Whats up with Wes?

[Ice32]

Hey guys, have been away travelling the last 3 weeks and checked up on the Wolves

4 wins is better than where they were last year, which is an improvement I guess

Love leading the league in rebounds and Darko leading in blocks and Brewer Top 10 in steals is great for the Wolves and they each made the All-Star Ballot - fantastic

However, looking at Wes production, is he at full capacity yet? Less than 10 points per game (averaging just 7 points in the last 5 games) I thought he would be averaging more.

I guess Beasley and Love are the 1-2 scoring options and Darkos points are steadily increasing, but is Wes our best option at the SG spot?

[Steve_Holiday]

Until Webster comes back, Wes is most certainly our best option at SG. Then, we'll see.

In the past 9 games, Wes has been taking fewer shots than he did earlier in the season, with a greater percentage of them being from behind the arc:

First 8 games:
10.5 attempts/g, 3.1 3-pt attempts/g -> 29% of field goals attempted were 3's (10.1 ppg)

Last 9 games:
7.1 attempts/g, 3.6 3-pt attempts/g -> 51% of field goals attempted were 3's (8.8 ppg)

Obviously, the team didn't draft him at 4 with the intent he become a 3-pt specialist. I'd like to see him get a bit more aggressive and get himself involved offensively (similar to what Corey Brewer did last season, but to a lesser extent). Only after he does that will we know what type of player we have.

[C.lupus]

A couple things I think:

First, he's adjusting to playing SG at the NBA level.
Second, he's the fourth option on the team right now behind Beasley, Love, and Darko.
Third, the PG play has been terrible lately. He would really benefit from a PG that would create shots for others.

He has been playing fairly solid D for the most part, although he had some trouble with the smaller, quicker Ellis last night

[Ice32]

Thanks guys, not being able to watch Wolves games makes it harder for me to actually see whos playing well and whos not and why....I guess when Flynn gets back, there will be greater scoring opportunities for Wes.

Also, Webster should be back by mid December? Him and Brewer off the bench will be good to see. Looking at Brewers numbers, he seems to be fitting into the reserve role well, getting steals and not forcing too many shots...still shooting a low FG% but is shooting fewer threes than last season...

Is it possible for Wolves to win 25 this year once everyone is back healthy?

[Steve_Holiday]

Second, he's the fourth option on the team right now behind Beasley, Love, and Darko.

He's logging 30 mpg, which means he's not always the fourth banana on the court. It would be nice to see him carry some of the load when Beasley sits, instead of launching a 3 every now and then. If we had a 2 that had some scoring punch, I'd rather ride that hand than Darko hook shots (despite his recent resurgence). I'd like to see if Wes is that guy or not.

Is it possible for Wolves to win 25 this year once everyone is back healthy?

They've dropped a couple winnable games. I could see this team hitting a hot streak or two this season and getting to 25. Definitely possible.

[cpfsf]

A couple things I think:

First, he's adjusting to playing SG at the NBA level.
Second, he's the fourth option on the team right now behind Beasley, Love, and Darko.
Third, the PG play has been terrible lately. He would really benefit from a PG that would create shots for others.

He has been playing fairly solid D for the most part, although he had some trouble with the smaller, quicker Ellis last night

He's not as good of a rebounder as I thought he would be.

It would be best if we had a post player who was consistently double teamed and that actually passed. Too bad those don't grow on trees. Ehhhhhh, Sullinger? I hate this draft class.

[flexbuffchest]

He can't dribble which means he has to rely on others to get his shot off, obviously that isn't going to well at the moment.

[eyeteeth]

He's a rookie who's being asked to play out of position in a system unlike what he has played in before. I'm pretty unconcerned right now. I would like to see him try to get to the basket a bit more, but I'm guessing Rambis has decided that we need a reliable gunner and has asked Wes to work on getting that J reliable from downtown. Also, see above, re: point guard play.

Jonny Flynn and Wes should in theory have grerat on-court chemistry, but I am not holding my breath. It's going to take a while for Flynn to really get back in the game. Even then, he's still a pickn'roll point in a system that uses precious few picn'roll plays. It's going to be til mid January anyway before we have a strong sense of what Jonny can contribute this year.

[Devilzsidewalk]

guys are seeing you can get in his face and take away his jumper and that pretty much closes the book as far as his half court threat goes

[Zeitgeister]

He can't dribble which means he has to rely on others to get his shot off, obviously that isn't going to well at the moment.

this.

[revprodeji]

He will be fine. He is such a smart player. A real pg would help Johnson. I think using him on the strong side with Darko to shoot if he is doubled would help as well. (Johnson is also one of our best post feeders).

He needs to drastically improve his dribble game. Until then he is limited as a scorer.

[shangrila]

I think part of it is his mentality as well. There was an article last year that talked about how he was so nice the Syracuse coaches had to practically beg him to shoot the ball.

So right now, to me, it looks like he's just trying to fit in and not make mistakes. Which I guess is good since it doesn't hurt the team, but it doesn't help it either.

[King Rube]

Might as well make my first post after years on Rube Chat. Wes will be fine, I think. I said the same thing about Brewer and his erratic dribbling. I am not saying Wes is like Brewer, but keeping it simple, his out of control up and down the court movement reminds me a lot of him at times.

[NewWolvesOrder]

Wes will be a smart role player while Brewer lacks a brain imo. Wes need good shot creators next to him and he will shine like Marion did next to Nash. So far we have none.

[NewWolvesOrder]

A couple things I think:

First, he's adjusting to playing SG at the NBA level.
Second, he's the fourth option on the team right now behind Beasley, Love, and Darko.
Third, the PG play has been terrible lately. He would really benefit from a PG that would create shots for others.

He has been playing fairly solid D for the most part, although he had some trouble with the smaller, quicker Ellis last night

He's not as good of a rebounder as I thought he would be.

It would be best if we had a post player who was consistently double teamed and that actually passed. Too bad those don't grow on trees. Ehhhhhh, Sullinger? I hate this draft class.

Wes is a good rebounder. It's tough to get a lot of boards playing next to a rebounding ballhog who rips away 15 rpg from his opponets as well as teammates, plus Beasley is a good rebounder for SF.

[flexbuffchest]

Wes is a good rebounder. It's tough to get a lot of boards playing next to a rebounding ballhog who rips away 15 rpg from his opponets as well as teammates, plus Beasley is a good rebounder for SF.

No he isn't, in fact he is among the leagues worst rebounders for a forward. He currently ranks 100th out of 102 in total rebounding percentage for forwards who qualify for the scoring title.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&is_playoffs=N&year_min=2011&year_max=2011&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&lg_id=&franch_id=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos=F&qual=pts_per_g_req&c1stat=trb_pct&c1comp=gt&c1val=1&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=trb_pct

[AQuintus]

He's 31 in total rebounds on that list and there are only 3 SFs ahead of him.

Edit:

Sorry, I thought you were talking about the Beas.

[NewWolvesOrder]

Wes is a good rebounder. It's tough to get a lot of boards playing next to a rebounding ballhog who rips away 15 rpg from his opponets as well as teammates, plus Beasley is a good rebounder for SF.

No he isn't, in fact he is among the leagues worst rebounders for a forward. He currently ranks 100th out of 102 in total rebounding percentage for forwards who qualify for the scoring title.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&is_playoffs=N&year_min=2011&year_max=2011&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&lg_id=&franch_id=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos=F&qual=pts_per_g_req&c1stat=trb_pct&c1comp=gt&c1val=1&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=trb_pct

1)Wes plays SG for us.
2) Love will always make people like Darko, Wes and Beas worse rebounders than they really are. The dude literally rips away the ball out of their hands when he any of his teammates are both there to grab a rebound, he will never let his teammate ger the ball, it's almost comical. Love clearly takes great pride in being great rebounder, but he needs to stop worring about stats and become a better teammate. There was a moment last game then Darko got a rebound out of his hands and Love had that WTF expression on his face.

[flexbuffchest]

Wes is a good rebounder. It's tough to get a lot of boards playing next to a rebounding ballhog who rips away 15 rpg from his opponets as well as teammates, plus Beasley is a good rebounder for SF.

No he isn't, in fact he is among the leagues worst rebounders for a forward. He currently ranks 100th out of 102 in total rebounding percentage for forwards who qualify for the scoring title.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&is_playoffs=N&year_min=2011&year_max=2011&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&lg_id=&franch_id=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos=F&qual=pts_per_g_req&c1stat=trb_pct&c1comp=gt&c1val=1&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=trb_pct

1)Wes plays SG for us.
2) Love will always make people like Darko, Wes and Beas worse rebounders than they really are. The dude literally rips away the ball out of their hands when he any of his teammates are both there to grab a rebound, he will never let his teammate ger the ball, it's almost comical. Love clearly takes great pride in being great rebounder, but he needs to stop worring about stats and become a better teammate. There was a moment last game then Darko got a rebound out of his hands and Love had that WTF expression on his face.

Please stay on topic, this isn't a bash Love thread. No matter which way you put it, Wesley is a bad rebounder.

[NewWolvesOrder]

If Wes was playing at SF next to Beasley at PF you would not be saying this.