I, like all of you, have strong feelings about this team. We are the vanguard of Wolves fans. Casual fans look at the final scores, see that the Wolves lost, and shrug, saying this is just another bad Wolves team. We are not casual Wolves fans. We are emotionally committed to this team, whether we like it or not.
If you are anything like me, a Wolves loss effects your mood, even if in the back of your mind you expected a loss. You are excited every single game day, and schedule your social life around Wolves games, not vice-versa. You felt absolute rage the first time Ginobili flopped to foul Darko out of the game, you felt even worse the second time. You feel pure elation when the Pups show flashes of brilliance. You feel righteous indignation towards all the haters, even though some of them have already learned their lesson and closed their mouths.
There is something to be said for being a diehard fan of a terrible team. Those of us that are here now, scrutinizing every bad shot by Ridnour or every missed defensive rotation, will be rewarded for our agony. As this team grows, every victory will taste much better in our mouths than it will in the mouths of casual fans. Whenever the victory comes that puts this team 15 games above .500, on that day we will know why we cared back on December 16, 2010, when the team was 6-20. The casual fans will just begin paying attention, but they will feel nowhere near as much joy as we will. Call it karma. We have committed to this team, and right now all we get is crushing defeat after crushing defeat, but if we are patient it will all be worth it, as the wheel of Karma turns, one day it will pour limitless joy into our hearts.
Now, let's break down the current state of the Wolves, position by position:
PG
I think we can all agree that one of the most glaring weaknesses currently hurting this team has been the PG play. Ridnour has been mildly disappointing at best. Telfair has been, well, Telfair. The good news is, neither of these players are part of our long-term core.
Flynn has just returned from a long time off the court, and he looks rusty, but we can't accurately assess his game for probably at least a month or so. I still have faith in him, and would like to see him as part of our core, ideally as an aggressive spark off the bench. His defensive liabilities will probably keep him from ever being a 35 MPG starter in this league, but if he reaches his ceiling he could become one of the more dynamic bench players in the NBA.
Of course, no discussion of our PGs would be complete without talking about Rubio. I have always been really high on Rubio, was elated when he fell to us in the draft, and remain confident that he will play for us. And the more I watch this team this year, the more I realize that he is EXACTLY what this team needs. He has some of the best court vision I have ever seen, and has a knack for getting teammates shots where they want them, in a rhythm they are comfortable with. Basically, he has the ability to increase the offensive efficiency of virtually all of his teammates. With all of the offensive talent on this team, that is a scary proposition. Last year I worried at times that our system wouldn't allow him to truly blossom, but this year we have noticed how bad Ridnour is because the ball is in his hands more often than anyone else's. Swapping Rubio in for Ridnour, to make all those decisions, will be an incredible upgrade. Obviously, Rubio is a pass-first PG, but that label doesn't do him justice. At 20 years old he already has truly elite court vision and anticipation, seemingly always knowing where all 10 players in the court are, and what they are going to do next. This is something you can't teach. It may take him some time to adjust to NBA defenses and to his teammates, but even if his jumpshot doesn't improve much his instincts for breaking down a defense and finding the open man will translate to much-improved offensive efficiency. Also, although Beasley is a gifted scorer, he is not the type that needs the ball in his hand to be effective, and would be just as effective catching and shooting (which is also Johnson's strength). Even if Beasley becomes our go-to guy, having Rubio on the team will not hinder Beasley's scoring ability, but will actually improve it. Rubio also has a knack for controlling tempo, knowing when to push the pace, when to slow it down, and knowing which possessions its critical to get a good shot, and even who should take that critical shot. On defense, he shows the same anticipation he does on offense and is very good at playing the passing lanes and pressuring the ball. By knowing where the opposition wants to pass the ball and denying that passing lane, he can cause a lot of commotion on the defensive end, which is something our current PGs have absolutely NO concept of. If our core at PG is Rubio playing about 25-28 minutes with Flynn backing him up for 22-25 MPG or so, we will be in very good shape. If Rubio turns out to be an absolute stud that can handle more minutes than that, Flynn may need to be traded to a team with more minutes for him. Either way, PG will not be our biggest weakness for too much longer, I promise (For me, the hardest part about this "patience" business is waiting for Rubio).
SG/SF
We are so much better at the wings this year compared to last year, it's not even funny.
Wes has disappeared a bit at times, but he vary rarely forces anything and very rarely makes mistakes. He will also benefit greatly from Rubio finding the open man, and his J is money. Obviously, he needs to work on his handle a bit, but ideally we will find ways to get him involved without him having to create shots for himself. That said, he has proven to be a capable passer off the dribble, in the limited opportunities he has had to do so. He is a legit defender, his only weakness being leaving his man open on the perimeter too often. This has been a major problem with all our perimeter defenders this season, but I see it as something that will improve as our overall team defense improves and players learn not to over-help. Wes certainly has the tools to become an above average defender at SG or SF.
Beasley is still a work in progress, he hasn't become a legit go-to guy yet, he struggles with defensive focus and often gets into foul trouble because of it. But overall, the energy and effort have been there, and the attitude has been nothing but positive. As I said earlier, he is the type of #1 option that doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective, as long as he gets a lot of open looks. Again, Rubio should help a lot in this regard. At the time we traded for him I wasn't sure what to think, but now I think we all realize we got a pretty incredible bargain, and we should definitely try to do everything possible to keep him in our long-term plans. Scorers as gifted as him, that make it look so easy at times, don't fall into your lap very often.
Webster, it turns out, was also a pretty incredible bargain. He, like Flynn, has just come back from injury so we don't fully know what we have yet, but man, he's looked great. His jumper is money, he always seems to be in control even if his handle could use a little work, he is a willing and able passer, an active rebounder, and an above average defender. And he is also still young. He certainly looks like a starting caliber SG in this league, but he is also a really nice spark off the bench, so we will have to see how Rambis decides to use him and Wes. Either way, when Webster is healthy he will deserve 30+ MPG.
Brewer is Brewer, some of us hate him some of us love him (I love him), and he probably pretty much is what he is. He plays a brand of ball that looks exceptionally ugly when it doesn't work and, well, pretty ugly when it does work. But it does work sometimes, and he never disappears from a game. Some stretches of games he seems like the only guy out there that cares, and he throws his body and his soul 110% into the game. There is something to be said for that. If we can resign him for cheap as a 10-15 MPG spark off the bench, I will be all for it. If not, I will understand, but I will shed a tear the day he is no longer a Wolf. But with Wes, Webster, and Beas all deserving 30 MPG at the SG/SF spots his minutes will probably become fewer and fewer. If he's cool with that and a cheap contract, I would love to keep him around. If not, I will understand and wish him the best wherever he goes.
(Our perimeter D needs a lot of improvement, but I think a lot of the problem is overreacting to help once the opposing PG blows past our PG and breaks the defense down. I think Rubio will help a lot of that, but I also think that if our team defense starts to improve a little bit, people will begin to trust eachother more and stay home on their man, which will cause our team defense to improve a little more, until we reach the point where it won't be too much of an issue. Outside of Love and maybe Flynn, I don't think anyone on this team lacks the physical tools to defend their position so I think our team defense is bound to improve slowly but surely, as everybody gets more and more experience together. Team defense is a chemistry thing that should be able to improve with experience. If our team defense is still as bad as it is right now a year from now, I will address that in next year's State of the Wolves Address)
PF
Kevin Love has surprised us all, and we are all lucky to be able to watch him every night. We are now officially surprised if he doesn't have a double-double at halftime. After a questionable start to the season, in which many of us, including myself, were calling for his head, he has responded pretty incredibly. 20 and 15 is no joke. We all know his weaknesses and have discussed them to death, but I think we can all agree now that he is the type of dude you keep on your team. He's now shooting 40% from 3, which means his 3 point shooting is probably here to stay. He's gotten a lot better at scoring in the post, though he still gets blocked sometimes and its not where he's most comfortable. He's gotten very good at getting to the line and knocking them down when he gets there. He's averaging 20 PPG, and we really don't run too many plays for him, which means he is very good at getting in where he fits in, complimenting our offense with whatever comes his way, usually very efficiently. He will also get more open looks from Rubio, though his offensive rebounding numbers might go down as our offense gets more efficient
But because he gets so much of his offense from "scavenging" or catching and shooting, he also fits well next to Rubio. His outlet passing is still as beautiful as ever, and he may have more of an opportunity to use it as our defense improves. He just doesn't have the physical tools to become an above average defender, especially against longer, quicker players or anywhere on the perimeter, but he does have the BBIQ and anticipation to position himself properly and be part of a solid team defense. He obviously worked hard over the summer and is in much better shape than he was last year, and if he continues to work hard and improve he could continue to surprise us all. He's 22. He's a keeper. Tolliver was very solid before he got hurt. At the time we signed him I didn't expect too much but it turns out he is just the type of player we needed as a back-up big. He can shoot, he plays solid D, takes charges, doesn't make many mistakes. I think we miss him more than we realize right now. Hopefully he comes back fully healthy so we can continue to asses whether he is the answer or whether we need to get another long, athletic, defensive-minded bench big man (Anthony Randolph?). For the record, I hope Tolliver is the answer as he is a great character guy. But as it stands right now, with Tolliver out, whenever Darko sits down our interior D becomes atrocious. This is one of our areas of definite need, but apparently Ronzone has already gone on record saying this, so whether the answer is Tolliver or someone else, at least our FO understands this.
C
Darko. Everything we hoped for and, at times, more. He still needs to work of his consistency and sometimes his motor looks a bit lacking, but he has been incredibly important for us. Picture for a second how terrible our D would be if he was not on this team. Offensively, he has shown flashes of being downright dominant, which is something none of us probably expected. He is also still young, and he seems to be the type that improves as his comfort level and confidence grow. Rambis, by all indications, will continue to nurture that comfort level and confidence, so it is not out of the question that he will continue to improve. Even if he levels out at 12/7/3/3 he will be a huge bargain for the length of his contract. He is also symbolically a HUGE human victory cigar for us, shutting up all the haters with his solid play. I have never owned an NBA jersey, but I might just buy a Darko jersey. That's how much I love him.
Pek has been tough to read. He has shown some flashes of being a competent, productive, back-up dig man. He has also shown flashes of being, well, not ready. He missed time with an injury, and seems to just now be getting more comfortable. It seems like we have had very little opportunity to see him and Tolliver on the court together, to see how that combo works defensively. Hopefully we will get a chance to see that later this year to determine how it works. Defensively he seems to have about the same liabilities as Love, so he will need to share the frontcourt with a solid defender. It is too early to assess whether he fits here long-term, but, like Tolliver, I like the guy and would love to see it work out.
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So, this is what I see as a core worth being patient for:
Rubio, Flynn, Webster, Wes, Beasley, Love, Darko
...with Brewer, Tolliver, and Pek as question marks.
An ideal rotation would be 9-10 men deep. I think we have at least 7. Our only glaring need is a long, athletic, defensive-minded back-up C/PF, and Rubio, of course.
Personnel-wise, I think we are very close. Team defense is something that will need to steadily improve, we'll have a much better idea of how much it needs to improve by the end of the season, once this team is fully healthy, if that ever happens.
I am a fan of Rambis. I know some of you aren't the biggest fans, but the bottom line is that a coach can only work with what he's got. This year, we have yet to play a single game with our full roster healthy. We have a lot of new guys trying to adapt to eachother, to a new system, or to the NBA itself. We are the youngest team in the league. Despite all of this, we are competitive and play with a lot of energy. Many of our players have shown great individual improvement. Love and Darko have probably surpassed all of our expectations, and Beasley has shown renewed confidence and flashes of brilliance. More than anything, we have had a lot of frustrating losses. But Rambis has remained patient with his team, and been able to keep the team patient with each other and with their coaches. He may not be the best Xs and Os coach on the planet, but he gets his team to play hard night in and night out and not lose their tempers or their confidence when things don't go their way. The players respect him, and he respects them back, never really calling players out individually or yelling at them too much in public. He understands that there are certain things players need to learn for themselves, from experience, and he understands that he needs to be patient. I really think we are lucky to have him, and lucky that he is committed to this team long term.
We are the youngest team in the league, but we have been very competitive with some very good teams. We have nearly won some games we had no business winning. We have struggled mightily to close out games, but that is not unique to this team, it is a trait of virtually all young teams. OKC is the obvious recent example. They started off the 08-09 season 3-29. They started to put it together late that season, going 20-30 the remaining 50 games and finishing 23-59. At the beginning of the 09-10 season they were under the radar, hovering around .500 for the first half of the season before going on a 9 game win streak that boosted them to another level, and they finished 50-32 before taking the Lakers to 7 games in the first round. That is the beautiful thing about young teams, they have the potential to improve dramatically quite quickly. But first there is a period where it seems like the team is incapable of learning how to win. We are in the midst of that stage right now, but it will get better. It comes down to little things that individual players learn to do or not do, and when everyone on the team learns these little things at the same time, the results can be dramatic. Before this season I thought this team would win 30 games and surprise a lot of people. 23-27 wins might now be more realistic, but we are surprising some teams and even the national media seems to understand that we are better than our record looks. We know we are better than this, other teams know we are better than this, and its only a matter of time before we ARE better than this. I would argue that right now is the best time to be a fan of this team, because once this team starts to put it together we will have front row seats for the whole crazy show.
If you have read this far, thank you for your patience. I know that I haven't really proposed anything groundbreaking, and have probably just summarized how most of you already feel. I just needed to get this off my chest, to let the world know that I have a lot of faith in this team to do some damage in a few years. I hate waiting as much as anyone, but for now we have no choice, because what this team needs more than anything is time. Time and patience. In the meantime, we get to watch some entertaining basketball some heartbreaking defeats. Best of all, we get to watch these pups become wolves.
Thanks for reading the ramblings of a sleep deprived, Wolves-obsessed super fan. These opinions are just meant to encourage optimism and hopefully stimulate discussion. It will also be fun to look back on this thread in a year. Go Wolves, over and out.
Personally, i have a little bit of a love-hate relationship with Darko (mostly due to wanting him to friggin improve, because it appears he can). I've been a supporter of his for a long time, yes even after the infamous unneccesary,unfortunate and rushed statement. I believed in him when most people didn't. It was such an astonishing feeling when i heard Darko would get traded to Minny and reading comments from Khan and Rambis about him.
