Minnesota Sports Forum

Here is the latest update:

60WinTim - 51
TheSP - 50
crazysauce, Lipoli - 46
lead01, cpg29 - 45
thedoper - 44
kekgeek, Phenom - 43
rapsuperstar, Camden - 42
KiwiMatt - 41
worldK - 40
Mikkeman - 39
Monsterpile - 38
Bleed, Cool - 37
Abe, TheFuture - 36
Jester, FNG - 35
Q - 34
PorkChop - 32
WolvesFan - 29

Q12543 wrote:Here is the latest update:

60WinTim - 51
TheSP - 50
crazysauce, Lipoli - 46
lead01, cpg29 - 45
thedoper - 44
kekgeek, Phenom - 43
rapsuperstar, Camden - 42
KiwiMatt - 41
worldK - 40
Mikkeman - 39
Monsterpile - 38
Bleed, Cool - 37
Abe, TheFuture - 36
Jester, FNG - 35
Q - 34
PorkChop - 32
WolvesFan - 29

Good to finally see opTIM on the board with 51. :)

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Here is the latest update:

60WinTim - 51
TheSP - 50
crazysauce, Lipoli - 46
lead01, cpg29 - 45
thedoper - 44
kekgeek, Phenom - 43
rapsuperstar, Camden - 42
KiwiMatt - 41
worldK - 40
Mikkeman - 39
Monsterpile - 38
Bleed, Cool - 37
Abe, TheFuture - 36
Jester, FNG - 35
Q - 34
PorkChop - 32
WolvesFan - 29

Good to finally see opTIM on the board with 51. :)

Indeed, always a pleasure to hear from him!

Abe, no need to worry so far. Your (somewhat) optimistic outlook looks (somewhat) pessimistic relative to everyone else....or something like that.

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Here is the latest update:

60WinTim - 51
TheSP - 50
crazysauce, Lipoli - 46
lead01, cpg29 - 45
thedoper - 44
kekgeek, Phenom - 43
rapsuperstar, Camden - 42
KiwiMatt - 41
worldK - 40
Mikkeman - 39
Monsterpile - 38
Bleed, Cool - 37
Abe, TheFuture - 36
Jester, FNG - 35
Q - 34
PorkChop - 32
WolvesFan - 29

Good to finally see opTIM on the board with 51. :)

Now I want to change my prediction to 51.1! ;)

Q12543 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Here is the latest update:

60WinTim - 51
TheSP - 50
crazysauce, Lipoli - 46
lead01, cpg29 - 45
thedoper - 44
kekgeek, Phenom - 43
rapsuperstar, Camden - 42
KiwiMatt - 41
worldK - 40
Mikkeman - 39
Monsterpile - 38
Bleed, Cool - 37
Abe, TheFuture - 36
Jester, FNG - 35
Q - 34
PorkChop - 32
WolvesFan - 29

Good to finally see opTIM on the board with 51. :)

Indeed, always a pleasure to hear from him!

Abe, no need to worry so far. Your (somewhat) optimistic outlook looks (somewhat) pessimistic relative to everyone else....or something like that.

Per FNG's post earlier... I'm almost always too optimistic in this competition. Whether it's injuries, coaching, bad luck, more injuries, stagnant growth, dysfunction, star player mutinies, et al... no NBA team (and possibly no pro sports team) has consistently underperformed more than the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But we keep following them. We keep posting. And we keep thinking this is the year that it changes.





[Note: We're probably about 4 weeks out from me making my annual "no way will anybody guess a lower win total than me next season!" whiny post. And yet, 12 months from now, I'll be here once again expecting mere mediocrity... and not even getting that.]

With Simmons: 52
Without Simmons: 28


(that way I can have the highest and lowest predictions)

Mostly I'm just predicting injury on this team since that seems to be what happens every year and it's below everyone's prediction win total.

https://theathletic.com/2868199/2021/10/05/wolves-preseason-observations-dangelo-russell-shines-and-new-look-defense-impresses-with-patrick-beverly/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983

The "way over Vegas line" optimists are going to love Jon K's latest article in the athletic. To be fair, he acknowledges the Pelicans were missing their two most important players and reminds us of how we've gotten sucked in by a terrific Wolves preseason performance in the past, but he also has some observations about the first preseason game that are indisputable. It's fair to be skeptical that a guy like DLO can become a completely different guy than what he has been in his first 6 seasons, but we also have to recognize how energized he was both on the court and on the bench, and how effective he was at both ends of the court. He was our best player Monday even including KAT. I keep saying that Russell is the key to us actually going over the Vegas line for the first time in a long while, and his play Monday was very encouraging. Time will tell if Monday was more fool's gold, like Rubio finishing second in Olympic scoring right behind Luka (I note his was 1-6 on threes last night) , or whether he might have an enormous chip on his shoulder after a summer of reading the 76er fans have no interest in swapping the most hated man in Philly for him and is ready to turn that chip into some inspired play. I'm still more than skeptical, but admittedly intrigued.

It's also fair to recognize some aspects of Monday night that concerned me. Beasley is fat, Jaden looked more like a guy that was a late first round stretch pick than a promising rookie, and perhaps most concerning, Ant's offensive approach looked much more like last October than last March...all three need to be much better.

But DLO though...

I have one Beasley positive: he said on media day he worked on developing his playmaking skills this offseason, and he had two very nice drive and dish plays to set up corner for 3s. I can't say I am too concerned about Malik and Jaden just yet...

60WinTim wrote:I have one Beasley positive: he said on media day he worked on developing his playmaking skills this offseason, and he had two very nice drive and dish plays to set up corner for 3s. I can't say I am too concerned about Malik and Jaden just yet...

Oh, I agree Tim. Both my positive comments about DLO, and my negative ones about Ant, Malik and Jaden are decidedly knee-jerk based on preseason game 1 against a G League lineup. Let's hope DLO is for real, and the other three return to form.

mrhockey89 wrote:With Simmons: 52
Without Simmons: 28


(that way I can have the highest and lowest predictions)

Mostly I'm just predicting injury on this team since that seems to be what happens every year and it's below everyone's prediction win total.

Do I have to switch to 27 now?

I'll stick with 29. I agree about the injuries. Every year I make a prediction based on the team staying mostly healthy, but they never do. I'll say they don't stay healthy and maybe they do. :D