Cannot Lose This Game - Nets @ Wolves GDT

[TAFKASP]

They're now 7-3 in their past 10, is Thibs still the wrong coach?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

It was nice to finally get an easy win. We needed it, because Sacramento and Denver (it looks like) won too.

Offensively, it was a great game. Defensively.....Not terrible, but not very good either. I was pretty disappointed at how some of their perimeter guys were able to blow by our guys for layups a handful of times.

OK, gotta win the Orlando game because we are @ Cleveland and @ Detroit after that.

[Brooklyn_Wolves [enjin:14608167]]

They're now 7-3 in their past 10, is Thibs still the wrong coach?

Is he the right one? The stretch was pretty easy. It will get much tougher soon. We'll see how he does.

[Monster]

It was nice to finally get an easy win. We needed it, because Sacramento and Denver (it looks like) won too.

Offensively, it was a great game. Defensively.....Not terrible, but not very good either. I was pretty disappointed at how some of their perimeter guys were able to blow by our guys for layups a handful of times.

OK, gotta win the Orlando game because we are @ Cleveland and @ Detroit after that.

Here is the thing about the defense. They said during the broadcast the Nets take 16 3's a game from their bench! The Nets took 21 3's the entire game and made 7. If cutting out 3's was a goal I would say they were very successful in that aspect. I am in no way suggesting the wolves overall were good defensively but they make have excecuted a game plan well enough.

I though it was interesting seeing Bogdonavic with the ball in his hands in the 4th quarter and wa snaking some nice plays for a number of possessions. He is a nice enough offensive player all I have heard is he sticks pretty bad at defense.

Overall a fun game. Bazz was terrific scoring getting rebounds keeping balls alive and even making some passes. He is earning some money right now. I continue to be impressed with his defense.

I thought Dunn was good enough in this game.

Towns was just terrific and Wiggins filled in nicely at times scoring when it was needed. It's a real skill to be able to be a really talented offensive player and understand when it's your time and when it isn't. Lavine for a chunk of the season was finding his spots pretty well but for any of these scorers it's going to take some time. MJ took a few years to figure it out and when he did it was a thing of beauty how he would pick his spots get other players involved and then take over when needed. It was very special plus e has the skill set to accomplish it. Anyway I think guys are making progress they still tr and take on the wolves sometimes but it's been better.

It seems like Zach is getting closer to being back I don't think he is all the way there yet.

Good win it's nice to see Payne get some run because we blew out a team :)

[AbeVigodaLive]

Brooklyn is terrible. But it was a great boxscore win.

- It's not only amazing that Randy Foye is collecting NBA paychecks... he's actually starting NBA games. Shot 33% and it didn't affect his season percentage.
- Every starter and the top bench guy played well offensively.
- KAT is on a roll. He's shot at least 56% for 6 straight games... and 9 out of 10. Shooting 62% in that stretch.
- Rubio is probably more of a threat to score than Dunn right now.
- I'd like to see a way to get Tyus Jones more run. But I get it. Teams don't run with a 3rd PG often.
- A. Payne is alive.
- Unsure about B. Rush and J. Hill.
- I get some of the Chicago vs. Thibs criticism. Up 20... time to get the starters off the floor. 38 mpg is too much in that sort of game, even with a day off the next day. Throw a bone to the reserves.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

They're now 7-3 in their past 10, is Thibs still the wrong coach?

Is he the right one? The stretch was pretty easy. It will get much tougher soon. We'll see how he does.

Yeah, a fairly easy stretch...but I'm not going to lose sight of the fact that we did what we had to do with weaker opponents. We did to Brooklyn what good teams do to them.

I'm clinging to a belief that Thibs is the right guy to coach this team, but I also think he has much to do with our futility and underachieving the first 37 games of the year. But I have been holding on to the hope that Thibs was smart enough to make the adjustments he needed to make for this team to realize his potential, and I believe he has. Here are the specific areas where I sense Thibs has turned the corner:

KAT: Karl has been flat-out terrific recently, and I credit Thibs as much as I blamed him at the start of the year. Maybe Karl changed his style of play on his own at the start of the year, and then magically went back to his successful style of last year on his own, but I don't think so. I maintain that Thibs has been dictating how KAT positions himself and functions in the offense, and has adjusted his coaching to station KAT closer to the basket where he can more successful. I love seeing KAT's 3-point attempts go down, and his assist rate go up. Good on KAT, and good on Thibs.

Minutes: I know this is an annoying topic for some of you (looking at you, monster and abe :)), but I still maintain that our frequent second half collapses (18 in our first 37 games, NONE in the last 10) is primarily due to Thibs wearing his starters out compared to our opponents, and the numbers bear this out. I'm nerdy enough to have charted starters' minutes vis a vis our opponents game-by-game, and the results are dramatic. In the first 37 games, Thibs played his starters 26 MPG more than the opposing coach. 26 minutes more... no wonder we made so many tired errors at the end of games, tired players make tired mistakes! During the past 10 games, our starters are only playing 14 MPG than our opponents. That's a significant drop in comparative minutes, and it's meaningful that we have not had a late game collapse during this stretch. Thibs still doesn't go to his bench enough and is a huge outlier in this area compared to every other coach in the league, but there is some positive evidence that he is beginning to adapt.

I'm back home for awhile and even going to the game tonight, and really looking forward to seeing how this team is playing compared to the dreadful way they were playing the first half of the season. The recent 7-3 stretch has me guardedly optimistic about us sneaking into that 8th playoff spot...yep, I went there!

[AbeVigodaLive]

They're now 7-3 in their past 10, is Thibs still the wrong coach?

Is he the right one? The stretch was pretty easy. It will get much tougher soon. We'll see how he does.

Minutes: I know this is an annoying topic for some of you (looking at you, monster and abe :)), but I still maintain that our frequent second half collapses (18 in our first 37 games, NONE in the last 10) is primarily due to Thibs wearing his starters out compared to our opponents, and the numbers bear this out. I'm nerdy enough to have charted starters' minutes vis a vis our opponents game-by-game, and the results are dramatic. In the first 37 games, Thibs played his starters 26 MPG more than the opposing coach. 26 minutes more... no wonder we made so many tired errors at the end of games, tired players make tired mistakes! During the past 10 games, our starters are only playing 14 MPG than our opponents. That's a significant drop in comparative minutes, and it's meaningful that we have not had a late game collapse during this stretch. Thibs still doesn't go to his bench enough and is a huge outlier in this area compared to every other coach in the league, but there is some positive evidence that he is beginning to adapt.

1. Both Wiggins and KAT are playing more minutes in January than previously. KAT's playing almost 4 mpg more.
Are they less tired despite playing more minutes?

2. Sometimes, I feel ignored. Boohoo. My post directly above this one criticizes Thibs for playing them too many minutes. My point was always it's not the ONLY problem and it didn't need to be repeated EVERY day.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

They're now 7-3 in their past 10, is Thibs still the wrong coach?

Is he the right one? The stretch was pretty easy. It will get much tougher soon. We'll see how he does.

Minutes: I know this is an annoying topic for some of you (looking at you, monster and abe :)), but I still maintain that our frequent second half collapses (18 in our first 37 games, NONE in the last 10) is primarily due to Thibs wearing his starters out compared to our opponents, and the numbers bear this out. I'm nerdy enough to have charted starters' minutes vis a vis our opponents game-by-game, and the results are dramatic. In the first 37 games, Thibs played his starters 26 MPG more than the opposing coach. 26 minutes more... no wonder we made so many tired errors at the end of games, tired players make tired mistakes! During the past 10 games, our starters are only playing 14 MPG than our opponents. That's a significant drop in comparative minutes, and it's meaningful that we have not had a late game collapse during this stretch. Thibs still doesn't go to his bench enough and is a huge outlier in this area compared to every other coach in the league, but there is some positive evidence that he is beginning to adapt.

1. Both Wiggins and KAT are playing more minutes in January than previously. KAT's playing almost 4 mpg more.
Are they less tired despite playing more minutes?

2. Sometimes, I feel ignored. Boohoo. My post directly above this one criticizes Thibs for playing them too many minutes. My point was always it's not the ONLY problem and it didn't need to be repeated EVERY day.

Ha, didn't want you to be ignored, Abe...I did see your starter minutes comment!

Your KAT and Wig comment is accurate, and highlights an unfortunate angle of my Thibs' analysis. I think "end of game tiredness" is a relative thing...i.e. a function of how much rest you are giving your starters compared to your opponent. Thibs has actually only gone to his bench a measly 1 MPG more during this great 10-game stretch, but fortunately his opposing coach has used his bench a significantly different 11 MPG less than they were during our woeful first half of the year. In other words, our tired players are playing opponents that are almost as tired, as opposed to the first half of the year when our tired starters were playing opposing fresh starters...with predictable results. Tired defense and mental errors on offense. Pop has made a career out of ensuring his players are fresher than his opponents at the end of games, and it has a lot to do with his success late in games.

To be fair, I never said Thibs' refusal to play his bench was the only problem in our underachieving...I only highlighted it as an area where Thibs was a significant outlier compared to other coaches and one reason for our late game struggles that didn't occur nearly as frequently as last year. But I have also frequently mentioned some other differences of opinion I have with Thibs that I think were hurting us: his unusual approach to employing Rubio and KAT, his less than positive sideline demeanor, and his refusal to play Tyus Jones except when injuries forced his hand (the Wolves are 6-5 when Tyus plays more than 10 minutes by the way). I'm seeing subtle changes in some of these areas but certainly not all, and I'm pleased with the results. The last 10 games have significantly increased my optimism and my positive feelings about Thibs.

Despite my differences with Thibs, I am guardedly optimistic that he may turn out to be a very good coach for this roster as he continues to evolve. He has had great success coaching the Bulls and clearly has a terrific work ethic and understanding of the game...the regular quick starts this team gets off to in first halves is a testament to his preparation. But the Bulls' roster was significantly different than this Wolves' roster, and I sensed his "one size fits all" philosophy was holding this team back. Many of you disagree and that's fine, but I maintain Thibs' increased (although still not enough IMO) flexibility is a major factor in our turnaround. I'm sorry, but the "they're just finally getting it" theory isn't enough for me.

[Monster]

LST your minutes thing is a bizarre quest. So...during your charting time we are talking about 2 mins per game per player of a difference? That's seriously not particularly significant.

As for whether Thibs should have pulled the guys sooner in this game...well with 5 mins left the Wolves were up 15. We ALL know that lead isn't safe. At 3:50 Towns has a goal tending that leaves the Wolves up by 12. The Wolves don't really put the game away till it's under 3 mins left. I was thinking he could have pulled them at that point or maybe a minute earlier but we are again talking about a couple minutes of game time and Thibs clearly seems to want these guys to learn how to finish games and the game wasn't exactly over. If they keep playing well there will be more games where they get to sit and do it for longer.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

LST, Don't get too optimistic about our chances for the 8th seed. Have you seen our upcoming schedule, especially March? We basically need to be making significant headway NOW because we have a really tough schedule come March. That's what makes losses like the one a few games ago @Dallas or the home loss to Indiana especially difficult. We have zero room for error.

That being said, just the notion of being "in it" is refreshing. But I'm honestly not very optimistic.