Are the Wolves better than their current record

[Benjams]

I think the team has built chemistry since the beginning of the season, so I believe they are at this point.

I also believe MN matches up well against the current top teams in the west this season and have won against most of them with the exception of OKC and Memphis. They could possibly be a tough match up for top teams they have won against if they end up 7th or 8th for playoffs.

I am wondering what everyone thinks at this point: Are they better than their record or no such thing?

[Klomp]

I think the team has built chemistry since the beginning of the season, so I believe they are at this point.

I also believe MN matches up well against the current top teams in the west this season and have won against most of them with the exception of OKC and Memphis. They could possibly be a tough match up for top teams they have won against if they end up 7th or 8th for playoffs.

I am wondering what everyone thinks at this point: Are they better than their record or no such thing?

Very much so.

[Loaf_of_bread]

One win against a disinterested Denver team.

We have talented players.

Are we any good? No.

Talented players, and not good... what would someone with common sense consider a solution to this problem be?

[wolves_89]

I'm encouraged that a number of key factors have been moving in the right direction for the last month. The biggest ones are Mike looking like himself again, Jaden finding ways to score inside the 3pt line, and Julius adjusting his play style to a faster pace with quicker ball movement. If those things continue and Dillingham provides offense off the bench, this team should finish 5th or 6th in the West with an outside chance at 4th.

[winforlose]

Ant has shown a playoff mode that just doesn’t get tapped into often during the regular season. Jaden was more impactful in last years playoffs than KD or Jamal Murray. DDV was solid for NYK last year in the post season. I think Mike and NAW might be post season liabilities this season, but NAW has a LOT of money on the line and that might fix his issues. Naz is an open question. Rudy is an open question. Our roster lacks balance and I think moving Randle could provide it. I would not be surprised if we won a playoff series, or even two series. We have talented players who need to consistently work together. Maybe we are an easy out, maybe not, but with 28 clutch games and only winning 12 of them, that tells me a couple shots fall or bad decisions don’t occur and our record is much better.

[shrink]

Mike Conley says it best

“I think it took them probably a better part of half a season to figure out KAT and [Rudy Gobert] before I got here. They went through growing pains, and we’re in that same scenario now with adding new people into our lineups. It takes a minute. It doesn’t happen overnight. We added Julius and Donte literally in training camp. It led to a lot of ripples through who we are, offensively and defensively. I think we’re making a lot of progress.“

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Mike Conley says it best

“I think it took them probably a better part of half a season to figure out KAT and [Rudy Gobert] before I got here. They went through growing pains, and we’re in that same scenario now with adding new people into our lineups. It takes a minute. It doesn’t happen overnight. We added Julius and Donte literally in training camp. It led to a lot of ripples through who we are, offensively and defensively. I think we’re making a lot of progress.“

Totally agree. WE are not better than our current record but have potential to be much better as we start to show better things. Randle improve slightly, DDV find his game, Mike back to being last year Mike,Jaden improving a lot at rebounding.

On my opinion, 3 things if we want to compete for top 4-6:
- Rudy has to be consistent on offense part. We have to find him more at easy spot and feed him for 12-15 points/night
- ANT has to play like he play the last game, faster, no sticky ball, good passing. His shooting is elite already.
- Rob have to play as well as he brings speed and is fitting well with ANT.

Of course trading Randle for a good PG and a back up C will be the cherry on the cake.

I do not forget that if Rudy miss a couple of games we may be in trouble defensively.

[TheZachAttack]

I think that they are just as good as any team in the West outside of OKC and a healthy Mavs. But I don't think they are any better than any of those teams either. I also think they have some real rotation skillset challenges/constraints that make the margin for error really thin.

What I mean by this is that I think it's totally fair to say that Rudy is a better player than guys like Zubac and Hartenstein but with either one of those players instead of Rudy I think we have a record that's close to Denver/Houston/Memphis. I think Randle's actually a pretty solid player, but with like Tyus Jones and Valencunis instead of Randle I think we're also at that level.

Rudy's limitations as a short roll big, McDaniels + Rudy's lack of spacing, Conley's age and inability to make defenses rotate off the dribble, Dante/Naw's limitations as a primary ball-handler, and Ant's inconsistency in the mid range/floater range all end up biting the Wolves. All of these things on their own could be fine, but in too many situations they don't consistently have the answer to mitigate the weakness.

I even think if you could take egos completely out of the situation and only play hot hands and limit Randle, Rudy, and Connely to play much less and Dante/Naz/Rob more they would be better