Minnesota Sports Forum

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

TheSP wrote:Anybody getting more concerned that we may be in store for a second year of Smitch?

It's been a possibility from day one. It would be insane, but sure it could happen. This is the Wolves after all.

I'm scared. I can hear the sound bites now...

"We saw so much improvement. Respected coach. Give him a chance to see it though. Foundation. Established. et al..."

Carlos Danger wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:A couple of observations after the game tonight:

- Our starting lineup is good enough to compete with any team in the league. Not saying they're the best today, but they can overwhelm a lot of teams and aren't going to embarrass themselves against any. And it's only going to get better. We are starting to run a lot more, and with the improved ball movement we are getting good shots at will.

- Very impressed with Zach at the beginning of games. The kid has an ego, but you wouldn't know it the way he plays with his teammates. We tend to try to get Andrew and Towns going early in games, and Zach is just fine with biding his time and picking his spots. A lot of young guys would be stealing shots from his mates, but Zach plays very smartly and unselfishly. I just think it's a great character trait for a young guy. And when he gets it going, he can really put up points in a hurry.

Agree with your assessment on LaVine. Our starting five continues to click. There seems to be chemistry developing. There's balance. Compare that to a team like the Kings who are completely dependent on one guy (Boogie). Oh and *yawn* another 16pt/12 reb performance by Dieng and nobody mentions it. He now has 28 games as a starter this year and is averaging 13.3 pts, 8.4 rebounds with a 19.5 PER. We're set as a starting unit IMO. Another year of growth and a new coach is the only thing those five need.

Great points on Lavine. He seems like such a good dude and we know Towns is a pretty good guy and Wiggins has no interest in the spotlight except he likes to show up in big games. It SEEMS egos won't be a big problem which brings us to Dieng.

He could end up being that glue guy that the good teams have. What makes him pretty valuable on offense is he can do a lot of good things. Work in pick and roll? Sure shoot long jumpers effectively from all around the court? Yep Pump fake guys and get to the rim? Shockingly yes he can do that now without traveling a high percentage of the time. Finish at a pretty good rate around the rim or get fouled doing so? Yep. Set screens? Yep Pass the ball in a variety of situations? Yep. Other than hitting 3's or being more of a volume shooter I am not sure what else you could reasonably ask for a guy that is not a top scoring option but has been easily putting up double digit scoring for a sustained stretch. Defensively at least he has some things he does well pretty consistently and I think there is some improvement e can make although he probably will always have some flaws but he has been a really nice story this year maybe he is one guy Sam and his staff/KG could actually get credit for?

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

TheSP wrote:Anybody getting more concerned that we may be in store for a second year of Smitch?

It's been a possibility from day one. It would be insane, but sure it could happen. This is the Wolves after all.

I'm scared. I can hear the sound bites now...

"We saw so much improvement. Respected coach. Give him a chance to see it though. Foundation. Established. et al..."

Prepare yourself for it because I think it's going to happen. My guess is that Milt stays in place as GM and Mitchell as Coach.

Now I ultimately believe supreme talent trumps coaching in the NBA. Many teams continued to improve with a coach they canned before taking that final step to win a title:

Chicago - Doug Collins
Detroit - Rick Carlisle (ironic considering that he won a title in Dallas)
Dallas - Don Nelson and Avery Johnson
Golden State - Mark Jackson

Hopefully Taylor gets this ownership structure thing figured out with Kaplan and we get a new regime in that actually has a higher level of sophistication and standards about what it takes to win in the NBA.

CoolBreeze44 wrote: Wiggins has no interest in the spotlight except he likes to show up in big games.

Just found this kind of funny. What big game has Wiggins played in as of this point?

Hicks123 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote: Wiggins has no interest in the spotlight except he likes to show up in big games.

Just found this kind of funny. What big game has Wiggins played in as of this point?

Wasn't my quote

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

TheSP wrote:Anybody getting more concerned that we may be in store for a second year of Smitch?

It's been a possibility from day one. It would be insane, but sure it could happen. This is the Wolves after all.

I'm scared. I can hear the sound bites now...

"We saw so much improvement. Respected coach. Give him a chance to see it though. Foundation. Established. et al..."

Prepare yourself for it because I think it's going to happen. My guess is that Milt stays in place as GM and Mitchell as Coach.

Now I ultimately believe supreme talent trumps coaching in the NBA. Many teams continued to improve with a coach they canned before taking that final step to win a title:

Chicago - Doug Collins
Detroit - Rick Carlisle (ironic considering that he won a title in Dallas)
Dallas - Don Nelson and Avery Johnson
Golden State - Mark Jackson

Hopefully Taylor gets this ownership structure thing figured out with Kaplan and we get a new regime in that actually has a higher level of sophistication and standards about what it takes to win in the NBA.

It's funny. I used to be a HUGE believer in talent over coaching. The gap has narrowed for me in recent years, however, as the game has become more complicated and analytics and other things have made for more nuanced decision-making and schemes.

Seeing what a guy like Carlisle or Stotts have been able to do makes me wonder about coaching value more than ever.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Hicks123 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote: Wiggins has no interest in the spotlight except he likes to show up in big games.

Just found this kind of funny. What big game has Wiggins played in as of this point?

Wasn't my quote

It was mine and what I mean by big games may have been more accurate to say big matchups like Cleveland and other top level teams Wiggins seems to really show up there.

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

TheSP wrote:Anybody getting more concerned that we may be in store for a second year of Smitch?

It's been a possibility from day one. It would be insane, but sure it could happen. This is the Wolves after all.

I'm scared. I can hear the sound bites now...

"We saw so much improvement. Respected coach. Give him a chance to see it though. Foundation. Established. et al..."

Prepare yourself for it because I think it's going to happen. My guess is that Milt stays in place as GM and Mitchell as Coach.

Now I ultimately believe supreme talent trumps coaching in the NBA. Many teams continued to improve with a coach they canned before taking that final step to win a title:

Chicago - Doug Collins
Detroit - Rick Carlisle (ironic considering that he won a title in Dallas)
Dallas - Don Nelson and Avery Johnson
Golden State - Mark Jackson

Hopefully Taylor gets this ownership structure thing figured out with Kaplan and we get a new regime in that actually has a higher level of sophistication and standards about what it takes to win in the NBA.

Q makes a good point that he has made a number of times on this board. Let's remember that Love turned into a very good player possibly in spite of being coached and part of the wolves franchise at least part of his early career. My concern going forward was not making the mistakes that were made back in Love's day having no roster consistency and no vets to learn from.

I think the way this team has performed since the all star break is good news for both Sam and Milt. It seems like from what I have heard from both guys is they are on the same page when it comes to the roster and both seem to think they need more talent and can use some legit vets to help get this team to take another step forward. Other than the draft as long as whoever is running this franchise the next season doesn't screw up anything and can just add a couple decent bench players in FA that's probably fine. That's not sexy but it could be ok. It will be interesting to see what happens but a new ownership still in the mix makes keeping the status quo makes a lot of sense.

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

TheSP wrote:Anybody getting more concerned that we may be in store for a second year of Smitch?

It's been a possibility from day one. It would be insane, but sure it could happen. This is the Wolves after all.

I'm scared. I can hear the sound bites now...

"We saw so much improvement. Respected coach. Give him a chance to see it though. Foundation. Established. et al..."

Prepare yourself for it because I think it's going to happen. My guess is that Milt stays in place as GM and Mitchell as Coach.

Now I ultimately believe supreme talent trumps coaching in the NBA. Many teams continued to improve with a coach they canned before taking that final step to win a title:

Chicago - Doug Collins
Detroit - Rick Carlisle (ironic considering that he won a title in Dallas)
Dallas - Don Nelson and Avery Johnson
Golden State - Mark Jackson

Hopefully Taylor gets this ownership structure thing figured out with Kaplan and we get a new regime in that actually has a higher level of sophistication and standards about what it takes to win in the NBA.

Q makes a good point that he has made a number of times on this board. Let's remember that Love turned into a very good player possibly in spite of being coached and part of the wolves franchise at least part of his early career. My concern going forward was not making the mistakes that were made back in Love's day having no roster consistency and no vets to learn from.

I think the way this team has performed since the all star break is good news for both Sam and Milt. It seems like from what I have heard from both guys is they are on the same page when it comes to the roster and both seem to think they need more talent and can use some legit vets to help get this team to take another step forward. Other than the draft as long as whoever is running this franchise the next season doesn't screw up anything and can just add a couple decent bench players in FA that's probably fine. That's not sexy but it could be ok. It will be interesting to see what happens but a new ownership still in the mix makes keeping the status quo makes a lot of sense.

One note on Love. He improved statistically. But the team never even made it to .500.

I think the value of coaching shouldn't be ahead of talent, obviously... but it shouldn't be dismissed either.

The Wolves aren't like the 1980s Celtics... K.C Jones-types aren't winning a title in today's game.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

TheSP wrote:Anybody getting more concerned that we may be in store for a second year of Smitch?

It's been a possibility from day one. It would be insane, but sure it could happen. This is the Wolves after all.

I'm scared. I can hear the sound bites now...

"We saw so much improvement. Respected coach. Give him a chance to see it though. Foundation. Established. et al..."

Prepare yourself for it because I think it's going to happen. My guess is that Milt stays in place as GM and Mitchell as Coach.

Now I ultimately believe supreme talent trumps coaching in the NBA. Many teams continued to improve with a coach they canned before taking that final step to win a title:

Chicago - Doug Collins
Detroit - Rick Carlisle (ironic considering that he won a title in Dallas)
Dallas - Don Nelson and Avery Johnson
Golden State - Mark Jackson

Hopefully Taylor gets this ownership structure thing figured out with Kaplan and we get a new regime in that actually has a higher level of sophistication and standards about what it takes to win in the NBA.

Q makes a good point that he has made a number of times on this board. Let's remember that Love turned into a very good player possibly in spite of being coached and part of the wolves franchise at least part of his early career. My concern going forward was not making the mistakes that were made back in Love's day having no roster consistency and no vets to learn from.

I think the way this team has performed since the all star break is good news for both Sam and Milt. It seems like from what I have heard from both guys is they are on the same page when it comes to the roster and both seem to think they need more talent and can use some legit vets to help get this team to take another step forward. Other than the draft as long as whoever is running this franchise the next season doesn't screw up anything and can just add a couple decent bench players in FA that's probably fine. That's not sexy but it could be ok. It will be interesting to see what happens but a new ownership still in the mix makes keeping the status quo makes a lot of sense.

One note on Love. He improved statistically. But the team never even made it to .500.

I think the value of coaching shouldn't be ahead of talent, obviously... but it shouldn't be dismissed either.

The Wolves aren't like the 1980s Celtics... K.C Jones-types aren't winning a title in today's game.

Agree. Rick Carlisle in Dallas always seems to be able to patch together a decent team with a mixture of over-the-hill vets and castoffs.

My point is that I don't see Sam Mitchell standing in the way of the team continuing to improve into next year (barring major injury problems). Or may be even the next year. Is he a championship coach? Most likely not. But along the journey to a title, more teams than not actually go through a coaching change or two.