Hey there everybody! Thanks for stopping by. Hope you brought a veggie sandwich, some lentil soup and a bunch of questions. They're starting to pile up so I'll get to as many as I can in an hour or so
Flip hasn't specified other than to say he's going to measure KG's minutes and that he's not a 30-minute a night player anymore. I would say most nights 18-20, although given the emotion tonight it might be a bit more than that
He doesn't know me from Phil Ervin. I never covered him other than the weeks leading up to his draft night. And the other reason of course is those two guys are legends and I'm not
DON'T pick for need. Pick for whoever the most talented player is at whatever spot they pick. Could be any position, from point guard right through center. I think they'd probably prefer a big if they had their druthers or maybe a transformational shooting guard like D'Angelo Russell if they get the chance
Don't do it! That stuff clogs your arteries and kills you.
We don't see practices so I can't really comment on that but he's also around afterward and he does a lot of video with Ryan Saunders after practices and before games. I certainly don't think it's an issue
He's a rookie, doesn't have much of a feel for what they're doing yet and he interpreted coaches' instructions that he be aggressive into meaning score a lot, so he threw up way too many shots. I'm sure he got the message from them since then
I don't know, they'll probably catch and surpass the Lakers. The schedule these next few weeks should help keep them from jumping too high too fast. It'll take some work to get out of that Philly-NY-Lakers grouping
Yes, you got it. There's a lot of that kind of thing that goes around
Yes, suddenly they have great length at PF for defending pick and roll with Payne's 7-4 wingspan and KG's arms, even if he doesn't mean like he once did he still knows where to be. That area should improve significantly. And don't forget that any long-term discussion of the power forward spot should include Nemanja Bjelica, who they'll probably sign this summer
No, not really. He didn't talk in much specifics other than to name the obvious, Wiggins, LaVine, etc.
No, still under construction. I'm hearing it'll probably be May before they and the Lynx get in there
No, next coach I presume will be Fred Hoiberg. Or possibly Tom Thibodeau if he doesn't return Bulls. Whoever the next coach is -- and that very well may not be next year or even the year after -- will have both a Flip and KG connection
Best I can do is it's a matter of principle with Flip and he doesn't want to start setting precedents. He says unless it benefits team, he doesn't believe in paying guys to play someplace else just as a favor to them
Yes, but not until he gets a real backup point guard this summer
The longer Rubio plays for Flip, the less likely that becomes. The only way he'd do it is if he can get a true scoring point guard, a guy like Bledsoe but he's not going anywhere soon now that Dragic was the guy to go and not him
I think the power forwards are the most obvious answer because they play his position, but I think if Flip made the move with anyone in mind it was Wiggins. KG was his last teenage superstar, Wiggins is the next. I think the KG move is an investment in Wiggins as much as anything
Yes, that's the X factor. A guy like Rubio really could make a difference and give a new life to KG's game. He didn't play with anybody like that in Brooklyn for sure. Except to see Rubio get very creative in ways in working the pick and pop with KG. His legs won't get him to the basket much anymore, but he can still stand out there and shoot after Ricky does the work creating shots
He doesn't find him many minutes, if any at all. Did so the other night only because they were 5 players short
They're not alone. Most every NBA team has its share, some more than others
