Thoughts going into training camp...

[Brandon BassHole [enjin:8183321]]

Im giving us 25-27 wins. West is stacked there will be some injuries and LOTS OF TURNOVERS for the bench players.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

You "over" guys need to fly to Vegas today. They just posted their number, and surprisingly it's lower than the online books...25 1/2 wins. Only Philly and the Bucks have lower totals.

Can you make a drive out there for me? Wow, only 25.5! Maybe I'm being too optimistic. How many wins in 2012/13 again?

[Monster]

You "over" guys need to fly to Vegas today. They just posted their number, and surprisingly it's lower than the online books...25 1/2 wins. Only Philly and the Bucks have lower totals.

Can you make a drive out there for me? Wow, only 25.5! Maybe I'm being too optimistic. How many wins in 2012/13 again?

I've personally stayed clear of gambling but if I wasn't I'd be all in on that! I thought when it was 27 it would have been good this seems a no-brainer.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I've had them pegged at 25 ever since the Kevin Love deal. The inevitable injuries that will happen will lead to an over-reliance on 1st and 2nd year guys. And even if these rooks show promise, it's almost impossible to compete regularly with a bunch of rookies and 2nd year players in the rotation. If we win 30+ games it's because Pek, Thad, Budinger, Brew,and Rubio all stay very healthy this year.

[worldK]

Im really looking forward to this upcoming season. A lot of posters has mentioned it already, but it seems weird that we are actually excited going into the season while expecting the team to win 30 games the most and no playoff expectations whatsoever.

It speaks of the team and young talent that we assembled here. Even the vet guys like pek and brew are only 28 while young and bud are only 26. Wiggins should start no doubt. We have lots of young talents and is actually a pretty deep team. Should be fun to watch and root for.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Zgoda: "Flip has preferred 8-man rotation, each playing 30 mins plus, then 9th-10th guys as needed. Said that could expand b/c of this team's depth"

8-man ro'? I don't think that'd be best for Flip and this team. Rubio, Martin and Young are the only guys that should be getting 30+ minutes. Pekovic and Dieng like split the center minutes right down the middle, or close to it. They're really trying to do everything they can to keep Pek healthy the whole year. Throw in Dieng's emergence as a starting caliber player (in theory) and I could see that happening. Another certainty is Bennett as the backup PF. That doesn't have much to do with him as a player yet, but more so because he's the only capable body. Also, Williams should be the main backup for Rubio. Brewer/Budinger (thank goodness he looks healthy!) should have a stranglehold on the backup wing minutes.

The question then is: how does Flip find minutes for young guys? We can assume Wiggins will start, and likely get 25+ minutes a night until he proves he can handle more. LaVine and Muhammad are probably going to deserve minutes, but how many?

Anyway, we have more than 10 guys that need minutes ni. Good luck, Flip.

[worldK]

Zgoda: "Flip has preferred 8-man rotation, each playing 30 mins plus, then 9th-10th guys as needed. Said that could expand b/c of this team's depth"

Flip has always used a 9 man rotation during the regular season in his stint here, then goes to an 8 man rotation during the playoffs.

I personally prefer a 9 man rotation but this team has a lot of depth and guys that needs minutes. A 10 man rotation might be preferable.

Of the players on the team, I would like to see rubio, thad and wiggins(maybe not at the start but definitely towards the middle to end of the season) getting 30+ mins per game.

My projected first five are wiggins/thad/pek/rubio/martin. Dieng should split time with pek. Mo should be the backup pg and if he is shooting well, can share the court with rubio in 2 pg sets. bennet is the backup pf. The backup wings are brew and bud. If its going to be a 9man roatation, then its brew vs bud for the backup wing spot but ideally, I would like to see both get time. Lavine is another that I would like to see in the regular rotation. He has to beat out brew and bud for the minutes though.

Im not sure about jj, he is a rotation player but he wont play ahead of mo unless mo suddenly cant play anymore. Turiaf should get spot minutes at center if pek or dieng gets into foul trouble. Hummel is the 15th guy in suits. I cant really see bazz in the rotation, because I dont see him beating out brew and bud for mins. We also have lavine here as well as mo who can play together with rubio. and thad can play sf to matchup with bigger sf's as well. Not a lot of opportunity for mins for bazz if the team stays healthy.

[Monster]

Most coaches prefer a tighter rotation, but I gotta believe Flip is going to utilize more than 8 guys if anyone shows anything since he is limiting Peks minutes and may limit Martin some as well. I am expecting Bazz to get DNPs and then like 20 mins some games when he comes off the bench for a burst when Flip thinks he can do something. Other young guys might get that too and even JJ if he is on the roster.

[Monster]

Also Flip is saying JJ has been playing well and Zgoda says from what he has seen thats pretty legit. I wonder if GR3 doesn't have a good camp I wonder if we can still allocate him to d-league and keep him. He already gets some guaranteed money so that maybe helps. I'd think the problem is I don't know where he fits although Brewer and Bud have max of 2 years left on their deals so playing time might not be that far away. If he and his agent think they can get a spot on an NBA roster maybe they do that. Idk though there will be alot of guys getting cut etc for teams to choose from. I still think JJ can play, but I think its also pretty obvious the plan isn't for him to be here Flip never mentions him as a leader etc but talks about Mo.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I love hearing positive news from Mankato, but am I alone in not getting excited when Flip talks about JJ playing well? Apparently any team that has JJ and Bud at guard is dominating every scrimmage, and the two of them are letting everyone know. I like the competitiveness, but I just wish it wasn't JJ. When most of us talk about the rotations we want to see, JJ is not mentioned. It's not good to hear that he may be playing well enough to take minutes away from players we would rather see.

If I want to be more positive about this, I look at it this way. JJ's annoying style last year was enabled by Adelman, who gave him carte blanche to play how he did. Flip will have a shorter leash, and if he tries to play hero ball instead of getting his teammates involved, he won't see the court. Also, Flip may be overpraising JJ in an attempt to deal him for a second rounder before the season opens.