Minnesota Sports Forum

khans2k5 wrote:KAT can literally GTFO if he's butting heads with Thibs and Jimmy. This team would have been a top 4 team if KAT can play any kind of good defense as the anchor, but instead the real defensive anchor in Jimmy goes down and the defense falls back to being bottom tier and we finish .500 without Jimmy. Hitching this franchise to an entitled stat stuffer is a loser move. I'm so done with KAT's ego. Anchor the defense like you are supposed to or get out. You can't win with offense only 5's. That's why nobody wants them.

I think the main point in all of this discussion is that if KAT and Wiggins don't continue to improve, none of the free agent moves, thibs role, Jimmy's resigning matter. KAT and Wiggins need to keep improving and both significantly if we're actually going to be contenders. On the flip side KAT was in year 3 and Wiggins in year 4 when we made our first playoff series. On the surface the pace is good. But it can't stop there. Both need big strides and have no business being hard-headed at this juncture.

Q12543 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:KAT can literally GTFO if he's butting heads with Thibs and Jimmy. This team would have been a top 4 team if KAT can play any kind of good defense as the anchor, but instead the real defensive anchor in Jimmy goes down and the defense falls back to being bottom tier and we finish .500 without Jimmy. Hitching this franchise to an entitled stat stuffer is a loser move. I'm so done with KAT's ego. Anchor the defense like you are supposed to or get out. You can't win with offense only 5's. That's why nobody wants them.

I hear what you're saying, but KAT would bring in a pretty significant haul if he were put on the trading block right now. There would be a number of teams that would make a strong bid for him.

If he anchors a bottom 10 defense again this year them I'm all for trading him because we're never gonna be a title contender at that point. It's a perimeter league. Building around a talented offensive 5 who can't anchor a defense is just not going to work.

khans2k5 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:KAT can literally GTFO if he's butting heads with Thibs and Jimmy. This team would have been a top 4 team if KAT can play any kind of good defense as the anchor, but instead the real defensive anchor in Jimmy goes down and the defense falls back to being bottom tier and we finish .500 without Jimmy. Hitching this franchise to an entitled stat stuffer is a loser move. I'm so done with KAT's ego. Anchor the defense like you are supposed to or get out. You can't win with offense only 5's. That's why nobody wants them.

I hear what you're saying, but KAT would bring in a pretty significant haul if he were put on the trading block right now. There would be a number of teams that would make a strong bid for him.

If he anchors a bottom 10 defense again this year them I'm all for trading him because we're never gonna be a title contender at that point. It's a perimeter league. Building around a talented offensive 5 who can't anchor a defense is just not going to work.

Again, I don't necessarily disagree, but I'm just telling you what was relayed by the guys on the podcast. They think there is zero chance a scenario like that would happen. Thibs and/or Butler would be long gone before KAT.

Towns is not going anywhere. Glen will give him 5year max without any hesitation. Glen will aslo fire thibs on the spot if he dared push for a towns trade. Thibs knows this as well and jimmy knows it too. Its up to thibs to change and make the effort to be in synch more with towns.

Some might not be happy and think towns is being a diva but this is the reality and thibs is closer to being fired than towns is of not being offered the max deal right away.

I think Jon K was more measured than i expected ona. Couple of these issues. On the Towns Thibs Butler not being on the same page he said it's perfectly natural for those guys not on the same page at this point. Is it concerning? Yes but he said it was reported as those guys not being on the same page. He said the Twitter universe made it out to something it was t with Towns demanding a trade or Town being on the block. He said NONE of that was other there. He said Towns was never getting dealt. He said these guys need to get on the same page and maybe they won't but it makes sense that's Thibs and Butler would not be on the same page as Towns. It's a different dynamic. And yes Towns can push the button at any time to be the last man standing if he wants but Jon said he has seen nothing to the effect Towns is looking to do that at this point.

Which brings us to Tyus. Jon k reported again that Tyus was frustrated but Thibs met with him and assured him of more playing time and a bigger role going forward. This made Tyus feel more like he had his place and I'll note again Thibs mentioned Tyus as one of the young players on the team along with Wiggins and Towns.

I keep hearing about Butler as this grumpy surly guy or whatever. Jon K is around more than me but on the court and video I see on sidelines and practices he is one of the guys that does seem to have some actual fun even when serious as heck about a game. Both as a player and as a personality I think he is more of a solution than the problem. On the court he does his grind it out iso possessions. I'm sure he gets pissed about players not playing D etc. I also see him as the Everyman guy that shows up to Tyus's brother's HS games or showing up to a Wolves watch party when he was recovering from knee surgery. In some ways he reminds me a little bit of KG although I don't think Jimmy is as extreme as KG in the way he is. I see him as a guy goofing off and needling some of the players and laughing and joking with them. He may need to back off a bit at times and he may have gotten a bit more frustrated later in the season it part of that may have been his own issue as he was injured and couldn't do everything he would have like to have done. That's pretty natural.

One of my favorite developments involving Jimmy is how close him and Tyus have grown to be. They are legitimately friends off the court. Those of you that are avid social media followers already know what I mean.

Camden wrote:One of my favorite developments involving Jimmy is how close him and Tyus have grown to be. They are legitimately friends off the court. Those of you that are avid social media followers already know what I mean.

Cam -- Actually, I didn't know that. I like it and I hope it translates into more minutes for Tyus next season.

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:One of my favorite developments involving Jimmy is how close him and Tyus have grown to be. They are legitimately friends off the court. Those of you that are avid social media followers already know what I mean.

Cam -- Actually, I didn't know that. I like it and I hope it translates into more minutes for Tyus next season.

They are constantly going back and forth on social media -- specifically on Instagram. Very funny, friendly jabs at each other. Things you'd say to your friend when you're just messing with them and both parties are aware of what's going on. I remember one post-game interview Jimmy Butler had last season and it was after a game against Phoenix where Tyus Jones played a great game. I ended up tweeting about it and I found the quotes I had posted. I'll share them here.

Jimmy Butler: "It's always good to get a win. Tyus was huge. Tyus was the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament a couple years back. He played like it tonight."

Tyus Jones: "Who'd I play for?"

Jimmy Butler: "Who'd you play for? I forgot; you weren't that damn important."
__________

Reporter: "How does the personality of the team change when Tyus is on the court as a PG?"

Jimmy Butler: "I mean, nobody really likes him, so... He gets on our nerves and he's like calling out plays and just 'cause we don't wanna hear his voice we do what he tells us to do."
__________

Reporter: "Jimmy, is this kind of the Taj [Gibson] that you've known forever -- just what he brings on a nightly basis?"

Jimmy Butler: "Yeah, Tyus was huge... *laughter* Tyus is a really good player, man. He does his job to the best of his ability. He guards, he makes everybody's job easier."

Camden wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:One of my favorite developments involving Jimmy is how close him and Tyus have grown to be. They are legitimately friends off the court. Those of you that are avid social media followers already know what I mean.

Cam -- Actually, I didn't know that. I like it and I hope it translates into more minutes for Tyus next season.

They are constantly going back and forth on social media -- specifically on Instagram. Very funny, friendly jabs at each other. Things you'd say to your friend when you're just messing with them and both parties are aware of what's going on. I remember one post-game interview Jimmy Butler had last season and it was after a game against Phoenix where Tyus Jones played a great game. I ended up tweeting about it and I found the quotes I had posted. I'll share them here.

Jimmy Butler: "It's always good to get a win. Tyus was huge. Tyus was the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament a couple years back. He played like it tonight."

Tyus Jones: "Who'd I play for?"

Jimmy Butler: "Who'd you play for? I forgot; you weren't that damn important."
__________

Reporter: "How does the personality of the team change when Tyus is on the court as a PG?"

Jimmy Butler: "I mean, nobody really likes him, so... He gets on our nerves and he's like calling out plays and just 'cause we don't wanna hear his voice we do what he tells us to do."
__________

Reporter: "Jimmy, is this kind of the Taj [Gibson] that you've known forever -- just what he brings on a nightly basis?"

Jimmy Butler: "Yeah, Tyus was huge... *laughter* Tyus is a really good player, man. He does his job to the best of his ability. He guards, he makes everybody's job easier."

Ha, great stuff, Cam! They both seem like terrific guys, so I'm not surprised they are buddies. I was stuck in a long line with Tyus and his girl friend last Sunday waiting for a breakfast table at Maggie's in Wayzata and he was quite conversational. I asked him about his thoughts about the draft, and he was very enthusiastic...said they needed wings, and these guys really filled the bill. I asked him if he thought they and the possibility of signing Rose might take minutes away from him, and I was surprised at the frankness of his answer: "I'm not worried about that...they're all wings, and I'm a PG." I told him that for what it's worth, he was my starting PG, and I got the big smile. Then I told him he had to make 38% of his threes this season and he said "Nope, 40 is my goal". I liked that. Finally, I tried to get him going on Thibs, but he wouldn't take the bait. Smart. He said "me and Thibs are fine". Didn't fit my narrative at all :). Not very revealing but nice conversation with a nice young man.

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:One of my favorite developments involving Jimmy is how close him and Tyus have grown to be. They are legitimately friends off the court. Those of you that are avid social media followers already know what I mean.

Cam -- Actually, I didn't know that. I like it and I hope it translates into more minutes for Tyus next season.

They are constantly going back and forth on social media -- specifically on Instagram. Very funny, friendly jabs at each other. Things you'd say to your friend when you're just messing with them and both parties are aware of what's going on. I remember one post-game interview Jimmy Butler had last season and it was after a game against Phoenix where Tyus Jones played a great game. I ended up tweeting about it and I found the quotes I had posted. I'll share them here.

Jimmy Butler: "It's always good to get a win. Tyus was huge. Tyus was the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament a couple years back. He played like it tonight."

Tyus Jones: "Who'd I play for?"

Jimmy Butler: "Who'd you play for? I forgot; you weren't that damn important."
__________

Reporter: "How does the personality of the team change when Tyus is on the court as a PG?"

Jimmy Butler: "I mean, nobody really likes him, so... He gets on our nerves and he's like calling out plays and just 'cause we don't wanna hear his voice we do what he tells us to do."
__________

Reporter: "Jimmy, is this kind of the Taj [Gibson] that you've known forever -- just what he brings on a nightly basis?"

Jimmy Butler: "Yeah, Tyus was huge... *laughter* Tyus is a really good player, man. He does his job to the best of his ability. He guards, he makes everybody's job easier."

Ha, great stuff, Cam! They both seem like terrific guys, so I'm not surprised they are buddies. I was stuck in a long line with Tyus and his girl friend last Sunday waiting for a breakfast table at Maggie's in Wayzata and he was quite conversational. I asked him about his thoughts about the draft, and he was very enthusiastic...said they needed wings, and these guys really filled the bill. I asked him if he thought they and the possibility of signing Rose might take minutes away from him, and I was surprised at the frankness of his answer: "I'm not worried about that...they're all wings, and I'm a PG." I told him that for what it's worth, he was my starting PG, and I got the big smile. Then I told him he had to make 38% of his threes this season and he said "Nope, 40 is my goal". I liked that. Finally, I tried to get him going on Thibs, but he wouldn't take the bait. Smart. He said "me and Thibs are fine". Didn't fit my narrative at all :). Not very revealing but nice conversation with a nice young man.

Thanks for sharing this info both Cam and LST. Tyus is my favorite player on this team.