Minnesota Sports Forum

Here's some context for the Jimmy or no Jimmy discussion. In the 16 games leading up to the game when Butler went down with his meniscus, the Wolves were 7-9. Yes, we were 2 games under .500 during that stretch with Butler, Towns and Wiggins. In the 25 games leading up and including the Houston game when Butler went down, the Wolves were 13-12, only one game above .500. So yes, I think we would have won tonight if Butler had played. But this team's problems go much deeper than Butler's health. Butler was playing in many of our worst losses, including the home loss to the Suns without Booker, our home loss to the Wizards without Wall, our home loss to the Sixers without Covington and the road losses to Atlanta, the Nets and Orlando. And we've been one of the worst defensive teams all season even though Butler has played most of the season.

khans2k5 wrote:

TheFuture wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Also they can say it was Jimmy's call all they want. If you see the quotes Jimmy came out with, he's playing if it's his call.

Quotes before the game:

Malone believes butler is playing. "Cmon man. Doubtful? I've got a bridge to sell you."

Jimmy-

"I gotta realize that at the end of the day, it's my decision, my career. I have to listen to my body."

"I feel like I'm a really good player. I can still put the ball in the basket a little bit and I feel like I'm ready to get out there with my guys. We'll see how I feel before the game. "

"I'm tougher than everybody. So if I'm tired, my mind's telling me I'm not tired. So I'll be just fine. Go out there, compete, get some wind, talk a little bit and before you know it I'm not even tired. My mind's not going to let me get tired."

So what you're quoting ultimately ends up concluding that Butler decided he was not good to go?

You must have just skimmed the last quote didn't you? Somehow a guy who can mentally get past anything decided it just wasn't happening tonight. I'm done arguing it. If he plays tomorrow I'm calling BS on tonight that he couldn't play. That tells me they saved him for the second game and tried to steal one tonight and it backfired.

This is so asinine. If anything we would be attempting to steal against the Lakers - a non playoff team!

This is assuming, like you are, that Jimmy feels 100%.

Hey Ya'll in case you didn't know the season isn't over yet.

monsterpile wrote:Hey Ya'll in case you didn't know the season isn't over yet.

It better not be. I'm going to the game tomorrow.

Everyone seems to be overlooking Patton's illness. Clearly the Wolves win if he suits up. And suiting up would have been enough even if he didn't play. His mere presence on the bench would have probably been enough to turn the game around down the stretch.

lipoli390 wrote:Here's some context for the Jimmy or no Jimmy discussion. In the 16 games leading up to the game when Butler went down with his meniscus, the Wolves were 7-9. Yes, we were 2 games under .500 during that stretch with Butler, Towns and Wiggins. In the 25 games leading up and including the Houston game when Butler went down, the Wolves were 13-12, only one game above .500. So yes, I think we would have won tonight if Butler had played. But this team's problems go much deeper than Butler's health. Butler was playing in many of our worst losses, including the home loss to the Suns without Booker, our home loss to the Wizards without Wall, our home loss to the Sixers without Covington and the road losses to Atlanta, the Nets and Orlando. And we've been one of the worst defensive teams all season even though Butler has played most of the season.

Because Towns and Wiggins have no anticipation defensively - none at all. And we replaced a good defensive pg for a below average one. Then we play a sixth man who is atrocious on defense too many minutes.

Thibs is archaic.

thedoper wrote:

monsterpile wrote:Hey Ya'll in case you didn't know the season isn't over yet.

It better not be. I'm going to the game tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to a full game report from you, Doper

Hopefully, we revamp the iso offense next year. I get that thibs wanted to bring in a more scoring oriented pg, but it just doesnt really work when 3 other guys also need their shots. teague will look great and aggressive, but he doesnt really do anything for anyone else to get their games going.

TheFuture wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Here's some context for the Jimmy or no Jimmy discussion. In the 16 games leading up to the game when Butler went down with his meniscus, the Wolves were 7-9. Yes, we were 2 games under .500 during that stretch with Butler, Towns and Wiggins. In the 25 games leading up and including the Houston game when Butler went down, the Wolves were 13-12, only one game above .500. So yes, I think we would have won tonight if Butler had played. But this team's problems go much deeper than Butler's health. Butler was playing in many of our worst losses, including the home loss to the Suns without Booker, our home loss to the Wizards without Wall, our home loss to the Sixers without Covington and the road losses to Atlanta, the Nets and Orlando. And we've been one of the worst defensive teams all season even though Butler has played most of the season.

Because Towns and Wiggins have no anticipation defensively - none at all. And we replaced a good defensive pg for a below average one. Then we play a sixth man who is atrocious on defense too many minutes.

Thibs is archaic.

I agree, Future. Except I can't get myself to ascribe blame to Towns. He's not a particularly good defender. Neither is Harden. But Towns plays his ass off every single game and he not only consistently carries the team's scoring load, he also carries the team on the boards. Yes, I'd like to see him play better defensively and to be fair he's shown improvement in that department. I'll add that Jokic was 6 for 20 with 16 points against KAT tonight while KAT scored 26 efficient points and pulled down 13 rebounds. But yes, Teague is a bad fit and Wiggins is Wiggins. And Crawford is Crawford while Gorgui is Gorgui. Ultimately, I put most of the responsibility on Thibs' shoulders. As both head coach and PBO for two years, he has to bear that responsibility.

As PBO, Thibs gave Gorgui the bloated, long-term extension and then signed Taj Gibson, which caused Thibs the head coach to move his prize signee to the bench. He decided to keep Wiggins and give him a max contract. He drafted Dunn instead of Murray. He drafted Patton instead of John Collins or Kyle Kuzma. He signed Crawford as the team's only significant wing off the bench -- a 38-year old mid-range shooter who was defensively challenged even in his prime. He left an open roster spot the entire season while players like Belinelli, Illyasova and Gerald Green were signed on the cheap by other teams. He ultimately filled Bazz's vacated roster spot with the brittle Derrick Rose while continuing to keep the open roster spot. He swapped Ricky for Teague. If he didn't want Ricky and wanted a shoot-first PG, he could have signed Collison for $9 million a year less and gotten much better 3-point shooting. There isn't another team in the League who would trade us anything of value for Teague and his remaining 2-year $38 million contract. With the enormous cap room and draft picks over the past two years, he did nothing to significantly augment our three-point shooting

As head coach, well... I think your word archaic says it all.

As a former Wolves fan I hope they don't make the playoffs and Thibs and company are gone. Not sure how short of a leash Taylor has on him he really screwed this team up. I wish we had Hoiberg.