Minnesota Sports Forum

W L Pct GB
Portland
13 10 .565 0.0
Denver
13 10 .565 0.0
Minnesota
14 11 .560 0.0
Utah
13 11 .542 0.5
Oklahoma City
10 12 .455 2.5

Just maybe they could sneak ahead of Denver but I doubt it. This team looks to be lucky to win 41 games. They can't beat half the bad teams they play, games they need to win if they want to make the playoffs.

OKC has clearly underachieved more than the Wolves, but that won't last. I have a feeling they will get their crap together.

The other teams...kudos to them. Utah especially has been on a tear. Snyder changes on a dime to a pace and space style, and voila!, they start putting up some big time offensive numbers. They are now in the top 10 in offensive and defensive rating. Great coaching!

I don't mean to be that guy, but a big reason the Wolves are losing as of late is because one of our (inefficient) volume scorers and most important players has been wildly inconsistent in terms of production despite getting plenty of shots up. The Charlotte, Washington, and Memphis games stand out to me where he just really shit the bed.

PS: It's his fourth season in the big boy league. He hasn't improved at anything. In fact, I could argue he's regressed across the board after getting his max contract. Now, not all of the Wolves' woes are on his shoulders, but you have to be disturbed, even just a little bit, about his career progression thus far. I don't want to feel this way, but he has superstar talent, starter level production, and high school janitor level "give a shit."

We've also been without Jeff Teague and Nemanja Bjelica for a handful of games. Every team has injuries, but we're thin as it is. Those two would have made a difference somewhere in there.

Camden wrote:We've also been without Jeff Teague and Nemanja Bjelica for a handful of games. Every team has injuries, but we're thin as it is. Those two would have made a difference somewhere in there.

I almost think Belly is more important then Teague at this point. The Wolves fell apart last season too when he went down.

BUT-

Denver is missing Jokic and Millsap
Utah - Gobert (I guess he is back) Exum and Joe Johnson

I don't see them blowing easy games. By easy I mean teams who lost 11 straight and are without their best player.

WolvesFan21 wrote:

Camden wrote:We've also been without Jeff Teague and Nemanja Bjelica for a handful of games. Every team has injuries, but we're thin as it is. Those two would have made a difference somewhere in there.

I almost think Belly is more important then Teague at this point. The Wolves fell apart last season too when he went down.

BUT-

Denver is missing Jokic and Millsap
Utah - Gobert (I guess he is back) Exum and Joe Johnson

I don't see them blowing easy games. By easy I mean teams who lost 11 straight and are without their best player.

First and foremost, Teague is, by far, the better player between the two, and with him out it means that Brooks falls into the rotation, and he's Shabazz Muhammad level atrocious. That's been a double-edged sword right there.

No disrespect to you, but how can you basically say the Nuggets aren't losing games against favorable opponents? Two weeks ago they got thrashed by the Lakers, not your dad's Showtime Lakers -- the Big Baller Brand Lakers, and last night they ran into the lottery-headed Mavericks and lost by 20. Last week they got beat by 30 against Utah, who as you said isn't at full strength. Those are worse losses than any of the ones we've had and we've had some frustrating defeats.

And prior to this six-game winning streak from Utah, they were 2-8 in their last 10 games with opponents like the Nets, Knicks, and Heat. Snyder is an excellent coach and I expect them to stay in the playoff hunt, but do I think they're better than the Wolves? I vehemently do not.

Camden wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:

Camden wrote:We've also been without Jeff Teague and Nemanja Bjelica for a handful of games. Every team has injuries, but we're thin as it is. Those two would have made a difference somewhere in there.

I almost think Belly is more important then Teague at this point. The Wolves fell apart last season too when he went down.

BUT-

Denver is missing Jokic and Millsap
Utah - Gobert (I guess he is back) Exum and Joe Johnson

I don't see them blowing easy games. By easy I mean teams who lost 11 straight and are without their best player.

First and foremost, Teague is, by far, the better player between the two, and with him out it means that Brooks falls into the rotation, and he's Shabazz Muhammad level atrocious. That's been a double-edged sword right there.

No disrespect to you, but how can you basically say the Nuggets aren't losing games against favorable opponents? Two weeks ago they got thrashed by the Lakers, not your dad's Showtime Lakers -- the Big Baller Brand Lakers, and last night they ran into the lottery-headed Mavericks and lost by 20. Last week they got beat by 30 against Utah, who as you said isn't at full strength. Those are worse losses than any of the ones we've had and we've had some frustrating defeats.

And prior to this six-game winning streak from Utah, they were 2-8 in their last 10 games with opponents like the Nets, Knicks, and Heat. Snyder is an excellent coach and I expect them to stay in the playoff hunt, but do I think they're better than the Wolves? I vehemently do not.

True and Jokic and Millsap are out. That's like saying Butler and KAT are out. We saw what happened when only Butler was missing.

I also said that Denver was the one team we could maybe finish ahead of. Though I haven't kept that close of their most recent games, But again, missing their two best players, that hurts.

Oh and they beat Memphis.

I was thinking of this thread this morning. All Denver needs to do is sweep the Wolves these last 2 and the Wolves will finish dead last in their division and miss the playoffs. Seems more then likely at this point.

Time to fire Thibs.

WolvesFan21 wrote:I was thinking of this thread this morning. All Denver needs to do is sweep the Wolves these last 2 and the Wolves will finish dead last in their division and miss the playoffs. Seems more then likely at this point.

Time to fire Thibs.

I feel fairly confident the Wolves will win one of those games. Why? Denver can't guard anyone either.

Time to fire Mike Malone?

monsterpile wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:I was thinking of this thread this morning. All Denver needs to do is sweep the Wolves these last 2 and the Wolves will finish dead last in their division and miss the playoffs. Seems more then likely at this point.

Time to fire Thibs.

I feel fairly confident the Wolves will win one of those games. Why? Denver can't guard anyone either.

Time to fire Mike Malone?

Interestingly, doesn't Mike Malone have some similar traits to the Wolves coach... and one of the concerns was his act wearing thin on the players?

As for the games. Yes... a 139 - 136 game seems to be on the horizon.