Game Report - Wolves v Warriors

[Lipoli390]

I missed the last game, but for what it's worth, I was there tonight.

A few general observations. First, a ton of empty seat -- the smallest crowd I've seen at a Wolves game in a long time. As for what happened on the court, it was obvious again tonight that the Wolves are a really bad team with their currently depleted roster. However, I can report that the team gave a great effort tonight. They battled from start to finish in a game that could have easily ballooned to 30-40 point Warriors win.

As a team, there were a number of repeating themes in the Wolves' play tonight -- minimal/poor 3-point shooting; poor defense (although a bit better tonight than we've seen in a lot of Wolves games this season); failure to block out on the boards; lack of movement off the ball and lack of lack of NBA level ballhandling from anyone other than Zach LaVine.

Individually, there were also repeating themes:

1. Brewer brings energy but not much else. He's a very poor shooter from everywhere on the floor, including under the bucket. And although he had 5 steals tonight, he played poorly on the defensive end. He is not starter material.

2. Wiggins has one of the worst handles I've ever seen in an NBA wing. He gets points on mid-range jumpers and his great athleticism. But he has a long, long way to go to be anything close the perennial all-star many have predicted he'll be.

3. Zach had a better game than the stats suggest. He did a terrific defending Curry in the first half. And although he had 6 turnovers, he had 3 steals and 8 assists. He hit only 4 of his 16 shots, but he missed two point blank layups and a dunk. Had he hit all 3 we'd be complementing him on a 7-16 shooting performance to go with his 8 assists and 3 steals.

4. Flip is extraordinarily hard on Zach. He's constantly yelling at him. You could see on Zach's face by the 3rd quarter that Flip's relentless carping at Zach is starting to wear on him. It just looks like Flip is coaching the spirit out of the kid.

Some observations on our injured guys. Ricky is out of the boot, but walking somewhat gingerly. I still don't see him returning until January. I like that he involves himself substantially in every team huddle. I can report that none of the other injured guys involved themselves in team huddles.

Overall, to watch the Wolves right now, you have to be content to focus on the young guys and look for flashes of what they might become. I saw a potentially elite player at times in Zach and Wiggins. I sawflashes of two potentially very good players in Bennett and Shabazz. Let's hope that at least a couple of these guys improve consistently and ultimately reach their potential in a couple years. Otherwise the pain of watching this team as it is today will have been for nothing.

[bleedspeed]

Good to have you back. Hopefully the milk cartoons with your face on them can be canceled.

I really hope Flip has a better relationship with Zach. Before training camp I thought Zach had more of a chance to be a star then Wiggins simply because he has the alpha mentality where Andrew doesn't. The dunk contest comment way back at the state fair showed that.

As for the walking wounded. I don't expect anything less from Ricky. I know it would be tough to watch, but he surely is a born leader and he can't get back soon enough. I would love to see Pek come back and look healthy just for his trade value at this point. He seems to have his best month in January every year. Maybe he could stay healthy until the trade deadline and we could find a taker. As much as Martin gives us scoring I would love to see him come back about 5 games after Ricky and Flip give Lavine a chance to start at SG next to Ricky. It won't happen. He will keep Brewer in the lineup, but it would be nice to see him and Wiggin's play with Ricky.

So what is your impression of Shabazz? You didn't mention him much. Another solid nigh off the bench. He is a guy that I think really misses Rubio. I still have visions of Rubio directing him on the court and making sure he was in the right spot back in the preseason. I am sure his value around the league is much higher then Brewers and the more we start Brewer the lower his value will go in my opinion. So start Shabazz and let Brewer play the role he can succeed in off the bench. Which is second team chaos creature.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I find it both good and bad news that Ricky is participating in the team juggle. Good that he is active and involved, but bad that our team is juggling during another blowout :) .

I was thinking about buying some $5 seats on the street and upgrading to center court again, but I was concerned about a dead arena on a Monday night so I stayed home and watched it on TV. Sorry to hear there was no energy in the building, but better days are ahead... I think your season tickets will become valuable again when Ricky returns in a month. This will be a fun team to watch.

I'm glad you pointed out that the Wolves worked hard. I listened to a local radio guy maligning their effort last week, and I didn't agree at all. We're working hard, but we're just outmanned. As I've said before, NBA reserves don't beat NBA starters. Flip's pre-game Risk analogy last night was quite funny...he said he felt like Macedonia with just 2 people surrounded on all sides by countries with 50 people!

Your observations about Flip and Zach is discouraging, and Flip continued with the Zach criticism after the game. It's a watch situation, but right now I don't see it as a harmful thing...more like tough love. And I would argue that it is working, because Zach's game is improving. The Warriors are a very good defensive team, so I'm not going to worry about the 6 turnovers. And I don't see Zach's confidence waning at all. Flip is a smart guy, and I think he recognizes what players can take. He likely thinks Zach can take a tougher approach, while a guy like Wiggins probably can not.

Last year I would wait until the reserves came in to make dinner, but this year I have reversed my plan. The reserves are so much more fun to watch then the starters, so last night I made dinner during the dull first 7 minutes of the game, and then sat down to enjoy it when Shabazz and AB came in. Makes me wonder if Flip has the right guys starting.

This squad keeps bringing me back despite no chance of winning most nights. They are brimming with potential.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Brewer is the #1 casualty of Love being traded and Rubio being injured. He had a career year last year because Adelman was smart enough to put him in the starting lineup, where he could be the 4th option on offense and focus on scoring opportunistically through leak-outs and basket cuts. Now he's being forced to try to generate more offense on his own and the results speak for themselves: He went from a career high 55 TS% last season to 48 TS% this season, his worst scoring efficiency since he was with the Wolves the first time around.

Young is another guy being forced into a bunch of half-court isolation sets. Any of you tired of seeing Young set a pick for LaVine, and then Zach casually lobbing the ball back to Young at the top of the key and then Young being forced to isolate? That puts no pressure on the defense whatsoever. Zach doesn't turn the corner and look to drive, Young doesn't roll to the hoop, and the defender just goes underneath the screen and matches up. That is just a really inefficient way to run an offense, but I I don't think Flip has many other options.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Yes. Very tired to see that simple action. That has to be Flip coached because the same thing happens when Bennett's in the game. Hell, sometimes Dieng too if he's the pick setter.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Brewer is the #1 casualty of Love being traded and Rubio being injured. He had a career year last year because Adelman was smart enough to put him in the starting lineup, where he could be the 4th option on offense and focus on scoring opportunistically through leak-outs and basket cuts. Now he's being forced to try to generate more offense on his own and the results speak for themselves: He went from a career high 55 TS% last season to 48 TS% this season, his worst scoring efficiency since he was with the Wolves the first time around.

Young is another guy being forced into a bunch of half-court isolation sets. Any of you tired of seeing Young set a pick for LaVine, and then Zach casually lobbing the ball back to Young at the top of the key and then Young being forced to isolate? That puts no pressure on the defense whatsoever. Zach doesn't turn the corner and look to drive, Young doesn't roll to the hoop, and the defender just goes underneath the screen and matches up. That is just a really inefficient way to run an offense, but I I don't think Flip has many other options.

I think Brewer is a great test case that proves A LOT of NBA players are who they are... and they're not going to get significantly better whether we think they can or even if they want to themselves. In many cases, any statistical improvements/declines have just as much to do with situations as anything else.

Once you reach a certain point with most guys... growth and development stagnates.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Brewer (last year's version that is) is also an example of how a rising tide lifts all boats, meaning if you do get that great core in place of 3 or 4 very good players, you generally can get the others to play off those guys and maximize their efficiency. But once they get forced to become one of those 3 or 4 players, they simply can't handle the increased defensive focus and usage. We've seen this in spades over the years due to all the injuries. We constantly seem to be put in the position of asking guys to play beyond their means.

[mjs34]

Brewer is the #1 casualty of Love being traded and Rubio being injured. He had a career year last year because Adelman was smart enough to put him in the starting lineup, where he could be the 4th option on offense and focus on scoring opportunistically through leak-outs and basket cuts. Now he's being forced to try to generate more offense on his own and the results speak for themselves: He went from a career high 55 TS% last season to 48 TS% this season, his worst scoring efficiency since he was with the Wolves the first time around.

Young is another guy being forced into a bunch of half-court isolation sets. Any of you tired of seeing Young set a pick for LaVine, and then Zach casually lobbing the ball back to Young at the top of the key and then Young being forced to isolate? That puts no pressure on the defense whatsoever. Zach doesn't turn the corner and look to drive, Young doesn't roll to the hoop, and the defender just goes underneath the screen and matches up. That is just a really inefficient way to run an offense, but I I don't think Flip has many other options.

This is a common issue with Flip's offense. I think it is due to his willingness to accept that 20 foot jump shot. If he is OK with the guys settling for that, why should they attack the basket. Even back when we had T Hud, it was common to lazily come around the pick. I don't know why they even set a pick, because our ball handler relinquishes any advantage immediately. Ricky is guilty of this as well and Sam Cassell back in the day. KG almost always set up 20 feet away and shot the jumper (although he was very good at it). Brandon did the same thing, in fact I can only remember one PG that took advantage of it, and that was Marbury. Although he did it from the start, so it had very little to do with Flip.

I think Flip mistakes the defense giving him a bad shot, for a properly executed offensive system.