Game 28: Minnesota Timberwolves (10-17) @ Portland Trail Blazers (13-16) - 10:00 PM ET

[Jedzz]

RoCo has been a mess much of this season.

I really think him playing the 4 has been hard on him. He's out of position. He can do it in stretches but I don't think he should be doing it every game.

why is it hard?

hardly any teams don't play perimeter players at "PF"

Ok. Why wouldn't you play Wiggins there, for instance?

It's got to be a good fit for the player or you don't keep doing it.

[Ray1982]

Wiggins padding the stats during this last minute. WOW.

He is a clutch player and scores in the last minutes. He tried for the win until the end.
He should have taken all the last shots but we want all the players to be happy and get shots.

If RoCo could hit an open layup we may had a chance to win.
He is the only player I have seen travel 2 times and get blocked in the same posession.
But some Minesota fans value him more than Wiggins.

RoCo has been a mess much of this season.

Just does not want to be in Minnesota After winning over 50 games in Philadelphia with embiid and Simmons.

[Jedzz]

They should have went to him earlier instead of having dieng and cov bungle the ball. Instead he spent alot of time in the corner watching Napier and teague do their thing.

Coaching always an issue here. If James Harden was here he would be in the corner waiting for a pass from Napier Teague (maybe even Culver).

What you wrote concludes in a few words what happens. We want all the players to be happy but this leads to losing.
Wiggins has his fault also. He should demand the ball. He is by far the best player of the perimeter, he should touch the ball in every posession.

It does seem so.

[Crazy-Canuck]

He is a clutch player and scores in the last minutes. He tried for the win until the end.
He should have taken all the last shots but we want all the players to be happy and get shots.

If RoCo could hit an open layup we may had a chance to win.
He is the only player I have seen travel 2 times and get blocked in the same posession.
But some Minesota fans value him more than Wiggins.

RoCo has been a mess much of this season.

I really think him playing the 4 has been hard on him. He's out of position. He can do it in stretches but I don't think he should be doing it every game.

Its playing the 4 and this offense.

We play 5 out where the wings need to be able to create in space and attack the rim. Weve seen teague, cov, okogie, culver, etc all try this because that's what they are expected to do. The problem, wiggs is the only guy that can do it. Then we need cutters and floor spacers, but with layman out, wiggs again is the only guy left there.

Cov needs someone to create looks for him. Saunders expecting cov to get his own shot isnt on cov, its on saunders. Positionless basketball can work, but not eith this roster.

Also having 2 non shooters out there like okogie or culver creates no space for the others.

[MN7725]

I really think him playing the 4 has been hard on him. He's out of position. He can do it in stretches but I don't think he should be doing it every game.

why is it hard?

hardly any teams don't play perimeter players at "PF"

Ok. Why wouldn't you play Wiggins there, for instance?

It's got to be a good fit for the player or you don't keep doing it.

True

I don't think Cov is matching up with fundamentally different players than he did when he was a "SF" very often

Lakers with AD, Det with Blake were two obvious difficult ones

But Saric, Bogdonovich, Gallo, Harkless, etc, essentially are perimeter players at "PF"

If it would help Cov to be 3rd largest player in the lineup (SF), either mentally or physically, Wolves should try it at this point

I just think the "out of position" argument is weak given how downsized league is

not like Cov is guarding Rasheed, Duncan, McDyess, Webber nightly, its mostly wings or stretch guys

[Jedzz]

If it's weak to say "out of position" it's probably also weak to simply say it should work because others have gotten wings to work.

Maybe on paper this summer it looked like something worth trying. Maybe on other teams that have more consistent scoring options to lean on it works fine. But on this team, it hurts quite a bit to get less from him both offense and defensively.

His lack of handles and ball handling in general have made it clear he would be better cutting to the net for an insde pass than receiving a pass on the perimeter and then driving in himself. He's taking ultra deep 3 pt shots maybe simply so he doesn't have to attempt to work closer against anyone. Maybe he's a non-fit for this system as is. Not certain. But I also know I've seen many opponents this year overpowering us with bigs. I don't think anyone should keep claiming this is a small ball league right now. Might be that as usual Wolves are jumping on the bus as it's already turning a corner.

[Crazy-Canuck]

If it's weak to say "out of position" it's probably also weak to simply say it should work because others have gotten wings to work.

Maybe on paper this summer it looked like something worth trying. Maybe on other teams that have more consistent scoring options to lean on it works fine. But on this team, it hurts quite a bit to get less from him both offense and defensively.

His lack of handles and ball handling in general have made it clear he would be better cutting to the net for an insde pass than receiving a pass on the perimeter and then driving in himself. He's taking ultra deep 3 pt shots maybe simply so he doesn't have to attempt to work closer against anyone. Maybe he's a non-fit for this system as is. Not certain. But I also know I've seen many opponents this year overpowering us with bigs. I don't think anyone should keep claiming this is a small ball league right now. Might be that as usual Wolves are jumping on the bus as it's already turning a corner.

Theoretically, the system should have fit.

Okogie showed potential to do some things.
Culver was the 6th pick in the draft. A big wing that could defend, dribble, etc..
Cov was a big wing, an elite 3d guy.
Wiggs a big wing that excelled going down hill.
Kat.
Layman, another big wing that could play off the ball.

The problem has been okogie and culver. I dont think rosas and co. thought they would look so out of place. Both guys are being exposed and its caused a ripple effect. I don't think the expectation was for cov to be a 3rd option. He was supposed to play off the other guys.

So now, we have wiggs, kat, and layman with 12 other guys miscast in their roles.

[PharmD]

Time to ship Cov out to Golden State

I think that would be bad. Defense goes down, scoring goes up but it won't matter. Really thinking Russell isn't the key, especially if we still have Wiggins. Locked up with 3 max players with a really low ceiling.

I think it's worth a shot tho. I just don't see any other path forward other than praying for ping pong balls.

[Killboard]

RoCo has been a mess much of this season.

I really think him playing the 4 has been hard on him. He's out of position. He can do it in stretches but I don't think he should be doing it every game.

Its playing the 4 and this offense.

We play 5 out where the wings need to be able to create in space and attack the rim. Weve seen teague, cov, okogie, culver, etc all try this because that's what they are expected to do. The problem, wiggs is the only guy that can do it. Then we need cutters and floor spacers, but with layman out, wiggs again is the only guy left there.

Cov needs someone to create looks for him. Saunders expecting cov to get his own shot isnt on cov, its on saunders. Positionless basketball can work, but not eith this roster.

Also having 2 non shooters out there like okogie or culver creates no space for the others.

Teague, Graham, Vonleh and Bell are also non shooters when you weight attemps and %. Many of them to keep the defense accountable when someone drives to the rim.

[Jedzz]

Time to ship Cov out to Golden State

I think that would be bad. Defense goes down, scoring goes up but it won't matter. Really thinking Russell isn't the key, especially if we still have Wiggins. Locked up with 3 max players with a really low ceiling.

I think it's worth a shot tho. I just don't see any other path forward other than praying for ping pong balls.

It's not really a quick "shot" tho.
If they do it, it either works or it's going to lock the team into 3 Maxes for how many years with no space for getting better? After ten straight losses, I don't really know how they've made a case to even keep these two together.

Could Covington be traded to Warriors for a different player/pick? Or maybe instead a different team could use him for a player that just gives us a better fit without hamstringing the team financially, or maybe just a decent pick? Could say Memphis use him for maybe Crowder plus Grayson Allen or something? Crowder helps this roster beef and heart up, Grayson maybe adds shooting? Neither break the bank now or in future.