We will finish out of the bottom 3

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Here's a proposal. What if the league had a computer pick a random date between the All-Star game and the end of the year as a cutoff date for the lottery odds and the date is kept secret until the end of the season? I think that would reduce tanking even further because you wouldn't have situations like these where we KNOW what the end date is so teams are basically racing to the bottom. Thoughts?

[Lipoli390]

Here's a proposal. What if the league had a computer pick a random date between the All-Star game and the end of the year as a cutoff date for the lottery odds and the date is kept secret until the end of the season? I think that would reduce tanking even further because you wouldn't have situations like these where we KNOW what the end date is so teams are basically racing to the bottom. Thoughts?

Great idea, Drew.

[Shumway]

Well the constant losing had me almost completely fatigued of following the Wolves, but this little run is reeling me back in. I expect the winning will generate some great juju for the lottery-balls.

[Lipoli390]

With Orlando's win tonight, the Wolves have retaken sole possession of the 3rd worst record in the NBA. Unfortunately, they are only one win behind Orlando, Cleveland and OKC. Of those three, Orlando looks like the only team interested in competing for wins. So I still see the Wolves ending up with the 5th or 6th worst record - possibly tied with Orlando.

[FNG]

I've been on the "out of the bottom 3" train for awhile, but I note there are only 6 games left and the Wolves are still in the bottom 3. It's a bizarre race, with Orlando, OkC and Cleveland all one game ahead of us. They all stink, and it still seems likely we will finish 5th or 6th.

BUT...is there a possibility Finch is orchestrating a very subtle soft tank by suddenly changing a starting lineup that has been playing almost .500 basketball? If he is, it will be the most brilliant soft tank in NBA history. Nobody would ever accuse a team of tanking because they inserted a max player back into the starting lineup. But we all saw how awful Rubio was off the bench early in the season, and his terrible performance last night was more evidence of what we all observed early in the season...Rubio simply stinks off the bench. And we know about Dlo's defensive futility, and when he's paired with another defensively challenged guard, the results are predictable. We gave up an astonishing 139 points to a team that only averages 113 a game!

I know most of us want wins, but personally I would not mind watching entertaining games like last night and more losses. There's been a lot of talk about putting a rim protector next to KAT, and Evan Mobley would fill that bill perfectly. Finch- keep starting a defensively challenged backcourt and giving 20 flailing minutes off the bench to Rubio, and we will have a better chance of finishing in the bottom 3. I'm on board!

[AbeVigodaLive]

NEVER EVER underestimate the Timberwolves ability to lose games.

I have not been worried about sliding up to 5 or 6. And I'm not now... they'll do what they do best.

No team in the history of basketball has found a way to lose late-season games when out of the playoffs better than the Timberwolves. Soft tanking... obvious embarrassing tanking... subtle tanking... or just crappy play. They do it best. Have confidence in them to do it again.

[FNG]

You're a quicker learner than I am, Abe. In fact, I'll probably never learn...way too much of a homer and a foolish optimist.

I note your post in another thread about why Rubio is so ineffective playing with non-scorers and am in total agreement...this was on display at the start of the season, and again last night. Similarly I continue to doubt the viability of starting the game with Dlo/Ant as our backcourt...plodding Memphis scoring 139 points (by far their highest point total of the season) is exactly the result Finch deserved playing these guys so many minutes together. Put these two things together (Rubio with the reserves and a defensively challenged backcourt) and it really does start to smell a little like a stealth tank to me. I suspect Finch is drooling about the possibility of adding one of those big three in the draft.

It's such an odd situation though, because Homer FNG still maintains that we have a much more talented roster than the 5 other teams we are battling with. Case in point...the Wolves are either winning, or losing close ones like last night, while the other 5 are getting destroyed some nights. The Wolves have Orlando and Detroit in their final 6 games, and it's difficult to see them losing either game...and if they win both, I think it's likely they finish 5th or 6th. But your point is well taken...never underestimate their ability to lose. And giving Rubio 20 minutes off the bench and Ant/Dlo 75 minutes together in the backcourt might be the exact prescription for Finch to get his 40% chance of landing a pick. It's brilliant, but also rather sad.

[thedoper]

We have had tons of games this year where Ricky was starting and we gave up 130+. No guard is going to stop 72 pts in the paint and change us from being the worst rebounding team in basketball. In the Towns era, the bulk of our defensive deficiencies have come from the inside. Taj did some nice things but was too old, other than that there has never been a complimentary inside force that can pick up the slack or cause a positive complimentary impact. This is not a defense of DLo or Ants D, its not great (and neither is Rubios). But if we're serious about building a better D it needs to be from the inside out in my opinion.

[Coolbreeze44]

This is just my opinion, but I think the main reason we may finish 5th or 6th is because we are not tanking. I've been real consistent on this point all year. I just haven't personally witnessed any evidence of tanking. Nor do I think we should be tanking. What moron would walk into a corporate boardroom to address his stockholders, and begin by saying we are going to eliminate our sales force this year so we have a 40% chance of hiring better people next year? Let's shut down revenues in the short term and retool because we might get lucky.

I know the analogy will sound ridiculous to some, but is it? If tanking resulted in absolute certainty of an improved product, I could be persuaded to get on board. But we aren't even close to that certainty. Some of our opponents have better reason to tank. If there were at least 4 blue chip prospects in the draft, some teams could gain by tanking. But again, I don't think we are tanking and that is a very good thing.

[BloopOracle]

I don't think it matters where we finish, it is NBA tradition to give a top three pick to a lottery team that was recently purchased by a new owner. I've already penciled in Mobley to our squad