It's usually a bummer to be a Wolves fan, especially if you live and die with each win/loss. I for one am sick of having to not only deal with the negative results on the court, but also the negative/cynical sentiments of our fan base.
It's tough enough to be a fan of a struggling team/franchise, without also having swarms of negativity from the people that are supposed to get entertainment out of watching them piled on top.
So here is one single thread in a sea of many others, that is ONLY for positive posts about the Wolves.
If you need to escape the lows of the season, simply come in here and try to put things into perspective. At the end of the day, this really is just a basketball team we follow, so we may as well try to enjoy it.
I'll start off with some positivity, glass half-full, anti-negatron thoughts:
The blowouts don't really bother me that much, because it's not indicative of what this team actually is. Sure it's not entertaining, but let's face it, we aren't exactly "time is money" people if we have time to post on internet basketball forums.
In the past we would be happy just to be in a game long enough to have it be entertaining, let alone win games. Sure, we can certainly demand more out of our favorite team, but let's not forget where we came from. A couple years of flirting with being a good team with Love here have weirdly raised the expectations of this team, even without the actual results to justify them. Let's try to keep it in perspective.
Context is needed when talking about the recent blow outs, because without context our fan base tends to default to get a bit emo (the ones in Minnesota should really be supplementing Vitamin D in the winter).
1.) The Wolves didn't have their two best players on the court.
Ricky Rubio makes a huge difference to any team, let alone a team that is extremely young and inexperienced. They say Mo Williams has a calming effect on Ricky and others, but Ricky has an inspiring effect on his teammates. He actively gets them to enjoy what they are doing, he rewards them for doing it well, and he gets players out of their heads and into the flow of the game.
It really is an amazing thing to see and we are LUCKY that we signed him to an extension before all this, because as we are all seeing without him. Ricky Rubio is this franchise.
Thad Young is no slouch either. He may not have won us these last 3 games, almost certainly not, but he would have helped the team compete more. He adds structure to the roster and is able to produce without needing his number called a lot. Those types of guys are invaluable to a team full of youth that you need to develop.
Also, those two along with Wiggins are by far the best defenders on the team. Rubio/Thad especially in team defense ways.
2.) Road games for a young team are NEVER easy. Let's not let the solid start with Rubio detract from the fact that young teams always struggle to win on the road, regardless of their best players being out.
3.) Houston, New Orleans, and Dallas are all potential playoff teams. Houston and Dallas most likely are going to be in at least the top 5 in the West. These are not really games the Wolves should have won, even with Ricky/Thad.
4.) If anyone actually thought a team that replaced their best player on the team, with a 19 year old rookie that is out of position, and only started 2 games in college, was going to compete on the road against likely playoff teams in the West.
They need their heads examined.
2 - 7, whoop dee doo.
They could go 2 - 20 by the time Rubio is back.
I'll still be positive. You know why?
1.) Rubio will be back.
2.) Thad will be back.
3.) The young players can use this time to go through growing pains, so they are more ready when Rubio is back.
4.) I'd rather have steady improvement throughout the year than a better than expected start and a bottoming out the rest of the year (see the 76ers last year).
The team not being good or even competing right now, doesn't really matter. Context is important and if it's observed, this team and season aren't nearly as bleak as people seem to think..
Yeah, it's going to suck a bit right now, and we will have to watch a lot of bad basketball. It's inevitable though, that a young team without it's best players will struggle.
We just need to try and focus on the learning moments and signs of growth from players during this time. When Rubio and Thad are back, our expectations can rightfully go back to expecting competitive basketball night in and out.
Right now, it's not very realistic, so instead of dwelling in the futility of it, I say we just remain positive about the long term of this team. Otherwise, we may be too cynical to actually enjoy it when the better days come to fruition.
Also, I am excited to see Bazz get more run. He may only have one speed (FULL SPEED), and it doesn't always work well, but he always plays his hardest no matter the situation. He is a pure scorer that rarely relies on jump shots to score, I kinda like that.
Anywho, please no trolls or super sarcastic posts. There are plenty of threads for that here (and at other boards *cough*RUBECHAT*cough*), so let's try to keep this thread positive.
I think it will be nice to have a safe haven from the negativity of the season, even if it gets so bad that it's only in this thread.
