Minnesota Sports Forum

The Thunder beating NO were the only WC team that won last night. Right now it's 9 teams and everybody else. The Wolves are in a deep hole but they are 5 wins back of Portland and that's not a completely insurmountable gap. Obviously a real key is that a team has to falter probably due to a significant injury. Memphis has kept rolling since the Conely injury partly because our old pal Troy Daniels has had 3 terrific scoring games in a row.

monsterpile wrote:The Thunder beating NO were the only WC team that won last night. Right now it's 9 teams and everybody else. The Wolves are in a deep hole but they are 5 wins back of Portland and that's not a completely insurmountable gap. Obviously a real key is that a team has to falter probably due to a significant injury. Memphis has kept rolling since the Conely injury partly because our old pal Troy Daniels has had 3 terrific scoring games in a row.

OK, I haven't been following the rest of the league much lately since our playoff hopes have dwindled, but this is EXACTLY what I've been talking about! He's averaging 23 PPG off the bench in the last three games. Troy Daniels....23 PPG.....Off the bench.

Now when the Timberwolves have guys go down, we never have guys step up in a big way. Instead, we just continue losing and the reason is that guys are stretched into roles beyond their natural capabilities blah blah blah...

How much does someone want to bet that Brandon Rush goes to another team next year and we read something similar about him? I guarantee you he will suddenly regain his health and shooting accuracy. But alas, never with the Wolves.

End of rant.

Q - The next 15 games between now and Jan. 3 will tell the tale for the season. If the Wolves can steal one of the upcoming three games against the Spurs, Raptors or Warriors in the next week, then I can see this team going 10-5 over this 15-game stretch assuming the team is about to come around. That would put our record at 16-19 at the end of the night Jan. 3, which wouldn't put us among the top 8 but would I think would get us into the playoff conversation. If we end up no better than .500 over this stretch, then there's no reason to focus on anything but lottery balls.

lipoli390 wrote:Q - The next 15 games between now and Jan. 3 will tell the tale for the season. If the Wolves can steal one of the upcoming three games against the Spurs, Raptors or Warriors in the next week, then I can see this team going 10-5 over this 15-game stretch assuming the team is about to come around. That would put our record at 16-19 at the end of the night Jan. 3, which wouldn't put us among the top 8 but would I think would get us into the playoff conversation. If we end up no better than .500 over this stretch, then there's no reason to focus on anything but lottery balls.

Whoa - so we steal one game out of three and suddenly go 10-5 over this tough stretch! Lip, I love your (potential) optimism, but that seems ridiculously unlikely. But I guess hope is what keeps us diehards engaged, so who am I to judge?

I think your latter scenario is by far the more likely one although I'm not sure what soft tanking looks like at this point. Aren't we kinda already doing it by just being ourselves?

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:The Thunder beating NO were the only WC team that won last night. Right now it's 9 teams and everybody else. The Wolves are in a deep hole but they are 5 wins back of Portland and that's not a completely insurmountable gap. Obviously a real key is that a team has to falter probably due to a significant injury. Memphis has kept rolling since the Conely injury partly because our old pal Troy Daniels has had 3 terrific scoring games in a row.

OK, I haven't been following the rest of the league much lately since our playoff hopes have dwindled, but this is EXACTLY what I've been talking about! He's averaging 23 PPG off the bench in the last three games. Troy Daniels....23 PPG.....Off the bench.

Now when the Timberwolves have guys go down, we never have guys step up in a big way. Instead, we just continue losing and the reason is that guys are stretched into roles beyond their natural capabilities blah blah blah...

How much does someone want to bet that Brandon Rush goes to another team next year and we read something similar about him? I guarantee you he will suddenly regain his health and shooting accuracy. But alas, never with the Wolves.

End of rant.

Daniels might have been the right guy with the wrong team in Minnesota. He's almost exclusively a three point specialist... and that just wasn't in the cards with Mitchell.

Q12543 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Q - The next 15 games between now and Jan. 3 will tell the tale for the season. If the Wolves can steal one of the upcoming three games against the Spurs, Raptors or Warriors in the next week, then I can see this team going 10-5 over this 15-game stretch assuming the team is about to come around. That would put our record at 16-19 at the end of the night Jan. 3, which wouldn't put us among the top 8 but would I think would get us into the playoff conversation. If we end up no better than .500 over this stretch, then there's no reason to focus on anything but lottery balls.

Whoa - so we steal one game out of three and suddenly go 10-5 over this tough stretch! Lip, I love your (potential) optimism, but that seems ridiculously unlikely. But I guess hope is what keeps us diehards engaged, so who am I to judge?

I think your latter scenario is by far the more likely one although I'm not sure what soft tanking looks like at this point. Aren't we kinda already doing it by just being ourselves?

Ha, gotta agree that 10-5 would be a stunning turnaround for this team. Lip, don't make any serious decisions at work this morning until you come down from the weekend!

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Q - The next 15 games between now and Jan. 3 will tell the tale for the season. If the Wolves can steal one of the upcoming three games against the Spurs, Raptors or Warriors in the next week, then I can see this team going 10-5 over this 15-game stretch assuming the team is about to come around. That would put our record at 16-19 at the end of the night Jan. 3, which wouldn't put us among the top 8 but would I think would get us into the playoff conversation. If we end up no better than .500 over this stretch, then there's no reason to focus on anything but lottery balls.

Whoa - so we steal one game out of three and suddenly go 10-5 over this tough stretch! Lip, I love your (potential) optimism, but that seems ridiculously unlikely. But I guess hope is what keeps us diehards engaged, so who am I to judge?

I think your latter scenario is by far the more likely one although I'm not sure what soft tanking looks like at this point. Aren't we kinda already doing it by just being ourselves?

Ha, gotta agree that 10-5 would be a stunning turnaround for this team. Lip, don't make any serious decisions at work this morning until you come down from the weekend!

Yes, especially if you are a sales manager and providing a sales forecast to the BU for 2017......

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:The Thunder beating NO were the only WC team that won last night. Right now it's 9 teams and everybody else. The Wolves are in a deep hole but they are 5 wins back of Portland and that's not a completely insurmountable gap. Obviously a real key is that a team has to falter probably due to a significant injury. Memphis has kept rolling since the Conely injury partly because our old pal Troy Daniels has had 3 terrific scoring games in a row.

OK, I haven't been following the rest of the league much lately since our playoff hopes have dwindled, but this is EXACTLY what I've been talking about! He's averaging 23 PPG off the bench in the last three games. Troy Daniels....23 PPG.....Off the bench.

Now when the Timberwolves have guys go down, we never have guys step up in a big way. Instead, we just continue losing and the reason is that guys are stretched into roles beyond their natural capabilities blah blah blah...

How much does someone want to bet that Brandon Rush goes to another team next year and we read something similar about him? I guarantee you he will suddenly regain his health and shooting accuracy. But alas, never with the Wolves.

End of rant.

Daniels might have been the right guy with the wrong team in Minnesota. He's almost exclusively a three point specialist... and that just wasn't in the cards with Mitchell.

You mean Flip. But regardless Fuzdale has not just given the green light on 3's...it's like he has said even if there is a red light shoot the damn ball. Ok maybe not that crazy but it's clearly something he has put as a priority. It's no surprise Daniels has had a couple big games. He had some good games in his career before. Will he sustain it? For the Wolves playoff hopes...hopefully not.

monsterpile wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:The Thunder beating NO were the only WC team that won last night. Right now it's 9 teams and everybody else. The Wolves are in a deep hole but they are 5 wins back of Portland and that's not a completely insurmountable gap. Obviously a real key is that a team has to falter probably due to a significant injury. Memphis has kept rolling since the Conely injury partly because our old pal Troy Daniels has had 3 terrific scoring games in a row.

OK, I haven't been following the rest of the league much lately since our playoff hopes have dwindled, but this is EXACTLY what I've been talking about! He's averaging 23 PPG off the bench in the last three games. Troy Daniels....23 PPG.....Off the bench.

Now when the Timberwolves have guys go down, we never have guys step up in a big way. Instead, we just continue losing and the reason is that guys are stretched into roles beyond their natural capabilities blah blah blah...

How much does someone want to bet that Brandon Rush goes to another team next year and we read something similar about him? I guarantee you he will suddenly regain his health and shooting accuracy. But alas, never with the Wolves.

End of rant.

Daniels might have been the right guy with the wrong team in Minnesota. He's almost exclusively a three point specialist... and that just wasn't in the cards with Mitchell.

You mean Flip. But regardless Fuzdale has not just given the green light on 3's...it's like he has said even if there is a red light shoot the damn ball. Ok maybe not that crazy but it's clearly something he has put as a priority. It's no surprise Daniels has had a couple big games. He had some good games in his career before. Will he sustain it? For the Wolves playoff hopes...hopefully not.

Yes. My bad.

And that brings up a good point concerning Sam Mitchell. Because of the timing of everything... he was a bit hamstrung anyway with embracing three point shooting following Saunders tenure.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:The Thunder beating NO were the only WC team that won last night. Right now it's 9 teams and everybody else. The Wolves are in a deep hole but they are 5 wins back of Portland and that's not a completely insurmountable gap. Obviously a real key is that a team has to falter probably due to a significant injury. Memphis has kept rolling since the Conely injury partly because our old pal Troy Daniels has had 3 terrific scoring games in a row.

OK, I haven't been following the rest of the league much lately since our playoff hopes have dwindled, but this is EXACTLY what I've been talking about! He's averaging 23 PPG off the bench in the last three games. Troy Daniels....23 PPG.....Off the bench.

Now when the Timberwolves have guys go down, we never have guys step up in a big way. Instead, we just continue losing and the reason is that guys are stretched into roles beyond their natural capabilities blah blah blah...

How much does someone want to bet that Brandon Rush goes to another team next year and we read something similar about him? I guarantee you he will suddenly regain his health and shooting accuracy. But alas, never with the Wolves.

End of rant.

Daniels might have been the right guy with the wrong team in Minnesota. He's almost exclusively a three point specialist... and that just wasn't in the cards with Mitchell.

You mean Flip. But regardless Fuzdale has not just given the green light on 3's...it's like he has said even if there is a red light shoot the damn ball. Ok maybe not that crazy but it's clearly something he has put as a priority. It's no surprise Daniels has had a couple big games. He had some good games in his career before. Will he sustain it? For the Wolves playoff hopes...hopefully not.

Yes. My bad.

And that brings up a good point concerning Sam Mitchell. Because of the timing of everything... he was a bit hamstrung anyway with embracing three point shooting following Saunders tenure.

Yeah that's something to consider. Without going back and looking at all the personnel...and I don't have time for that...or care enough...or whatever.

Anyway here are the 3 pointers attempted for the last 4 coaches.

Adelman 18.0
Adelman 23.8
Flip 14.5
Sam 16.4
Thibs 23.9 (so far)