Minnesota Sports Forum

... or bust!!

If none of the players have knees or backs or ankles go bust this team could well be a .500 team this IMO. *Am I nutz?

*Yes I know, I'm nutz, but I'm asking is the above specifically nutz?

Can't see them playing .500 ball until they have a half season to mesh together. With good health maybe they can play above .500 the 2nd half of the season. But the first 40 could be rough.

I think that should be the goal, I'm not sure they reach it. Towns is going to have some growing pains. I hope people are patient with him. He won't be Bennett bad as a rookie, but I also don't think he will be Wiggins like as a rookie. Long term he will bear out as a good pick, but realistically I think it will take him a year or two. Wiggins will improve but he is still young. Rubio and Pek are health concerns. With youth and injury concerns it's going to be hard to finish .500 in the west.

IMO Towns offense will take time to fully develop, but his rim-protection should be pretty immediate. With the depth this team has if a starting group of Rubio, Lavine, Wiggins, KG, and Towns can get a little lead the depth should be able to maintain it. And on nights when the starters are off their game there is enough offense on the bench to pick them up.

I just think unless the curse of the great white mope remains they should be a very challenging team!

Well, I consider .500 to be the floor... ;-)

TheSP wrote:IMO Towns offense will take time to fully develop, but his rim-protection should be pretty immediate. With the depth this team has if a starting group of Rubio, Lavine, Wiggins, KG, and Towns can get a little lead the depth should be able to maintain it. And on nights when the starters are off their game there is enough offense on the bench to pick them up.

I just think unless the curse of the great white mope remains they should be a very challenging team!

I think his defense will take time as well. He can't play overly aggressive like he did in college. He is playing on an even playing field now. I also think he will get pushed around a bit physically which is to be expected as a 19 year old going against men in their physical primes. Towns will be good, but I don't think he will be great enough as a rookie to propel a 16 win team to a 41 win team.

I'd think 30 wins or maybe even 35 with a bit of luck would be a nice stepping stone for the team. I don't think they were really as bad as their record last season. But I don't think they're good yet either.

Improvement is always good. More so than the wins and losses... I think it's important for Wiggins to show improvement. LaVine. And Towns throughout the season.

And maybe... in Year 5... we'll finally figure out if Rubio's ceiling has been reached or if he can be more than he's been.

TRKO wrote:

TheSP wrote:IMO Towns offense will take time to fully develop, but his rim-protection should be pretty immediate. With the depth this team has if a starting group of Rubio, Lavine, Wiggins, KG, and Towns can get a little lead the depth should be able to maintain it. And on nights when the starters are off their game there is enough offense on the bench to pick them up.

I just think unless the curse of the great white mope remains they should be a very challenging team!

I think his defense will take time as well. He can't play overly aggressive like he did in college. He is playing on an even playing field now. I also think he will get pushed around a bit physically which is to be expected as a 19 year old going against men in their physical primes. Towns will be good, but I don't think he will be great enough as a rookie to propel a 16 win team to a 41 win team.

His all around defensive game will take time to fully mature, but given the total lack of rim protection on this team in recent memory he cannot help but improve the team defense from the get go.

I also don't expect Towns to be responsible for moving the team from 16 to 41 wins. This team is going to get Rubio, KG, and likely Pek back to varying degrees along with hopeful improvement of their other young players. My 41 win expectation as stated is dependent upon good health, which I know is a big if. On the other hand they not only had draft lottery luck for the first time in their history, they also got the top pick in a year when their was at least one franchise quality player. Historically you could project the number of impact player by taking the Wolves pick and subtracting one. Their draft/lottery luck changed, time for the poor health monkey to get off their back too!

This team should definitely be over 500 next year. This was not a 16 win roster last year, probably closer to 30.

BizarroJerry wrote:This team should definitely be over 500 next year. This was not a 16 win roster last year, probably closer to 30.

Exactly! If the Wolves had only league average health last year they win 30 IMO.