Minnesota Sports Forum

NAW: B+
Ant: B+
Jaden: B+
Naz: A
Rudy: A
Slow Mo: B+
Morris: A
Jmac: B
Warren: B
Bench mob: A

I love that our two laggards with B's (Warren and JMac) were a combined +48!

I wasn't on board with Finchie starting NAW at PG when he had two great options available, and the offense was not so good in the 1st quarter. But we started clicking when Morris and then JMac came in, and we didn't stop clicking the rest of the game. Just a completely dominant butt-kicking against a very bad team.

Unbelievable team stats. 37 assists and only 9 turnovers. 46.5% 3-point shooting. 13 steals and 9 blocks.

TJ Warren has done a nice job blending in and making good decisions when he plays, but I just can't see him getting any minutes in the playoffs unless there is some serious injury or foul problems. You have to offer something besides not screwing up. Those kinds of players were great for us when we trying to not lose 50 games! I think Finch gave him a decent stint last night to keep him engaged, but he's an insurance policy at this point.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 9:34 am TJ Warren has done a nice job blending in and making good decisions when he plays, but I just can't see him getting any minutes in the playoffs unless there is some serious injury or foul problems. You have to offer something besides not screwing up. Those kinds of players were great for us when we trying to not lose 50 games! I think Finch gave him a decent stint last night to keep him engaged, but he's an insurance policy at this point.

You raise a question I was pondering yesterday, Q...what will the playoff rotation look like if KAT is ready to play? I think Finchie will keep it down to a 9-man rotation, so I agree we likely won't see Warren. But that also means either Morris or JMac will be out of the rotation. I like them both, but Finchie seems to prefer Morris. It says a lot about our depth that a guy who has been playing so well recently and leads the team in 3-point shooting might not get much burn in the playoffs.

FNG wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 9:37 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 9:34 am TJ Warren has done a nice job blending in and making good decisions when he plays, but I just can't see him getting any minutes in the playoffs unless there is some serious injury or foul problems. You have to offer something besides not screwing up. Those kinds of players were great for us when we trying to not lose 50 games! I think Finch gave him a decent stint last night to keep him engaged, but he's an insurance policy at this point.

You raise a question I was pondering yesterday, Q...what will the playoff rotation look like if KAT is ready to play? I think Finchie will keep it down to a 9-man rotation, so I agree we likely won't see Warren. But that also means either Morris or JMac will be out of the rotation. I like them both, but Finchie seems to prefer Morris. It says a lot about our depth that a guy who has been playing so well recently and leads the team in 3-point shooting might not get much burn in the playoffs.

I think his heart favors JMac and his head favors Morris, so Morris will probably get the nod. That being said, I don't think he will be afraid to go 10-men deep if the situation calls for it. JMac is a change-of-pace kind of player that can be deployed to re-energize the group.

The other thing to ask is the whole KAT-SloMo-Naz distribution of minutes and how they are paired. I feel like no one does what Rudy does so he is going to get his 30+ minutes per night in the playoffs, but certain matchups (like Phoenix) may force us to go smaller. I just hope Finch isn't too dogmatic about playing big. We've seen in this latest stretch of games that we can go small and still play suffocating defense. That may be needed if a team decides to really spread us out.

FNG wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 9:37 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 9:34 am TJ Warren has done a nice job blending in and making good decisions when he plays, but I just can't see him getting any minutes in the playoffs unless there is some serious injury or foul problems. You have to offer something besides not screwing up. Those kinds of players were great for us when we trying to not lose 50 games! I think Finch gave him a decent stint last night to keep him engaged, but he's an insurance policy at this point.

You raise a question I was pondering yesterday, Q...what will the playoff rotation look like if KAT is ready to play? I think Finchie will keep it down to a 9-man rotation, so I agree we likely won't see Warren. But that also means either Morris or JMac will be out of the rotation. I like them both, but Finchie seems to prefer Morris. It says a lot about our depth that a guy who has been playing so well recently and leads the team in 3-point shooting might not get much burn in the playoffs.

If Kat is back for the playoffs, I think there are some series where smaller ball will be need a bit more and both Morris ad JMac may get minutes in the series. There may also be some series where we only go 8 players and neither Morris or JMac come in unless we have players in foul trouble. If Anderson loses his confidence in the playoffs, and we are basically playing 4-5 on offense, it's possible one of Morris or JMac get some of Anderson's minutes.