What Happens If Wolves Finish in Bottom 5

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

We hopefully win the lottery and get Giles to be our starting PF moving forward. Trade Ricky for a veteran wing and hand over the reigns to Dunn.

Dunn/Tyus
Lavine/Vet Wing
Wiggins/Vet Wing
Giles/Dieng
Towns/Aldrich

Or maybe you try to do a blockbuster and trade the top 5 pick and Dunn for John Wall if he becomes available if they keep playing bad.

Either way this team is young and has a brand new coach. The expectations were just too high from the start. Too many people put the cart before the horse. As always, what's one more year to try to get it right for the next 5-10?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I think Lip intended this to be a "what would the Wolves do" thread, but I went a different direction when I read the title...I thought "how would I react". I don't know for sure, but I think a bottom 5 finish would be the final straw for me as a Wolves fan...the season tickets would go, and I'd probably only follow them casually, like I do the Wild. This roster has too much talent to be a bottom 5 team...10 lottery picks including 2 #1 picks, plus a former Euro league MVP, only 1 of which is a rookie...and I have suffered through too many non-playoff seasons to watch them fail again. We saw the way this team was developing at the end of the year last year, and hiring an arrogant, inflexible older coach was about the only thing that could have turned them in the wrong direction again. But rather than hiring a young up-and-comer with a fresher coaching approach, Glen decided to go with an angry guy with a reputation for overworking his players, who had just been fired 10 months earlier.

Some of us here expressed our concern at the time of the hiring, but tried to keep an optimistic viewpoint by citing Thibs' great record in his five years before getting fired, and by mocking the Chicago management for letting a great thing get away...their loss was certain to be our gain. The first warning sign came during free agency. Several players who had been successful playing for Thibs and reputedly had a good working relationship with him were reported to be targets, but none of them decided to come here. We remained optimistic though, and said those players didn't come here because the price tag was too high, and regaled Thaydon for their discretion in not joining in the big money sweepstakes. Further, we praised them for the bargains they landed in Aldrich, Rush and Hill...these were certainly the great bench guys we needed to back up our stars and get to the next level. The next red flag came during the summer with the team's best +/- player last year privately grumbling about the franchise replacing Mitchell with Thibs, and refusing to even meet with the new coach to talk about whether he was coming back or not. But we brushed that off too, saying it was just another example of KG being a jerk (which he is sometimes, of course) and mocking his opinion about who should be coaching this team.

But even with my initial concern about Thibs, I never thought the season would start out this poorly. Despite a relatively soft early schedule, the team has completely almost 1/5 of the season with a winning percentage of .286...that is on pace for a whopping 23 wins! And we haven't even played the Warriors, Cavs or Spurs yet...how do you think those 10 games are going to go? And what's even more alarming is the way we are losing...blowing double digit halftime leads in over half of our losses. And despite relatively good health and conjecture that we just need some time to adapt to Thibs' system, embarrassing losses to Charlotte and Boston at home and blowout losses to Memphis and New Orleans in the past 9 days tell me that we are going in the wrong direction and actually getting worse as we adapt to Thibs' "system". 3 of our wins this year have been against a Memphis team resting its starters, and two not-very-good teams in the Lakers and Philly. It's pretty tough to have any optimism when you have only had one good win (Orlando) in the first 14 games!

Sorry about the gloom and doom, but the last 2 games have really deflated me. Lip is right...Thibs is locked into a long-term huge contract, and Glen isn't likely to eat $50 million to bring in the right guy to coach this promising roster. So we're stuck with a red-faced, bellowing ogre roaming the sidelines and wearing out our players for several years. I have only one very thin straw of optimism that I am desperately clinging to, and that's that Thibs is a smart enough guy to modify the coaching style that is creating these bizarre second half collapses. My fear is that Thibs is too arrogant to change his approach, but I'm hoping that his intelligence is greater than his ego. I think this team could really turn things around if Thibs would dial back the intensity...a lot.

So, if they continue at this pace and end up winning 23 games? There will be 2 seats in section 130 available for the next fool, and a lot more DVR space in my TV.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Thibs isn't the problem.
Thibs isn't the problem.
Thibs isn't the problem.
Thibs isn't the problem.
Thibs isn't the problem.
Thibs isn't the problem.

[TAFKASP]

I think Lip intended this to be a "what would the Wolves do" thread, but I went a different direction when I read the title...I thought "how would I react". I don't know for sure, but I think a bottom 5 finish would be the final straw for me as a Wolves fan...the season tickets would go, and I'd probably only follow them casually, like I do the Wild. This roster has too much talent to be a bottom 5 team...10 lottery picks including 2 #1 picks, plus a former Euro league MVP, only 1 of which is a rookie...and I have suffered through too many non-playoff seasons to watch them fail again. We saw the way this team was developing at the end of the year last year, and hiring an arrogant, inflexible older coach was about the only thing that could have turned them in the wrong direction again. But rather than hiring a young up-and-comer with a fresher coaching approach, Glen decided to go with an angry guy with a reputation for overworking his players, who had just been fired 10 months earlier.

Some of us here expressed our concern at the time of the hiring, but tried to keep an optimistic viewpoint by citing Thibs' great record in his five years before getting fired, and by mocking the Chicago management for letting a great thing get away...their loss was certain to be our gain. The first warning sign came during free agency. Several players who had been successful playing for Thibs and reputedly had a good working relationship with him were reported to be targets, but none of them decided to come here. We remained optimistic though, and said those players didn't come here because the price tag was too high, and regaled Thaydon for their discretion in not joining in the big money sweepstakes. Further, we praised them for the bargains they landed in Aldrich, Rush and Hill...these were certainly the great bench guys we needed to back up our stars and get to the next level. The next red flag came during the summer with the team's best +/- player last year privately grumbling about the franchise replacing Mitchell with Thibs, and refusing to even meet with the new coach to talk about whether he was coming back or not. But we brushed that off too, saying it was just another example of KG being a jerk (which he is sometimes, of course) and mocking his opinion about who should be coaching this team.

But even with my initial concern about Thibs, I never thought the season would start out this poorly. Despite a relatively soft early schedule, the team has completely almost 1/5 of the season with a winning percentage of .286...that is on pace for a whopping 23 wins! And we haven't even played the Warriors, Cavs or Spurs yet...how do you think those 10 games are going to go? And what's even more alarming is the way we are losing...blowing double digit halftime leads in over half of our losses. And despite relatively good health and conjecture that we just need some time to adapt to Thibs' system, embarrassing losses to Charlotte and Boston at home and blowout losses to Memphis and New Orleans in the past 9 days tell me that we are going in the wrong direction and actually getting worse as we adapt to Thibs' "system". 3 of our wins this year have been against a Memphis team resting its starters, and two not-very-good teams in the Lakers and Philly. It's pretty tough to have any optimism when you have only had one good win (Orlando) in the first 14 games!

Sorry about the gloom and doom, but the last 2 games have really deflated me. Lip is right...Thibs is locked into a long-term huge contract, and Glen isn't likely to eat $50 million to bring in the right guy to coach this promising roster. So we're stuck with a red-faced, bellowing ogre roaming the sidelines and wearing out our players for several years. I have only one very thin straw of optimism that I am desperately clinging to, and that's that Thibs is a smart enough guy to modify the coaching style that is creating these bizarre second half collapses. My fear is that Thibs is too arrogant to change his approach, but I'm hoping that his intelligence is greater than his ego. I think this team could really turn things around if Thibs would dial back the intensity...a lot.

So, if they continue at this pace and end up winning 23 games? There will be 2 seats in section 130 available for the next fool, and a lot more DVR space in my TV.

I just don't get coaching style being the blame for what has been an obvious lack of effort on the part of the players. The players are getting out worked in the second halves of games and if they don't have enough pride to increase their effort on their own what can Thibs do, yell at them? Wiggins will put up 20 shots while shooting 10% but cannot be bothered to lock in on the defensive end. If I were Thibs I start the bench players going forward until the "starters" start playing like they give a shit.

Wiggins and KAT believed the offseason hype, Zach still has much to learn, Rubio has been getting worse, not better. Among the starters only G has played with any consistency in terms of effort and results.

I'd love to say I'm losing interest and will find something better to do with my time, but let's be honest, I watched the Vikings game in full today, I'm a fool.

[Coolbreeze44]

I remember there being very few of us who didn't have Thibs at the top of the list for coaching prospects. Myself, LST and Lip are really the only ones I can recall. It seemed the overwhelming majority favored Thibs, almost to where arguing the point became moot. I'm not ready to give up on Thibs yet, mostly because we really don't have a choice. Where are all the Thibs supporters? Cam is the only one I've heard come forward to defend his guy. I'd like to know what the rest of you think?

[TAFKASP]

I remember there being very few of us who didn't have Thibs at the top of the list for coaching prospects. Myself, LST and Lip are really the only ones I can recall. It seemed the overwhelming majority favored Thibs, almost to where arguing the point became moot. I'm not ready to give up on Thibs yet, mostly because we really don't have a choice. Where are all the Thibs supporters? Cam is the only one I've heard come forward to defend his guy. I'd like to know what the rest of you think?

This is yet another area where my casual fandom renders my opinion useless. Of course unlike Wiggins I won't let my lack of offense discourage my giving some effort here... I would have been happy with anybody not named Smitchell or Rambis, I would have been ecstatic had they hired Mr.Bean.

My opinion of Thibs thus far comes down this this: you cannot coach intensity, you can only punish lack of it, and so far he hasn't.

[thedoper]

I wanted Van Gundy over Thibs but I agree 100% that Thibs isn't the problem. When consistency is the issue it is the mental lapses from the players. All a coach can do in that situation is show them the door, they have to walk through. All of our players are incredibly inconsistent. It sucks but it's part of youth.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I remember there being very few of us who didn't have Thibs at the top of the list for coaching prospects. Myself, LST and Lip are really the only ones I can recall. It seemed the overwhelming majority favored Thibs, almost to where arguing the point became moot. I'm not ready to give up on Thibs yet, mostly because we really don't have a choice. Where are all the Thibs supporters? Cam is the only one I've heard come forward to defend his guy. I'd like to know what the rest of you think?

To be fair, I'm on record saying the same thing 7 or 8 or even 9 different ways... it's a players' league.

Or, is it an owner's league.

- Wittman
- Rambis
- Adelman
- Mitchell
- Thibodeau

Crappy coach after crappy coach. If only we could find a good one! What are the odds?!?!?!?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

My opinion about the beginning of the Thibs' era is clear, but I'm still confused about the reasons many of you find him relatively blameless. I think we all would agree that the addition of Thibs and staff is far and away the biggest change from the situation last year when most of us thought this team was playing pretty good basketball. And I have demonstrated in a post above how much worse the first 14 games this year has been compared to last year...we have already blown more 10+ point leads this season than we did all of last season, and our only "good win" this year is the victory over Orlando (if you can even call a win over a non-playoff East team a "good win" ).

So, if it's not Thibs, what is it? The most frequent reason for our poor play that I have read here is that the players aren't working hard or are complacent after the good offseason press, but that doesn't jive with what I am seeing and really seems to be a stretch to me. Why don't we see this phenomenon in other young stars, like Anthony Davis...did Flip just happen to draft (or acquire) a unique group of prima donnas more subject to reading thier press clippings than others? And why didn't the same players collapse the last half of last season after all the accolades they got at the all star game...good lord, almost all the talk that weekend was about the promising young core here. And why do our complacent players regularly come out so strong in first halves...do they only remember all the press they are getting after half time?

Just doesn't make sense to me, guys. There has to be another reason that we are blowing big leads in the second half at a historic rate. Some of us have pinned the blame on a coach with a reputation for working his players way too hard on off days, and that seems to be a much more logical reason for their woeful second halves. Or we point to the difference in how the coach directs Wiggins and Rubio in the second half...using Ricky at the point less frequently after halftime leading to a much poorer offense.

Try one more time to explain the disgraceful second half collapses this season without implicating the new coaching staff.

[AbeVigodaLive]

My opinion about the beginning of the Thibs' era is clear, but I'm still confused about the reasons many of you find him relatively blameless. I think we all would agree that the addition of Thibs and staff is far and away the biggest change from the situation last year when most of us thought this team was playing pretty good basketball. And I have demonstrated in a post above how much worse the first 14 games this year has been compared to last year...we have already blown more 10+ point leads this season than we did all of last season, and our only "good win" this year is the victory over Orlando (if you can even call a win over a non-playoff East team a "good win" ).

So, if it's not Thibs, what is it? The most frequent reason for our poor play that I have read here is that the players aren't working hard or are complacent after the good offseason press, but that doesn't jive with what I am seeing and really seems to be a stretch to me. Why don't we see this phenomenon in other young stars, like Anthony Davis...did Flip just happen to draft (or acquire) a unique group of prima donnas more subject to reading thier press clippings than others? And why didn't the same players collapse the last half of last season after all the accolades they got at the all star game...good lord, almost all the talk that weekend was about the promising young core here. And why do our complacent players regularly come out so strong in first halves...do they only remember all the press they are getting after half time?

Just doesn't make sense to me, guys. There has to be another reason that we are blowing big leads in the second half at a historic rate. Some of us have pinned the blame on a coach with a reputation for working his players way too hard on off days, and that seems to be a much more logical reason for their woeful second halves. Or we point to the difference in how the coach directs Wiggins and Rubio in the second half...using Ricky at the point less frequently after halftime leading to a much poorer offense.

Try one more time to explain the disgraceful second half collapses this season without implicating the new coaching staff.

Simple:

I just think that a doughy 55 year old guy on the sidelines has a lot less to do with what's happening on the court than the 21 and 22 year old guys on the court actually playing.

Every coach that comes through town gets ripped. And the players get absolved. Even though those coaches may have had much better success elsewhere. Are they forgetting how to coach when they get here? Or are they simply less important than we think they are?