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Early Season Wolves Report Card + Looking Forward

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TheZachAttack
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Early Season Wolves Report Card + Looking Forward 

Post#1 » by TheZachAttack » Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:30 pm

This is what I'm thinking about rotations about 1/6th of the way through the season.

Starting lineup....

Towns

_____

Wiggins

Lavine

Rubio


This is much is obvious. Although Lavine is still wildly inconsistent as a PG, he's made obvious strides in just about every aspect of his game and I think I've seen enough in limited stretches to salivate over the weapons Rubio would have around him on offense.

I don't think we can play both Tayshaun and KG, neither of them are a threat...teams can aggressively trap Wiggins way out high and double team KAT. Those are basically our only scoring options, we haven't been a very good team overall offensively.

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The Center rotation is pretty easy. If/when Pek comes back, we'll see what his role becomes, but for now you're sticking with 30ish minutes of Towns and 18ish minutes of Dieng.


C Rotation:

Towns (30 min)

Dieng (18 min)

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Who would I put at the PF? I think it's still KG in his 15 min a night role. And then another 25 minutes a night of Bjelica. I'd also love to see 8-10 minutes a game in a small ball roll at the 4 with Lavine and Wiggins. I think they have enough athleticism where it wouldn't be too big of an issue. Shabazz may not be as tall as some PF's. But he's 6'6 with close to a 7 foot wing span and he's jacked, so he can handle bigger players. He can score in the post/paint offensively and also space the floor from the corner.

For example, Draymond Green is 6'7 235 with a 7'1 wingspan, 8'9 standing reach, and a 33 inch vert jump. Shabazz is 6'6 with a 7 foot wingspan, 8 8.5 standing reach, and a 37 inch vert jump. Shabazz has above average straight line speed for a wing. What he lacks is a little bit of lateral movement. But, I think against PF's he wouldn't really need as much of that. With the amount of time 4's spend on the perimeter these days, I think for stretches Shabazz would be fine. Especially, with Karl Anthony Towns, Wiggins, and Rubio shutting things down on the perimeter + at the rim.

PF rotation:

KG (15 min-Best Defensive 4)

Bjelica (25 min-Floor Stretcher)

Bazz (8 min-Small Ball 4)

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I look at the 2 & 3 as more of wing positions than SG and SF. So there are 96 total minutes to split up here.

Wiggins is going to get 34 of them a night. He's our best scorer and go to guy in the clutch and I'm glad we are using him in that way. He needs the experience. I want Lavine starting and also getting 28 minutes or so. I really like Zach in this lineup because he loves to push the pace and get out and run. Rubio is content to play a little bit more controlled on the average possession and he likes to run an offense. Wiggins, Towns, and Lavine can all play way above the rim. Wiggins and Lavine are some of the quicker players in the league. Wiggins and Lavine can both hit the catch and shoot 3 and space the floor as well. Zach is at about 42% on catch and shoot 3's.

There are 34 minutes left at the wing position. And we know our starters.

I want Shabazz getting 20 of those minutes. He should be the go to scorer on the 2nd unit. He's good enough and efficient enough to do it and it maximizes his talent to just feed him and let him dominate opposing teams benches. Wings are not strong enough to handle him in the post. He can also hit the corner 3, offensive rebound, and is a really strong finisher in transition.

If you give Shabazz 28 or so minutes he'll show you he can score. Last year, as his minutes grew, he scored 10 points on 51% shooting in only 15 minutes. And then was rewarded with close to starter minutes playing 28 minutes a game in January. He scored a whopping 18 points 5 rebounds 2 assists on 14 shots a game and 49.5% shooting.

He's had a smaller role with a healthy Kmart, an improved Lavine, and Tayshaun Prince's role and thus he's shooting less. But he's still scoring 8 points a game in 17 minutes and a similar 50% fg percentage on only 6 shots.

If you let him take over the #1 option on the 2nd unit, and get him 12-13-14 shots a game like that month last year. I wouldn't at all be surprised to see Bazz average 15-18 points shooting at close to a 50% clip. He's a little bit of a ball-stopper, but really only because he gets the ball in good scoring areas and usually shoots really good shots .

The remaining 14 minutes comes down to either Prince or Martin. I know Martin is still a good player, but he operates from the same areas as Wiggins does so playing them together does more harm than good. Pairing him with Lavine in the backcourt off the bench hasn't worked either because they don't consistently create enough for others. And when Martin is on the court, he's consistently jacking up shots...Bazz's best skill is also scoring...and playing with Kmart without a true PG has made it tough for Bazz to be consistent.

Tayshaun can get those 14 minutes and continue to play his strong defense and provide steady play.

Wings:

Wiggins (34 min-Starter)

Lavine (28 min-Starter)

Shabazz (20 min-6th man)

Prince (14 min-Defense)

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The point guard position is pretty straightforward, at least the starter. Rubio is going to get around 30-34 mpg. Tyus has shown that he isn't ready yet. But Andre Miller I feel has definitely shown he can come in and play 14-18 minutes. I assume Tyus will start to get some minutes at some point during the season if/once the game slows down for him a little bit and he continues to get stronger.

PG-

Rubio (33 min)

Miller (15 min)

Tyus

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Rotation:

5: C-Towns-Starter

4: PF-KG-Starter

3: Wing-Wiggins-Starter

2: Wing-Lavine-Starter

1: PG-Rubio-Starter

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6: Wing-Muhammed-6th Man

7: PF-Bjelica-Stretch 4

8: Wing-Prince-Defense

9: C-Dieng-4th big

10: PG-Miller-Backup PG

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11/12/13/14: End of Bench-Martin, Tyus, Payne, Rudez, Pekovic

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How to Improve? (This is the hypothetical portion if you aren't into that stop reading now)

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There are a few areas the team needs to look to improve on over the next offseason. It’s important to note who’s going to be on the team next year. It’s likely that KG, Prince, Miller, Martin, Rudez, and possibly even Pekovic will probably be departing. That’s basically all of the Wolves veterans and that presents an interesting situation. Wiggins, Towns, Lavine, Tyus will all be 21 and under at the beginning of next season. Bazz is 23. Payne 24. Dieng 25. Rubio is also 25. And the resident oldster would be Nemanja Bjelica who’s currently a 27 year old NBA rookie.


The starting lineup seems pretty set for next year or what I’m projecting. Rubio/Lavine/Wiggins/Bjelica/Towns. Shabazz is an interesting 6th man option. And Dieng is a competent 3rd Big. I think Payne has enough athletic gifts to keep him around as a 4th/5th big. And You’d hope Tyus would be ready for a limited back up PG role.


What do you guys think the Twolves need to target this offseason?

I'd say the two biggest needs are actually probably role players. I'd like to get a veteran PG, maybe Beno Udrih, and a 3 + D wing who can space the floor, I'm thinking a guy like Kent Bazemore.

I think that we should look to find an athletic big who can a plus defender and protect the rim. Towns + Bjelica mean that we already have a lot of shooting ability from our forwards. I'd like to see us draft one of the talented big men with their lottery pick in this draft. Early on, m really liking Chieck Diallo. Dude is only 6'9, but he's got a 7'4 wingspan and 9'1 standing reach. He averages 3.4 blocks per 40. 1.5 steals per 40. and 5.4 offensive rebounds. He's got really big hands and is fluid agile and runs the floor like a wing.


I'd then fill out the rest of the roster with as many veterans as you can get to do the whole mentor thing again. (But probably play less )


What would you do?
LordBaldric
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Re: Early Season Wolves Report Card + Looking Forward 

Post#2 » by LordBaldric » Sun Nov 22, 2015 10:02 pm

I don't see any reason to limit Towns to 30 minutes.
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Re: Early Season Wolves Report Card + Looking Forward 

Post#3 » by southern wolf » Mon Nov 23, 2015 5:26 am

LordBaldric wrote:I don't see any reason to limit Towns to 30 minutes.


Yeah at the moment I'd have it has Towns for about 36 minutes and Dieng 12. Later on in the season when/if Pek's healthy I'd give him more minutes and Towns a little bit more rest.

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