Minnesota Sports Forum

Big O wrote:I hate to say it but our playoff hopes rest on Wiggins shoulders. If he plays like he's capable we will win some of those 50-50 games and finish strong. So who looks good in the draft!

Well if it's all based on wiggins hasn't he been up to the task since Butler has been out? It seems like someone posted the stats recently and they were pretty good.

I used FiveThirtyEight for half of my reference, I think it really shows that in the short term we are screwed. If we can get through the next 5 -7 games we'll be in good shape to make a run at this. 538 does predict that over the next 7 games we'll go 3 - 4. And finish strong.

The key is the number of games remaining. The Pelicans have a cancelled game that was thrown in on a rest day that creates a 3 in a row. March 20 - 22.

I'll update this every 5 games.

Current _____ Played __ B2B __ Home __ Away __ Next 5 __ End Season __ % Playoffs
Blazers 37 26 __ 63 ____ 3 _____ 10 ____ 9 _______ 4-1 _____ 48-34 _____ 89%
Thunder 37 28 __ 65 ____ 2 _____ 10 ____ 7 ______ 4-1 _____ 47-35 _____ 86%
Wolves 38 28 __ 66 _____ 3 _____ 9 ____ 7 _______ 1-4 _____ 47-35 _____ 92%
Spurs 36 27 ____ 63 ____ 2 _____ 11 ____ 8 ______ 2-3 _____ 46-36 _____ 65%
Pelicans 35 26 __ 61 ____ 3 _____ 12 ____ 9 ______ 4-1 _____ 46-36 _____ 76%
Nuggets 35 28 __ 63 ____ 2 _____ 8 ____ 11 ______ 4-1 _____ 46-36 _____ 72%
Clippers 33 28 __ 61 ____ 4 _____ 11 ____ 10______ 5-0 _____ 45-37 _____ 58%

monsterpile wrote:

Big O wrote:I hate to say it but our playoff hopes rest on Wiggins shoulders. If he plays like he's capable we will win some of those 50-50 games and finish strong. So who looks good in the draft!

Well if it's all based on wiggins hasn't he been up to the task since Butler has been out? It seems like someone posted the stats recently and they were pretty good.

The point I was trying to make is that we need really good Wiggins to show up every night and I might add really good Teague. I think we can count on good KAT and Gibson. But unless those two bring their A games we are not likely to win.

Big O wrote:I hate to say it but our playoff hopes rest on Wiggins shoulders. If he plays like he's capable we will win some of those 50-50 games and finish strong. So who looks good in the draft!

Thats a no win situation for wiggins. hes either got to become MJ or hes a failure.

Against the Blazers, people have made him out as the scapegoat because he didnt have the best offensive game, but he played elite defense. He showed up as did KAT.

Against the Jazz, he didnt play much in the 1h due to foul trouble and the team collapsed. KAT and Teague were gone in the second and wiggs carried the offense and was the only player in the + that night. But again, some people put that loss on because he didnt do enough. He was there again.

Wiggs needs to be efficient, KAT needs to defend, teague being Atlanta teague and we need the bench to do something if there is any chance of staying in the playoff race.

This isnt on 1 person unless there is an agenda.

crazy-canuck wrote:

Big O wrote:I hate to say it but our playoff hopes rest on Wiggins shoulders. If he plays like he's capable we will win some of those 50-50 games and finish strong. So who looks good in the draft!

Thats a no win situation for wiggins. hes either got to become MJ or hes a failure.

This isnt on 1 person unless there is an agenda.

My point is not to rip on Wiggins - it is to point out the reality that if he doesn't bring his A game the rest of the season we don't have chance. (and to a lesser extent this goes for Teague) An off night, be it foul trouble, bad shooting, or laziness, and we will lose. Max players step up when called upon.

I think the Denver games are going to be important. We should beat Memphis twice, Atlanta, Dallas, Knicks which would put us at 43 wins. We need to win at least 2 between the Clippers, Lakers (who are playing better lately), Utah, Washington, San Antonio to get us to 45 wins. That brings us to our two games against Denver if we can win one of the two and get to 46 wins we will have the tie breaker over every team except Portland.

Big O wrote:

crazy-canuck wrote:

Big O wrote:I hate to say it but our playoff hopes rest on Wiggins shoulders. If he plays like he's capable we will win some of those 50-50 games and finish strong. So who looks good in the draft!

Thats a no win situation for wiggins. hes either got to become MJ or hes a failure.

This isnt on 1 person unless there is an agenda.

My point is not to rip on Wiggins - it is to point out the reality that if he doesn't bring his A game the rest of the season we don't have chance. (and to a lesser extent this goes for Teague) An off night, be it foul trouble, bad shooting, or laziness, and we will lose. Max players step up when called upon.

Just wait till next year. Wiggins will be good then.

Take a look at the next three games for the Wolves and all their competitors 3-10 in the Western Conference. The Wolves will likely lose all of their next three games: Warriors, @Wizards, @Spurs. When you look realistically at the other Western Conference teams over the next three games it is highly likely that the Wolves will be in 10th place.

The Thunder and Nuggets will likely go 3-0
The Jazz, Pelicans and Clippers will likely go 2-1
The Spurs will likely go 1-2.

After falling to 10th over the next 3 games, the Wolves will play the Rockets at home, which means we're likely to stay in 10th beyond the next 3 games. It's looking more and more like a lottery finish for the Wolves.

When you look at our roster and payroll compared to a number of the teams finishing ahead of us (Clippers, Jazz, Spurs without Leonard, Pelicans without Cousins, Nuggets without Millsap most of the season) a 9th or 10th place finish would be inexcusable regardless of the fact that Butler will have missed the last 20 games of the season.

I suspect if we miss the playoffs, Glen will argue that we made roster improvements and a few more wins. Sad.

Is it weird that a sense of normalcy is setting upon this forum once again. I didn't know how to process the Wolves being 3rd in the west, but losing brings a familiar comfort we've been missing around here!

Being a Wolves is not fun, but it is funny!