Schedule rest of the year does not look good

[BloopOracle]

doesn't matter, we have LANCE

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Q...you and some others have been talking for some time about the difficult end of year schedule, but seeing it in black and white is rather depressing. Especially since we have already lost a game you (and probably all of us) predicted us to win, leaving us at a paltry 29 wins. I have fully jumped off the playoff train, and I suspect over 90% of us here have now.

To show no improvement in wins over last year is a travesty, and has to be an indictment of the coaching staff. A young talented team adding a few key (albeit not great) veteran pieces should have improved at least 10 wins this year. I really don't know if they are capable of it, but if we do end up with about the same amount of wins as last year, Thibs needs to take a hard look at what his role was in holding this team back...and make the appropriate changes to improve his performance next year.

This may be the most disappointing year ever in a ridiculously dreadful history of disappointment.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Q...you and some others have been talking for some time about the difficult end of year schedule, but seeing it in black and white is rather depressing. Especially since we have already lost a game you (and probably all of us) predicted us to win, leaving us at a paltry 29 wins. I have fully jumped off the playoff train, and I suspect over 90% of us here have now.

To show no improvement in wins over last year is a travesty, and has to be an indictment of the coaching staff. A young talented team adding a few key (albeit not great) veteran pieces should have improved at least 10 wins this year. I really don't know if they are capable of it, but if we do end up with about the same amount of wins as last year, Thibs needs to take a hard look at what his role was in holding this team back...and make the appropriate changes to improve his performance next year.

This may be the most disappointing year ever in a ridiculously dreadful history of disappointment.

How much improvement did we really add to the team? I think the indictment is more on the offseason than the way this team was coached. Who's playing now that wasn't last year other than our rookie PG? We still play Ricky/Zach/Wiggins/Bazz/Belly/Dieng/Towns and very little else outside of Dunn. That's the same team as last year with Ricky largely playing worse for most of the year and our 21 year olds largely staying the same. The only win improvement opportunity really was if the big 3 took a massive step forward otherwise everything else was basically the same and the big 3 didn't make the leap. So with that being said why is it hard to understand why the improvement in the W-L column isn't there? It's the same team only this year we expected 3 21 year olds to be much better and more consistent. I think the expectations were just flat out wrong.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Q...you and some others have been talking for some time about the difficult end of year schedule, but seeing it in black and white is rather depressing. Especially since we have already lost a game you (and probably all of us) predicted us to win, leaving us at a paltry 29 wins. I have fully jumped off the playoff train, and I suspect over 90% of us here have now.

To show no improvement in wins over last year is a travesty, and has to be an indictment of the coaching staff. A young talented team adding a few key (albeit not great) veteran pieces should have improved at least 10 wins this year. I really don't know if they are capable of it, but if we do end up with about the same amount of wins as last year, Thibs needs to take a hard look at what his role was in holding this team back...and make the appropriate changes to improve his performance next year.

This may be the most disappointing year ever in a ridiculously dreadful history of disappointment.

How much improvement did we really add to the team? I think the indictment is more on the offseason than the way this team was coached. Who's playing now that wasn't last year other than our rookie PG? We still play Ricky/Zach/Wiggins/Bazz/Belly/Dieng/Towns and very little else outside of Dunn. That's the same team as last year with Ricky largely playing worse for most of the year and our 21 year olds largely staying the same. The only win improvement opportunity really was if the big 3 took a massive step forward otherwise everything else was basically the same and the big 3 didn't make the leap. So with that being said why is it hard to understand why the improvement in the W-L column isn't there? It's the same team only this year we expected 3 21 year olds to be much better and more consistent. I think the expectations were just flat out wrong.

We added two veterans who were very effective for good teams last year...Rush and Aldrich. The problem is it turns out a player can't make a solid contribution when he mostly sits on the bench...who knew? Thibs signed these guys cheaply after good seasons in moves that were largely (but not universally to be fair) lauded here, but then decided to not play them and instead run his starters into the game. You're correct that, other than Dunn, we are largely playing the same players. But that's been Thibs decision, and I don't agree with it. I still maintain that the addition of 3 veterans, the #3 pick in the draft, and expected improvement from three very talented 21 year olds had to add up to at least 10 more wins. I still maintain the biggest X-factor in this year's disappointment has been the coaching.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Q...you and some others have been talking for some time about the difficult end of year schedule, but seeing it in black and white is rather depressing. Especially since we have already lost a game you (and probably all of us) predicted us to win, leaving us at a paltry 29 wins. I have fully jumped off the playoff train, and I suspect over 90% of us here have now.

To show no improvement in wins over last year is a travesty, and has to be an indictment of the coaching staff. A young talented team adding a few key (albeit not great) veteran pieces should have improved at least 10 wins this year. I really don't know if they are capable of it, but if we do end up with about the same amount of wins as last year, Thibs needs to take a hard look at what his role was in holding this team back...and make the appropriate changes to improve his performance next year.

This may be the most disappointing year ever in a ridiculously dreadful history of disappointment.

How much improvement did we really add to the team? I think the indictment is more on the offseason than the way this team was coached. Who's playing now that wasn't last year other than our rookie PG? We still play Ricky/Zach/Wiggins/Bazz/Belly/Dieng/Towns and very little else outside of Dunn. That's the same team as last year with Ricky largely playing worse for most of the year and our 21 year olds largely staying the same. The only win improvement opportunity really was if the big 3 took a massive step forward otherwise everything else was basically the same and the big 3 didn't make the leap. So with that being said why is it hard to understand why the improvement in the W-L column isn't there? It's the same team only this year we expected 3 21 year olds to be much better and more consistent. I think the expectations were just flat out wrong.

Well, you predicted 44 wins, so obviously you were expecting a fairly significant leap forward too!

I don't think improving over last season required a "massive step forward" by our young guys. It required a solid step forward and it just hasn't happened, mostly because of horrible defense....despite being coached by supposedly one of the best defensive minds in the modern game! Everyone thought he was the perfect match for what the team needed, as we already started seeing the offensive potential last season.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Q...you and some others have been talking for some time about the difficult end of year schedule, but seeing it in black and white is rather depressing. Especially since we have already lost a game you (and probably all of us) predicted us to win, leaving us at a paltry 29 wins. I have fully jumped off the playoff train, and I suspect over 90% of us here have now.

To show no improvement in wins over last year is a travesty, and has to be an indictment of the coaching staff. A young talented team adding a few key (albeit not great) veteran pieces should have improved at least 10 wins this year. I really don't know if they are capable of it, but if we do end up with about the same amount of wins as last year, Thibs needs to take a hard look at what his role was in holding this team back...and make the appropriate changes to improve his performance next year.

This may be the most disappointing year ever in a ridiculously dreadful history of disappointment.

How much improvement did we really add to the team? I think the indictment is more on the offseason than the way this team was coached. Who's playing now that wasn't last year other than our rookie PG? We still play Ricky/Zach/Wiggins/Bazz/Belly/Dieng/Towns and very little else outside of Dunn. That's the same team as last year with Ricky largely playing worse for most of the year and our 21 year olds largely staying the same. The only win improvement opportunity really was if the big 3 took a massive step forward otherwise everything else was basically the same and the big 3 didn't make the leap. So with that being said why is it hard to understand why the improvement in the W-L column isn't there? It's the same team only this year we expected 3 21 year olds to be much better and more consistent. I think the expectations were just flat out wrong.

Well, you predicted 44 wins, so obviously you were expecting a fairly significant leap forward too!

I don't think improving over last season required a "massive step forward" by our young guys. It required a solid step forward and it just hasn't happened, mostly because of horrible defense....despite being coached by supposedly one of the best defensive minds in the modern game! Everyone thought he was the perfect match for what the team needed, as we already started seeing the offensive potential last season.

I was wrong just like everyone on this board and my point is we probably should have been closer to the realistic end we are at than the 44 wins I predicted. We didn't add significant pieces to this team so we shouldn't have been expecting a big jump in wins and the step back Towns took and Ricky playing poorly the first half of the year combine with Wiggins playing almost the same made it almost impossible to have any real improvement in the W-L column. I thought 3 21 year olds would be better and that was dumb of me when I really think how much I would expect a 21 year old to contribute to winning. I fully admit that. My point is we all should have been much closer to 29 than 44 if we really go back and look at the moves we made with who we had on the team. Aldrich and Rush aren't worth even a couple wins. They've always been carried by the play of other stars when they have actually won games and Dunn is a rookie of which most are negative contributors in year 1. We really just overshot the expectations and to still expect this team to have improved by 10 games seeing what our offseason additions really added to this team seems ridiculous to me. I don't view them as difference makers Thibs is misplaying. They are move your furniture around candidates. It just comes off as more Thibs is the only responsible party for this season when I would put most of it on the inconsistent play of his players. They have no problems playing good basketball for large stretches of games. The problem is they can't do it for 48 minutes and that's a player issue to me more than a coaching issue. If you believe that is because of their big minutes so be it but I don't. The games I've seen them throw have been them forgetting how to play basketball more than them looking tired and I don't know how a coach fixes those consistent mental errors.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Khans, You seem to forget that adding Aldrich and Rush wasn't just about those guys, but the guys they were replacing in the rotation. No more Greg Smith, Adreian Payne, or the rookie versions of Bjelly and Tyus. Those four were all getting regular playing time during our 2nd half resurgence. Our bench this year is an upgrade!

The fact is the biggest difference is that the starting 5 of Dieng-KAT-Wiggins-LaVine-Rubio haven't been as good as a unit together as the exact same 5 guys last year. That's not just standing in place - that's a step backwards. You mean to tell me that we should have seen this coming? I don't think so.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Khans, You seem to forget that adding Aldrich and Rush wasn't just about those guys, but the guys they were replacing in the rotation. No more Greg Smith, Adreian Payne, or the rookie versions of Bjelly and Tyus. Those four were all getting regular playing time during our 2nd half resurgence. Our bench this year is an upgrade!

The fact is the biggest difference is that the starting 5 of Dieng-KAT-Wiggins-LaVine-Rubio haven't been as good as a unit together as the exact same 5 guys last year. That's not just standing in place - that's a step backwards. You mean to tell me that we should have seen this coming? I don't think so.

To this degree no we shouldn't have seen this coming, but we also shouldn't have just handed them 40 wins when the 3 best players are 21 and we added bench depth and a rookie as our big moves this offseason. Aldrich, Rush and Dunn have added 1.3 combined wins this year so far for total win shares. That means the other 8.7 had to come from 21 year olds and Towns and Zach have seen slight upticks in win shares while Wiggins is on the same pace so where were those 10 wins supposed to come from? 10 wins is a lot in the NBA especially when the numbers show 3 21 year olds have to make a significant jump to make it happen because Dieng and Ricky are both down a little bit as well. At the end of the day Thibs has had success in this league which is something nobody who plays meaningful minutes on this team can say so I just don't buy that the players know how to win more games and Thibs is fucking it up.

[Monster]

There is this...

https://twitter.com/wolvesradio/status/830920887113220096

Wolves win their 21st game of season on Feb 12.

Last season Wolves won their 21st game on March 11.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

New Orleans - W - Actual L
Chicago - W - Actual W
Cleveland - L - Actual L
@ Denver - L - Actual W
Dallas - W
@ Houston - L
@ Sacramento - W/L
@ Utah - L
@ San Antonio - L
Portland - W
Clippers - L
Warriors - L
@ Milwaukee - W/L
Washington - L
@ Boston - L
@ Miami - L
@ New Orleans - W/L
San Antonio - W
@ Lakers - W/L
@ Portland - L
@ Indiana - L
Lakers - W
Sacramento - W
@ Golden State - L
@ Portland - L
@ Utah - L
@ Lakers - W/L
OKC - L
@ Houston - L

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, we remain on track for about 29-30 wins. The win last night against Denver was canceled out by the terrible loss at home to New Orleans. The win against Chicago and loss against Cleveland were expected.

At this point, the key will be getting some unexpected road wins. That is very similar to what we did last season, where we got some key road wins late @Portland, @Golden State, and @OKC. It can be done, but we'll see.....