Print the playoff tickets!

[60WinTim]

Didn't anyone else other than LST catch the Dunks After Dark event last night?

Well, lucky for you NBA-TV is replaying it at noon today. It runs for 1.5 hours, although last night's coverage was at least 2 hours, so hopefully they are editing out stuff rather than chopping the final half hour, because there is some good stuff in the last scrimmage, including a crunch-time three by Rubio.

Overall the broadcast isn't very good -- they cut away from the action way too much. And if you were expecting a dunk contest you will be disappointed. But it's still great to see our guys playing basketball! Wiggins and LaVine may not start together this year, but it sure seems like Flip hit back-to-back home runs with those two players. We have never had such a gifted wing player, and now we have two?!? Holy buckets, is this going to be fun with Rubio feeding those two, not to mention all the other things those two can do.

We lost Love and his offensive production and efficiency, plus his rebounding. But that is just one player. The gains we have everywhere will easily offset what we lost with Love.

1) Flip running the show in place of Adelman cannot be overstated. While the experience difference between Flip and Adelman is a wash, the enthusiasm and desire to develop youth is clearly in Flip's favor, not to mention Adelman had checked out nearly two years ago.

2) We lost Love, but we are not left with a gaping hole at PF. Thad Young is a competent starting PF. Replacing Love's production needs to be spread amongst everyone, but we are not left with PF being the weak link on the team.

3) Listening to Mo Williams at media day, seeing him play last night, and hearing the disappointment from Portland fans tells me how clever a signing this was by Flip. I see Rubio, Williams and Young providing the leadership for this team, and making sure the youngsters practice and play the right way.

4) I have no idea if Shabazz is going to earn minutes, but there is no question he and Dieng are ready to produce in their 2nd year.

5) The injuries to Bud, Pek and Turiaf hurt the team last year. But they are back and ready to go, especially Bud - he looked like the guy we expected when we first traded for him. Hopefully they stay healthy for the majority of the season, but our improved depth should help us survive any missed time though out the season.

6) Wiggins and LaVine. I usually hesitate to count on anything from a rookie. But it's hard not to imagine Wiggins doing some good stuff, especially since we don't NEED him to carry the team. And I have no idea how much to expect from LaVine. I was expecting nothing in his first year when we drafted him. But his skills, poise and drive have blown me away. Anything he provides this year will be a bonus, but it won't surprise me.

Yes, I am always opTIMistic. But I cannot imagine this team not making the playoffs.

[Monster]

Is printing the tickets in black and write ok with everyone? I voluteer my extra laserjets to the task. Hey putting playoff tickets in with the season tickets so far is working for Jerry Jones maybe we can try it. Lol

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Playoffs? You're talking about playoffs? Are you kidding me? Playoffs????

/never gets old

[60WinTim]

I like the schedule the Wolves have in the first month of the season -- not so much for wins, but for development and building chemistry. They play 3 games in 4 nights, and then have 3 days off to work on their weaknesses. And they get to repeat this sequence FOUR TIMES IN A ROW!

What I want to see is improvement in our competitiveness as we move from one set of 3 games in 4 nights to the next set. After those first 12 games we will be fortunate to have 4 or 5 wins. But I am hopeful we can start playing .500 ball going forward, although I must admit, the first half of December looks like a pretty tough schedule.

[Phenom]

Damn, I think my printer might be jammed. PC load letter? What the fuck does that mean? This is the pessimism thread, right?

[60WinTim]

I started this thread following the Dunks After Dark. The pre-season has only confirmed my belief we are heading to the playoffs. This year!

An argument had been made that some analytics suggested Young was no better than Love defensively. With the preseason under our belt, that assertion is a bunch of hogwash. Young has been so much more active than Love on defense - the comparison isn't close. We will certainly miss Love's rebounding, and it will require an entire team effort to fill that void. But with Bennett's solid showing in the preseason, I am feeling pretty good about how we are replacing last year's Love-Cunningham combo at PF!

The first month of the season is almost a coach's dream for how to develop a young team learning new systems. Four sets of 3 games in 4 days, but with 3 days to work on weaknesses in practice after each of those sets. The Wolves should be playing pretty good ball heading into December.

But the bus is pretty empty -- just me, phenom and doper, with LST hiding in the back...

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Ha, yep that's me...in disguise in the back of the bus. I really want to jump on the bandwagon, but this team has broken my heart too many times for me to commit so early. I will admit this though...I am "all in" in terms of cheering for this team. In previous years I have had a difficult time getting there, because there were aspects of the team that I found unappealing. This year is different. Win or lose, I'm confident they are going to play hard and be entertaining.

Here's why I still feel like I need to lurk in the back. The West is still too tough...the Wolves could have a very successful season and still miss the playoffs. Second, even though I'm happy to see him gone, we don't know how much of a loss Kevin Love is. He put up remarkable statistics, and I'm concerned we are going to struggle on the boards...especially if Thad Young is our starting forward. Third, although we have shot well this pre-season, I need a few more games to make sure it is not a mirage. Finally, we need first and second year players to step up in order for us to make the playoffs, and history doesn't make that very likely.

That said, there are so many reasons for optimism:

1) We won our final four pre-season games for the first time since 2001...a couple of them in blowout fashion.

2) Flip has transformed this team, and very seldom misses the playoffs.

3) We may be the most athletic team in the NBA.

4) This team has character. Would we have hung on to win that Bulls game last year?

5) Rubio is showing signs of living up to his enormous potential. He may shoot 8-10 free throws a game this year, and his jumper looks better.

6) We have never had so many good guys on our roster. Adding Thad Young and Mo Williams was a real coup by Flip, as much for their ability to mentor as for their production. these guys are really easy to cheer for.

7) We got through pre-season without any major injuries. Yes, a couple guys (especially Wiggins and Muhammad) are nicked up, but our great depth allows us to weather small setbacks like this.

8) In addition to our new athletic additions, Rubio and Bud appear fully healed from their knee issues. The Bulls' announcers were raving about Rubio's quickness last night.

I'm sure others can add more reasons for optimism. Let's get this party started!

[Monster]

Damn, I think my printer might be jammed. PC load letter? What the fuck does that mean? This is the pessimism thread, right?

LOL

I'm not on the Playoff bandwagon however IF stuff goes right I see it as a possibilty. The depth we feel optimistic about now has to be real. We have to stay healthy maybe Pek and Martin play 70 games instead of 60-65. Rubio takes a step forward Wiggins is pretty good and the team just comes together. The Wolves need a little luck in other teams having struggles and injuries. OKC has Durant hurt already so that's the first maybe little help we get there. Last year Gasol went down for Memphis for an extended time which gave us an opening but it wasn't enough. The Wolves likely need at least 1 team that's looking like a playoff team now to struggle for some reason to get in.

Honeslty I feel about the same way about this Wolves team in winning as I did about the Vikings when the season started. Hey a few things might fall in line and the Vikings could make the playoffs. NFL anything can happen but now the Vikings have had a lot go wrong and I almost feel they are overachieving (considering loss of AP and key injuries) at 2-5. Both teams have a new coach and young players with hope and you just want to see those young guys play well and grow.

Back to the Wolves they have key legit vets some fun young players and a coach that's been successful over the years and seems energized and put together the roster so hey why shouldn't he be somewhat successful. :) It was said in another thread but I really think Rubio is the biggest key to this team if he takes a bigger step forward. The Wolves playoff bandwagon is one I won't be ashamed to have jumped on later and I'm guessing Tim and the crew will let me on. :)

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I think playoffs are a no, but I can't help but think we won't be worse than 2 years ago. And for those that follow more closely, who are the players that shifted from the East to West? Of course the West is better than the East, but is it really stronger this year?

The Bulls will be stronger, the Cavs obviously will. The Pacers losing George hurts, but I don't see any big additions by the West so if somebody in the know could help out. Thanks.

[BloopOracle]

I don't know about playoffs yet but god damn our depth reminds me of the Hubie Brown coached Grizz a few years back. This is the first time in my life I have been fine about every single player on the Wolves roster getting on the court, even bakc in the KG playoff days there were a handful of players on the roster who I hoped never saw a second. It's crazy how much potential we have and that's a huge credit to Flip, hell it's all his actually. I remember making a topic about how dark and somber our future looked as we were losing and right before Gorgui got his shot at real playing time. Incredible how much it's changed in 9 months