BloopOracle wrote:Congrats to Tom Thibodeau for continuing to coach the best defensive team in the NBA, pretty good for a guy who the game had passed by.
Yeah doing it with a bunch of castoffs who were apparently bad defenders. We probably should have been listening to the experienced winners (Jimmy and Thibs) as opposed to the proven losers (Kat and Glen) when all of that went down.
To be fair... I don't remember KAT saying much of anything when it was going on and he was challenged.
Which can be a good thing... or a bad thing.
Makes me think of Shaq telling Donovan Mitchell that he didn't think he was good enough or whatever a couple days ago.. https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/shaquille-oneal-challenges-donovan-mitchell-postgame-interview-tense-exchange.html
BloopOracle wrote:Congrats to Tom Thibodeau for continuing to coach the best defensive team in the NBA, pretty good for a guy who the game had passed by.
Yeah doing it with a bunch of castoffs who were apparently bad defenders. We probably should have been listening to the experienced winners (Jimmy and Thibs) as opposed to the proven losers (Kat and Glen) when all of that went down.
Thibs the head coach could be infuriating. But Thibs the PBO was the problem. A top-notch PBO other than Thibs would have probably handed head coach, Thibodeau something like the following: Murray instead of Dunn, Collins or Anunoby instead of Patton. Moreover, a top-notch PBO other than Thibs probably would have dealt Wiggins rather than extend him and would have probably been far more skillful in his handling of the Butler situation at the end.
One more thought. I think Ryan would look a lot better than he's looked so far this season if Rosas had traded for Randle instead of Rubio.
I think Thibs isolated in either position could have been fine, the problem was always the dual role. A GM and coach have to have some oppositional perspectives in order to succeed. A coach always needs to try and get the most out of a player and believe he can get more, a GM needs to be brutally pragmatic about what a player is and can be. These viewpoints need to have opposition at points, which is likewise why I think the Wolves are failing now. When there are obvious problems, the system isnt working.
BloopOracle wrote:Congrats to Tom Thibodeau for continuing to coach the best defensive team in the NBA, pretty good for a guy who the game had passed by.
Yeah doing it with a bunch of castoffs who were apparently bad defenders. We probably should have been listening to the experienced winners (Jimmy and Thibs) as opposed to the proven losers (Kat and Glen) when all of that went down.
To be fair... I don't remember KAT saying much of anything when it was going on and he was challenged.
Which can be a good thing... or a bad thing.
Makes me think of Shaq telling Donovan Mitchell that he didn't think he was good enough or whatever a couple days ago.. https://awfulannouncing.com/nba/shaquille-oneal-challenges-donovan-mitchell-postgame-interview-tense-exchange.html
Fair enough. I suppose I always viewed it as one of those instances where silence speaks volumes. KAT completing quitting on the team in those handful of games before Jimmy was actually traded seemed to indicate his position on the whole thing, but yes there werent alot of public quotes to really know what KAT wanted. A lot of the reporting at the time and after did seem to indicate that KAT was happy to see Thibs and Jimmy leave.
BloopOracle wrote:Congrats to Tom Thibodeau for continuing to coach the best defensive team in the NBA, pretty good for a guy who the game had passed by.
Yeah doing it with a bunch of castoffs who were apparently bad defenders. We probably should have been listening to the experienced winners (Jimmy and Thibs) as opposed to the proven losers (Kat and Glen) when all of that went down.
Thibs the head coach could be infuriating. But Thibs the PBO was the problem. A top-notch PBO other than Thibs would have probably handed head coach, Thibodeau something like the following: Murray instead of Dunn, Collins or Anunoby instead of Patton. Moreover, a top-notch PBO other than Thibs probably would have dealt Wiggins rather than extend him and would have probably been far more skillful in his handling of the Butler situation at the end.
One more thought. I think Ryan would look a lot better than he's looked so far this season if Rosas had traded for Randle instead of Rubio.
L390- your first paragraph mirrors my sentiments almost exactly. I wasn't that fond of Thibs the coach, although I find myself cheering for him now in NY, but I really questioned all of the POBO moves you cite. Hindsight is 20/20 and I admit to making as many virtual draft mistakes as any (preferring Edwards to Ball may be my latest blunder), but Murray and Collins were my clear choices at the time, and I found Thibodeau oddly silent or absent during the unfortunate end to the Butler saga- it always seemed to me he could have done more than he did, if he did anything at all. All that said, I will always praise POBO Thibs for bringing Butler in. I was never high on LaVine and Dunn and had nobody I really loved at the time at our draft slot, so bringing a proven winner like Butler in exchange for pieces I wanted out anyway was brilliant in my opinion. And it was the only reason for our one playoff appearance in years.
I have a more difficult time getting behind your second paragraph though. Rubio has been a major disappointment this year and has looked nothing like the guy who was so effective just last year in Phoenix. Still, as much as I like J-Mac's ability to run an offense, his defense does not receive enough attention here for its inadequacy. I'm a big proponent of J-Mac and appreciate the effort he puts out on the defensive end, but he simply is not athletic enough to make up for his small size (his 6-3 wingspan is a full half a foot shorter than Rubio's and DLO's). The prospect of having either DLO or J-Mac as our defensive PG at all times was horrifying to me. Rubio as been a starter his entire career, and I attribute his drop off this season to coming off the bench for the first time ever. He is a superior facilitator and defender to both of our other options at PG, and I find it odd that Ryan continues to favor DLO at PG. I don't expect a win tonight with both of our max players out, but I am a little intrigued to see what our offense will look like with two facilitators at PG instead of DLO.
BloopOracle wrote:Congrats to Tom Thibodeau for continuing to coach the best defensive team in the NBA, pretty good for a guy who the game had passed by.
Yeah doing it with a bunch of castoffs who were apparently bad defenders. We probably should have been listening to the experienced winners (Jimmy and Thibs) as opposed to the proven losers (Kat and Glen) when all of that went down.
Thibs the head coach could be infuriating. But Thibs the PBO was the problem. A top-notch PBO other than Thibs would have probably handed head coach, Thibodeau something like the following: Murray instead of Dunn, Collins or Anunoby instead of Patton. Moreover, a top-notch PBO other than Thibs probably would have dealt Wiggins rather than extend him and would have probably been far more skillful in his handling of the Butler situation at the end.
One more thought. I think Ryan would look a lot better than he's looked so far this season if Rosas had traded for Randle instead of Rubio.
L390- your first paragraph mirrors my sentiments almost exactly. I wasn't that fond of Thibs the coach, although I find myself cheering for him now in NY, but I really questioned all of the POBO moves you cite. Hindsight is 20/20 and I admit to making as many virtual draft mistakes as any (preferring Edwards to Ball may be my latest blunder), but Murray and Collins were my clear choices at the time, and I found Thibodeau oddly silent or absent during the unfortunate end to the Butler saga- it always seemed to me he could have done more than he did, if he did anything at all. All that said, I will always praise POBO Thibs for bringing Butler in. I was never high on LaVine and Dunn and had nobody I really loved at the time at our draft slot, so bringing a proven winner like Butler in exchange for pieces I wanted out anyway was brilliant in my opinion. And it was the only reason for our one playoff appearance in years.
I have a more difficult time getting behind your second paragraph though. Rubio has been a major disappointment this year and has looked nothing like the guy who was so effective just last year in Phoenix. Still, as much as I like J-Mac's ability to run an offense, his defense does not receive enough attention here for its inadequacy. I'm a big proponent of J-Mac and appreciate the effort he puts out on the defensive end, but he simply is not athletic enough to make up for his small size (his 6-3 wingspan is a full half a foot shorter than Rubio's and DLO's). The prospect of having either DLO or J-Mac as our defensive PG at all times was horrifying to me. Rubio as been a starter his entire career, and I attribute his drop off this season to coming off the bench for the first time ever. He is a superior facilitator and defender to both of our other options at PG, and I find it odd that Ryan continues to favor DLO at PG. I don't expect a win tonight with both of our max players out, but I am a little intrigued to see what our offense will look like with two facilitators at PG instead of DLO.
FNG - I think it's time you got some props for your last post. Although you said you weren't predicting a win last night, you were clearly suggesting that Ricky would perform better as our starting PG and that the offense would improve with two facilitators - Ricky and JMac - running the point. You were right on both. Well done!
As for JMac, he's a pesky defender, a la JJ Barea. Note that Fred VanVleet has a wingspan of 6'2. So there's no reason JMac can't be an effective backup PG playing significant minutes on a playoff team. IN any event, my issue with trading for Ricky was that the Wolves had already acquired DLO and were obviously intent on re-signing Beasley. As a result, giving up assets for Ricky and paying him $17M per year didn't make a lot of sense to me, especially how well JMac performed last season as our backup PG. Then there was the opportunity cost - i.e., other players we could have acquired for the same assets or less and at roughly the same salary. Randle is one of those players. Given our guard-heavy roster and lack of bigs, that would have made more sense than trading for Ricky in my view.
But Ricky looked good last night and props to you for suggesting that he would look better in his familiar starting, primary PG role.
BloopOracle wrote:Rumors swirling this afternoon that lamelo ball is already set on leaving Charlotte as soon as his contract ends lol
Mmmm, who was it that started such a rumor? A) his agent, B) his Dad, C) Someone at ESPN, or for all you conspiracy theorists out there, D) All of the Above.
It always brings a little smile to my face seeing Lonzo toil away in relative obscurity for the Pelicans versus his early days of breathless coverage from ESPN in L.A.
BloopOracle wrote:Rumors swirling this afternoon that lamelo ball is already set on leaving Charlotte as soon as his contract ends lol
Mmmm, who was it that started such a rumor? A) his agent, B) his Dad, C) Someone at ESPN, or for all you conspiracy theorists out there, D) All of the Above.
It always brings a little smile to my face seeing Lonzo toil away in relative obscurity for the Pelicans versus his early days of breathless coverage from ESPN in L.A.
The dad recently was whining about Ball coming off the bench. Also said... all three of his sons could team up and "dominate" the NBA.
BloopOracle wrote:Rumors swirling this afternoon that lamelo ball is already set on leaving Charlotte as soon as his contract ends lol
Mmmm, who was it that started such a rumor? A) his agent, B) his Dad, C) Someone at ESPN, or for all you conspiracy theorists out there, D) All of the Above.
It always brings a little smile to my face seeing Lonzo toil away in relative obscurity for the Pelicans versus his early days of breathless coverage from ESPN in L.A.
The dad recently was whining about Ball coming off the bench. Also said... all three of his sons could team up and "dominate" the NBA.
So there's that.
Lamelo hasn't been as good lately. He'll be an interesting case
BloopOracle wrote:Rumors swirling this afternoon that lamelo ball is already set on leaving Charlotte as soon as his contract ends lol
Mmmm, who was it that started such a rumor? A) his agent, B) his Dad, C) Someone at ESPN, or for all you conspiracy theorists out there, D) All of the Above.
It always brings a little smile to my face seeing Lonzo toil away in relative obscurity for the Pelicans versus his early days of breathless coverage from ESPN in L.A.
The dad recently was whining about Ball coming off the bench. Also said... all three of his sons could team up and "dominate" the NBA.
So there's that.
I'm saying bullshit unless Lavar is the coach. With an average NBA coach those three would be lucky to get out of the first round.
