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Dayum, Butler - Thibs beef is HEATING UP

"That s--- has to stop," Butler told Sam Amick of The Atletic after the loss when asked about his high number of minutes played. "We've got f---ing 14 other guys."

Earlier on Friday it was reported by Marc Stein of The New York Times that Butler and the T'Wolves agreed to 32 minutes per night to minimize injury risk while he still requests a trade. Butler denied the report and says it's all about winning for the four-time All-Star.

"But 41 minutes whenever I’m winning, I don’t give a damn," Butler said.

For Butler, he says the real problem with playing him 41 minutes is what that does to other players' mental games as Minnesota continues to underperform.

"Yeah, we’ve got f---ing guys who can play. We’ve got to instill confidence in everybody. I think my confidence is high enough," Butler said. "I want all my guys to be successful, man. I want all these guys to play.

"Is that a convo (with Thibodeau) that I’ve got to have? Yeah, and then everybody wants to talk about how the motherf---er’s not healthy [he said of himself]. Well God damn, we’re playing 41, 43, 44 (minutes per game), it takes a toll on top of all the work that I do that don’t nobody even see.

"We’ll fix it. We’ll do something. We’ll talk."

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Les Grobstein's huge hog is proof that God has a sense of humor, isn't it?

Les Grobstein's huge hog is proof that God has a sense of humor, isn't it?

LTG must not have a competitive bone in his body. Can't relate to ranting after a bad loss.

And clearly is ignoring the part where Butler said he'd love to play 40+ minutes a night if they were winning.

Dude is trying to inspire his teammates with that speech. Trying to tell them that if they put in the work, they get the minutes.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Remember when we first heard of Gar? He was basically a human shield for paxson, who didn't wanna have to deal with the media (so he was bumped up to some fancy sounding executive role while gar was formally the GM)

NOW the bulls are years deep in perma-suck and gar did his job yet again, taking the bullet for Pax who prolly still gets to be the de-facto GM while the bulls install some other schmuck to do pressers and take the blame for Pax's bad decisions.

Tally ho, Gar! Even tho you took the fall for one dumbass I'm sure you were a quite capable dumbass on your own!

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

I actually played basketball while there is no doubt that a dude like you had to fight it out for the rather coveted team manager position. It's why the nuances of the game are rather lost on you.

He complained about the minutes he was playing. There is no other way to look at it.

Who got more pussy: Thibs or Gar?

I never played for a school team. Never tried to go for team manager either.

But I did play pickup almost every weekend for a few years.

But while you're bragging about your storied career, let's see you back it up with a few details.

Taylor had seriously considered dismissing Layden earlier in the season but stayed with him, sources said. Thibodeau had final authority in basketball operations, and Layden essentially worked for him.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

By all accounts, from people within the Wolves organization, to the beat writers, to the players, this is 100% untrue in actuality.

Tom Thibodeau expected the keys. Instead, Glen Taylor wanted to micromanage the entire front office. Thibodeau had no decision making ability. Glen Taylor wants to be Jerry Jones.

If you think Tom Thibodeau gives a max contract to a player like Andrew Wiggins, you're nuts. They did not get along from the outset. This was a Glen Taylor decision. When the extension was signed, it was not Thibodeau that put out the Wolves' statement but Glen Taylor.

Here’s the problem with that logic: The Thibs problem was never going to improve, barring a miraculous postseason run. And that wasn’t realistic with Thibodeau’s mishandling of the roster and playing time and a lack of progress being shown collectively.

The Wolves are merely treading water with this roster, not marching toward anything significant. Treading water with an unpopular coach who also has alienated the business side of the operation with his tunnel vision focus and gruff demeanor.

Thibodeau’s firing stemmed from both basketball and business factors, not necessarily one thing but an accumulation of issues. It’s not a coincidence that his firing comes a few weeks before season-ticket renewals are issued.

Thibodeau’s personality and decision-making caused irreparable damage in public relations. Attendance sank lower and lower, and fans continued to boo him during introductions. Thibodeau suffered from a crisis of confidence that wasn’t going to be reversed.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Owner Glen Taylor, who also owns the Star Tribune

Thibodeau left a lot to be desired in both his roles with the Wolves. Hired for his defensive acumen, Thibodeau couldn’t recreate his magic in Minnesota. The Wolves are currently 17th in defensive efficiency, a bottom-half-of-the-league mark that would still be their best finish since Thibs took over. Thibodeau also didn’t seem to learn much from his stint as Bulls coach, continuing to play his best players too many minutes and stubbornly clinging to his rotations. (For example, why doesn’t the Jeff Teague-Robert Covington-Andrew Wiggins-Dario Saric-Karl Towns group play together more often?) And despite looking more cohesive since trading away Jimmy Butler, the Wolves are still under .500 and on the outside looking in on the playoffs in the West.


As a team president, Thibs was arguably worse. He was in charge when Minnesota signed Wiggins to his massive five-year extension, a deal that’s largely cringed at around the NBA. Instead of finding up-and-coming players to complement his young core, Thibodeau relied too often on veterans—most often his Bulls retreads—to prop up his best players. The Jimmy Butler trade was a smart move at the time, but Thibodeau couldn’t handle the situation properly, and his days were numbered as soon as Butler was traded. Which begs the question—why wasn’t Thibodeau fired before making a franchise-altering trade?
?

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Jim Petersen, the T-Wolves’ longtime color commentator for FOX Sports North, did not hold back during an appearance this week on 1500 ESPN’s “Raised by Wolves” podcast when assessing Thibodeau’s demeanor, coaching style and interpersonal skills — or lack thereof.

“Thibs was very traumatic. It was a very traumatic tenure for me and for a lot of people,” Peterson said, as transcribed by Clutch Points. “Just for the way that he operates and how he treats people. The way he communicated with either individuals and groups and different parts of the organization … it was a very, very difficult three years or two-and-a-half, whatever it’s been. So when he was let go it felt like so many people were let out of prison. He was just so oppressive that everyone is just walking around on eggshells all the time.”

Petersen closed his comments with one final, brutal salvo.

“I don’t have any sympathy for someone who treats people so poorly,” he said

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

As a team president, Thibs was arguably worse. He was in charge when Minnesota signed Wiggins to his massive five-year extension, a deal that’s largely cringed at around the NBA.

And now from the team's color analyst

So now that we've established Thibs was the best thing to happen to the bulls since the 90s

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Notice how it is said that he was in charge when the Wolves signed Wiggins to an extension. Not that it was one of this first priorities as president. Not that he led the push to get a deal done. Just that he was in charge. The deal was done over Thibodeau's head. Continue arguing whatever point you want to argue. It is foolish. You are foolish.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

I never played for a school team. Never tried to go for team manager either.

But I did play pickup almost every weekend for a few years.

But while you're bragging about your storied career, let's see you back it up with a few details.

Thibs is the second most successful coach in Bulls history and has he respect of 99% of his former players and competitors. Guys like LBJ, KG, Pierce, Butler, Rose all love him. The only guy that didn't is Gar. I think I'm fine with that.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Pop got 4%.

Sounds Iike a bunch of Carmelos voted.

This is going to reach a head pretty soon.

Gar was AWFUL. For health reasons I don't think he didn't want to do the day to day work of a GM. For health reasons and out of respect for the organization he went to the organization and told them to replace him. I'll never get down on Paxson. I just wish he had the stomach to do the job GM longterm.

Even though Paxson is the one who hired Foreman ???

Gar was AWFUL. For health reasons I don't think Paxson wanted to do the day to day work of a GM. For health reasons and out of respect for the organization Paxson went to the organization and told them to replace him. I'll never get down on Paxson. I just wish he had the stomach to do the job GM longterm.