The Soft Tank is On

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I'm convinced that the Wolves are executing what is essentially a soft tanking strategy under the auspices of player development and injury prevention. Or I suppose a more positive way to say it that they are prioritizing player development and health preservation, thus wins are taking a back seat.

- Ricky Rubio is the Wolves best player, until someone else proves otherwise. He played 23 minutes tonight in a game that was within reach until the midway point of the 4th quarter.

- Zach LaVine is not a PG. Corey Brewer might have better PG instincts than Zach. Yet he played nearly as many minutes as the 10th best PG in the NBA.

- Shabazz Muhammed played 7 minutes in the first half despite being our most productive player that half and the rest of the offense sputtering.

- Andre Miller steps on the court and - voila! - he's a +9 in the span of 4 minutes.

I can't explain it any other way other than clearly the team is pining for another high lottery pick again.

[60WinTim]

I'm not ready to buy into the soft tanking just yet. It's important for a coach to not make knee jerk changes. Sam went into the season with a plan, and he needed to stick with it for X games to give it a reasonable chance to succeed. I don't know how many games X is, but some of those rotations in the 4th, such as limited minutes for Ricky, makes me wonder if X equals 4...

[TAFKASP]

It could be tanking, or it could just be stupid.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I'm not ready to buy into the soft tanking just yet. It's important for a coach to not make knee jerk changes. Sam went into the season with a plan, and he needed to stick with it for X games to give it a reasonable chance to succeed. I don't know how many games X is, but some of those rotations in the 4th, such as limited minutes for Ricky, makes me wonder if X equals 4...

That's ironic since he made a knee-jerk decision to start Zach at SG a week into camp, then made another knee-jerk decision to move Wiggins to the 2 and Zach to backup PG about one week later!

The reason I wouldn't consider moving Zach back to the bench as a SG a knee-jerk decision is because we've seen this movie before. It's not like Zach is still getting his feet wet at PG. He had plenty of time last season to prove to all of us that it's a position he can't play! And Mitchell had a front row seat!

[Coolbreeze44]

I don't see a plan. I see conflicting strategy that WILL SURELY result in us getting a high lottery pick, but I'm not going to give them the credit for having any sort of plan.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Here's the deal... the Wolves are playing with proverbial house money.

There's goodwill with Wiggins and Towns as our cornerstone pieces. In fact, there's more optimistic long-term potential talk than I can remember since the Marbury/Garnett era. Last year the Wolves were rewarded for a "lost" season due to injuries. So there's that.

Then, you have Flip's death. That one hit the fanbase hard too. And that gives the Wolves a convenient excuse for yet another "lost" season. Nobody is going to complain too hard if the team struggles with a makeshift front office and coaching staff after Flip's death. It's almost expected that the Wolves will struggle.

Sure, the fanbase will be frustrated with another 60 loss season. But it's not like it's running to the hills considering the seemingly bright future and unfortunate circumstances around the team.

Long live the perils of rooting for a cellar dweller in the NBA.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Here's the deal... the Wolves are playing with proverbial house money.

There's goodwill with Wiggins and Towns as our cornerstone pieces. In fact, there's more optimistic long-term potential talk than I can remember since the Marbury/Garnett era. Last year the Wolves were rewarded for a "lost" season due to injuries. So there's that.

Then, you have Flip's death. That one hit the fanbase hard too. And that gives the Wolves a convenient excuse for yet another "lost" season. Nobody is going to complain too hard if the team struggles with a makeshift front office and coaching staff after Flip's death. It's almost expected that the Wolves will struggle.

Sure, the fanbase will be frustrated with another 60 loss season. But it's not like it's running to the hills considering the seemingly bright future and unfortunate circumstances around the team.

Long live the perils of rooting for a cellar dweller in the NBA.

Indeed, the coals of hope burn for a long time, don't they?

[mjs34]

Don't know if anyone has read this -

Ira Winderman: Sam Mitchell on young 'Wolves, "Let's give these guys three years to develop and gain some 'man weight.' "
- via Twitter IraHeatBeat

Three years and you will be looking for new fan base, or another location, maybe both!

[mjs34]

Maybe it's time we stop coddling all our players and demand they actually earn those huge paychecks. If they aren't ready to play, stay in college. Having our coach give them an excuse (as well as himself) is not helping matters.

I don't see Terry Stotts asking for three years. Instead the blazers have jumped out to 4-2 playing to their strengths. Seems like some teams continue to win regardless of roster turnover and injuries, and others make excuses. Apparently the culture hasn't changed as much as we hoped, if at all.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

When Mitchell refers to "these guys", who is he referring to? Wiggins, LaVine, and Towns are really the only three in the rotation that I can see still needing some additional weight and strength, but everyone else is fully matured and they are what they are.

I also think that while LaVine is still pretty slender, he's a guard for crying out loud. How big and strong is Kevin Martin or Jeremy Lamb or Jamaal Crawford? Same goes for Wiggins, especially if he keeps playing the 2.

So in my book, Towns might be the only guy that needs to truly get stronger, especially if he keeps playing Center full-time. But even he isn't that far off. He's been man-handled a little bit less than I thought he would be.