Minnesota Sports Forum

kekgeek1 wrote:If my mental math is right.

Ricky is averaging 19.7 pts and 11.4 asts over the last 11 games

Yup, well on his way to having a career year despite the slow start. He really started playing better in January, so he's been playing good ball for a while now. It's just since LaVine went down that his scoring went up a notch...and then another notch....and then another notch.

Q12543 wrote:

WildWolf2813 wrote:man, the day Ricky makes his first postseason wherever it is, I might get a little misty eyed

San Antonio really would make a lot of sense for him.

Wings that shoot the 3 well? Check

A coach that values high IQ players? Check

A good buddy from his National team? Check

As a wolves fan you know what is going to happen. Wolves win lottery and one of 2 things happen.

A) We trade fultz, he becomes an all star, and Ricky shot dies again.

B) We keep fultz he busts and we trade ricky and this upswing is real and Ricky is great

kekgeek1 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

WildWolf2813 wrote:man, the day Ricky makes his first postseason wherever it is, I might get a little misty eyed

San Antonio really would make a lot of sense for him.

Wings that shoot the 3 well? Check

A coach that values high IQ players? Check

A good buddy from his National team? Check

As a wolves fan you know what is going to happen. Wolves win lottery and one of 2 things happen.

A) We trade fultz, he becomes an all star, and Ricky shot dies again.

B) We keep fultz he busts and we trade ricky and this upswing is real and Ricky is great

Heh, yeah, that would be just our luck.

Rubio is bound to cool off a bit. Players don't just go from 10 PPG scorers to 19 or 20 PPG scorers at this point in their career. The reality is that this team is going to be just fine on offense, regardless if Rubio regresses a bit. They need defense badly and 19 year old rookies just don't know how to defend in the NBA. I can't wait to watch Lonzo Ball get his ass kicked next season (Fultz I have no opinon on).

Q12543 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

WildWolf2813 wrote:man, the day Ricky makes his first postseason wherever it is, I might get a little misty eyed

San Antonio really would make a lot of sense for him.

Wings that shoot the 3 well? Check

A coach that values high IQ players? Check

A good buddy from his National team? Check

As a wolves fan you know what is going to happen. Wolves win lottery and one of 2 things happen.

A) We trade fultz, he becomes an all star, and Ricky shot dies again.

B) We keep fultz he busts and we trade ricky and this upswing is real and Ricky is great

Heh, yeah, that would be just our luck.

Rubio is bound to cool off a bit. Players don't just go from 10 PPG scorers to 19 or 20 PPG scorers at this point in their career. The reality is that this team is going to be just fine on offense, regardless if Rubio regresses a bit. They need defense badly and 19 year old rookies just don't know how to defend in the NBA. I can't wait to watch Lonzo Ball get his ass kicked next season (Fultz I have no opinon on).

Winning the lottery would huge gives us in the door for Butler or George trades if we want to go that route.

Can do a small trade back with a team like the magic for bismack, Fournier and #5 pick.

Could add a guy like Deandre Jordan and a future 1st (maybe).

Trade with the kings for Gay (if he opts in) and their 1st

I missed the game but am looking forward to the replay to make sure it actually happened. Ricky had 33?

The verdict is still out on Thibs, at least until next season, but I'll say this, Thibs somehow unlocked a version of Ricky Rubio that I didn't think could ever exist. Rubio told Shved to change his face, but maybe Thibs told Ricky to change his game or get traded for nothing, and all of a sudden the light bulb went on.

33 though? Early in the season he was having a hard time scoring 6. Is this new Ricky, or a version close to it, sustainable for an entire season?

kekgeek1 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:I agree that the defense has been terrible recently, but what an entertaining half if you enjoy offensive basketball...kind of like an All Star game! Ricky with 20-6-3-2 and only 1 TO! Tyus with 3 assists in just 5 minutes and Dunn with 4 steals! What did Bazz do to get the early hook? I get a funny feeling he's in Thibs' dog house.

For Bazz I think he isn't coming back next year so thibs is going to play him the bare minimum. His minutes are coming way down recently

I had the same thought Kek. Doesn't appear to be part of the plan, and i'm guessing Bazz is ready to go.

Watching this replay I have to say I'm warming up to a Rubio/Dunn backcourt. Dunn is starting to look more like an Avery Bradley type player, just playing tough and making a lot of hustle plays. Combine that with Rubio shooting better and something may be brewing here for the future.

Just a terrific game for Ricky...man, he's fun to watch these days!

I'm so happy that Thibs kept his starters in the game all the way to the final buzzer too...you never know when an opponent will stage a 16 point comeback in the final minute of a meaningless game, so you just can't be too careful.

(sorry, guys, I just couldn't resist...but you gotta admit it was a little weird!)

longstrangetrip wrote:Just a terrific game for Ricky...man, he's fun to watch these days!

I'm so happy that Thibs kept his starters in the game all the way to the final buzzer too...you never know when an opponent will stage a 16 point comeback in the final minute of a meaningless game, so you just can't be too careful.

(sorry, guys, I just couldn't resist...but you gotta admit it was a little weird!)

Just think he is playing the 5 guys that will be on the team next year for sure. Don't think he is putting any more resources into players that aren't on the team next year. It is fine as long as nobody gets hurt.

kekgeek1 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:Just a terrific game for Ricky...man, he's fun to watch these days!

I'm so happy that Thibs kept his starters in the game all the way to the final buzzer too...you never know when an opponent will stage a 16 point comeback in the final minute of a meaningless game, so you just can't be too careful.

(sorry, guys, I just couldn't resist...but you gotta admit it was a little weird!)

Just think he is playing the 5 guys that will be on the team next year for sure. Don't think he is putting any more resources into players that aren't on the team next year. It is fine as long as nobody gets hurt.

I agree that is Thibs' logic here, kekgeek. And I agree with your assessment that is why Muhammad isn't getting meaningful minutes these days. Perhaps they have already had discussions with his agent and learned that his price tag is higher than what we can afford down the line. Something has changed in the past couple weeks.

But in light of the bolded comment above, is it a good strategy by Thibs? I would argue strongly that the risk of injury greatly outweighs the value of some extra garbage-time minutes that have almost nothing to do with real basketball minutes. Put in Payne, put in Tyus, or even ask Hill to put down the bong and go in there :).