longstrangetrip wrote:We're now 8 games in and I'm going to adjust my playoff tiers. You guys were right about Houston...they have righted the ship and won four in a row. They belong in the "can't miss" category, which now is made up of 5 teams...Thunder, Warriors, Clippers, Rockets and Spurs. All but the Rockets have already assumed their rightful places at the top of the standings. I am still not impressed with what I'm seeing in Memphis, so I'm leaving them in the middle tier.
Lillard's emergence as an MVP candidate has moved Portland out of the bottom tier, so they now join the teams in the middle battling for the bottom three spots. Denver is 3-4, but I don't see them in the hunt...they stay in the bottom tier with the Lakers and Kings.
So, that leaves 7 teams fighting for the final 3 playoff spots...Wolves, Griz, Trailblazers, Mavs, Pelicans, Suns and Jazz. with the Griz most likely to move up. Right now the Wolves are tied with the Jazz and ahead of the rest, and those 6 teams will continue to be the teams I cheer against! The Pelicans are seriously broken at 1-6 and giving up 113 PPG...I still think their injuries may sabotage their season. None of the other teams look like world-beaters and all have noticeable flaws.
It's on!
(unless Ricky's knee is really an issue, in which case, we join the Lakers and Kings)
Last night was a blow to a possible playoff run. A healthy Ricky or Wiggins and especially Rickyi feel like should have been a win. It was a negative game for the "if the wolves can stay healthy" hope. This team has a slim margin of error I don't want to make a ridiculous deal out of the game last night but it sucked in that regard.
The game sucked for sure, but once again who were the players for the Wolves, Big KAT, Professor Big Shot, and to a large extent String Bean Lavine!! Youth, and Belly, will be served!!!
TheRealSP wrote:The game sucked for sure, but once again who were the players for the Wolves, Big KAT, Professor Big Shot, and to a large extent String Bean Lavine!! Youth, and Belly, will be served!!!
Yep and Payne was actually useful. There is plenty to be happy about in that game. I mean they could have easily gotten blown out. They only gave up 19 points in the 4th quarter.
I usually only bump this thread after wins, but something about our resilience in tonight's loss has me thinking playoffs again. And especially since the teams we are competing with for those last spots keep losing...Houston, Utah and New Orleans all lost tonight. Of course, all bets are off if Rubio keeps missing a third of our games, but our competition seems to be battling injuries...it's about time. Gobert, Davis, Howard, etc.
The Wolves have a warrior personality that we haven't seen in a long time, and I think it's due to a number of changes. Mitchell was always a warrior, and our three new vets have always been all business and all about winning. Maybe Towns, Wig and LaVine are just naturally tough guys, or maybe the character of the older guys is rubbing off on them. It doesn't really matter, as long as the three of them and Belly keep bringing it every night. It's fun to watch.
longstrangetrip wrote:I usually only bump this thread after wins, but something about our resilience in tonight's loss has me thinking playoffs again. And especially since the teams we are competing with for those last spots keep losing...Houston, Utah and New Orleans all lost tonight. Of course, all bets are off if Rubio keeps missing a third of our games, but our competition seems to be battling injuries...it's about time. Gobert, Davis, Howard, etc.
The Wolves have a warrior personality that we haven't seen in a long time, and I think it's due to a number of changes. Mitchell was always a warrior, and our three new vets have always been all business and all about winning. Maybe Towns, Wig and LaVine are just naturally tough guys, or maybe the character of the older guys is rubbing off on them. It doesn't really matter, as long as the three of them and Belly keep bringing it every night. It's fun to watch.
Flip knew what he was doing didn't he? I'll mention another young guy. Bazz he is gonna do his thing nobody is gonna mess with him. Dieng is gonna go all out and seems to be ramping up that way more every game. He was all over the place tonight tipping balls out he had no business getting to at times. Combine all that with vets who are gonna do their thing. Miller almost seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder like he knows people think he is too old. Lol
Mitchell...I remember one time years ago the Wolves played GS when GS was terrible and they lost to them. It was only a few days later they played them again and Sam spoke out saying basically they weren't losing to @#%# GS again and he came off the bench and scored well over 20 points and the Wolves won easily. Sam wasn't the best player but he had that fight in him and if he said something he did have enough talent to back it up. I see a lot of that of him as a coach. Maybe he isn't the greatest tactical mind in the game but he is smart enough to know what he is talking about. I like what I have seen out of this team and credit needs to go to Sam and his staff. Now they need to get some more wins to keep things rolling.
Mitchell has the fire, you see him talking to players throughout the game. Before he sent Bazz in tonight he had a conversation with him, not sure what was said but he sent some sort of message. He is on the refs during the game so the care is there, my thing is his opinions on LaVine at PG and Wiggins at SG don't make sense, just like his starting lineup decisions don't make sense. Sam's lack of offense for defensive subs at the end of games or halves blows my mind. (T. Prince / K. Martin are made for those type of subs).
CJ Miles for INDY tonight trying to guard KG and the coach doesn't call some post up action to take advantage?
Allowing ATL to comeback to take a lead after being down by 34 and doing damn near no subs the whole time they were on a run?
BizarroJerry wrote:So if sammich does better than your wins prediction this year, is he still a bad coach?
If the Wolves do better than my wins prediction, it means the players stayed healthier and played better than I projected them to, but the talent on paper is there.
Sam Mitchell as our head coach is a disadvantage every single night. We have the worst staff in basketball, guys.
