Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:We've now seen multiple games this year where KAT gets the ball and makes a huge shot in crunch time, either from 3 or driving it to the hoop. Did it really have to take 7 seasons to figure out how to get our best player the ball in these situations!? Finch has made it look pretty easy.

KAT finally has an elite head coach who understands how to use him. And he finally has high-caliber players around him in DLO and Edwards - something he hasn't had since Jimmy Butler left. With 20 games left, the Wolves are in 7th place in the West. Looking down in the standings, the Wolves are 1.5 games ahead of the 8th place Clippers and 5 games ahead of the 9th place Lakers. Looking up in the standings, the Wolves are 3.5 games behind the 5th place Mavs and 6th place Nuggets. So I'd say it's likely the Wolves finish anywhere from 5th to 8th. It would be huge if this team could follow up tonight's great win with a home win over the Warriors this week.

I don't know Lip.....I just don't think this team has the juice yet to really compete with the big boys. Yes, we get the occasional big win against a really good team (and they often have someone injured....), but we mostly get pushed around and spanked like what happened the other night against Philly. We need Ant to get really, really good over the next year or two. He can be a force of nature when rolling that not many other players in the league can match.

Still, this has been a nice step forward for this team overall. Big offseason coming up after what I expect to be a fairly swift exit from the playoffs.

Q-was-here wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:We've now seen multiple games this year where KAT gets the ball and makes a huge shot in crunch time, either from 3 or driving it to the hoop. Did it really have to take 7 seasons to figure out how to get our best player the ball in these situations!? Finch has made it look pretty easy.

KAT finally has an elite head coach who understands how to use him. And he finally has high-caliber players around him in DLO and Edwards - something he hasn't had since Jimmy Butler left. With 20 games left, the Wolves are in 7th place in the West. Looking down in the standings, the Wolves are 1.5 games ahead of the 8th place Clippers and 5 games ahead of the 9th place Lakers. Looking up in the standings, the Wolves are 3.5 games behind the 5th place Mavs and 6th place Nuggets. So I'd say it's likely the Wolves finish anywhere from 5th to 8th. It would be huge if this team could follow up tonight's great win with a home win over the Warriors this week.

I don't know Lip.....I just don't think this team has the juice yet to really compete with the big boys. Yes, we get the occasional big win against a really good team (and they often have someone injured....), but we mostly get pushed around and spanked like what happened the other night against Philly. We need Ant to get really, really good over the next year or two. He can be a force of nature when rolling that not many other players in the league can match.

Still, this has been a nice step forward for this team overall. Big offseason coming up after what I expect to be a fairly swift exit from the playoffs.

I agree with you on all your points, Q. I'm not expecting the Wolves to beat the Warriors this week. The Wolves had some success early in the season defensively, but this team eventually settled into who they really are. And as you noted, they're not yet ready to compete with the big boys. They might surprise us with a win over the Warriors. But ultimately, I think this team will finish 7th or 8th, which would have meant an automatic playoff birth before the play-in tournament. I still think the Wolves can win a play in series against the Clippers or whoever they end up playing. I agree that whether this team takes it to the next level after this season depends on the development of Anthony Edwards. For now, I'll be satisfied if the Wolves make the playoffs. I'll be elated if they can finish 5th or 6th and avoid the play-in tournament.

The seventh or eighth seed is a near certainty for Minnesota, in my opinion. Just too many dropped games to catch up to the fifth or sixth seeds despite being just 3.5 games behind with 20 games remaining. While it's obviously still a mathematical possibility to leap Dallas and Denver, I just don't feel confident about it happening. The bench is wildly inconsistent. The starting lineup is struggling albeit certain players are still finding success -- D'Angelo Russell has arguably been their best player the last couple of weeks with Jaden McDaniels perhaps being their most consistent, and Anthony Edwards looks like a 20-year old, second-year player hitting a wall. Wow. If they're going to jump a spot or two in the standings, they'll need a collective team effort to do it and this team just feels way too rocky for my liking.

Cashed it. That was quite a game. Beverly was a great leader in the 2nd half. Not a lot of complaining tonight, was more enjoyable because of it.

I also see us as more than likely ending 7th or 8th, I just hope they do it above 500. I don't want to see us sneak into the 8 spot with something like three games below 500, go in with confidence and take care of business in the play-in.

DLO is clearly the MVP of this team so far. As he goes so goes the Wolves.

Q-was-here wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:We've now seen multiple games this year where KAT gets the ball and makes a huge shot in crunch time, either from 3 or driving it to the hoop. Did it really have to take 7 seasons to figure out how to get our best player the ball in these situations!? Finch has made it look pretty easy.

KAT finally has an elite head coach who understands how to use him. And he finally has high-caliber players around him in DLO and Edwards - something he hasn't had since Jimmy Butler left. With 20 games left, the Wolves are in 7th place in the West. Looking down in the standings, the Wolves are 1.5 games ahead of the 8th place Clippers and 5 games ahead of the 9th place Lakers. Looking up in the standings, the Wolves are 3.5 games behind the 5th place Mavs and 6th place Nuggets. So I'd say it's likely the Wolves finish anywhere from 5th to 8th. It would be huge if this team could follow up tonight's great win with a home win over the Warriors this week.

I don't know Lip.....I just don't think this team has the juice yet to really compete with the big boys. Yes, we get the occasional big win against a really good team (and they often have someone injured....), but we mostly get pushed around and spanked like what happened the other night against Philly. We need Ant to get really, really good over the next year or two. He can be a force of nature when rolling that not many other players in the league can match.

Still, this has been a nice step forward for this team overall. Big offseason coming up after what I expect to be a fairly swift exit from the playoffs.

Do you consider Memphis a big boy because I think they are likely to be the 2 seed.

In general I think it is huge for the Wolves to win that 1st play in game. I do not want to play LBJ in a winner take all game

PorkChop wrote:DLO is clearly the MVP of this team so far. As he goes so goes the Wolves.

There's certainly an argument for that depending on how one defines "Most Valuable Player." For me, I think this much is true. Karl-Anthony Towns is Minnesota's best overall player while D'Angelo Russell is Minnesota's most important player. Those two have the biggest impact on winning games and when they both play they win just under 58-percent of the time with a 41-30 record in 71 games together. Pretty good, but also could be better with better supporting elements and better overall execution.

Anthony Edwards remains Minnesota's biggest lottery ticket. That would be my moniker for him though I suppose he has an argument for most important player as well if you include his future development. In my opinion, his talent still exceeds his production thus far and that's while acknowledging that his production has been decent... even with the latest slump being accounted for. But we don't know how good or great he'll be yet and these hiccups, or stretches of inconsistency, unfortunately prove that the Wolves will have to rely on their 26-year old star players for wins rather than their 20-year old hotshot.

kekgeek1 wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:We've now seen multiple games this year where KAT gets the ball and makes a huge shot in crunch time, either from 3 or driving it to the hoop. Did it really have to take 7 seasons to figure out how to get our best player the ball in these situations!? Finch has made it look pretty easy.

KAT finally has an elite head coach who understands how to use him. And he finally has high-caliber players around him in DLO and Edwards - something he hasn't had since Jimmy Butler left. With 20 games left, the Wolves are in 7th place in the West. Looking down in the standings, the Wolves are 1.5 games ahead of the 8th place Clippers and 5 games ahead of the 9th place Lakers. Looking up in the standings, the Wolves are 3.5 games behind the 5th place Mavs and 6th place Nuggets. So I'd say it's likely the Wolves finish anywhere from 5th to 8th. It would be huge if this team could follow up tonight's great win with a home win over the Warriors this week.

I don't know Lip.....I just don't think this team has the juice yet to really compete with the big boys. Yes, we get the occasional big win against a really good team (and they often have someone injured....), but we mostly get pushed around and spanked like what happened the other night against Philly. We need Ant to get really, really good over the next year or two. He can be a force of nature when rolling that not many other players in the league can match.

Still, this has been a nice step forward for this team overall. Big offseason coming up after what I expect to be a fairly swift exit from the playoffs.

Do you consider Memphis a big boy because I think they are likely to be the 2 seed

In general I think it is huge for the Wolves to win that 1st play in game. I do not want to play LBJ in a winner take all game

Yes, we've had our moments, such as the Memphis win or the win against Philly earlier in the season. But there is a reason we are 7th in the west in not in the top 4 or 5. Don't just look at the records, look at the point differential. Plus we have played a LOT of teams with key injuries, there is simply no way around that fact.

I'm absolutely thrilled with how the team has performed this year, regardless of who or how we've beaten teams. Just posting up consistent W's and playing competitive ball - which started in the stretch run last season by the way when we could have been tanking - has been a huge step forward for this franchise.

But....we still have a ways to go. We aren't Phoenix 2.0.

I was not impressed with how the Wolves played yesterday. Started off like they didn't care to be there. Took terrible shots with a lead. Luckily, more than usual of them went in. Played with questionable energy most of the night.

Yet they still won.

No team brings its best effort 82 games per season. So as mediocre of a watching experience that was... who cares! This team has entered the stage where it can play through bad stretches and still eke out wins. I'll take what I can get when it comes to Timberwolves victories.