28 thoughts on “May 19, 2015: Hello, St. Paul”

  1. I'm hardly paying attention to baseball.

    1. Bruce Chen retired yesterday.

    2. AL Wildcard Standings:
    HOU +3.5
    KCR +3.0
    DET +1.5
    NYY +0.5
    MIN 2nd WC
    TBA -0.5
    CWS -1.5
    LAA -2.0 (at .500)

  2. Pretty interesting discussion about Ping-Pong balls over at Canis ... I'm going to be watching tonight like I was when I first saw Nightmare on Elm Street: hands covering eyes but with fingers slightly parted.

    Though I'll happily get onboard with a Towns with the #1 pick, I have no illusions that the Knicks won't be selecting first. However, if the Wolves do land on #2 thru #4, I'm all about Russell or Okafor and could easily be talked into Cauley-Stein or Mudiay in the three-four window. As much as I'd like to believe that Porzingis could be Mirotić 2.0, I think if the Wolves take him, he won't be.

    1. I am completely on board with Russell right now, if only because of Kahn's stupidity when he believed Curry and Rubio couldn't possibly play together.

      That said, if they take Porzingis anywhere in the top 4, I might stop following all together (EDIT: The Timberwolves, I mean. I'll still be an NBA fan), and if they draft Russell or Mudiay and trade Rubio, I will definitely abandon ship.

      1. Rubio is at his absolute lowest value right now... even Flip can't be under the assumption that he'd get good value. What he needs is a compliment, not a replacement, and I think Russell could fill that role nicely, playing off guard with him and spelling him at PG. I just really hope they make a move so the Lavine running the offense experiment can be over.

        1. I am just not prepared to underestimate Flip's assumptions at this point. I read a Twitter conversation Darren Wolfson was having that made my brain hurt with people thinking Rubio should go (seriously, MN fans suck at good player appreciation) and, worse, Wolfson saying Flip is still all-in on Lavine being his guy. I've long since passed JeffA's threshold of not trusting the Twins when it comes to the Wolves.

          1. Three things:
            1) I hope you're not right.
            2) I hope the choice is made for Flip.
            3) If the selection is Russell, and Flip really thinks that Lavine + Russell > Rubio + Russell, then I hope he leans on Milt something fierce over the next few months to get his head straight.

            Also, one of the comment threads over there highlighted the value of a Russell type player at the 2 (size, shooting, maturity, etc.), pointing out how common high-quality PG's are vs. how uncommon high-quality SG's are:
            The 10th best point guard by RPM: Kyrie Irving
            The 10th best shooting guard by RPM: Anthony Morrow

            I'm not much for advanced bball stats; didn't know what RPM was...so I looked it up.

            1. The choice being made would be ideal. That definitely applies to the #2 spot. I want to say that picking #3 would also force one of Okafor, Towns or Russell, but there's that terrifying Porzingis fart cloud hanging overhead. It has that "Flip trying to outsmart everyone but outsmarting himself" vibe to it. Lavine-esque, if you will.

              1. If they draft Porzingis, I'm making a banner of

                that terrifying Porzingis fart cloud hanging overhead.

      2. Barreiro was on the radio when I was driving home last night, talking to AP Guy John K... about how they would probably trade Rubio if they drafted Russell. Ugh. It's just so short sighted. Rubio is their best player by a very wide margin. LaVine hasn't shown nearly enough to me that he is going to be a contributor, let alone a 6th man or starting 2 guard. And he has shown me enough that he shouldn't be playing point at all. Having a rotation of Rubio, Russell, and a real 3rd PG at the 1 and Russell, Martin, and LaVine at the 2 is actual wing depth.

        But I've given up any hope of Flip doing the right thing at this point. I'd hope he's not stupid enough to trade away Rubio but in the words of their future owner ANYTHING IS POSSIBLLLLLLLLE!

        Edit: Mind you none of this would be a problem if the Wolves properly had Towns atop their draft board weren't infatuated with the guy who just hired Flip's old buddy as his agent.

        1. and a real 3rd PG at the 1

          They even have this guy on the roster in Lorenzo Brown!

          1. Yep! LoBro is fine as a 3rd guy. It's certainly better than watching LaVine "run the offense" 30 minutes a game.

    1. Thanks dude. I'm very excited to be here.

      Housewarming caucus is forthcoming. Maybe the 30th? TBD, stay tuned for official invites

    1. Btw, Twins are now tied for third in the AL in runs scored per game despite scoring 1 run in their first three games and despite run scoring being slightly up this year compared to last. Twins averaging 4.5 runs. They are half a run behind No. 2 KC.

  6. Knicks pick fourth, which means Stern has rigged it for the Lakers this time.

        1. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjwjtNp6L5g

          Lean forward, have a firm handshake and smile broadly for the love of god, young man!

    1. I would not be upset, however, if Flip went against general opinion and took Russell.

  10. So after never winning the lottery prior to this year, the Wolves will start next year with the last three No. 1 overall picks on their roster (assuming they keep Bennett).

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