Rick Adleman's Kings & Timberwolves similarities...

[NoLimits77]

I've been looking at two of Rick Adleman's teams (Kings and Wolves) and I'm realizing some similarities between them. Of course, most of you know that the early 2000s Sacramento Kings were one of the top teams in the NBA.

Their starting lineup generally looked like this:
PG-Mike Bibby
SG-Doug Christie
SF-Peja Stojakovic
PF-Chris Webber
C-Vlade Divac

11/12 Wolves Starting Lineup (when they were all actually healthy)
PG-Ricky Rubio
SG-Luke Ridnour
SF-Wesley Johnson
PF-Kevin Love
C-Nikola Pekovic

The clear similarities are two dynamic point guards, two power forwards who are the best on their team, and two European big men who focus on rebounding and using their size. Also, there is one defensive specialist one each team, Doug Christie for the Kings and Wesley Johnson for the Wolves.

The similarities between these teams however become more apparent when you look at the moves the Wolves are making this offseason. They have already signed SF Chase Budinger and SG Brandon Roy. SF Nicolas Batum is also very likely to end up in Minnesota.

These acquisitions will make the lineup look something more like this:
PG-Ricky Rubio
SG-Luke Ridnour or Brandon Roy (depending on how well Roy rebounds from his knee surgery)
SF-Nicolas Batum or Chase Budinger
PF-Kevin Love
C-Nikola Pekovic

Now let's look at the checklist for creating an early 2000s Kings-like team:
>Dominant PF as team leader...check
>European Big Man around 7 feet, great rebounding skills, plays tough...check
>SF who can shoot the ball well, defend tough...check, with extra athleticism
>SG who can defend well, hit three pointers when necessary...sort of check
>PG who can drive the ball, pull-up for shots, and pass well...check, with better passing ability and less shooting ability
>energetic 5th man who plays the guard position and likes to attack the basket...mostly check, whether that 5th man be Roy or Ridnour.
>Amazing team chemistry...yet to be determined

I'm just saying that it really seems that Adleman has modeled or at least unintentionally created a team in Minnesota that nearly mirrors the type of team he had in Sacramento in the early 2000s. I'm hoping Adleman can figure out how to make this team gel because if they do, this team could be feared in the playoffs the next few years.

[AlexBrady]

Re: Rick Adleman's Kings & Timberwolves similarities...

To be honest, I don't see the similarities. For sure, the Kings were talented and finesse-oriented but they were also clutch time losers. Not exactly inspirational.

Mike Bibby was a shoot first guy while Ricky Rubio looks to pass. Chris Webber was a finesse player, a jump shooter, passer, and handler. Kevin Love has become a good auxiliary scorer in addition to his outstanding board-work. Since neither guy could/can play defense, I wouldn't call them "dominant". Nikola Pekovic is a banger. Vlade Divac was mostly a passer who specialized in flopping. Divac was strictly a finesse rebounder, which is why he averaged 1 rebound for every 4.1 minutes in the playoffs. Thats good for a power forward, not a center.

Certainly, Doug Christie was an outstanding wing defender. But Wesley Johnson's defense is only a function of his athleticism and length, his fundamentals are atrocious.

>Webber didn't and Love hasn't led his team anywhere. Thats not dominance.
>Divac was a center who rebounded like a power forward. He was renowned for his flops.
>Peja Stojakovic could shoot accurately, but never in the clutch. He was a step slow and his defense was a league joke.
>Christie was an outstanding defender. Negative on the three point shooting though because he too was short-armed when a game was on the line.
>You're mostly right about Bibby. He was the only player on that team with any guts. But as previously stated, Bibby and Rubio are not alike.
>Sacramento's team chemistry was overrated. Why else would they have abandoned their Princetonian offense in the clutch (in favor of going one on one)? Perhaps because they really didn't trust each other?

Brandon Roy will help if he is a reasonable facsimile of his old self. They desperately need a shot-blocking center to cover for Love's ineptitude on that end. Hopefully Rubio makes a full recovery from his injury.

[NoLimits77]

Re: Rick Adleman's Kings & Timberwolves similarities...

What you said is probably more accurate than my original post which was sort of a "hey, they are sort of similar, let me write something up real quick on OperationSports and see what people think" (:P). But certainly the T'wolves can only go up next season and anything short of the playoffs will surely be a huge disappointment. And maybe dominant was the wrong word to choose, I basically was just trying to point out that the PF's on both teams are the best players on each.

If the T'wolves want to make it past the first round of the playoffs, they probably need to sign Batum and Roy needs to be at least slightly resemble his former self as you said. Hopefully Pekovic can improve defensively and Love can focus on more of his game rather than just shooting threes all game (last season he averaged 5.1 3's a game which imo is too much for a PF). Looking at their personalities, I'm not sure their is a sure-fire leader on the Wolves that can inspire the other players to really try hard and play as a team. Love should probably be that guy, but he's no KG in the huddle or anything.