Minnesota Sports Forum

Damn, Denver pulled it out over Miami. However, Utah lost at home to Toronto and it looks like Boston has made a game of it in OKC.

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:My favorite prospect at pick 7 and virtually everyone else's most hated on this board Lauri Markkanen is balling out again and still continues to be on pace to shatter the rookie 3 point record, averaging 17 pts & 9 rebounds a game

I think Lip needs to join me in smugness as well as John Collins is is putting up 11 & 7 and 21.74 PER with less than 20 minutes per a game ;)

Bloop -- I would be happy to join you in smugness when it comes to John Collins. :) What we've seen so far supports my take on Collins. Unfortunately, my smugness takes a hit when it comes to Markkanen. He was not among my favorites. Yet, the evidence so far tells me I was wrong. I know Q suggests we should wait for Markkenan to start his second lap around the League. But it's rare for a rookie to start out the way he has and then fade significantly thereafter. Yes, his performance so far could be misleading, but I don't think so. I've changed my tune on him and think he's the real deal. So keep gloating, Boop! :)

Just to continue my own gloating. John Collins had 13 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 blocks in 28 minutes tonight. Note also that Mbah a Moute had 20 points tonight off the bench. I wanted to sign his this summer. He ended signing with the Rockets at the vet minimum.

This class in terms of the wolves is going to be hard to judge for a couple of years. Like you said you loved John Collins Lip but he would not be in the rotation for the wolves this year. Patton getting hurt sucks but we will probably will not see any of Patton until the 19-20 season when Taj becomes a free agent (assuming we resign Belly this offseason). I really don't see how any rookie would have cracked the rotation.

I agree with you, kek. I'm just having some fun. However, if Gorgui or Taj were to go down for any length of time, then I could see Collins filling in as part of the rotation and making a positive contribution. We really don't know about Patton because of his unfortunate foot injury. I think he could be very good down the road, but I also think he's behind Collins developmentally. Taking Collins with the pick we got from the Bulls seemed to me like the obviously correct pick at the time. But as you said, it will be a couple years before I can gloat for real. :)

I liked Collins a lot also. Lip won me over even though I had some misgivings. At the spot he was going I thought it was a good value. It would be tough to see him get minutes with Bjelly not even getting all the minutes he could be getting how well he is playing but I do think Collins may have gotten in some minutes here and there. Markkanen I thought did have a legit chance to be good offensively. It was the other stuff and being able to defend that was th big worry. His success in international play was a positive and I remember one person that had followed his career said that was one of the reasons he felt strongly about him because of what he was able to do playing for his national team and that was before his success this summer.

This draft class is crazy good right now. Meanwhile look back at some of these other drafts. Okafor had his option declined. The guy has had some bad luck and came into the league at the wrong time.

Yesterday I was looking at Board favorite Zach Collins and while the guy is young and doesn't play a whole lot the foul rate is crazy high when he does. Ed Davis is the one of their collection of bigs to be ballin out this year based on the stats he is putting up.

Thankfully, the Jazz lost. But note that Mitchell scored 25 points, 2 steals and 2 blocks and the Jazz made it close. The Mitchell pick last June is just another reminder that the Jazz are a terrific organization.

Speaking of terrific organizations, how about the Celtics? They had a great come-from-behind win tonight over the Thunder and are now 7-2 for the season after losing their premier off-season free-agent acquisition, Hayward, to a gruesome injury in the opener. They made a great trade getting Irving, using assets they amassed through savvy front office decisions. Their last two first round picks, Brown and Tatum are starting and winning. Smart and Rozier were also very nice draft picks. Of course, Horford was another terrific acquisition.

The Lakers beat the Nets tonight. I know it was the Nets, but the Lakers won even though their prize rookie had a horrible shooting night. Lopez had a big night scoring and rebounding. I think that acquisition didn't get the credit it deserved. He's a really good player when healthy. Bottom line is that the Lakers won't be a push-over this season.

Miami almost knocked off the Nuggets. That would have been nice.

So a mixed bag tonight in the East v. West battles. Now it's up to the Wolves to take charge of their own destiny and win both home games this weekend. Losing to the Mavs tomorrow night would be completely unacceptable. Sunday's game against the Hornets won't be easy, but that's another one the Wolves should win if they're going to be a top 5 contender in the West.

lipoli390 wrote:Thankfully, the Jazz lost. But note that Mitchell scored 25 points, 2 steals and 2 blocks and the Jazz made it close. The Mitchell pick last June is just another reminder that the Jazz are a terrific organization.

Speaking of terrific organizations, how about the Celtics? They had a great come-from-behind win tonight over the Thunder and are now 7-2 for the season after losing their premier off-season free-agent acquisition, Hayward, to a gruesome injury in the opener. They made a great trade getting Irving, using assets they amassed through savvy front office decisions. Their last two first round picks, Brown and Tatum are starting and winning. Smart and Rozier were also very nice draft picks. Of course, Horford was another terrific acquisition.

The Lakers beat the Nets tonight. I know it was the Nets, but the Lakers won even though their prize rookie had a horrible shooting night. Lopez had a big night scoring and rebounding. I think that acquisition didn't get the credit it deserved. He's a really good player when healthy. Bottom line is that the Lakers won't be a push-over this season.

Miami almost knocked off the Nuggets. That would have been nice.

So a mixed bag tonight in the East v. West battles. Now it's up to the Wolves to take charge of their own destiny and win both home games this weekend. Losing to the Mavs tomorrow night would be completely unacceptable. Sunday's game against the Hornets won't be easy, but that's another one the Wolves should win if they're going to be a top 5 contender in the West.

Yeah, Ainge and that front office is just outstanding. Don't forget they hired Brad Stevens too. That is looking like a genius move by Ainge.

New Orleans won at Chicago, but it looks like Denver will lose to Golden State. Since I think we all assume Golden State will win the conference (or coast to 2nd behind Houston), I consider that a good win for us since Denver is definitely in the mix for one of the other playoff spots.

Memphis beat the Clippers, which is sort of a wash for us. But I do think the Clippers have had an easy schedule to start with, so I'm not surprised to see them lose to a solid team at home.

All in all, we just have to keep winning. Keep in mind we haven't had to play Golden State or Houston yet. The OKC wins were big though!

It's a long season. We don't need every win and loss across all games to go perfect all year long just to barely make the playoffs. We're a good team with Butler in the lineup. Teams will naturally separate out as the year goes on.

Whether it's making the playoffs or playoff seeding, every win and loss matters at the end of the season when you look back. I don't see the Wolves finishing ahead of the Warriors or Rockets. So I'd like to see those two teams as well as Eastern Conference teams feast on the rest of our Western Conference rivals. I started the season viewing the Thunder, Spurs, and Nuggets as our chief rivals for the 4-6 seeds. Unfortunately, it looks like the Grizzlies and Clippers might be in the mix. At the same time, the Jazz look better than I anticipated while the Blazers and Pelicans can't be counted out. Even the Lakers are better than many thought, which doesn't surprise me. The Mavs and Kings look like the only easy-outs in the West. Not sure yet about the Suns.

Far reaching article about NBA players slimming down.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/11/4/16593220/nba-weight-loss-slim-lebron-james

LeBron and the Cavs lost to Atlanta after the Cavs clanged a couple shots late and everyone was hugging everyone afterward. I didn't see the whole game so maybe that made sense but it was kinda weird.

Miami beat the Clippers. These were 2 games that went down to the wire when one team had a big lead in the 2nd half.

Clippers, Utah, and Phoenix losing + a Wolves win......VERY good night!