alexftbl8181 wrote:How about trying to retool a bench that won't turn a 15 point lead into a 10 point hole in 4 minutes before we decide to trade an 18 and 9 player?
How about trading an 18 and 9 player making 12 mil/yr that doesn't seem to make a difference in the win/loss category because he is a bad fit.
Flip really messed up with his handling of Derrick Williams. There was no reason to extend him for $6.7 mil for 2014-15. He wasn't a big part of the rotation and it made him just about impossible to trade. Now we're stuck with Mbah a Moute's $4.5 mil contract for another year, when he shouldn't even get minutes on a decent NBA team.
alexftbl8181 wrote:How about trying to retool a bench that won't turn a 15 point lead into a 10 point hole in 4 minutes before we decide to trade an 18 and 9 player?
How about trading an 18 and 9 player making 12 mil/yr that doesn't seem to make a difference in the win/loss category because he is a bad fit.
doesn't make a difference in the win/loss category? Where are you drawing this conclusion?
Here's a fact. We have had Ricky/Pek/Love for 3 years and at no point in those 3 years have they been better than the 8 seed in the West. One of those 3 is constantly injured at any given time it seems like. Why are people wanting to keep a core 3 together for even longer when they have never shown to be better than an 8 seed at best? This is ridiculous. Who cares if Pek drops 18 and 9. Love drops 24/12 and has a similar lack of impact on the defensive end. We already have our stat sheet stuffer in the frontcourt. You can't get away with 2 of those guys and have no defensive impact to protect the rest of the team. You are basically saying that it is ok that Love/Pek can't stop anybody because nobody can stop them. Do you know how much pressure that puts on the other 3 guys to play perfect defense to even have a chance at making a stop?
If this core 3 is so great that we can't afford to break them up we'd be a playoff team right now, but we aren't so there is no statistical backing that would support losing one of those 3 would make us even worse off. You could do a Pek for Wes Matthews and Robin Lopez and we would be a playoff team right now with that difference. Why? Because it gives us a 3 and D wing and a rim protector. We are a bad 3 pt shooting team and bad defensive team. Pek helps in neither of those categories so it make no sense to keep him at 12 million a year. We have bigger holes to fill than would be lost by ditching Pek for a rim protector. We need shooting and defense and he gives us neither, so why is he so valuable to people on this board when we can't even get an 8 seed with the best supporting cast we have had since '04. This core is just not that good together and time is not going to magically make them a top team in the West and neither will an upgraded bench. The bench doesn't finish the games, the starters do and our starters can't finish games so we need new ones. Everyone thought Portland was just a bench away from being good and they have dropped back to the 5 seed. That's not good enough to keep Love here long-term. If there is no shot at a contender, he will force his way out just like other players have because he will have that power regardless of his contract status.
alexftbl8181 wrote:How about trying to retool a bench that won't turn a 15 point lead into a 10 point hole in 4 minutes before we decide to trade an 18 and 9 player?
How about trading an 18 and 9 player making 12 mil/yr that doesn't seem to make a difference in the win/loss category because he is a bad fit.
doesn't make a difference in the win/loss category? Where are you drawing this conclusion?
Go look at our record in the games Pek has missed. I don't see any variation from the games with him.
alexftbl8181 wrote:How about trying to retool a bench that won't turn a 15 point lead into a 10 point hole in 4 minutes before we decide to trade an 18 and 9 player?
How about trading an 18 and 9 player making 12 mil/yr that doesn't seem to make a difference in the win/loss category because he is a bad fit.
doesn't make a difference in the win/loss category? Where are you drawing this conclusion?
Go look at our record in the games Pek has missed. I don't see any variation from the games with him.
The Wolves are 8-7 in games that Pek has missed with injuries, and 25-25 in games in which he has played significant minutes. Kind of hard to make the case that he is indispensable to the team.
If you looked at the Wolves' record the last 2 years in games that either Love or Rubio missed, you will see a big dropoff in winning percentage. Not the same with Pek.
alexftbl8181 wrote:How about trying to retool a bench that won't turn a 15 point lead into a 10 point hole in 4 minutes before we decide to trade an 18 and 9 player?
How about trading an 18 and 9 player making 12 mil/yr that doesn't seem to make a difference in the win/loss category because he is a bad fit.
doesn't make a difference in the win/loss category? Where are you drawing this conclusion?
Go look at our record in the games Pek has missed. I don't see any variation from the games with him.
The Wolves are 8-7 in games that Pek has missed with injuries, and 25-25 in games in which he has played significant minutes. Kind of hard to make the case that he is indispensable to the team.
If you looked at the Wolves' record the last 2 years in games that either Love or Rubio missed, you will see a big dropoff in winning percentage. Not the same with Pek.
well I guess if you put it in the simplest of terms. Nevermind the fact that in order to win the games Pek missed, Love had to essentially be the best player in the league. Not quite sure he can put up those Feb stats for a whole season
Love had very similar stats for the month of December as well. Some of the increase is simply due to more opportunities. Fact is that the 8-7 record is even a little misleading because two of the losses were games that Love missed due to injury. The main point is that the wolves aren't as dependent on Pek as his numbers might suggest, and that his contributions can be made up on the defensive side of the ball.
sjm34 wrote:Love had very similar stats for the month of December as well. Some of the increase is simply due to more opportunities. Fact is that the 8-7 record is even a little misleading because two of the losses were games that Love missed due to injury. The main point is that the wolves aren't as dependent on Pek as his numbers might suggest, and that his contributions can be made up on the defensive side of the ball.