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moonpie wrote:
King Malta wrote:Rookie-Mistake wrote:I listened to it and I'm honestly scared.
I felt like Dane was very conservative in his line of questions and got caught up in Gerssons spin.
Dane has undergone a frankly pretty impressive rise from an amateur podcaster to being given the time of day from the Head Coach and General Manager of the team he spends all his time covering in full time capacity, in a one team basketball town/state.
If he goes in there on the front foot and treats the interview like some kind of grilling session then Rosas and Finch will be unlikely to give him this kind of opportunity or access again.
Baseline81 wrote:moonpie wrote:
We saw it during the games, but at least Finch openly stated the need to improve on defense, especially getting back in transition and defensive rebounding.
Confirmed PF is likely to be match-up based. McDaniels is mentioned as an option but prefer him at SF.
TheProdigy wrote:The fact that they referred to defensive issues as "giving a s***" gives me hope for Finch and Rosas. That's exactly what the problem is. You can harp on technique all day, but if your two highest paid players on the team loaf on defense so they can conserve their energy for offense, you're toast. That's always been the most painful thing about watching KAT and DLo - their lack of hustle and grit on defense.
shrink wrote:TheProdigy wrote:The fact that they referred to defensive issues as "giving a s***" gives me hope for Finch and Rosas. That's exactly what the problem is. You can harp on technique all day, but if your two highest paid players on the team loaf on defense so they can conserve their energy for offense, you're toast. That's always been the most painful thing about watching KAT and DLo - their lack of hustle and grit on defense.
I agree, but after last season, I wouldn’t lump Towns in with DLo any more. Now his reasons for caring may be in question (he doesn’t like what people say about him), but I think he made a much bigger effort. In fact, in previous seasons in a drop scheme, he would get in trouble because he wanted to come out and challenge midrange shooters. NBA players were smart enough to make a good pass since he wasn’t defending the rim.
Personally, I want them to “give a s***” about staying in their system and helping their team. KAT and Beasley both hustle, but if they go try to play hero ball on defense, they expose the rest of the team. Ant is a poor defender too, and I can’t tell if he has that personality trait too, or simply has so much to learn, since things that worked for him in college get exposed in the NBA. Russell just doesn’t care about defense, and to me, that’s a different type of “give a s***” problem.
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I was disappointed when our defense failed to improve under Vanterpoole. After all, he had reached Lillard, and I thought got him to care enough to be an average defender. I lumped Towns in the “doesn’t care” category, and also blamed Vanterpoole’s system. However, when I saw the team become a top 5 defensive team when they replaced KAT with Dieng, I realized the problem wasn’t the system. The coach still deserves some blame, because he couldn’t get his player to accept the system, and that’s part of the job - but the system was okay.
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Last idea: if you recall, Jokic three years ago was an even worse defender than KAT, and his physical tools were far more inferior. Lately, he has been okay, Millsap’s encouragement has helped, but part of this has been the DEN coaching staff. This isn’t my area, but I heard that when they stuck Jokic under the basket he’d get bored and lose interest in defending. Now they bring him out a bit. He still doesn’t have the physical tools, but it helped his motivation, and his bright BB mind helped him become at least average. I know KAT sees himself as a center, and I understand sticking KAT under the basket was an attempt to minimize all the mistakes he makes defensively. However, I’d be curious to see him happily trying to guard out from under the rim, and I wonder if that would be an improvement? I’m anxious to listen to this podcast.
shangrila wrote:I think it's clear at this point that drop coverage doesn't work with Towns.
life_saver wrote:transition defense is probably the weakest point of Wolves on the defensive end...it is terrible and has been awful for a while...just having an average transition defense should improve the defense massively
… ya gotta love it! It’s gotta get real tough though trying to keep a fresh view 
Ruzious wrote:Apologies if this has already been discussed - Wondering if there's some holdup in signing Vanderbilt. I think he's an up and comer who could complement Towns well up front. Are the TWolves just waiting for him - figuring they'll match whatever offer sheet he might sign?
moonpie wrote:shangrila wrote:I think it's clear at this point that drop coverage doesn't work with Towns.
They have really never valued the backup pg under Rosas. So I'm not certain that they may address your concerns to your satisfaction. But one rumor out there is Mem might be shopping Tyus (they recently traded for Bledsoe)....believe he's an expiring now....can I get him for Juancho & a 2nd?packforfreedom wrote:at the moment, I've made my peace with a matchup based PF rotation of Vanderbilt/McDaniels/Naz/Prince. Not perfect of course, but oookay. What concernes me a bit more is the lack of a back up PG. I know some of us absolutly love McLaughlin but I'm not sure he's more than a 3rd stringer at this point and Dlo isn't the most durable player out there.
NebWolvesFan wrote:Ruzious wrote:Apologies if this has already been discussed - Wondering if there's some holdup in signing Vanderbilt. I think he's an up and comer who could complement Towns well up front. Are the TWolves just waiting for him - figuring they'll match whatever offer sheet he might sign?
I know people consider Vando a free agent, but he isn't. He's on the Wolves until some team gives him a contract that makes the Wolves decide to let him go. He's signed for 1.9 million next year, and if nothing happens he will play for 1.9 million next year on the Wolves. It's the same as last year with JMac. JMac was signed to a two-way deal for 20-21 and that was the deal he was going to play on unless another team thought he was worth more than that. No team did and he played on the two-way.
The Timberwolves don't have to sign Vando. They already did. Now, they could tear up the qualifying offer and sign him to a new deal, but they don't have to do that. If the other 29 teams decide against offering V8 a deal than he will finish out his deal and play for 1.9 million. Rosas can just sit back and wait.
This plan worked for JMac and didn't work for Tyus. We will see what happens this year.
Ruzious wrote:NebWolvesFan wrote:Ruzious wrote:Apologies if this has already been discussed - Wondering if there's some holdup in signing Vanderbilt. I think he's an up and comer who could complement Towns well up front. Are the TWolves just waiting for him - figuring they'll match whatever offer sheet he might sign?
I know people consider Vando a free agent, but he isn't. He's on the Wolves until some team gives him a contract that makes the Wolves decide to let him go. He's signed for 1.9 million next year, and if nothing happens he will play for 1.9 million next year on the Wolves. It's the same as last year with JMac. JMac was signed to a two-way deal for 20-21 and that was the deal he was going to play on unless another team thought he was worth more than that. No team did and he played on the two-way.
The Timberwolves don't have to sign Vando. They already did. Now, they could tear up the qualifying offer and sign him to a new deal, but they don't have to do that. If the other 29 teams decide against offering V8 a deal than he will finish out his deal and play for 1.9 million. Rosas can just sit back and wait.
This plan worked for JMac and didn't work for Tyus. We will see what happens this year.
He's considered a Restricted Free Agent, and I believe he is. I don't think he's bound by the Wolves extending the qualifying offer. He would have to agree to it. Until he does, or until he signs an offer sheet that Minnesota matches, he's an RFA. At least that's my understanding.
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