ESPN ranks us...well, just read it

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

It's a rainy day here in Minneapolis, so I might as well post ESPN's pre-season rankings for the Western Conference. They only unveiled 11-15 today, but once again we don't have to wait long to find out where we stand...they have us dead last again.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13431835/2015-summer-forecast-west-standings

I think this is a pile of crap. Well, at least they have us improving 8 games.

Too early to fire up the 2016 draft thread to talk about who we should target with the first pick? This Skal Labissiere kid looks pretty solid to me.

[Carlos Danger]

I don't know. I think predicting the Wolves to improve but still be shitty is reasonable isn't it? I know most of us are hoping for better i.e. close to .500. But since we were the worst team in the NBA last year, I can certainly understand why outsiders would assume we'll still be bad until we prove otherwise.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

clearly haters. Yet I think every year fans think the outside has them too low, and the outside has been right pretty much all the time

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

clearly haters. Yet I think every year fans think the outside has them too low, and the outside has been right pretty much all the time

There's no question that year after year most of us (and I am certainly guilty here) vastly overstate how the Wolves are going to do. It's odd, because I almost always nail the Vikings and Twins W/L record within a reasonable margin of error, so I'm not a completely hopeless homer. With the Wolves it's different though. And the reason many of us are so far off in forecasting the Wolves' record is obvious...their ridiculous injury history the past three years.

Here's what Flip has on his roster this year: The last three #1 picks (yes, I know AB doesn't play like it), 3 other recent lottery picks (Rubio, Shabazz and LaVine) plus two guys who were selected just out of the lottery (Payne and Dieng), the reigning Euroleague MVP, a PF who despite being past his prime is still a top 50 player of all time, and a SG who averaged 20PPG last year and 39% on threes. And I'm not even counting Pek and Miller. If Flip can't win at least 40 games with that roster, he should be tarred and feathered!

ESPN's forecast will be accurate if at least half of our best players miss most of the season with injuries again, and maybe that assumption is built into their prediction...I wouldn't blame them if it was. But if we have a season with injuries typical of other teams, we will finish far ahead of every team ESPN ranks 11-15.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

clearly haters. Yet I think every year fans think the outside has them too low, and the outside has been right pretty much all the time

There's no question that year after year most of us (and I am certainly guilty here) vastly overstate how the Wolves are going to do. It's odd, because I almost always nail the Vikings and Twins W/L record within a reasonable margin of error, so I'm not a completely hopeless homer. With the Wolves it's different though. And the reason many of us are so far off in forecasting the Wolves' record is obvious...their ridiculous injury history the past three years.

Here's what Flip has on his roster this year: The last three #1 picks (yes, I know AB doesn't play like it), 3 other recent lottery picks (Rubio, Shabazz and LaVine) plus two guys who were selected just out of the lottery (Payne and Dieng), the reigning Euroleague MVP, a PF who despite being past his prime is still a top 50 player of all time, and a SG who averaged 20PPG last year and 39% on threes. And I'm not even counting Pek and Miller. If Flip can't win at least 40 games with that roster, he should be tarred and feathered!

ESPN's forecast will be accurate if at least half of our best players miss most of the season with injuries again, and maybe that assumption is built into their prediction...I wouldn't blame them if it was. But if we have a season with injuries typical of other teams, we will finish far ahead of every team ESPN ranks 11-15.

The problem is long, that your posting all the positives, but not acknowledging the negatives

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

clearly haters. Yet I think every year fans think the outside has them too low, and the outside has been right pretty much all the time

There's no question that year after year most of us (and I am certainly guilty here) vastly overstate how the Wolves are going to do. It's odd, because I almost always nail the Vikings and Twins W/L record within a reasonable margin of error, so I'm not a completely hopeless homer. With the Wolves it's different though. And the reason many of us are so far off in forecasting the Wolves' record is obvious...their ridiculous injury history the past three years.

Here's what Flip has on his roster this year: The last three #1 picks (yes, I know AB doesn't play like it), 3 other recent lottery picks (Rubio, Shabazz and LaVine) plus two guys who were selected just out of the lottery (Payne and Dieng), the reigning Euroleague MVP, a PF who despite being past his prime is still a top 50 player of all time, and a SG who averaged 20PPG last year and 39% on threes. And I'm not even counting Pek and Miller. If Flip can't win at least 40 games with that roster, he should be tarred and feathered!

ESPN's forecast will be accurate if at least half of our best players miss most of the season with injuries again, and maybe that assumption is built into their prediction...I wouldn't blame them if it was. But if we have a season with injuries typical of other teams, we will finish far ahead of every team ESPN ranks 11-15.

The problem is long, that your posting all the positives, but not acknowledging the negatives

True, but it's a heck of a list of positives...I don't think LA, Denver, Sac-town, and Portland can list so many positives, and they also have a lot of negatives.

But you're right that the Wolves have a lot of negatives too. Number one of course is their inability to stay healthy. If that continues, there's little reason to continue to follow this team. But even if they are healthy, the biggest issue is the lack of a reliable, young PF. KG will get minutes there, and there are several contenders, but mostly uncertainty. The third negative is Flip's coaching style...despite his denials, he seems to dislike the 3-point shot, and he doesn't seem to get much defensive success out of his teams. Finally, Ricky's inability to develop an effective jump shot or become an average finisher could continue to hold this team back. But if they can stay reasonably healthy, I still see them as a bottom playoff team even with the other 3 negatives. And if they can solve 1 or 2 of the other listed negatives, I think this team could be really good. I'm looking forward to the October wins prediction thread...maybe this will be the
year they actually live up to our predictions.

[Monster]

I didn't read it but I have no problem with the Wolves being put in the bott third of the league and then after that ranking the worst teams in the league...ugh that's tough to figure. The Wolves have the factors to be at least decent maybe even better but they won 16 games last year and have a ton of question marks. I have no problem with them being put at or near the bottom. Portland is a great example of where the heck do you put that team in the rankings?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I didn't read it but I have no problem with the Wolves being put in the bott third of the league and then after that ranking the worst teams in the league...ugh that's tough to figure. The Wolves have the factors to be at least decent maybe even better but they won 16 games last year and have a ton of question marks. I have no problem with them being put at or near the bottom. Portland is a great example of where the heck do you put that team in the rankings?

Monster, after losing 4 of their 5 starters from last year, Portland is going to start Plumlee, Ed Davis, Aminu, Henderson and Lillard. Lillard is a player, but I don't think he can carry a team on his back, and the other 4 starters only averaged 35 PPG between them last year. Frankly, I think a Wolves' second unit of Pek, Bjelica, Shabazz, Martin and Miller would play their starting unit fairly even! I see them battling all year with Denver for the cellar.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

I think that's good news for us. Low expectations is a gift.

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

clearly haters. Yet I think every year fans think the outside has them too low, and the outside has been right pretty much all the time

There's no question that year after year most of us (and I am certainly guilty here) vastly overstate how the Wolves are going to do. It's odd, because I almost always nail the Vikings and Twins W/L record within a reasonable margin of error, so I'm not a completely hopeless homer. With the Wolves it's different though. And the reason many of us are so far off in forecasting the Wolves' record is obvious...their ridiculous injury history the past three years.

Here's what Flip has on his roster this year: The last three #1 picks (yes, I know AB doesn't play like it), 3 other recent lottery picks (Rubio, Shabazz and LaVine) plus two guys who were selected just out of the lottery (Payne and Dieng), the reigning Euroleague MVP, a PF who despite being past his prime is still a top 50 player of all time, and a SG who averaged 20PPG last year and 39% on threes. And I'm not even counting Pek and Miller. If Flip can't win at least 40 games with that roster, he should be tarred and feathered!

ESPN's forecast will be accurate if at least half of our best players miss most of the season with injuries again, and maybe that assumption is built into their prediction...I wouldn't blame them if it was. But if we have a season with injuries typical of other teams, we will finish far ahead of every team ESPN ranks 11-15.

The problem is long, that your posting all the positives, but not acknowledging the negatives

True, but it's a heck of a list of positives...I don't think LA, Denver, Sac-town, and Portland can list so many positives, and they also have a lot of negatives.

But you're right that the Wolves have a lot of negatives too. Number one of course is their inability to stay healthy. If that continues, there's little reason to continue to follow this team. But even if they are healthy, the biggest issue is the lack of a reliable, young PF. KG will get minutes there, and there are several contenders, but mostly uncertainty. The third negative is Flip's coaching style...despite his denials, he seems to dislike the 3-point shot, and he doesn't seem to get much defensive success out of his teams. Finally, Ricky's inability to develop an effective jump shot or become an average finisher could continue to hold this team back. But if they can stay reasonably healthy, I still see them as a bottom playoff team even with the other 3 negatives. And if they can solve 1 or 2 of the other listed negatives, I think this team could be really good. I'm looking forward to the October wins prediction thread...maybe this will be the
year they actually live up to our predictions.

You guys are all crazy. There is simply NO CHANCE this team hits 40 wins. 30 is a steep stretch IMO. What I see on this team are no stars (with exception of perhaps Wiggins), and a bunch of mediocre depth. There is a reason the Euro League MVP is paid $4M per. And KG...seriously? Lavine...love his long-term potential, but he is a long way away from achieving stardom in this league. And why would you expect our "injury history" to get better? It is the same guys year in and year out getting hurt. I don't expect that to all the sudden magically change. Rubio is still a sissy who will sit 30+ games. Pek is still 330 lbs and working on bad legs. Martin, well, is Martin.

That being said, IF everyone stays healthy (won't happen), and IF Towns looks a million times better than he did in preseason, and IF guys like Shabbazz, Lavine, Rubio, etc all take major strides in their games....I would agree that 35 is possible. But I don't believe most of that stuff, so I am stuck at under 30.