Season Over?

[Papalrep]

I turned off the Warriors game 10 minutes into it. What are we 8 games in? If this last run in any indication, I guess we are done for the year, again.

PS - Who could we use more of right now, Rubio or Prince?

[FNG]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVb-Yb_NUy8

Over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we say it is!

Depends on your definition of "over", papel. If over means no chance of making the playoffs, several of us thought this season was over before it even began. But for those who recognize a team that has KAT/DLo absorbing half of its payroll is not likely to ever get beyond mediocrity. So for those who believe this, the goal of the season was development and hopefully roster changes, not playoffs. I'm still watching game replays every morning because this is my team and my interest in the season is different, but still valid. I watch to see:

-how good can Ant become. And games like the last one seem to raise his already high ceiling a little more.

-can this team actually move out of the bottom five in defense? So far the results are mixed, but somewhat promising. We have three very good defenders in PatBev, Jaden and JO, and two with some promise in Vando and Ant. The more minutes the 5 of them get (like in the Houston and Pelicans games), the more our defense will look improved. And despite some notable improvement in his off-ball defense, DLo showed me against Wig that he remains one of the worst on-ball defenders in the association. I think our defensive improvement will be inversely proportional to the number of minutes DLo and Beasley get.

-do our second year players have a future in this league. Many of us had some hopes for Jaden, Vando, Nowell and JMac coming into the season, but they have largely disappointed, Jaden's defense is every bit as good as it was his rookie year, but his lethargy on offense and propensity to foul is retarding his growth. And Vando is looking more and more like a one-trick pony to me- a tenacious and elite offensive rebounder.

-will our guys lighting up G League play a role this season. The way Bolmaro, Wright and Knight are playing down there mostly speaks volumes about the quality of play in the minor league. But success in Iowa doesn't preclude success in Target Center- it just doesn't guarantee it. I'm guessing that when this team gets to about 6-20, Finch/Gupta will dip into the Iowa talent and give at least Bolmaro a chance to show what he's got. I don't think it will lead immediately to more wins, but I'm still looking forward to it.

- can we show some overall improvement, but still finish low enough to give us some chance to draft Chet Holmgren. I didn't think so before the season started, as my prediction of 35 wins would have us in the late lottery. But a 3-7 (soon to be be 3-10) start gives us a better chance of getting at least a top five pick, and this draft looks very good to me. I think a lot of us will be watching a lot of college hoops this year and dreaming about who would look good next to Ant and whoever KAT and DLo bring back in trade.

So the season is far from over for me. But if the main reason for watching is to see how good our playoff position will be, I suggest getting the NBA Pass and adopting Cleveland for the season.

[FNG]

I think your PS question is rhetorical, papal, but I'll bite.

Rubio is getting big minutes and currently has the best on/off stats for a team that is 1/2 game out of home court advantage in the playoffs. Prince may have dropped out of the rotation for a team that is currently in the middle of what is likely to turn into a 9-game losing streak.

As much as I didn't like seeing Rubio leave (I may be the only poster here who thought he was actually quite good last year after the first three weeks...I mean, ranking third in on/off on the team has to mean something as long as they continue to award wins to the team who scores the most points), I have always been a PatBev fan and bought into the narrative that he would bring some toughness to our team. I also bought into the narrative that injuries have held Prince back, and that he would help us. Well, Beverley has provided a little toughness, but not enough to make us better. And losing Rubio has decimated out ball movement and left us with the worst half court offense in the league. Trading Rubio for Prince was Rosas's final "gift" to this franchise, and we should be cussing him out every time we wince as we watch us struggle in the half court...or sigh as we watch how improved Cleveland is.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

But as we all remember, Rubio started off last season HORRIBLY and was partially responsible for our terrible start. What the hell is it with the vets we bring in unable to adapt and play well from the get go? I again go back to the "Wolves Performance Discount" you have to apply.

As much as we all get frustrated with KAT, DLO, and (at times) Edwards, the reality is we have a few bench players that are giving us next to nothing or actively hurting our chances of winning. Beasley, Prince, and McLaughin are on the top of that list in my opinion. These guys have been absolutely terrible - like Bottom 5% terrible. We just aren't going to win many games without at least adequate play from regular rotation players even if they aren't in your starting 5.

[thedoper]

But as we all remember, Rubio started off last season HORRIBLY and was partially responsible for our terrible start. What the hell is it with the vets we bring in unable to adapt and play well from the get go? I again go back to the "Wolves Performance Discount" you have to apply.

As much as we all get frustrated with KAT, DLO, and (at times) Edwards, the reality is we have a few bench players that are giving us next to nothing or actively hurting our chances of winning. Beasley, Prince, and McLaughin are on the top of that list in my opinion. These guys have been absolutely terrible - like Bottom 5% terrible. We just aren't going to win many games without at least adequate play from regular rotation players even if they aren't in your starting 5.

With the vet thing I think it is that vets come here and they think they can or are needed to stretch beyond who they really are because we are the crappy Wolves. I feel like it's happened with a number of free agents that we sign. There's not a leadership hierarchy in place so players with some experience immediately try to fill a void that they are unable to fill based on their talent. This then causes them to play worse rather than just filling the niche that their talent would dictate on a functional team.

[Duke13]

But as we all remember, Rubio started off last season HORRIBLY and was partially responsible for our terrible start. What the hell is it with the vets we bring in unable to adapt and play well from the get go? I again go back to the "Wolves Performance Discount" you have to apply.

As much as we all get frustrated with KAT, DLO, and (at times) Edwards, the reality is we have a few bench players that are giving us next to nothing or actively hurting our chances of winning. Beasley, Prince, and McLaughin are on the top of that list in my opinion. These guys have been absolutely terrible - like Bottom 5% terrible. We just aren't going to win many games without at least adequate play from regular rotation players even if they aren't in your starting 5.

I'd say it's a combination of things, but a big part is Kat and Dlo don't necessarily makes playing with them easy, polar opposite of Curry and the system GS runs. Plug n play with them

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

But as we all remember, Rubio started off last season HORRIBLY and was partially responsible for our terrible start. What the hell is it with the vets we bring in unable to adapt and play well from the get go? I again go back to the "Wolves Performance Discount" you have to apply.

As much as we all get frustrated with KAT, DLO, and (at times) Edwards, the reality is we have a few bench players that are giving us next to nothing or actively hurting our chances of winning. Beasley, Prince, and McLaughin are on the top of that list in my opinion. These guys have been absolutely terrible - like Bottom 5% terrible. We just aren't going to win many games without at least adequate play from regular rotation players even if they aren't in your starting 5.

With the vet thing I think it is that vets come here and they think they can or are needed to stretch beyond who they really are because we are the crappy Wolves. I feel like it's happened with a number of free agents that we sign. There's not a leadership hierarchy in place so players with some experience immediately try to fill a void that they are unable to fill based on their talent. This then causes them to play worse rather than just filling the niche that their talent would dictate on a functional team.

I know that has been the case at times in the past, but I don't think we're expecting too much from our bench guys this year. None have been asked, for example, to fill in for major starters for some stretch of time. I mean Beasley we're expecting less of as a 6th or 7th man versus a regular starter. Yet he's been terrible. McLaughlin is playing reasonable minutes as a floor general. Prince just needs to make some open 3s. It isn't that high of a bar this season so far.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

But as we all remember, Rubio started off last season HORRIBLY and was partially responsible for our terrible start. What the hell is it with the vets we bring in unable to adapt and play well from the get go? I again go back to the "Wolves Performance Discount" you have to apply.

As much as we all get frustrated with KAT, DLO, and (at times) Edwards, the reality is we have a few bench players that are giving us next to nothing or actively hurting our chances of winning. Beasley, Prince, and McLaughin are on the top of that list in my opinion. These guys have been absolutely terrible - like Bottom 5% terrible. We just aren't going to win many games without at least adequate play from regular rotation players even if they aren't in your starting 5.

I'd say it's a combination of things, but a big part is Kat and Dlo don't necessarily makes playing with them easy, polar opposite of Curry and the system GS runs. Plug n play with them

May be. But our offense was cooking last year with both KAT and DLO played. I mean it was nearly a top 10 offense. So are you saying they suddenly changed and now they bring everyone else down? How did that happen in one offseason?

[FNG]

But as we all remember, Rubio started off last season HORRIBLY and was partially responsible for our terrible start. What the hell is it with the vets we bring in unable to adapt and play well from the get go? I again go back to the "Wolves Performance Discount" you have to apply.

As much as we all get frustrated with KAT, DLO, and (at times) Edwards, the reality is we have a few bench players that are giving us next to nothing or actively hurting our chances of winning. Beasley, Prince, and McLaughin are on the top of that list in my opinion. These guys have been absolutely terrible - like Bottom 5% terrible. We just aren't going to win many games without at least adequate play from regular rotation players even if they aren't in your starting 5.

I'd say it's a combination of things, but a big part is Kat and Dlo don't necessarily makes playing with them easy, polar opposite of Curry and the system GS runs. Plug n play with them

May be. But our offense was cooking last year with both KAT and DLO played. I mean it was nearly a top 10 offense. So are you saying they suddenly changed and now they bring everyone else down? How did that happen in one offseason?

KAT, DLo and Ant are all great scorers, but I agree with Doper that they don't have the reputation of making their teammates better. There has to be some other reason that our half court offense was clicking at the end of last season but now ranks at the bottom of the league. Hmm...wasn't there a guy who was playing a lot of minutes running the offense for our three big scorers when things were kind of good in April and May? Who was that guy, and where did he go?

[thedoper]

But as we all remember, Rubio started off last season HORRIBLY and was partially responsible for our terrible start. What the hell is it with the vets we bring in unable to adapt and play well from the get go? I again go back to the "Wolves Performance Discount" you have to apply.

As much as we all get frustrated with KAT, DLO, and (at times) Edwards, the reality is we have a few bench players that are giving us next to nothing or actively hurting our chances of winning. Beasley, Prince, and McLaughin are on the top of that list in my opinion. These guys have been absolutely terrible - like Bottom 5% terrible. We just aren't going to win many games without at least adequate play from regular rotation players even if they aren't in your starting 5.

With the vet thing I think it is that vets come here and they think they can or are needed to stretch beyond who they really are because we are the crappy Wolves. I feel like it's happened with a number of free agents that we sign. There's not a leadership hierarchy in place so players with some experience immediately try to fill a void that they are unable to fill based on their talent. This then causes them to play worse rather than just filling the niche that their talent would dictate on a functional team.

I know that has been the case at times in the past, but I don't think we're expecting too much from our bench guys this year. None have been asked, for example, to fill in for major starters for some stretch of time. I mean Beasley we're expecting less of as a 6th or 7th man versus a regular starter. Yet he's been terrible. McLaughlin is playing reasonable minutes as a floor general. Prince just needs to make some open 3s. It isn't that high of a bar this season so far.

On how I look at this with Beasley, yes he's a bench guy, but what other team would allow Beasley to try out his dribble drive game? He'd be yanked on a good team. But we just watch the train wreck and there are no repercussions. Plus we don't have a starting 4, so that means everyone in that position has been asked to play beyond their means. There's a collective dellusional bump when players come to the Wolves where they think they can finally expand their game and show what was missed in other places. Like I don't know the details DLo's shot selection in Brooklyn, but its insane here even with his talent. Ant is already shooting 10 3s a game, and KAT thinks he's a good defender.