Minnesota Sports Forum

Conley B+
Ant: B
Mcdaniels: C-
Randle: B-
Rudy: B
Naz: A+
Donte: A
Naw: B-

You don't find it hard to give a C on an ass whoopin?

Leado01 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04, 2024 11:07 pm You don't find it hard to give a C on an ass whoopin?

Jaden was terrible in the first half, it was a F performance. Now he played great in the 3rd to raise his grade. Probably his first above average Q of the season

Welcome back, Kek. Finally, we got a defensive effort that resembled last year. Granted, we were playing a bad team after playing mostly West teams in our first 6. But still, the improvement in effort was clear. And Jaden was part of it, so I agree with your C- despite his continuing shooting and fouling woes.

I'll accept your B- grade for NAW because he missed most of his shots last night. But I'm also going to give him a shout out for another great game. With apologies to Ant and Rudy, I will say he has been our most impactful player this season...the flow of the game seems to change immediately after he checks in. His on-ball and help defense are equally elite, and he seems to be close to the most effective wing defender in the association. He's an absurd +38.5 on/off for the season, and was a +22 plus/minus last night. But that fell far short of the +33 Naz and Donte put up! Only three players (all reserves) have a positive on/off for the Wolves through the first 7 games, and they were our leaders again last night. How great it is to have a bench that dominates the opponent every night!

The A+ for Naz is notable. It's one of those matchups where Reid really shines since Charlotte had such a lack of size and length along the front line.

He is such a quandary to me. On the one hand, he really can punish smaller players. But the second he plays someone that is similar to his size or bigger, he is completely overwhelmed in the paint defensively and on the glass.

Jaden is one of these guys that gets inside his own head.

He came out locked in in the 3rd quarter after the Mike Conley pep talk at half time. Making jump shots and getting stops. He looked great. Then he got called for a weak foul (well he didn't actually even commit a foul) and went straight to the bench due to foul trouble, sulking (rightfully so for a pathetic foul call).

His biggest problem is foul trouble and staying on the court. The reason he gets into foul trouble isn't because he's always necessarily committing genuine fouls, it's because he is guarding the oppositions best backcourt player who get their nightly quota of free throws regardless of who's guarding them.

I think Finch needs to mix defensive assignments up, especially in the regular season so that Jaden isn't always guarding the foul baiting players of the opposition team.