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As Rubio is predicted to return in December, I thought it might be interesting to check the Timberwolves’ November schedule. Starting the season with a poor record in the first month is going to make reaching the playoffs in the West a tough ask…nothing like digging a big hole.

I’ve projected Golden State to be a sub 500 team, but they could possibly be a better team than that…at least in the first month before injury hits Bogut and Curry I’ve also added any other information that might be relevant like back-to-back games (b2b) or extended layoffs, as well as my predicted result.

So here it is:

vs Sacramento (sub 500) W
@ Toronto (sub 500) W
@ Brooklyn (b2b) L
vs Orlando W
vs Indiana L
@ Chicago (b2b) L
@ Dallas L
vs Charlotte (sub 500) W
vs Golden State (sub 500) W
vs Denver (5 day layoff) W
@ Portland (sub 500) W
@ Golden State (sub 500) (b2b) L
@ Sacramento (sub 500) W
@ L.A. Clippers (b2b) L
vs Milwaukee (sub 500) W

Certainly an easier start than the 2011/2012 season. Is a 9-6 start realistic without Rubio?

December is looking quite a bit tougher with games against Miami, OKC and Boston.

@ Philadelphia L
@ Boston (b2b) L
vs Cleveland (sub 500) W
vs Denver W
@ New Orleans (sub 500) W
vs Dallas (b2b) L
@ Orlando L
@ Miami (b2b) L
vs Oklahoma City L
@ New York L
vs Houston (sub 500) W
vs Phoenix (sub 500) W

It would be quite easy for the Wolves to go 5-7, even with Rubio back in the line up. Some of these results are pretty optimistic, Denver will be tough, Sac are unpredictable...I think the wolves will be lucky to be at .500 into the new year.

What does everyone else think?

even if rubio does come back in dec he will still need probley a month or 2 until hes back to his best but in that time if we can stay above or below .500 we sould make the playoffs

i think with ridnour at the point we can do it

vs Sacramento (sub 500) W
@ Toronto (sub 500) W
@ Brooklyn (b2b) L
vs Orlando W
vs Indiana L
@ Chicago (b2b) L - no Rose, not sure if Deng will get surgery, healthy Noah? Winnable.
@ Dallas L - winnable, they will need to develop chemistry.
vs Charlotte (sub 500) W
vs Golden State (sub 500) W
vs Denver (5 day layoff) W
@ Portland (sub 500) W
@ Golden State (sub 500) (b2b) L - back-to-back but winnable
@ Sacramento (sub 500) W
@ L.A. Clippers (b2b) L - how long will Griffin be out?
vs Milwaukee (sub 500) W
@ Philadelphia L - lost Brand - worse team than last year
@ Boston (b2b) L - we'll see how the rookies look as well as Ray Allen to Courtney Lee
vs Cleveland (sub 500) W
vs Denver W
@ New Orleans (sub 500) W
vs Dallas (b2b) L - same as before, Dallas took a step back from last year
@ Orlando L - besides Howard who do they really have?
@ Miami (b2b) L
vs Oklahoma City L
@ New York L
vs Houston (sub 500) W
vs Phoenix (sub 500) W

I think the Wolves are a much improved team. I don't see any games that aren't realistically winnable besides Miami, New York, Brooklyn, Oklahoma City, Indiana, maybe Los Angeles. We'll probably lose a couple we shouldn't, win a couple we shouldn't but I think we have a favorable schedule early which will help as Rubio is out.

Why do we lose all of our b2bs on your list? We're a young team ffs.

Only teams in the L that scare me are BOS, MIA, LAL, MEM, OKC. If we can avoid the majority of our games against them with Rubio out, I can see a +.500 record

theGreatRC wrote:Why do we lose all of our b2bs on your list? We're a young team ffs.

All b2bs (with the exception of Dallas) are a road game against a team projected to be well above .500 - I think predicting a L is justified.

[RCG] wrote:vs Sacramento (sub 500) W
@ Chicago (b2b) L - no Rose, not sure if Deng will get surgery, healthy Noah? Winnable.
@ Dallas L - winnable, they will need to develop chemistry.
@ Golden State (sub 500) (b2b) L - back-to-back but winnable
@ L.A. Clippers (b2b) L - how long will Griffin be out?
@ Philadelphia L - lost Brand - worse team than last year
@ Boston (b2b) L - we'll see how the rookies look as well as Ray Allen to Courtney Lee
vs Dallas (b2b) L - same as before, Dallas took a step back from last year
@ Orlando L - besides Howard who do they really have?

Yeah I agree with all the above, and would add the game @Knicks is also very winnable. Orlando, Dallas, GSW and Chicago are tough to pick - all those teams could be mediocre or playoff bound (well may be not Orlando) The games again Denver could go the other way.

I guess the main point is that the early schedule for the Wolves is pretty favourable!

Zero wins.

Then I can be pleasantly surprised when we win a few.

I think we'll be fine. I thought the reason we collapsed last year when he went down wasn't because he was some kind of elite player as a rookie, but rather:

1) Poor depth of quality players- replacing Ricky's minutes with absolute scrubs.
2) Demoralization of the team (OMG it's happening again)
3) Too many losers on the team. (Beas/Wes/Darko/AR clearly didn't give a ****)

Now we have:

1) Way more quality players. Should be able to weather not having Ricky much more easily.
2) The team knows they are on the rise this year and Rubio will return soon. Should be highly motivated.
3) Kahn/Adelman took out the trash and stocked up with winners this off season. This will make a huge difference IMO.

funkatron101 wrote:Zero wins.

Then I can be pleasantly surprised when we win a few.

I like that mindset!

13-14

0, because Rubio wont miss any games.

dunkonu21 wrote:0, because Rubio wont miss any games.

I love the optimism

...unfortunately if the above is true it probably means we need a thread "Wolves record after Rubio blows out his ACL after returning too soon!"

I think we will be pretty good, just not great. If no changes to the team. Ridnour, Roy, Ak47, Love, Pek has a nice balance on offense, just not as great without Rubio.

The biggest issue I have on my mind is how long will Rubio take to get back to form, it will take a long time for him to trust the knee again.

LordBaldric wrote:I think we'll be fine. I thought the reason we collapsed last year when he went down wasn't because he was some kind of elite player as a rookie, but rather:

1) Poor depth of quality players- replacing Ricky's minutes with absolute scrubs.
2) Demoralization of the team (OMG it's happening again)
3) Too many losers on the team. (Beas/Wes/Darko/AR clearly didn't give a ****)

Now we have:

1) Way more quality players. Should be able to weather not having Ricky much more easily.
2) The team knows they are on the rise this year and Rubio will return soon. Should be highly motivated.
3) Kahn/Adelman took out the trash and stocked up with winners this off season. This will make a huge difference IMO.

This. For a few games after Ricardo went down the team was still competitive (mostly due to Love's insane numbers in March) but lost close games. They were very young, inexperienced, had to play so many different line ups under a new coach etc. While it shouldn't have happened there are still many 'legit' reasons as to why it happened. Now, it seems as if those kinda of problems got fixed and Rubio being out shouldn't have much of an effect this time. Particularly now that we have two players who can create for others, too (not including Shved).

While I don't expect a good, much less great record, I'm sure we'll hover around .500 until Rubio is back to 80-90%.

15 - 11

8 / 18

lobishome wrote:8 / 18

That would be an unbelievable dissapointment to do that bad, I say we should have a positive record.

.500

Why all the losses to BK?

Pekovic vs Lopez
Love vs Humphries
AK47 vs Glass
Roy vs Johnson
Ridnour vs Williams

Outside of PG I think we win the other positions. Roy's knees might not last, but for the first 20 games of the season expect Roy to be very good. His knees are a timebomb, but until it detonates it's still Roy.