alternatives would be more valuable to the Wolves: Shabazz and Dieng, or McCollum?
I have been quite critical of Muhammad's performance in Vegas, but I'm going to go a different direction here and say that, based on Summer League alone, Flip's choice looks pretty good right now. CJ McCollum led the summer league in scoring and provided some highlight reel moments, but I would argue he had a lot to do with the 0-4 record of his team in the games in which he played. CJ was never a great distributor in college, and struggled as a facilitator in Vegas too, only averaging 3.4 assists despite his ample minutes. And defensively he consistently struggled, whether he was assigned to a point guard or a bigger SG. I don't think Portland can count him for either assists or defense, so his contribution is going to have to come as a shooter. His point totals were impressive, but his efficiency was terrible. In his four games, he shot a very poor 36.6% and only 31.3% on threes. With his other limitations, this is not going to cut it for CJ. Now I predicted that he would struggle at first in Summer League because the defenders were going to be so much bigger and faster than what he saw in his years in the Patriot League, so I expect to see some improvement as he gets used to the pace of the NBA game. But on the other hand, the defenders he will see when the regular season starts will likely be much better than what he saw this past week.
Dieng and Muhammad had their own struggles. There were times when Dieng looked lost, but there were other times where you could see that he will be am immediate improvement over Steamer. And he has an enormous upside, with his physical gifts and only having played basketball for 5 years. Many of us have expressed our dissatisfaction with Muhammad's performance, and his production was much less than what I was expecting. Defensively, he showed an impressive motor and effort, but lacked discipline at times and seemed lacking in some basic defensive concepts. Like in college, he again averaged less than an assist per game, but he displayed much more interest in getting his teammates involved. He has a nice touch on his drop bounce passes inside, and as others have said, he deserved to have a couple more assists per game if his big men had caught the ball better. And his shooting percentages were much better than CJ's, averaging 41% from the floor with a respectable 38.3 % on threes. I know this is Summer League only, but Adelman would be thrilled if Shabazz could duplicate those numbers this season.
I say round one clearly goes to the tag team of Shabazz and Dieng. I suspect that there will be some differences of opinion on this one, so let's start the discussion.