We'll see your sit-the-vets and raise you a Madsen
by Stop-n-Pop on Mar 3, 2009 10:14 PM CST
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Tank on this suckas. Not going to play your vets for entire games down the stretch? The Wolves will break out the Mad Dog. The man hasn't played 20 minutes since the start of the year. Only going to play Anthony Randolph (a match up demon against the current Wolves roster) 12 minutes through the 1st 3 quarters? The Wolves will give you a double dose of Brian Cardinal and Bobby Brown.
Ahhhhhh...the bottom of the NBA in March. It's FANtastic. Or, as an astute commenter put it, this was a tough match up for the fans. Whatever the case, it's probably a good thing that Papa Glen announced the Early Bird ticket offer before the GSW game.
Speaking of the new ticket deal, I know that the knee-jerk reaction for many long-time Wolves fans (and more-than-casual Minny sports followers) is one of cynicism and mistrust when it comes to anything this team has to sell. Those of us who have had season tickets have, at some point in time, all been hastled by an over-aggressive ticket staff. We've all walked through the concourse only to be tracked down by someone in a Wolves shirt trying a little too hard to sell us something. We've all been through year after year of the Kevin McHale front office administration where each and every single move has been pitched as a...well, let's just say that I'm not going to blame anyone for being a little cynical about this latest ticket offer.
What I am going to do is urge fans (long-term and casual alike) to give this offer a second look. Despite what is currently happening on the court with Al Jefferson down for the season, this team is on the right track and it is positioned to do some really nice things in the next year or two. This isn't a case of anyone on this site wanting to drink Kool Aide. Those of you who have read us for some time know that we don't walk the company line for the club. This team is less than 2 calendar years removed from an unworkable superstar contract, Marc Blount, Ricky Davis, T-Hud, Marko Jaric (who just made his first shot in 22 attempts last night against the Lakers), and Trenton Hassell. They are moving forward with 3 very movable expiring 09/10 contracts (Mike Miller, Craig Smith, Brian Cardinal), a stashed Euro center (Nikola Pekovic), reasonable cap space, roster flexibility, and the possibility of four first round draft picks (with two seconds). If you add in the current economic climate of the NBA as a whole, the Wolves are positioned so as to be able to take on 1 or 2 high level players with their expiring deals and young players without breaking the bank. Remember, each expiring deal can bring back 125% +$100k in existing salary.
Yes, you can look at last night's score, the team's record, and the new ticket deal and come to a pretty damn cynical conclusion. I get that. I've followed this team long enough to know not to blame anyone short of Dan Barreiro and Pat Reusse for taking a level-headed cynical position on the matter. That being said, this team has done a lot right lately. It isn't the easy target that Barreiro and Reusse used to use for an easy target when other material was scarce. Things have changed and there has to be, at least, a recognition of this fact. How have they changed? While the ticket news will likely get glossed over on KFAN as a cynical ploy to move empty seats for a terrible product, check out this little nugget from the PiPress:
Taylor vigorously shrugged his head no when asked if McHale could return to his former front-office role and said he hasn't decided whether to permanently fill the position. "We sort of have a plan laid out," he said. "And No. 2, right now what's happening is it's going OK. So I don't feel like I'm under pressure where I've got to get that done real quick. I want to look both internally and externally because I think it is a really important decision for the team.
McHale's former duties have been divided among general manager Jim Stack, assistant GM Fred Hoiberg and others this season and Taylor said the system has worked well. Even so, he said he wants to look at how other teams operate and talk to internal and external candidates before making a final decision on whether he needs a vice president of basketball operations. "That's what I'm trying to kind of figure out," he said. "Or do I just need a GM? We will have a structure. I want to go through it and see if the way I had it before, is that necessary? Or can I get it done without spending as much money but be more effective? Taylor repeated that it won't be strictly McHale's call on whether he returns as coach but that he's not sure the Wolves could go out and get another who could do a better job with this group of players.
Incidentally, this is pretty much what we have been saying on this site for months. They will have to make the best of it with what they have but this shouldn't preclude them from looking at what works around the league and bringing in a new set of eyes. For those of you new readers, might I suggest a look or two at our Executive Search series. The McHale front office era is over. "Country Club" is a dated term. Does the team still have issues? Of course, but they have changed and if even if you only aim to keep your cynicism current, you need to take into account the new realities with the squad. Oh, $5 tickets and discounts for 95% of the seats in the house (to say nothing about the low monthly costs) to go see some NBA games (regardless of how much they may or may not matter) is a pretty good deal regardless of anything else.
BTW: Speaking of tickets, don't forget to sign up for Hoopus Night on April 11th (click on the link for details). It's a little more than a month away. We hope to see you there. $25 and you get to sit in a suite with a bunch of basketball dorks. What more could you possibly ask for?
Do we really want to talk about the game last night? I sure don't. It was Summer League in March and you probably could have scripted the game before it started. It had everything: mismatched lineups, Mike Miller passing up shots, Mike Miller milking a soccer injury, Mark Madsen, Sheldon Williams, Craig Smith, Bobby Brown...uh....let's change the subject again.
I'd like to point you in the direction of a new Wolves site written by Sol Lieberman called Minnesota Timberwolves Examiner. It's a good site you should keep your eye on. His latest post is on Papa Glen's New Deal. I think he has a fantastic approach to the site and the angle he is taking on the squad should fit in nicely with what Britt (game wraps), TWolvesBlog (aggregator), and we (stats, charts, draft talk, radical leftist politics) have to offer. Balance is important in blogdom and Sol is not aiming at duplicating anyones effort....just as we do not attempt to recreate what already works with SG & Crew and Britt.
Finally, I would like to wrap this thing up with a quick note about the Warriors' TV crew. All night long they were brutally honest with the talent the Wolves were running out on the floor. Outside of the obvious respect due to Kevin Love, they didn't exactly have a whole lot of nice things to say about our favorite squad. Their biggest target was Randy Foye. He wasn't so much as a target as he was a "This is it?" They were markedly succinct in their take: This is who he is and they don't see much room for improvement. I'll let you draw your own conclusions but I will say this: More so than Love, a player who can fill in the gaps, Foye is the product of who he plays with. He is not the type of player who can be the sole offensive threat on the court. He is not the type of player you can put up against big off-guard. He is the guy who will feel Big Al's injury the most (outside of Big Al, of course). He is, at best, a 2nd or 3rd option. This isn't a bad thing. He still has great worth. He still has potential. It just really, really depends on who else is out there with him. This isn't a strike against Randy or the team. It is what it is and, as mentioned above, they have a tremendous opportunity to improve his supporting cast in the next season.
OK, I lied; I have one more thing to point out. This team misses Sebastian Telfair. Bassy may be a limited player but he's still a guy that has a positive adj +/- and he remains the only player on the squad with a positive net +/-. I know these stats have a large amount of noise within them, but Bassy makes this team tick more so than any guy outside of Big Al. He's the only legit point on the squad and his competitiveness is greatly missed when he's out of the lineup. Going forward, one of the most interesting questions in the off-season is this: If the Wolves are in a position to draft James Harden, do they pull the trigger and eventually bring Foye off the bench or do they draft the best point available? Or, do they hope that Cole Aldrich comes out? Whatever is the case, I'm sure a lot of changes are on the horizon.
Until later.
UPDATE: Looking at the post I see that one of my original paragraphs has been edited out. I don't have the original post anymore but the gist of it was that while the Wolves just put out a fantastic ticket offer and while they have a lot of wonderful assets and opportunities in the next year, they can't afford too many more clinkers like last night's game lest they want to give fans any more excuses to be as cynical as possible about the product. I cannot overstate how awful last night's game was. From end-to-end dunks to garbage rotations to whatever else you want to toss out there, it was brutal. Again, Papa Glen is lucky he didn't have to make the ticket announcement today. This is a tough sell as it is; it gets tougher with games like the one against the GSW.
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And for those who speak Spanish...!!!
(in the immortal words of Mark Madsen) …no es bueno.
That game was brutal. I don’t even think the Warriors played that great either.
anywun but harden...
please god not harden mayn. i feel as strongly bout dis as i do bout ROTHER and dat boi MIKE MILLER bein thowed myan!
MAYN HOL UP!
Not good
Was at the game with my dad (wolves season ticket holder since inception). We left at halfitme. We’ve left a lot of games early, but never at halftime before.
The product was unwatchable. Obviously they missed Bassy but it looked like they had one guy out there who should have 36 min a game (Love) 2-3 that should have 20-25 (Miller, Gomes, Foye) and two who should have 10-15 mn a game out there (Smith, Cardinal). All the rest should be at the end of the bench or in Europe.
While I agree with the fact that the Wolves are in a better spot than they were, they are still two years a way from being a playoff contender in the western conference, and who knows how long from being an elite team. Maybe that changes if the wolves aggressively shop their expiring contracts this summer, but we all know that good trades are easier said than done. And in what is considered a pretty weak draft, unless the wolves are in the top-3 or top-5, all of these draft picks are unlikely to have an immediate impact.
So while I appreciate the sentiment and the fact that the Wolves are going to be better next year, I’m not convinced that you couldn’t wait a year or two and get yourself the same or better season ticket deal, and save yourself the trouble of paying (let alone going) to some games a year from now that aren’t going to be much better than this one.
I think that's completely fair
My scenario is dependent on Al and Brewer coming back healthy and them making 1 trade and getting 1 high pick. That should be 4 impact players above and beyond what is out there right now and 2 beyond what they had when they played well for a month. I think you make an important distinction near the end too; going to the games is the most problematic part of the equation right now. It’s one thing to have cheap tickets; it’s quite another to deal with parking, pop, popcorn, and so on and so forth. I don’t live near the train line anymore so it’s a production just to get to a game.
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
Agreed
If you asked me where we should be two seasons after the KG trade, this is about where we should be. However, I would think that would have been a 4-5 year rebuilding process unless you got lucky in the lottery (which we haven’t). The question is can you shorten the rebuilding process through trades and/or free agency? That is going to be difficult.
If this team can get a top-5 pick there should be one difference maker there. Winning the lottery would be great, but even that at this point would create its own problems (what would we do with Griffin, Jefferson AND Love?). But assuming we can find a quality PG in the draft, he’ll take time to adjust to the league (at least one year, I would think), let alone someone like Thabeet, who still has a LOT to learn about defending one-on-one, particularly against physical players. Having a good draft that addresses one or more of our needs is simply a must if the rebuilding process is to continue on it’s 4-5 year trajectory.
The challenge is seeing if the FO can actually use the trade market this summer to fill a real need and therefore increase the pace of rebuilding. As I’ve said before, what the wolves need are the hardest positions to fill: they need a quality PG, a legit big who can protect the paint, and they need an athletic wing that can score and get to the line. Could the economy lead NO to trade Paul? Possibly, but I’m not holding my breath. Could delambert be available? Seems more likely. Can we do a sign and trade for Marvin Williams or Ariza? That kind of intrigues me, but those have been complicated to execute in the past.
What I don’t want to see is us using our assets to acquire a lower-level all-star who put up numbers on a bad team (such as Redd or Jefferson on the Bucks — I’m not saying these guys, just using them as an example), these guys would seem to me to be just marginal upgrades over what we have now, and adding those players AREN’T going to scare the Lakers or the Trailblazers. And unless you can figure out a way to start getting those guys (and maybe the Thunder) to think about you, it’s going to be hard to get the potential season ticket holders to think about you.
by Sterno on Mar 4, 2009 9:11 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Harden
Harden’s seems like the type of player- the Wolves would like to go after. A wing that gets to the line could help prevent a lot of the offensive stagnation that befalls this team when jumpers aren’t falling. I can’t comment on specific concerns about his game. I could see why one might be concerned to go after a player that isn’t considered a great athlete.
On a second note- Harden seems to have skills creating offense. This makes me wonder if he could play minutes with Foye with the offense running through Harden in some of the same ways the Offense runs at times through Miller.
.
My god
It is unbelievably good news that Taylor is at least talking about looking outside the organization for information on organizational structure and possibly in the search for front office talent. Seek and ye might find, not seek and ye is…whatever. At least he’s looking.
Upon first reading I was puzzled by the combination of Taylor’s front office search and his invitation for McHale to coach. But it seems as if he qualifies that a bit in the interview by saying it’s not strictly McHale’s call on returning as coach. As has been pointed out here many times, promising the coaching position to McHale would make hiring a front office leader problematic.
I like Jim Stack, Hoiberg, and Babcock. They’ve (with McHale) made some decent moves. But if they are really that good a new FO leader will keep them or at least some of them.
As for moving forward, I’m irrationally excited about Cole Aldrich. I’m a teenager in love. I hope he comes out and if I were the wolves I would take him top 10. I would take him over Thabeet. I would take him over Thabeet and pay cash. Stack recently mentioned in an interview that the Wolves need a defensive presence at center but that they can’t just go and draft a tall guy. In my heart of hearts I hope he was picturing Thabeet in his mind as he said that. (I’m not a frequent commenter and about 90% of my comments revolve around my love of Aldrich. I apologize, but I can’t help myself.)
Speaking of (relatively) big men, I’m curious as to what wolves watchers think about Love’s recent (lack of ) production and his return to statistical prominence last night. I’m sure it’s a combination but
1) is the dude just really tired and potentially not trying that hard (see Houston, Portland)
2) is he just physically outmatched against some teams (Houston, Portland)
3) are the warriors just horrible so he goes off (as any talented player would)
It seems clear that Big Al’s presence really helps Love’s rebounding numbers.
Foye’s February shooting percentage: 38.5%
Miller’s February shooting percentage: 60%
Shots per game: Foye (17 ) Miller (8)
I think that Love...
… is exhausted at the point and hitting the wall, and the hopelessness of playing with our current lineup is beginning to show in his body language. Just reading his face and shoulders, it sometimes seems like he is resigning himself to 25 mins per game of getting beat up as the only real post presence on the roster at this point. (Unless you count things like Mike Miller’s stint at the 4 last night.) This shows up particularly against very big or very athletic teams; it’s not that he can’t compete, but I think there are mental blocks already in place at tipoff when those games happen. He’s doing fine, but he’s undersized and serving as our only legit “big”. And he’s 20. So I feel bad for him right now.
opposing teams..
…also focus everything they have on the guy when the shots go up. He’s getting pummeled at this point.
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
Absolutely right...
… you can see that minus Al the attention Love is receiving, especially on the boards, is essentially doubling (and in some cases tripling). No longer is Al commanding the attention down low from the team’s best post defender (and, quite often, the help-man). When the offense starts looking active, Love is the first guy to get checked down low. As if the season wasn’t already exhausting enough for the kid…
My hope is that this healthy dose of NBA reality will prompt some hardcore conditioning this off-season. He won’t suddenly develop big hops, but he certainly would benefit from some tightening up.
Rubio
This is way old news, but I wanted to pass this along to anyone that hadn’t read it yet (I just read it over the weekend). It’s Jonathan Givony’s blog from Draft express. If you scroll down to Feb 22nd you should see the feature on Ricky Rubio. It’s fun to read and think about him on the Wolves, plus he gives the best description I’ve yet seen of Rubio’s current contract situation. To me it seems like a given that Rubio will be coming out this year. Check it out…
http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#Blogging-through-the-Copa-del-Rey-Part-Three—3120
Permit me to vent a bit
Last night was, thus far, the nadir of the season—a complete failure of both ability and desire to play quality basketball. That’s life, I suppose, there has to be a nadir of every season, and they’ve been “building” toward this for the last couple of weeks.
But, and here’s the rub—this season’s nadir is exactly the same as the bottoming out of the last 2 seasons. Total despondency, excess Madsen, struggling with the epic 20 win barrier.
Furthermore, what good has come of this season, which was supposed to be about development, stock taking, and getting better? Other than Love establishing that he’s an NBA player, I would submit, not much.
Brewer, who was, frankly, not very good as a rookie, lost this entire year, which he desperately needed. Next year, decisions on his future begin to be made. Al Jefferson—well, we learned what we already knew—he’s capable of being the best player on a bad team, and then he got hurt. I would submit that we learned, unfortunately, that Randy Foye is probably not a major option on a good team—and we definitely learned that he’s not a point guard, which doesn’t help.
Yes, the team had a nice run against the dregs of the league in January—their best stretch of ball in quite a while. Of course, the flip side of that is that they have managed 8 wins in months that don’t begin with a “J”.
I remain deathly afraid that the management of this team—Stack, et. al. with McHale as the coach, will be exactly the same in October as it is today, which is a real problem. They have made some OK moves—but it remains clear to me that this team needs a new vision and new energy to make significant positive steps.
As for the off-season—they need to do something positive with the expiring contracts they have for 2010. They also need to come with something in the draft. Assuming they don’t get the top pick or 2, (they seem pretty locked in at the 6th worst record), I like Greg Monroe quite a bit if Ricky Rubio isn’t available to them. I think he can play a creditable center in a 3 man rotation with Love and Jefferson, especially because he is a good high-post guy offensively. At any rate, they desperately need someone with a clear vision making these decisions. They will need to somehow get rid of some of the draft picks, and get some value back; get something for their expirings, and generally reshape the roster.
It’s a big job., and it needs someone not wedded to the current philosophy or roster.
by Eric in Madison on Mar 4, 2009 10:53 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Talent, talent, talent
The bottom line is this team could use an upgrade at every position other than PF. It’s hard to identify which position needs the most help, but I’m not convinced that it’s PG. We’ve seen over the last two games exactly how much Bassy brings to the table despite his difficulties putting the ball in the hole consistently. As S-n-P pointed out, he’s a net plus and very under-appreciated player on this team.
Therefore, I’m not a big fan of automatically targeting a PG with the first pick. It’s such a hard position to project. If the most talented non-PF available is a PG, then by all means go for it. But I don’t think the Wolves can afford to pass up a possible stud SG, C or SF for a PG just to get a new guy in there.
Getting Foye..
….to where he belongs (6th man) may be just as beneficial as getting a point with the top pick. I completely agree with that, especially if it’s a guard with size and they can get a good backup point in the late round. I’ll stick with my hope for an Aldrich, Turner, Calathes draft.
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
I absolutely agree...
… that Bassy is probably an underrated element in the current equation, but I would suggest that this points toward our need for a PG on the floor at all times rather than away from it. I’m quite happy to see Telfair on the floor for 20+ for the foreseeable future, but I think long-term this has to be with a running second string (Brewer, Foye at their best in this scenario, as well, and the hypothetical athletic big, while I’m at it) rather than with Al and Love in the first string. Knee jerk PG pick, no; however, dumping a bunch of this lower picks to take a shot with Rubio would be just fine with me.
Anderson Varejao
I don’t want to be known as the Varejao pimp. But this question and comment from David Thorpe today- leads me to believe how perfect he would be with this team. Assuming he opts out.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=25301
Paul (Cleveland): Per 48 min Anderson Verajao averages 12 reb, and he is shooting 52+%, AND he is a turnover causing machine, he has GOT to be in the top 5 underrated players. He is the glue for the cavs D, period.
David Thorpe: (12:31 PM ET ) I’m a huge, huge fan.
Having Brewer and him on the Team would tremendously improve the D.
Second- In theory would the Wolves not be able to make three high-level acquistions this off-season (Draft, 09’ Cap Space, 10’ Expirings) ?
The Varejao love..
….is much appreciated. I completely overlooked the guy until you mentioned him. I doubt Cleveland lets him go but he’s definitely worth a look depending on what they get in the draft.
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
Although the stats don't seem to indicate it
Can we hope that Pekovic is our Varejao?
I like AV, but he scares me a bit because he benefits from playing with the best player on the planet, andhe plays for a coach that has a true defensive mindset (i.e., he demands that people like Wally (the rich-man’s mike miller, by the way) at least buy into the team defense concept). Also, they have some guards that seem capable of preventing dribble penetration, which we don’t have. That may be due to their system, but whatever it is I don’t think we have it. Personally, I’d like someone who is a bit more of an intimidating shot blocker because I think that will be important given our porous perimeter D and our undersized PFs. Clearly he would be a huge upgrade over the Rhino/Collins/Cardinal/Madsen quadumvirate, but I’m not sure he would be enough.
Varejao
Chad Ford believes he opts out due to turmoil with his agent and Danny Ferry.
I do believe that teams with Cap Room like OKC, Memphis, Sac, and Toronto should target him for their needs. This could hurt the equation driving the price up to be more than he’s worth.
I’m not of the mind that one needs to be a huge shot blocker per say but rather be able to rotate and contest shots. This would be in contrast to a guy like Marcus Camby whose a great shot blocker- but not as good playing Team Defense.
My three hopes for the Defense to improve from horrific would be:
1. Brewer comes back healthy and gets serious minutes playing the Number 1 backcourt option on a given team. I believe Brewer’s skill set will make their D look a lot better.
2. The Wolves win enough possession battles through controlling rebounding that makes up what they give up in FG%.
3. More size inside compared to what they have now. Ryan Gomes and Craig Smith can’t be counted on as serious interior defenders.
getting brewer back would also help as far as rebounding goes. Brewer was a rebounding fiend in his rookie season for his position.
by oblivionspocket on Mar 4, 2009 2:57 PM CST up reply actions
Wow
SnP – Thanks so much for recommending my stuff at Examiner.com. Again, I’m more than impressed with everything you guys do at Hoopus, and also impressed by the community you’ve helped unite. Y’all make being a Timberwolves fan worthwhile.
See you in the trenches….
Sol Lieberman
Solomon
by Solomon Lieberman on Mar 4, 2009 1:58 PM CST reply actions
no problem...
….one of these days I’ll remember to put the link in the sidebar ;)
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
On McHale's positionless "basketball player" philosophy
Doesn’t it seem like this makes moving forward harder than it otherwise should be? Every time I think we need a shooting guard, I ask myself what we’ll do with Foye. Every time I think we need a promising center, I ask myself which of the Jeff/Love combo will be relegated to a bench role for the next few years. (And we all know Al wouldn’t take that, sooo…) My point is that Eli Whitney invented manufacturing with interchangeable parts for a pretty damn good reason.
I think Foye...
….will be the interesting case study if he eventually comes off the bench, especially considering how he got here. We all know where he would best be suited; it’s just taking a long time for him to get there.
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
That will happen only...
… if and when McHale is no longer on the sidelines. You gotta believe that, no matter who lands in MN via the upcoming draft, McHale is going to give inordinate attention to Foye until he is gone. This is one of the chief problems with the organization from a developmental standpoint: our current coach drafted or traded for all these guys. Despite all the pluses that come from McHale’s obvious belief in the current kids (I’m not blind to the impact this had on them psychologically), one of the nice things about having a front office separate from you coaching staff is that a coach with perspective can decline to allot certain spots in the rotation to certain players regardless of their history with the organization.
The current state
I have tickets to every game, but like some others have mentioned as well, getting to/from games is a big production for me (especially on weeknights). I live over 100 miles from the arena. I declined going to last night’s game and will admit to turning away from it on television after about ten minutes of the first quarter. It was over already. I know you like to paint an optimistic scenario for next year, but I remain cynical. There is no player in the draft, should we be unlikely enough to be in position to pick one, who would turn this team around. There is no valuable free agent in his right mind who would come here. The team has a history of losing. The winters suck (from a player’s standpoint) and they can get nearly the same deal elsewhere. Our Euro center is a phantom who I am convinced will never be a player here. The NBA’s contending teams have superstars. Duncan, Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Shaq, etc. The other teams are merely competitors, not true challengers. And I think you are being kind in your assessment of Love’s current contributions. He cannot get his own shot down low (what with being undersized with no hops). It’s not a slam on him, but I don’t see enough potential in him to carry our team to a win against even bad teams like Golden State. There is no help for him on our under-talented team. We need someone, anyone, who can change the course of a game. When big Al returns he should ask for a raise. It is so apparent that the key to any of our other players having a good night was his presence in the lineup. The ticket deals are intriguing to a long-time fan like myself, but I feel like an alcoholic with a happy hour special being dangled in front of his face. You’d be better off if you ignored it. And will do nothing to bring the new or casual fan. Only winning will do that, and it seems far, far away, beyond the horizon.
the thing is,
right now, we are in full on tank mode. and realisticaly we should be. we need to get the best possible draft position if we are to land the type of player we need to get in this draft. especially if it is as weak as people say.
Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?
There are probably only 3 players...
…this year who would have gone in last year’s lotto: Griffin, Harden, and Rubio. Beyond that, there are probably some solid starters and backups, but no one with the likelihood to impact the game like some of last year’s guys did. Last year’s draft was insanely good.
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
its interesting to say that
when at this time last years draft was also considered to be weak, a la “3 player draft” and we got stuck with the 3rd worst option. thanks to the bulls miracle.
but we did get our guy, any way.
Still the higher we draft, the better our odds of getting the right guy a la Griffin, Harden and, Rubio. if we arn’t drafting in the top three again, what are teh odds we get one of those guys?
Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?
it all depends...
…on whether or not a team with a specific need gets hooked on a player like Jordan Hill or Thabeet. i think Griffin goes number 1 with a bullet, but beyond that it could change. Even Rubio could go a lot lower. I can’t imagine him being popular across the board with NBA teams.
The World's Leading Exporter of Small Area Quickness
www.canishoopus.com
S-n-P:
With all of the justified malaise, it might be time for a full-on post of “Teams That Make Me Glad I’m a Wolves Fan.” I’ll get you started with my personal list:
1. Wizards: Terrible contracts, no good young players, awful record, oft-injured “superstar.”
2. Kings: Probably the team most likely to move
3. Raptors: They are going to lose a superstar, and receive little or nothing return.
4. Sixers: Lots of money being spent on a losing team that is likely to get worse
5. Clippers: See #4, as they’re unlikely to spend on keeping young talent, especially while paying for Baron, etc.
6. Grizzlies: Some young talent, but a tiny market team, and Mayo is unlikely to finish his career there.
7. Rockets: They’re getting old fast. Unless they win soon, they’ll go back to rebuilding mode.
8. Warriors: Dysfunctional front office, tons of money tied up in a losing team.
9. Bobcats: Stuck between rebuilding and gunning for the 8th play-off spot
10. Bucks: Back to rebuilding with decent young talent, but tenuous ownership and arena situation
11. Mavericks: The window is thiiiss close to slamming shut, and Cuban isn’t patient enough to rebuild properly.
12. Suns: Their old, overpaid roster has them three games out of the playoffs, and not likely to improve soon.
13. Pacers: Granger, plus a core that will be well into their 30s next season.
After that list, there are five teams with a shot at the championship now: Lakers, Celtics, Cavs, Spurs, and the Magic (only one or two will still be good three years from now). There are seven that are good and young, but won’t win a championship any time soon:. Bulls, Jazz, Blazers, Hornets (maybe), Hawks, Heat, and Nuggets.
Then there is the category of “bad, with some young talent and flexibililty”: Wolves, Knicks, OKC, Nets, and maybe Detroit, once they revamp their roster over the summer.
I wish the Wolves were one of the Big Five, or Second Tier Seven. But I’m very glad that they’re not one of the first 13 teams listed.
by PoorDick on Mar 5, 2009 9:15 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
solid..
…we’re going to run the 20th anniversary 5 best/5 worst moments in team history here soon. That will be another opportunity where we can count some Wolves fan blessings.
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