Shabazz Muhammad Thread

[NewWolvesOrder]

Yes it did benefit him. But a good handle would make him a better player. And his overaggressive athletic style often landed him on IL with various muscle injuries.

yes, that is something I'm concerned about. clearly we lack some ball handling skills and creativity with the ball between Wiggins, LaVine and Shabazz. That's why I'm okay with AB buyout, if it means keeping LoBrown as capable defender at PG and also some insurance in case we need athletic playmaker behind Rubio who can create off the dribble.

Not sure why you lump LaVine with the other two. He's solid to good in both departments.

[Saltine]

Tonight Bazz invented the Sky Hooksist

[Klomp]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Twolves_PR/status/666829667257688064[/tweet]

[southern wolf]

This guy needs to be starting and playing 35 minutes a night...

[ZellJr]

Agreed. No idea why he gets so little support.

[southern wolf]

If he was starting for the Sixers, he'd be a most improved candidate.

[ensiferum]

At this point, I'd even play Rudez 35 minutes.

[shangrila]

He needs more minutes, definitely.

[Hisa]

his offensive game is very good, but just by watching a 30 second highlight clip from espn, he made some huge mistakes.. like when he didnt box out his man and instead watched the 3point shot which was missed and then putback dunked by the man he was supposed to box out

[moss_is_1]

He should start over Prince. His defense is bad, but having him and Lavine play together isn't any better.

[jmoy]

His defense is bad and he doesn't pass or help his teammates much. I would rather have the Wolves move him now while he still has a higher trade value. he won't resign to be a bench player and he isn't going to be a long term start so he will leave as a FA after next year. Deal now along with Gourgi while they have value.

[ZellJr]

I love the parrots who say the same thing over and over"bad defense, doesn't pass" but they don't actually watch the games or don't pay attention to shabazz.

Even in just this last game as a defender he held his guy to maybe two makes. Where does this bad defense thing come from? As if he just stands around and does nothing. Actually watch the games. He closes out well and doesn't give up a lot of points. If you close out and the opponent hits a tough three that's not on you.

Everyone on that twolves team has given up much worse defensive plays. No one says anything when Wiggins let's guys blow by him consistently. No one says anything when Karl towns doesn't help on D in the paint or when Rubio let's guys blow by him and gives up(even the commentators pointed this out). But when shabazz goes to help in the paint and still closes out on the corner shooter after the kick out its "bazz is a bad defender".

And as a passer, bazz passed a ton last game. He passes quite a bit actually. No he isn't a point guard. No he won't average a ton of assists. But to act like he selfish is just ignorant. You are intentionally not watching the game. He passes more than Wiggins, which is saying quite a bit as he gets fewer touches and is not involved in the offense. They have no plays for him. When he gets the ball its happenstance. Rubio avoided passing to him as much as possible. Rubio preferred to pull and shoot that midrange jumper over and over. There is zero chemistry between bazz and the starters and it's because he hadn't been worked into the offense. That isn't his fault.

Let him get some burn in with the starters. Let him get minutes. Let him develop chemistry with his teammates. The starters are clealry confused with what to do with him when he plays with them and it ends up becoming freestyle ball where no one is open for him on drives.

Please stop parroting things and actually watch the games. If you're going to call bazz a bad defender, you're going to call everyone on this team a bad defender.

[breatnach]

I think he has earned starting a game or two. I also think having Prince as a calming and unselfish player would help stabilize the 2nd unit.

[Dewey]

Off the hip... What if Sam had balls to move Wiggins to the bench?

A. Wiggins would merely shrug it off and move on to the next game ... improves bench ... team performance improves
B. Wiggins would suggest MN is not the place for him ... requests trade
C. Wiggins would get it and start playing with some fire ... back to starting line up after two games.
D. Wiggins expresses his lack of love for the game and takes time away ... KMart stays ... Lavine on the block.
E. Wiggins and Sam have a closed door meeting ... Wiggins is back but same lackluster play

[ZellJr]

Off the hip... What if Sam had balls to move Wiggins to the bench?

A. Wiggins would merely shrug it off and move on to the next game ... improves bench ... team performance improves
B. Wiggins would suggest MN is not the place for him ... requests trade
C. Wiggins would get it and start playing with some fire ... back to starting line up after two games.
D. Wiggins expresses his lack of love for the game and takes time away ... KMart stays ... Lavine on the block.
E. Wiggins and Sam have a closed door meeting ... Wiggins is back but same lackluster play

E is most likely

[Dewey]

I think he has earned starting a game or two. I also think having Prince as a calming and unselfish player would help stabilize the 2nd unit.

Agree there is no reason not to give Bazz a shot at starting ... I just don't think Sam will take Prince out to make it happen. Right now, I'd say put Lavine in at SG and bring Wig/Bazz off the bench.

[zDank]

Off the hip... What if Sam had balls to move Wiggins to the bench?

A. Wiggins would merely shrug it off and move on to the next game ... improves bench ... team performance improves
B. Wiggins would suggest MN is not the place for him ... requests trade
C. Wiggins would get it and start playing with some fire ... back to starting line up after two games.
D. Wiggins expresses his lack of love for the game and takes time away ... KMart stays ... Lavine on the block.
E. Wiggins and Sam have a closed door meeting ... Wiggins is back but same lackluster play

D is so ridiculous

[ZellJr]

Found this on twitter.

[youtube]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BARSIlsMGnA&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Shows off bazz's underrated D. Does a very good job staying with defenders and maintaining verticality when shots go up. Does a good job of using his length and athleticism to close out stay with plays after getting beat.

Just about every game he's played in this year has looked like this defensively. Whenever his guy hits a three, people use that to reassert their preconceived notion that he isn't a good defender. He doesn't take risks by going for blocked shots and steals but he plays very disciplined on ball D and closes out consistently. Not every player in the league even closes out.

Last night tashaun failed to close out open three point shooters (his man, who was open because tashaun crept inside to help on D, the same thing bazz gets critickized for). And a number of other players had similar issues. It's not the mark of a bad defender so it baffles me that bazz takes so much flak for this. The only shots people are really making on him are tough, contested shots.

Anyways, give the video a watch to get an idea of what he brings defensively night in and night out

[minimus]

He puts effort on defense, however he is still mediocre defender at best. Because it requires many aspects like: defensive rotations, footwork, understanding when to foul hard, understanding of team defense concept. But I do agree that these things he can show if he is given extended playing time. I mostly hope that he can improve defensive rebounds number to help to fix our rebounding woes.

[ZellJr]

He puts effort on defense, however he is still mediocre defender at best. Because it requires many aspects like: defensive rotations, footwork, understanding when to foul hard, understanding of team defense concept. But I do agree that these things he can show if he is given extended playing time. I mostly hope that he can improve defensive rebounds number to help to fix our rebounding woes.

If you watch that clip in its entirety you can see that his defensive rotations were the best in that game. You'll notice that when the nuggets scored they were wide open and it was because of the poor and lackadaisical rotations of other players. There were several occasions when players didn't even close out and this is the norm. Bazz's defensive scenarios stand out here because he's probably the only guy here who consistently closes out with effort and effectiveness.

With extended minutes I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised.