Minnesota Sports Forum

monsterpile wrote:LST your narrative about Thibs is getting tired espcially when you make these comments without even watching the games. They simply didn't make the shots. Lavine didn't shoot as well down the stretch because he was kinda throwing up some heat check shots. Towns hasn't been hitting 3's lately so him missing 2 in a row at the end of the game...is kinda predictable although They were pretty good looks and imo he should have taken them all things considered.

As for this minutes stuff... Tim Duncan's first 6 seasons he averaged over 39mpg and he seemed like he was ok to play another 13 years after that. Is he an excemption? Sure but the idea that a lot of minutes absolutely will lead to tired players and injury is also probably overblown. From what I hear about Thibs he has chilled out on practices done more film work etc so these guys aren't getting physically pounded aside from playing high minutes. Looking at the box score I'm surprised Lavine didn't play more. It had to be hard to take him out in the 2nd half. Dieng played the most minutes and he never seemed tired at all.

I've watched the game now, and seen nothing to change my narrative...KAT and Zach didn't look at all like the same players in the 4th quarter than they did the rest of the game. If the latest 4th quarter debacle were a one-time thing, or if it were something that also happened with regularity earlier in our Big 3's careers, I would be inclined to give the coach a pass like you and others are. But the frequency of late game collapses compared to last year is impossible to ignore, and it's only logical to ask "What's different?" Further, check out our 4th quarter shooting stats in the thread you started...they are quite telling. We have a choice as fans...just accept the poor results and another missed playoffs despite having "the best young roster in the league", or analyze what we see as poor coaching choices and angrily express our dissatisfaction. I'm fed up with how this talented roster is being misused, and am choosing the latter path.

As for Duncan, yes...I think he is unique. He played with an economy of movement that was unlike any player I have ever seen...I would surmise if you attached a fitbit to him and Towns, Towns might have twice the steps Duncan would have in 40 minutes. I often contrasted KG and Duncan using the same criteria...KG had a lot more miles on him at 40 than Timmy because of the different ways that they played.

"We have a choice as fans...just accept the poor results and another missed playoffs despite having "the best young roster in the league", or analyze what we see as poor coaching choices and angrily express our dissatisfaction. I'm fed up with how this talented roster is being misused, and am choosing the latter path."

There are many more paths than that, I'm taking the path that Thibs is showcasing the core 3 on a extreme level while keeping his cap flexibility open based on last offseason and the big 3 are making mistakes but progressing, and that our bench is shit despite what the numbers say. I think playing them more will diminish fluke +/- numbers instead of unleashing them as a secret weapon and luckily many of them will not be here next year.

longstrangetrip wrote:

monsterpile wrote:LST your narrative about Thibs is getting tired espcially when you make these comments without even watching the games. They simply didn't make the shots. Lavine didn't shoot as well down the stretch because he was kinda throwing up some heat check shots. Towns hasn't been hitting 3's lately so him missing 2 in a row at the end of the game...is kinda predictable although They were pretty good looks and imo he should have taken them all things considered.

As for this minutes stuff... Tim Duncan's first 6 seasons he averaged over 39mpg and he seemed like he was ok to play another 13 years after that. Is he an excemption? Sure but the idea that a lot of minutes absolutely will lead to tired players and injury is also probably overblown. From what I hear about Thibs he has chilled out on practices done more film work etc so these guys aren't getting physically pounded aside from playing high minutes. Looking at the box score I'm surprised Lavine didn't play more. It had to be hard to take him out in the 2nd half. Dieng played the most minutes and he never seemed tired at all.

I've watched the game now, and seen nothing to change my narrative...KAT and Zach didn't look at all like the same players in the 4th quarter than they did the rest of the game. If the latest 4th quarter debacle were a one-time thing, or if it were something that also happened with regularity earlier in our Big 3's careers, I would be inclined to give the coach a pass like you and others are. But the frequency of late game collapses compared to last year is impossible to ignore, and it's only logical to ask "What's different?" Further, check out our 4th quarter shooting stats in the thread you started...they are quite telling. We have a choice as fans...just accept the poor results and another missed playoffs despite having "the best young roster in the league", or analyze what we see as poor coaching choices and angrily express our dissatisfaction. I'm fed up with how this talented roster is being misused, and am choosing the latter path.

As for Duncan, yes...I think he is unique. He played with an economy of movement that was unlike any player I have ever seen...I would surmise if you attached a fitbit to him and Towns, Towns might have twice the steps Duncan would have in 40 minutes. I often contrasted KG and Duncan using the same criteria...KG had a lot more miles on him at 40 than Timmy because of the different ways that they played.

Give me some names of guys that didn't play big minutes for a bunch of their careers. I'm curious what you come up with.

monsterpile wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

monsterpile wrote:LST your narrative about Thibs is getting tired espcially when you make these comments without even watching the games. They simply didn't make the shots. Lavine didn't shoot as well down the stretch because he was kinda throwing up some heat check shots. Towns hasn't been hitting 3's lately so him missing 2 in a row at the end of the game...is kinda predictable although They were pretty good looks and imo he should have taken them all things considered.

As for this minutes stuff... Tim Duncan's first 6 seasons he averaged over 39mpg and he seemed like he was ok to play another 13 years after that. Is he an excemption? Sure but the idea that a lot of minutes absolutely will lead to tired players and injury is also probably overblown. From what I hear about Thibs he has chilled out on practices done more film work etc so these guys aren't getting physically pounded aside from playing high minutes. Looking at the box score I'm surprised Lavine didn't play more. It had to be hard to take him out in the 2nd half. Dieng played the most minutes and he never seemed tired at all.

I've watched the game now, and seen nothing to change my narrative...KAT and Zach didn't look at all like the same players in the 4th quarter than they did the rest of the game. If the latest 4th quarter debacle were a one-time thing, or if it were something that also happened with regularity earlier in our Big 3's careers, I would be inclined to give the coach a pass like you and others are. But the frequency of late game collapses compared to last year is impossible to ignore, and it's only logical to ask "What's different?" Further, check out our 4th quarter shooting stats in the thread you started...they are quite telling. We have a choice as fans...just accept the poor results and another missed playoffs despite having "the best young roster in the league", or analyze what we see as poor coaching choices and angrily express our dissatisfaction. I'm fed up with how this talented roster is being misused, and am choosing the latter path.

As for Duncan, yes...I think he is unique. He played with an economy of movement that was unlike any player I have ever seen...I would surmise if you attached a fitbit to him and Towns, Towns might have twice the steps Duncan would have in 40 minutes. I often contrasted KG and Duncan using the same criteria...KG had a lot more miles on him at 40 than Timmy because of the different ways that they played.

Give me some names of guys that didn't play big minutes for a bunch of their careers. I'm curious what you come up with.

Monster, I'll keep it to this year, because it's more relevant to compare our guys' minutes to our opponents...it's a new era after all, and the game is constantly evolving. Zach leads the league in MPG, and KAT and Wig are in the top 14. If Thibs was in line with the current coaching mindset, we would have just one player in the top 30 in MPG, but instead we have three in the top 14! Can there be any better evidence that Thibs take a different approach to managing his stars' minutes than other coaches? And a pathetic 9-20 record after an excellent finish to last season tells me how well it's working. I have advanced the theory that Thibs' coaching is the primary (not only) reason for the horrid downturn to this season (Ricky's injury is the second most important factor), and the most credible reason others of you have advanced is that our young guys have a big head due to all their hype. I'm not saying that is not true (who knows?), but it seems to me the big heads should have popped up after all the national accolades they got at the All Star Game...and yet, instead they played better after the break. I'm going to continue to say it's difficult not to point at the biggest tangible difference from last year to this (Thibs) as the most logical reason for the dramatic drop off in performance.