Minnesota Sports Forum

The Q&A that bleed posted was pretty good. I can definitely see scenarios where Flip trots 3 wings out there with a PG and C.

Brewer on starting/coming off bench: "we got the no 1 pick. Lets all be real about the situation."

Corey knows Wiggins is a starter from day one. Said he just wants to help the team win. You keep guys like that.

There are some tweets about Shabazz and Bennett and there weight loss, but OMG they lost a ton of weight. Lets hope it pays off for them and lets hope it pays off for them

Also, K-Mart's really taking LaVine and Wiggins under his wing. That's good to know. I hope they go elsewhere for defensive mentoring, though.

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:Looks like everyone's in Minnesota... except one. Big deal? Maybe not, but I doubt Barea's on the team at season start. Might not even make it to camp.

http://instagram.com/p/td9KxAjmFu/

We can all breathe a little easier...JJ is in town

http://instagram.com/p/tgSXPDjmDY/

Interesting to see Rubio with him.

I watched the media day interviews on timberwolves.com, as I did last year. Several observations:

1) All players on the roster were interviewed except Chase, Pek and JJ. Without a doubt this was racial discrimination by the Wolves. They had to interview Ricky, because he is the fan favorite, and Robbie qualifies as a pseudo brother because of his soon to be released hip hop album.

2) Seriously, it was interesting that JJ was not included. Pek clearly hates these media days, and who knows why Chase wasn't interviewed, but the exclusion of JJ seems especially pointed.

3) I watched a lot of interviews with Muhammad and LaVine when they were at UCLA, and I honestly wouldn't have recognized either of them today. Shabazz always seemed so surly and uncomfortable in his college interviews...totally different guy today. Completely relaxed and at ease during his interview. Has to be a good sign. And as for Zach, he seems five years older than he did at UCLA. From the time he got there until he left, he always looked like a deer in the headlights...both on the court and off. To me he seemed 5 years younger than his teammates. I also got the impression than he wasn't very smart. But today he was completely different. Poised and intelligent in his answers...even avoiding the "you knows". He looks like he belongs here, like he never did at UCLA. Some guys just need a little more time to mature, I guess. Another good sign.

4) Mo Williams is a great addition to the team. Fun guy, and clearly someone that the young guys will look up to. It's hard to imagine two better veterans than him and Turiaf to have in that mentor role.

5) I don't know what to make of Kevin Martin. As Cam mentioned, he seems that he wants to mentor Wiggins and LaVine (I liked the fact that he met with both of them this morning already), but he just seems so nonchalant in his demeanor. I hope that doesn't rub off on the two rookies.

6) It's been mentioned many times, but Shabazz and Bennett do look great.

7) I watched last year's media day too, and everything seemed more fun and optimistic today. It was really noticeable. I really think the subtraction of Adelman and Love will be very positive for this team, maybe not right away as they try to find a way to replace Love's production. But this team is definitely headed in the right direction.

kekgeek1 wrote:There are some tweets about Shabazz and Bennett and there weight loss, but OMG they lost a ton of weight. Lets hope it pays off for them and lets hope it pays off for them

No one has ever questioned Shabazz's work ethic since coming to Minnesota - and it's good to see that he continues to dedicate himself fully to improving his physique as well.

My issue has always been with his skill-set. He has some gaps that are just really hard to close at this stage in a player's development - ball handling, court vision, the ability to go right, etc. The Navy SEALS aren't going to fix these things. I'd rather have a somewhat flabby Shabazz knocking down 3-pointers at a 40% clip and being able to break down his guy off the bounce than a ripped Shabazz that still can't dribble, pass, or defend.

We'll see how the improved body translates to results on the floor, but color me skeptical...

Camden wrote:Brewer on starting/coming off bench: "we got the no 1 pick. Lets all be real about the situation."

Corey knows Wiggins is a starter from day one. Said he just wants to help the team win. You keep guys like that.

Absolutely. We will finally get the full benefit of Corey now. 15 minutes off the bench coming with a lot of energy and hustle. He will be a pain for other teams backups.

longstrangetrip wrote:I watched the media day interviews on timberwolves.com, as I did last year. Several observations:

1) All players on the roster were interviewed except Chase, Pek and JJ. Without a doubt this was racial discrimination by the Wolves. They had to interview Ricky, because he is the fan favorite, and Robbie qualifies as a pseudo brother because of his soon to be released hip hop album.

2) Seriously, it was interesting that JJ was not included. Pek clearly hates these media days, and who knows why Chase wasn't interviewed, but the exclusion of JJ seems especially pointed.

3) I watched a lot of interviews with Muhammad and LaVine when they were at UCLA, and I honestly wouldn't have recognized either of them today. Shabazz always seemed so surly and uncomfortable in his college interviews...totally different guy today. Completely relaxed and at ease during his interview. Has to be a good sign. And as for Zach, he seems five years older than he did at UCLA. From the time he got there until he left, he always looked like a deer in the headlights...both on the court and off. To me he seemed 5 years younger than his teammates. I also got the impression than he wasn't very smart. But today he was completely different. Poised and intelligent in his answers...even avoiding the "you knows". He looks like he belongs here, like he never did at UCLA. Some guys just need a little more time to mature, I guess. Another good sign.

4) Mo Williams is a great addition to the team. Fun guy, and clearly someone that the young guys will look up to. It's hard to imagine two better veterans than him and Turiaf to have in that mentor role.

5) I don't know what to make of Kevin Martin. As Cam mentioned, he seems that he wants to mentor Wiggins and LaVine (I liked the fact that he met with both of them this morning already), but he just seems so nonchalant in his demeanor. I hope that doesn't rub off on the two rookies.

6) It's been mentioned many times, but Shabazz and Bennett do look great.

7) I watched last year's media day too, and everything seemed more fun and optimistic today. It was really noticeable. I really think the subtraction of Adelman and Love will be very positive for this team, maybe not right away as they try to find a way to replace Love's production. But this team is definitely headed in the right direction.

I can't recall a single pre-season press event where the team wasn't brimming with optimism - or at least it appeared that way.

Starting with summer league and all the way through the pre-season press event there is a honeymoon period where hope springs eternal for fans. In reality, it's hard to gauge much of anything until 15-20 games into the regular season.

Q12543 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:I watched the media day interviews on timberwolves.com, as I did last year. Several observations:

1) All players on the roster were interviewed except Chase, Pek and JJ. Without a doubt this was racial discrimination by the Wolves. They had to interview Ricky, because he is the fan favorite, and Robbie qualifies as a pseudo brother because of his soon to be released hip hop album.

2) Seriously, it was interesting that JJ was not included. Pek clearly hates these media days, and who knows why Chase wasn't interviewed, but the exclusion of JJ seems especially pointed.

3) I watched a lot of interviews with Muhammad and LaVine when they were at UCLA, and I honestly wouldn't have recognized either of them today. Shabazz always seemed so surly and uncomfortable in his college interviews...totally different guy today. Completely relaxed and at ease during his interview. Has to be a good sign. And as for Zach, he seems five years older than he did at UCLA. From the time he got there until he left, he always looked like a deer in the headlights...both on the court and off. To me he seemed 5 years younger than his teammates. I also got the impression than he wasn't very smart. But today he was completely different. Poised and intelligent in his answers...even avoiding the "you knows". He looks like he belongs here, like he never did at UCLA. Some guys just need a little more time to mature, I guess. Another good sign.

4) Mo Williams is a great addition to the team. Fun guy, and clearly someone that the young guys will look up to. It's hard to imagine two better veterans than him and Turiaf to have in that mentor role.

5) I don't know what to make of Kevin Martin. As Cam mentioned, he seems that he wants to mentor Wiggins and LaVine (I liked the fact that he met with both of them this morning already), but he just seems so nonchalant in his demeanor. I hope that doesn't rub off on the two rookies.

6) It's been mentioned many times, but Shabazz and Bennett do look great.

7) I watched last year's media day too, and everything seemed more fun and optimistic today. It was really noticeable. I really think the subtraction of Adelman and Love will be very positive for this team, maybe not right away as they try to find a way to replace Love's production. But this team is definitely headed in the right direction.

I can't recall a single pre-season press event where the team wasn't brimming with optimism - or at least it appeared that way.

Starting with summer league and all the way through the pre-season press event there is a honeymoon period where hope springs eternal for fans. In reality, it's hard to gauge much of anything until 15-20 games into the regular season.

I don't disagree that there is some degree of optimism in every pre-season, q, but if you watched this morning's event, it had a completely different vibe from last year's. Last year was filled with talk about off-season moves and expectations for making the playoffs, but there wasn't a lot of fun. It was very clinical. Adelman's and Love's personalities dominated last year's media day. This year it was Corey, Rubio and the youngsters. Last year's media day had some short-term optimism, but not much joy. I never heard the word "playoffs" mentioned today, and that's a huge change from last year...and yet, everyone seemed to be more excited about the upcoming season. I think the message is this: be patient. We may struggle for awhile, but the future is rosy, and we're going to be very entertaining.

USA Today ranked the Wolves 13th in their watchability index in the attached article, although they only project them to win 27 games. I don't remember our ranking last year, but I'm fairly certain it wasn't in the top half like this year.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/twolves/2014/09/25/minnesota-timberwolves-season-preview-watchability-rankings/16193187/