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Andy Grimsrud

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commenter for
33 weeks 15 hours

Recent Comments

Posted on 04/21/13 at 01:44 am in response to Wolves denouement: 2012-13 season recap and final grades

I generally agree with your takes on most of the players. I'm probably more down on Williams than your C+. If expectations heavily weigh on the grade (Dante's A-, for instance) then I'd probably give Derrick something closer to a D. He was the 2nd Overall Pick, drafted with a "pure scorer" label and he was almost completely unable to influence game outcomes after the second Kevin Love injury -- when the ball was handed to him to do just that.

On Shved -- a D is harsh. He was a...

Posted on 04/22/13 at 12:24 pm in response to Wolves denouement: 2012-13 season recap and final grades

Shved still deserves the higher grade.

For an extended period of time, Shved played at a higher level at a greater frequency than Williams has at any point in his 2 NBA seasons. That's my opinion, anyway. Some combination of fatigue, frustration and opposing adjustments based on scouting sent him in a downward spiral in the second's second half.

But on balance, I can't really get behind a higher grade for Williams (consistently disappointing with very few breakout...

Posted on 04/22/13 at 05:56 pm in response to Wolves denouement: 2012-13 season recap and final grades

Well, in this context the grade is a D -- tied for David Kahn for worst in the organization and more than a full letter grade below Derrick Williams -- so I don't know if that's true even by your rating of his game. Unless you think he's a D- or F, or you're referring to what you generally perceive to be the common understanding of Shved's value (probably the case, I suppose.)

A per-36 minutes comparison of the two here:

...

Posted on 04/04/13 at 11:12 am in response to Don’t break up the Wolves! Exhibit A: Chase Budinger

Britt,

I too have enjoyed the Return of Bud and the newly found floor spacing and improved player movement that has come with it. In a vacuum I would say that retaining Budinger is the smart -- maybe even obvious play.

But I'll [sort of] play Devil's Advocate. Tied to free agency decisions is the question of salary, and I don't have a good feel for what Bud can command on the open market. If you take a quick look at upcoming free agents (list here:...

Posted on 04/04/13 at 12:45 pm in response to Don’t break up the Wolves! Exhibit A: Chase Budinger

$3-4 Million per, for 2-3 years would be a good deal for the reasons you mention. I guess my fear is that the team will let Pekovic walk, re-sign Bud for something like those numbers (or slightly bigger and longer term) and announce that Budinger was the team's top priority all along.

For what it's worth the free agents I listed were on the high end of the fame and fortune spectrum. There are guys like Anthony Morrow, Brandon Rush, Francisco Garcia, Matt Barnes, Mike Dunleavy,...

Posted on 03/21/13 at 08:46 pm in response to Wolves assistant coach Bill Bayno Q&A: ‘All of the injuries hurt us on defense’

Bayno knows what's up.

I really agreed with everything he said about Shved, and Rubio and Shved as a pair. Especially this:

"...he is not handling ball as much, and that affected him mentally."

Even earlier in the season when Shved was playing well it seemed like he'd start slow and really pick it up after he was able to handle the ball throughout the game. I hate to see him defer so much on basic ball handling like dribbling up the floor (you'll notice him often hold...

Posted on 03/08/13 at 03:19 pm in response to Wolves silver linings: 5 reasons for genuine optimism from the 2012-13 season

First, great piece. Agree with almost all of it, especially Williams' tease and Rubio's leadership.

Second, one disagreement. If we're talking about the Wolves' own pick -- the one likely to fall between 3rd and 10th Overall (there's currently a big logjam: http://espn.go.com/nba/standings/_/group/1) then I disagree with: "Take the most accurate outside shooter among the off-...

Posted on 03/05/13 at 06:38 pm in response to Why the Wolves and Flip Saunders should not reunite

Britt,

Is it fair to characterize your view -- to make a warped Hoosiers analogy -- as "Adelman coaches, Kahn stays. Kahn goes, Adelman goes?" Based on what you've written on the F.O. recently, it sounds like Kahn's irrelevance is a stabilizing factor that keeps The Adelman Family interested in staying on.

To phrase this differently, if the Wolves went a direction different than both Saunders or Kahn for its POBO -- say, somebody currently working under Daryl Morey or RC...

Posted on 02/25/13 at 03:53 pm in response to Wolves’ final eight weeks — the potential pros and cons

Britt--

I wonder if Adelman's ability in Minnesota to have his sons working in relatively high responsibility roles (one is a player development coach, another is director of player personnel, is there a 3rd?) will keep him coaching the Wolves for a few more years. Not only might having close family around make working beyond standard retirement age more palatable, but it is also a great opportunity for his sons that I would guess is not otherwise available to them--at least not...

Posted on 02/26/13 at 02:10 pm in response to Wolves’ final eight weeks — the potential pros and cons

Good points. It's pretty difficult -- for me, anyway -- to predict whether a new coach will exceed or fall below the expectations set by his playing personnel. The Thibodeau thing sure seemed like a great hire just because he was so widely credited with Boston's innovative defense. That has worked out. But there are plenty of counterexamples.

It doesn't seem like Adelman's system is so unique anymore. There has been a ton written about how he doesn't have a rigid system and how he...