Minnesota Sports Forum

Situations seem similar.

New coach+new players that all fit what the new coach wants to do.

I think we are underestimating the Flip factor this year.

PatrickBateman wrote:Situations seem similar.

New coach+new players that all fit what the new coach wants to do.

I think we are underestimating the Flip factor this year.

what does the coach want to do?

I see little similarity...

Suns had a rookie head coach, Wolves have a proven, veteran head coach.

While I wouldn't call the Suns an old team, they sure didn't have the boatload of youngin's the Wolves have.

And the Suns didn't even make the playoffs. The Wolves are making the playoffs! :)

60WinTim wrote:I see little similarity...

Suns had a rookie head coach, Wolves have a proven, veteran head coach.

While I wouldn't call the Suns an old team, they sure didn't have the boatload of youngin's the Wolves have.

And the Suns didn't even make the playoffs. The Wolves are making the playoffs! :)

Flip hasn't coached in a while. The league's grown since his last tenure. I think he'll adapt and be fine with the changes, but I think the point was that it's a new coach, even if he's coached here before.

PHO: Frye (30), Green (28), Tucker (28), Dragic (27), Plumlee (25), Morris (24), Morris (24), Goodwin (19)

MIN: Martin (31), Williams (31), Pekovic (28), Brewer (28), Young (26), Budinger (26), Dieng (24), Rubio (23), Wiggins (19)

I'm not saying the Wolves will or won't make the playoffs, but I've remained consistent in thinking they win 35-40 games at least. No way do I see us losing under 30 like most on here. I do believe we'll be much better than people think so that alone probably makes us a "surprise team" like the Suns.

I like the optimism and its not wildly unrealistic. If the team gells well then they could surprise but I think the biggest factor is DEPTH. If the Wolves actually have 9 solid rotation guys (hasn't happened since WCF run) then they might make things interesting like the Suns. There is potential for that to happen but we will see. I'll be happy with a 40 win season being my ceiling and be surprised and THRILLED if it happens. I'm not saying I will be shocked if this team wins somewhere in the 45 win range because there is talent but there are too many unknowns to plan for anything more than maybe mid 30's.

Phoenix was an anomaly. Nearly every guy on that team had a career year offensively. They went from 29th to 8th in offensive rating. I've seen teams transform defensively due to a coaching change, but this is the first team I have seen take such a dramatic leap as a collective offense without major personnel changes. Sure, Bledsoe helped a bit, but it was mostly existing players having career years under a new coach.

Q, don't you think it's possible that Rubio, Young, Pekovic and even Budinger produce career years next season? Add in the year-to-year improvement from Dieng and the upgrade from Barea-to-Williams at backup point guard, Shved(?)-to-Brewer/Martin as backup SG as well as Cunningham-to-Bennett at backup PF and there's plenty of rotation spots that are getting better for whatever reason. Was Phoenix an anomaly? Sure, but I thought last year our team was better than theirs and I believe this year's team will be too.

Camden0916 wrote:Q, don't you think it's possible that Rubio, Young, Pekovic and even Budinger produce career years next season? Add in the year-to-year improvement from Dieng and the upgrade from Barea-to-Williams at backup point guard, Shved(?)-to-Brewer/Martin as backup SG as well as Cunningham-to-Bennett at backup PF and there's plenty of rotation spots that are getting better for whatever reason. Was Phoenix an anomaly? Sure, but I thought last year our team was better than theirs and I believe this year's team will be too.

We are winning Cam over he said Bennett is better than Dante!!!!!!! Lol Sorry Cam I couldn't help it. Lol

Camden wrote:Q, don't you think it's possible that Rubio, Young, Pekovic and even Budinger produce career years next season? Add in the year-to-year improvement from Dieng and the upgrade from Barea-to-Williams at backup point guard, Shved(?)-to-Brewer/Martin as backup SG as well as Cunningham-to-Bennett at backup PF and there's plenty of rotation spots that are getting better for whatever reason. Was Phoenix an anomaly? Sure, but I thought last year our team was better than theirs and I believe this year's team will be too.

While I can certainly see a couple of guys having good years, I don't see the same phenomenon of multiple veterans having career years like Phoenix last year.

Rubio - yes - I could see him having a career year.
Brewer - no - last year was his career year. No way can he replicate the same level of efficiency without Love in the mix.
Budinger - Not sure if I can see him having a career year, but I definitely think he can have his best year with us (and hopefully come close to what he was doing in Houston).
Williams - He's more likely to start declining given his age.
Martin - Same thing as Williams.
Pekovic - At 28, I'm not sure how much better he can get. However, if he simply can just play 65+ games, I'll count that as a career year.
Young - Young had his career years with Philly when he came off the bench. If he's starting for us, I don't see the same level of efficiency or impact. If he comes off the bench as a super-sub, perhaps he can match his best years in Philly. But I doubt that he actually exceeds those seasons.
Dieng - Yes, he should be better than last season, but I don't know by how much. Remember, he was an older rookie.

Then there is Wiggins, LaVine, and Bennett. All of those guys are most likely going to be net liabilities because, well, their rookies (and I still consider Bennett a rookie after last year's disaster). So assuming Flip wants to develop these guys, he has to play them, which probably won't be good for short-term team success.

I stand by my estimate of 25-35 wins, with my own personal opinion being that they end up on the low side of that range due to injuries to key players and a reliance on the rookies.

The Wolves finished 40-42 under Flip in the 1996-97 season with Marbury as a rookie after 1 year of college and KG as a second year NBA player out of high school. Not much else to speak of on that team. I understand that was a different time and arguably a weaker Conference than today. But I think it's fair to look at that result as a benchmark for what's reasonably possible this season with the following key roster players:

1. Ricky Rubio - A very good young vet PG. Probably the best passing PG, one of the best defensive OGs and an excellent rebounder at his position.

2. Pekovic - A top 5 center when healthy. Probability the second or third best low post scorer after Al Jefferson and Dwight Howard. A vet still in his prime who produces 17 and 9 nearly every game.

3. Derrick Martin - One of the top three-point shooters and foul shooters in the League.

4. Wiggins - An elite rookie talent with more basketball experience than KG when he came into the League

5. LaVine - another elite rookie talent who, in addition to being an exceptional athlete, proved to be a very good perimeter shooter hitting 37.5% from behind the arc in college

6. Dieng - A talented 2nd year big man who already showed elite NBA rebounding and shot blocking ability last season as a rookie.

7. Shabazz - A hard working, talented scorer entering his second NBA season.