Minnesota Sports Forum

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Thought I should mention again.... could be worse, we could be OKC right now. They're going to be pissed as hell after losing to Orlando. I'd be extremely impressed if we can get out of there with another win Friday and clinch our games with them this year.

Classic saying of a long-time Minnesota sports fan...."at least we aren't X!".

But yes, I think most folks are pretty surprised at OKC's struggles.

I keep waiting for things to turn around for them. And waiting...

Westbrook is getting the lion's share of blame for it. And I can see why he's culpable. Definitely. But he's always been everybody's scapegoat. It says something about him that he takes it as well as he does after all these years. Even after Paul George shot 1 - 12 fg in a recent loss... Westbrook was blamed.

Keep an eye on that situation. Three stars (one on an expiring with a clear desire to play in LA) playing below .500 basketball is not sustainable. I'd be interested to hear any anecdotes about on-court interactions with that team. LIP... get to OKC for an up-close update now!

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Thought I should mention again.... could be worse, we could be OKC right now. They're going to be pissed as hell after losing to Orlando. I'd be extremely impressed if we can get out of there with another win Friday and clinch our games with them this year.

Classic saying of a long-time Minnesota sports fan...."at least we aren't X!".

But yes, I think most folks are pretty surprised at OKC's struggles.

I keep waiting for things to turn around for them. And waiting...

Westbrook is getting the lion's share of blame for it. And I can see why he's culpable. Definitely. But he's always been everybody's scapegoat. It says something about him that he takes it as well as he does after all these years. Even after Paul George shot 1 - 12 fg in a recent loss... Westbrook was blamed.

Keep an eye on that situation. Three stars (one on an expiring with a clear desire to play in LA) playing below .500 basketball is not sustainable. I'd be interested to hear any anecdotes about on-court interactions with that team. LIP... get to OKC for an up-close update now!

The thing is, they are defending. #3 defense in the league (or thereabouts). Seems so weird that they can't get their offense going, in which case may be Westbrook does deserve some blame (?). Haven't watched them enough to know.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Thought I should mention again.... could be worse, we could be OKC right now. They're going to be pissed as hell after losing to Orlando. I'd be extremely impressed if we can get out of there with another win Friday and clinch our games with them this year.

Classic saying of a long-time Minnesota sports fan...."at least we aren't X!".

But yes, I think most folks are pretty surprised at OKC's struggles.

I keep waiting for things to turn around for them. And waiting...

Westbrook is getting the lion's share of blame for it. And I can see why he's culpable. Definitely. But he's always been everybody's scapegoat. It says something about him that he takes it as well as he does after all these years. Even after Paul George shot 1 - 12 fg in a recent loss... Westbrook was blamed.

Keep an eye on that situation. Three stars (one on an expiring with a clear desire to play in LA) playing below .500 basketball is not sustainable. I'd be interested to hear any anecdotes about on-court interactions with that team. LIP... get to OKC for an up-close update now!

The thing is, they are defending. #3 defense in the league (or thereabouts). Seems so weird that they can't get their offense going, in which case may be Westbrook does deserve some blame (?). Haven't watched them enough to know.

Oh, don't get me wrong. As I noted, Westbrook isn't blameless by a long shot. Heck, he might even deserve most of the blame, especially if we believe he's the best player and/or it's part of a PG's job to unite a team on the court.

But I've seen very few criticisms toward Anthony and George when it comes to the struggles comparatively.

Westbrook went through this with Durant too. He was roundly blamed when the team lost... much more so than Durant over the years. In part, because he's an easy target. He plays a certain style that's not conducive to team ball... he's antagonist toward the press (if he even acknowledges them)... and he just takes the criticism without complaining.

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Sixers beat the Wizards and the Knicks crushed the Heat last night. No excluse for the Wolves losing to those two teams on our homes floor. Those are the types of losses that will make the difference between a top 5 seek versus a bottom 3 seed position in the West at the end of the season.

Ben Simmons had 31 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks against the Wizards last night. This guy isn't Greek, but he's definitely a freak. He had an amazing 29 trips to the line. But he only made 15 of those foul shots. That's horrible. But that's also fixable. Joel Embiid played second fiddle to Simmons last night with only 25 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks.

The Lakers almost took down the mighty Warriors, losing by only 4 points 127-123. The Lakers have a really good young nucleus. I wouldn't count them out as a possible 8th seed this season, although I'm still projecting a lottery finish for them. But next season they'll be a factor - with or without LeBron, but obviously much more so with him.

The Wizards did hack a simmons in the 4th. 24 FT attempts in the 4th.

With the Lakers you have to remember they were 10-10 last year through 20 games. Think they will hit a wall. But I like how they are doing there rebuild.

It is kind of amazing wolves are 10-3 against the west. Best in the NBA but are 3-6 against the east. We have a lot of talent and if we don't get a top 5 seed we will look back at some of these games and see why.

longstrangetrip wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Sixers beat the Wizards and the Knicks crushed the Heat last night. No excluse for the Wolves losing to those two teams on our homes floor. Those are the types of losses that will make the difference between a top 5 seek versus a bottom 3 seed position in the West at the end of the season.

Ben Simmons had 31 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks against the Wizards last night. This guy isn't Greek, but he's definitely a freak. He had an amazing 29 trips to the line. But he only made 15 of those foul shots. That's horrible. But that's also fixable. Joel Embiid played second fiddle to Simmons last night with only 25 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks.

The Lakers almost took down the mighty Warriors, losing by only 4 points 127-123. The Lakers have a really good young nucleus. I wouldn't count them out as a possible 8th seed this season, although I'm still projecting a lottery finish for them. But next season they'll be a factor - with or without LeBron, but obviously much more so with him.

The Wizards did hack a simmons in the 4th. 24 FT attempts in the 4th.

With the Lakers you have to remember they were 10-10 last year through 20 games. Think they will hit a wall. But I like how they are doing there rebuild.

It is kind of amazing wolves are 10-3 against the west. Best in the NBA but are 3-6 against the east. We have a lot of talent and if we don't get a top 5 seed we will look back at some of these games and see why.

I think we have to quit thinking of the East as the weak conference, kek...we're a quarter of the way through the season, and they are still 6 games up on the West. Further, with some exceptions, I see the East playing a style that is more difficult for the Wolves to compete against...an up-tempo, ball-moving offensive style. It's not surprising to me that this talented but poorly coached Wolves team is doing well against the ISO-happy West, but struggling against the younger, faster paced East. I know that's a generalization, but it seems to be a trend.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Sixers beat the Wizards and the Knicks crushed the Heat last night. No excluse for the Wolves losing to those two teams on our homes floor. Those are the types of losses that will make the difference between a top 5 seek versus a bottom 3 seed position in the West at the end of the season.

Ben Simmons had 31 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks against the Wizards last night. This guy isn't Greek, but he's definitely a freak. He had an amazing 29 trips to the line. But he only made 15 of those foul shots. That's horrible. But that's also fixable. Joel Embiid played second fiddle to Simmons last night with only 25 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks.

The Lakers almost took down the mighty Warriors, losing by only 4 points 127-123. The Lakers have a really good young nucleus. I wouldn't count them out as a possible 8th seed this season, although I'm still projecting a lottery finish for them. But next season they'll be a factor - with or without LeBron, but obviously much more so with him.

The Wizards did hack a simmons in the 4th. 24 FT attempts in the 4th.

With the Lakers you have to remember they were 10-10 last year through 20 games. Think they will hit a wall. But I like how they are doing there rebuild.

It is kind of amazing wolves are 10-3 against the west. Best in the NBA but are 3-6 against the east. We have a lot of talent and if we don't get a top 5 seed we will look back at some of these games and see why.

I think we have to quit thinking of the East as the weak conference, kek...we're a quarter of the way through the season, and they are still 6 games up on the West. Further, with some exceptions, I see the East playing a style that is more difficult for the Wolves to compete against...an up-tempo, ball-moving offensive style. It's not surprising to me that this talented but poorly coached Wolves team is doing well against the ISO-happy West, but struggling against the younger, faster paced East. I know that's a generalization, but it seems to be a trend.

I think a lot of the frustration with the East has been at the top. I know Boston is a nice story right now. And so is Detroit. But does anybody believe either can get past 5 games (4 games?) if Cleveland is healthy and engaged?

But I dig the middle teams doing better than expected. It's shut down all that silly, myopic "16-team playoff tournament" talk.

For now. I HATE THAT IDEA.

monsterpile wrote:With every disappointing loss OKC has early the better that OKC Pick we got from Utah is looking. Eventually they are gonna turn it around (like Q said they are defending and they have lots of talent) but they may have lost enough games to get us a few higher spots than expected after all the OKC moves they made after the Rubio deal.

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:With every disappointing loss OKC has early the better that OKC Pick we got from Utah is looking. Eventually they are gonna turn it around (like Q said they are defending and they have lots of talent) but they may have lost enough games to get us a few higher spots than expected after all the OKC moves they made after the Rubio deal.

....but we don't want them to do too bad, right? Isn't it protected?

kekgeek1 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:With every disappointing loss OKC has early the better that OKC Pick we got from Utah is looking. Eventually they are gonna turn it around (like Q said they are defending and they have lots of talent) but they may have lost enough games to get us a few higher spots than expected after all the OKC moves they made after the Rubio deal.

....but we don't want them to do too bad, right? Isn't it protected?

Lottery protected