Don't get me wrong. I'm pretty satisfied with the season so far. Never thought the Wolves would have this record after 32 games with the guys we are missing. But from the few games I saw till now, I spottet 3 problems the guys should solve: 1. Rebounding: Especially on the offensive board it's very poor. This has a lot to do with KG not being a Center-like player as TD is. He takes many shots away from the rim, leaving nobody to block out under the glass. Trent does not go for it. I wish he would be more agressive on the O-board. I mean, he gets 1.5 rebounds more per game than Sam. Come on GARY! We need to attack the board more. Spree, Sam and Hassell can do this, they have the guts and abilities to do that, with the nice side-effect that KG is there, in the middle, with his body. I don't know if Flip is holding back Spree to some extend, but I remember him attacking the rim alot more when playing in NY. And start every game with a center would help too, bring Trent from the bench. EJ, OM and even MM would be better to start at the 5. At least, they know what it means to block out. In general, bring in the big guys more often. We have our own game. They can all produce with the right guys around them. I also would loke to see KG build up a little more TD-like moves, near the basket. Not everytime, but sometimes, this alone would help on the offensive board alot. Of course, this would be better when Kandi comes back, but I'm discussing the present team, and the rotation-point still holds when Kandi is sane. 2. Rotation: Flip is a good coach when it comes to set-out plays. But he is horrible during the game when replacing players. Give your bench some time Flip, otherwise, they'll never get confident. Give the bench guys time with the big 3 too. Keith plays solid bball with KG on the floor. And he could easily play 10-12 minutes like this without sucking. What can you expect from Keith when he's only playing with the other benchers, and only for some minutes? It's so important for a PG to build up a rythm, to get in the flow. You cannot build this up with 4 mins a night playing with other bench guys. To some extend, this also applies to the other bench players. Let them build confidence through playing with good guys (sam and/or spree) while resting KG. You would loose a bit of time for the big 3 together, but you would gain alot from the other guys. that's a given. (If only Jerry Sloan would be here...) 3. Rotation (yes, again): Flip seems to be very nervous about what other coaches put on the floor. Against Dallas, Don brought in Fortson for Walker. Flip reacted directly in bringing in Miller. C'mon, this was not necessary. Fortson is no threat, whatever our lineup is. Don't react when it's not necessary. Take timeouts when it's necessary. Learn the flow of the game. We have strong enough people the handle missmatches for some minutes. We have to force _our_ way of playing to the opponent, not the other way around. What could Dallas do if we started KG and Miller instead of Trent. They would be very undersized and still I think that their offense would not be a lesser threat because of it. Force our way, because we have the guys. Again, this all leaves out the fact that we're missing 3 major parts in our game and despite this we have a good record. But still...
On the rebounding... Gary Trent does come off the bench and plays 21 mins pg... and gets 4.5 boards a game. He is 6'8. Consider if he played roughly 35 mins per game he would get around 8 rpg. Remember, he is 6'8, which is relativley short for a big man. What does Yao Ming avg, roughly 10 boards if that. Not everyone can grab 12-14 boards a night like the Garnetts, Duncans, Wallaces ect ect. Also Garnett cant get all the offensive rebounds... yea hes a lil futher down than Id like to see but he does play the outside paint a lot, and is the center point of the offense. The ball goes thru his hands a lot and he does play the top of the key (defense and offense) because of his height and vision. Also Olowokandi is out. Our key center that was supposed to give us close to a double double each night. But I agree... there isnt much help on the class for Garnett, hopefully Olowokandi will come back and at least help out with offensive boards. Rotation. What a problem, and boy do I mean a big one. I 100% agree with you on this is something that Flip needs to do a better job at. First things first, you say he should play bench players with the SL... Im going to futher that. Flip should NEVER and I mean NEVER sit the big 3 all down at the same time. I dont care if the Wolves are up by 20, it should never happen. I would like to see Keith play some minutes with Garnett... maybe 5-8 minutes while Sam takes a sit. I also agree that flip should not react to other teams substutions. Come on, we are a top dawg in this L... other teams should be reacting to our subsitiutions. You factor these problems with the injuries and we are still right at the top of the Midwest. Boy the Wolves are shaping up, in a big way.
Gary Trent does come off the bench and plays 21 mins pg... and gets 4.5 boards a game. He is 6'8. Consider if he played roughly 35 mins per game he would get around 8 rpg. Remember, he is 6'8, which is relativley short for a big man. You're right. Given the minutes, it's ok. But everytime I saw him play (note: only 3 times) it seems to me that he does not go with all his heart for the block-out. especially on the offensive board. I like Trent alot and I would not want to miss him, but i still think he can improve this aspect of his game too. Rotation. What a problem, and boy do I mean a big one. I cry out loud alot, just watching the play-by-play on espn sometimes. Everything I wouldn't do, he does. Keith is suffering the most of it. Does he not like Keith or what? First things first, you say he should play bench players with the SL... Im going to futher that. Flip should NEVER and I mean NEVER sit the big 3 all down at the same time. I dont care if the Wolves are up by 20, it should never happen. I would like to see Keith play some minutes with Garnett... maybe 5-8 minutes while Sam takes a sit. Exactly my point. And I'm sure he can rest Sam even more minutes. Because Keith _does_ play decent with KG around. You factor these problems with the injuries and we are still right at the top of the Midwest. Boy the Wolves are shaping up, in a big way. That's why I almost ashamed to put up any critics at all. But these ones are so obvious, it almost hurts. The problem I see is, that the big 3 will have to carry us through the reg-season all the way, with big minutes alle the time. Has 2 effects coming playoff time: a) they might be worn down by then and the bench is not as confident and in the flow as they could be. But I fear that this will not change...until Flip is gone (and Sloan is on board).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting gjn:</div><div class="quote_post">I like Trent alot and I would not want to miss him, but i still think he can improve this aspect of his game too. But I fear that this will not change...until Flip is gone (and Sloan is on board).</div> Yea Trent does have some room for improvement... if rebounding will be even bigger when we get Wally/THud back and his shots become fewer and he will havta live off second chance points. Jerry Sloan in Minny?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting purehoops:</div><div class="quote_post">Jerry Sloan in Minny?</div> Just dreaming. This guy at least knows how the get a bench involved. Heck, he made Eisley and Anderson looked good for years. IMO the best coach right now in the NBA.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting gjn:</div><div class="quote_post">Just dreaming. This guy at least knows how the get a bench involved. Heck, he made Eisley and Anderson looked good for years. IMO the best coach right now in the NBA.</div> I dream of Reefer in a Minnesota uniform. Stick around JBB... you seem very intellegent.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting purehoops:</div><div class="quote_post">I dream of Reefer in a Minnesota uniform. Stick around JBB... you seem very intellegent.</div> I thought you dreamed of 2nd round playoff appearances. Huh. My bad.
I've noticed this rotation problem, too. Like when we faced the Mavericks, Flip left out all of the Big Three for most of the second quarter, thats where we fell behind. I believe that we need at least one of them in there at all times. I really don't see a problem with rebounding. Trent rebounds when called upon, Garnett is the league leader, Ervin can get some solid boards, Madsen is our offensive rebounder and he does a great job at it, and Hassell can grab a few boards himself. But Flip doesn't seem to know when to leave or take out a player. Against the Mavericks, Sprewell missed 6 shots in a row in the 3rd quarter, but kept him in there. You don't leave someone in there when he is cold.
