I swear, I could not figure out Dipo... All I could come up with was Victor, or some new nickname for Nowell, who happens to be missing from the list.
Lip is really slipping missing his guy Nowell in there! :) I'm just gonna say it now that I am gonna get Zach Norvell mixed up with him more than a few times going forward.
This team on paper looks like a 35 or 40 win team if reasonably healthy. I like the bargain shopping so far but lacking a trade or two, probably a playoff miss again.
BizarroJerry wrote:This team on paper looks like a 35 or 40 win team if reasonably healthy. I like the bargain shopping so far but lacking a trade or two, probably a playoff miss again.
Happy 4th!
Probably closer to 30 wins if nothing else happens with the roster. Losing Taj Gibson, Derrick Rose, and Dario Saric with no legitimate replacements. We can hope that some of the bargain buys pan out, but the formerly mentioned three rotation players were proven contributors. Minnesota's needs prior to the off-season are arguably more glaring at the time of this comment.
KG4Ever wrote:I am glad we unloaded Rose and Gibson. Its time to develop young guys, even at the expense of a few wins.
That's fine, but expectations need to be held in check. We also have to realize that this season is likely going to be another step back in proving to Towns that he can win here.
KG4Ever wrote:I am glad we unloaded Rose and Gibson. Its time to develop young guys, even at the expense of a few wins.
That's fine, but expectations need to be held in check. We also have to realize that this season is likely going to be another step back in proving to Towns that he can win here.
That's true. The thing I think can be sold to Towns is building something with a real plan. I think for a couple years Towns will be a guy that will buy into bringing in young players and all that stuff...unless the team just absolutely blows and hardly any of the young guys show anything.
The Wolves will face some injuries but last year it's worth remembering that Between Butler Covington and Teague those guys combined for just 73 games. Rose played 51 games which was probably a handful less than what I was expecting but he was better than expected when he was out there. Towns led the team in games played with 77. With all that last year the Wolves still managed 36 wins. If we have some reasonably good health is this roster really that much worse than the one we had last year? A lot of it will depend on how things come together. If we end up putting together 35 or more wins in tough west that honestly may be a somewhat good sign. It's also still early Rosas may not be done.
I generally agree with Monster. Here's how I see it.
NEGATIVES --Here are the reasons I see for believing the Wolves will end up with significantly fewer wins than last season's total of 37:
1. Losing Gibson and Rose. Both Gibson and Rose were major contributors and, before Covington arrived, I'd say they were our second and third best players after Towns. So losing them will hurt.
2. Realistic assessment of off-season additions. I've noticed some euphoria over our recent acquisitions of Bell, Vonleh and particularly Layman. I like all three acquisitions as young high-upside players who could develop into very good players, perhaps even all-star caliber. But the fact is these three have been in the League for 2-3 years now and haven't done much -- which of course is why were able to sign them for so little. Some have already identified Layman as a guy who will help spread the floor for Towns with his 3-point shooting. He might. I love his stroke and see his potential. But he hit only around 32% of his three points last season in limited minutes. So we can hope and speculate, but neither Layman nor either of the other two have proven anything, which means none of them can be counted on. As for Culver and Nowell, we can't reasonably expect them to move the win total as rookies after 2 seasons of college ball. Difference-making rookies are exceedingly rare.
3. The West will be even tougher this season with the Lakers getting AD, Portzingis back playing for Dallas and some other off-season upgrades to other West teams.
POSITIVES - Here are reasons for believing the Wolves will match last seasons win total or maybe slightly exceed it:
1. Improvement from Okogie. While I don't expect anything more from Wiggins or much from our rookies, I expect a significant bump up in Okogie's game and contribution. Given how hard he reportedly works and how competitive he is, I would expect him to take a pretty decent leap forward this next season with all of his considerable physical gifts.
2. Covington's return. I recall the Wolves playing their best basketball last season by far when Covington played before he went down with his knee issue. As it turns out, he played only 22 games for the Wolves last season. If he comes back healthy from his knee issue, we can reasonably expect him to play around 67 games next season - his typical season since he rarely stays healthy enough to play in more games. Having Covington for 45 additional games should make a big difference.
3. The return of stability and continuity without Butler and Thibodeau. The Butler circus and head coaching change mid-season were huge negatives that certainly cost the Wolves wins last season. Even if Saunders is no better than Thibs as a head coach, I don't expect him to be worse. And meanwhile, the team will have better chemistry, stability and continuity without Thibodeau and the weird stretch last season when Butler was acting out.
I think the main thing is Covington's health. If he is truly 100% back from his knee issue and doesn't suffer a reoccurrence and if Teague stays healthy, then I see this team winning 37-40 games next season. That's how big a factor Covington is. I think it's reasonable to expect Covington to play far more games for us than last season, although I have my doubts about his knee. I also think it's reasonable to expect significant improvement from Okogie. I also think it's reasonable to expect one of our three recent acquisitions to be at least a bit of a positive difference maker. Add it all together and the Wolves should win 37-40 games. But I'll admit, I'm not convinced Covington will be OK physically. And I could easily see the Wolves winning only around 30 games.
lipoli390 wrote:I generally agree with Monster. Here's how I see it.
NEGATIVES --Here are the reasons I see for believing the Wolves will end up with significantly fewer wins than last season's total of 37:
1. Losing Gibson and Rose. Both Gibson and Rose were major contributors and, before Covington arrived, I'd say they were our second and third best players after Towns. So losing them will hurt.
2. Realistic assessment of off-season additions. I've noticed some euphoria over our recent acquisitions of Bell, Vonleh and particularly Layman. I like all three acquisitions as young high-upside players who could develop into very good players, perhaps even all-star caliber. But the fact is these three have been in the League for 2-3 years now and haven't done much -- which of course is why were able to sign them for so little. Some have already identified Layman as a guy who will help spread the floor for Towns with his 3-point shooting. He might. I love his stroke and see his potential. But he hit only around 32% of his three points last season in limited minutes. So we can hope and speculate, but neither Layman nor either of the other two have proven anything, which means none of them can be counted on. As for Culver and Nowell, we can't reasonably expect them to move the win total as rookies after 2 seasons of college ball. Difference-making rookies are exceedingly rare.
3. The West will be even tougher this season with the Lakers getting AD, Portzingis back playing for Dallas and some other off-season upgrades to other West teams.
POSITIVES - Here are reasons for believing the Wolves will match last seasons win total or maybe slightly exceed it:
1. Improvement from Okogie. While I don't expect anything more from Wiggins or much from our rookies, I expect a significant bump up in Okogie's game and contribution. Given how hard he reportedly works and how competitive he is, I would expect him to take a pretty decent leap forward this next season with all of his considerable physical gifts.
2. Covington's return. I recall the Wolves playing their best basketball last season by far when Covington played before he went down with his knee issue. As it turns out, he played only 22 games for the Wolves last season. If he comes back healthy from his knee issue, we can reasonably expect him to play around 67 games next season - his typical season since he rarely stays healthy enough to play in more games. Having Covington for 45 additional games should make a big difference.
3. The return of stability and continuity without Butler and Thibodeau. The Butler circus and head coaching change mid-season were huge negatives that certainly cost the Wolves wins last season. Even if Saunders is no better than Thibs as a head coach, I don't expect him to be worse. And meanwhile, the team will have better chemistry, stability and continuity without Thibodeau and the weird stretch last season when Butler was acting out.
I think the main thing is Covington's health. If he is truly 100% back from his knee issue and doesn't suffer a reoccurrence and if Teague stays healthy, then I see this team winning 37-40 games next season. That's how big a factor Covington is. I think it's reasonable to expect Covington to play far more games for us than last season, although I have my doubts about his knee. I also think it's reasonable to expect significant improvement from Okogie. I also think it's reasonable to expect one of our three recent acquisitions to be at least a bit of a positive difference maker. Add it all together and the Wolves should win 37-40 games. But I'll admit, I'm not convinced Covington will be OK physically. And I could easily see the Wolves winning only around 30 games.
I'd guess Wiggins has a better offensive season this year compared to the disaster he was most of the season last year in terms of efficiency. Even that wildly moderate expectation would help.
The revamp of our offensive and defensive systems isn't getting any consideration here, in part because it is hard to forecast the results those changes could produce. But I will offer those up as reasons the Wolves could surpass their win total from last year. Add in a healthier Teague and Covington, and we could see a significant improvement over last year.
Teague was shut down after a win on March 10th leaving the Wolves just 3 games under .500 at 32-35. And that record includes Teague having already missing 25 games! His personal win-loss record was 23-19. Covington's personal record with the Wolves was 12-10. Everyone else, including Taj and Rose, had sub-.500 records with the Wolves.
New systems to start training camp. New personnel to fit those new systems. The talent of Teague and Covington back on the active roster. I do not share the pessimism about the upcoming season (I know, I know. When I have I ever shared in the pessimism... ;-) )
