Does it matter that the player sucks right now...?

[AbeVigodaLive]

"We have to build good habits from day one, and I don't think we are in the right way, to be honest."

"You always have to take positive things and of course, we want to get better, but at one point we got to start wanting to change something, and it's not happening."

"When you're young and you gotta play through the mistakes, I understand. But at one point, if you do the same mistake over and over again, it means you're not learning. Learning through mistakes as a young team can happen, but then make different mistakes. I think we're doing the same mistakes over and over."

____________________

Rubio is struggling. Heck, he sucks. But is he wrong? Is playing with a bunch of players who don't know what they're doing part of the problem (along with him sucking on his own)?

Obviously, there's minimal transparency with the new regime. And it's not looking like there's much accountability either.

So why should anybody believe this has a happy ending?

[thedoper]

Transparency and Accountability. The hallmarks of the Timberwolves. I think it's hilarious that Ricky makes these comments but then in gave gives up intentional turnovers in game with his leaning jump shot.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Transparency and Accountability. The hallmarks of the Timberwolves. I think it's hilarious that Ricky makes these comments but then in gave gives up intentional turnovers in game with his leaning jump shot.

I don't see the connection.

[thedoper]

Transparency and Accountability. The hallmarks of the Timberwolves. I think it's hilarious that Ricky makes these comments but then in gave gives up intentional turnovers in game with his leaning jump shot.

I don't see the connection.

To your question I think it does matter that a player sucks. He is wrong in the point that he is making if he is talking about everyone except himself - (i.e. young players). If he is talking about himself along with the rest of the team not learning than good on him. If Rubio really wants to be a leader and promote learning in this instance, perhaps he should be making more effort for personal accountability in his press conferences about how much he has been contributing personally to the losing culture of this team. I think anyone (Rubio included) can see that this team is making the same bad mistakes. That being said, Rubio has had as great of a contribution as anyone to those mistakes, yet he seems quite eager to pin it on anyone but himself in his interviews.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

It gets back to the culture issue. You have an aging owner that has overseen a turd of a franchise and is looking to exit his position at some point. That hangs over anyone that works there. Most employees know nothing other than how to do their jobs within the context of perpetual rebuilding and losing (think about the PR and ticket sales folks....not fun).

As for Rubio, I just can't see him with the team next season. I suspect next year we'll get a better idea of whether Ricky is truly on a severe decline, ala Jeff Teague, or if he regains some mojo and contributes to a winning team. It's obvious he is pretty despondent at this point and would probably rather be anywhere else.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Transparency and Accountability. The hallmarks of the Timberwolves. I think it's hilarious that Ricky makes these comments but then in gave gives up intentional turnovers in game with his leaning jump shot.

I don't see the connection.

To your question I think it does matter that a player sucks. He is wrong in the point that he is making if he is talking about everyone except himself - (i.e. young players). If he is talking about himself along with the rest of the team not learning than good on him. If Rubio really wants to be a leader and promote learning in this instance, perhaps he should be making more effort for personal accountability in his press conferences about how much he has been contributing personally to the losing culture of this team. I think anyone (Rubio included) can see that this team is making the same bad mistakes. That being said, Rubio has had as great of a contribution as anyone to those mistakes, yet he seems quite eager to pin it on anyone but himself in his interviews.

Interestingly... Johnny Athletic included this nugget "Rubio blamed himself for some of the team's troubles..." ... but he never used any actual quotes about it. Was that part off the record? Just poor quotes that didn't work well in print? Or, added by the writer himself as a favor to Rubio because he noticed the same disconnect/hypocrisy? I dunno.

BUT...

Doesn't SOMEBODY have to address the elephant in the room publicly? All the fans see it. Most of these fans saw the same mistakes during the previous rebuild. And the one before that. And the one before that.

Personally, I'm glad a player is calling out the dumb way the Wolves keep banging their head against the wall with these rebuilds. Over and over again.

I understand that the Wolves are going to suck right now. But why does it have to be so hard to avoid the trappings to keep the perpetual losing culture stampeding forward at breakneck speed?

[AbeVigodaLive]

It gets back to the culture issue. You have an aging owner that has overseen a turd of a franchise and is looking to exit his position at some point. That hangs over anyone that works there. Most employees know nothing other than how to do their jobs within the context of perpetual rebuilding and losing (think about the PR and ticket sales folks....not fun).

As for Rubio, I just can't see him with the team next season. I suspect next year we'll get a better idea of whether Ricky is truly on a severe decline, ala Jeff Teague, or if he regains some mojo and contributes to a winning team. It's obvious he is pretty despondent at this point and would probably rather be anywhere else.

Fewer minutes on a worse team... what's not to like?






[Note: Granted, he hasn't exactly earned many of those extra minutes. It'll be interesting to see if it's the chicken-or-egg thing next season... if having a few players who know how to play basketball will help a tablesetter like Rubio more. Or, if his career issues shooting have become a death sentence now that he doesn't have a chance getting by anybody either.]

[thedoper]

Transparency and Accountability. The hallmarks of the Timberwolves. I think it's hilarious that Ricky makes these comments but then in gave gives up intentional turnovers in game with his leaning jump shot.

I don't see the connection.

To your question I think it does matter that a player sucks. He is wrong in the point that he is making if he is talking about everyone except himself - (i.e. young players). If he is talking about himself along with the rest of the team not learning than good on him. If Rubio really wants to be a leader and promote learning in this instance, perhaps he should be making more effort for personal accountability in his press conferences about how much he has been contributing personally to the losing culture of this team. I think anyone (Rubio included) can see that this team is making the same bad mistakes. That being said, Rubio has had as great of a contribution as anyone to those mistakes, yet he seems quite eager to pin it on anyone but himself in his interviews.

Interestingly... Johnny Athletic included this nugget "Rubio blamed himself for some of the team's troubles..." ... but he never used any actual quotes about it. Was that part off the record? Just poor quotes that didn't work well in print? Or, added by the writer himself as a favor to Rubio because he noticed the same disconnect/hypocrisy? I dunno.

BUT...

Doesn't SOMEBODY have to address the elephant in the room publicly? All the fans see it. Most of these fans saw the same mistakes during the previous rebuild. And the one before that. And the one before that.

Personally, I'm glad a player is calling out the dumb way the Wolves keep banging their head against the wall with these rebuilds. Over and over again.

I understand that the Wolves are going to suck right now. But why does it have to be so hard to avoid the trappings to keep the perpetual losing culture stampeding forward at breakneck speed?

Yes someone does have to call it out. I wish it was KAT. That seems like the only real way to potentially light a fire under Rosas and Taylor's ass. For whatever reasons, KAT to me has never seemed like the type to really be a leader. In the beginning of his career it was all cliches and platitudes. Now it is despondency and depression from what I can tell. Fair enough based on what he has been through. Ultimately I dont see a real effort for change anywhere on the horizon with this team as long as Taylor is the owner. I concede the point that someone has to say it, even Ricky I suppose. I was hoping it would come from someone with a bit more clout on the court. With all Towns' talk of loyalty if he really cared about this team, he should start being more of an asshole on this piss poor job theyve done building around him.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Transparency and Accountability. The hallmarks of the Timberwolves. I think it's hilarious that Ricky makes these comments but then in gave gives up intentional turnovers in game with his leaning jump shot.

I don't see the connection.

To your question I think it does matter that a player sucks. He is wrong in the point that he is making if he is talking about everyone except himself - (i.e. young players). If he is talking about himself along with the rest of the team not learning than good on him. If Rubio really wants to be a leader and promote learning in this instance, perhaps he should be making more effort for personal accountability in his press conferences about how much he has been contributing personally to the losing culture of this team. I think anyone (Rubio included) can see that this team is making the same bad mistakes. That being said, Rubio has had as great of a contribution as anyone to those mistakes, yet he seems quite eager to pin it on anyone but himself in his interviews.

Interestingly... Johnny Athletic included this nugget "Rubio blamed himself for some of the team's troubles..." ... but he never used any actual quotes about it. Was that part off the record? Just poor quotes that didn't work well in print? Or, added by the writer himself as a favor to Rubio because he noticed the same disconnect/hypocrisy? I dunno.

BUT...

Doesn't SOMEBODY have to address the elephant in the room publicly? All the fans see it. Most of these fans saw the same mistakes during the previous rebuild. And the one before that. And the one before that.

Personally, I'm glad a player is calling out the dumb way the Wolves keep banging their head against the wall with these rebuilds. Over and over again.

I understand that the Wolves are going to suck right now. But why does it have to be so hard to avoid the trappings to keep the perpetual losing culture stampeding forward at breakneck speed?

Yes someone does have to call it out. I wish it was KAT. That seems like the only real way to potentially light a fire under Rosas and Taylor's ass. For whatever reasons, KAT to me has never seemed like the type to really be a leader. In the beginning of his career it was all cliches and platitudes. Now it is despondency and depression from what I can tell. Fair enough based on what he has been through. Ultimately I dont see a real effort for change anywhere on the horizon with this team as long as Taylor is the owner. I concede the point that someone has to say it, even Ricky I suppose. I was hoping it would come from someone with a bit more clout on the court. With all Towns' talk of loyalty if he really cared about this team, he should start being more of an asshole on this piss poor job theyve done building around him.

The problem is... yeah... ONLY Towns has that much clout.

The sad/pathetic thing is that Rubio HAD some clout around the league, prior to this year. So I guess he'd be #2 on the list pretty clearly.

[AbeVigodaLive]

THIS IS HOW YOU BUILD CULTURE:

... about a month ago...

[youtube]II1rdXgg2J0[/youtube]

...

Fast forward to last night...

Hornets down 8 with 53 seconds left... come back to win.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP0JooA0Ir0#t=0m33s[/youtube]