Game Report - Wolves v Kings

[Lipoli390]

Another loss, although unlike last night, this was a game the Wolves could have won. A louder crowd than last night but still a lot of empty seats.

My biggest take-away from tonight's game is that, less than a month into the season, most of our core young guys are already better than our veterans other than Ricky, Pek and maybe Thad. As our core young guys, I'm talking about Wiggins, Bennett, Dieng and Zach. All but Zach were clearly better than vets Mo, Brewer and Budinger. And I might actually rate Zach's performance above Mo's.

I loved Zach's cold-blooded three at the end of the 3rd quarter. A harbinger of things to come from this 19 year old with lots of swagger. He has a long way to go, but I like his shooting stroke and his excellent ballhandling skills.

We finally got a glimpse tonight of Wiggins's star potential. 29 points, 5 boards and 4 steals. That's a very nice game. He has a beautiful shooting stroke and incredible body control to go with his huge hops, great length and tremendous quickness. He just needs to keep working on improving his handle. Bennett had a great first quarter and generally played very well on both ends throughout his 30 minutes of court time. I was happy to see him interacting a lot with Flip and Sam Mitchel. He seems eager to learn.

It helps to get through these games by focusing on the subplots rather than the game. The good news is that our young guys are really talented. One year from now our starting lineup will be Ricky, Wiggins, Shabazz, Bennett and Dieng.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Thanks for the report Lip.

Good to hear about Bennett talking with Flip and Sam. Those little details you can only see from up close at the game (not on league pass from Germany) are what make your game reports so great.

From what I've seen, I'd definitely say Thad has been our second best player after Ricky when he's out there. Pek hasn't played well yet, but not having him lately has exposed how much we need his size.

Agree with you on the young guys Wiggins, Bennett, Dieng, and Shabbazz playing well though (I really loved Wiggins attacking the basket and drawing fouls), but I'm not as happy about Zach. Mo shot from 3 badly last night, but our offense does not run when he's not out there. He cooled off in the second half, but still had 12 assists. And Zach has been a disappointment to me even though I wasn't expecting much from him at the point. He's got the swagger to race down and take a 3 at the end of a quarter, which is great. But he's also got the swagger to drive irrationally into traffic and lose the ball, the swagger to leave his feet before knowing where he's going to pass it, and the swagger to take low percentage off balance shots with plenty of time on the shot clock. I'm still having flashbacks from that shot he thumped off the side of the backboard the other day. Swagger's good if you're making good decisions. Otherwise you could end up with Rashad McCants. I'm not saying Zach is "the ghost of Rashad McCants," but I don't think he should be running the point, and he needs to make better decisions. I'd like to see him get some minutes at the 2, but with no other point guards, we don't have a choice unfortunately.

[60WinTim]

About those 12 assists, Drew... Mo had 10 in the 1st half. So shooting wasn't the only thing that cooled off in the 2nd half!

If you consider Zach was not expected to play this season, and then forced into action because Flip made the decision to only carry 2 PGs, how can you say he's been a disappointment? He's merely playing as expected. It's unfortunate he is forced to play so early, but I swear he is getting more comfortable and his game is improving. Baby steps. This stretch of games he's forced to play is hastening his development. And we may reap the rewards towards the end of the season, and definitely into next season.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Bennett isn't better than Young. I repeat, Bennett isn't better than Young. My goodness.

[mjs34]

Bennett isn't better than Young. I repeat, Bennett isn't better than Young. My goodness.

Based on what? To this point (which is obviously a small sample size), Bennett has been better in most categories, and looks to be more of a PF than Young.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Bennett isn't better than Young. I repeat, Bennett isn't better than Young. My goodness.

Based on what? To this point (which is obviously a small sample size), Bennett has been better in most categories, and looks to be more of a PF than Young.

Based on the fact that he hitched his wagon to the Bennett is a bust belief and hasn't been able to admit it's looking more and more like Bennett is going to be a rotation player in this league.

[bleedspeed]

Based on the fact that he hitched his wagon to the Bennett is a bust belief and hasn't been able to admit it's looking more and more like Bennett is going to be a rotation player in this league.

Exactly

[TheFuture]

Bennett isn't better than Young. I repeat, Bennett isn't better than Young. My goodness.

At this point in their careers Young is definitely better than Bennett. Young can create offense, Bennett relies mostly on kick outs for his long 2 and put backs. Bennett looks to be a better jump shot shooter though. I also prefer Young's defense at this point. I do not know if I'd overpay young to keep him past this year though as I see Bennett as a better PF option next year. Once Bennett learns to exert his athleticism and body size he will be tough to contain. If Young is able to move to SF I would want him here for next year. Rubio, Wiggins, young, Bennett, dieng could be very interesting.

Back to the point, I agree with Cam. Young is definitely the better option for starting PF this year.

[bleedspeed]

I think Young is better, but Bennett is no bust.

[Phenom]

Its not ok to like both Young and Bennett. Same with Pek and Dieng. We must choose one of each.