Britt Robson with a new Wolves article, he clearly gets it

[BloopOracle]

I see his articles posted a lot here but for some reason this one wasn't posted....



https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2017/01/was-sacrificing-wins-order-let-big-3-mature-thibs-plan-wolves-all-along

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Good article. Thanks for sharing.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Yep, thanks for that Bloop...agree with him or not, Robson needs to be required reading material for all serious Wolves fans. He has a passion for the team more like a fan than a writer, seems to generally have a good feel for the game, and is invariably highly readable. What's interesting to me about this article is his take that playing his starters so many minutes is an indication that he is taking the long view. It seems to me that it might be easier to make the argument that leading the league in starters minutes is a commitment to winning now. Interesting...same fact, totally different interpretations.

It's fun to watch Robson at games...he glances over at Thibs a lot. I think his thoughts are pretty clear in his tweet during last night's game: "credit@APkrawczinski with asking Thibs tough question- are his sideline antics contributing to negativity of team--in last night's postgame". The media certainly thinks this is a relevant topic...right or wrong.

AP guy later tweeted that he meant no disrespect, but felt that he had to ask the question. I think most of us here agree that Jon K is a pretty astute and balanced guy, and not one to seek controversy...so I was surprised that he went there. To be fair, he also tweeted that the players dismissed it and said they just needed to "lock in", but does any reasonable person think that any one of our players would say Thibs' antics are bugging them, even if they were?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

The only person I think it would bother is Wiggins because he has always seemed on the softer side to me.

LaVine not only has a father who played NFL football and has pushed him pretty hard (videos of their workouts hint towards this), but he seems to feed off the aggressively-mannered Thibs and has a good relationship with him already. Would anyone disagree with that?

Towns excelled in his freshman year at Kentucky and a big reason why was Coach Calipari. Have you ever watched a Wildcat game? He's pretty tough on his guys and tends to force them to play his way. Examples of this are containing Anthony Davis', Julius Randle's, and Towns' perimeter games and making them operate in the post. He also made Devin Booker and Jamal Murray work off-ball even though one could argue that they're more dangerous with the rock. I'm pretty sure Towns can handle a coach that forces him to play a certain way.

Can we please stop acting like our players can't handle Thibs' attitude and aggressiveness. It sounds soft and it makes our players sound even softer.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

The only person I think it would bother is Wiggins because he has always seemed on the softer side to me.

LaVine not only has a father who played NFL football and has pushed him pretty hard (videos of their workouts hint towards this), but he seems to feed off the aggressively-mannered Thibs and has a good relationship with him already. Would anyone disagree with that?

Towns excelled in his freshman year at Kentucky and a big reason why was Coach Calipari. Have you ever watched a Wildcat game? He's pretty tough on his guys and tends to force them to play his way. Examples of this are containing Anthony Davis', Julius Randle's, and Towns' perimeter games and making them operate in the post. He also made Devin Booker and Jamal Murray work off-ball even though one could argue that they're more dangerous with the rock. I'm pretty sure Towns can handle a coach that forces him to play a certain way.

Can we please stop acting like our players can't handle Thibs' attitude and aggressiveness. It sounds soft and it makes our players sound even softer.

Yeah, I agree that Zach is the best match for a coach like Thibs...and the stats support this as Zach is the only player who has improved this year under Thibs.
As for your last paragraph, I'll give my observation based on the games I have been to this year. I don't see it as a question of the players being soft in responding to Thibs' sideline demeanor...it's more that they are distracted by his barking. I see it mostly with KAT, who often seems to miss a play because he is looking over his shoulder to try to hear what Thibs is screaming. The player whom I see second most affected in a negative way by Thibs' micromanagement is Rubio. I view Ricky as a guy who is at his best when he is playing instinctively and with joy...there have only been a few times when I have seen the old Ricky this year, and I think that as a big factor in his downturn this year.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Ricky's "joy" declined ever since Adelman took over so I'm not buying that Thibs is the problem there either.

[thedoper]

I think Ricky's joy started to diminish when he realized that he couldn't just walk on a NBA court and dominate. Teams have caught on as of a while ago yet every season he's failed to get stronger or work on his shot. Eventually these practices catch up to you. For someone that gets a reputation of maximum effort it puzzled me how that doesn't translate to the weight room or off-season shooting.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Good article. We are definitely living and dying with our big three, although it's not like Mitchell wasn't relying on these guys quite a bit late last season. We won a LOT of close games in the final stretch:

Here are some close wins between February 22 and April 9 - basically a 6-week period of time:
Boston - 124-122
@New Orleans - 112-110
@OKC - 99-96
@Wizards - 132-129 in Double OT
@Golden State - 124-117 in OT
@Portland - 106-105

There were a few other close-ish wins too, but I am only counting the ones decided by 4 or less points or that went to OT.

Here is the deal: We were even younger then! Tyus was our backup PG, Payne and Muhammed were in the bench rotation. Yes, we still had Prince, but he was playing a very bit part by then.

How come this team chokes up so easily now versus last season - when these guys are all nearly a year older and wiser!?!

[thedoper]

Good article. We are definitely living and dying with our big three, although it's not like Mitchell wasn't relying on these guys quite a bit late last season. We won a LOT of close games in the final stretch:

Here are some close wins between February 22 and April 9 - basically a 6-week period of time:
Boston - 124-122
@New Orleans - 112-110
@OKC - 99-96
@Wizards - 132-129 in Double OT
@Golden State - 124-117 in OT
@Portland - 106-105

There were a few other close-ish wins too, but I am only counting the ones decided by 4 or less points or that went to OT.

Here is the deal: We were even younger then! Tyus was our backup PG, Payne and Muhammed were in the bench rotation. Yes, we still had Prince, but he was playing a very bit part by then.

How come this team chokes up so easily now versus last season - when these guys are all nearly a year older and wiser!?!

KAT is missing KGs mentorship. In all honesty I would love a KG or Prince interview about the state of the Wolves this year. I think they'd have some great insight.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Good article. We are definitely living and dying with our big three, although it's not like Mitchell wasn't relying on these guys quite a bit late last season. We won a LOT of close games in the final stretch:

Here are some close wins between February 22 and April 9 - basically a 6-week period of time:
Boston - 124-122
@New Orleans - 112-110
@OKC - 99-96
@Wizards - 132-129 in Double OT
@Golden State - 124-117 in OT
@Portland - 106-105

There were a few other close-ish wins too, but I am only counting the ones decided by 4 or less points or that went to OT.

Here is the deal: We were even younger then! Tyus was our backup PG, Payne and Muhammed were in the bench rotation. Yes, we still had Prince, but he was playing a very bit part by then.

How come this team chokes up so easily now versus last season - when these guys are all nearly a year older and wiser!?!

Come on, Q, we answered this one last week...it's Jordan Hill! Try to keep up...

Seriously though, good summary of the Wolves' resilience and ability to win close games the second half of last season. It shows why we had so much optimism coming into this season. I thought I remembered that we were tough at the end of games, but I had forgotten the specifics...some pretty good opponents there too.