2013 Offseason Assessment of Flip

[worldK]

Good discussion guys.

Overall, flip has upgraded our roster by adding depth and made us into a 45-50win 1st to 2nd round playoff team like the ones he used to coach. But he has not made us into a contender.

Like cool said, we don't have the assets left for us to make that 1 big move to add a difference maker. Martin is a legit starter in the league but he ain't going to take us to the next level. Guys like bud,brewer,dw,shabazz, dieng, all nice pieces. But they don't have the value individually or together that will allow us to make a move for that 1 player that will push us to the next level.

Assuming love and Rubio sign extensions, along with pek, we won't have cap space for a while and we should be good enough to not land in the lottery.

I guess after almost a decade of being a lottery team, we should be happy that we are on track to be a playoff team again. But ultimately, the goal is to be a contender and not pretenders. Right now, we are relying on love,Rubio and pek to take that big leap or we are back to the 'improve from within' mantra mchale used to preach in the mcflip era.

[Coolbreeze44]

I give him a C. He overpaid role players and we are 45-50 win team pending health (which is big given the injury history of 3 of the top 4 players in Love, Martin and Pek) who won't win much in the playoffs because we don't have the personnel to clamp down defensively which is a must come playoff time. He put together a team that will be fun to watch in the regular season because we should be much better offensively, but I don't see any shot at advancing far in the playoffs for the next few years.

Like others have said, my grade is solely based on the status of how I see us as a title contender which is I don't. It takes defense to win in the playoffs and we just don't have enough of it to make a difference come playoff time. Flip did what an offensive minded guy would do and added shooting while sacrificing some defense in the process. I also give him a C because I don't think Shabazz is a rotation player on a good team in the NBA and that leaves Dieng who I think will be good in a year or two, but it makes you wonder if there was a better combination that could have been had at 9 and 26. To be honest, I would rather have kept Roberson at 26 than overpay Brewer because Roberson is the same player but would cost almost 4 million less.

Overall, Flip capped us out and it is hard to tell if this team can contend and that is why he gets a C in my book. The worst situation to be in is like ATL the past few years and we look to be the ATL of the Western Conference now with a lot of mediocrity tied up for 4 years. You win in the playoffs with the best players at the top of the roster, not the middle and I think we beefed up the middle with no more help at the top. We'll be better, but we were already going to be better with a healthy Love coming back and Rubio getting a full offseason healthy, but we didn't maximize the opportunity to build the roster this summer and that to me leaves us at an average C.

Excellent post. The Atlanta analogy is a good one. To many Wolves fans, being the Atlanta of the West would be a welcome change. I'll enjoy it more than the past several seasons, but the novelty of being good but not a threat will wear off quickly. To have gone through the lowest of lows like we have as a franchise, you would like to think we could have done a lot more with the all the assets we had starting 3 years ago.

[Coolbreeze44]

Good discussion guys.

Overall, flip has upgraded our roster by adding depth and made us into a 45-50win 1st to 2nd round playoff team like the ones he used to coach. But he has not made us into a contender.

Like cool said, we don't have the assets left for us to make that 1 big move to add a difference maker. Martin is a legit starter in the league but he ain't going to take us to the next level. Guys like bud,brewer,dw,shabazz, dieng, all nice pieces. But they don't have the value individually or together that will allow us to make a move for that 1 player that will push us to the next level.

Assuming love and Rubio sign extensions, along with pek, we won't have cap space for a while and we should be good enough to not land in the lottery.

I guess after almost a decade of being a lottery team, we should be happy that we are on track to be a playoff team again. But ultimately, the goal is to be a contender and not pretenders. Right now, we are relying on love,Rubio and pek to take that big leap or we are back to the 'improve from within' mantra mchale used to preach in the mcflip era.

Very well stated World. We're not too far away, but we need another star who can play at both ends of the floor to take us to another level. With no number 1 pick next year and no real cap space available for years to come, it's hard to see how this team improves going forward.

[60WinTim]

I am kind of surprised at the number of posters already labeling this team as a "non-title contender". This is perhaps the most versatile team the Wolves have ever had. We have a great coach. I am convinced he will find a way to get the most out of this collection of players. Yet we seem to be conceding already?!?

The brunt of the skepticism seems based around two moves: not drafting CJ McCollum and not re-signing AK. Forget about those moves. This was a 45+ win team with Rubio, Love and Pek mixed with a bunch of bozo wings and Dorko (pre Rubio-ACL). Two years later we are looking at a more seasoned (and healthy) trio of Rubio, Love and Pek mixed with quality wings and better depth. I just don't see how anyone can say this team has no chance to contend for a title.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I am kind of surprised at the number of posters already labeling this team as a "non-title contender". This is perhaps the most versatile team the Wolves have ever had. We have a great coach. I am convinced he will find a way to get the most out of this collection of players. Yet we seem to be conceding already?!?

The brunt of the skepticism seems based around two moves: not drafting CJ McCollum and not re-signing AK. Forget about those moves. This was a 45+ win team with Rubio, Love and Pek mixed with a bunch of bozo wings and Dorko (pre Rubio-ACL). Two years later we are looking at a more seasoned (and healthy) trio of Rubio, Love and Pek mixed with quality wings and better depth. I just don't see how anyone can say this team has no chance to contend for a title.

THANK YOU.

[Coolbreeze44]

Tim, a division title maybe. But certainly not an NBA one. I think that's pretty obvious.

[mjs34]

Tim, my main concern is that we aren't a physical team, and that seems to be an important attribute in the PO's. Even as aggressive as Brewer is on D, he still isn't a physical player, and then you add Bud, Martin and Shved to that list, and I see us being manhandled by other teams.

I think this team will perform fine during the regualar season, but it seems like rather than sign durable quality players we went for the high quantity average skilled guys instead. I think we want to look past a lot of the glaring holes in this team, that are created by one dimensional players.

I don't understand why Flip passed on McCollum because of his size, but jumped on Martin (who is 6'7, but is also known as one of the worst defending SG's in the league). I don't know if CJ is going to be an efficient scorer at the NBA level, but considering Shabaz may not even see the floor, he seemed like a better fit to me. While I like Dieng, I don't think there was enough difference between him and other bigs to justify the trade.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Pek - Physical
Love - Physical
Brewer - Scrappy
Martin - Soft
Rubio - Scrappy

Cunningham - Physical
DWill - Kinda Physical
Turiaf - He'll Put The Body On Ya
Bud - Softish
Barea - Scrappy Pitbull
Shved - Euro
Dieng - Physical

If you want to say we don't have defensvie intensity throughout the roster, then yeah, sure. I wouldn't say we're not physical, though. Might have the most physical 4 & 5 duo in the league. Sorry Pacer fans.

[Monster]

Lip outlined why he is relieved Flip was fairly safe in what he did. Personally the way the Wolves are constructed and the way we haven't seem what the top 3 players can do on this team taking a safe-ish route (although dropping AK and gambling on Martin well gambling on either can be seen as not a safe bet) but Kahn tended to gamble a ton and while some of the moves made sense NONE of them panned out. Look this team has Love Rubio and Pek it didn't need some wild gambles it just needs some actual legit NBA players to help them out which is basically what Flip got. Thats a good point to be at. Its not perfect, but I'd rather do that than some stupid move.

Can this team be a contender? Maybe not, but I think there are pieces that can be used on our team to acquire that piece if we don't have someone currently on the roster step up to be that guy. we have some guys that might be jut enough in a package to get us someone that we need. We don't have the best collection of assets, but sometimes you don't need that you just need to be willing to give up some decent players and be willing to take back another guy.

I also think that the idea this team isn't defensive enough or tough enough to be a good playoff team is somewhat true, but its not as weak as some people are making it out to be. Rubio is a fantastic perimter defender as a PG, Brewer gives you something on the wing the minutes he is out there and Love isn't a good defender, but he is tough nasty rebounder and does dirty work on the offensive end getting Offensive rebounds. Pek is a solid man and team defender and his rebounding and effect on the offensive end help offset the fact that we don't have a rim protector on our starting front line. On the bench we have Cunningham, Turiaf as tough vets and then you have a guy like JJ who brings something on the perimeter. We also have a guy in Dieng that might be just what this team has needed forever a long reasonably athletic shotblocker and shot changer that also plays team defense as well. The jury is out on Dieng, but I think he is going to be a worthwhile guy. Also alot of playing good D is guys buying into a plan and doing it and the wolves have shown ability to do that especially with Rubio on the floor. I am not trying to paint a rosy picture of the defensive capabilities of this team just saying I think we might be better than what has been said by a few posters. Of course we have to see just how awful Martin is on that end then maybe I change my tune. LOL

[mjs34]

Monster, as good as Ricky is, it will be wasted when good teams run the PnR on us because neither Love or Pek are able to hold up their end of it. That's why I see this team struggling in the PO's. The teams they will face will know how to exploit our weaknesses. If they can do that to Rubio, what will happen when they isolate Martin as well. I just think we will struggle, and don't think this team is as balanced as we think. Rubio and Brewer jumping passing lanes and gambling will help to some extent, but I think the better teams will exploit that as well.

I think it will come down to us trying to outscore them on the offensive end, and that type of team doesn't usually advance past the second round. Denver is a pretty good example of that, as is GS.