Only one thing to do now:

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

Use Rubio's latest injury as a reason to shut him down for the season, and make a push for the worst record in the league.

Philly is now is one win ahead of us by winning tonight. New York is one win behind. We haven't been good with Rubio as of late, but without him we are even worse.

It's big picture time. There is a LEGITIMATE reason to want to finish with the worst record: we guarantee ourselves the 4th pick AT WORST. Not to mention increasing the chance of being picked in the top 3 (of course it's the Wolves though, so we would surely pick 4th).

Just shut Ricky down, cut back on Wiggins' minutes, and maybe even throw in a little tendinitis for K-Mart at an opportune time. The rest should take care of itself.

I was hoping the Wolves might play a lot better after the break, and for a while they sort of did. But now Ricky can't make a shot, Pek is hurt again, and Wiggins is gassed. There's only one course to take at this point: full on tank. Play to lose. Finish with the worst record. It's within reach. Shut Ricky down. As T-Hud sang: shu-shu-shut-em down! JUST DO IT!

[zigzag22 [enjin:6591633]]

Impossible to argue with this. I know we landed our 1st MVP-caliber player (Wiggins) since KG, but don't let that get to your head. This team (even with injuries to possible future starters like Shabazz) still lacks SERIOUS talent to compete in the west.

We need the BEST chance at the BEST player next year. This is extremely hard for some of you, but the rest of this season means NOTHING except avoiding serious injuries to Wiggins, Rubio, and Dieng.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

It looks to me like the Wolves are the only team that is truly tanking right now, and it's not a good thing. It was mentioned in the game thread that the Wolves look dead on the bench. In contrast, the Knicks, Sixers and Lakers are all playing inspired ball. Clearly the Wes and Wayne effect in LA, the Shveddy effect in NY, and the GR3 cheerleader effect in Philly! So while I don't think the tank is on, I think the players have given up...and that's discouraging. I think Rubio's ankle isn't serious, so I wouldn't shut him down if he's ready to go. I think we're destined to end up with a lot of ping pong balls anyway, with the other 3 teams playing so well. I'm about to update the TOM thread, but I think the Sixers win tonight puts them in a projected three-way tie for the second seed with the Lakers and us A week ago, we were thinking the Wolves would be a 4 seed or worse, but now the 2nd seed is a real possibility, and even last place is not completely out of reach with the Knicks showing some spark.

The Wolves lack of energy tonight tells me that Flip is close to losing this team. It's not a Nuggets situation yet, but it seems to have some similarities. The Wolves bench tonight looked a lot like the Nuggets' bench a couple weeks ago. Glen, if you're paying attention, you may want have a talk with Flip when he gets back to town about a new coach.

[Porckchop]

With Ricky playing healthy what was there to gain. Eyeing the first pick should've been on the agenda for the last 20 games even with everyone healthy. IMO

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

It's depressing we even have to talk about this.

[Papalrep]

LST---------------------The Wolves lack of energy tonight tells me that Flip is close to losing this team. It's not a Nuggets situation yet, but it seems to have some similarities. The Wolves bench tonight looked a lot like the Nuggets' bench a couple weeks ago. Glen, if you're paying attention, you may want have a talk with Flip when he gets back to town about a new coach.

Correct. Flip doesn't inspire anyone. He's not the guy. He wants to be POP, he's not. Who is the coach tagging along the team that had SAC playing well? Just tell him to take over Flip and go back upstairs.

[Porckchop]

I never believed in Flips system working for this team. When he was successful he had good shooting pgs ,sgs and sfs. Plus guys that can create shots for themselves. I don't see a lot of that on this squad. To many guys who's negatives out weigh their positives .

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

It's depressing but it's reality. You have to make the best out of a bad situation.

The main reason I think it's important to tank is the simple fact that you can't count on the Wolves to get lucky in the lottery. So you make sure you pick 4th at worst.

Why is 4th so important? It looks like that could be where Russell or more likely Mudiay lands. I still like Ricky, but even if he is our starter going forward we need serious help at backup point guard or simply another guard that can create a shot for himself or others. I watched Russell the other night vs the lowly Gophers and loved what I saw. Mudiay is an unknown but the consensus is he has elite potential. Yeah, we need bigs, but we also really need another stud guard. In fact, we may need a guard even more because neither Wiggins or Bazz are ball handlers, K-Mart is only a shooter and getting older, and the jury is still out on Lavine.

And Pork, if you don't think there is a huge difference between when Ricky plays and when he doesn't, you must have watched a different team this season. With Ricky, we are competitive but still losing most games, without him, we have been the worst team in the league. To gain the worst record, from here on out we need to be terrible. I'm thinking 2-16, 3-15 will get it done (with a loss to the Knicks). With Ricky, I see us winning 5 to 6 games...that's too many.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I hear what you're saying, misty, and I understand the importance of getting a top 3 pick in this draft (since I am not a Mudiay fan). And I also agree that the Wolves play much better with Rubio at PG. But I'm not a fan of sitting a player if he's healthy enough to play. And frankly, with all the energy in TC when KG plays, I think we would beat the Nets, Utah, Charlotte, Utah and the Lakers anyway, even with Zach and Lo at PG. I say play hard the rest of the way and let the chips fall where they may...the way we looked tonight, we're likely to end up with a top 3 pick without really trying to tank.

[Porckchop]

It's depressing but it's reality. You have to make the best out of a bad situation.

The main reason I think it's important to tank is the simple fact that you can't count on the Wolves to get lucky in the lottery. So you make sure you pick 4th at worst.

Why is 4th so important? It looks like that could be where Russell or more likely Mudiay lands. I still like Ricky, but even if he is our starter going forward we need serious help at backup point guard or simply another guard that can create a shot for himself or others. I watched Russell the other night vs the lowly Gophers and loved what I saw. Mudiay is an unknown but the consensus is he has elite potential. Yeah, we need bigs, but we also really need another stud guard. In fact, we may need a guard even more because neither Wiggins or Bazz are ball handlers, K-Mart is only a shooter and getting older, and the jury is still out on Lavine.

And Pork, if you don't think there is a huge difference between when Ricky plays and when he doesn't, you must have watched a different team this season. With Ricky, we are competitive but still losing most games, without him, we have been the worst team in the league. To gain the worst record, from here on out we need to be terrible. I'm thinking 2-16, 3-15 will get it done (with a loss to the Knicks). With Ricky, I see us winning 5 to 6 games...that's too many.

Is it wise to draft a top 5 player thinking he can be Rickys backup? I'm drafting a guy thats a starter from day 1 if it's in the top 4.
Of course Ricky makes this team a Lil better when he's on the floor . The team is really bad and the backups are even worse. Starters are starting for a reason . Ricky hasn't made this team good. Just a Lil less bad. Everyone points out the difference in record but over the course of his career the record is still well below .500 I'm not saying Ricky is garbage. Only that he doesn't swing the pendulum enough to be thought of in the light all u guys seem to see him in.. It's only my opinion but his injuries, lack of shooting and constant losing doesn't seem to make me completely wrong does it?