2024 NBA Playoffs: West Semifinals: #2 Denver Nuggets vs #3 Minnesota Timberwolves (MIN WINS 4-3)

[perempe20]

KAT's flops aren't a good ad for the league, Stern would have kicked him in the a**. Please tell him it's the playoffs, don't be a pussy.

[ibraheim718]

I'm about to lay some coin on Denver tomorrow.

[Shaka_Zulu]

KAT's flops aren't a good ad for the league, Stern would have kicked him in the a**. Please tell him it's the playoffs, don't be a pussy.

Care to share examples of these flops?


Because he isn't really one. He is just a clumsy gangly dude lol.

[Hans1984]

I'm schocked at how bad Denver is playing in this series so far.

[perempe20]

KAT's flops aren't a good ad for the league, Stern would have kicked him in the a**. Please tell him it's the playoffs, don't be a pussy.

Care to share examples of these flops?


Because he isn't really one. He is just a clumsy gangly dude lol.

Saw only the full game highlights on YouTube. He managed to get a contested offensive rebound, so he doesn't always do it.

[shi-woo]

Ant was not the consensus number one. He was very raw, and people questioned his commitment to basketball (how laughable does that sound now?).

Again, he was the consensus. It just wasn't very enthusiastic because his freshman year was disappointing. Nobody was taking Wiseman or Lamelo over him. Basically, he was the default choice in what was deemed a craptastic draft. Nobody was throwing a party over landing the #1 overall that year.

In a workout with the Warriors, Kerr told him straight up that he slacking and he needed to play/practice harder. ANT has been quoted as saying Kerr was absolutely right and he took the advice to heart. Even with those criticisms, he was going #1 because he was the most talented player and the guys taken behind him had even bigger question marks.

There were definitely draft experts who thought LaMelo should have gone first.

Facts anything else is hindsite bias, it's why I like Ant so much, because the scouting reports were so lazy and untrue. From the moment I watched him play against the Celtics, I was shocked, here was a kid that played like he would die on the court and wanted all the smoke going strait at Tatum/Brown all game.

Ant was put in the Jaylen Brown mold of, well maybe he'll play better in space, but he had no shot, no handle, and just like Brown his love of the game and work ethic were taken into serious question. Except unlike Brown, who people said it was because he "was too smart," for Ant it was because he was too dumb. Low IQ player, many people comparing him to Ben McLemore

Ant was viewed as the prospect you would take if you wanted to swing for the fences, and most boards before the draft were dependant on who was already on the roster given it was the Covid year, and teams were drafting for fit more than any other year. Wiseman was the consensus #1 all year, and would have gone to any team in the lottery #1 if they didn't already have an ANBA center. Same with Melo, who would have gone #1 if the team didn't already have an all-star pg.

Wolves just happened to have both, and just traded for Dlo and were trying to keep KAT happy, looking to replace what they lost in Jimmy. That is the only reason Ant went #1 in 2020

It won't be viewed as much now, but Hali was also a player who was suppossed to go Top 6 but didn't because teams drafted for need and not talent.

But it was not consensus, that much is for sure, Ant was always considered the #3 prospect that year, and #4 to a lot of people by the time the draft rolled around

[Worm Guts]

Again, he was the consensus. It just wasn't very enthusiastic because his freshman year was disappointing. Nobody was taking Wiseman or Lamelo over him. Basically, he was the default choice in what was deemed a craptastic draft. Nobody was throwing a party over landing the #1 overall that year.

In a workout with the Warriors, Kerr told him straight up that he slacking and he needed to play/practice harder. ANT has been quoted as saying Kerr was absolutely right and he took the advice to heart. Even with those criticisms, he was going #1 because he was the most talented player and the guys taken behind him had even bigger question marks.

There were definitely draft experts who thought LaMelo should have gone first.

Facts anything else is hindsite bias, it's why I like Ant so much, because the scouting reports were so lazy and untrue. From the moment I watched him play against the Celtics, I was shocked, here was a kid that played like he would die on the court and wanted all the smoke going strait at Tatum/Brown all game.

Ant was put in the Jaylen Brown mold of, well maybe he'll play better in space, but he had no shot, no handle, and just like Brown his love of the game and work ethic were taken into serious question. Except unlike Brown, who people said it was because he "was too smart," for Ant it was because he was too dumb. Low IQ player, many people comparing him to Ben McLemore

Ant was viewed as the prospect you would take if you wanted to swing for the fences, and most boards before the draft were dependant on who was already on the roster given it was the Covid year, and teams were drafting for fit more than any other year. Wiseman was the consensus #1 all year, and would have gone to any team in the lottery #1 if they didn't already have an ANBA center. Same with Melo, who would have gone #1 if the team didn't already have an all-star pg.

Wolves just happened to have both, and just traded for Dlo and were trying to keep KAT happy, looking to replace what they lost in Jimmy. That is the only reason Ant went #1 in 2020

It won't be viewed as much now, but Hali was also a player who was suppossed to go Top 6 but didn't because teams drafted for need and not talent.

But it was not consensus, that much is for sure, Ant was always considered the #3 prospect that year, and #4 to a lot of people by the time the draft rolled around

I just know that on the Wolves board it was a 3 three man discussion with Edwards, Ball and Wiseman and the Wolves organization only really considered Edwards and Ball. I do think by draft day it seemed likely that Edwards was the pick, and that’s where the consensus came in, but there were a few respected draft guys who thought Ball was the better player.

[Statlanta]

this might be the last time Wolves tickets are affordable in the near future

Watch on YouTube

[nbafan38]

Read on Twitter

I feel like this series should send Lebron into retirement lol. He's gotta be like we got trolled by this team that didn't even see us as a threat that is now getting demolished.

[Sealab2024]

As I see it the biggest problem the Nuggets face is that they've now seen 2 pretty distinct Wolves teams and lost to both. How do you game plan when you're not even sure which problems you need to address... Well address beyond the obvious problem of not being physical enough to get to the spots their offense requires to be run effectively.

[chudak]

As I see it the biggest problem the Nuggets face is that they've now seen 2 pretty distinct Wolves teams and lost to both. How do you game plan when you're not even sure which problems you need to address... Well address beyond the obvious problem of not being physical enough to get to the spots their offense requires to be run effectively.

Well their adjustments are also tied to the 5 starters as they have no other personnel to really rely on

With Bruce Brown and old man Jeff Green they could at least make some adjustments in terms of matchups during the game

I like the Nuggets starting 5 and they fit well but they are limited in terms of what happens if they are not clicking

Minnesota is much deeper and more well balanced with more tactical options

[spanishninja]

MVP announcement is today I think. There's no way Joker wins it and then goes down 0-3 right?

[AleksandarN]

Coming from a Jokic fan and what he did to the Morris brother. Also been ejected multiple times in the playoffs for his temper. Face it the Nuggets are a bunch of whiners.

How many flagrant fouls Embiid has? Do you really want to go down this path.

How many ejections does Jokic have, go down that path.

Jokic got more ejections arguing with the refs. Embiid has way more flagrant fouls than Jokic in fewer games. Also Embiid would never try and cheap shot Jokic like Morris did because he would know Jokic would respond in kind.

[TheFire]

Can denver come back?

[shrink]

As I see it the biggest problem the Nuggets face is that they've now seen 2 pretty distinct Wolves teams and lost to both. How do you game plan when you're not even sure which problems you need to address... Well address beyond the obvious problem of not being physical enough to get to the spots their offense requires to be run effectively.

Good point. As we saw when MIN played PHX, the Wolves have multiple options to choose from off the bench to get extra value from their coach. With great contributions from two starters still on rookie scale (Ant and Jaden), it allowed the Wolves to invest in a better bench. Naz Reid, Nickiel Alexander-Walker and Kyle Anderson (and maybe Monte Morris) would have all been better options than either PHX or DEN had coming off the bench.

Now this won’t last for MIN. Towns, Edwards and McDaniels all have extensions kicking in next year. They likely can’t afford both Monte Morris and Kyle Anderson, and maybe both will be gone, depending on ownership. Next year MIN adds a third max deal (likely a supermax for Ant), just like PHX and DEN, and Tim Connelly will likely be forced to make cuts in the bench. But this year, for this playoffs, the Wolves can afford to give Chris Finch talent and flexibility to face the best teams in the NBA.

[ChipotleWest]

MVP announcement is today I think. There's no way Joker wins it and then goes down 0-3 right?

Sure it can happen, Game 3 is not until Friday btw.

The only time I saw a Dallas Maverick win an MVP was Dirk after the Mavs lost in the first round to Golden State. So it could be worse.

[ChipotleWest]

I noticed something about the voting in this thread. Majority had Nuggets winning the series, now suddenly majority have Wolves. Real difficult to pick the Wolves to win the series now psychics.

[spanishninja]

MVP announcement is today I think. There's no way Joker wins it and then goes down 0-3 right?

Sure it can happen, Game 3 is not until Friday btw.

The only time I saw a Dallas Maverick win an MVP was Dirk after the Mavs lost in the first round to Golden State. So it could be worse.

oh my bad, thought that was today for some reason. well, it won't look as bad then.

[Sealab2024]

As I see it the biggest problem the Nuggets face is that they've now seen 2 pretty distinct Wolves teams and lost to both. How do you game plan when you're not even sure which problems you need to address... Well address beyond the obvious problem of not being physical enough to get to the spots their offense requires to be run effectively.

Good point. As we saw when MIN played PHX, the Wolves have multiple options to choose from off the bench to get extra value from their coach. With great contributions from two starters still on rookie scale (Ant and Jaden), it allowed the Wolves to invest in a better bench. Naz Reid, Nickiel Alexander-Walker and Kyle Anderson (and maybe Monte Morris) would have all been better options than either PHX or DEN had coming off the bench.

Now this won’t last for MIN. Towns, Edwards and McDaniels all have extensions kicking in next year. They likely can’t afford both Monte Morris and Kyle Anderson, and maybe both will be gone, depending on ownership. Next year MIN adds a third max deal (likely a supermax for Ant), just like PHX and DEN, and Tim Connelly will likely be forced to make cuts in the bench. But this year, for this playoffs, the Wolves can afford to give Chris Finch talent and flexibility to face the best teams in the NBA.

And that's where long term roster construction comes into play. Wolves have their starters plus NAW and Naz locked up next year. My guess is the lose both Monte and SloMo, though we do have Monte's bird rights. We've got Minott, Wendell Moore, Leonard Miller and Jaylin Clark from the past 2 drafts. We need one of those guys to step up and become a quasi reliable bench piece of some value. We also have our 1st and an early 2nd this year.

You gotta start looking long term and I think the biggest question is Naz. Long term you can't keep Naz on the bench, pay him and still have KAT. How they handle that question, probably 18 months from now, will shape the 3 years after that.

[shrink]

As I see it the biggest problem the Nuggets face is that they've now seen 2 pretty distinct Wolves teams and lost to both. How do you game plan when you're not even sure which problems you need to address... Well address beyond the obvious problem of not being physical enough to get to the spots their offense requires to be run effectively.

Good point. As we saw when MIN played PHX, the Wolves have multiple options to choose from off the bench to get extra value from their coach. With great contributions from two starters still on rookie scale (Ant and Jaden), it allowed the Wolves to invest in a better bench. Naz Reid, Nickiel Alexander-Walker and Kyle Anderson (and maybe Monte Morris) would have all been better options than either PHX or DEN had coming off the bench.

Now this won’t last for MIN. Towns, Edwards and McDaniels all have extensions kicking in next year. They likely can’t afford both Monte Morris and Kyle Anderson, and maybe both will be gone, depending on ownership. Next year MIN adds a third max deal (likely a supermax for Ant), just like PHX and DEN, and Tim Connelly will likely be forced to make cuts in the bench. But this year, for this playoffs, the Wolves can afford to give Chris Finch talent and flexibility to face the best teams in the NBA.

And that's where long term roster construction comes into play. Wolves have their starters plus NAW and Naz locked up next year. My guess is the lose both Monte and SloMo, though we do have Monte's bird rights. We've got Minott, Wendell Moore, Leonard Miller and Jaylin Clark from the past 2 drafts. We need one of those guys to step up and become a quasi reliable bench piece of some value. We also have our 1st and an early 2nd this year.

You gotta start looking long term and I think the biggest question is Naz. Long term you can't keep Naz on the bench, pay him and still have KAT. How they handle that question, probably 18 months from now, will shape the 3 years after that.

I am hoping that they get some financial relief by asking Rudy to waive his $46 mil player option for 2025-26, and extend for, say three years for $95 at age 33. Conley and Naz gave hometown discounts (never happened in MIN before!) to stay with the franchise, and I hope Rudy will follow suit.