Quick Game Thoughts

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

- Chalk up a moral victory for not being completely blown out of the water. Man, it was nice to see a team not rain down 3's on us.

- Flip finally did something smart defensively and decided to keep things simple: Switch on every ball screen. Period. We are so awful guarding the pick and roll, whether it's fighting over the initial screen or hedging properly and recovering. Our guys are terrible at it. Flip figured he would go back to 5th grade rec league coaching and just told them to switch every time, matchups be damned! It actually kinda worked.

- Our offense was our worst defense tonight, as dumb turnovers and tons of missed shots (19 TOs and 36% shooting) led to a lot of the Warriors' easy scores.

- Wiggins seems to just labor on offense. Nothing comes easy unless it's an open-court dunk. Everything is a long 2, a step-back 2, or a drive into traffic hoping for a foul. He is really raw offensively.

- LaVine was a lot more bad than good tonight with his multiple turnovers and pull-up J's clanking off the rim. He was the poster boy of "rookie mistake" about five times tonight. That being said, he made a couple of nice defensive stops and managed to make some nice plays in the open court.

- Shabazz was Shabazz. Scoring, offensive rebounds, but not a whole lot of anything else. There were times he got completely lost on defense.

- Dieng played a nice game tonight. He looks a lot better when not matched up against big, skilled Centers.

- Curry is the most skilled player in the NBA hands-down. No one has his combination of shooting, handles, and floor vision.

(P.S. I wish Lip would return with his game reports)

[worldK]

Pretty good summary q. Its going to be a long season for the wolves.

[Porckchop]

I don't understand how Shabazz isn't getting more love on here. So all he does is score and reb? I can think of alot worse things from the 1st or 2nd guy off the bench. Aren't most 6th man of the year candidates usually known for being Hugh volume shooters.

[bleedspeed]

Pork, I am with you. Shabazz has been our best player for the last 5 games. Not sure how Brewer is in front of him. He should be in the starting lineup. Try and make someone guard him. He will run them in the guard and be physical with them.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I don't understand how Shabazz isn't getting more love on here. So all he does is score and reb? I can think of alot worse things from the 1st or 2nd guy off the bench. Aren't most 6th man of the year candidates usually known for being Hugh volume shooters.

"Less is more" might apply in this case. I really wonder how Shabazz would do with 30+ minutes, having to guard better players and having to play much longer stints. I suppose at some point Flip might give it a try, but I wouldn't be surprised if Shabazz struggled. He seems to direct his prodigious reserve of energy toward one thing: Scoring. For example, he is a very average defensive rebounder for a wing (Kevin Martin, Ricky Rubio, and Chase Budinger all average more defensive rebounds per 36 minutes than Shabazz), yet he is an outstanding offensive rebounder. Defensive rebounding is a really important part of playing defense, yet he doesn't go after those rebounds with the same ferocity as he does on the other end of the court.

I really think his niche in this league is as an instant offense bench scorer that can go 110% in somewhat limited minutes.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

There's that, and there's also the order of importance in offensive touches. Bazz's best role in the NBA very likely is as a sixth man. He's got that scoring mentality, and he's really good at it. When the Wolves are healthy, that will be his role. Right now, though, I don't see what the reason is to keep starting Corey. He's not doing anything that Bazz couldn't do better or the same.

PS: When do I get to see GRIII get minutes? I still like his potential a lot, and can envision him as a starter with an off-season or two of positive development. But that only comes if he's given a chance. Give him a shot, Flip. Leave Budinger on the bench to rot and limit Brewer and Hummel's minutes.

[bleedspeed]

There's that, and there's also the order of importance in offensive touches. Bazz's best role in the NBA very likely is as a sixth man. He's got that scoring mentality, and he's really good at it. When the Wolves are healthy, that will be his role. Right now, though, I don't see what the reason is to keep starting Corey. He's not doing anything that Bazz couldn't do better or the same.

PS: When do I get to see GRIII get minutes? I still like his potential a lot, and can envision him as a starter with an off-season or two of positive development. But that only comes if he's given a chance. Give him a shot, Flip. Leave Budinger on the bench to rot and limit Brewer and Hummel's minutes.

Only reason I can see Shabazz not starting is he is so aggressive that Wiggins will have a hardtime asserting himself. I honestly think it wouldn't hurt for him to play with Shabazz.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

If we have everyone being more "assertive" and attacking the basket, then we won't have any ball movement. I think that's more important in the development process for these young guys, learning how to find the open man first and then shooting second.

[bleedspeed]

If we have everyone being more "assertive" and attacking the basket, then we won't have any ball movement. I think that's more important in the development process for these young guys, learning how to find the open man first and then shooting second.

I think Shabazz moves well off the ball and makes opportunities. I am not sure how many of his scores are assisted, but it seems like a good %. If Wiggins would learn to make more cuts he would have a lot more opportunities.

[AbeVigodaLive]

One

- Chalk up a moral victory for not being completely blown out of the water. Man, it was nice to see a team not rain down 3's on us.

The cupboards are bare. So we shouldn't be too upset by a string of losses that firmly entrenches the team in the bottom of the West. So a 16-point loss to a very good Warriors team is what it is.

But, one other thing to consider... I think it had just as much to do with GSW as it did the Wolves.

The Warriors were on the back end of a back-to-back after beating a good Chicago team the night before. They thought so highly of the Wolves they shelved Bogut early as a precaution. And we all have seen enough of the NBA to know when teams are playing hard or playing hard enough.

Last night the Warriors won a back-to-back with ridiculous ease regardless of the final score. And that's something every NBA team would be ecstatic about. Right now, the Wolves are the easiest win in the league.