wolfenstein wrote:
The man is a force. Just keep him away from the weed so Kahn doesn't run out of money.

9Deuce wrote:
Like I said before. Every 1st player we draft gets injured because they are the wrong pick.

Examples:

Drafted: McCants, Should of drafted: Granger
Drafted: Roy, Should of kept: Roy
Drafted: Brewer, Should of drafted: Noah
Drafted: OJ Mayo, Should of Kept: Mayo
Rubio doesn't count because he didn't play here
Drafted: Flynn, Should of drafted: Curry
Drafted: Wes Johnson, Should of drafted: Cousins


I wonder what Wes Johnson will be injure with next year?

I think the only way to break it is if we draft the right player.

That probably won't happen before 2019.

At least we don't have to worry about a guy getting hurt three years from now, because the Clippers will get that pick in 2012.

wolfenstein wrote:
OOOOOOOOOOOOR... this could be Beazley-bub's chance at putting the entire franchise on his shoulders and leading us to the playoffs in a super-human effort to give Dwayne Wade and the Wade-ettes the big F You.

It could happen, C-Wolf. Watch this and cheer up...


Awesome..the music was really annoying though. I use to watch those highlights a lot before the 08 NBA lottery hoping we get him. I hope he can become that player again. He looked right in the WildCat uniform but he never looked right in the Miami uniform.

Yea I had to mute that video the music was too annoying haha... I'm hoping that beasley can carry our team this year. Gahhh i hate our stupid second year curse that's when young players show you whether or not they're gonna be good, i'm hoping he can play for most of the season, but if I recall didn't S Ed Reed of the Ravens have hip surgery and he's gonna be out for 6 + months!! I was really hoping Flynn was gonna have a breakout year, I like the kid even if nobody else does...

Flynn's out-damn. Bassy's back-damn it, we might have to keep him a while. At least he'd play hard cuz he needs another contract next year. But I'm sure KAHN will not want him around to remind us of McHale. If he did well, it would look bad on KAHN for trading him in the first place. Of course, he hasn't looked so hot since he traded him to the Clips and then onto the CAV's. Putrid actually.

So, there's good FA PG's out there with some experience and we got some dough for a one year deal. Then it's Rubio time, I hope.

I think we're this years New Jersey- I hate to say it but who we gonna beat without any stars. Love and Beasley cannot carry us to more than 15-20 wins by themselves. Johnson is a rook and looks good but hey how much can a rookie do?

Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. Maybe we finally get the first pick in the draft. Knowing us we'd pass on the favorites cuz there too dangerous (Cousins) and pic a nice guy who smiles alot.

perryp wrote:
Flynn's out-damn. Bassy's back-damn it, we might have to keep him a while. At least he'd play hard cuz he needs another contract next year. But I'm sure KAHN will not want him around to remind us of McHale. If he did well, it would look bad on KAHN for trading him in the first place. Of course, he hasn't looked so hot since he traded him to the Clips and then onto the CAV's. Putrid actually.

So, there's good FA PG's out there with some experience and we got some dough for a one year deal. Then it's Rubio time, I hope.

I think we're this years New Jersey- I hate to say it but who we gonna beat without any stars. Love and Beasley cannot carry us to more than 15-20 wins by themselves. Johnson is a rook and looks good but hey how much can a rookie do?

Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. Maybe we finally get the first pick in the draft. Knowing us we'd pass on the favorites cuz there too dangerous (Cousins) and pic a nice guy who smiles alot.

I hope we are not like New Jersey last season. If we are I think I'm jumping ship. As a Wolves fan, never put your hope and never talk about the 1st pick in the draft. It's not like milk and cookies, it doesn't go together.

Honestly, I think this team needs one more trip to the basement. I'm not banking all hopes on landing a lotto pick, but another Top 4 would suit us just fine.

By this time next season we could be adding...

Rubio
#1-4 2011 pick
and potentially another big star at the deadline in a salary dump

Those three combined with...
Beasley
Love
Wes J
Darko/Peko

...could be a pretty fun team. McHale ran this team into the ground. I think two seasons to retool, no matter how ugly, are probably what's needed to really get things headed in the right direction.

What I want to see is a team that looks promising. Someone like Beasley or Love to step up. For example, like two years ago when Big Al was leading us, he was being mention to be an All Star, we were playing well, and we looked promising. I hope something like that happens this year, otherwise it will be hard to follow this team.

I'm with Wolfenstein and DeRok here. I don't want to see us go into tank mode for the season but there is nothing for us to accomplish this season by winning 35-40 games and getting a 8-12 pick in the draft because right now there are better teams out there that will be competing for a title so we can afford to lose another year. But there is a lot to gain for us only having a 15-25 win season. A top 5 pick in next years draft will like Wolfenstein said earlier give us a bunch of young talented players. Now if they ever reach somewhat of what they are expected, couple that with rubio coming over, and adding a solid FA (doesn't have to be a big name but that makes it even better), and like DeRok suggested landing a star in a salary dump move. With that we would be a playoff team for that season and depending on the rest of the pieces we could be competing for the division title.

Agree with Polars. One way that I think about this is, would you rather have been a Thunder fan or a Jazz fan this past season?

Both are well run teams, both have some young talent. OKC was TERRIBLE for a couple years (when they were still the Sonics they were much like the McHale T-wolves, then they were real bad in Durant's rookie year). The Jazz have been a playoff team almost every year. But who would you rather cheer for?

I guess for me the real difference is that the Jazz keep trying to add "that one guy" to try to get them over the hump for that year, whereas the Thunder have made a conscious effort to pace themselves and let the wins come organically.

The reason I will choose Thunder is that they have the opportunity to be a dynasty (multiple rings, consistent deep playoff runs, etc.). This happens because their best players (Durant and Westbrook plus Harden and Green) have careers that are perfectly in phase, meaning they will reach their physical and professional peaks at consistent periods. When this has happened historically you end up with teams like the 80s Celtics and Lakers, the 90s Bulls, mid-90s Rockets, and Spurs since 1995 through now (and probably longer now that they have Splitter and possibly the best continuity plan in NBA history year-in and year-out). I am guessing that OKC will have 6-10 years where at least 2 of those guys will be absolute beasts and they will be a very tough out in the playoffs for every single one of those years. When you're playing against the Lakers, Spurs, and a bunch of other teams that are peaking now, it makes much more sense to me to let things come slowly and build the future.

I don't see that being the case with Utah; they can put together the pieces for a run or two, but they won't be able to sustain it because they've never paid the cellar-dweller price that it takes to get top 5 talent in consecutive years. They have one top 5 guy and if they get another that player's career will most likely be out of phase with Deron Williams- so at most you'll have a couple of years where they could make a run.

I know this won't be everyone's perspective, some will think Utah's closer to winning it than OKC, and they may be- I just prefer a model that allows for sustained success.

As for Kahn and the Timberwolves, I will never accept that Jonny Flynn made more sense for the T-wolves than Rubio and Curry in consecutive picks. I almost peed myself when I heard we were in that position, then I threw up in my mouth when we blew the obvious pick. This year I would have liked to see Whiteside on this team at the end of the first round if we knew we had another SF coming from Portland (would'nt have been upset with him at 16, given that he would, at least, be an upgrade over the goofball we just traded who played at UCLA- I've already forgotten his name- and would have played basically the same role as a rook). That said, I like the Wes Johnson pick for this team, I like the Darko and Beasley moves, and the Pekovic signing. Ridnour and Sessions is a push, since we essentially end up paying $500k to hedge our bets on our signing last year. We end up with a point guard with more experience, maybe a lower ceiling, but still a reliable character guy who fits better in our offense. That move was probably better for the T-wolves and better for the Cavs, most of all better for Ramon since he'll get plenty of run in Cleveland. I hate how the national media is skinning Kahn for admitting he was wrong last year (he also admitted he made a mistake on not drafting Curry). Is it somehow preferrable for us to suck away while our non-triangle PG bricks shots and dribbles into crowds because we are too stubborn to admit we were wrong when we thought he would fit in our system?

Seriously, it can't be any bleaker than McHale refusing to acknowledge his mistakes, and making bad decision after bad decision with impunity.

In sum, let's tank again, draft a scorer and then see how the future goes for us, as long as we don't end up in Vegas.

PS I probably should split these things between threads, but I only have time to write one diatribe per evening, so sorry for the long read.

Great post Wolfenstein, big Howl to you.

You bring up some great points, although I still disagree with parts. Still, nice post.

If flynn was hurt last year, why is he just getting surgery now? I seem to be missing something about this whole hip thing.

cycosurgeon wrote:
If flynn was hurt last year, why is he just getting surgery now? I seem to be missing something about this whole hip thing.

Apparently he was trying to rest this off-season so that it would heal without surgery. Then, he hurt it again at Summer League.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if he misses 5-6+ months. I was reading online, and that's the timetable for surgeries like this... not 3-4 months (teams are always optimistic, and it almost always takes athletes longer than the initial assessment to get back.)

On top of that, no one can miss 3-6 months and then just come back and start in the NBA. It will take him a significantly longer time until he's in game shape and healed to actually be playing.

Bottom line, I guess I won't be surprised if he's not back and playing decent minutes until Janruary at the earliest.

Often times professional athletes can beat standard recovery times because they are recovering as a full time job.

Here is the time table I expect
November: Team discusses Jonny Running
December: Jonny starts to workout
January: Back in practice
February: Playing

This stinks.

pants wrote:
Often times professional athletes can beat standard recovery times because they are recovering as a full time job.

Here is the time table I expect
November: Team discusses Jonny Running
December: Jonny starts to workout
January: Back in practice
February: Playing

This stinks.

That timeline looks about right to me.