Corey Brewer - Future improvement?

[PerkinsFor3]

Hi Wolves fans, Clippers fan here. I came here to learn more about Corey Brewer and the Wolves' fan-perception of him.

To the 'untrained' eye, Corey Brewer's improvement last year looked remarkable. After basically losing him for his soph season, and loads of people calling him a bust, he seemed to be back with a vengeance. Where the biggest knocks on him were his shot, him being too skinny and weak, and him playing out of control too much, he looked like a serious outside threat (his mechanics already looked good in Florida btw), he seemed to play within the flow of the game and with poise and he understood how his length was an advtange in the NBA.

Still, with him playing SG, instead of his natural position SF, and the possibility of you drafting Wesley Johnson, I'm wondering how do Wolves fans feel about Corey Brewer? To me he looks like he could be a Shawn Marion type of player: Good defender, good enough from 3pt range that you'll have to respect his shot, but a bit better when it comes to passing and seeing the court. A bit worse rebounding wise though, and less reliable when defending bigger players. Sounds almost like Wesley Johnson.

Also, I'm wondering about this: You don't seem to like Aljeff a lot and Kevin Love is rarely spoken about when it comes to the Wolves future. Why is that? Would you look to draft Cousins and then move AlJeff? And is Love a future bench player?

Cheers, and good luck next season!

[moss_is_1]

I love Corey, but he should be the 4th-5th best player on a title team. His shot was alot better last season once he fixed the little hitch he had in his shot. If he can keep playing under more control, being pesky in passing lanes, and then tighten up his handle he'd be a very good player. His handle is pretty sloppy and it slows him down when he's trying to go too quick.

His defense is just okay right now, he needs to get even stronger to man up the elite players in the league, but his length helps to frustrate players. I still like him as that Tayshaun Prince player, good defender, can hit the 3, long, athletic and about 6'8-6'9. If he's surrounded by scorers then I think it'll make him look even better.

As far the Al and Love debate, it's all just talk until something happens. Some days its Al that we want gone and some days it's Love. We don't want to trade Al if we are going to get short changed because of his off year recovering from his knee injury.

I still like both of them, but growing tired of seeing horrible defense. If we keep Love then we have to draft Cousins, because of his inside presence. We can't have 2 below average post players, Love works better stretching the defense at this point because he struggles in the post against bigger players.

[jscott]

Corey's improvement last year was probably the high point of last season for Wolves fans.

While he is still skinny and plays a bit hectic he plays with a lot of energy and seems to be a bit of a spark plug for us.

I think most of us consider him a 3 and most of us also don't expect the Wolves to draft Johnson unless we get another pick ranging from 5 to 7.

As it pertains to the PF situation I would say that Wolves fans recognize that Al is an elite low post scorer, he is 25(ish), took less than a max deal and is putting in a lot of time in the gym this off-season to continue to rehab/improve/strengthen/whatever you want.

Love is a tremendous rebounder, I think he is something like 21, has a good shot and is a plus passer. Early in the year Love came out of his injury and gave the team a substantial lift (in their play, not their record).

I think when it comes down to it we were spoiled with KG. We want guys who are athletic, play defense and bring 100% energy every night. Neither guy is what you would call a freak athlete and we have a GM who is insistent about playing uptempo. We've also been torched on defense so we need a better solution there. Darko helped a bit late but that's like throwing a bucket of water on a wild fire.

The thing is Kahn/Rambis have been looking to pair a legit Center next to each one to see how they play with someone other than another PF. Hollins was a bust and at the end when we had Darko he saw the bulk of his minutes with Al. Love seems to have rubbed (or been rubbed) the wrong way by Laimbeer who may just trying to bust some of the baby fat off the kid - I don't know. Publicly he said recently that he is cool coming off the bench getting his 30+ mpg so who knows where that stands.

I think with some Wolves fans still upset with the Mayo trade (although I think we won that by quite a bit if Rubio is any good since we got the expiring to trade in that deal) coupled with the glitz of the new rookie crop (and the supposed deep draft) has us fans looking to make moves and stockpile some different talent.

I don't think Love and Al have a lot of people who don't like their games. They are flawed players but show me more than 10 NBA players who aren't flawed in some way.

The reason most are suggesting Love might be gone is because there is more perceived value on the boards from younger, cheaper players. But Al probably has the more bankable skill set right now.

They seemingly are good locker room guys and I think there are a lot of teams in the league (Wolves included) who could do a lot worse at PF than Love or Jefferson for the next 7-10 years. Both are two of the youngest and more well established PFs in the game.

But then again, we want to run the ball, not set up for low post dump down to Al.

Though in the final quarter that would be useful to have - we just haven't been in many close games to test that theory.

[Esohny]

He's developing into Ariza, basically. Solid all around player, above average defense, very good finishing in transition, seems to have improved his shooting to the point where you can't just ignore him and leave him open.

He looks like he can be either one of the top bench players on a good team, or a starter on the wing if you put him next to a strong scoring wing and a PG who can create.

Luckily, the draft and this offseason should provide the former, and Rubio will provide the latter.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I love Corey, but he should be the 4th-5th best player on a title team.

even that would be pretty optimistic, players in that range for LA/Boston would Lamar Odom/Ray Allen

[Breakdown777]

I love Corey, but he should be the 4th-5th best player on a title team.

even that would be pretty optimistic, players in that range for LA/Boston would Lamar Odom/Ray Allen

But the 4th-5th best player on the Detriot team that won it all was probably Prince. I think it depends on what team you are referencing.
I think if Brew can get some more stength, muscle, and limit the turnovers, he can be a starter in the defensive minded spot up shooter. Otherwise, he's an awesome two-way spark plug off the bench.

[moss_is_1]

I love Corey, but he should be the 4th-5th best player on a title team.

even that would be pretty optimistic, players in that range for LA/Boston would Lamar Odom/Ray Allen

Verty true, but last year on the Lakers their 4th best player was....probably Ariza(Kobe, Gasol, Odom, maybe Bynum but meh). Brewer could be as good or better than Ariza, I hope.

[shangrila]

He'll improve and with some added muscle this offseason could probably move to the 3. But his long term potential is as a bench player on a good team.

Love and Jefferson have been debated for a while and even though both have their strengths and weaknesses, at the end of the day neither fit the system the team is trying to create. Both have value in the right situation and I think Jefferson is gone this offseason with Cousins coming in but I also agree that Love won't be around when the team is hopefully a playoff and championship contender.

[revprodeji]

If he improves his ball handling and upper body strength he could be special. I think that is the difference with him being a 4th-5th starter on a championship team or a hustle back up 2/3.

[Foye]

Corey is the player I like the most on the team.
I think he still has a lot of work to do but he has shown great signs of improvement last season.