Larry Sanders would help them finish off games decided by less than 5 points (they are 1-12)??? I haven't watched the T-Wolves enough to know what the problem is, but most good teams run an ISO in the final minutes of a close game in order to reduce the risk of error, and put their best player in a position where they can score, and have their teammates cover the break or crash the boards. I know Adelman loves to run a play, and when he was here, we struggled to close games out, because we didn't have a star, and therefore couldn't run the ISO. I dunno what he does there? Is there no ISO down the stretch, does he run a play which increases the variance in TOs/ fast break points against, OR is Love unable to 'get his shot' in those situations?
Minnesota does a terrible job of finding Love in the paint when he has position. Couple that with the fact they can't run an effective pick n roll/pop with Rubio and its no wonder they have such terrible results in close games. There is nothing wrong with Loves effort, he just has some epically horrible pieces "built" around him
Martin came off the bench, and shot 35% for the series against our ferocious defense. The game before his mythical 25 point performance, he went 1 for 10 for 3 points.
And remember before looking at Rubio's 3 pt %, understand that teams are leaving him completely wide open on that shot.
Forgot to add: Love from what I've noticed from watching him seems to give up open lanes to the rims early on in order to establish early rebounding position. He literally doesn't attempt to get a hand up to contest the shot
Adelman considering retirement after this season http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2014/01/rick-adelman-may-consider-retirement-after-this-season/
As a Timberwolves fan, its really about just not being able to close out games. Kevin Love can definitely create his own shot, he can score inside/out, and constantly draws fouls while being double teamed down the stretch. But Kevin Martin has been a non-factor in the 4th quarter in most games, Rubio can't score, Brewer is mainly just good in transition, and Peko has been hurt. The defense isn't great either, especially in the post. The Timberwolves often just flat out destroy teams, and when they play close games they just never seem to be able to get the W. Hopefully that changes soon, but we're going to really need to turn it around after All-Star break to make the playoffs. Sucks knowing that if the Wolves were in the East they'd probably be contending for the 3rd seed.
In the six season you list, Love was a bench player in two of them, and injured in one, so it seems hard to use this evidence to say love isn't clutch.
Well Adelman was bad at closing games while he was in Houston too and yeah like everyone said, They are doomed in the crunch with Kmart, Rubio and Love because no one can create
Check out that stat: "The Timberwolves have opened up a 30-point lead in 10 of their 19 victories this season; no other NBA team has more than six leads that big." That does not include games past Jan 18 when the Wolves beat the Jazz for their 19th victory of the season, so I don't know how much that stat has changed, but it's interesting nonetheless.
To blame Love for not being some trancendental superstars is absolutely rediculous, the dude has been playing out of his mind, the fact that Barea gets the amount of time he does in the fourth speaks volumes to how little confidence Adelman has in Rubio, he absolutely does not need to be accounted for scoring-wise and as a result you have teams able to gang up on Love even more, teams dare him to shoot jumpshots and dare him to try and finish in the lane and he has one of the worst FG% at rim in the entire NBA.
Panda you're one of the best posters on here. And we get it, you don't like Rubio. But to continue to solely just blame him on the Wolves struggles is ridiculous. Yes, he's a terrible scorer/mid range shooter, but almost in every other facet of the game he plays on a high level. Fact of the matter is Rubio was never supposed to be a high scoring threat, and on this team with Love Kmart, Pek, and Brewer, he shouldn't have to be. But along with Rubio's inability to hit mid range shots and finish inside, what's really hurting than more is that they have little interior D and they're bench is abysmal. You can point to Rubio's shooting percentages all you want, and I agree they're terrible and he needs to get better, but the Wolves are one of the best offensive teams statistically when he's on the floor and a bottom tier when he's not. He's also a very good defender. There are other problems on that team than just him. First and foremost they need a decent bench so that they're not in these close games in which they should win.
They just don't have a true playmaker. Love is more of a ancillary type Superstar. They should start over
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Kevin Martin (non-displaced fracture in left thumb) is OUT for tonight's game against Portland and will be sidelined indefinitely <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Twolves&src=hash">#Twolves</a></p>— Timberwolves PR (@Twolves_PR) <a href="https://twitter.com/Twolves_PR/statuses/432310581337407489">February 9, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Timberwolves lack consistency. On some nights, they look like one of the best teams in the Western Conference, and on other nights, they look god awful. Love always gets his numbers, but Rubio and Martin and a bit on and off every night.
And Love. Pretty amazing that they're playing the Blazers close. It would be hilarious if they win a close game right after this thread though. Also ridiculous is that Portland's starters have all been healthy for the entire season. And their 6th man has only missed 2 games. That's really the type of insane luck that many have overlooked regarding their record.
Actually it makes it even more clear. 3 years Love played major minutes: Wolves -16 vs. Expected record 3 years Love off the bench/injured: -8 vs. Expected record.
Honestly, when a team under performs its talent that much, the coach deserves blame for it, especially if the reason is failure of execution in close games. I think Adelman deserves plenty of blame for this.
