Wolves vs Blazers GDT: RUIN PORTLAND'S SEASON

[AbeVigodaLive]

Glad I missed last night's game.

I'm torn about my level of gratitude if I was afforded the opportunity to have missed the last 28 seasons.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

So Rubio is shooting well again. I keep expecting to see him fall back to earth, such a strange feeling that he hasn't.

So Rubio is shooting well again. I keep expecting to see him fall back to earth, such a strange feeling that he hasn't.

He was 9 - 34 fg (26.4%) over the previous three games. If he can stick around 39/40%... we should all be relatively happy.

Well, he wasn't going to keep up the 47% FG/44% 3PT rate he was on for the month of March, that's for sure. He was due to get cold. Last night he somewhat broke out of the 3-game funk, but it still wasn't very efficient overall. We'll see how he ends the season. My hope is that the valleys are less severe/shorter and the peaks are higher/longer. He had one hell of a peak in March.

[AbeVigodaLive]

So Rubio is shooting well again. I keep expecting to see him fall back to earth, such a strange feeling that he hasn't.

So Rubio is shooting well again. I keep expecting to see him fall back to earth, such a strange feeling that he hasn't.

He was 9 - 34 fg (26.4%) over the previous three games. If he can stick around 39/40%... we should all be relatively happy.

Well, he wasn't going to keep up the 47% FG/44% 3PT rate he was on for the month of March, that's for sure. He was due to get cold. Last night he somewhat broke out of the 3-game funk, but it still wasn't very efficient overall. We'll see how he ends the season. My hope is that the valleys are less severe/shorter and the peaks are higher/longer. He had one hell of a peak in March.

Sure. And that's why I added the 39/40%.

It's an improvement from his first few years. And it's "good enough" that teams have to respect his shot enough to open up the game for others. It's also just good enough that he should keep hunting for shots at times without hurting the team.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

So Rubio is shooting well again. I keep expecting to see him fall back to earth, such a strange feeling that he hasn't.

So Rubio is shooting well again. I keep expecting to see him fall back to earth, such a strange feeling that he hasn't.

He was 9 - 34 fg (26.4%) over the previous three games. If he can stick around 39/40%... we should all be relatively happy.

Well, he wasn't going to keep up the 47% FG/44% 3PT rate he was on for the month of March, that's for sure. He was due to get cold. Last night he somewhat broke out of the 3-game funk, but it still wasn't very efficient overall. We'll see how he ends the season. My hope is that the valleys are less severe/shorter and the peaks are higher/longer. He had one hell of a peak in March.

Sure. And that's why I added the 39/40%.

It's an improvement from his first few years. And it's "good enough" that teams have to respect his shot enough to open up the game for others. It's also just good enough that he should keep hunting for shots at times without hurting the team.

Ya, I just can't get on board with anything below 40% being acceptable on any level for any NBA player for general field goal percentage.

[AbeVigodaLive]

So Rubio is shooting well again. I keep expecting to see him fall back to earth, such a strange feeling that he hasn't.

So Rubio is shooting well again. I keep expecting to see him fall back to earth, such a strange feeling that he hasn't.

He was 9 - 34 fg (26.4%) over the previous three games. If he can stick around 39/40%... we should all be relatively happy.

Well, he wasn't going to keep up the 47% FG/44% 3PT rate he was on for the month of March, that's for sure. He was due to get cold. Last night he somewhat broke out of the 3-game funk, but it still wasn't very efficient overall. We'll see how he ends the season. My hope is that the valleys are less severe/shorter and the peaks are higher/longer. He had one hell of a peak in March.

Sure. And that's why I added the 39/40%.

It's an improvement from his first few years. And it's "good enough" that teams have to respect his shot enough to open up the game for others. It's also just good enough that he should keep hunting for shots at times without hurting the team.

Ya, I just can't get on board with anything below 40% being acceptable on any level for any NBA player for general field goal percentage.

While I sorta agree... at this point... with the other needs this team has... I'm ok with Rubio as the anomaly if he's right on the cusp of 40%.

[Brooklyn_Wolves [enjin:14608167]]

FG% is a pretty useless stat. At the end of the day you need to measure offensive efficiency and FG% doesn't really do it. TS or PPP do it much better,

[AbeVigodaLive]

FG% is a pretty useless stat. At the end of the day you need to measure offensive efficiency and FG% doesn't really do it. TS or PPP do it much better,

I simply like to choose the stat that fits my narrative best.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

We were good until the starters got tired in the 4th. Pretty obvious what the problem is.

I 100% agree but do you blame thibs based on how the bench played

Kek, you're one of the best posters here in a sea of excellent posters, but we disagree on this one. Yes, I really blame Thibs for how our bench has played this year. Rush, Aldrich and Hill all performed well last year for better teams (Hill in very limited minutes). Did they all get much worse this year on their own, or did Thibs' lack of confidence in them and the limited minutes he doled out hamper their effectiveness? NBA players all say they need minutes and a reliable rotation to play their best, and the bench has not been given that.

Last night was an extreme poster child for this regrettable season. Portland played their bench 77 minutes, Thibs played his 47 minutes...that's just not a sustainable rotation strategy, neither on a game basis or over a season. And the results last night were so typical of the season. We lead by 7 going into the 4th quarter (after leading by double digits most of the game), but our weary starters are not able to hit their shots with their tired legs, or defend the opponents' rested starters...and so we get outscored 25-11 in the 4th! Rinse, lather, repeat...same script, different city. And except for a woeful Knicks team of a few years' ago, Thibs would have led this year's Wolves team to an all-time NBA record for blown double digit leads. Some here would argue that the 4th quarter collapses happen because we are playing more experienced teams that know how to win. But that narrative has been blown out of the water in the past 2 weeks with collapses against Portland, the Lakers, and the Kings. I'm sorry, guys...those teams are not the Spurs!

I think we have an enormously talented roster and the ability to challenge for championships...but it's just not going to happen if Thibs doesn't get in step with the rest of the league in terms of rotations and bench play. I know he thinks he's the smartest guy in the room and he has discovered the secret sauce of rotations, but last night is yet another example that he just doesn't get it. He needs to change, or this team is going nowhere.

[BloopOracle]

LST you're becoming delusional at this point, it's like you're living in a fantasy world where we have a decent bench that Thibs is too stubborn to use. They're SHIT, the bench is shit and you would realize that if you watched more games instead of staring at the box score. Our bench got killed in their first stint last night, they got killed when Towns picked up his 4th early in the 3rd, and they would have gotten killed if Thibs played them more in the 4th. Seriously your bench minutes schtick is starting to become laughable at this point.

[kekgeek]

We were good until the starters got tired in the 4th. Pretty obvious what the problem is.

I 100% agree but do you blame thibs based on how the bench played

Kek, you're one of the best posters here in a sea of excellent posters, but we disagree on this one. Yes, I really blame Thibs for how our bench has played this year. Rush, Aldrich and Hill all performed well last year for better teams (Hill in very limited minutes). Did they all get much worse this year on their own, or did Thibs' lack of confidence in them and the limited minutes he doled out hamper their effectiveness? NBA players all say they need minutes and a reliable rotation to play their best, and the bench has not been given that.

Last night was an extreme poster child for this regrettable season. Portland played their bench 77 minutes, Thibs played his 47 minutes...that's just not a sustainable rotation strategy, neither on a game basis or over a season. And the results last night were so typical of the season. We lead by 7 going into the 4th quarter (after leading by double digits most of the game), but our weary starters are not able to hit their shots with their tired legs, or defend the opponents' rested starters...and so we get outscored 25-11 in the 4th! Rinse, lather, repeat...same script, different city. And except for a woeful Knicks team of a few years' ago, Thibs would have led this year's Wolves team to an all-time NBA record for blown double digit leads. Some here would argue that the 4th quarter collapses happen because we are playing more experienced teams that know how to win. But that narrative has been blown out of the water in the past 2 weeks with collapses against Portland, the Lakers, and the Kings. I'm sorry, guys...those teams are not the Spurs!

I think we have an enormously talented roster and the ability to challenge for championships...but it's just not going to happen if Thibs doesn't get in step with the rest of the league in terms of rotations and bench play. I know he thinks he's the smartest guy in the room and he has discovered the secret sauce of rotations, but last night is yet another example that he just doesn't get it. He needs to change, or this team is going nowhere.

I think we can find common ground maybe. (I like going back at eachother because I think we don't take it personal even though we disagree).

I don't disagree with you that the starters fatigue had something to do with the loss last night. I mean wiggins hit the wall and made his all around good night look not as good and I think we should of went to towns more 2 shots in the 4th and 1 of those shots were a put back. It reminded me of the Spurs game where we kept going back to Wiggins even though you could tell be was shot.

But Thibs was in a damned if you do, damned if you don't last night. In the first half the bench took the 14 point lead to 4 until the starters came back in to settle things. In the 3rd Towns picked up his 4th foul had to come out. When he did 10-0 run by the Blazers, to tie the game, Thibs forced to go back to towns and we outscore the Blazers by 7 to close the quarter. Thibs starts with bench in the 4th in 3 minutes the bench has given away the lead including 0 made baskets. The bench was so bad last night, like so bad.


For the Aldrich, and rush point, on how they were solid last year and Thibs "doesn't play them enough". I think it is easier to fit in a role when the players around them are better. For Rush you are going to get better looks playing with curry, Thompson, green, bogut than Rubio, wiggins, towns and Dieng. For Aldrich I think he is a bad fit for our bench how assembled. Our guards in Tyus and Dunn no threat to score, bazz low post scorer and belly was bad besides a 3 week stretch. I mean this is Aldrich 6 team in his nba career he is a journeyman for a reason he needs the right fit around him to be successful.

I agree the starters have played to many minutes but I think it is due to the lack of quality nba players on the roster.