Klomp wrote:minimus wrote:
Who remember that first regular season game vs TOR? I remember that that kind of tempered my expectation about new season lol. McDaniels did not play, Anderson played 30 min, and Milton played 20 min. And that game quickly turned into ugly low scoring game. MIN got killed in transition and lost the ball many times. I use this game as an example of stylistic contradictions that last season team had:
- a very frountcourt heavy roster, lack of shooter and quality wings and proven ballhandlers. In this particular game without McDaniles, Anderson had protective glasses and problems with eyesight, Milton was backup PG, NAW started as McDaniels replacement in starting five. Having two slowfooted bigs in starting unit meant that any TOR fastbreak would end up as easy points, because TOR had Anunoby, Siakam and Barnes as oversized wings. Plus Achiuwa is very quick for forward/undesized big. NAW is also not very effective in transition.
Entering this regular season we might have a completely different situation:
1) TC not only kept first, lets call it "stay big play slow" identity which has been Gobert-Towns-McDaniels-Conley-NAW group, but also signed Ingles who is literally the best available option on the market who knows how to make an offense around Gobert work
2) TC drafted Shannon, who might by far the best player in transition from this draft. And also he can be the best two way wing and most ready player of 2024 draft. TC drafted Dilly who has shown in SL that he is already a solid playmaker, especially in transition. I also like Clark potential a lot as enforcer from the bench. Jalen in SL has been menace in defence and a very effective player in transition because he is big, strong and athletic enough to finish fastbreaks. I also noticed how in last SL game against ORL, MIN energy, physicality level in defense and offense was significantly lower without TSJ and Clark. These new players might form a completely new (from stylistic point of view) unit: a very dynamic bench unit where all of them can run in transition and shoot. I think that Reid and Edwards fit here right away.
To sum up, right now, MIN might grow as fusion of two basketball styles: "stay big play slow" and "run-n-gun". They finally have needed resources to make it work:
- I love Ingles because of passing and shooting
- I see TSJ potential as two-way big wing
- I see Rob potential as a dynamic playmaker
- I see why Reid and Edwards might thrive in "run-n-gun"
- and I hope that Towns might be mature enough to be a connective tissue for both styles
I think this is a pretty good analysis.
I know the Toronto game isn't a great example of what I'm trying to say, but Minnesota struggled when it had to try to outscore teams. There just weren't enough scoring threats, especially in transition but also in halfcourt sets. When the opponent scored 120 or more points, Minnesota was 2-12.
We had to find more ways to get easy buckets. Transition offense was a major weakness; enter Shannon and Dillingham. Optimizing Gobert on offense was a major weakness; enter Joe Ingles.
We also could not stop other teams in transition. What about three PHO games that MIN lost in regular season? What was the root cause and do you feel better now with addition of Ingles, TSJ, Rob? For me Nix and Clark can be X-factor as well. NAW has been pretty inconsistent as scorer, sometime giving literally zero production from the bench. TSJ, Nix and Clark might offer same level of defensive intensity when NAW is struggling. Also sometimes Nickeil was physically overmatched, I feel like TSJ, Nix and Clark might be a good matchups against big guards/wings.










