Training Camp WLT (week long thread)

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Maybe we should let Thibs speak for himself in his latest media chat after practice. :) I thought there was some good stuff in there.

https://m.soundcloud.com/wolves-radio/tom-thibodeau-saturday-practice?in=wolves-radio/sets/training-camp-day-4

Wow, I was actually mildly enlightened by that interview.

To Tim's point, he pretty much gave away the starting lineup based on who he listed as his 2nd unit guys. It shouldn't be terribly surprising that he's going with the same starting 5 that we ended last season with.

I actually heard him chortle a bit at the end of the interview too.....

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Maybe we should let Thibs speak for himself in his latest media chat after practice. :) I thought there was some good stuff in there.

https://m.soundcloud.com/wolves-radio/tom-thibodeau-saturday-practice?in=wolves-radio/sets/training-camp-day-4

Wow, I was actually mildly enlightened by that interview.

To Tim's point, he pretty much gave away the starting lineup based on who he listed as his 2nd unit guys. It shouldn't be terribly surprising that he's going with the same starting 5 that we ended last season with.

I actually heard him chortle a bit at the end of the interview too.....

Yeah, I thought that was a good interview. Maybe Thibs was so generic in his previous interviews because he didn't really know much about his personnel yet...kind of makes sense. I'm encouraged by this interview...both because of how open he is and the content. Let's get this season going...

[60WinTim]

Thibs has raved about how the bench unit has been playing in multiple interviews lately. Assuming our starters improve over last year, a competent bench unit will make the Wolves a pretty tough out this season. I am having a tough time seeing anything less than 60 wins... ;-)

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Thibs has raved about how the bench unit has been playing in multiple interviews lately. Assuming our starters improve over last year, a competent bench unit will make the Wolves a pretty tough out this season. I am having a tough time seeing anything less than 60 wins... ;-)

Only 60? I've looked at the schedule, and other than maybe a couple games in Oakland, I'm having a hard time finding a loss ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Thibs has raved about how the bench unit has been playing in multiple interviews lately. Assuming our starters improve over last year, a competent bench unit will make the Wolves a pretty tough out this season. I am having a tough time seeing anything less than 60 wins... ;-)

Only 60? I've looked at the schedule, and other than maybe a couple games in Oakland, I'm having a hard time finding a loss ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

....but in the last 1/10th of the season didn't we win in Oakland? Therefore we will win all games in Oakland this season!

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Also nice to hear thibs rave about belly. I hope he can be our mirotic.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Also nice to hear thibs rave about belly. I hope he can be our mirotic.

I only heard him mention Belly briefly, mentioned spacing and the 4/5 pick and roll. I'm excited for Belly to have a bounce-back season this year. I like his versatility. Thibs seemed really complimentary of Aldrich, liked his screens in particular.

On the bench, he mentioned Rush (3 point shooting), Bazz (in and out, transition), Cole, Belly, and Kris/Tyus. I'd be pretty surprised if he goes with an 11 man rotation, but he sounded really complimentary of Tyus. And he didn't mention Butler, Hill, or Payne (that I heard).

Obviously, we're looking at Rubio, LaVine, Wiggins, Gorgui, and Towns starting, with Kris/Tyus, Rush, Bazz, Bjelica, and Cole as our bench rotation guys. No surprises. Sounds pretty solid. I'm getting excited.

[Lipoli390]

Good to hear from you again Drew. I seems like it's been a while since you last posted. Not hearing Hill or Payne mentioned is telling. I hope Thibs goes with an 11-man rotation since it would help keep the playes fresh and possibly avoid injuries to our key players. Jordan Hill has a lot of talent, but I think he's a bit too much into the weed. He has work ethic and concentration issues that have tended to put him in the dog houses of his former head coaches. I suspect he'll wear out his welcome with Thibs pretty quickly unless he undergoes an surprising attitude adjustment. The talent is certainly there.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Between summer league and preseason is my internet vacation!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Good to hear from you again Drew. I seems like it's been a while since you last posted. Not hearing Hill or Payne mentioned is telling. I hope Thibs goes with an 11-man rotation since it would help keep the playes fresh and possibly avoid injuries to our key players. Jordan Hill has a lot of talent, but I think he's a bit too much into the weed. He has work ethic and concentration issues that have tended to put him in the dog houses of his former head coaches. I suspect he'll wear out his welcome with Thibs pretty quickly unless he undergoes an surprising attitude adjustment. The talent is certainly there.

I think Hill, Tyus, Payne, and Butler (assuming he gets a roster spot) are all purely insurance in the event we get hit with injuries (and we will have injuries - it's just a matter of how many and how long).

The good news is that none of them are rookies. I feel like Hill and Butler especially could be plugged into the rotation for an extended period of time without a huge dropoff, so long as we still have most of our top guys out there. Tyus I feel a lot more confident about after watching him in summer league. And then there is Payne.....he still doesn't look like he belongs in the NBA.