Post Game Thoughts. Host Spurs Rematch.

[KGdaBom]

Lakers are going to be looking to us to get their first win. Expect them to be HIGHLY motivated. This could be messy if we don't come with it, AD, Lebron, or Westbrook could easily get hot and Pat Bev is going to do whatever he can to mess with us, KAT better not get caught up in that, Bev will be ruthless.

Red hot for westbrook is 4/14…. But I do expect him to go 10-11 because Minnesota

My honest vibe is westy goes 6-11 with 2 3s, makes 4-5 FTs with 7 rebounds 5 assists and 3 steals. Assuming he actually plays.

[TheZachAttack]

I disagree. D Lo is a scape goat right now. D Lo has not been a problem this season. He’s had a better shot selection, been more efficient as a scorer, gets to the rim more consistently, and is effectively using Rudy to help him do that. His assist numbers are also pretty good.

He’s had a couple of bad stretches but to whatever extent you see him not visibly scoring as consistently it’s because he’s actually doing what we’ve asked and he’s taking a back seat (and even more so for the second straight year) to Towns/Edwards on the offensive end.

Nowell is great and I’m the biggest and first Nowell fan on this board but he is also a somewhat inconsistent player still at this stage and is even less able than D Lo is to manage pace and keep others involved.

Let’s keep Nowell successful in his role and there’s an opportunity to grow the role but D Lo is not at all the issue right now. D Lo is a secondary offensive option and that’s a good thing.

Zach we are talking past each other. I defended Dlo’s offense tonight. 12 points on 10 shots with 9 assists is excellent for Dlo. As KGDABOM said this is good fantasy numbers stuff. My problem is he doesn’t fight through screens. He doesn’t help with box outs which leave Rudy, KAT, and everyone else trying to rebound at a disadvantage. He isn’t closing out or switching off enough either. Our perimeter defense sucks, and he is a big part of that. Nowell isn’t god’s gift to defense either, but at least he is putting in the work.

I see - I think the Wolves biggest problem is transition defense and that means defense even outside of the transition points scored. Teams are pushing pace for us and making our bigs run and then attacking us and making us scramble before we get into structure.

I think the Wolves may have to be intentional about when they play with pace and at times slow down the tempo especially with that two big lineup and execute and then force other teams to execute against structure.

The Wolves/Finch seems to love chaos and tempo. I’m not sure this current iteration of the Wolves team can play as well in that as a certain type of roster construction.

I don’t think D Lo versus Nowell changes anything here.

Put it this way - Rudy supposedly with equally as poor of perimeter defense if not worse has ALWAYS put up lineups that have a top 5 or better defensive rating with him on the floor. If the issue is defense within the half court and within structure and we’re not getting it done… that’s on Rudy. We traded for Rudy to be one of the best defensive players in the world and cover up limitations.

Focusing on D Lo is missing the forest for the trees. Rudy needs to step up and fix limitations—that’s his job. The job of our scheme is to make sure the Wolves can get into defensive structure that can allow Rudy to do that. They need to figure out what they need to do to avoid teams from preventing them from doing that with pace and ball movement before they can set up thay structure.

[winforlose]

KAT had 7 dimes to 3 TOs, he passed fine tonight. Especially when one of those was blown illegal screen call in the first half. His passing in the fourth got at least 3 uncontested dunks (1 for Rudy, 1 for MCD, and I think the other was either Dlo or Nowell.)

MCD can drop 20 any give night. He is the best perimeter defender, switch defender, and POA defender we have. Unless the offer was Dorian Finney Smith and another excellent defender I wouldn’t even pick up the phone. Even then the call better included unprotected firsts to keep me on the line.

Nowell is asking one question tonight. D’Angelo who? He is asking that because he is making a case for starting at PG or SG with Ant. His shooting is solid, his passing to Rudy is solid. His defense is spot on, and he rebounds.

One point I must make. The bar was lowered in game 4 compared to where it started in the opener. The bar was so low tonight all the wolves had to was play transition defense and look like they wanted to win. We still turned it over 16 times. We still played hero ball at the end. We still lost the 3rd quarter. We won’t always make 20 3s much less at 58.8%. We had a great bounce back, but not a great game.

Finch’s defensive scheme is starting to irk me. Rudy keeps being forced out of the paint because defenders won’t switch off their man to cover Rudy’s on the perimeter. Pair Rudy with a non shooter when one is around and then let him defend the paint. When they use five shooters have good enough communication and scheme to have guys switch off and let Rudy defend the low man.

In fantasy basketball rankings which take a wide view of all stats Russell came into this game the 51st ranked player in the NBA. I bet he's in the 40s tomorrow. If you think Russell is a problem I think most teams in the NBA would like to have that problem.

Russell is now the 36th ranked player by total, but a bit lower 62nd by average. This makes him a middle of the pack starting PG. Middle of the pack starting PGs are generally stars and get paid a lot of money.

Again my problem is only on defense. That is harder for fantasy to quantify. I am fine with his offense as long as he isn’t shooting without passing. He can even shoot after getting it back. But at least one preferably two passes before shooting is generally better for a lot of reasons. I just miss Dlo actually contributing on the defensive end, especially by calling things out and directing traffic for the wolves .

[winforlose]

Zach we are talking past each other. I defended Dlo’s offense tonight. 12 points on 10 shots with 9 assists is excellent for Dlo. As KGDABOM said this is good fantasy numbers stuff. My problem is he doesn’t fight through screens. He doesn’t help with box outs which leave Rudy, KAT, and everyone else trying to rebound at a disadvantage. He isn’t closing out or switching off enough either. Our perimeter defense sucks, and he is a big part of that. Nowell isn’t god’s gift to defense either, but at least he is putting in the work.

I see - I think the Wolves biggest problem is transition defense and that means defense even outside of the transition points scored. Teams are pushing pace for us and making our bigs run and then attacking us and making us scramble before we get into structure.

I think the Wolves may have to be intentional about when they play with pace and at times slow down the tempo especially with that two big lineup and execute and then force other teams to execute against structure.

The Wolves/Finch seems to love chaos and tempo. I’m not sure this current iteration of the Wolves team can play as well in that as a certain type of roster construction.

I don’t think D Lo versus Nowell changes anything here.

Put it this way - Rudy supposedly with equally as poor of perimeter defense if not worse has ALWAYS put up lineups that have a top 5 or better defensive rating with him on the floor. If the issue is defense within the half court and within structure and we’re not getting it done… that’s on Rudy. We traded for Rudy to be one of the best defensive players in the world and cover up limitations.

Focusing on D Lo is missing the forest for the trees. Rudy needs to step up and fix limitations—that’s his job. The job of our scheme is to make sure the Wolves can get into defensive structure that can allow Rudy to do that. They need to figure out what they need to do to avoid teams from preventing them from doing that with pace and ball movement before they can set up thay structure.

I mentioned this as well. I am irked by guys not switching onto Rudy’s player on the perimeter and letting him stay down low. I am irked by Rudy guarding shooters instead of automatically drawing the non shooter and playing low the entire stretch he is in the game. I think the scheme is too blame, and I want it fixed.

What I am talking about with Dlo is he gets screened, instead of fighting through he goes around, now his man has either an open pull up (Utah,) or an easy drive leading to open midrange (Thunder and Spurs.) It is the hustle plays like getting after the ball on the rebound. Nowell just looks hungrier and more bought in. I like Dlo, I want him to get his **** together, but we need to clean this up.