Covington out for a while.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

https://mobile.twitter.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1081236592029782016

They don't believe surgery is needed, but just the idea of having to think about it tells me its serious.

I don't think thibs trotting him out 35+ minutes helped his recovery. It was clear as day that he didnt look right upon his return. Same thing with wiggs. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if teague kept himself out until healthy and ignored thibs.

[Monster]

https://mobile.twitter.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1081236592029782016

They don't believe surgery is needed, but just the idea of having to think about it tells me its serious.

I don't think thibs trotting him out 35+ minutes helped his recovery. It was clear as day that he didnt look right upon his return. Same thing with wiggs. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if teague kept himself out until healthy and ignored thibs.

Teague is supposed to start the next game.

Also worth remembering is Covington asked to stay in one of those blowout games to get his rthym back.

Regardless Covington being out:

This team if they don't play well missing covington could end up in too big of a hole in just a couple weeks without him and the playoff run effectively be over. We will see. It's a big blow for sure.

Okogie is gonna get legit playing time.

Gonna be interesting (both good and bad) to see what this team can do over the time he is out.

[AbeVigodaLive]

https://mobile.twitter.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1081236592029782016

They don't believe surgery is needed, but just the idea of having to think about it tells me its serious.

I don't think thibs trotting him out 35+ minutes helped his recovery. It was clear as day that he didnt look right upon his return. Same thing with wiggs. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if teague kept himself out until healthy and ignored thibs.

Also worth remembering is Covington asked to stay in one of those blowout games to get his rthym back.

Yep. Now it could be said that a coach should know better than his players when it comes to this stuff... but again... it's a player's league.

And there are hints that Thibs is more of a "players coach" than his constant yelling and antics would lead one to believe.

He's overly committed to set rotations and substitutions... even in blowouts. Some players decide how much they play. Other guys keep playing and are never benched no matter how badly they're playing.

Whatever the case... this isn't good for the Wolves. My 35-win prediction is in serious jeopardy. WHY do I keep being too optimistic in my preseason predictions for this franchise? When will I learn?!?!?!?

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Great. Now Thibs can blame injuries he caused for not making the playoffs and keep his job.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Monster, my recollection is that it was Rose, not Covington, who asked for more playing time after he missed 1 1/2 games. I gave Thibs a pass on that, although who knows if Rose playing 38 and 39 minutes in the two games after he came back contributed to his injury. Thibs kept Covington on the court for 37 minutes in a Bulls game where we led by 20-30 points most of the game, and then followed that up with games of 45, 36 and 38 minutes...that's an average of 39 MPG for a guy who plays hard and is coming off a knee injury! Are we supposed to be surprised that Covington, Rose and Teague are all on the shelf?

One thing we have learned during Thibs' tenure...he can't successfully coach a defense that doesn't have a legitimate defensive superstar (e.g. Garnett, Covington) on the floor. Any long absence by Covington is the final nail in the coffin for any playoff chances for this team. I think they win tonight, but wins after that will be infrequent without RoCo. Thanks again, Mr. Thibodeau.

[thedoper]

I'm glad Covington is sitting. Honestly he wasn't right after that first great stretch. You could tell something was going on. Hope he figures it out and comes back feeling great.

[mjs34]

Thibs stated that Roco was out of rhythm when he came back looking rusty, but Roco disagreed. Then after the Bulls game when asked about Roco's minutes, Thibs replied that Roco had asked for more minutes to get his rhythm back. Bottom line is the coach had no problem ignoring Teagues request for less minutes and more for Tyus, so I doubt Roco had any say in it at all. This blame rests with Thibs and his staff. What competitive player doesn't want to play as much as he can.

Does anyone know if this "bone bruise" was caused by contact during a game, or is it due to a lack of cushioning in the knee. Thank god he doesn't need surgery because I have never heard of one to address a bone bruise. He could easily be out months, and likely be a continuing injury.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Great. Now Thibs can blame injuries he caused for not making the playoffs and keep his job.

I'm glad Covington is sitting. Honestly he wasn't right after that first great stretch. You could tell something was going on. Hope he figures it out and comes back feeling great.

I agree that Covington hasn't looked like himself, and that we need the RoCo we saw in his initial stretch here to be successful. RoCo plays with a lot of energy and can be very disruptive on defense, but has only been average since his initial injury. He is a good 3-point shooter, but in general doesn't bring enough offensively if he is limited defensively. It's time to bite the bullet and let Rob stay out until he's 100%. Thibs won't want to do this because missing the playoffs almost certainly ensures his firing, but it's the best thing for this franchise. Let Josh get some minutes in while we tumble to 30 wins.

[Monster]

Here is the injury.

https://twitter.com/jacefrederick/status/1081253845077028865?s=21

[AbeVigodaLive]

Here is the injury.

https://twitter.com/jacefrederick/status/1081253845077028865?s=21

NO.

It was a culmination of things built up over too many minutes. Definitely wasn't a single play that caused it. And if it was a single play that caused it, it was only because he had already played too many minutes and was due to be injured because of weakness and stuff. And if it wasn't because of too many minutes that he was forced to play by the coach, it was definitely because of a bad scheme by said coach that had him in the wrong place at the wrong time. And if wasn't a bad scheme by the coach, it was that poor minutes distribution directly led to a situation where starters were trying to come back down 3. And if wasn't for those poor minutes distribution, it was because of missed free throws because the coach was yelling too much. And if wasn't because of that, it was because Josh Okogie wasn't out there during that spot instead of Roco because the coach is a Grade A poopyface.