25.5

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

The first over/under win totals just came out in Vegas. Wolves: 25.5.

Discuss.

[ace [enjin:6598567]]

I think I might need to find an online sports book to put $100 on the over.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Makes perfect sense to me. I actually think Vegas has it spot on, so I wouldn't put money down in either direction.

[60WinTim]

Q, whatever happened to the "hope springs eternal in training camp" mantra?!? Has 10 years of no playoffs beaten everyone into submission?

We lost Kevin Love and his production. But we only lost ONE player that had any relevance on this team. Just ONE! And when you start adding up all the additions, I can't imagine this team taking a step backwards from last year, let alone dropping to 25 wins. It just cannot happen! We have too many veteran players that will not let that happen. We have a coach who is too smart, too vested, and too enthusiastic to let that happen.

I wouldn't be so opTIMistic if we were replacing Love with some backup PF like Dante Cunningham or Derrick Williams. But Thaddeus Young is a legit starting PF. Yes, there is a drop off going from Love to Young, but the depth of that drop off is no where near as severe as everyone is making it out to be. And did Love win a single game in crunch time last year? None that I remember...

I feel like I am a lone voice out here. Is there anyone else that sees this team improving upon 40-42? Or does everyone believe we are destined to take a step backwards before we can move forward?

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Tim, I'm with you. I said in another post this number is too low. The Bucks are at 24 I believe, are we only 1.5 games better than the freakin Bucks? If we get 65-70 games each from Martin and Pek, that should be an easy over. But Vegas bookies and others here obviously see something we don't. I'm not a gambler either, but I gotta find a way to take this action. Cmon Flip, don't let this happen!

[Coolbreeze44]

If we played in the East getting over would not be a problem. But the West is a different animal. I still think we get over, but not by much. I'm going to say 31-51. And yet I expect to thoroughly enjoy the season.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Q, whatever happened to the "hope springs eternal in training camp" mantra?!? Has 10 years of no playoffs beaten everyone into submission?

We lost Kevin Love and his production. But we only lost ONE player that had any relevance on this team. Just ONE! And when you start adding up all the additions, I can't imagine this team taking a step backwards from last year, let alone dropping to 25 wins. It just cannot happen! We have too many veteran players that will not let that happen. We have a coach who is too smart, too vested, and too enthusiastic to let that happen.

I wouldn't be so opTIMistic if we were replacing Love with some backup PF like Dante Cunningham or Derrick Williams. But Thaddeus Young is a legit starting PF. Yes, there is a drop off going from Love to Young, but the depth of that drop off is no where near as severe as everyone is making it out to be. And did Love win a single game in crunch time last year? None that I remember...

I feel like I am a lone voice out here. Is there anyone else that sees this team improving upon 40-42? Or does everyone believe we are destined to take a step backwards before we can move forward?

Tim, First off, look at your track record. Name the last year the Wolves BEAT your pre-season expectations in terms of wins. I love your optimism, but my whole point of "hope springs eternal" is just that - it's pre-season and typically fan optimism hits its apex during this time of year. By no means can we be objective. The Vegas bookies aren't emotionally tied to our franchise.

Second, one player - especially a superstar player - can make more of a difference in basketball than any other sport. We already know how horribly this team performed when Love went to the bench. And for those folks who point to two seasons ago of how competitive we were without Love, keep in mind that we did have a gimpy Love play 18 games and we went .500 in that stretch. Our record when he didn't play was a lot worse.

And third, we know that promising rookies - especially young ones with minimal college experience - rarely make a net positive difference on the floor. Even Durant struggled mightily at times (especially defensively) as a rookie. We have a bunch of 1st and 2nd year guys that will likely see fairly regular rotation minutes. Their lack of experience will undoubtedly affect our ability to compete over 82 games. That's not necessarily a bad thing as playing time is important to their development, but I think we're fooling ourselves if we think Wiggins, LaVine, Bennett, and Shabazz can all get lots of burn while at the same time we play .500 ball. I just don't see it happening.

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

we won 31 2 years ago with a team that isnt even close to this one. Some say the west has gotten tougher but the numbers really dont bare that out so...if the coaching change alone should make us better than 25 wins.

I dont think the payout is all that good for BB season wins over/under - there is a reason for that.

[60WinTim]

I don't feel bad about last years prediction at all -- statistically we should have won 48 games! And given all the things that went wrong last year, we were still over .500 well into April.

I wonder what the Vegas odds were last year? I don't offhand recall...

And I prefer to think of Carmelo's first year rather than Durants. A 26 game improvement his rookie season? And while Durant's team struggled his first two seasons, they experienced a 27 game improvement once Brooks replaced Carlesimo.

I am confident in my "step forward" instead of "step backward" prediction. I would put 10 grand on it if I had it... :)

[Phenom]

I feel like I am a lone voice out here. Is there anyone else that sees this team improving upon 40-42? Or does everyone believe we are destined to take a step backwards before we can move forward?

Should I be offended by this? Of course I believe the team will exceed last season. Im not sure if the team is quite 72 win material but 25.5 is a sick joke.