Timberwolves frontcourt = terribly put together?

[ponder276]

Does anyone think Al Jefferson, Kevin Love and Corey Brewer can be effective together? As individual players, I love Al Jefferson, I love Kevin Love, and I like Corey Brewer, but I see them as a terrible fit together. Al Jefferson is just not big enough to guard Cs in the post, and neither is Kevin Love, so we've got issues here right from the start. Offensively, Al Jefferson is primarily a low post threat. Love can move outside, but really does his best work in the low post as well, so there are going to be some spacing issues. These issues could be lessened somewhat by having a really good 3-shooter at SF, but Corey Brewer is a terrible shooter.

Am I wrong? Can a Jefferson/Love/Brewer frontcourt really work? Is Kevin McHale a genius, or a jacka$$?

[Serpo]

They need a defensive Center / PF to complement Love and Jeffeson and they'll be fine . Playing Jefferson and Love together isn't really good but if they sign someone that can defend it's ok .

[KyleCleric]

They're going to dominate the league for the next 12 seasons ...

[Ballings7]

Either Love goes to the bench, or they eventually trade Love and replace the guy next to Jefferson in the form of a defensive center.

Other than that the pairing is too offensively-biased, and there isn't enough of a presence on the other side of the floor.

Brewer, I think he'll be fine, main thing he needs to do is get a reliable 3 PT shot. I think he'll be a good support piece next to Jefferson as an athletic defensive role-playing hustler, or utility guy.

[raleigh]

hey need a defensive Center / PF to complement Love and Jeffeson and they'll be fine .

But that's the same problem the Hawks have with Horford/Smith. If you bring in a defensive center and play him major minutes, you're detracting from the value of one of your PF's.

For this to work for the Wolves, they'll need to add shooters, and speed things up. So, yes, a Jefferson/Love combo spells doom for Brewer.

[Jameson41]

I think its pretty well known by now that Minnesota's front-court is a horrible mix. Both are PF's unable to defend bigger post players, and neither really compliment each other Offensively.
You did forget to mention they do have M.Miller now tho, so that 3PT shooting your talking about is there.

[UGA Hayes]

Utah doesn't have the world's greatest defensive frontcourt either. I think Minny just needs to commit to being a really good offensive team and it won't be THAT big a deal.

[Apollo64]

I am not saying that this pairing won't work to some degree, but if you want to make a team that is going eventually to compete and go to the playoffs, this is a bad idea. McHale doesn't seem to be interested in building a contender, he just wanted to bring in a player that he personally likes very much with no regards to team chemistry. Minnesota is going to tank and tank and tank, as long McHale remains the GM.

[Worm Guts]

I think its pretty well known by now that Minnesota's front-court is a horrible mix. Both are PF's unable to defend bigger post players, and neither really compliment each other Offensively.
You did forget to mention they do have M.Miller now tho, so that 3PT shooting your talking about is there.

I agree that they don't work defensively, but if Love doesn't compliment Jefferson offensively then no one does. Love can shoot, pass, and play the high post. What else do you want?

[jax98]

I agree that they don't work defensively, but if Love doesn't compliment Jefferson offensively then no one does. Love can shoot, pass, and play the high post. What else do you want?

+1

Besides, Al Jefferson is far from as bad defensively as people say. He was matched up againt the best front-court players on a regular basis and basically had no help inside. With Love on the team, I think we'll see Jefferson take solid steps forward on both offense and defense.

I may be in the minority, but I think the Wolves took a big step forward. Foye, McCants, Jefferson, Love, Miller & Brewer is not a bad mix. IMO, Mike Miller is going to be an x-factor for them all year long. He'll space the floor and create more operating room for Jefferson. Since Kevin Love can hit the mid-range jumpshot, the Wolves will be absolutely deadly at stretching the court for big Al.

I wouldn't sleep on the T-Wolves.

[Celtsfan1980]

From stats I've read, Jefferson is a much better defender at the 4 than he is at the 5. I think Minnesota would be better off moving him to the 4, so I do feel it's a mistake. They should have a good offense with this team, but the defense will be very suspect.

[KyleCleric]

From stats I've read, Jefferson is a much better defender at the 4 than he is at the 5. I think Minnesota would be better off moving him to the 4, so I do feel it's a mistake. They should have a good offense with this team, but the defense will be very suspect.

Defense isn't about individual play. Instead it is about team play. Jefferson does worse at the 5 because if he plays that position, he does not have any help coming from the 4 position. It is impossible to tell right now, before they play together, how Love and Jefferson will work together. They are both smart players with developed and diverse offensive games, and underrated defense. I expect that they'll do much better than people here seem to think.

[Worm Guts]

From stats I've read, Jefferson is a much better defender at the 4 than he is at the 5. I think Minnesota would be better off moving him to the 4, so I do feel it's a mistake. They should have a good offense with this team, but the defense will be very suspect.

Defense isn't about individual play. Instead it is about team play.

Actually it's about both.

[KyleCleric]

From stats I've read, Jefferson is a much better defender at the 4 than he is at the 5. I think Minnesota would be better off moving him to the 4, so I do feel it's a mistake. They should have a good offense with this team, but the defense will be very suspect.

Defense isn't about individual play. Instead it is about team play.

Actually it's about both.

it's about how individuals fit into a team concept and work together.

[pillwenney]

it's about how individuals fit into a team concept and work together.

Well good luck finding a "team concept" to build around having Jefferson and Love down low defensively.

I actually don't think they are that poor of a fit offensively given that Jefferson isn't really too bad away from the basket, and Love is very good here. But I agree with the notion of bringing Love off the bench. Don't have the team play a single minute without one of them on the floor, and play them together for about half the game. It's not a perfect match, but it's not a horrible one either really.

[farzi]

Its a bad fit.

I really feel bad for their fans. They had Mayo, and let him go.

Although now no worries about scoring on them down low for the foreseeable future.

[celticfan42487]

Well neither Love or AL are bad defenders it's just that both are "okay" and from what I seen both won't bring much help defense. So when you start out with that you know that it's going to be hard to build a strong offense. Put either next to say a Tyson Chandler and you instantly feel much better about your chances to compete on both sides of the court.

It's about balance between offense and defense and right now they need to have exceptional perimeter defender to be able to bring their defense high enough to compete.

MIN should do well enough offensively though.

[thegreatblaze]

If Minnesota was planning on getting a big to play with Jefferson all along, then they should have just picked Lopez at 3, IMO. That may have been a bit of a reach, but I think he fits that team better than Love does.

[pballa]

won't be the best, won't be the worst