Wolves Updates 7/18
by SG on Jul 18, 2010 12:38 AM CDT
47 comments
Wolves continue summer league play and more
From NBA.com: Boxscore and recap of the team's summer league loss to Portland
From Adam Hill/Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Martell Webster was in the crowd, sitting with his new head coach Kurt Rambis. Webster was traded from Portland to Minnesota on draft night and was talking shop with his new coach while watching his new teammates play his old organization.
From Gery Woelfel/The Journal Times:
Bucks officials have also discussed possibly bringing back Ramon Sessions, who signed a deal similar to Ridnour's last summer with Minnesota but is now being openly shopped.
From Patrick Reusse/Star Tribune:
Sadly for him, even with the YouTube derision aimed at Kahn, the guy who will have to overcome the "manna from heaven" quote will be Darko. First, he had to deal with being taken No. 2 in 2003, behind LeBron James and in front of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, and then this.
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I don't know why the media is making a big deal over this.
Just because David Kahn made an ill-conceived comment regarding Darko’s impact on this team, it doesn’t mean that Darko has to “live up” to anything.
It's low hanging fruit
I’d be more interested in hearing other GMs justify sillier signings.
I think this is the first time in history one man managed to destroy an entire city by himself. Even the Enola Gay had a flight crew.
by Auswolf on Jul 18, 2010 2:33 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
same with souhan.
god. awful. only negative garbage
"Brian Cardinal left Purdue being the only Boilermaker to receive both the "Mr. Hustle" Award and the "Courage" Award four years in a row"
I still can't believe that a guy..
…who looks and talks like Reusseeeeee could write some of the stuff he writes. When he called women’s basketball “synchronized tip-toeing” was the last time I ever read the guy.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Wait, Reusse still has a job...? For money?
Holy smokes. I stopped paying attention in…1982ish?…when he wrote a total hack column on soccer. Typical stuff for the time….soccer players are Euro wusses, not a real sport, only use is NFL kickers, whatever.
Blown away….just blown away that that dude has, apparently been paid actual money to write for an actual paper for….30+ years. And we wonder why the traditional press is dying? Dudes like Reusse have been choking it out for decades.
I'll hold your monkey.
He's on the radio now..
…and it’s too bad because he is paired with the actually informative, hard working, and modern-media-knowledge Phil Macke and it’s hard to wade through his voice and takes to hear what Phil has to say.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
wow.
….i have no idea what went on with auto correct on that last comment. yikes.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
I saw him on the Duluth TV station some years back
(around the time caliwolf stopped paying attention actually) and he was lit up like a Christmas tree. So I’m always wondering if he isn’t using the bottle as a muse for his poor writing.
"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."
Mark Twain
I remember the tiptoe column..
….because a girl I knew in high school had it taped to her fridge. Actually, her mom put it there along with a note reminding her daughter that she was the first woman in the family to be able to play organized sports in high school and that this fact was the truth, and not the tiptoeing.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
I valeted his car once
I’d say he’s more of a perspirational writer.
"Styx might be the mullet of bands."
by biggity2bit on Jul 18, 2010 8:59 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
The Matt Foley
of sports writers
"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."
Mark Twain
I rarely read him....
…but, I did read him enough to know that the actual quote was “tip-toe ball throw”. And to his credit, this is the most accurate description given to women’s basketball at the time. It has changed immensely in the years since but at the time, he was quite accurate.
So there were two columns!
;)
There’s probably more. The fair play should have been to allow one of those athletic young women to write a column about Pat at the typewriter.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
Sports and self-esteem
As a teacher, I see female students everyday for whom athletics is an integral part of who they are. They don’t see it as something exceptional, except I can see it in their sense of self worth. They can’t imagine a time where sports were not available to girls. I can’t think of any who imagine playing pro basketball, but I’ve had several who played college volleyball, basketball or softball. My own sister was a Big Ten golfer at Iowa. Too many sports writers are still old school crabs like Reusse. Reusse on the radio sounds like the old white whiny men’s club.
by ogishkemuncie on Jul 18, 2010 10:16 PM CDT up reply actions
Not the same
I don’t love Souhan, but I would never put him in same pitiful class as Reusse. Reusse hasn’t had a worthwhile article as long as I can remember…I am guilty of reading him anyway, kind of like watching a car crash. Souhan pisses me off fairly often, but he does have an interesting take from time to time.
Tonight on Rosen's sports sunday
He said we should trade Delmon for a #1 pitcher. Stupid.
"Styx might be the mullet of bands."
by biggity2bit on Jul 18, 2010 11:16 PM CDT up reply actions
I quit Souhan
At the end of last year’s regular season, when he said it would be better if the Twins didn’t make the postseason.
Game 163, anyone? Yah, those are throwaway moments…
I looked ahead to the open road, thought about the people and what they know, and wrote a book called "People Don't Know Nothin!"
Sessions going
that would be too bad unless he could bring an upgrade somewhere. Sessions + someone else for an upgrade? Otherwise why not keep a reserve. Use Ridnour as an instructor and for certain match ups. I guess winning is not the plan still?
Cleveland Deal Soon?
Looks like Cleveland has intensified its interest in Ramon Sessions and Kosta Koufos. Since we have dealt our 2011 and 2014 2nd-rounders to Miami, maybe we could swap Sessions and Koufos or Delonte West’s voidable contract and two future 2nd-rounders from Cleveland.
I'd like
some high second rounders :)
Rudy Gay: Feeding his family since 7/1/10
Yes, I'm guessing
and hoping that this will be a core secondary strategy for the Wolves, now that Ronzone is on board. Draft, like, three Euros every year, and then wait to see who bubbles up, who is Henk 2.0, and who becomes desirable to other teams.
Replacing Sessions with the 30yr old Ridnour is actually a short term win improvement strategy imo. Ridnour is better now, fits the system more. Sessions is the one with some more potential, though imho he has already overachieved (was a 2nd round pick) so not sure he has got that much improvement left.
So IF the future depth chart plan is Rubio + Flynn + backup guy. It’s even an upgrade not only short but also long term to replace Sessions with Ridnour.
by Wim (Belgium) on Jul 18, 2010 9:46 AM CDT up reply actions
Ridnour was > Sessions for one season, but Sessions is > Ridnour for their careers
Odds are Ridnour’s shooting touch will go back to the heap of mediocrity it was before last season. And Sessions will probably start playing like he did prior to coming to Minnesota, which was solid, above average ball. This is a short-sighted move unless somehow Sessions is converted into more cap space or Rudy Fernandez.
by Rascal Flatts on Jul 18, 2010 12:11 PM CDT up reply actions
both are career bad backups
though so it doesn’t really matter which is slightly better obviously I don’t see either making difference for the wolves. I still think we are overpaying backups. Why don’t we get a D-leaguer instead of these mediocre players? why 4 years for Ridnour? Why not mike james for 1 year.
No Sessions is not a career bad backup
He was a pretty damn good point guard until Rambis got his mitts on him.
by Rascal Flatts on Jul 18, 2010 4:43 PM CDT up reply actions
The triangle..
…as a “teaching tool” isn’t going to last as an excuse for too few wins. If they keep it up, the only thing we can be certain of with this approach is that it’s teaching them how to lose.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
The triangle is an offense for which last year's wolves were ill-suited
giving Big Al the ball in the high post and trotting out Sessions and Flynn in an offense that does not focus on dribble penetration is a recipe for a 15 win season.
That being said, we still need a perimeter star to make this triangle work. As far as I can tell, we’re banking on lottery luck to get Harrison Barnes or a lopsided trade that gives us a star shooting guard.
by Are we cursed? on Jul 18, 2010 10:56 PM CDT up reply actions
No way the triangle is used much this year
this team is set to run, run, and run some more. That’s the only way they’ll have a decent, regular advantage over other teams. Operating the triangle is simply going to bog this team down. Now, I understand the utility and strategic advantage forcing guys to learn the triangle can potentially give you (they can make snap decisions on the court how to best to attack the other team before the defense gets set), but neither Kurt nor Kahn has talked much about the triangle this offseason to my memory. A lot more about running and defense.
"Styx might be the mullet of bands."
by biggity2bit on Jul 18, 2010 11:19 PM CDT up reply actions
+1
It was such a poor fit for our personnel that it seemed tob undertaken specifically to maximize losses. Of those players who were taught the triangle, just one is still starting and Love, who seemed the best fit for the system, played only doghouse minutes last year.
Now that we no longer have Al, goals of high picks will be disguised as developing Love and Beasley’s post game
by midlife crisis on Jul 19, 2010 10:16 AM CDT up reply actions
Great Comments on MN press ...........
It is horribly negative and it is funny that when things start to turn around they find a way to reference how they knew the pieces would all fall together………like sprewell and cassell. They ripped and trashed and then quickly repositioned to show how they knew all along that we had potential.
Also not sure if I am the only one that has been completely unimpressed my sessions….before he came to us I loved him, he was one of those players that would randomly set ablaze and tear teams apart. I was extremely pumped to see that here and it was like ricky bobby says…“I didn’t know you had experimental surgery to have ur balls removed” The man just deflated, by no means is Luke “the man”, but he is comfortable knowing his backup roll and possibly spreading the defense more that sessions. Time will tell, now we just need to sell a snowball to an Eskimo.
"My buyout? I don’t know…eet eez very compleecated." -Ricky Rubio (when asked about his contract)
This is an example of how the Wolves take players with promise and squelch it. Sessions could still be a star, albeit not in Minn. We have a extremely poor record of letting people grow. It’s one of the things that makes me nervous about hoping for breakthroughs from Darko, Wes, Beasley, and Webster. We need it, but it rarely happens here.
by ogishkemuncie on Jul 18, 2010 10:20 PM CDT up reply actions
You're writing them off after one season?
That’s a little short sighted and pessimistic (realistic?).
You're not letting natural selection take its course! You're like the guy who invented the seatbelt...
Otherwise though I haven't been impressed
He can’t do anything on offense except shoot long low % jumpers and defensively he did not look good against Babbitt.
by Rascal Flatts on Jul 18, 2010 4:46 PM CDT up reply actions
Wes for tonight?
Any word if Wes is going to play tonight or sit it out?
Been hoping to see how he played since I’m up in my Strat-o-Matic hoops league (btw, if anyone’s interested in joining a Strat league, let me know) and debating between him and Greg Monroe… the top four are already off the board and I’ve got Durant on my squad at SF, so I think I’m going to take Monroe over Wes but it’d be nice to at least see Wes in action a bit!
Anyone willing to give a guess as to Wes’ stat line this year? I’m thinking 15-6-3 and a career with maybe Richard Jefferson ceiling?
Yeah.
I was at my sister’s babysitting for her for the first game. So it turns out the only game I can’t watch ends up being the only game with the guy I most want to see?
by newfrickinshow on Jul 18, 2010 3:44 PM CDT up reply actions
15, 6, and 3 are all high
He won’t crack 30 minutes, especially if Beasley is playing some 3 and I just don’t see him being able to create enough offense for himself to get into double figures. I think he averages 25 MPG, 8 PPG, 3 RPG, and 1 APG, plus just under a steal and block. He’ll post solid all-around per minute numbers, but it won’t be anything that will put him in the running for ROY.
by Rascal Flatts on Jul 18, 2010 4:56 PM CDT up reply actions
13, 4 and 2.5
25 minutes/game Johnson shouldn’t have much problem averaging above 10 points per game. Beasley historically has better better offensively and defensively at the PF spot, so it’s likely that is where the bulk of his minutes will come from. 30 minutes at PF for Love, 18 for Beasley, 12 minutes/game for Beasley at SF, 10 or so for Hayward, and 26 for Wesley. Of course with Johnson’s wing skills he may get a little time here at there at SG spot too.
by newfrickinshow on Jul 18, 2010 7:15 PM CDT up reply actions
I'd go with Monroe
no one to seriously challenge him for C minutes… though he is a little small for C so maybe he will get abused. It’s a chance that I’d take.
Wes has too much competition for the 2 and 3 spots with Ellington, Brewer, Webster, Lazar, Beasley, and possibly Bjelica (and possibly Ridnour and/or whoever we get for Sessions).
Rudy Gay: Feeding his family since 7/1/10
I disagree
I think Johnson’s ceiling is closer to that of Danny Granger than Richard Jefferson. He will probably play about 25 MPG and average 14-6-2 with a shade over 1 block and 1 steal this year. He’s not a guy that creates shots for others. But he’ll get a lot of layups because of the transition game and hit a lot of open jumpers created by the triangle in the half court.
Reusse
Should have some sort of disclaimer for any basketball related articles. The hatchet job he wrote on Love after that first preseason game against the Bulls is only exceeded by the one he wrote on Rick Rickert declaring him completely ready for the NBA.
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