Minnesota Sports Forum

I mentioned in another post that we appear on the right path towards contending for a championship. I know I'm getting a million steps ahead of myself - but as a fan, I'm allowed to do that. It's up to the players to stay level headed and not get ahead of things.

But there seem to be so many things pointing in the right direction.

So far, I think we've seen three key pieces for the path towards contention. 1) Towns looks absolutely legit anchoring the defence in the middle, 2) Wiggins looks to have a Beast Mode to engage in the 4th and win games at the end and 3) Lavine looks to be on the right path towards fulfilling his immense potential as a basketball player (I'll take it regardless of whether it's PG or SG).

I can't believe I didn't mention Rubio as one of the 3 keys there as I thought he was probably still the most important piece for us when the season started. And in addition to those three I think there are other things all pointing in the right direction as well - but I'll leave those for now and see if other raise them. So in this thread I'm look for a comment on whether you think we're genuinely on the right path (or why you think Rebuild version27 may stall), and what are the three keys you see to support that.

I agree with your 3. I really believe that we have the main pieces in place already.

Wiggins and towns are good enough talent to make us championship contenders if the reach their full potential. Their skills and personalities just fit together. The key will be the supporting casts and the coaching staff.

Lavine is a keeper and I believe in rubio but he has got to stay on the court. If we can add a starting caliber pf and terrific role players who can shoot and defend and the right coaching staff then we are going to be dangerous in a few years.

key no.1 get legit POBO who then sign legit coach .. problem solved :-) ..

I hope Glen can stumble into a good POBO hire and I prefer he lets Milton stay. I believe in, as Milton seems to, Flips personnel vision and would hate for someone to come in and do anything drastic or stupid. That's my biggest worry at this point.

Yup, it certainly feels like the main pillars are in place. Good health, good coaching, and the right role players are the three major keys once you get your A-list talent on the roster.

As for Rubio, it's a GOOD thing when he's not the main reason for us winning games. That means others are stepping up and elevating their games. I love Ricky, but we don't want him to be the best player on our team.

One other thing to keep in mind is to take a look at who is leading the team in Net Rating (Offensive Rating - Defensive Rating while on the court):

Rubio - +8.3
Prince - +6.4
Garnett - +4.9
Miller - +4.8

Zach and Wiggins are barely positive and Towns is a very slight negative. Muhammed has the worst net rating of the guys that play regularly.

Now granted, none of those vets would have plus ratings if they were the ones relied upon to score points and manufacture shots. But still.....the 8-8 record isn't just a result of our young guys improving. The vets are having a HUGE influence and Mitchell has been pretty damn masterful in terms of how he blends them in.

We've got a great thing going for now, but ultimately I'd rather see KAT and Wiggins, along with Rubio, on that top list of +/- numbers.

P.S. Amazing that Rubio always finds himself atop these sorts of lists, despite the nagging injuries and crappy shooting.