Is all hope lost??

[Lipoli390]

I share your frustration Kekgeek. But in addition to the points I made in my last post, consider that Culver thus far in January has been averaging 15.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, hitting 47% of his FG attempts and 31.3% of his threes while playing excellent defense. If these numbers hold the rest of the season, then Culver is someone we can and should get excited about. Moreover, it could be a good sign that the Rosas regime might be much better at identifying and drafting talent than prior regimes have been. Further, with the exception of three-point shooting, Okogie has played well every month this season except December when he was in a bit of a funk. But he's back on track in January with stellar defense and 45% FG shooting. Layman was playing well before he went down. KBD, Martin and Reid have all shown flashes.

So this team has some young talent already on its roster. Of course, there is also next June's lottery pick, top 11 second-round pick and the trade value of Covington (possibly Wiggins). If we're in a similar position this time next season, then I will lose all hope. But at this point, I'm cautiously optimistic.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

I share your frustration Kekgeek. But in addition to the points I made in my last post, consider that Culver thus far in January has been averaging 15.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, hitting 47% of his FG attempts and 31.3% of his threes while playing excellent defense. If these numbers hold the rest of the season, then Culver is someone we can and should get excited about. Moreover, it could be a good sign that the Rosas regime might be much better at identifying and drafting talent than prior regimes have been. Further, with the exception of three-point shooting, Okogie has played well every month this season except December when he was in a bit of a funk. But he's back on track in January with stellar defense and 45% FG shooting. Layman was playing well before he went down. KBD, Martin and Reid have all shown flashes.

So this team has some young talent already on its roster. Of course, there is also next June's lottery pick, top 11 second-round pick and the trade value of Covington (possibly Wiggins). If we're in a similar position this time next season, then I will lose all hope. But at this point, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Some good points here to bring me off the ledge a bit. I like the potential that layman was showing too

[WildWolf2813]

As I've said before, I don't think Rosas realizes how hard it's really gonna be to change this. If they're trying to mirror what the Nets did, the Nets struggled too and really had to get talent out of nowhere to become respectable under Atkinson and Marks. The difference is that they didn't have a Towns and because of that it actually helped the team in terms of not having this ticking time bomb strapped to their backs while building the team. They had no expectations so any good night was seen as improvement. People think they bought low on Russell, they really didn't. They traded their best player and a pick that became Kyle Kuzma to get Russell and Russell was still being yanked in the 4th quarters for Spencer Dinwiddie. They were fun because guys were seizing the opportunity. This team isn't fun because it feels like guys (especially Wiggins) aren't. While Towns was out, we should have seen Wiggins, illness and all, turn into a monster, the least he could be on a max deal and he didn't. If this is the product they present, nobody from the outside is gonna give Rosas the yes he wants to hear. 3 of their 4 best players are introverts who nobody from the outside looks at and says "I wanna play alongside them." The other one is Towns who everyone wants to rescue. No star is gonna look at that and say "man that looks like something I wanna be a part of."

If they blow it up again, for as much as I've already lost interest in this team, I know I'd have no investment in a rebuild if they're just gonna do this all over again.

[Wolvesfan21]

Since they are tanking (sitting players out for weeks and months on end) it's sort of hard for me to blame the players for the losing. You just have to expect the Wolves to lose every game this season. The team still really needs some more talent, but then you also struggle with continuing the losing culture.

So the players are not 100% focused night in and out. Which is especially tough for guys like Wiggins who already half ass on a regular basis. KAT doesn't have All NBA to play for. The only guys who play hard are the fringe guys which is why we saw the Iowa Wolves win a few games and play strong defense. Playing hard is half the battle.

Culver is playing hard though and it's not too late to jump on the Culver bus people. Shooting 50/40/70 the last 8 games. He is the one bright spot in the starting lineup.

[thedoper]

All hope is lost for good basketball this season. If there is a long term restriction on luxury tax spending all hope is probably lost for good basketball during the rest of KAT's tenure. If KAT leaves Minnesota early all hope is probably lost for the team staying in Minnesota. But other than that things are great.

[Lipoli390]

As I've said before, I don't think Rosas realizes how hard it's really gonna be to change this. If they're trying to mirror what the Nets did, the Nets struggled too and really had to get talent out of nowhere to become respectable under Atkinson and Marks. The difference is that they didn't have a Towns and because of that it actually helped the team in terms of not having this ticking time bomb strapped to their backs while building the team. They had no expectations so any good night was seen as improvement. People think they bought low on Russell, they really didn't. They traded their best player and a pick that became Kyle Kuzma to get Russell and Russell was still being yanked in the 4th quarters for Spencer Dinwiddie. They were fun because guys were seizing the opportunity. This team isn't fun because it feels like guys (especially Wiggins) aren't. While Towns was out, we should have seen Wiggins, illness and all, turn into a monster, the least he could be on a max deal and he didn't. If this is the product they present, nobody from the outside is gonna give Rosas the yes he wants to hear. 3 of their 4 best players are introverts who nobody from the outside looks at and says "I wanna play alongside them." The other one is Towns who everyone wants to rescue. No star is gonna look at that and say "man that looks like something I wanna be a part of."

If they blow it up again, for as much as I've already lost interest in this team, I know I'd have no investment in a rebuild if they're just gonna do this all over again.

I see guys like Culver, Okogie, Martin and other young guys playing hard and trying to seize the opportunity. So far it looks like Culver is emerging while Okogie continues to show more offensive development to go with his tenacious defense. The problem is that you need opportunity to seize it. Vonleh hasn't had much opportunity given Ryan's refusal to play two bigs. And Nowell has had very little opportunity as well.

The fundamental problem with this team is the absence of another elite player to pair with KAT. Wiggins isn't and never will be that player. The fact that he hasn't seize the opportunity shouldn't be a surprise after watching him for 6 seasons. He's playing better this season, but he'll never be an elite player in the League. The best move for the Wolves is to move him. Hopefully, his improved play will allow the Wolves to move him without giving up picks as inducement. Meanwhile, the Wolves front office needs to find and get a second elite player. That won't be easy, but there's still hope.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

It's not just the lack of another elite player. Indiana shows that you don't even need a single elite star to be a winning team. It's the total lack of wing/guard depth that has absolutely killed this team. Obviously a singular player like Kawhi combined with KAT would largely allow us to get away with a bunch of other "do no harm" type role players. But in the absence of another superstar, a team can still be very competitive with having just a bunch of solid-to-good players.

- McLaughlin and Napier might be the worst PG-combination in the league right now.

- Culver and Okogie are probably a bottom 5 SG combination. They both have solid defensive chops, but have largely been train wrecks on offense. I realize they are both young and could improve, but that's the current reality looking at this season.

So right there, you look at our PG and SG slots and it's pretty easy to find 25 or more teams that are better at these positions.

- Wiggins we've talked about at length. He's an inefficient scorer and mediocre defender. Like Teague, he can sometimes carry a team offensively for stretches, but in general, he's a middle-of-the pack starter at best. I guess Kelan Martin is the next closest thing to a pure 3, but he's been very uneven.

- RoCo I love, but he's a role player that needs other guys to do the scoring and ball handling. He's an above average NBA starter but not a star. KBD is his backup and does almost nothing to distinguish himself.

- KAT is an offensive superstar and a defensive liability playing the most important position. He's a plus player for sure, but very hard to cover for on the defensive end.


I think with the current personnel and a less dogmatic approach to our "system", this team could be coached up to may be a 35 to 40-win team. But the lack of guard play would still hold us back in a big way.