Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:I don't know how many times I have to say this, but can we please play 82 fucking games before we're ruled out as a "contender"? We're six games in and sjm, khans and likely others have already written off the possibility that this team is serious. If we were 1-5, I could see where you're coming from. We're 4-2 with two impressive wins. Six games isn't even a good sample size to say we're a contender. I realize that, but there's the other side of that too. Saying we're not a contender this early is stupid.

I'll take it even a step further, Cam. We may have the pieces to be a contender right now. Yes, this team frustrates me sometimes, but what team other than Indiana doesn't have significant question marks right now? The Wolves have 2 guys who can go off for 30 on any given night, and actually have scored 30 TOGETHER in 1/3 of our games! We have a space-taking center who is struggling with 2-foot shots right now, but we all know should be a consistent 16-8 guy. We have a SF who has shown a propensity for shutting down other great SF's. We have a point guard who is maddeningly brilliant and frustrating in the same quarter, but has captured the national media's attention and may be on the cusp of stardom. And even our maligned defense creates turnovers at a league-leading rate, and we protect the ball well enough to lead the league in turnover differential by a wide margin (yes, .3 is a wide margin in a stat with low numbers).

We are fans who have been frustrated for so many years with this franchise, so it's natural to focus on what we don't have. But if you look at the positives in the previous paragraph, and analyze what the other teams DON'T have, it's not a complete stretch to see this team as a contender. I like where we are right now, and am going to sit back and enjoy the ride (and complain sometimes when I get frustrated!).

How is our team with only 1 superstar and a horrible bench a contender? The Heat have 3 all-stars. The Bulls have 3 all-stars. The Clippers have 2 all-stars. The Rockets have 2. The Spurs have 2. The Thunder have 2. The Pacers have 2. We don't have the stars to be a contender. The Mavericks were the last team that only had 1 star and they had a lockdown defense and rim protecting presence that we could only wish we had. If you truly believe we are a contender after almost a decade of not making the playoffs, then you are delusional. We have no playoff experience with more than half our starting lineup and yet you think that doesn't matter and we should be considered contenders for a title. With a team that is looking to 3 peat and many others who have had consistent playoff success in front of us. Stop calling us out for ruling it out because it is true. No team goes from missing the playoffs for almost a decade to contender status in 1 year. The regular season doesn't mean anything regarding contender status. Look at the Heat. We have a better record than them. Does that mean we are more likely to win a title? No. The regular season doesn't determine contender status because the playoffs are played completely differently from the regular season. That is why Denver got ousted last year after being the 3 seed. That is why we will probably get ousted early as well. The playoffs are about defense and half-court execution and right now we are lacking both for 48 minutes. Saying we could be a contender this early is stupid because you don't go from the lottery for 9 years to contender status in 1 year unless you bring in all-stars which we didn't. We brought in role players.

That would be one way to look at it, khans, albeit about as dark a picture as possible. There's no question that this team has been terrible for a long time, but anyone that doesn't see the remarkable improvement this year has their eyes shut. We are a young team with a potential HOF coach, and our young core (especially Love and Rubio) are going to show remarkable improvement year to year. And I think our additions this year were significant. I have to chuckle at your description of our additions as "role players". Give me a top ten scoring "role player" who gives us 22.3 PPG any day! Some of the so-called "stars" on the contending teams you cite are aging, and aren't ever going to get a sniff of 22.3 PPG again.

This board is valuable in pointing out what this team lacks, but all teams have holes. Sometimes for balance it's important to also look at what the Wolves do have. Most of the positive pieces I mention (two stars who can go off for 30 on any night, league-leading turnover differential) are facts, not opinions, and those pieces have not been present on this squad for a long time. One pundit ranked us as the 3rd best team last week and I thought that was premature. But he sees what many Wolves fan see...a team that is light years ahead of last year and poised for success.

I'm not saying we can't be a contender. I'm just saying we aren't one this year because nobody wins a title whose best players have not even made the playoffs yet in their careers (excluding Martin). Again, the regular season is not correlated to post season success (a great example of this is the Suns with a healthy Nash and Amare never even made it to the finals). We are a playoff team this year. Let's just be happy with that instead of trying to reach saying we are a contender just because we are 4-2 and playing well. The Nets had 3 guys last year who could go for 30 a night and that didn't help them in the playoffs, so all I am saying is be happy with where we are and stop trying to make it potentially even more by declaring we could be a contender when we have limited playoff experience. You have to have the potential to win the title to be a contender and in order to win a title you have to have playoff experience that we don't have yet.

I love how these threads migrate...I hope Robbie isn't too offended we forgot about him!

I think your assessment is the most realistic, khans...playoff team, but unlikely to make the big leap to contender yet. I just don't want to lose sight of what I think is a quantum leap improvement over last year. And it's going to be fun going to Staples tonight without that feeling of impending doom I always have pre-Laker games...I hope I'm as happy on the return trip!

Didn't the Pistons have 1 all-star when they won the championship? I think it was Ben Wallace. It's not always about who a team puts out there but how they perform together.

Anyway back on topic lol.

I like Robbie Hummel. He's a glue type player. Won't wow you in the box score but does everything at a sufficient level. He kind of reminds me of a unathletic version of Budinger. At the end of the day he is about the 14th man on this roster, so wont see much game time. I prefer him to Gelabale anyday.