Simmons' Law of Too Many guys

[abrewbro68]

Beasley has already been more than a minus the first two years of his career on defense. His defensive rating has become horrible this season. Look at the system more than the player at this case.

We have two guys on our team that are top 20 in the league in scoring. I say lets build around those two.

[AQuintus]

Athletic tools yes. Mental tools - ???. If he ever wants to be more than a (-) on defense,

It's not just Beasley that needs to improve his defensive awareness, everybody on the Wolves needs to. It really comes down to the system that the team is running. It makes everybody look constantly lost and scrambling to recover. Beasley certainly isn't a great individual defender, but he's better than he's looked here, and I think a change of system would do him (and all of his teammates) a world of good.

he needs to really change his mental approach to defense (and rebounding / boxing out).

???

He's one of the best rebounding Small Forwards in the NBA.

[Casperkid23]

Good methodology, but I think he should use multiple categories for individual players. Anyone who's played roto fantasy sports knows that just because a guy is predominantly a ball-handler, doesn't mean his rebounds count any less. In fact, some of these mutli-cat guys are incredibly valuable not just in fantasy sports (especially HTH), but on the floor as well.

I think it a better way would be to assess the team is to award points in three cats:

KeLove: 5 Rebounding, 4 Scoring, 2 Ball Handling, 2 Defense
MkBeas: 3 Rebounding, 4 Scoring, 2 Ball Handling, 2 Defense
RRubio: 2 Rebounding, 3 Scoring, 4 Ball Handling, 3 Defense

.. for all players.

Then factor in minutes, and come out with team totals.

Basketball is a team sport, and it's the team totals that is a better model for whether the Wolves have the pieces to compete with other teams. Now, I think history supports that it takes superstars to win in the NBA, but unless we grow one, it's unlikely we see one in MIN. However, occasionally a team like DET sneaks in and wins a championship without one. We may need to try to grow into a DET team, where collectively, the total team can be a match for another club with a superstar.

[Casperkid23]

By shrink's take... I'd go with a 10 point scale - anything 3 or lower for defense is a liability.

Love: 10 rebounding, 7 scoring, 3 ball handling, 3 defense
Beasley: 4 rebounding, 5 scoring, 4 ball handling, 3 defense
AR: 7 rebounding, 5 scoring, 4 ball handling, 5 defense
Wes: 3 rebounding, 4 scoring, 3 ball handling, 4 defense
Darko: 4 rebounding, 2 scoring, 2 ball handling, 5 defense
Pekovic: 5 rebounding, 5 scoring, 1 ball handling, 3 defense
AT: 6 rebounding, 4 scoring, 3 ball handling, 7 defense
Ridnour: 2 rebounding, 6 scoring, 7 ball handling, 2 defense
Webster: 3 rebounding, 5 scoring, 4 ball handling, 2 defense
Ellington: 2 rebounding, 4 scoring, 4 ball handling, 2 defense
Flynn (injured?): 1 rebounding, 2 scoring, 4 ball handling, 2 defense
Hayward: 3 rebounding, 2 scoring, 3 ball handling, 4 defense

Even going by Simmons scale, the Wolves only have one starter (Love - the rebounder and defensive liability) and then maybe the 3.5 subs: AR, AT, Beasley and Ridnour (latter two being liabilities). Love, AR, and Beasley should still improve. Wes should improve in all facets as well, Pek too. Darko? Probably not. Ellington/Hayward? Probably not to a level where they'd be useful. Flynn? Sure, but not with this team.

Ugh. I just ranked the Timberwolves best player only has a 23 out of 40 (LeBron, for comparison, would have at least a 33)... and then have the other respectable players at 21 (AR), 20 (AT), 17 (Ridnour), and 16 (Beasley).

[revprodeji]

Webster is a 2 as a SG on defense, but I would say a 4 or 5 for SF defense.

[TrentTuckerForever]

Agree 100%, Casper... ugh. Complain all you want about the coaching or offensive/defensive systems - in my opinion talent is the number one problem with the Wolves by a long stretch. Rambis hasn't exactly made chicken salad out of chicken s**t, but let's acknowledge that he wasn't given salad to work with.

[Biff Cooper]

he needs to really change his mental approach to defense (and rebounding / boxing out).

???

He's one of the best rebounding Small Forwards in the NBA.

He never boxes anyone out. The shot goes up, and other guys tend to find the opponent and put their bodies between the basket and their opponent, but Beasley just kind of floats towards the basket and doesn't care where the opponent is. He is athletic enough that he can get to a decent amount of rebounds, but it isn't the right way to do things if you want to play winning team ball.

[shangrila]

Why is it the more articles I read about this team the more depressing it gets? Ugh.

[abrewbro68]

LOL @ Anthony Randolph being a better rated defender that Beasley or Love. AR might be the worst defender on the team

[Casperkid23]

LOL @ Anthony Randolph being a better rated defender that Beasley or Love. AR might be the worst defender on the team

LOL @ you LOLing at my opinion.

There are many guys who "might be the worst defenders on the team", AR is not one of them in my eyes.

[Esohny]

LOL @ Anthony Randolph being a better rated defender that Beasley or Love. AR might be the worst defender on the team

Did you notice that at the same time that you noticed that a bunch of the Wolves players besides Love improved as the year went on?

[abrewbro68]

Hmmmm, never said a bunch of Wolves players improved.

And I did say I was wrong. But thanks

[thinktank]

I'm gonna use the orginal rules but not the rating system because I'm lazy. I'm sorry, but we're the worst team in the league because some of these guys are "Nothing" but Defensive Liabilities.

Starters:
Love, Rebounder, Defensive Liability
Beasley, Scorer (not a Defensive Liability, imo)
Ridnour, Scorer, Defensive Liability
Johnson, Nothing (being used unsuccesfully as a Scorer)
Darko, Defensive Specialist (being used unsuccessfully as a Scorer)

Bench:
Tolliver, Defensive Specialist
Randolph, Scorer, Defensive Liability
Webster, Scorer
Pekovic, Nothing, Defensive Liability
Flynn, Nothing, Defensive Liability
Ellington, Nothing
Hayward, Nothing

Analysis:
-Love is so adept at rebounding that he is almost solely responsible for our rebounding prowess
-We have no Ballhandlers
-We have a Scoring surplus. I didn't label Love a Scorer but clearly we rely on him to score.
-We have too many Defensive Liabilities and not enough Defensive Specialists
-Randolph and Love are Defensive Liabilities at the same PF position
-Tolliver is an ideal bench player
-Webster and Pekovic do not provide enough value for what we're paying and utilizing them for

Conclusion:
-Add Rubio and/or Irving to provide potential bona fide Ballhandler(s), Defensive Specialist(s)
-A trade involving Pekovic, Webster, Flynn, Ellington, and/or Hayward is unlikely to be detrimental
-Add a Defensive Specialist at the PF position
-The team would greatly benefit from re-definition of player roles (Darko should not be relied upon to score, Webster would be worth his contract were he used as a starter)
-Johnson could become a Scorer
-I think the theory of playing starters "starter minutes" and bench players "bench minutes" is a good one

Notes:
-This system does not take into account youth.


I put some thought into this. Do you think my new rating of "Nothing" is too harsh? I find the Webster/Johnson thing interesting (Webster making money riding pine, Johnson playing as the inefficient starter for cheap).

[Esohny]

Hmmmm, never said a bunch of Wolves players improved.

And I did say I was wrong. But thanks

I was mostly kidding, although I do disagree on your Randolph opinion. Of all the poor defenders on the team, he's not even close to the worst.