Get The Job Done

[Lipoli390]

Yep, the Wolves took care of business tonight. I look at the next two games as the first "must-win" games of the season for the Wolves-- Milwaukee because they are the worst team in the League; the Mavs because we are the more talented team and the Mavs are one of those teams we need to knock out of the top 8 to secure a playoff slot.


I like that we won tonight without a particularly good game from Martin and I like that our bench produced some scoring. I like that our two underachievers this season -- Barea and Shved --came through tonight. Barea has been underachieving compared to his track record. Shved has been underachieving compared to his talent. Both guys played well tonight. You could conclude that Shved's performance was a fluke, but I don't think so. He's already shown signs of coming around the last few games. If can what he did tonight consistently going forward, it will be a huge lift for this team. If Barea also progresses to his mean and levels of there going forward that's another big lift. Assuming Budinger and Turiaf come back strong in the next 30 days, then things could be fun in Wolves nation.

A few interesting bits of info I picked up from inside:

1. Flip expected the Wolves to hover near the .500 mark at this point because of the tough schedule. So he's not totally surprised. But he still expected us to be better and is really frustrated by our prior losses to the Cavs, Wizards, Celtics and Lakers.

2. Shabazz continues to impress in practice. Fantastic work ethic. The reason he's not playing is largely attributable to Adelman's attitude towards rookies.

3. The Wolves have a competitive perimeter shooting drill every practice where each player takes a series of perimeter shots from various spots on the floor. Hummel consistently finishes first in this drill and is first overall this season. Martin is cumulatively 3rd. Guess who's 2nd? Ricky Rubio. Apparently the coaches understand that the problem with Ricky is that his shooting mechanics break down completely when he shoots on the move. They believe his mechanics can be fixed, but they see it as a project that will require extensive work the rest of this season and next summer.

4. Chemistry still very strong in spite of the tough losses.

5. Love will likely re-sign here if we make the playoffs this season and get off to a good start next season. He likes the Twin Cities and really likes Pek and Ricky. His number one priority is winning. There won't be many, if any, winning teams with the cap room to sign Love.

6. Flip would like to add some toughness and "attitude" to this team -- someone like Matt Barnes.

7 Only guys (other than Pek, Ricky and Love) with significant trade value around the League are Barea and Budinger (if he comes back healthy).

8. Flip will probably not put himself in as head coach when Adelman leaves.

Nothing earth-shattering, but interesting.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Good stuff Lip.

1. He's likely not too happy about being 0-7 in close games. Though, I expect that number to even out as we go along. Things can't keep going our opponent's way, can it?

2. Good to know. I wish he would have played better tonight. He came in the game with about four minutes of game time left and didn't do much for me. Dieng on the other hand continues to show that he needs more minutes. Would like to see him play next to Love at times.

3. Figured Hummel would be there. Lol he came into the game tonight and promptly swished a mid-range jumper. Looked extremely comfortable. He seems like that guy that is supreme in warmups.

4. Was told by Wolves insiders on Twitter that Love and Hummel have very good chemistry.

5. Please God, let this be true. Love and Pek have great on-the-court chemistry with high/low action. Pek's gotten better from last year and still has a few areas to get better (counter moves, finishing around the rim). Could definitely grow together.

6. Well, I'm glad Barnes isn't going anywhere. I don't want him. He's a piece of shit on the court. Too much dirty play for my liking. I'm all for being chippy to send a message, but Barnes takes it way overboard. Can't think of any real "tough guys" that we could acquire. Stephen Jackson was probably the only guy that came to mind.

7. For some reason, I believe DC has decent value. Nothing too high, or significant like you mention, but worthy of being thrown in a trade. Shabazz likely not going anywhere so that's that.

8. I find this to be the most interesting comment. It feels like everything is set up for him to jump back into that role. He hired a buddy in Newton to be the GM. He didn't hire assistants that would be able to take over as head coach. He's got stock in the franchise. He's in a position of control. We all know this. Wonder why he wouldn't want to take over. Maybe Adelman's son would get a shot at it when his dad calls it quits?

[Lipoli390]

Cam -- I was also surprised by #8. I asked why and was told that Flip is really liking his current role and doesn't want to go back to the grind and pressure odpf coaching. I was told who the Wolves would target to replace Adelman, but only after I promised not to repeat what I was told. I can tell you it would not be Adelman's son. I can also say that I think most on this board would be pleased with the choice. I know I'd be pleased and I'm not easily pleased. :)

I'm excited about the next 12 games. This is the Wolves' opportunity to establish themselves as a playoff team to be reckoned with. I agree that Westbrook's absence definitely gives us a great shot at getting a W against the Thunder.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Cam -- I was also surprised by #8. I asked why and was told that Flip is really liking his current role and doesn't want to go back to the grind and pressure odpf coaching. I was told who the Wolves would target to replace Adelman, but only after I promised not to repeat what I was told. I can tell you it would not be Adelman's son. I can also say that I think most on this board would be pleased with the choice. I know I'd be pleased and I'm not easily pleased. :)

I'm excited about the next 12 games. This is the Wolves' opportunity to establish themselves as a playoff team to be reckoned with. I agree that Westbrook's absence definitely gives us a great shot at getting a W against the Thunder.

Ahh. The old "tell me, I won't tell anybody else" promise. Lol established when we're children and held true until we're much older. I won't press for an answer then, but if you like it I'm assuming it's someone who's coached before and likely a recognizable name. A Van Gundy perhaps? Would make sense in my head. Just thinking (typing) out loud.

No doubt about it. The players also realize the next 12 games or so are huge. Barea was quoted tonight saying something to the effect of "this is a stretch where we have to make a push." The team's looked at the schedule. They know what's going on around the league. There's 10 very winnable games and two coin flips to me. Coin flips being SA and OKC.

[bleedspeed]

I hope the coach is Hollins.

Didn't get to watch, but sounds like a great game. I think Shved needs to be a PG not a SG. This game seems to show that. Barea is better off the ball so maybe we can make those 2 work.

I wouldn't mind us sending Shabazz down to the D-League for a month. If he can post so big numbers I am sure it will up his value. On the other hand I am sure as long as he is practicing hard he won't be sent down.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yep, the Wolves took care of business tonight. I look at the next two games as the first "must-win" games of the season for the Wolves-- Milwaukee because they are the worst team in the League; the Mavs because we are the more talented team and the Mavs are one of those teams we need to knock out of the top 8 to secure a playoff slot.


I like that we won tonight without a particularly good game from Martin and I like that our bench produced some scoring. I like that our two underachievers this season -- Barea and Shved --came through tonight. Barea has been underachieving compared to his track record. Shved has been underachieving compared to his talent. Both guys played well tonight. You could conclude that Shved's performance was a fluke, but I don't think so. He's already shown signs of coming around the last few games. If can what he did tonight consistently going forward, it will be a huge lift for this team. If Barea also progresses to his mean and levels of there going forward that's another big lift. Assuming Budinger and Turiaf come back strong in the next 30 days, then things could be fun in Wolves nation.

A few interesting bits of info I picked up from inside:

1. Flip expected the Wolves to hover near the .500 mark at this point because of the tough schedule. So he's not totally surprised. But he still expected us to be better and is really frustrated by our prior losses to the Cavs, Wizards, Celtics and Lakers.

2. Shabazz continues to impress in practice. Fantastic work ethic. The reason he's not playing is largely attributable to Adelman's attitude towards rookies.

3. The Wolves have a competitive perimeter shooting drill every practice where each player takes a series of perimeter shots from various spots on the floor. Hummel consistently finishes first in this drill and is first overall this season. Martin is cumulatively 3rd. Guess who's 2nd? Ricky Rubio. Apparently the coaches understand that the problem with Ricky is that his shooting mechanics break down completely when he shoots on the move. They believe his mechanics can be fixed, but they see it as a project that will require extensive work the rest of this season and next summer.

4. Chemistry still very strong in spite of the tough losses.

5. Love will likely re-sign here if we make the playoffs this season and get off to a good start next season. He likes the Twin Cities and really likes Pek and Ricky. His number one priority is winning. There won't be many, if any, winning teams with the cap room to sign Love.

6. Flip would like to add some toughness and "attitude" to this team -- someone like Matt Barnes.

7 Only guys (other than Pek, Ricky and Love) with significant trade value around the League are Barea and Budinger (if he comes back healthy).

8. Flip will probably not put himself in as head coach when Adelman leaves.

Nothing earth-shattering, but interesting.

Great information Lip, thanks for sharing. I've been troubled by your lack of enthusiasm of late, but perhaps the inside info you received coupled with the win last night has rekindled some positive vibes.

#6 is what bugs me about Flip and our prior GMs. They tend to manage by gut feel and "eye tests" as opposed to cold, hard analytics and data. A player with toughness and attitude does nothing to help us if he can't actually produce positive results on the floor. While Matt Barnes is a tough guy, his real strength is that he's actually a very solid all around basketball player. This reminds me of similar statements by McHale, when he talked about "smashmouth" basketball; or Kahn discussing a team that would be "long and athletic" and play at a "breath taking pace". These are all qualitative descriptors that have nothing to do with whether a player actually produces positive basketball results. The result ends up being draft failures that fit a certain criteria based on interviews, combine results, and individual workouts as opposed to their actual track record in real games. Modern day GMs should use data and advanced analytical techniques to establish baseline assessments of players, and only then should intangibles and body type be considered. Our GMs have it completely backwards and it has resulted in countless misses in the draft and pegging the right value for free agent signings.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

I contend that Bazz doesn't play because he's just not that good.

Hell no to Barnes. Having a "tough" guy is overrated. The heat don't have that guy, the spurs don't have that guy, The Thunder "tough" guy (Perkins) is their worst player and hurts them more then anything.

Next coach? How about Jeff Van Gundy?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Really good stuff, Lip...appreciate getting the inside dope. All good news I think. Keep it comin'!

I've been away from civilization for a couple days, so just catching up on the Wolves now. I realize we were only playing the Wizards, but the box score is phenomenal. Rubio almost triple dubs in 27 minutes...with no turnovers! In fact the team only had four total turnovers...that has to be a team record. And the bench outscores their bench 44-30, while 4 benchers put up double digit +/- numbers.

I only hope they don't overlook the Bucks tonight. The Bucks may be awful, but any NBA team can win at home if their opponent isn't focused (See Sacramento and Miami last night). If they come out smoking, I think we're at the beginning of a long win streak.

[mjs34]

Lip, I find it hard to believe that it took 2.5 years for the staff to realize that Rubio had a problem with his mechanics and that they are just starting to correct it now. Some players just shoot better in practice, and can never get it to translate during the games. I would not have expected that from Rubio though. Hummel, sure, he is a borderline player so confidence may be an issue, but Rubio seems to be a gamer.

If Flip thought we needed some toughness, I am surprised he let Steimsma walk. He could have declined the option and offered him something less, like what we paid Turiaf.

I am not surprised by Flip's attitude, but I also wouldn't bet the house on it. He has been a little vague when asked the question before, and certainly didn't close the door on that option.

[TAFKASP]

The thinking that we'll drop some easy games during the next 12 doesn't make sense to me. We play bad basketball on the second half of a B2B (tired legs) or against a decent opponent on the road, though we're getting better.

Tired legs are a part of it, but they're a jump shooting team and those types of teams have off nights, especially on a B2B, but it happens at any time. Getting bench play like they did last night would go a long ways to easing the pain though. It sure was nice to see Lexy have a good game!