Wolves land AYO

[somuchyummy]

I think we added a ringer.

[DonaldDouchebag]

I missed the game the other night so I'm pumped to see young Ayo go tonight!

Got to say, it was a breath of fresh air to watch the other night.

The other night, it looked like him and Jaden were already synced up. The idea of having a PG that can unlock more of Jaden's potential is very exciting.

His defense is legit. I'm not shitting on DDV because he's playing out of position but his defense relies more on making occasional hustle, splash plays. Ayo's defense is noticeably better than DDV, Conley, and Bones.

He had a couple of those plays where Jim Pete's only reaction is to chuckle at what he witnessed.

Nice! The highlights looked pretty rad. The fastbreak give and go to Jaden for the dunk was cool as hell.

[SHAFA]

I think we added a ringer.

So far he's basically looked like a mix of Nickeil's defense and secondary playmaking with Shannon's speed and ability to get downhill.

I like it.

[somuchyummy]

I also don't feel the need to break up the band. Feels like we keep talking about who we need to trade. Do we need to trade anyone?

We've got a top five offensive talent in the game. A number two guy averaging 22/7/5.5 as our starting PF. A legit DPOY candidate. A legit 6th MOY candidate. An all-round top end talent in Jaden who is a defensive stopper hitting 45% of his threes this year (4th best pct in the league). An energetic three point guy in DDV who has the fifth most makes in the league this season (170) at 39%. A new two way addition in Ayo who has the look of someone who can be a valuable starter for years to come (fingers crossed on resigning him). A high energy bench scorer in Bones (10.8 ppg over the last ten - and 15.8 in the last four). Two young defensive killers in Beringer and Clark. Some very interesting potential in TSJ, Phillips and Rocco.

If anything at this point, I think we need to let it percolate - and we absolutely need Finch to figure out how to inspire this talented group to be their best on a nightly basis.

[twolves31]

I also don't feel the need to break up the band. Feels like we keep talking about who we need to trade. Do we need to trade anyone?

We've got a top five offensive talent in the game. A number two guy averaging 22/7/5.5 as our starting PF. A legit DPOY candidate. A legit 6th MOY candidate. An all-round top end talent in Jaden who is a defensive stopper hitting 45% of his threes this year (4th best pct in the league). An energetic three point guy in DDV who has the fifth most makes in the league this season (170) at 39%. A new two way addition in Ayo who has the look of someone who can be a valuable starter for years to come (fingers crossed on resigning him). A high energy bench scorer in Bones (10.8 ppg over the last ten - and 15.8 in the last four). Two young defensive killers in Beringer and Clark. Some very interesting potential in TSJ, Phillips and Rocco.

If anything at this point, I think we need to let it percolate - and we absolutely need Finch to figure out how to inspire this talented group to be their best on a nightly basis.

It's past the deadline, so we have the rest of the year and payoffs to see how this team looks together with Ayo included. This summer we need to worry about re-signing Ayo who will get a nice raise, and Clark/Bones who shouldn't cost too much. The next season we have to worry about re-signing Donte who is an unrestricted free agent, and Randle/Gobert both have player options.

[weimy froob]

I also don't feel the need to break up the band. Feels like we keep talking about who we need to trade. Do we need to trade anyone?

We've got a top five offensive talent in the game. A number two guy averaging 22/7/5.5 as our starting PF. A legit DPOY candidate. A legit 6th MOY candidate. An all-round top end talent in Jaden who is a defensive stopper hitting 45% of his threes this year (4th best pct in the league). An energetic three point guy in DDV who has the fifth most makes in the league this season (170) at 39%. A new two way addition in Ayo who has the look of someone who can be a valuable starter for years to come (fingers crossed on resigning him). A high energy bench scorer in Bones (10.8 ppg over the last ten - and 15.8 in the last four). Two young defensive killers in Beringer and Clark. Some very interesting potential in TSJ, Phillips and Rocco.

If anything at this point, I think we need to let it percolate - and we absolutely need Finch to figure out how to inspire this talented group to be their best on a nightly basis.

if everybody stays healthy there's plenty of time for things to percolate this season/post-season--and no serious trade discussion should even be had until after this one plays out. I saw this suggestion from someone in the replies to Dane's tweet about Naz playing the three sometime and I think it would be a good parameter that Finch should work with post-all star break.

There's 96 total minutes to give to our frontcourt
Randle -30
Gobert -30
Reid - 26
Beringer - 10

when someone pushed back that top players aren't getting enough minutes he pointed out that J-Dub and Chet are averaging about 29 minutes this season. I think you need to see what you have in Joan and the sooner the better. he could be a real gem, but you'll never know this year if he doesn't play. Jaylen and TSJ looked to be players that would allow Nickeil to move on and pick up most of the slack. more minutes for them this season (even with TSJ's injury problems, the court time he did get showed some real holes in his game.) have shown that idea to be a little premature.

anyways, no matter how the season plays out there's a real good chance that they run it back because of all the points you made. they just might not be able to find the value in a trade/trades that would make the team better next year. Joan minutes would still need to be addressed in that scenario imo.

[weimy froob]

I also don't feel the need to break up the band. Feels like we keep talking about who we need to trade. Do we need to trade anyone?

We've got a top five offensive talent in the game. A number two guy averaging 22/7/5.5 as our starting PF. A legit DPOY candidate. A legit 6th MOY candidate. An all-round top end talent in Jaden who is a defensive stopper hitting 45% of his threes this year (4th best pct in the league). An energetic three point guy in DDV who has the fifth most makes in the league this season (170) at 39%. A new two way addition in Ayo who has the look of someone who can be a valuable starter for years to come (fingers crossed on resigning him). A high energy bench scorer in Bones (10.8 ppg over the last ten - and 15.8 in the last four). Two young defensive killers in Beringer and Clark. Some very interesting potential in TSJ, Phillips and Rocco.

If anything at this point, I think we need to let it percolate - and we absolutely need Finch to figure out how to inspire this talented group to be their best on a nightly basis.

It's past the deadline, so we have the rest of the year and payoffs to see how this team looks together with Ayo included. This summer we need to worry about re-signing Ayo who will get a nice raise, and Clark/Bones who shouldn't cost too much. The next season we have to worry about re-signing Donte who is an unrestricted free agent, and Randle/Gobert both have player options.

well there is that. no need to put the cart before the horse and those player options could come into play.

[somuchyummy]

I also don't feel the need to break up the band. Feels like we keep talking about who we need to trade. Do we need to trade anyone?

We've got a top five offensive talent in the game. A number two guy averaging 22/7/5.5 as our starting PF. A legit DPOY candidate. A legit 6th MOY candidate. An all-round top end talent in Jaden who is a defensive stopper hitting 45% of his threes this year (4th best pct in the league). An energetic three point guy in DDV who has the fifth most makes in the league this season (170) at 39%. A new two way addition in Ayo who has the look of someone who can be a valuable starter for years to come (fingers crossed on resigning him). A high energy bench scorer in Bones (10.8 ppg over the last ten - and 15.8 in the last four). Two young defensive killers in Beringer and Clark. Some very interesting potential in TSJ, Phillips and Rocco.

If anything at this point, I think we need to let it percolate - and we absolutely need Finch to figure out how to inspire this talented group to be their best on a nightly basis.

if everybody stays healthy there's plenty of time for things to percolate this season/post-season--and no serious trade discussion should even be had until after this one plays out. I saw this suggestion from someone in the replies to Dane's tweet about Naz playing the three sometime and I think it would be a good parameter that Finch should work with post-all star break.

There's 96 total minutes to give to our frontcourt
Randle -30
Gobert -30
Reid - 26
Beringer - 10

when someone pushed back that top players aren't getting enough minutes he pointed out that J-Dub and Chet are averaging about 29 minutes this season. I think you need to see what you have in Joan and the sooner the better. he could be a real gem, but you'll never know this year if he doesn't play. Jaylen and TSJ looked to be players that would allow Nickeil to move on and pick up most of the slack. more minutes for them this season (even with TSJ's injury problems, the court time he did get showed some real holes in his game.) have shown that idea to be a little premature.

anyways, no matter how the season plays out there's a real good chance that they run it back because of all the points you made. they just might not be able to find the value in a trade/trades that would make the team better next year. Joan minutes would still need to be addressed in that scenario imo.

I think fewer minutes for the main crew isn't a bad idea at all. Not resting them, not having games off - but simply reducing minutes. There's a reason why OKC is fresh in the playoffs - and we've seen a number of contenders sputter who have worn their guys out during the regular season.

[BuDG123]

Ayo is in the upper echelon of Transition Efficiency. Coming in, he would lead all Timberwolves in that metric including #2, Ant..they are up in the 94% league wide - he plays off the ball in transition well and we needed that.

So far so good.

[A$$MAN]

I also don't feel the need to break up the band. Feels like we keep talking about who we need to trade. Do we need to trade anyone?

We've got a top five offensive talent in the game. A number two guy averaging 22/7/5.5 as our starting PF. A legit DPOY candidate. A legit 6th MOY candidate. An all-round top end talent in Jaden who is a defensive stopper hitting 45% of his threes this year (4th best pct in the league). An energetic three point guy in DDV who has the fifth most makes in the league this season (170) at 39%. A new two way addition in Ayo who has the look of someone who can be a valuable starter for years to come (fingers crossed on resigning him). A high energy bench scorer in Bones (10.8 ppg over the last ten - and 15.8 in the last four). Two young defensive killers in Beringer and Clark. Some very interesting potential in TSJ, Phillips and Rocco.

If anything at this point, I think we need to let it percolate - and we absolutely need Finch to figure out how to inspire this talented group to be their best on a nightly basis.

if everybody stays healthy there's plenty of time for things to percolate this season/post-season--and no serious trade discussion should even be had until after this one plays out. I saw this suggestion from someone in the replies to Dane's tweet about Naz playing the three sometime and I think it would be a good parameter that Finch should work with post-all star break.

There's 96 total minutes to give to our frontcourt
Randle -30
Gobert -30
Reid - 26
Beringer - 10

when someone pushed back that top players aren't getting enough minutes he pointed out that J-Dub and Chet are averaging about 29 minutes this season. I think you need to see what you have in Joan and the sooner the better. he could be a real gem, but you'll never know this year if he doesn't play. Jaylen and TSJ looked to be players that would allow Nickeil to move on and pick up most of the slack. more minutes for them this season (even with TSJ's injury problems, the court time he did get showed some real holes in his game.) have shown that idea to be a little premature.

anyways, no matter how the season plays out there's a real good chance that they run it back because of all the points you made. they just might not be able to find the value in a trade/trades that would make the team better next year. Joan minutes would still need to be addressed in that scenario imo.

I think fewer minutes for the main crew isn't a bad idea at all. Not resting them, not having games off - but simply reducing minutes. There's a reason why OKC is fresh in the playoffs - and we've seen a number of contenders sputter who have worn their guys out during the regular season.

You could easily cut back minutes, starting with Rudy. Even if Beringer is only getting 8-10 minutes a night, that is huge for development.

[weimy froob]

[EmeraldAxe]

If anyone needs to be changed it's Finch

[Hornets]

Bottom line is that Ayo is 10x better than Mike at this point and that's a BIG plus for our Pups!

[Catalyst]

Bottom line is that Ayo is 10x better than Mike at this point and that's a BIG plus for our Pups!

Hope Finch agrees and isn't just waiting to put Mike back in the lineups.

[Hornets]

Bottom line is that Ayo is 10x better than Mike at this point and that's a BIG plus for our Pups!

Hope Finch agrees and isn't just waiting to put Mike back in the lineups.

Unless there's several injuries, Mike should nevah see the court again other than garbage time...

[Mnwild1128]

This is what the minutes load, should be!

Donte: 28
Ant: 34
Jaden: 32
Julius: 32
Gobert: 30

Ayo: 28
Naz: 26
Bones: 14
Beringer: 8
Clark: 8


Rotation min distribution:

Pg: Donte 28, Bones 14, Ant 6
Sg: Ant 28, Ayo 12, Clark 8
Sf: Jaden 32, Ayo 16
Pf: Julius 32, Naz 16
C: Gobert 30, Naz 10, Beringer 8

[YBBR]

This is what the minutes load, should be!

Donte: 28
Ant: 34
Jaden: 32
Julius: 32
Gobert: 30

Ayo: 28
Naz: 26
Bones: 14
Beringer: 8
Clark: 8


Rotation min distribution:

Pg: Donte 28, Bones 14, Ant 6
Sg: Ant 28, Ayo 12, Clark 8
Sf: Jaden 32, Ayo 16
Pf: Julius 32, Naz 16
C: Gobert 30, Naz 10, Beringer 8

Pretty good. I'm for the Naz Reid at the 3 in one stint a game to open up room for Beringer and you play big. Naz/Randle/Beringer. Try that out. You can take 2 minutes from each of our main guys too and do something with for the more end of rotation gang. Either all of them per game or a few of them. And now you have a some real minutes for Beringer or even Clark and you can play em like pretty decent minutes at times. Or even Bones if he's cooking and you want to play him 20+ minutes.

I think eventually you want Ayo starting at PG too. He feels like a real combo guard and can play the 1 next to Ant or Donte. He's fine at either guard position. Like he can PG next to Ant or Donte or can play the SG next to Bones.

[bubu dubu.]

This is what the minutes load, should be!

Donte: 28
Ant: 34
Jaden: 32
Julius: 32
Gobert: 30

Ayo: 28
Naz: 26
Bones: 14
Beringer: 8
Clark: 8


Rotation min distribution:

Pg: Donte 28, Bones 14, Ant 6
Sg: Ant 28, Ayo 12, Clark 8
Sf: Jaden 32, Ayo 16
Pf: Julius 32, Naz 16
C: Gobert 30, Naz 10, Beringer 8

Pretty good. I'm for the Naz Reid at the 3 in one stint a game to open up room for Beringer and you play big. Naz/Randle/Beringer. Try that out. You can take 2 minutes from each of our main guys too and do something with for the more end of rotation gang. Either all of them per game or a few of them. And now you have a some real minutes for Beringer or even Clark and you can play em like pretty decent minutes at times. Or even Bones if he's cooking and you want to play him 20+ minutes.

I think eventually you want Ayo starting at PG too. He feels like a real combo guard and can play the 1 next to Ant or Donte. He's fine at either guard position. Like he can PG next to Ant or Donte or can play the SG next to Bones.

breh, Naz at the 3? I can't see a world where that works.

[YBBR]

This is what the minutes load, should be!

Donte: 28
Ant: 34
Jaden: 32
Julius: 32
Gobert: 30

Ayo: 28
Naz: 26
Bones: 14
Beringer: 8
Clark: 8


Rotation min distribution:

Pg: Donte 28, Bones 14, Ant 6
Sg: Ant 28, Ayo 12, Clark 8
Sf: Jaden 32, Ayo 16
Pf: Julius 32, Naz 16
C: Gobert 30, Naz 10, Beringer 8

Pretty good. I'm for the Naz Reid at the 3 in one stint a game to open up room for Beringer and you play big. Naz/Randle/Beringer. Try that out. You can take 2 minutes from each of our main guys too and do something with for the more end of rotation gang. Either all of them per game or a few of them. And now you have a some real minutes for Beringer or even Clark and you can play em like pretty decent minutes at times. Or even Bones if he's cooking and you want to play him 20+ minutes.

I think eventually you want Ayo starting at PG too. He feels like a real combo guard and can play the 1 next to Ant or Donte. He's fine at either guard position. Like he can PG next to Ant or Donte or can play the SG next to Bones.

breh, Naz at the 3? I can't see a world where that works.

Really for like 6 minutes a game? And then you can play more Beringer a little bit? See how it works? He guards on the perimeter anyway as a 4 now. Why not!? He'll get beat occasionally but he gets switched onto guards now and has to try and stay with them too.

[YBBR]

Finch has done it a tiny, tiny bit. But he's definitely more apt to play more like a 3 guard thing with Ant or Clark at the 3. Or even Ayo now.

[bubu dubu.]

Pretty good. I'm for the Naz Reid at the 3 in one stint a game to open up room for Beringer and you play big. Naz/Randle/Beringer. Try that out. You can take 2 minutes from each of our main guys too and do something with for the more end of rotation gang. Either all of them per game or a few of them. And now you have a some real minutes for Beringer or even Clark and you can play em like pretty decent minutes at times. Or even Bones if he's cooking and you want to play him 20+ minutes.

I think eventually you want Ayo starting at PG too. He feels like a real combo guard and can play the 1 next to Ant or Donte. He's fine at either guard position. Like he can PG next to Ant or Donte or can play the SG next to Bones.

breh, Naz at the 3? I can't see a world where that works.

Really for like 6 minutes a game? And then you can play more Beringer a little bit? See how it works? He guards on the perimeter anyway as a 4 now. Why not!? He'll get beat occasionally but he gets switched onto guards now and has to try and stay with them too.

I'm all for Beringer getting minutes, but I still dont see a world where Naz/Randle/Beringer on the court together makes sense. I'd rather Beringer get minutes at the expense of Gobert. Gobert's been very solid this year, but him playing over 30 mpg does not bode well for a long playoff run for him.

[SHAFA]

Finch has done it a tiny, tiny bit. But he's definitely more apt to play more like a 3 guard thing with Ant or Clark at the 3. Or even Ayo now.

I felt like I'd seen supersized lineups at various points too.

Gobert-Randle-Reid have gotten 50 minutes together. O-rating 118.5, D-rating 100.

[twolves31]

breh, Naz at the 3? I can't see a world where that works.

Really for like 6 minutes a game? And then you can play more Beringer a little bit? See how it works? He guards on the perimeter anyway as a 4 now. Why not!? He'll get beat occasionally but he gets switched onto guards now and has to try and stay with them too.

I'm all for Beringer getting minutes, but I still dont see a world where Naz/Randle/Beringer on the court together makes sense. I'd rather Beringer get minutes at the expense of Gobert. Gobert's been very solid this year, but him playing over 30 mpg does not bode well for a long playoff run for him.

They tried it once, for about 8 seconds with Jaden and Ant. Jaden picked up 2 fouls in a few seconds and the experiment ended before it got a chance.

[YBBR]

Finch has done it a tiny, tiny bit. But he's definitely more apt to play more like a 3 guard thing with Ant or Clark at the 3. Or even Ayo now.

I felt like I'd seen supersized lineups at various points too.

Gobert-Randle-Reid have gotten 50 minutes together. O-rating 118.5, D-rating 100.

I don't know if we have to go this far and it probably doesn't have the ballhandling to make it work as an effective lineup.

Ant
Jaden
Naz
Randle
Gobert

I was always curious about this lineup to see if it would work. Where your team is just big as hell. It's probably a tad too crazy. Especially with Ayo now you could run:

Ayo
Ant
Naz
Randle
Gobert

I think this might be better because you have more ballhandling and still have good matchups on the guards then you just get bigger starting at the 3 and play your 3 best bigs.

[weimy froob]

Finch said in his presser that he thought he played great tonight. but something isn't clicking while he's on the court. again tonight he's got the highest minus number.

[HeHateMe]

Finch said in his presser that he thought he played great tonight. but something isn't clicking while he's on the court. again tonight he's got the highest minus number.

Seems like it takes some time for people to get acclimated here. Also, wouldn't it be nice if Jaden had some consistency offensively?

[somuchyummy]

I think Ayo will be fine. he's been here for 6 entire games - and if it hasn't been fabulous, he's still given us a new look, plays tough D and is averaging in double figures. I'm quite confident it will get better as he gets worked into how we do things.

[j-one]

Nice trade. Extend him please. I like him more than DDV.

[A$$MAN]

Ayo is a great example that having a PG on this team doesn't really mean anything. Edwards still has the ball in his hands, initiating the offense every second he's on the court.

Ayo is being asked to fill our "point guard" spot just like I expected...go stand in the corner and wait for the ball to maybe get swung your way.

[twolves31]

Ayo is a great example that having a PG on this team doesn't really mean anything. Edwards still has the ball in his hands, initiating the offense every second he's on the court.

Ayo is being asked to fill our "point guard" spot just like I expected...go stand in the corner and wait for the ball to maybe get swung your way.

Ayo is bringing the ball up at times, was he a point guard in Chicago? They had Giddey, Tre Jones, White, I believe Ayo handled the rock some. We are still implementing Ayo, and he is adjusting to a new team and schemes. In Chicago, he was used to a 5 out system where it was easier to attack the basket. With Rudy in the lane, you can tell the minutes he plays without Rudy are the minutes he is more than likely to attack the hoop. But the minutes with Rudy, are going to be the best defensive minutes, and can lead to fast breaks. I think of Ayo as more of a combo guard, but he seems to be our best player at dribbling it up the court against full court pressure, in the small sample size we've seen. Right now it feels like Ayo is deferring a bit to Bones to Ant to whoever the other guard is out there.