I'm Back

[Lipoli390]

Ok, I'm not the MJ of sport message boards. :). I've enjoyed my time away from this Board, occasionally reading posts but not contributing. It's given me some perspective and time for other things. But I feel compelled to post again after last night's game against the Clippers. My wife and I arrived at the arena a bit late -- about 4 minutes into the 1st quarter. As we entered our section and started down the stairs we saw one of this year's biggest crowds standing and filling the arena with a deafening level of noise I haven't heard in a long, long time. We looked up at the scoreboard and noticed we were ahead something like 22-4. From the moment we entered the arena until the end of the game, the arena had a playoff feel to it. It was incredible and I knew at that point I had to return and share that experience with you guys.

Just a really, really fun game.

The Clippers are an easy team to hate -- a chippy group of whiners -- although I like Crawford. The Clippers tried to get physical and intimidate, but the Wolves were tougher. The Clippers got away with some characteristic flops and the Wolves had to overcome some pretty bad one-sided officiating, but our were highly adept at not getting suckered into bad fouls.

Another great defensive performance from our Wolves. I among those questioning Thibs the first half of the season, but there is no doubt in my mind that he's the reason this team is playing so well defensively and exhibited what I think has been some real mental and physical toughness. As typically happens with all the best head coaches in sports, college or professional, the Wolves are taking on the character of their head coach -- competitive, aggressive, tough and smart. They have become both more aggressive and smarter defensively.

Some things I really like about last night's game. Wiggins' shooting was terrible last night. But I love that he attacked offensively and got to the line 10 times. I love that he hit all 10 free throws. And I loved his defense. I don't think I've even seen him that aggressive on the defensive end before. I especially love that he got pissed after a hard foul and looked like he might go after the guy who fouled him - I think it was Bass but I can't remember. I still want to see more rebounds from Andrew, but I like his development and I have to remind myself that he's still only 21 years old. KAT was a beast and got us big buckets in the second half that we needed to re establish our lead and take back control of the game. Chris Dunn's defense was terrific again, but we saw some good stuff from him offensively as well -- hitting threes and making some nifty passes. Rubio continued to show why some of the best trades are the ones you don't make. Based on what we've seen since the trade deadline, I'm convinced he's part of this team's future. He controls the ball, makes his teammates better, rebounds and defends. He highly competitive, a great teammate and he wants to be here. Give Bazz minutes and he generally produces. He can score as we've always known. But he continues to play well defensively. His improvement on and commitment to that end of the floor has been tremendous.

Finally, I'll note that you can see a clear change in the relationship between Thibs and our players. During the first half of the season they seemed disconnected with Thibs screaming and most of the players looking shell-shocked or pissed. You don't see that in the players anymore. And Thibs reserves most of his tirades for the officials. Unbelievably, you now see Thibs occasionally patting a player on the back. I can tell you I never once saw him do that in all the home games. I saw the first half of the season. But I've seen it a number of times since the allstar break -- albeit still sparingly. :). During a timeout in the 4th quarter last night, Thibs patted all the starters as they came off the court -- giving the biggest pats to Ricky and Gorgui.

I won't speculate on whether the Wolves will make the playoffs this season. We're only 2.5 games behind Denver, but we have two other teams ahead of us chasing Denver and we have a really tough schedule as everyone on this Board knows. But I love the way we're playing and I like that we're finishing strong. If we don't make the playoffs this season, I'm certain (barring major injury) that we will next season and last night's game was a reminder of how fun Target Center will be when we do.

[Coolbreeze44]

Alright Lip! Great to have you back.

[kekgeek]

Good report and welcome back. The band is getting back together.

[Monster]

Its good to see game reports again from you and others.

[TAFKASP]

Good to have you back Lip!

Regarding Rubio, I still believe Thibs is going to move him this offseason. In fact I think the odds are increased by how Rubio is playing as it should help create a better return. I'm not saying I agree with it or not, I just feel like he doesn't see Rubio as his kind of PG.

[60WinTim]

Great to see you back, Lip! And great to see the positivity on so many fronts!

And here is a Thibs' quote from last night:

Jon Krawczynski?Verified account @APkrawczynski 10h10 hours ago
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Thibs said last night Wolves have made "a quantum leap" defensively. He caught himself and then added they have a long ways to go.

[60WinTim]

Good to have you back Lip!

Regarding Rubio, I still believe Thibs is going to move him this offseason. In fact I think the odds are increased by how Rubio is playing as it should help create a better return. I'm not saying I agree with it or not, I just feel like he doesn't see Rubio as his kind of PG.

Not to say a trade won't happen, but here is Thibs' quote on Rubio last night:

Jon Krawczynski?Verified account @APkrawczynski 5h5 hours ago
More
Thibs on Rubio: "He's playing at a very, very high level. It's not only what he's doing individually, it's what he's doing for the team."

[TAFKASP]

Good to have you back Lip!

Regarding Rubio, I still believe Thibs is going to move him this offseason. In fact I think the odds are increased by how Rubio is playing as it should help create a better return. I'm not saying I agree with it or not, I just feel like he doesn't see Rubio as his kind of PG.

Not to say a trade won't happen, but here is Thibs' quote on Rubio last night:

Jon Krawczynski?Verified account @APkrawczynski 5h5 hours ago
More
Thibs on Rubio: "He's playing at a very, very high level. It's not only what he's doing individually, it's what he's doing for the team."

Maybe he's coming around, I'll still be shocked if Rubio is on the team to open next season, much less at the end of next season. The other question that is far from answered is Rubio's scoring finally coming around, or will he trend back to his norm once again?

[worldK]

Welcome back. Like they say, Winning cures everything.

[Lipoli390]

Good to have you back Lip!

Regarding Rubio, I still believe Thibs is going to move him this offseason. In fact I think the odds are increased by how Rubio is playing as it should help create a better return. I'm not saying I agree with it or not, I just feel like he doesn't see Rubio as his kind of PG.

I wouldn't bet you on that SP. I think it's clear that Thibs has been entertaining offers for Ricky, but I think it's equally clear Thibs is content to keep him unless he gets the right offer as evidenced by the fact he hasn't dealt him yet. And that's before Ricky really stepped up his game, including his shooting. Given Ricky's team-first approach to the game and his relatively reasonable contract, I could easily see Thibs keeping Ricky for the remaining two years of his contract and perhaps beyond. But like you, I could easily see him moving Ricky this summer. Moving him might make sense, but as we all know it depends on what we get in return. IF nothing else, Ricky has certainly driven up his trade value the past few weeks. Could be an interesting summer.