Minnesota Sports Forum

TheSP wrote:The win total means a lot less to me than the win quality, this team has competed with, and beaten some good teams, the best even. This team didn't win by beating 28 doormats, a good percentage of those wins would be quality wins for the Spurs.

In Rubio, KAT, Wiggins, Lavine, Dieng, Belly, and possibly Bazz they already have 6 or 7 top 9 rotation players on the team and all relatively young. Fill out those last 2 or 3 rotation positions with players that deserve to be on an NBA court and they'll have a team that should be expected to make the playoffs and compete once there.

Learning to beat the teams you should is a hell of alot easier than putting the talent together to beat the best. This team is most of the way there, now they need to add depth and experience, then as Pinky and the Brain would do, try to take over the world!

Whoa. (in bold)

Even with a strong foundation, they have a long way to go.

Yes, they have some quality wins. But I don't think the lousy losses should be so cavalierly ignored. Playing "down" to opponents is not a good thing. Playing poorly at home is not a good thing.

Instead of just assuming those things will change... I'd like to see evidence of it happening before I'm content with the latest 52+ loss season. But there's legit hope. Finally. FINALLY.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

TheSP wrote:The win total means a lot less to me than the win quality, this team has competed with, and beaten some good teams, the best even. This team didn't win by beating 28 doormats, a good percentage of those wins would be quality wins for the Spurs.

In Rubio, KAT, Wiggins, Lavine, Dieng, Belly, and possibly Bazz they already have 6 or 7 top 9 rotation players on the team and all relatively young. Fill out those last 2 or 3 rotation positions with players that deserve to be on an NBA court and they'll have a team that should be expected to make the playoffs and compete once there.

Learning to beat the teams you should is a hell of alot easier than putting the talent together to beat the best. This team is most of the way there, now they need to add depth and experience, then as Pinky and the Brain would do, try to take over the world!

Whoa. (in bold)

Even with a strong foundation, they have a long way to go.

Yes, they have some quality wins. But I don't think the lousy losses should be so cavalierly ignored. Playing "down" to opponents is not a good thing. Playing poorly at home is not a good thing.

Instead of just assuming those things will change... I'd like to see evidence of it happening before I'm content with the latest 52+ loss season. But there's legit hope. Finally. FINALLY.

Regarding the bolded I'm not talking about them being ready to contend for a championship now, but in terms of them having the key pieces in place that will allow them to in the future. In KAT, Wiggins, and Rubio they already have three pieces that could key a championship run as they grow. In Lavine, Belly, Dieng, and maybe Bazz they have players that are capable of playing key roles off the bench for a top team. It's a hell of a lot easier to build out the rest of the team then it is to acquire players with the potential of KAT and Wiggins, with Lavine potentially being in that conversation eventually too.

Yes they have a ways to go in terms of both filling out the team and fulfilling the potential of the players already there, but they have the ingredients that are hardest to acquire already.

TheSP wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

TheSP wrote:The win total means a lot less to me than the win quality, this team has competed with, and beaten some good teams, the best even. This team didn't win by beating 28 doormats, a good percentage of those wins would be quality wins for the Spurs.

In Rubio, KAT, Wiggins, Lavine, Dieng, Belly, and possibly Bazz they already have 6 or 7 top 9 rotation players on the team and all relatively young. Fill out those last 2 or 3 rotation positions with players that deserve to be on an NBA court and they'll have a team that should be expected to make the playoffs and compete once there.

Learning to beat the teams you should is a hell of alot easier than putting the talent together to beat the best. This team is most of the way there, now they need to add depth and experience, then as Pinky and the Brain would do, try to take over the world!

Whoa. (in bold)

Even with a strong foundation, they have a long way to go.

Yes, they have some quality wins. But I don't think the lousy losses should be so cavalierly ignored. Playing "down" to opponents is not a good thing. Playing poorly at home is not a good thing.

Instead of just assuming those things will change... I'd like to see evidence of it happening before I'm content with the latest 52+ loss season. But there's legit hope. Finally. FINALLY.

Regarding the bolded I'm not talking about them being ready to contend for a championship now, but in terms of them having the key pieces in place that will allow them to in the future. In KAT, Wiggins, and Rubio they already have three pieces that could key a championship run as they grow. In Lavine, Belly, Dieng, and maybe Bazz they have players that are capable of playing key roles off the bench for a top team. It's a hell of a lot easier to build out the rest of the team then it is to acquire players with the potential of KAT and Wiggins, with Lavine potentially being in that conversation eventually too.

Yes they have a ways to go in terms of both filling out the team and fulfilling the potential of the players already there, but they have the ingredients that are hardest to acquire already.

Maybe. We just see it differently.

Towns has the potential to be THE guy for a championship contender. Wiggins has the potential to be one of the better scorers in the league.

Those two have the most potential for me. And both can be truly special for the organization. LaVine? Maybe. He's certainly ahead of schedule even if he still has a really long way to go to be a championship contender type of player. Rubio? A good player... sure. A championship level player? I'm less convinced.

Nobody else moves the needle for me as being championship type level players. In fact, each comes with question marks as worthwhile players on a 52+ loss team. It all depends on what their roles are on an actual contender. For example, I can't see Dieng as a starter, but I can see him as a big off the bench. I can't see Muhammad as a 6th guy, but I can see him as a DNP-Coaches Decision type of guy.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:
Maybe. We just see it differently.

Towns has the potential to be THE guy for a championship contender. Wiggins has the potential to be one of the better scorers in the league.

Those two have the most potential for me. And both can be truly special for the organization.

The baseline for championship contention tends to be two of those types of players. They're hard to get and the Wolves have two young ones, to that end I see them as ahead of the game.

AbeVigodaLive wrote: LaVine? Maybe. He's certainly ahead of schedule even if he still has a really long way to go to be a championship contender type of player. Rubio? A good player... sure. A championship level player? I'm less convinced.

The jury's out on both, but the potential is there with both of them. No championship team is built around 5+ All-Stars, I think both have the ability to be strong contributors to a championship team, key contributors as a possibility.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Nobody else moves the needle for me as being championship type level players. In fact, each comes with question marks as worthwhile players on a 52+ loss team. It all depends on what their roles are on an actual contender. For example, I can't see Dieng as a starter, but I can see him as a big off the bench. I can't see Muhammad as a 6th guy, but I can see him as a DNP-Coaches Decision type of guy.

I think Belly and Dieng have potential to be very good bench players on a contending team, maybe not starters, but good in a 6th-8th man role. Lavine to me is likely to be a very good 6th man at the 2, potentially a very good starter depending on how he progresses. Bazz is to me the biggest question mark, but even he would be useful in 9th-15th man role of instant offense amid plenty of DNP-CD games.

IMO they have a base that with additional experience and being supplemented with legitimate NBA role players could contend in the future. You emphasise potential, I agree it's only that at this point, but those key pieces are the hardest to get and there is every reason to believe the Wolves have two of them.