60WinTim wrote:Dang! Portland just keeps racking up anti-klunkers! The KOM has them at 39 wins and Denver at 35 wins.
Big day for the Wolves today. New Orleans is 1 game ahead at 34 wins. An upset would leapfrog the Wolves over New Orleans in the standings. And we desperately need Portland to lose to Miami (like they are suppose to -- no more anti-klunkers for Portland!).
Unfortunately, I am not sure another team has dominated the Wolves this season as much as New Orleans has. We just have had no answer for Anthony Davis... :-(
Wow, you are still holding out hope, aren't you!? It's pretty much impossible at this stage. The two losses at Miami and Boston along with the strong play of our 8th seed rivals crushed our chances. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
The thing that pisses me off is how Portland, Dalllas, and Denver were all able to make some tweaks throughout the season and ended up getting dramatically better as a result. Remember how poor Dallas started? Seth Curry and freakin' Yogi Ferrell to the rescue - voila!
Portland lacks consistent Center production? Swap Plumlee for Nurkic and now suddenly Nurkic is playing like a stud. Of course he is!
Denver unsettled between Nurkic and Jokic (which in hindsight seems like an embarrassment of riches)? Go with Jokic, who proceeds to be one of the most skilled all-around bigs in the league and a passing genius.
Luckily, it appears that Phoenix, Lakers, and Sacramento will be in rebuilding years next season and playing a bunch of youngsters. But otherwise, it's going to be a dogfight again just to get an 8th seed. We need to make a big move or two this offseason. Our roster isn't good enough yet.
I said from before the season started there were a bunch of teams with solid talent it wasn't going to be easy to get that 8th seed because there were plenty of teams with the talent to make a run. The difference to me between the Wolves and the other teams is their bench isn't as proven or has the depth they do and veteran leadership and play is lacking. Denver has some decisions to make this offseason. They might not be as good depending on what they do with a couple vet guys.
60WinTim wrote:I would be more hopeful if we hadn't lost Belly and Lance, or if Wiggins would return from his hiatus. The 8th seed is still within the Wolves grasp, but only if they can take care of their own business, which they have not done the past two games.
Making up 5 games against Denver is a tall task at this point especially when we don't play them in any more games. I just want the Wolves to finish strong.
Well, it's really only 4 games according to the loss column. And I still say Portland is the team we have to catch. Denver has numerous losses on the horizon. The Wolves have a 6-game stretch following the Spurs game where they could really make some hay!
While the Wolves loss was unhelpful, the Blazer win was a killer. They keep winning games they are suppose to lose. More than any other team battling for the 8th seed, they have LOTS of winnable games to finish the season. The 8th seed is theirs. Good night.
New Orleans - W - Actual L
Chicago - W - Actual W
Cleveland - L - Actual L
@ Denver - L - Actual W
Dallas - W - Actual W
@ Houston - L - Actual L
@ Sacramento - W/L - Actual W
@ Utah - L - Actual W
@ San Antonio - L - Actual L
Portland - W - Postponed
Clippers - L - Actual W
Warriors - L - Actual W
@ Milwaukee - W/L - Actual L
Washington - L - Actual W
@ Boston - L - Actual L
@ Miami - L - Actual L
@ New Orleans - W/L - Actual L
San Antonio - W
@ Lakers - W/L
@ Portland - L
@ Indiana - L
Lakers - W
Sacramento - W
@ Golden State - L
@ Portland - L
@ Utah - L
@ Lakers - W/L
OKC - L
@ Houston - L
Well, this past weekend was pretty much the final nail in the coffin of our playoff hopes, but we still have time to close out the season with positive momentum. We are still 3.5 games ahead of the pace I originally predicted.
My fear is that the guys are starting to give up, as evidenced by the horrific defense we've seen the past three games. Yeah, Thibs will stay on them and they will say all the right things, but they know they aren't playing for anything meaningful. They came into the season with playoff hopes and will end up well short of that objective.
I mentioned several weeks ago we had too many teams to pass up to have a realistic chance at the postseason. Not everybody ahead of us was going to tread water and allow us to pass. Portland and Denver have played good basketball and that's that. Looking forward to the offseason to see what improvements can be made. I expect some money to get spent.
Update to my win estimate as well. Originally I 'predicted' (in reality I more or less hoped) following line for already played games (actual result after arrow):
Dallas - W -> W
@ Houston - W/L -> L
@ Sacramento - W -> W
@ Utah - W/L -> W
@ San Antonio - L -> L
Clippers - W/L -> W
Warriors - W/L -> W
@ Milwaukee - W/L -> L
Washington - W/L -> W
@ Boston - L -> L
@ Miami - W/L -> L
@ New Orleans - W/L -> L
San Antonio - L -> L
After losing two winnable (W/L) categorized games, Wolves are exactly average pace of my 'optimistic' win prediction. For remaining schedule my latest expected result after arrow.
@ Lakers - W Lakers traded their best scorer and I expect that they start tanking to have more hope to keep their pick next summer. (they lose it if it's not top3)
@ Portland - L 2nd game of back to back for us. Most probably loss but if they win, slim changes to get playoffs might open again.
@ Indiana - L -> W/L Almost decided to change this back to L after Wolves recent subpar defensive efforts but I decided to stay still optimistic.
Lakers - W See previous Lakers game
Sacramento - W Sacramento without Cousins is one of the worst teams in league. Should be easy win for Wolves.
Portland - W Portland is one team that we have change to catch by just winning our remaining three games against them. Lillard and McCollum just seem to be too clutch but we should win them at least home.
@ Golden State - L 2nd game of back to back for us. Even without Durant I don't see Golden State losing this one.
@ Portland - W/L I think this is a game that we have to win to have a any hope for playoffs.
@ Utah - L Second game of back to back for us. Probably no chance.
@ Lakers - W See previous Lakers game
OKC - W/L -> W Since Memphis is currently struggling, I think OKC have secured 6th seed at this point and they will rest Westbrook.
@ Houston - W I expect that this is meaningless game to Houston. They have secured 3rd seed before last game and I expect them to rest Harden.
So after latest games, I have Wolves final amount of wins between 35 and 37.
Latest ESPN estimates in playoff odds page, have Denver and Portland ending with 38 wins, Dallas with 35 and New Orleans and Wolves with 34. Wolves playoff chances are less than 1%.
Q12543 wrote: The thing that pisses me off is how Portland, Dalllas, and Denver were all able to make some tweaks throughout the season and ended up getting dramatically better as a result. Remember how poor Dallas started? Seth Curry and freakin' Yogi Ferrell to the rescue - voila!
Portland lacks consistent Center production? Swap Plumlee for Nurkic and now suddenly Nurkic is playing like a stud. Of course he is!
Denver unsettled between Nurkic and Jokic (which in hindsight seems like an embarrassment of riches)? Go with Jokic, who proceeds to be one of the most skilled all-around bigs in the league and a passing genius.
Luckily, it appears that Phoenix, Lakers, and Sacramento will be in rebuilding years next season and playing a bunch of youngsters. But otherwise, it's going to be a dogfight again just to get an 8th seed. We need to make a big move or two this offseason. Our roster isn't good enough yet.
I have always thought that Dieng and Plumlee would have about similar value as players even tough their skill set is different. So in hindsight it would have been pretty nice trade if we would have been able to convert Dieng to Nurkic and Memphis 1st rounder. Nurkic woud have been that big body that could have played next to KAT.
Q12543 wrote: The thing that pisses me off is how Portland, Dalllas, and Denver were all able to make some tweaks throughout the season and ended up getting dramatically better as a result. Remember how poor Dallas started? Seth Curry and freakin' Yogi Ferrell to the rescue - voila!
Portland lacks consistent Center production? Swap Plumlee for Nurkic and now suddenly Nurkic is playing like a stud. Of course he is!
Denver unsettled between Nurkic and Jokic (which in hindsight seems like an embarrassment of riches)? Go with Jokic, who proceeds to be one of the most skilled all-around bigs in the league and a passing genius.
Luckily, it appears that Phoenix, Lakers, and Sacramento will be in rebuilding years next season and playing a bunch of youngsters. But otherwise, it's going to be a dogfight again just to get an 8th seed. We need to make a big move or two this offseason. Our roster isn't good enough yet.
I have always thought that Dieng and Plumlee would have about similar value as players even tough their skill set is different. So in hindsight it would have been pretty nice trade if we would have been able to convert Dieng to Nurkic and Memphis 1st rounder. Nurkic woud have been that big body that could have played next to KAT.
True, however, in the on going debate of what is best next to KAT, I think we need to put more emphasis on how most 4th quarters play out. Teams almost never have two legit big men in the lineup to end 4th quarters. Instead, they tend to have one legit big man and 4 guards/wings or 3 guards/wings and a 4-man that can stretch the floor while having the foot speed to keep up on the other end (this is where Bjelly was starting to show some chops before he got hurt).
In my mind, we need put our trade assets/free agent spending toward either a mobile, stretch 4 (like Paul Milsap) or a decent-sized SF with a nose for the ball that can play PF in small ball formats (like Paul George).
I realize Milsap and George may be unrealistic targets by typical Minnesota standards, but I believe those are the caliber of players we should be shooting for this offseason.
Q12543 wrote: The thing that pisses me off is how Portland, Dalllas, and Denver were all able to make some tweaks throughout the season and ended up getting dramatically better as a result. Remember how poor Dallas started? Seth Curry and freakin' Yogi Ferrell to the rescue - voila!
Portland lacks consistent Center production? Swap Plumlee for Nurkic and now suddenly Nurkic is playing like a stud. Of course he is!
Denver unsettled between Nurkic and Jokic (which in hindsight seems like an embarrassment of riches)? Go with Jokic, who proceeds to be one of the most skilled all-around bigs in the league and a passing genius.
Luckily, it appears that Phoenix, Lakers, and Sacramento will be in rebuilding years next season and playing a bunch of youngsters. But otherwise, it's going to be a dogfight again just to get an 8th seed. We need to make a big move or two this offseason. Our roster isn't good enough yet.
I have always thought that Dieng and Plumlee would have about similar value as players even tough their skill set is different. So in hindsight it would have been pretty nice trade if we would have been able to convert Dieng to Nurkic and Memphis 1st rounder. Nurkic woud have been that big body that could have played next to KAT.
True, however, in the on going debate of what is best next to KAT, I think we need to put more emphasis on how most 4th quarters play out. Teams almost never have two legit big men in the lineup to end 4th quarters. Instead, they tend to have one legit big man and 4 guards/wings or 3 guards/wings and a 4-man that can stretch the floor while having the foot speed to keep up on the other end (this is where Bjelly was starting to show some chops before he got hurt).
In my mind, we need put our trade assets/free agent spending toward either a mobile, stretch 4 (like Paul Milsap) or a decent-sized SF with a nose for the ball that can play PF in small ball formats (like Paul George).
I realize Milsap and George may be unrealistic targets by typical Minnesota standards, but I believe those are the caliber of players we should be shooting for this offseason.
I like it Q. I'd take the more traditional 4s like Ibaka or Taj Gibson too, but I can't see a downside to going for it this offseason.
