Would it make us feel better if...

[Carlos Danger]

Denver wins out?

For me it sort of does. I mean, we knew we were not a top team. Our best case scenario was to win a playoff series. We didn't. But if it turns out we were bested by the NBA champs, I think I would feel more ok with the end result.

[thedoper]

Imagine if KAT improved year by year like Jokic? That would make me feel better.

[FNG]

No question about it, Anthony. In fact, we should already feel better about where we stand in the West after the most recent series against the Suns...a win in the next series will only strengthen that feeling. Many thought the Suns with Durant and Booker were the team to beat in the West, but Denver dispatched them 4-2 with 4 blowout double digit wins...the final two by a combined 41 points. While the Wolves only won one game, they were at least competitive in all but the first game, unlike the Suns. Denver is clearly the class of the West, and I don't think anyone can argue that the loaded Suns played them closer than we did. And who knows how the series would have turned out if our highest scoring reserve and a starter who many here think deserved to have made the all-defensive team been available.

Wolves brass has to be happy about the 6-3 record next year's expected starters put together at the end of the season...especially since 8 of those 9 games were against playoff teams. While there are still some unanswered questions about what our bench is going to consist of next season, it's easy to see why we are unlikely to break up a starting unit that showed they can play with anyone the last couple weeks of the season.

[AbeVigodaLive]

LOL.

For 34 seasons... many Timberwolves fans have talked themselves into things like this.

The NBA is not played in a vacuum. Bottom line: Denver beat Minnesota in 80% of the games. That's not close. Denver beat the Wolves by 29 points, 9 points, and 9 points to go up 3 - 0 in the series. Minnesota led in the 4th quarter of all those games for 30 seconds. That's not close.

The series was over at that point and the final two games were basically just for show... and for us to feel better about our team.

The truth is that the Wolves never really challenged Denver in any sort of meaningful way.

[WildWolf2813]

No, because if the Wolves handled their business, they wouldn't have played Denver at all. They woulda got Memphis

[Q-is-here]

No, because if the Wolves handled their business, they wouldn't have played Denver at all. They woulda got Memphis

That's kinda where I'm at. They lost me when they kept losing regular-season games to middling/inferior teams. It was absolutely maddening. And then when they played Denver, they showed us they weren't really ready to compete with a big-boy team. They are a .500-ish club until they prove otherwise.

[FNG]

LOL.

For 34 seasons... many Timberwolves fans have talked themselves into things like this.

The NBA is not played in a vacuum. Bottom line: Denver beat Minnesota in 80% of the games. That's not close. Denver beat the Wolves by 29 points, 9 points, and 9 points to go up 3 - 0 in the series. Minnesota led in the 4th quarter of all those games for 30 seconds. That's not close.

The series was over at that point and the final two games were basically just for show... and for us to feel better about our team.

The truth is that the Wolves never really challenged Denver in any sort of meaningful way.

Well, I will say that the last paragraph in no way represents the emotions of the Wolves' fans I watched the final three games with. It is certainly on brand though.

I suspect there are Wolves fans who have talked themselves into positive beliefs over the 34 seasons. I can assure you I'm not one of them. This has been a disastrous franchise, and there are only a few Wolves iterations I believed in before this season (and granted, unwisely so)...the Garnett years (with Marbury, and with Cassell et al) and the Butler season. While there have been elements of various rosters I have liked, I generally have never seen them as a team capable of making a meaningful challenge. I have been a harsh critic of the team since the DLo trade, because I found his defense appalling and chuckled at the pass we gave him for those rare times when he "got hot". Several on this board were excited when we won 46 games in 2021-22, but I consistently pointed out that season was fool's gold...I don't think we even won five games all season against over .500 teams that weren't missing one or more key players. I got excited when we (although an overpay) acquired Gobert, but while I thought it would lead us to 50+ wins, I didn't see a high enough ceiling with an unreliable Russell still starting at the point.

But then TC was able to unload Dlo while bringing back a PG with a winning pedigree along with a promising defensive wing...grand theft larceny. And for the first time since the KG days, I was able to actually have a conversation about a meaningful post-season. A key piece (KAT) was still out, but I was optimistic about what we could do when he returned. And the only sample of games we have (the final 9 games of the season) certainly justified my optimism. We went 6-3 against 7 playoff teams, and beat the Warriors and Kings back to back on their floors. And we looked damn good doing it (um...except for the Portland turd). I couldn't wait to see how we were going to play in the postseason.

But then we lost our (according to the prevailing opinion here) best defensive player (I still think it is Rudy, but nobody can argue that substituting NAW in the rotation for Jaden isn't a huge loss) and a bench player who was averaging almost 19 points a game in his 21 minutes his previous 10 games. And still, we played hard and were in every game except the first game flop. I'm assuming you didn't watch the final two games of the series because, as you said, "the series was over at that point and the final two games were basically just for show". I can understand that feeling, because I skipped a lot of games during the 2021-22 season when we were basically playing G League teams...life is too short, and why waste our time on games that don't mean anything. But if you had watched them, you would have seen a team that was on the verge of beating a Denver team that is the favorite to win the West on their own court in Game 5...and nobody who watched that game would say that Denver mailed their performance in.

I'm glad you got a chuckle out of my post...I like being an entertaining guy. And I admit I get a chuckle out of many of your posts...I always imagine you as an old guy on his porch shaking his fist at the teenagers riding their bikes across his lawn. And I do think you play that curmudgeon role for humor most of the time, and it is funny. But sometimes the constant pessimism gets a little tiresome, and refusing to recognize how good this team looked during the final two weeks when they finally had the starting lineup I hope (and expect) they have next year, and saying games 4 and 5 of the playoffs were just for show (when most of us here were probably glued to their TVs) is one of those tiresome moments.

So that's why I answered the question Carlos teed up in this thread in a positive way, because I am quite optimistic about what this roster can do. Now, go outside and give those bike-riding kids a cool glass of lemonade!

Edit: now that I went back and reread the Game 5 GDT, it appears that you actually did watch the game, and kind of enjoyed it...nice going!

[FNG]

No, because if the Wolves handled their business, they wouldn't have played Denver at all. They woulda got Memphis

That's kinda where I'm at. They lost me when they kept losing regular-season games to middling/inferior teams. It was absolutely maddening. And then when they played Denver, they showed us they weren't really ready to compete with a big-boy team. They are a .500-ish club until they prove otherwise.

Q. I recognize I'm in a much more optimistic frame of mind than you are about our squad, and we admittedly did lose 4 out of 5 games (including one we were never in). But let's play a hypothetical game. The Nugs were 100% for all 5 games, and we were missing our best defender and our (by far) highest scoring reserve. Let's reverse it. How do you think the series would have gone if the Nuggets were missing Aaron Gordon (who was stellar defending KAT and then Durant) and Bruce Brown, and we had Jaden available to blanket Murray plus Naz coming off the bench? We'll never know, but I think we would have had a good chance to win that series against the team that is going to win the West. But I agree we were not likely to beat a healthy Nuggets team with two key pieces missing.

9 games at the end of the season isn't enough of a sample size to draw any conclusions, but it's all we have. And anyone who says we didn't look like a different team during most of that 9-game stretch then we did the rest of the season I think might be undervaluing this roster. I'm just hoping we roll it back next year and we regain some of our 2021-22 good health.

[Carlos Danger]

I, for one - like your optimism FNG. And yes, I will feel a little better if Denver has a successful playoff run. OK, they handed it to us during our playoff series. But that's what a #1 seed is supposed to do to a bottom seed. Denver won two at home. Split on the road. And then finished us off at home again.

I looked at the regular season games with Denver and it was an even split, 2-2. We won both home games and lost on the road to them. So all together playing 9 games (regular and playoffs) against Denver:

At home: 3-1.
On road: 0-5.

I believe the #8 seed has only upset the #1 seed six times in NBA history (according to my Google). None of us realistically expected the Wolves to beat Denver. The point I was trying to make is that I will feel a little better about the playoff loss knowing Denver went on to be the best of one of the best this year. No shame in losing to the top dog. Jokic is amazing.

But as the other posters have aptly pointed out, it's up to the team to set itself up for (playoff) success and the Wolves didn't do that this year. You certainly don't want to start your playoff run on the road against the #1 seed.

[Q-is-here]

No, because if the Wolves handled their business, they wouldn't have played Denver at all. They woulda got Memphis

That's kinda where I'm at. They lost me when they kept losing regular-season games to middling/inferior teams. It was absolutely maddening. And then when they played Denver, they showed us they weren't really ready to compete with a big-boy team. They are a .500-ish club until they prove otherwise.

Q. I recognize I'm in a much more optimistic frame of mind than you are about our squad, and we admittedly did lose 4 out of 5 games (including one we were never in). But let's play a hypothetical game. The Nugs were 100% for all 5 games, and we were missing our best defender and our (by far) highest scoring reserve. Let's reverse it. How do you think the series would have gone if the Nuggets were missing Aaron Gordon (who was stellar defending KAT and then Durant) and Bruce Brown, and we had Jaden available to blanket Murray plus Naz coming off the bench? We'll never know, but I think we would have had a good chance to win that series against the team that is going to win the West. But I agree we were not likely to beat a healthy Nuggets team with two key pieces missing.

9 games at the end of the season isn't enough of a sample size to draw any conclusions, but it's all we have. And anyone who says we didn't look like a different team during most of that 9-game stretch then we did the rest of the season I think might be undervaluing this roster. I'm just hoping we roll it back next year and we regain some of our 2021-22 good health.

I look at it differently....we had our top 3 guys (in theory) playing in that series: KAT, Gobert, and Ant, yet Denver easily handled us. It just wasn't even a close series. As long as Denver had their top 3 guys - Jokic, Murray, and Porter - I think they would have still beat a 100% healthy Wolves roster. May be it goes to 6 or 7 games, but we still lose that series in my opinion.

Running it back may ultimately be the most practical option for the front office, as I certainly don't want to do any sort of fire sale or trade someone just because he's annoying as hell (i.e. KAT).

I give the team a grade of C for their season, even factoring in KAT's injury. They had a (barely) better than .500 record and got a playoff series, which is what gets them above a D or F in my book, but during the regular season they fumbled away too many games to inferior competition and were super untrustworthy with big leads.