The Wolves after a crap start now look more promising than the Wild. 🤐
And KAT is supposed to be close to returning.
The big question is if KAT's return will help or hurt the Wolves. I'm not sure he's a net gain.
I like KAT's fit more with Conley running the point than I did with DLo running the point. Conley is a court general - he can score a little but he's a much better distributor than Russell was and lightyears better on pick-and-roll plays than DLo was. We'll see if that comes to fruition but it seems like KAT's strengths will be amplified by Conley's strengths, IMO.
The best way to defend a pick-and-roll defensively is to force the ballhandler to kick the pass out to a bad shooter. If Gobert is setting the screen, which he excels at and always has, for Conley, he's got Ant, KAT, and Jaden McDaniels to dish to. All of them are shooting above league average from 3pt range, with Ant being the worst of the 3 at 36.6%. If Gobert is setting the screen for Ant and Ant gets downhill, he's going to get two points almost every time because he's so explosive getting to the rim. If teams double up on Ant and close down the roll on Gobert, Ant has KAT, Jaden, and Conley to dish off to for 3 and again, all 3 of them are above league average at 3pt range. Theoretically that makes the offense very hard to defend. It didn't work well with DLo because he's just not a very good pick-and-roll guard. It should work better with Conley.
The game last night was an extremely impressive win. They dominated with Gobert on the court early when Dallas was trying to match them with big men (Rudy and Conley played extremely well together and Gobert had 20pts and 13 rebounds without missing a shot). Dallas moved to a small ball rotation to counter Rudy (which is what every team did against Utah in the playoffs to basically take Rudy off the court, and is why I was concerned about the trade in the first place), and Finch countered with a small ball rotation for the first time. They finished the game with Ant, Jaden, Prince, Conley, and Kyle Anderson on the court for the last 5ish minutes of the game while trying to hold on to the lead and it worked (barely, but it worked).
The Wolves after a crap start now look more promising than the Wild. 🤐
And KAT is supposed to be close to returning.
The big question is if KAT's return will help or hurt the Wolves. I'm not sure he's a net gain.
I like KAT's fit more with Conley running the point than I did with DLo running the point. Conley is a court general - he can score a little but he's a much better distributor than Russell was and lightyears better on pick-and-roll plays than DLo was. We'll see if that comes to fruition but it seems like KAT's strengths will be amplified by Conley's strengths, IMO.
The best way to defend a pick-and-roll defensively is to force the ballhandler to kick the pass out to a bad shooter. If Gobert is setting the screen, which he excels at and always has, for Conley, he's got Ant, KAT, and Jaden McDaniels to dish to. All of them are shooting above league average from 3pt range, with Ant being the worst of the 3 at 36.6%. If Gobert is setting the screen for Ant and Ant gets downhill, he's going to get two points almost every time because he's so explosive getting to the rim. If teams double up on Ant and close down the roll on Gobert, Ant has KAT, Jaden, and Conley to dish off to for 3 and again, all 3 of them are above league average at 3pt range. Theoretically that makes the offense very hard to defend. It didn't work well with DLo because he's just not a very good pick-and-roll guard. It should work better with Conley.
The game last night was an extremely impressive win. They dominated with Gobert on the court early when Dallas was trying to match them with big men (Rudy and Conley played extremely well together and Gobert had 20pts and 13 rebounds without missing a shot). Dallas moved to a small ball rotation to counter Rudy (which is what every team did against Utah in the playoffs to basically take Rudy off the court, and is why I was concerned about the trade in the first place), and Finch countered with a small ball rotation for the first time. They finished the game with Ant, Jaden, Prince, Conley, and Kyle Anderson on the court for the last 5ish minutes of the game while trying to hold on to the lead and it worked (barely, but it worked).
I do think Conley helps the KAT equation, but I have lost so much faith in KAT I won't believe it until I see it in terms of him helping the team.
The Timberwolves organization summed up in 2 videos.
https://twitter.com/BackcourtAlerts/status/1645162650186432513
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Wolves are in the play-in games for the playoff again. They play @ the Lakers to try to get the 7 seed and a rematch with Memphis. If they win against LA, they will get the 7 seed. If they lose they will host the winner of New Orleans vs OKC.
Jaden McDaniels, our best defensive player, will be greatly missed. What a stupid thing to do.
Jaden McDaniels, our best defensive player, will be greatly missed. What a stupid thing to do.
Channeling his inner Jon Waibel
Wolves in a barnburner @ LA despite the officials doing everything they can to give it to LA.
The Wolves have attempted 0 free throws 20 minutes into the second half. Fouls are like 23-12 right now.
Wolves up 3 with 3 minutes left.
Edwards is dealing with some kind of shoulder injury and it is killing his shot. He's like 1/11
Conley hit 3 FTs with .1 seconds left to force OT but the Wolves score 4 points in OT
Wolves lose in OT 108-102. 4th quarter and OT were ugly ugly (for both teams tbh, but especially for Minnesota).
Wolves blow out OKC 120-95. Will take on #1 seed Denver in round 1.
Wolves had a phenomenal 3rd quarter to get back into it after being down 14 at half. Then Jamal Murray took over for Denver.
Wolves lose 122-113, outscored by 11 in the 4th quarter.
If only bball was a 1 quarter game.
If only the NBA didn't exist...
Funny because I grew up a fan mostly because McHale and Bird sparked my interest. From there my interest grew and watched the NBA pretty regularly when it was available and always during the playoffs. I don't know exactly when I lost interest but I know it happened shortly after Jordan started playing for Washington. It was a slow downhill slide from there and I have probably watched 10 NBA games (all playoff games) start to finish in the last 20 years.
Wolves win in OT to avoid the sweep. Maybe they can at least get 2 since they did split with Denver in the season.
Ant Edwards with a HUGE 3 to essentially put the dagger in the game to force a game 5.
This kid is special.
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1650354488950267904?s=20
In the post-game interview, even after hitting this shot (and dropping 36 for the game and becoming the 2nd all-time player with 5 or more 30pt playoff games before turning 22, only LeBron has more with 8), all he did was praise his teammates. Specifically KAT, Nickeil Alexander-Walker (effusive praise for NAW), and Gobert. First game of the series the Wolves won the rebounding battle.
The officials continue to let Jokic get away with murder and then call KAT and Rudy any time he gets breathed on but the Wolves were able to overcome it at least for one game.
Jimmy Buckets doing it again
Apparently when you come all the way from Greece they don’t call you for traveling
All time choke job by Milwaukee tonight
Another MN sports season comes and goes…
They just should have let the Wolves move to New Orleans years ago.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Definitely the right move, you don’t need to be a basketball guru to know that he was poor at adjusting defensively. The Heat aren’t an elite offense and they were scoring 10-20 points higher than their season average every game that series. Against the Knicks they haven’t done that once.All time choke job by Milwaukee tonight
Apparently they figured out who to blame, HC gone
Twins pay tribute to Garnett Timberpuppies still do nothing
Aloha 😎
Just as the NHL draft lottery was rigged with Chicago winning. The NBA proved it was rigged as well with San Antonio winning.
Keep your stick on the ice...
The NBA would not rig it for San Antonio...and neither lottery was rigged anyways keeping that a secret would be nearly impossible.
With the Nuggets sweeping the Lakers, it's Denver's first time to the NBA Finals. I was surprised that it was their first time.
Keep your stick on the ice...
Jimmy Butler is a stud.
Watched most of Game 3 last night to see how good the 'The Joker' really is and nothing else was really on. Jokic is the real deal. Big, strong, can play inside and shot. Though the NBA continues to spiral backwards and downwards. It's not basketball, it's not even streetball. The stripes have no clue what they are doing on the court. They are horrible on what they call and what they don't call. They make Angle Hernandez look like Zeus. The game would be better off if the players would call their own fouls then what quality of officiating they have now. And the quality of play outside of 3-4 starters per team is horrible as well. I was shocked how bad the NBA has gotten with the quality of players. I'll always enjoy high school basketball and college. Just the NBA, I have not interest cause of how it's gotten away from the basic fundamentals and basic rules you learn in grade school.
Keep your stick on the ice...