How Good Are We **Poll**

[weimy froob]

this is the first time in franchise history that the wolves have had the best record in the west at the all-star break.

[Catalyst]

this is the first time in franchise history that the wolves have had the best record in the west at the all-star break.

[Mplsfonz]

this is the first time in franchise history that the wolves have had the best record in the west at the all-star break.

Feels good. And just think about this, had we taken care of business, lost to Spurs by 1 point, Lost to Magic by 2, and Bulls by 6. Now if we had won those games we'd be on a 12 game winning streak, that is if the streak didn't swell their heads and lose to someone else. Just sayin.

Not sure I want to celebrate just yet. 27 games to go, we can win just half those games we are looking at 52+ wins. That will be almost equal to the 03-04 season. Damn that seems like ages ago. I'm surprised I am still a fan.

[Beef Supreme]

this is the first time in franchise history that the wolves have had the best record in the west at the all-star break.

Feels good. And just think about this, had we taken care of business, lost to Spurs by 1 point, Lost to Magic by 2, and Bulls by 6. Now if we had won those games we'd be on a 12 game winning streak, that is if the streak didn't swell their heads and lose to someone else. Just sayin.

Not sure I want to celebrate just yet. 27 games to go, we can win just half those games we are looking at 52+ wins. That will be almost equal to the 03-04 season. Damn that seems like ages ago. I'm surprised I am still a fan.

Honestly, they’ve accomplished everything they could realistically expect to accomplish by the break in a regular season. Saying you’re not going to celebrate this is just saying you shouldn’t celebrate anything at this point ever; which is a legit take. They’ve won nothing yet. So that’s a fair take.


I’m choosing to enjoy this ride. It’s more fun than we’ve had in 20 years.

[Mplsfonz]

this is the first time in franchise history that the wolves have had the best record in the west at the all-star break.

Feels good. And just think about this, had we taken care of business, lost to Spurs by 1 point, Lost to Magic by 2, and Bulls by 6. Now if we had won those games we'd be on a 12 game winning streak, that is if the streak didn't swell their heads and lose to someone else. Just sayin.

Not sure I want to celebrate just yet. 27 games to go, we can win just half those games we are looking at 52+ wins. That will be almost equal to the 03-04 season. Damn that seems like ages ago. I'm surprised I am still a fan.

Honestly, they’ve accomplished everything they could realistically expect to accomplish by the break in a regular season. Saying you’re not going to celebrate this is just saying you shouldn’t celebrate anything at this point ever; which is a legit take. They’ve won nothing yet. So that’s a fair take.


I’m choosing to enjoy this ride. It’s more fun than we’ve had in 20 years.

Oh I agree with you. I love watching this team, I just don't want to jinx it. I "think" we can beat any team, but it's not Like the 03-04 season where I "knew" we were going to win. But hey, maybe the jinx is gone from that guy they fired. What was his name Two step Teddy or something?
Seriously, I will reserve judgement until we get out of the first round. I understand we are for the moment the best in the west, and hope we stay there, but I have a feeling with such a strong west 1-10 could beat anybody in 7 games. Shit luck if we draw the Lakers in round one.

[weimy froob]

[weimy froob]

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find the time to read the above article while waiting for the real games to begin again. it's a long article--but worth the time spent reading it.

[shuttlesworth]

Interesting fact: Per basketball reference, the Wolves have a defensive rating of 112.2 when Rudy is off the court. That's significantly higher than their overall defensive rating of 109.8, which leads the league by a decent clip. But it would still be second overall, behind only the Cavaliers (111.8) and ahead of the Celtics (112.4).

Rudy brings the Wolves to an entirely different level defensively (the Wolves' defensive rating with Gobert on the floor is 107.9), but the Wolves still field an elite defense when Rudy sits.

[YBBR]

Interesting fact: Per basketball reference, the Wolves have a defensive rating of 112.2 when Rudy is off the court. That's significantly higher than their overall defensive rating of 109.8, which leads the league by a decent clip. But it would still be second overall, behind only the Cavaliers (111.8) and ahead of the Celtics (112.4).

Rudy brings the Wolves to an entirely different level defensively (the Wolves' defensive rating with Gobert on the floor is 107.9), but the Wolves still field an elite defense when Rudy sits.

A lot of that is just the perimeter defense isn't fielding a guy like D'Angelo Russell out there. The perimeter defense is a LOT better overall. Replace someone who is a liability with Conley who is a crafty and very knowledgeable vet and Alexander-Walker who has been awesome defensively it helps.

[shuttlesworth]

Naz Reid has also been a revelation on defense - especially on the perimeter. He's defending forwards and guards out there and doing it pretty well (better than KAT for sure).

[Jimi_Thing]

Interesting fact: Per basketball reference, the Wolves have a defensive rating of 112.2 when Rudy is off the court. That's significantly higher than their overall defensive rating of 109.8, which leads the league by a decent clip. But it would still be second overall, behind only the Cavaliers (111.8) and ahead of the Celtics (112.4).

Rudy brings the Wolves to an entirely different level defensively (the Wolves' defensive rating with Gobert on the floor is 107.9), but the Wolves still field an elite defense when Rudy sits.

Yeah - And this team's identity from the beginning of the season is that of a team that simply wears their opponent out.

It's got to be exhausting to go against this healthy Wolves squad. Imagine going against Jaden for a quarter just to have NAW sub in for him. You think a team might get a little breather when Gobert gets subbed out but the Wolves then have Naz on the floor who is a decent defender but also a player that's gonna want to feast on the offensive end.

This squad has the talent to win the Championship. Time will tell if they have the intestinal fortitude that needs to go along with it.

[weimy froob]

[weimy froob]

Wolves 42-17 after 42-40 a season ago.

[shuttlesworth]

23 losing streak inc

[weimy froob]

brittrobson
@brittrobson
Wolves going to lose this one in overtime. First two games since KAT went down demonstrate a lot of character and grit but also a genuine uphill climb in final 18 games. Got some time between LA games and Utah games. Need to sort things out.

[weimy froob]

the wolves were a terrible technical foul on rudy from a possible 5-1 road trip. that's coming after their 4-3 homestand. they're a good road team so i don't think home court is going to be much of a factor for them in the playoffs. they should have the advantage in that first playoff series though. who they play is going to be more important. they're getting close to locking in a top three record--and this with the injury bug hitting their big men. sixth looks to be a battle between phoenix, dallas and sacramento. those could be the seventh and eighth place teams too in that group. i think i like a sacramento matchup out of those three even though they lost the season series. they'll see phoenix a couple of times in april so we'll see how those games go--but the first one wasn't very good. kyrie makes me wary of the mavericks--but they've had a good record against dallas.

[BuDG123]

Kyrie is nuts, but talented. I agree, we don’t leverage home court advantage nearly as much as some other playoff teams.

[weimy froob]

Alan Horton
@WolvesRadio
Best 70-Game Starts in Franchise History

48-22 23/24
48-22 03/04

[shuttlesworth]

One under-the-radar encouraging fact: The Wolves basically never get blown out. They are the only team in the NBA not to lose *any* game this season by 25 or more points. Every other team in the NBA -- including Boston, Denver, and OKC -- has at least 3 such blowout losses. Since January 1, the Wolves' largest loss has been by 11 points (against New Orleans on January 3, and again against the Lakers - without Towns or Gobert - on March 10). Their other 13 losses since January 1 have been by the following margins:

6 (at NY)
7 (@ Dallas)
7 (@ Boston, in OT, without Towns)
5 (vs OKC, in a game where Conley shot 1-11 and uncharacteristically missed about 8 open threes)
3 (vs Charlotte)
1 (@ SA)
2 (vs Orlando)
6 (@ Chicago in OT)
5 (vs Milwaukee)
3 (vs Sacramento, in OT)
1 (vs LAC)
9 (@ Cleveland, without Towns, in OT, after Rudy drew a tech to tie the game late in the 4th)
3 (vs Denver, without Towns, Gobert, or Reid)

Moreover, in the majority of these losses, the Wolves had a multiple-possession lead in the fourth quarter: They led by 6 in Dallas (3:53 left), 9 in Boston (3:24 left), 9 against OKC (6:27 left), 15 against Charlotte, 10 against San Antonio, 8 against Orlando, 12 against Chicago, and 5 against Cleveland.

A pessimist might look at these numbers and conclude that the Wolves have a chronic problem with fourth-quarter execution (and especially late fourth-quarter execution) -- and that's been true at time this season. But at other times this season -- both early on and over the past 5-6 games -- the Wolves have been a very good fourth quarter team: As Alan Horton tweeted, over the past 19 games, the Wolves have actually been the best fourth-quarter team in the NBA by point differential.

My sense is that a lot of "clutch" stats are noise: there are so few clutch minutes that the sample size is tiny, and so many games can come down to a random bounce on a long-rebound or lucky shot (think of Jaden McDaniels's last-minute jump shot last night against the Warriors that probably won the game). I think the better lesson to take away from these numbers is that the Wolves are a very good team who might be better than their record - and more importantly, a mature team that competes for 48 minutes and stays in games.

I also think that the absence of blowout losses might be a better indicator of a team's strength than pure point differential. For example, the Thunder have a better point differential than Minnesota (+7.4 vs +6.7). But the Thunder's point differential is inflated by a few ridiculous margins that the Thunder's bench ran up against bad teams: for example, they beat Portland's G-League team by 62, beat the Wizards by 41, and beat Memphis by 31 (all at home). The Thunder's starters barely played in those lopsided wins, and those point differentials are indicative of a really deep Thunder bench being better than Portland's 11th and 12th men. But those deep bench players won't play significant minutes in the playoffs. And if you take away just the Thunder's 62-point against Portland, the Thunder's point differential drops below Minnesota's.

Bottom line: Good teams rarely get blown out, and Minnesota has that hallmark of a contender.

[Moses Scurry]

We are 1 of the top 3 teams in the West, it think that's clear at this point. We're better than everyone below us, though those other teams are obviously good enough that we definitely could lose in a series.

I'd say we are equal to OKC and Denver. In a playoff situation, Denver has the best player in the world and experience, OKC is so young and dumb (in a good way), they probably don't realize they shouldn't be this good yet and can play a little more free, we are the other hand are on the clock and have past playoff meltdowns against Memphis and Denver.

If they play smart, i think everything will work out. Be nice to have Towns rounding into playoff form now.

[weimy froob]

[weimy froob]

Alan Horton
@WolvesRadio
At 53-23 the Wolves are a season-high 30 games over .500 -- 2nd highest mark in franchise history (+34 03/04)

[Small Hands]

Alan Horton
@WolvesRadio
At 53-23 the Wolves are a season-high 30 games over .500 -- 2nd highest mark in franchise history (+34 03/04)

They are a very good young team. Very unproven, but has some promise. The ‘04 team was definitely better, but these kids might surprise the masses and with a 1st round playoff series win. I don’t see them going any further than that. Most of the talking heads don’t even have them winning their 1st matchup.

Better hope they don’t get the Lakers in the 1st round

[Beef Supreme]

Alan Horton
@WolvesRadio
At 53-23 the Wolves are a season-high 30 games over .500 -- 2nd highest mark in franchise history (+34 03/04)

They are a very good young team. Very unproven, but has some promise. The ‘04 team was definitely better, but these kids might surprise the masses and with a 1st round playoff series win. I don’t see them going any further than that. Most of the talking heads don’t even have them winning their 1st matchup.

Better hope they don’t get the Lakers in the 1st round

04 team probably had tougher teams to go through. Maybe that’s nostalgia, but that’s how I see it. I think the bottom seeds were weaker then, but teams like Sacto and the Lakers were loaded.

[Small Hands]

Alan Horton
@WolvesRadio
At 53-23 the Wolves are a season-high 30 games over .500 -- 2nd highest mark in franchise history (+34 03/04)

They are a very good young team. Very unproven, but has some promise. The ‘04 team was definitely better, but these kids might surprise the masses and with a 1st round playoff series win. I don’t see them going any further than that. Most of the talking heads don’t even have them winning their 1st matchup.

Better hope they don’t get the Lakers in the 1st round

04 team probably had tougher teams to go through. Maybe that’s nostalgia, but that’s how I see it. I think the bottom seeds were weaker then, but teams like Sacto and the Lakers were loaded.

The 2004 8th seed was Denver and featured prime Carmelo, Kenyon Martin, and Marcus Camby. The west was stacked from top to bottom. Andre Miller at the point

[Beef Supreme]

They are a very good young team. Very unproven, but has some promise. The ‘04 team was definitely better, but these kids might surprise the masses and with a 1st round playoff series win. I don’t see them going any further than that. Most of the talking heads don’t even have them winning their 1st matchup.

Better hope they don’t get the Lakers in the 1st round

04 team probably had tougher teams to go through. Maybe that’s nostalgia, but that’s how I see it. I think the bottom seeds were weaker then, but teams like Sacto and the Lakers were loaded.

The 2004 8th seed was Denver and featured prime Carmelo, Kenyon Martin, and Marcus Camby. The west was stacked from top to bottom. Andre Miller at the point

That was rookie Carmelo. Not prime Carmelo. He shot 33% from the floor and 18% from 3 that series. He wasn’t ready for the playoffs yet.

[Small Hands]

04 team probably had tougher teams to go through. Maybe that’s nostalgia, but that’s how I see it. I think the bottom seeds were weaker then, but teams like Sacto and the Lakers were loaded.

The 2004 8th seed was Denver and featured prime Carmelo, Kenyon Martin, and Marcus Camby. The west was stacked from top to bottom. Andre Miller at the point

That was rookie Carmelo. Not prime Carmelo. He shot 33% from the floor and 18% from 3 that series. He wasn’t ready for the playoffs yet.

He shot poorly because he was being guarded by spree. Idk… they were a good team that won a lot of games. Either way, I don’t think this team is in the same ballpark as our 04 squad.

[Beef Supreme]

The 2004 8th seed was Denver and featured prime Carmelo, Kenyon Martin, and Marcus Camby. The west was stacked from top to bottom. Andre Miller at the point

That was rookie Carmelo. Not prime Carmelo. He shot 33% from the floor and 18% from 3 that series. He wasn’t ready for the playoffs yet.

He shot poorly because he was being guarded by spree. Idk… they were a good team that won a lot of games. Either way, I don’t think this team is in the same ballpark as our 04 squad.

Right. And I don’t think prime Carmelo gets shut down by spree. Prime Carmelo could score on anyone.

That’s the point.

[boxter432]

its hard to truly compare. 2003 west was def stacked especially compared to the east, where only 4 teams were over .500 (9 in the west), inflating the Pacers to their 61 wins vs our 58.

seeing the Grizz win 50 games and a 6 seed with Battier, a 2nd year Pau, Bonzi wells and James posey...to me that team is fighting for a playin at best this year, I don't see them as better than 2024 Sacramento, closer to Hou
this year we have literal generational top all time players in the 9 and 10 spots, its redonk.

[Beef Supreme]

its hard to truly compare. 2003 west was def stacked especially compared to the east, where only 4 teams were over .500 (9 in the west), inflating the Pacers to their 61 wins vs our 58.

seeing the Grizz win 50 games and a 6 seed with Battier, a 2nd year Pau, Bonzi wells and James posey...to me that team is fighting for a playin at best this year, I don't see them as better than 2024 Sacramento, closer to Hou
this year we have literal generational top all time players in the 9 and 10 spots, its redonk.

I agree on the depth of the current west, but the top back then was ridiculous too. The Spurs, Kings, and Lakers were all way more talented than the Nuggets are today. It’s not close, imho. There’s way more parity now, so the 1-8 matchup might be a much closer series than it was back then, but the top was legendary. Absurd names. Kobe. Shaq. Duncan. Ginobli. Parker. Malone. Payton. Webber. Peja. Divac. Just absurd rosters filled with hall of fame talent.

Coaches: Phil Jackson. Greg Popovich. Rick Adelman.

Crazy.