In typical fashion, the Wolves can end a milestone tonight….for the other team. That being a 16-game home losing streak for the Bobcats. Same deflated lineups against an even more deflated team. Quintuple team Kemba Walker and we should win it, for the rest of the Bobcats roster less Henderson and Kidd-Gilchrist to some degree, are more offensively inept than the Wolves at this point in time and that says something. The strategy is simple….swarm their scorers and on the other end STOP taking threes, and try to get to the line to score points.
At this point, given the horrific upcoming schedule, I really want to see:
-Derrick Williams given 35 minutes a night or more until Kevin Love comes back (If he does this year). Unconditional. It is time for him to develop. This is far and away a win-win thing to do for everyone. It allows Derrick to show the league he has gotten better (which he definitely has), it ups his trade value leading into the deadline, or it actually gives us a dependable, Jeff Green-like combo forward to have on our own team. Quit sprinting after marginal wins on the eve of a riduclous schedule stretch. Let him fall on his face, stand up, and make a mark in the league. Everyone will benefit.
-Ditto Rubio. Allow him to fight through this, get his shooting back up to at least bad NBA standards and start riding some momentum into next season. there is no reason to "limit" him to 28 MPG vs. 32-34. Micromanagement = bad.
-Trade Amundson and keep Chris Johnson.
-Dare I say it….but maximize some lottery position.
-Adelman's wife turn a corner. Whether Rick comes back this season is secondary to that.
-Roy's contract traded for something actually useful.
This all sounds a bit premature, but unless a trade is made or Love/Chase get back a month ahead of schedule while the rest of the roster remains healthy, this season is over before it is even halfway done. There is no knight on a white horse for this team other than Pek returning from injury, and he alone can't lift this team out of the cellar unless Rubio improves along with the lineup returning to full health.
Ugh. I guess the lesson remains to always expect the worst from the Wolves.