Minnesota Sports Forum

Two things I'm absolutely sure of:

1. Thibs will be the Wolves head coach opening night; and
2. Ricky Rubio will be the Wolves starting PG.

Two things I'm not sure of:

1. Whether KG will be on the Wolves roster opening night; and
2. Whether Pek will every play another minutes of NBA basketball with the Wolves.

Thibs said again during an interview today that he felt Rubio and Dunn could play together for stretches. This is like the umpteenth time I've heard either Layden or Thibs say this. If they didn't believe it was possible, they wouldn't have said it. And we saw it in practice in the two games Dunn played in Vegas.

lipoli390 wrote:Two things I'm absolutely sure of:

1. Thibs will be the Wolves head coach Ricky Rubio opening night; and
2. Ricky Rubio will be the Wolves starting PG.

Two things I'm not sure of:

1. Whether KG will be on the Wolves roster opening night; and
2. Whether Pek will every play another minutes of NBA basketball with the Wolves.

That's the frustrating part with KG and Pek-20 million dollars tied up where we could have brought in a really good wing on a short-term deal. Who? I'm not sure since everybody and their brother were getting 4 year deals.

BizarroJerry wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Two things I'm absolutely sure of:

1. Thibs will be the Wolves head coach Ricky Rubio opening night; and
2. Ricky Rubio will be the Wolves starting PG.

Two things I'm not sure of:

1. Whether KG will be on the Wolves roster opening night; and
2. Whether Pek will every play another minutes of NBA basketball with the Wolves.

That's the frustrating part with KG and Pek-20 million dollars tied up where we could have brought in a really good wing on a short-term deal. Who? I'm not sure since everybody and their brother were getting 4 year deals.

The Wolves had the money to do that. It they didn't. Heck they still have 14million in cap space now. Those 2 contracts didn't keep them from doing anything they wanted to do in FA.

Q12543 wrote:Thibs said again during an interview today that he felt Rubio and Dunn could play together for stretches. This is like the umpteenth time I've heard either Layden or Thibs say this. If they didn't believe it was possible, they wouldn't have said it. And we saw it in practice in the two games Dunn played in Vegas.

I don't doubt they've said it, and probably believe it. I'M THE ONE who doesn't think it will work in league play. And define "stretches". Two minutes? That could work occasionally. Five minutes? We're asking for trouble. Ten Minutes? We would lose most games.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Thibs said again during an interview today that he felt Rubio and Dunn could play together for stretches. This is like the umpteenth time I've heard either Layden or Thibs say this. If they didn't believe it was possible, they wouldn't have said it. And we saw it in practice in the two games Dunn played in Vegas.

I don't doubt they've said it, and probably believe it. I'M THE ONE who doesn't think it will work in league play. And define "stretches". Two minutes? That could work occasionally. Five minutes? We're asking for trouble. Ten Minutes? We would lose most games.

If #5 overall pick Kris Dunn isn't good enough to play 10 mins off the ball likely against backup SGs that at are also at least half are combo guards the problem will be he isn't a very good basketball player and we have a lot to worry about then.

Look we are all just guessing at what some rotation minutes are looking like. We should know the minutes don't get played out in neat packages every night. I don't know what amount of time Dunn can or will see at SG but it seems odd that you so quickly absolutely dismiss the idea. It wasn't that long ago teams were looking for attacking off the dribble SGs. If Rubio can create space with nearly no threat to score than it seems like Dunn would be able to do something with his athletic gifts skill and general talent to get to some spots to create for himself and others if he really is a PG playing as a SG. It's ok if we just agree to disagree though we will find out soon enough. :)

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Thibs said again during an interview today that he felt Rubio and Dunn could play together for stretches. This is like the umpteenth time I've heard either Layden or Thibs say this. If they didn't believe it was possible, they wouldn't have said it. And we saw it in practice in the two games Dunn played in Vegas.

I don't doubt they've said it, and probably believe it. I'M THE ONE who doesn't think it will work in league play. And define "stretches". Two minutes? That could work occasionally. Five minutes? We're asking for trouble. Ten Minutes? We would lose most games.

Why? Rubio-Dunn is easily our best defensive backcourt. Thibs wins games with defense and grit. He's a defense first coach. I don't see what you see.

I kind of rolled my eyes draft night when Theydon talked about playing Dunn next to Ricky...sounded like they were trying to sell us on Dunn being more than just a backup PG at #5. But as Thibs continues to talk about Dunn as a 2 (over and over again) and after watching him primarily play the 2 in his two games, I'm convinced he can be an impact player pretty quickly at the 2. If he's paired more with Tyus on a second unit, his superior defense will balance out Tyus' deficiencies in that area...and Tyus should get him a lot of good looks. And as Brooklyn said, Rubio/Dunn will be a very effective defensive combo when they are paired up.

After watching Jones will his team to victories twice in a row, I'm more excited about him getting some PG minutes this season, and Thibs has a lot of flexibility in how he works his guard rotations (with Rush also a good 3-point option when needed).

One more opportunity today to watch this improving Wolves SL team (I agree with Q...kudos to Saunders for molding them into a pretty good team) as they play the Suns in the semis. I think Marquis Chriss might be hurt and Booker didn't play yesterday either, but it's a chance to watch Ulis (who has been very good in Vegas) and Bender (who has not).

The NBA readiness of Ulis and Bender was on display yesterday. Bender missed both free throws at the end of regulation when he only needed one to win the game, but then Ulis hit a 30-foot 3-pointer to win the game in overtime with no time left on the clock. I still think Bender has the potential to be a very good player in the NBA, but he has looked at least a couple years away during summer league.

monsterpile wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Two things I'm absolutely sure of:

1. Thibs will be the Wolves head coach Ricky Rubio opening night; and
2. Ricky Rubio will be the Wolves starting PG.

Two things I'm not sure of:

1. Whether KG will be on the Wolves roster opening night; and
2. Whether Pek will every play another minutes of NBA basketball with the Wolves.

That's the frustrating part with KG and Pek-20 million dollars tied up where we could have brought in a really good wing on a short-term deal. Who? I'm not sure since everybody and their brother were getting 4 year deals.

The Wolves had the money to do that. It they didn't. Heck they still have 14million in cap space now. Those 2 contracts didn't keep them from doing anything they wanted to do in FA.

Really monster? It didn't affect their decisions at all?