Felix

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 08:33 AM) I agree 100%. Making the D respect his shot means they can't sag off of him and clog the lane. That shot frees up his drive. You don't need to take 5-6 threes a game to make an opponent respect your drive. At that point, you're simply wasting offensive possessions, especially when you're taking them with 20 seconds left on the shot clock and no players in position for an offensive board.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 12:18 AM) Damn. Well, I obviously don't watch many Wolves games. I was for the most part going off stats. And yes, ACC/Big East guys are notoriously overrated. I'm the dumbass that thought Thabeet would be the next Mutombo. I think a lot of people thought he'd at least be an above average NBA player, but when you start your NBA career at age 23, you really should have a fairly polished game. For a player of his size/athletic ability, Wes SHOULD be driving to the basket and drawing fouls, taking advantage of his athleticism. However, his inability to simply dribble the ball makes that nearly impossible, which leads to an average of one FTA per game (or less, as is the case this year). Part of the problem might have been starting off with Rambis as his coach, and he's also been playing a majority of his minutes at the 2 instead of his natural spot at the 3, but I don't think that accounts for everything. Maybe Wes will turn into a decent player someday, it's certainly possible. But considering I was never all that high on him in the first place, I don't think there's any reason for him to be getting 20+ minutes per game, let alone starting. Until the Wolves replace Wes/Beasley's minutes with players that can actually be productive, they're going to continue to be hampered in taking that step toward becoming a playoff team.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 12:05 AM) What's up with Wesley Johnson? I thought he was going to be a player. He still could be. But he's off to a rough start. He was never going to be a player. Overrated coming out of college and garbage in the pros. He can't dribble at all (I'm not sure he can even dribble through his legs), and he's not anywhere near a good enough shooter to make a living off of it. He (almost) literally NEVER gets to the free throw line, and for a guy that supposedly has the talent to be a solid defensive player, I haven't seen any evidence of it. Basically, we traded Jonny Flynn, so SOMEONE had to fill the "overdrafted Syracuse player that is a garbage pro" spot that was open on the team. Most Wolves fans (myself included) disliked the pick at the time and were in favor of DeMarcus Cousins instead. Not sure that would have turned out any better, but Wes is simply not good.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 11:58 PM) I feel so sorry for Love. Dude is putting up video game numbers at almost 40 MPG for nothing. I think Williams will be a player in time. Rubio has already proven to be an impact player; jumper needs work. Beasley is a joke. He reminds me of Jerry Stackhouse. The rest of that roster? Gross. JJ Barea is an alright player off the bench (And far better than any other option we have at the 2, assuming we're playing him and Rubio together), and I find it hard to fault Anthony Tolliver for anything he does, but yeah, there are a lot of garbage players on this team. There's also a chance that Martell Webster comes back from injury and starts eating into Beasley's minutes, which wouldn't be a terrible thing. Not that Martell is any good (I can't stand him, personally), but given how bad Beasley has been, anything to get him off the floor is a plus.

Wolves are going to get stomped by the Bulls tomorrow. Last game of a back-to-back-to-back in three different cities, coming off a bad loss to a bad team and banged up. Certainly doesn't help that we're starting our four worst players alongside Love.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 04:37 PM) Here's him rapping vs. Albert Einstein Nice Peter was wayyy funnier before he started doing historical rap battles

Not that +/- means much, but Carlos Boozer is -40. That's just impressive.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jan 3, 2012 -> 01:54 AM) I'd love to move Jason Richardson to move Redick into the starting lineup so that we could upgrade at the PG position somehow. Problem is, it'd have to be a 3 way deal, and J-Rich isn't eligible to be dealt until March I believe. Still something like J-Rich to Minny (or back to PHX), Gortat to Minny, and Orlando getting an upgrade on Jameer Nelson (include him if need be) etc. is something that could maybe work. Way more interest in Redick than J-Rich. Redick is a much, much better fit for this team. QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jan 3, 2012 -> 01:56 AM) Rick Adelman's a pretty decent offensive coach isn't he. Well, that and Rambis was a truly abysmal offensive coach.

Wolves now with a +36 point differential through five games against four of the best teams in the NBA last season. All four of those games were at home, which certainly helps, but the fact that we've been staying with these teams is impressive, regardless of where the games are played.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 07:33 PM) Wolves on pace to score 140 points tonight against San Antonio after the first quarter. And Rubio has only played 1 minute. EDIT: I've probably said this a few times in the last few pages, but I'd really like to stress again how fun it is to watch a pick and roll oriented team after the trainwreck that was the Rambis administration. Only scored 31 in the second quarter, so now only on pace for 132 The team is shooting 67.5% from the floor (71% without Michael Beasley included), as well as 87.5% from beyond the arc. Now the Wolves just need to start playing some defense and we might come out of tonight with win #2.

Wolves on pace to score 140 points tonight against San Antonio after the first quarter. And Rubio has only played 1 minute. EDIT: I've probably said this a few times in the last few pages, but I'd really like to stress again how fun it is to watch a pick and roll oriented team after the trainwreck that was the Rambis administration.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 10:54 AM) He was much more of an inside presence in college, but being undersized doesn't hurt you as much in college as it does when you get into the league. I'm sure this is a big part of it, but it also certainly doesn't help that he's been put at the 3 for most of his NBA career when he's probably much more suited to play the 4. As a 3, he settles for a jumper way too much and rarely gets to the free throw line, which is why he's averaged 16 points on 14 shots throughout his career. Basically, Michael Beasley is the definition of an inefficient NBA player. At this point, the Wolves should be trying to flip him (and/or Wes Johnson) to someone for a legitimate 2, 3 or 5. Some Wolves sites have been pining for a Dudley/Gortat trade with Phoenix, although I'm not sure the Wolves have the ammunition to pull off a move like that without including Derrick Williams, which doesn't sound ideal to me. JJ Redick would also be a perfect fit, but again, not sure what the Wolves could give up to make it worth Orlando's time. Same goes for Arron Afflalo.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 10:32 AM) Do you think Beasley is going to take a step forward this season? Not until he realizes that he's not a superstar and accepts his role on the team. The problem with Beasley is the ball basically stops every time it gets to him in the offense, which is alright (although not ideal) if it's a superstar, but when it's Michael Beasley you have some problems. He doesn't shoot at a high enough percentage to justify taking as many shots as he does (especially since he loves to take really long 2s, which are one of the worst shots in basketball) and doesn't get to the line anywhere near enough. He loves to iso, but isn't anywhere near good enough to pull it off. Really, there's no excuse for the offense not to be run through Rubio and Love at this point. Rubio has done an outstanding job finding the open man on the perimeter so far, especially in pick & roll situations, while Love has developed his three-point shot even more over the offseason, making him a rather deadly shooter (.596 TS% this year). Love was even nailing step back threes against Dallas yesterday, which could end up being huge for his offensive development.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 10:27 AM) This Wolves team is actually pretty damn good. They've been in every game so far and a lot of the games were against tough opponents. Basketball-Prospectus had the Wolves as the 8th seed in their pre-season predictions. I'd think they have a legit shot at the playoffs right now. Especially since Randolph could be out for a while for the Grizzlies. shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 03:33 AM) He's honestly an absolute blast to watch. Between him and Rubio, the Wolves are becoming a truly entertaining team to watch. I strongly recommend giving them a shot with the free League Pass preview to anyone that hasn't watched them yet. Or just watch this: QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 2, 2012 -> 02:28 AM) Also, I suggest the nickname "Ricky 'Rifle' Rubio" as he is similar to Maravich. Other than the hair and I guess the flair on the court, he's not really that similar to Maravich at all.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jan 1, 2012 -> 08:11 PM) Kevin Love is really good at basketball. I honestly cannot express how nice it is to watch a competitive basketball team night in and out.

Kevin Love is really good at basketball.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 31, 2011 -> 12:30 AM) Well, if Billups was healthy, Williams comes off the bench. That's why I said 3 of the first 4. I was assuming that Williams would be the first.

That Clippers team has some good starters (and I know they were missing Billups tonight), but holy jesus are they thin. That's going to get exploited big time during this condensed schedule. Randy Foye, Brian Cook and Ryan Gomes are three of their first four off the bench? Ugh.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 31, 2011 -> 12:04 AM) D-ROSE. BIGGER. STRONGER. FASTER THAN YOU CHRIS PAUL. Man, if only he would have taken 10 more shots and scored 5 more points. I'd definitely prefer that over his ultra efficient performance All seriousness, he had an outstanding game. Absolutely filthy.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 30, 2011 -> 11:58 PM) These refs are s***ty. Late whistles and bad calls both ways. Both teams should complain QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 30, 2011 -> 11:58 PM) These officials have been awful all game The team with half as many FT attempts as the other should especially complain But yeah, they've been awful.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 30, 2011 -> 11:36 PM) Oh dear lord, not this again (and by that, I mean, J4L/Felix vs. the Board) It's a useless argument. Also: Randy Foye is just terrible. Glad to see some things don't change.

The Paul/Griffin combo is just too fun to watch.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 30, 2011 -> 09:38 PM) How is Wayne Ellington speaking of him? I loved him out of UNC but he's faded into obscurity, as TWolves not named Kevin are wont to do. He works really, really hard, but doesn't get much burn. Tonight was his first time playing this season, and it was only because JJ Barea is out. I don't think he's got much of a future in this league, but he's a good guy that puts in the time to improve his game. Unfortunately, he's he's too short and not a good enough shooter to have a future IMO. QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 30, 2011 -> 09:40 PM) Where did Love go the last 5 minutes of game time? They were apparently content with running the game through Rubio (which I have no problem with, considering in other games we've given the ball to Beasley and let him turn it over while trying to iso), who basically will give to anyone that's open. Love definitely should have been the first option on that last play, I'm not really sure what Adelman was smoking.

Wayne Ellington should never be your first option for the final shot. s***ty play call. Oh well.. really fun game, yet another moral victory. Would have been nice to actually steal the win, but it's hard to win when you turn the ball over 25 times.