Minnesota Sports Forum

I know I am not alone in this thinking. Cam, LST, Mael, Q, markku, and many others, even Abe, have put forth perspectives and/or analytics to support the concept the Wolves should be good. They should make the playoffs.

There is a lot of time left in the season. At some point, something will tip the scales in the Wolves favor and many of these shoulda / woulda / coulda games will land in the win column. The return of Bud and Turiaf might be enough to get the ball rolling, although we might endure an adjustment period as they mesh into the rotation.

But once it happens, maybe all this talk of relocation, GM incompetence and over-analyzing the team's flaws will fall by the wayside...

Maybe.

Or, the proverbial dam breaks and friction over too many tight losses causes this team to fall apart.

With this team... I'm not willing to venture a guess which way it goes. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes in either direction.

Youre right Tim. Looking at the standings and seeing our +4.0 point differential should put us ahead of Houston as we're the only misfit in that whole category. Now GS is on a 9 game win streak. Are we next? I don't think this team has it.

Bud and Ronny will help but I'm pretty sure we'll never be 100% healthy. I'm just hoping for the annual Bogut injury, the Jailblazers and Suns to come back down to earth, then maybe we can put together some kind of winning streak to jump back in this race.

BizarroJerry wrote:Youre right Tim. Looking at the standings and seeing our +4.0 point differential should put us ahead of Houston as we're the only misfit in that whole category. Now GS is on a 9 game win streak. Are we next? I don't think this team has it.

Bud and Ronny will help but I'm pretty sure we'll never be 100% healthy. I'm just hoping for the annual Bogut injury, the Jailblazers and Suns to come back down to earth, then maybe we can put together some kind of winning streak to jump back in this race.

Minnesota is 9.5 games behind Portland. Only 6.5 games ahead of the worst team in the Western Conference.

You talk about an annual injury... even if the Wolves don't lose a key guy like Love to an injury... they are a lot closer to the bottom of the league than the top.

60WinTim wrote:I know I am not alone in this thinking. Cam, LST, Mael, Q, markku, and many others, even Abe, have put forth perspectives and/or analytics to support the concept the Wolves should be good. They should make the playoffs.

There is a lot of time left in the season. At some point, something will tip the scales in the Wolves favor and many of these shoulda / woulda / coulda games will land in the win column. The return of Bud and Turiaf might be enough to get the ball rolling, although we might endure an adjustment period as they mesh into the rotation.

But once it happens, maybe all this talk of relocation, GM incompetence and over-analyzing the team's flaws will fall by the wayside...

Where are all these "analytics" that are being "put forth" by anyone besides me?

And we can use all the analytics and stats til were blue in the face to explain our losses. But it's painfully obvious to everyone-our bench can't score and we can't close. An equally shared responsibility between GM, Coach and players.

I think we are one good move away from being good. If we can figure out how to improve the bench without giving up a starter that would be huge. It would be a nice to have a backup SG. Courtney Lee would have been great for this team. I am sure we could have had him if we wanted him. Gary Neal would be a good backup and spot starter.

BizarroJerry wrote:And we can use all the analytics and stats til were blue in the face to explain our losses. But it's painfully obvious to everyone-our bench can't score and we can't close. An equally shared responsibility between GM, Coach and players.

Couldn't agree more. Reality is we are underperforming and need more talent. Even if the scales tip we are maxing out as a 7 seed. I know that is a vast improvement, but it will be short lived unless there is further promise of improvement moving forward.

bleedspeed177 wrote:I think we are one good move away from being good. If we can figure out how to improve the bench without giving up a starter that would be huge. It would be a nice to have a backup SG. Courtney Lee would have been great for this team. I am sure we could have had him if we wanted him. Gary Neal would be a good backup and spot starter.

I agree. Moving players with weak analytics for players with strong analytics is a strong move. The SAC trade is a perfect example. If MIN includes Shved/Cunningham/one or two 2nd rounders, and SAC includes Outlaw/Ferdette, that's a strong trade. Then LRMaM plays Cunningham's minutes, Outlaw plays Williams minutes, and Jimmer plays Shved's minutes. When you lose 8 games by 4 or less, it doesn't take much. And then Chase comes back, and that's your contender.

Tim, I tend to agree with you. If we are not on the precipice of being good, then we are in the precipice of being a serious disappointment.