Grizzlies vs. Timberwolves 7pm 1/4/2012

[Tirion]

Last night DW checked in and matched up with Rudy Gay. AT was on the floor and stayed in on Tony Allen.

that's cause Grizz were going small.

It doesn't matter if he's bigger than Love - there are plenty of perimeter players that are.

the only SF who's bigger than Love is LeBron and he's a freak.

He isn't a prototype.

he is.

Derrick is a big dude who hasn't shown - in less than a month of his career - that he can defend perimeter scorers, so he has to be a power forward, and he CAN'T play anywhere else?

he played competitive ball for the last 5 years of his life if not more and he was always a bigman, so yeah, I suspect that he can't play SF. on the NBA level at least.

Do you actually believe that, if putting Derrick on the floor with Darko and Love presented a matchup he liked, Adelman would hesitate?

that's the thing, there are very few match-ups in the league for that to make sense. if someone tries to go super big on the Wolves then yeah, but this is going to happen only one or twice a season.

[EddyCool]

that's cause Grizz were going small.

It's because Adelman liked the matchup.

the only SF who's bigger than Love is LeBron and he's a freak.

Off the top of my head, I bet Artest weighs more (which is standard you referred to). Think he's too big to defend perimeter players? It's not about size - it's mobility.

He isn't a prototype.

he is.

he played competitive ball for the last 5 years of his life if not more and he was always a bigman, so yeah, I suspect that he can't play SF. on the NBA level at least.

Just like his role on this team will be determined, that was about his teammates. He played inside/outside in AZ, and guarded whoever he needed to.

Do you actually believe that, if putting Derrick on the floor with Darko and Love presented a matchup he liked, Adelman would hesitate?

that's the thing, there are very few match-ups in the league for that to make sense. if someone tries to go super big on the Wolves then yeah, but this is going to happen only one or twice a season.

Last night DW checked in and matched up with Rudy Gay. AT was on the floor and stayed in on Tony Allen.

that's cause Grizz were going small.

If he guards Gay when the Griz go small, why would he only defend perimeter when teams go super-big?

I'd love to see DW play against Casspi/Gee tomorrow, and Lewis on Sunday. He is WAY quicker than all of them, and has a lot more muscle. Only his 7th/8th games so I don't expect him to dominate, but those are matchups that are favorable for him.

[abrewbro68]

I know Love is a little taller than Williams, but Williams wingspan is much much longer.

With that said, williams doesn't have the vert of a SF. Hell Williams vert is less than Loves and Beasleys.

[EddyCool]

I know Love is a little taller than Williams, but Williams wingspan is much much longer.

With that said, williams doesn't have the vert of a SF. Hell Williams vert is less than Loves and Beasleys.

In what universe is vertical leap not IMMENSELY more important around the basket than on the perimeter?

[abrewbro68]

In the universe where your wingspan makes up for it?

[Biff Cooper]

I don't know why everybody is eager to make a roster move. If some combination of Wes, AR, and Wayne netted us a better SG (Mayo?) I may pull the trigger but other than that this team needs to develop together.

I would agree with this. We need to get to the point where we have 3 stars on the court along with 4 or 5 other guys that we can count on to fill their roles and be solid on the court depending on matchups.

We have one star in Love, one potential star in Rubio. We need Rubio to continue to develop and get one of Beasley, Wes, Randolph, Barea, etc. to turn into at least a semi-star player. I'm willing to give this a little time. If we can get this, it should be fairly easy to turn four or five of our other guys into quality role players.

None of those players are stars, though.
- I think Williams may have that potential, though it is too early to say with him.

I knew I was leaving someone out - just couldn't remember who. Williams probably has the highest potential of becoming the third star. Maybe 15-25% chance of stardom.

- Beasley could be that semi-star in theory but he has shown either a reluctance or an inability to buy into Adelman's offense so far. If he can get past being a volume scorer and get his points within the flow of the offense, then he can be that third star but I'm losing hope.
- Wes has shown absolutely nothing - no consistent shot, no development from his rookie year, and no heart. He seems just as content sitting on the bench and rooting for his teammates as playing. that is not star quality.

Not that I'm thinking it's likely with either Beas or Wes, but Rudy Gay was a bad NBA player his first 3 years in the league. He put up decent stats, but did little to help his team win games or be of value on the court. But then he seemed to "get it" once Hollins became coach and he neared the end of his rookie deal. He started doing some things on the court to help Memphis win games. It is possible for players to eventually "get it". I give Beas maybe a 6% stardom chance, Wes probably a 4% chance.

- Randolph just isn't smart enough. He's got all the physical tools and talent but if he can't figure out the NBA game, he's pretty worthless. Right now he is a rich man's Gerald Green.-
- I like Barea. He's agressive and doesn't back down. But he is a role player.

I don't know that I'd call Randolph dumb. It's probably fair to say his basketball game is a little dumb in that he doesn't have a real good feel for the team NBA game and how to attack a defense yet. I'm willing to give him a little more time - with Adelman. The likelihood of him becoming a star is probably slim, but I'm saying there still is a chance. Maybe 2% chance at stardom.

In many ways Barea reminds me of Steve Nash at the similar stage of his career. Both are very good at dribbling in and out of traffic, and keeping pressure on the defense. I don't think it's fair yet to say Barea has no star potential. He had a fantastic playoff run last season. I think I'd probably say 5-6% chance at stardom.

Pek, Webster, and Lee probably all have a slight stardom chance as well, but probably somewhere around 1% each. All in all, I'd say we have between 33-50% chance of turning one of our current players into a third star. If we can make a deal to get a youngish surefire star that we think is going to fit, we probably have to do it.

Darko, Ridnour, Tolliver, and Brad Miller (and perhaps Ellington) all seem like solid role players. Probably not stars at least at this stage of their careers, but still quite valuable.

[LOBO 7]

I know Love is a little taller than Williams, but Williams wingspan is much much longer.

With that said, williams doesn't have the vert of a SF. Hell Williams vert is less than Loves and Beasleys.

I really don't know why you keep harping about Williams' lack of a vert. Watching him play, it is abundantly clear that his athleticism is not a weakness.

[Saltine]

I agree, he has some hops. I don't much care what the combine says, he has a nice vertical during games
And he has some very nice ball skills.

[jpatrick]

You can't judge much from the combine numbers. If players practice those drills (even jumping), they improve their numbers even if they don't really improve their athleticsm. We all know Durant ranked worst athlete in his draft class based on the combine, blah, blah, blah. Williams clearly has a higher vert than Love.

What the combine is good at is giving us some measurements and Williams had plenty of baby fat on him at that time. He weighed in at 248 lbs with 10.8% body fat, 4th most at the camp. By comparison Love was 12.9% at his predraft camp. If Williams is currently around 250, he needs to seriously trim that baby fat if he has any chance of playing SF. I don't know if he can do it but if he can't, he needs to be moved at some point for a wing. We can't win long term with Love playing the majority of his minutes at center.

[theGreatRC]

Back to the game....

It's sad to know that these guys were acting entitled just because they won two games in a row against the two texas teams.

News flash: we're 2-4 now. If you get to the playoffs, then you can act like you accomplished something, but even then, the ultimate goal is a championship, and we're a SG and C away from being contenders.

Our guys should be acting hungry.

[Biff Cooper]

Back to the game....

It's sad to know that these guys were acting entitled just because they won two games in a row against the two texas teams.

News flash: we're 2-4 now. If you get to the playoffs, then you can act like you accomplished something, but even then, the ultimate goal is a championship, and we're a SG and C away from being contenders.

Our guys should be acting hungry.

OK back to the game - I'm not reading through this entire thread to see if this has been talked about, but Hollins seems like a very good coach. Memphis scouted what we were successfully doing offensively in the San Antonio and Dallas games, and really took those things away from us. Hopefully, it was a wake up call for our coaches and guys that we need to get more diverse offensively. We played a very solid defensive game, so its tough for me to agree with your hungry comment. Maybe we were a little overconfident after how easy some things came in the two wins.