Minnesota Sports Forum

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Wed Oct 04, 2023 6:54 pm Proof will be if he can maintain a similar stoicism on the actual court in games that matter. Heck, I don't even need pure stoicism ala Robert Parish or Kawhi Leonard- just give me less spastic-ism (whining, flailing about, fouling out, dumb defensive positioning). We've seen this movie before where he puts on a faux act to attend to some slight or criticism, but still has too many mental melt-downs in critical games.

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 9:37 am Here’s what Finch just said about KAT after those two games in Abu Dhabi:

Chris Finch on KAT: "Defensively I was really pleased with him. He’s really moving well, challenging everything, getting through a lot of actions. He looked sharp. His time this summer with the Dominican team has put him in great shape. His mindset’s right where it needs to be."

I was thinking of posting thoughts on how impressed I was by KAT’s defense in those first two preseason games, but I didn’t want to speak too soon. Now that Finch has come out with it, I’ll weigh in with how surprisingly good KAT looked on the defensive side of the ball. I recall KAT’s defensive improvement two seasons ago when I think he raised his level from bad to mediocre. But I’d say he looked even better in Abu Dhabi. He was getting in front of guys, getting to his spots, moving quickly, defending straight up, not biting on pump fakes, and not committing dumb fouls. It’s only two games but it’s encouraging progress. Importantly, KAT looked a lot quicker than he’s looked in a long time. I’ve been worried about his ability to defend the PF position, which is one reason I don’t like the Rudy/KAT pairing. But KAT showed enough quickness and agility in Abu Dhabi to give me some hope that this might work on the defensive end. I’ll also note that KAT did not appear to be whining to the refs or pouting.

It’s early with a long way to go. So I acknowledge that KAT could revert to some of his old bad habits and regress back to the defense we’ve seen from him over the years. But there’s reason for hope and Finchy’s public comment tells us that he’s really encouraged by what he’s seen so far. We didn’t see Ant’s best in Abu Dhabi and Jaden only played one game. But if the KAT, Rudy, NAW and Shake we saw in Abu Dhabi carry forward through the regular season and Wolves remain relatively healthy, this should be a fun season for Wolves fans.

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 9:37 am Here’s what Finch just said about KAT after those two games in Abu Dhabi:

Chris Finch on KAT: "Defensively I was really pleased with him. He’s really moving well, challenging everything, getting through a lot of actions. He looked sharp. His time this summer with the Dominican team has put him in great shape. His mindset’s right where it needs to be."

I was thinking of posting thoughts on how impressed I was by KAT’s defense in those first two preseason games, but I didn’t want to speak too soon. Now that Finch has come out with it, I’ll weigh in with how surprisingly good KAT looked on the defensive side of the ball. I recall KAT’s defensive improvement two seasons ago when I think he raised his level from bad to mediocre. But I’d say he looked even better in Abu Dhabi. He was getting in front of guys, getting to his spots, moving quickly, defending straight up, not biting on pump fakes, and not committing dumb fouls. It’s only two games but it’s encouraging progress. Importantly, KAT looked a lot quicker than he’s looked in a long time. I’ve been worried about his ability to defend the PF position, which is one reason I don’t like the Rudy/KAT pairing. But KAT showed enough quickness and agility in Abu Dhabi to give me some hope that this might work on the defensive end. I’ll also note that KAT did not appear to be whining to the refs or pouting.

It’s early with a long way to go. So I acknowledge that KAT could revert to some of his old bad habits and regress back to the defense we’ve seen from him over the years. But there’s reason for hope and Finchy’s public comment tells us that he’s really encouraged by what he’s seen so far. We didn’t see Ant’s best in Abu Dhabi and Jaden only played one game. But if the KAT, Rudy, NAW and Shake we saw in Abu Dhabi carry forward through the regular season and Wolves remain relatively healthy, this should be a fun season for Wolves fans.