Nemanja Bjelica

Post #1161 » by **C.lupus** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 4:40 pm

[tweet]https://twitter.com/andygreder/status/754678716978962432[/tweet]

Anyone know what his injury is?

eyeteeth · Post #1162 » by **eyeteeth** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 5:23 pm

C.lupus wrote:[tweet]https://twitter.com/andygreder/status/754678716978962432[/tweet]

Anyone know what his injury is?

Sounds like a sprained excusia minoris.

Post #1163 » by **C.lupus** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 5:35 pm

I found this:

Bjelica, who will enter his second season in Minnesota this fall, needs at least three more weeks of rehabilitation for his right foot injury, eurohoops.net. reported.

Post #1164 » by **C.lupus** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 5:49 pm

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/754733973452955648[/tweet]

GopherIt! · Post #1165 » by **GopherIt!** » Mon Jul 18, 2016 2:45 pm

eyeteeth wrote:
C.lupus wrote:[tweet]https://twitter.com/andygreder/status/754678716978962432[/tweet]

Anyone know what his injury is?

Sounds like a sprained excusia minoris.

he's using a "minor sprain" as an "excuse" for not playing. your welcome.

Tirion · Post #1166 » by **Tirion** » Mon Jul 18, 2016 3:10 pm

That should be good news for the Wolves. He obviously can't just flat out refuse to play for his national team this year, like Wiggins did. But he needs to work on his body to stay in the NBA, so hopefully it was about that.

Dewey · Post #1167 » by **Dewey** » Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:03 pm

Tirion wrote:That should be good news for the Wolves. He obviously can't just flat out refuse to play for his national team this year, like Wiggins did. But he needs to work on his body to stay in the NBA, so hopefully it was about that.

^^this ... He knows he cannot be drug down by injury if he wants to stay in NBA.

Post #1168 » by **Klomp** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 8:51 am

Interesting nugget from media day is that Bjelica was in town for most of the offseason. Will be interesting to see what effect it has.

Also got his driver's licence after carpooling with Pek last season.

Tirion · Post #1169 » by **Tirion** » Tue Sep 27, 2016 10:27 am

Looked bigger too. Specifically said he was working on his body a lot. Changed his diet, all that jazz. Also was asked about passing up threes, said it was a mistake, this time he'll be ready.

Post #1170 » by **Klomp** » Wed Sep 28, 2016 5:03 pm

Read on Twitter

Popovich · Post #1171 » by **Popovich** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 1:53 am

alabamawolf wrote:
FinnTheHuman wrote:Been talking about the Bjelica inevitable explosion ever since I saw SMitch get fired. DO NOT think this is some internal change in Bjelica. This has almost everything to do with having a competent coach giving Bjelica the role he needs to have. Finally I will stop seeing the belittling of a baller he always has been.

Smitch did him no favors but Bjelica worked his ass off to get in NBA shape. Physically he wasn't ready to play 82 games last year

These are two comments from trending, and you must admit too much filled thread, for one just "preseason thread".That is why I found it suitable to move these posts here so I can give my opinion and answers. Before that I will just say something about the team and and current situation in my view. Minnesota Timberwolves haves one big and seriously analytic fan base and I can only guess that last blow out win in the last game again awakened high expectations for this young and seemingly still freshly team. Similar hype and circumstances followed wolfes boys last year preseason as I recall. And I am pretty sure that some are disappointed but most many belongs to those group whom's expectation are not fulfilled. Because I do not write too often I will rather put more text in my post.

https://youtu.be/yygUkzDuE_k

What pleases me in latest Belly's game are those still rare simple but effective drives to the hoop and those easy points in the paint awarded from good running and from D to offense half-transition. I still don;t like him taking so many 3pt shots although many people including Wolves Fox sports commentators think contrary . Now it is clear to me that Belly will not be as near as player he was in Europe. It is like he just started to look for his role from the 0 point after kind a slim rookie season. In Europe I rarely saw him taking 6 to 8 3pt shots per game but here he adopted that kind a role. It is shame because he is much more than that and I that's why I'm happy to see he improved his defense game and second game in a row i think he collected 3 steals. Yes I heard commentators said about him working hard over the summer where he missed Olympics in order to submit to Wolves training regime. I also agree with second comment where I do not give much significance to coach decision in his game change but I give that to his personal will to improve himself. Although under new coach he is a more a sort of a important second unit force in supporting Dunn to organize offense than a glue guy between Wiggins and Towns with Rubio. One part of game where he still did not improved is his post back to the basket play.

Tirion · Post #1172 » by **Tirion** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 7:22 am

From Bjelica's big interview in Serbian (fan translation):

On Thibs:

Coach Thibodeau came immediately after the Olympics, and even before that i saw him in Las Vegas for my injury. We talked about my role on the team and about Minnesota being a young team of the future with a lot of room to grow. It is amazing that he came in to be our coach - he thinks a couple of steps ahead and he built a good system, we are organized in every detail and maybe that discipline was what was missing from this team. Thibodeau is a big authority

On practices this year:

Defense is the foundation of our game and practices usually begin with certain details that are very important to him - for example we did some back and forth drills with the ball the kind of which i haven't done since i was a kid. Then we go through various defensive sets, transition 3 on 2 and 2 on 1, after that we defend the pick and roll and do a few shooting drills. We finish playing 5 on 5 two or three times for 6, 7 minutes

On his role on the team:

Wiggins and Towns are the future of the franchise, i had trouble adapting to the lay of the land last year but now i know exactly what i need to know on the floor. The coach trusts me, i have freedom in the game and i feel comfortable so i can do what i can do best, make my teammates better. Last year it was asked of me to be a traditional stretch four and now i can be a more of a point forward. Coach is trying to find me a role similar to the one i had in Fenerbahce

On the changes he had to make:

I threw out food that wasn't good for me, that is what everyone loves - sweets. I wish i thought like this when i was younger now i am sorry about that. I am in my best playing years but i have to keep good care of my body - what happened to my leg last sumer i took as a warning. Team found a girl to cook for me - no drastic changes but i did throw out fast foods and sodas. I also took recommended suplements while working in the gym and on my condition.

I worked a classical program for the whole body - arms, legs, basketball practice, condition. I went to the gym 4-5 times a week and i trained twice a day - gym in the afternoon, morning basketball and condition, with changes according to my coaches. I worked very hard and i know i will see returns on that when the season gets deep and everyone is tired, i set my base line for the hardest games.
Once you get into NBA flow you just get hooked and you want to keep growing because you don't want to lag behind. It is important to be committed and maybe this will sound cruel but you have to think of basketball as a job - its not as fun as it seems to the people on the sidelines where everything looks amazing. Young players think they can overcome a lot just with their youth, but sooner or later it catches up to you. It is very challenging, but it has to be if you want to endure in the strongest league in the world

On Twin Cities:

Minneapolis is amazing in the summer - weather is beautiful, its not very wet and there are a lot of lakes. Winter is honestly very cold for those two-three months but you know how they say life in the NBA is the best while you are winning we need that feeling. Everything here is top notch, a player just has to show up and put in the work. You have your plane, equipment and shoes are waiting for you, and dont get me started about recuperation, last year we got new space for regeneration - sauna, cold and hot baths, jakuzzi, massage, all kinds of stuff, believe me when i tell you i don't even know everything there is...

On KG:

I don't know first hand what his style was through his career, but i personally can say only the best of him. He is a true teammate future Hall of Famer and it was my great honour to share the locker room with him, and i can still remember playing games with him on NBA live. He helped me a lot, especially with defense and how to adapt faster to certain criteria - he was always one of the first on the floor always intense and sweaty when he tells you something or explains. We will miss him a lot in the locker room as well as the entire league

Vindicater · Post #1173 » by **Vindicater** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 7:28 am

Really hope he comes on strong this season. Has the potential to play a valuable role for us moving forward.

FinnTheHuman · Post #1174 » by **FinnTheHuman** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 10:11 am

Yeah, from his interview one can conclude that he doesn't think that he improved too much in skill, but that he was put in the role of a point forward instead of a stretch 4, which is what SMitch was too dumb to realize.

The part where he talks about conditioning, he says that it will influence his health and game deep into the season and, not that it actually changed too much for him already.

Surely, he adjusted a lot himself, but the coaching change was the key. If SMitch stayed, it would have likely been the end of Bjelica's NBA career.

guille_4 · Post #1175 » by **guille_4** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 11:07 am

I'm really rooting for Nemanja.

I'd like to see him play more minutes than Dieng.

He's probably better suited for the second unit (to help Dunn offensively) but having him play next to KAT and Rubio would also be excellent.

minimus · Post #1176 » by **minimus** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 11:13 am

FinnTheHuman wrote:Yeah, from his interview one can conclude that he doesn't think that he improved too much in skill, but that he was put in the role of a point forward instead of a stretch 4, which is what SMitch was too dumb to realize.

We had Rudez, who I think was capable to play a backup stretch 4. But Mitchel did not play him even if we needed shooters.

Killboard · Post #1177 » by **Killboard** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:36 pm

Really hoping that Bjellica can fulfill his own expectations like a Euro League MVP. He has all the tools to be towns duo, he can stretch the floor, rebound, defend the P&R, drive against other bigs, ball movement. If he get some respect from the refs and keeps healthy I think he would be our better upgrade at 4.

Plus, if Bjelly pans out, that would make Gorgui our best trade chip (and with his extension coming in he would be the first to trade if we can get good value in return).

minimus · Post #1178 » by **minimus** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:54 pm

Killboard wrote:Plus, if Bjelly pans out, that would make Gorgui our best trade chip (and with his extension coming in he would be the first to trade if we can get good value in return).

While I've been Bjelly fan from very first day, I still hope that Dieng will lose some weight during first months of regular season without losing strength. He looks a bit heavy to me, if he improves mobility a bit this will be a great season for him. And I dont want to see him go. Hope Layden/Thibs will find some solution.

Tirion · Post #1179 » by **Tirion** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:57 pm

minimus wrote:
FinnTheHuman wrote:Yeah, from his interview one can conclude that he doesn't think that he improved too much in skill, but that he was put in the role of a point forward instead of a stretch 4, which is what SMitch was too dumb to realize.

We had Rudez, who I think was capable to play a backup stretch 4. But Mitchel did not play him even if we needed shooters.

Mitchell wasn't going to turn the keys to 2nd unit to a Euro rookie, who was in poor shape, in foul trouble a lot and hasn't earned his stripes. No coach would do that. Last year version Bjelly wouldn't get that opportunity with Thibs either. From the same interview:

Thibodeau is a very simple (this in not an insult) coach - physical fitness is mandatory and he is gets on the player only to put in the effort, play hard and be focused at all times.

I doubt that Mitchell had the time to really familiarize himself with Bjelly's gametape from Europe. He was defensive assistant under Flip, who was supposed to be in charge of the offensive gameplan. But Flip passed away and Mitch had to scramble an offense out of bits and pieces. I guess Sam just saw a PF that could shoot and he tried to make him shoot, but Bjelly just wasn't made for that and then hit the rookie wall extra hard cause his conditioning was poor, so his season went the way it went.

Tirion · Post #1180 » by **Tirion** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 1:21 pm

Killboard wrote:Really hoping that Bjellica can fulfill his own expectations like a Euro League MVP. He has all the tools to be towns duo, he can stretch the floor, rebound, defend the P&R, drive against other bigs, ball movement. If he get some respect from the refs and keeps healthy I think he would be our better upgrade at 4.

Plus, if Bjelly pans out, that would make Gorgui our best trade chip (and with his extension coming in he would be the first to trade if we can get good value in return).

Why would you want to trade a good young bigman, who is a hard worker and improves every year? That's the thing I don't get with Canis Hoopus types too. They are supposed to be smarter than the national media and like underrated players, right? Well, Dieng is the most underrated player on the roster, but they want to trade him, because something something "we need a stretch four". Why? You have a stretch five in KAT and Dieng is a great shooter himself. Britt Robson had to write an article specifically to address this foolishness:

https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2016/03/gorgui-dieng-rodney-dangerfield-nba