Minnesota Sports Forum

BloopOracle wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:I still think we've turned a corner, we just don't see the effort now that we're out of the playoffs. I'd like to see us fight all teh way to the end of course but I still expect a HIGHLY motivated team out the gates at the start of next season. Our bench is putrid and needs some serious upgrades as well.

The Kings sure showed effort and they're also out of playoff contention. No excuse for the lack of effort or the boneheaded plays we're still seeing from some of these guys.

they did but they have virtually an entire team full of unproven young layers, like us the last stretch of last season. Guys all fighting to make any kind of impact. Now on our side we have our obvious core who are mailing it in defensively because they're for better or for worse saving themselves for next year, and then we have some players who likely won't be here next season due to their bad play and our cap space.

Bloop you may want to revise your theory of this game being decided by the Kings hungry youngsters. Collison Lawson Tolliver and Afflalo combined played over 100 mins in this game and scored 52 points.

monsterpile wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:I still think we've turned a corner, we just don't see the effort now that we're out of the playoffs. I'd like to see us fight all teh way to the end of course but I still expect a HIGHLY motivated team out the gates at the start of next season. Our bench is putrid and needs some serious upgrades as well.

The Kings sure showed effort and they're also out of playoff contention. No excuse for the lack of effort or the boneheaded plays we're still seeing from some of these guys.

they did but they have virtually an entire team full of unproven young layers, like us the last stretch of last season. Guys all fighting to make any kind of impact. Now on our side we have our obvious core who are mailing it in defensively because they're for better or for worse saving themselves for next year, and then we have some players who likely won't be here next season due to their bad play and our cap space.

Bloop you may want to revise your theory of this game being decided by the Kings hungry youngsters. Collison Lawson Tolliver and Afflalo combined played over 100 mins in this game and scored 52 points.

ok that is fair but that just means their bench absolutely destroyed ours. I don't see what there is to worry about then, our bench has been one of the worst in the NBA the entire season and Thibs still has a shitload of cap space to fix that. We could have spent our money and be over the cap like the Kings this season but these games won't mean a damn thing whether we win our lose them next year in my opinion.

BloopOracle wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:I still think we've turned a corner, we just don't see the effort now that we're out of the playoffs. I'd like to see us fight all teh way to the end of course but I still expect a HIGHLY motivated team out the gates at the start of next season. Our bench is putrid and needs some serious upgrades as well.

The Kings sure showed effort and they're also out of playoff contention. No excuse for the lack of effort or the boneheaded plays we're still seeing from some of these guys.

they did but they have virtually an entire team full of unproven young layers, like us the last stretch of last season. Guys all fighting to make any kind of impact. Now on our side we have our obvious core who are mailing it in defensively because they're for better or for worse saving themselves for next year, and then we have some players who likely won't be here next season due to their bad play and our cap space.

Bloop you may want to revise your theory of this game being decided by the Kings hungry youngsters. Collison Lawson Tolliver and Afflalo combined played over 100 mins in this game and scored 52 points.

ok that is fair but that just means their bench absolutely destroyed ours. I don't see what there is to worry about then, our bench has been one of the worst in the NBA the entire season and Thibs still has a shitload of cap space to fix that. We could have spent our money and be over the cap like the Kings this season but these games won't mean a damn thing whether we win our lose them next year in my opinion.

Yep the bench hasn't been dynamic enough much of the season. Q has said at times in the season that they have been solid enough. That is true to a point. However look at last night. The Wolves vet was Brandon Rush who started. Casspi is next in line and he joined the team day's ago. After that it's Rubio Dieng and Bazz. The Wolves Bench guard have a couple seasons between them in Dunn And Tyus. It's a young team they are running out there game after game with very little vet help especially when it comes to perimeter players. I'm concerned with how they have played the last stretch of games and I wonder what exactly Thibs process is when it comes to rotations at times (other than play the young guys a ton) but it's been a young team the whole year and that's been a big part of why they have underachieved and I think Thibs has thrown those guys out there to sink and swim mostly.

Reflecting a little bit on the past two home games, I wanted to share an observation on Ricky. He shot beautifully against the Lakers, but reverted to his old shooting form last night against the Kings. However, what I noticed in both games is that he looked like the Ricky we saw his rookie season before his torn ACL. He seems to have him mojo back -- controlling the game, playing with flare, but not at the expense of efficiency. Defending aggressively, rebounding, getting to the line and hitting his free throws.

I can't overstate this point. Ricky's shooting will probably always be an issue even though I don't think his recent shooting success is a complete mirage. But my biggest disappointment with Ricky the past couple seasons has been the absence of that special quality we all saw when he first got here -- the flare, the mojo that lifted his teammates and energized the crowd. Well, it's back! And that bodes well for the Wolves if Ricky in fact remains the Wolves starting PG the next couple seasons as I think he will. As we saw last night, we can score more than enough points to win even when Ricky's shooting is at its worst. We just need much better defense at our SG position and up the middle from our bigs.

lipoli390 wrote:Reflecting a little bit on the past two home games, I wanted to share an observation on Ricky. He shot beautifully against the Lakers, but reverted to his old shooting form last night against the Kings. However, what I noticed in both games is that he looked like the Ricky we say his rookie season before his torn ACL. He seems to have him mojo back -- controlling the game, playing with flare, but not at the expense of efficiency. Defending aggressively, rebounding, getting to the line and hitting his free throws.

I can't overstate this point. Ricky's shooting will probably always be an issue even though I don't think his recent shooting success is a complete mirage. But my biggest disappointment with Ricky the past couple seasons has been the absence of that special quality we all saw when he first got here -- the flare, the mojo that lifted his teammates and energized the crowd. Well, it's back! And that bodes well for the Wolves if Ricky in fact remains the Wolves starting PG the next couple seasons as I think he will. As we saw last night, we can score more than enough points to win even when Ricky's shooting is at its worst. We just need much better defense at our SG position and up the middle from our bigs.

Lip, that's a good observation. I think Ricky is at his best when he's playing with a little flair. It's been good to see and I hope no one messes with him like Adelman did.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Reflecting a little bit on the past two home games, I wanted to share an observation on Ricky. He shot beautifully against the Lakers, but reverted to his old shooting form last night against the Kings. However, what I noticed in both games is that he looked like the Ricky we say his rookie season before his torn ACL. He seems to have him mojo back -- controlling the game, playing with flare, but not at the expense of efficiency. Defending aggressively, rebounding, getting to the line and hitting his free throws.

I can't overstate this point. Ricky's shooting will probably always be an issue even though I don't think his recent shooting success is a complete mirage. But my biggest disappointment with Ricky the past couple seasons has been the absence of that special quality we all saw when he first got here -- the flare, the mojo that lifted his teammates and energized the crowd. Well, it's back! And that bodes well for the Wolves if Ricky in fact remains the Wolves starting PG the next couple seasons as I think he will. As we saw last night, we can score more than enough points to win even when Ricky's shooting is at its worst. We just need much better defense at our SG position and up the middle from our bigs.

Lip, that's a good observation. I think Ricky is at his best when he's playing with a little flair. It's been good to see and I hope no one messes with him like Adelman did.

Agreed. Last night was also illustrative of why his shooting woes don't necessarily impact the offensive efficiency of the team. Despite going 1-10, he was a +12 in a game the Wolves lost by 6 and scored 117 points in.

The key is that Thibs has embraced him as the primary ball-handler and play maker. In return, Ricky is shooting the ball when open and being aggressive, even showing some of that patented flair we all love to see.