Seems like Farfa might be struggling with how to write up a win since he’s had so few to cover 🙂

The game was a complete rollercoaster, no idea how to begin to describe it so I can’t blame Farfa. I’d probably be okay if he just wrote ‘BOBBY PORTIS’ and then 40 lines of exclamation marks.

In general this team has been a rollercoaster each game with huge point swings. It’s oddly thrilling and soul crushing all at once. Hopefully last night was a turning point as Randle realized he didn’t need to force it and Fiz looked to run plays with Randle getting the ball while already in motion.

I used to see Frank set offball screens, but he also used to run a half-assed PnR. He’s worse than he used to be. He stands at the elbow and waits. That’s not what Pop runs, not seeing how Pop’s offense has a role for that.

Could it be true that Frank hasn’t made a shot yet? (in 25 min total play)

I see Frank set offball screens all the time, actually. When I saw him with France, he was actually playing well within a system, when, you know, PLAYS were being run and he knew what to do. He doesn’t know what to do outside of running a play, and it seems he does try, but he has always played with ridiculous ball hogs or players/coaches not trying to run a play. I’m not saying he was destined to be Steph Curry if not for Fiz, but he might have been something better. Speaking from experience, it’s easy to break the spirit of a teenager.

but he passes way better! his game has always been about transition and getting buckets when his defender is slightly out of position… pelicans did a good job with getting him in space while hes moving which means his defender has to change directions to stop a big guy like randle… whether off picks or cuts… our ball movement has generally sucked…

hes an ok iso guy but thats not the part that makes him good…. theres some hope that he has ability to create off the dribble as hes shown flashes but right now its not looking good…. he will get better tho… and i think involving him with rj more is the solution for now…

Meanwhile – it’s been mentioned by others but Randle as primary ballhandler iso guy is not working. Watching his turnovers last night – a bunch of travels, ball stolen by doubles, etc. Instead, Fiz got him on the roll and let him playmake from deep in the paint when the defense collapsed on him. That’s the way to use Randle – nice adjustment by Fiz. Let him work another year on iso moves etc before bringing it out in live action — that part of his game is not fully baked yet.

Yeah Randle’s been a 50th percentile ISO guy and 80th percentile in PnR. It’s not rocket science to figure out PnR along with catching and driving off motion maximizes his effectiveness. The nice thing is that such an offense rates to maximize RJ’s effectiveness as well. Not to mention both are willing passers. Randle and RJ – they get a step and it’s game over. And also be nice to watch a combo PnR motion offense.

Mitch being able to hit wide open shots would help RJ and Randle a lot in this regard. Mitch hitting that 7ft shot last night without hesitation is encouraging. In the previous game he was wide open at the foul line and didn’t even think about shooting. Fiz appears to have given him the green light but it’s Mitch who’s Frank-like in his timidity. We need Frank to hit open 3’s and Mitch to shoot wide open 10-13 footers.

Possible it would be a salary dump in conjunction – ie. we take a guy who is overpaid and whose contract doesn’t expire until summer 2021 + a 1st round pick as sweetener, send back Morris.

Yes I proposed a possible trade at deadline where we take Dieng for a year. I don’t think the front office thinks this way. If they think AD is an option, Morris on the team would be more attractive to him than Dieng. Of course, perhaps the Minnesota pick could be part of a trade this summer. Other than TWolves I couldn’t find a team where we could carry a bad contract for a year. But I looked at about 6 teams so maybe there’s another one out there or a surprise playoff contender pops up.

per 36 -> 19.6p, 6.3r, 1.6a
usage down to 18.4 from 22
taking 48.5% of his shots from 3
FTR up to 36.5 from 24.7
TS of 65.3

2p% still sucks (41%) but even that is an uptick from last year (38.7%).

He just seems a lot more decisive this year and has improved his shot selection a ton – yesterday he didn’t take a single bad shot. He missed a couple layups which is a consistent problem, but at least they’re layups and not floaters from 8 feet away. Not sure if there are drills to improve touch around the basket, but those layups he missed were strong drives that just rimmed out a bit. You can see the glimmers of something pretty good there.

Possible it would be a salary dump in conjunction – ie. we take a guy who is overpaid and whose contract doesn’t expire until summer 2021 + a 1st round pick as sweetener, send back Morris.

I was thinking Morris to Minnesota for that Dieng contract (matching salary, one more year) and their first round pick. But it probably costs them a 1st just to dump that contract, so is that like giving Morris away for free? I don’t know.

But honestly I’m afraid of these guys even talking to Minnesota, lest Andrew Wiggins’ name comes up.