Around the NBA (non-Wolves talk)

[Lipoli390]

I've praised the Grizzlies and Pacers' organizations so far today. How about some praise for the Jazz organization. They lose their best player, Gordon Hayward, last summer to free agency. They lost their starting PG, George Hill, to free agency as well. Their starting center, and arguably most important player, Rudy Gobert, was injured for a big part of the year to the point where he will have missed 27 games by the end of the season. One of their major free agent acquisitions last summer, Thabo Sefolosha, has been out most of the season. Oh, and their starting SG is a rookie -- a rookie they got with the 13th pick. Yet, the Jazz are likely to end up the 4th seed in the West. Another terrific front office that I wish we had in Minnesota.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I've praised the Grizzlies and Pacers' organizations so far today. How about some praise for the Jazz organization. They lose their best player, Gordon Hayward, last summer to free agency. They lost their starting PG, George Hill, to free agency as well. Their starting center, and arguably most important player, Rudy Gobert, was injured for a big part of the year to the point where he will have missed 27 games by the end of the season. One of their major free agent acquisitions last summer, Thabo Sefolosha, has been out most of the season. Oh, and their starting SG is a rookie -- a rookie they got with the 13th pick. Yet, the Jazz are likely to end up the 4th seed in the West. Another terrific front office that I wish we had in Minnesota.

Oladipo shot 12 - 15 fg today.
Sabonis shot 13 - 21 fg today.

Meanwhile... Paul George's streak of games UNDER 50% is up to 17... and he's shooting only 33% over his past 7 games. Don't worry though... Russell Westbrook will still be blamed for that.



[Note: oops. quoted wrong post.]

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

If Denver beats Portland which is possible given the next two are meaningless for Portland the Wolves Nuggets game decides who is in and who is out of the playoffs. My guess is that if we lose an important game like that, at home, to an inferior team, Glen eats the paltry $24MM and finds a new coach. Think about it, $24MM is a lot of money but when you are old as dirt, filthy rich, and your team just finished out of the lottery for the 15th year in a row, you'd be pissed enough to can the blowhard whom you blame.

I partially agree with you, O. Fans should not underestimate how much Glen wants to win, and how enormously dissatified he is with Thibs right now...both his demeanor and his performance. Sure, we have won several more games this year, but Glen expected that after agreeing to spend millions on Butler, Teague and Gibson. I don't think he even considered the possibility of not making the playoffs this year, and that's why I think the $24 mill won't be the deciding factor here.

I don't agree with your Portland assessment though...their next two are not meaningless. If Utah wins out (and they just might) they will pass Portland for the third seed. And I think the Wolves/Denver game will decide who makes the playoffs regardless of how the Denver/Portland game ends up.

To be fair... does it really make a difference if Portland is #3 or #4. They still have homecourt... and it's not like they have much say in who they'll be playing. With all the tied teams, it could be NOP, OKC or SA, right?

They really have very little at stake win or lose beyond momentum... which can be meaningless once the playoffs hit.

That 3 might get a Warriors team without Steph in the second round where the 4 gets the Rockets. 3 v 4 absolutely is a big deal.

That Denver/Portland game is huge if the wolves beat the Grizzlies and the nuggets lose to the blazers the wolves clinch on Monday. No matter the result of the last game of the year

My mistake, kek, thanks for the correction. You are correct that a Denver loss against Portland likely makes our finale against Denver irrelevant (and totally irrelevant if we beat Memphis). Denver's motivation in that game may be more than Portland, because I don't believe the game means anything to the Blazers...they are likely the third seed if they beat Utah in their finale, and 4th if they lose.

Hard to assess relative levels of motivation. The Blazers will be defending their 3rd seed when they play Denver because they can't count on what Utah does. In any event, I'll be pulling for Denver. If Denver beats Portland and we lose to Memphis, I think we would still finish 8th with a win over Denver next Wednesday. I expect us to beat Memphis Monday night, so it will be up to Denver to beat Portland. If that happens, I'll probably be pulling for Denver next Wednesday night. I'm counting on a 9th place finish as enough to push Glen over the threshold into firing Thibs. But what a bummer if we finish 9th and Thibs stays!

Thats sad man. We are in still in decent shape to be higher than the 8 seed. We can be as high as the 5 seed and a pretty darn good chance to be the 6 seed but you are hoping we lose out so we can be the 9 seed and have yet another year of no playoffs.

That is a losing attitude you are better than that.

If we're in a position to land a 7th seed or higher next Wednesday night, I'll definitely be pulling for the Wolves. But if it's between 8th and 9th, then I'm inclined to root for the Nuggets because I want Thibs out of here. I wish I were better than that, but I'm not. On the other hand, knowing me, when I show up at the game next Wednesday my heart will take over and I'll ruin my voice cheering for the Wolves. :)

Ha, so true! It also complicates matters that any sign of you not pulling for the Wolves Wednesday won't sit well with KAT's dad who I think sits right behind you...be careful! I, on the other hand, will be giving my tickets away again that night if the best we can end up with is an 8th seed and a date with Houston (and also not watching on TV) and feeling quite safe in anonymously cheering for the Nuggets :). But like you, if one of the teams ahead of us falters and gives us a shot at 7th or higher seed, there will be nobody louder than me cheering for the Wolves Wednesday!

I still prefer a 9th seed to an 8th even if it means Thibs stays. I've waited 14 years to sit in my seats for a playoff game, and waiting one more isn't going to kill me...especially if it lets me avoid watching Houston rain three pointers against a Thibs defense still designed to stop the long 2. The added bonus of adding one more lottery pick to the roster makes this an easier decision for me.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I've praised the Grizzlies and Pacers' organizations so far today. How about some praise for the Jazz organization. They lose their best player, Gordon Hayward, last summer to free agency. They lost their starting PG, George Hill, to free agency as well. Their starting center, and arguably most important player, Rudy Gobert, was injured for a big part of the year to the point where he will have missed 27 games by the end of the season. One of their major free agent acquisitions last summer, Thabo Sefolosha, has been out most of the season. Oh, and their starting SG is a rookie -- a rookie they got with the 13th pick. Yet, the Jazz are likely to end up the 4th seed in the West. Another terrific front office that I wish we had in Minnesota.

Yeah, the Jazz are quite impressive and red hot right now. You may be selling them short calling them a 4th seed. They own the tiebreaker against Portland, so they control their own destiny with respect to the 3rd seed...run the table at 3-0 and they finish 3rd tied with Portland at 49-33.

[Monster]

Focusing on other teams like Memphis today, I'll turn my attention to the Pacers. Talk about an organization that has its act together. Paul George all but said he wouldn't stay in Indiana. Yet, even though the world knew the position the Pacers were in, the Pacers' front office was able to deal Paul George for Oladipo and Sabonis. As it turns out, Oladipo has been fantastic, actually putting up better numbers than Paul George and leading his team 48 wins so far -- a team expected to be in the lottery. Then add in Sabonis, who has averaged 11.4 points and 7.7 rebounds in 24 minutes per game. Note also that neither Oladipo nor Sabonis are threatening to or likely to leave. Consider also that the Pacers signed Darren Collison for a mere 2 year $10 million per year contract. Collison has averaged 12.4 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 29.5 minutes per game, while shooting 49.7% from the field and 46.5% from behind the arc. Congrats to the Pacers' front office on a job well done.

And all this while for much of the offseason Pritchard was the laughstock of the league selling low on PG putting together a roster that didn't make sense etc... I'll add to what you laid out here that Myles Turner the supposed one building blocks doesn't seem to have taken much of a step forward and they still have a pretty good team. Nobody was talking about Nate McMillen being the answer but he is pretty far from the hot seat right now that many people thought he would be on. Sometimes you don't know how things are gonna turn out. Sometimes I forget about that and why it should be some of the fun of following sports.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Utah is just super impressive. They are killing it on both ends these days. Love that Ricky is part of a smart, playoff-bound organization. Good people out in Salt Lake City too.

Philly in the East is suddenly looking really dangerous. I would not want to run up against either team in the playoffs.

[Big O [enjin:13874644]]

Utah is just super impressive. They are killing it on both ends these days. Love that Ricky is part of a smart, playoff-bound organization. Good people out in Salt Lake City too.

Philly in the East is suddenly looking really dangerous. I would not want to run up against either team in the playoffs.

Remember when people said that about the Wolves earlier in the season?

[Lipoli390]

Utah is just super impressive. They are killing it on both ends these days. Love that Ricky is part of a smart, playoff-bound organization. Good people out in Salt Lake City too.

Philly in the East is suddenly looking really dangerous. I would not want to run up against either team in the playoffs.

Remember when people said that about the Wolves earlier in the season?

Which is why it never makes sense to make pronouncements about you want or don't want to face early in the season. It's how you're playing in the end that counts. And it's typically the well coached teams that gel late. The Sixers have a great head coach. His teams overachieved while waiting for the young talent to get healthy. And now that the young talent is semi healthy, they're overachieving again and have become a 50-win team with two rookies starting.

[Lipoli390]

If Denver beats Portland which is possible given the next two are meaningless for Portland the Wolves Nuggets game decides who is in and who is out of the playoffs. My guess is that if we lose an important game like that, at home, to an inferior team, Glen eats the paltry $24MM and finds a new coach. Think about it, $24MM is a lot of money but when you are old as dirt, filthy rich, and your team just finished out of the lottery for the 15th year in a row, you'd be pissed enough to can the blowhard whom you blame.

I partially agree with you, O. Fans should not underestimate how much Glen wants to win, and how enormously dissatified he is with Thibs right now...both his demeanor and his performance. Sure, we have won several more games this year, but Glen expected that after agreeing to spend millions on Butler, Teague and Gibson. I don't think he even considered the possibility of not making the playoffs this year, and that's why I think the $24 mill won't be the deciding factor here.

I don't agree with your Portland assessment though...their next two are not meaningless. If Utah wins out (and they just might) they will pass Portland for the third seed. And I think the Wolves/Denver game will decide who makes the playoffs regardless of how the Denver/Portland game ends up.

To be fair... does it really make a difference if Portland is #3 or #4. They still have homecourt... and it's not like they have much say in who they'll be playing. With all the tied teams, it could be NOP, OKC or SA, right?

They really have very little at stake win or lose beyond momentum... which can be meaningless once the playoffs hit.

That 3 might get a Warriors team without Steph in the second round where the 4 gets the Rockets. 3 v 4 absolutely is a big deal.

That Denver/Portland game is huge if the wolves beat the Grizzlies and the nuggets lose to the blazers the wolves clinch on Monday. No matter the result of the last game of the year

My mistake, kek, thanks for the correction. You are correct that a Denver loss against Portland likely makes our finale against Denver irrelevant (and totally irrelevant if we beat Memphis). Denver's motivation in that game may be more than Portland, because I don't believe the game means anything to the Blazers...they are likely the third seed if they beat Utah in their finale, and 4th if they lose.

Hard to assess relative levels of motivation. The Blazers will be defending their 3rd seed when they play Denver because they can't count on what Utah does. In any event, I'll be pulling for Denver. If Denver beats Portland and we lose to Memphis, I think we would still finish 8th with a win over Denver next Wednesday. I expect us to beat Memphis Monday night, so it will be up to Denver to beat Portland. If that happens, I'll probably be pulling for Denver next Wednesday night. I'm counting on a 9th place finish as enough to push Glen over the threshold into firing Thibs. But what a bummer if we finish 9th and Thibs stays!

Thats sad man. We are in still in decent shape to be higher than the 8 seed. We can be as high as the 5 seed and a pretty darn good chance to be the 6 seed but you are hoping we lose out so we can be the 9 seed and have yet another year of no playoffs.

That is a losing attitude you are better than that.

If we're in a position to land a 7th seed or higher next Wednesday night, I'll definitely be pulling for the Wolves. But if it's between 8th and 9th, then I'm inclined to root for the Nuggets because I want Thibs out of here. I wish I were better than that, but I'm not. On the other hand, knowing me, when I show up at the game next Wednesday my heart will take over and I'll ruin my voice cheering for the Wolves. :)

Ha, so true! It also complicates matters that any sign of you not pulling for the Wolves Wednesday won't sit well with KAT's dad who I think sits right behind you...be careful! I, on the other hand, will be giving my tickets away again that night if the best we can end up with is an 8th seed and a date with Houston (and also not watching on TV) and feeling quite safe in anonymously cheering for the Nuggets :). But like you, if one of the teams ahead of us falters and gives us a shot at 7th or higher seed, there will be nobody louder than me cheering for the Wolves Wednesday!

I still prefer a 9th seed to an 8th even if it means Thibs stays. I've waited 14 years to sit in my seats for a playoff game, and waiting one more isn't going to kill me...especially if it lets me avoid watching Houston rain three pointers against a Thibs defense still designed to stop the long 2. The added bonus of adding one more lottery pick to the roster makes this an easier decision for me.

Yes, KAT's dad does sit right behind me. He's a big dude. So just to be clear, I'll be cheering my ass off for the Wolves Wednesday night. :)

[MikkeMan]

As for getting Wiggins and Towns post-season experience to teach them how intense it is, I might agree with you if they had already shown an appreciation for the intensity of a battle for playoff position. The home loss the the Grizzlies and home blow-out loss to the Jazz tell me these guys aren't ready for the next step. The much younger Sixers' core have risen to the occasion and have emerged as winners down the stretch, even without Embiid the past few games. So I'd say they're ready to take the next step and get a taste of the playoffs.

Lip, Sixers core that is currently in their rotation is not that much younger.

Towns is 22, over 1.5 years younger than Embiid
Wiggins is 23, little over 1 year older than Simmons
Butler is 29, little over 1 year older than Covington
Teague is 29, about 4 years younger than Redick
Gibson is 32, about 9 years older than Saric
Crawford is 37, about 6 years older than Belinelli
Bjelica is 30, about 1 year younger than Ilyasova
Dieng is 28, little over 2.5 years younger than Amir Johnson
Jones is 21, little over 4 years younger than McConnell

The difference between average age of those guys is about half year. Of course if we look their NBA experience, difference is wider since Saric and Embiid didn't play in their two first seasons and Simmons missed his first season. Sixers have also much more impressive group of prospect that didn't yet contribute much in Fultz, Luwawu-Cabarrot, Korkmaz and Anderson.