The official Wendell Moore Jr. thread

Post #121 » by **Klomp** » Thu May 18, 2023 8:01 pm

I know it was hard to get excited about his upside in his rookie year. However, looking back in retrospect, he actually showed some NAW-lke flashes. The team has groomed him as a lead ballhandler or at least as someone to share those duties, much in the way NAW was used as well.

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urinesane · Post #122 » by **urinesane** » Thu May 18, 2023 9:56 pm

Both he and Minott seem like guys that will grow into very solid rotational/bench guys in the next couple years.

Neeva · Post #123 » by **Neeva** » Thu May 18, 2023 9:57 pm

He needs to dominate summer league this summer, if he doesn’t… it won’t be looking good.

BlacJacMac · Post #124 » by **BlacJacMac** » Thu May 18, 2023 10:29 pm

urinesane wrote:Both he and Minott seem like guys that will grow into very solid rotational/bench guys in the next couple years.

I'm super bullish on Minott. Kid is out there doing really impressive things without really knowing what he's doing. He's got great instincts, an ideal physical profile and a motor that doesn't stop. I think he has legit starter potential.

I'm much less impressed by Moore. He has shown some defensive chops, but he's just so passive out there on offense. He looks like a guy who doesn't want you to pass him the ball. He has no confidence in his shot.

The one thing that gives me a little hope is he's historically very slow to adapt to new levels of competition. We saw it in HS and College.

urinesane · Post #125 » by **urinesane** » Thu May 18, 2023 10:36 pm

BlacJacMac wrote:
urinesane wrote:Both he and Minott seem like guys that will grow into very solid rotational/bench guys in the next couple years.

I'm super bullish on Minott. Kid is out there doing really impressive things without really knowing what he's doing. He's got great instincts, an ideal physical profile and a motor that doesn't stop. I think he has legit starter potential.

I'm much less impressed by Moore. He has shown some defensive chops, but he's just so passive out there on offense. He looks like a guy who doesn't want you to pass him the ball. He has no confidence in his shot.

The one thing that gives me a little hope is he's historically very slow to adapt to new levels of competition. We saw it in HS and College.

They are very different players. I think Moore is the type of guy that may not have as much potential ceiling, but has a pretty good chance of being a solid rotational guy on a good team. He isn't going to blow your mind or give you insane highlights, but he seems like a smart solid guy that will give you consistency. Minott has a wider range when it comes to ceiling vs floor, while his ceiling is much higher than Moore, I also think that his potential floor is lower as well (though I do think he is in a great place to develop into a very good player).

Moore seems like he has a great chance of being a solid vet in the future, Minott seems like he could potentially break out or just end up as another guy with a ton of talent that just never seemed to put it all together.

Not saying that will be the case (I really like him and think he could be excellent), but I think Moore's methodical/steady improvement he's shown may not be as exciting, but may end up being more valuable as a piece on a good team.

minimus · Post #126 » by **minimus** » Fri May 19, 2023 7:11 am

Three moments that highlighted Moore rookie season:

1) putback against NOP, when he played like 10 second

2) his block on Jokic

3) his block on B.Clarke

He needs to spend this summer to work on catch-n-shoot 3s. I see a lot of opportunities for him as 3&D player.

Post #127 » by **Klomp** » Sat May 20, 2023 12:33 am

minimus wrote:Three moments that highlighted Moore rookie season:

1) putback against NOP, when he played like 10 second

2) his block on Jokic

3) his block on B.Clarke

He needs to spend this summer to work on catch-n-shoot 3s. I see a lot of opportunities for him as 3&D player.

As I said, NAW-like flashes! It was those glue-guy plays that endeared Wolves fans to NAW. Hopefully Wendell can turn some heads still. Honestly, I think fan perceptions prematurely took a hit just due to the play of Kessler in Utah.

wolves_89 · Post #128 » by **wolves_89** » Sat May 20, 2023 5:26 am

I am guessing Moore's early career is going to heavily depend on his ability to hit open 3s. If he can hit them at 35+% I think he will become a valuable rotation piece, if not he's going to have a hard time getting consistent minutes.

minimus · Post #129 » by **minimus** » Sat Jun 24, 2023 11:26 am

Watch on YouTube

Some of his three point makes are nothing but impressive: after relocating, after exiting screens etc. He has a lot of talent. I hope he studies DEN videos, especially Braun, Brown, KCP plays. Wendell can learn a lot from these guys.Although I also see how big for Cristian Braun has been DEN offense, where he learns how to get open, how to cut, use screens, set screens. Last season MIN offense was awful. Hope Finch and our players can improve chemistry

Post #130 » by **Klomp** » Thu Jul 6, 2023 8:34 pm

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TheZachAttack · Post #131 » by **TheZachAttack** » Sat Jul 8, 2023 4:24 pm

In the Dane Moore pod they were pretty low on WMJ saying basically that he wasn't confident and that there should be a lot of concerns about Moore Jr. They also said that his main role is the backup PG on the team.

I actually almost completely disagree and think everyone is overreacting to the fact that he was 3 of 12 versus 5 of 12 from 3. I don't get how you can say he wasn't confident when he took 12 3's and kept shooting even when his shot wasn't falling. I thought he showed great IQ and feel for the game even if he couldn't get all of the way to the rim (which is not what I would expect). I think he's a better than expected passer from a non-PG and can play off the ball and move it or do some secondary playmaking on the ball. I thought he made reads where he collapsed the defense into the paint and pushed it 3 point shooters. In addition, he has really good hands on defense and is strong and swiped balls on like 4-5 possessions.

In addition, there isn't really even a need for primary ball handling minutes after Shake. The real roster spot and minutes are the Prince minutes and I think it looks like they want a guy who does slightly different things than Prince and can do a little more ball-handling and passing (which is what Troy Brown Jr brings as well). But, I think it's just a completely wrong read to say he needs to be Jordan McLaughlin to get minutes. He needs to be a hybrid of the two and he needs to be able to do secondary things when playing with Anderson or Milton as well as do wing things.

It's funny how people just use biases and then work from them. If he was 7 or 8 of 18 instead of 5 of 18 and had 21-24 points instead of 15 everyone would be loving his defense and secondary playmaking with 6 assists 4 rebounds and a couple of stocks. Again, I don't think Moore is a super high-upside player or anything like that but my observations just trying to watch him play seem to be really different then others. To me, he did literally everything you would want to see except he just didn't hit shots but all of his shots were in rhythm generally and looked like on more nights than not they could go in.

I think he's a guy who is a great 7-8 man if he can shoot 36+% from 3 and an end of bench guy if not. It's not that complicated.

Neeva · Post #132 » by **Neeva** » Sat Jul 8, 2023 4:53 pm

For the first three quarters of the game he was rough, he did step it up in the fourth. Hope he plays like that going forward.

TheZachAttack · Post #133 » by **TheZachAttack** » Sat Jul 8, 2023 5:48 pm

Posted in the wrong thread but was he though or did he just miss shots in the first 3Q’s and make some shots in the 4Q?

minimus · Post #134 » by **minimus** » Sat Jul 22, 2023 9:18 am

Watch on YouTube

As I said before, watching Moore shooting threes in SL pregame warmup gives me hopes that one day he will be above average shooter in NBA

minimus · Post #135 » by **minimus** » Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:33 am

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Post #136 » by **Klomp** » Thu Oct 19, 2023 8:27 pm

This is going to be very "well duh", but I'm opening up to the likelihood that whatever potential he has likely will never be realized here. I do think he has talent. I do think he has a role in this league, but it might only max out as an average bench wing. And with so many guys standing out in front of him, it becomes harder and harder for him to establish an identity here.

I don't think it tarnishes Connelly's draft record, but I am close to calling him a swing and a miss.

shangrila · Post #137 » by **shangrila** » Thu Oct 19, 2023 8:28 pm

Does anyone still have hope for Moore?

Post #138 » by **Klomp** » Thu Oct 19, 2023 8:33 pm

shangrila wrote:Does anyone still have hope for Moore?

I might have been the last holdout, it wouldn't surprise me.

I think he can still create a career for himself, just not likely to be here. Perfect candidate for a salary/upside throw-in for trade discussions at the deadline.

shangrila · Post #139 » by **shangrila** » Thu Oct 19, 2023 8:37 pm

He has the tools, sure.

But outside of that one Memphis game where he played good defence against Ja he really hasn't shown anything else nor developed further. And it's the latter that really concerns me. I mean, how do you have a game like he did against that scrub Euro team we played the other day? When you're 3 years into your NBA career?

Post #140 » by **Klomp** » Thu Oct 19, 2023 8:42 pm

shangrila wrote:He has the tools, sure.

But outside of that one Memphis game where he played good defence against Ja he really hasn't shown anything else nor developed further. And it's the latter that really concerns me. I mean, how do you have a game like he did against that scrub Euro team we played the other day? When you're 3 years into your NBA career?

Something on one of the recent podcasts really stuck out to me, and is a big reason why I'm making this shift in my opinion of him:

He's a role player, sure. But that's what he was in college too. More often nowadays, these 3/D guys are created out of guys who were still the best/second best player on their college teams. And there's no defined standout skill yet. NAW had both of those things in college, for example.