Playoff seeding thread

[frankenwolf]

Maybe I’m becoming too much of a homer, but I have stopped paying attention, because I don’t fear any team.

Were built to compete with DEN. We are the only team they don’t have a size advantage, we have defenders for Murray, and they don’t have a defender for Ant. OKC is too small. We keep crushing LAC. NOP is too inconsistent to win a 7-game series

Several teams have a player that could get hot and win a game, but in a seven game series, consistent defense trumps that.

Bring ‘em on. Anybody.

The funny thing is, the two teams that "worry" me the most are New Orleans and Oklahoma City. But they are also two of the least playoff-experienced teams in the field.

Not saying that the other teams can't beat us, but I'm not going into a series worried about it or feeling doom and gloom.

I agree with both of you. If we were 100% healthy, I don't think there is a team that could bet us 4 out of 7 times. Even Boston.

[winforlose]

Maybe I’m becoming too much of a homer, but I have stopped paying attention, because I don’t fear any team.

Were built to compete with DEN. We are the only team they don’t have a size advantage, we have defenders for Murray, and they don’t have a defender for Ant. OKC is too small. We keep crushing LAC. NOP is too inconsistent to win a 7-game series

Several teams have a player that could get hot and win a game, but in a seven game series, consistent defense trumps that.

Bring ‘em on. Anybody.

The funny thing is, the two teams that "worry" me the most are New Orleans and Oklahoma City. But they are also two of the least playoff-experienced teams in the field.

Not saying that the other teams can't beat us, but I'm not going into a series worried about it or feeling doom and gloom.

I agree with both of you. If we were 100% healthy, I don't think there is a team that could bet us 4 out of 7 times. Even Boston.

I agree. But KAT won’t be 100% for round 1. We will be lucky if he is back at all. As for Rudy, if he has a rib sprain he will not be 100% for the playoffs. He might not even be healthy enough to play in round 1. Everything depends on our buying time. The only way to do that is to get to round 2. So I ask, what is the best matchup. I wonder about LAC.

[Klomp]

I agree. But KAT won’t be 100% for round 1. We will be lucky if he is back at all. As for Rudy, if he has a rib sprain he will not be 100% for the playoffs. He might not even be healthy enough to play in round 1. Everything depends on our buying time. The only way to do that is to get to round 2. So I ask, what is the best matchup. I wonder about LAC.

I'll give you KAT, but Gobert is purely a pain tolerance issue and it sounds like he's very close to returning....like maybe even tonight. We're still 3 weeks or so away from the playoffs, they don't start tomorrow. We have a lot of time to heal up.

[frankenwolf]

The funny thing is, the two teams that "worry" me the most are New Orleans and Oklahoma City. But they are also two of the least playoff-experienced teams in the field.

Not saying that the other teams can't beat us, but I'm not going into a series worried about it or feeling doom and gloom.

I agree with both of you. If we were 100% healthy, I don't think there is a team that could bet us 4 out of 7 times. Even Boston.

I agree. But KAT won’t be 100% for round 1. We will be lucky if he is back at all. As for Rudy, if he has a rib sprain he will not be 100% for the playoffs. He might not even be healthy enough to play in round 1. Everything depends on our buying time. The only way to do that is to get to round 2. So I ask, what is the best matchup. I wonder about LAC.

The best matchup for getting to round 2? The Kings or the Clippers, IMO

[winforlose]

I agree. But KAT won’t be 100% for round 1. We will be lucky if he is back at all. As for Rudy, if he has a rib sprain he will not be 100% for the playoffs. He might not even be healthy enough to play in round 1. Everything depends on our buying time. The only way to do that is to get to round 2. So I ask, what is the best matchup. I wonder about LAC.

I'll give you KAT, but Gobert is purely a pain tolerance issue and it sounds like he's very close to returning....like maybe even tonight. We're still 3 weeks or so away from the playoffs, they don't start tomorrow. We have a lot of time to heal up.

If Rudy is 75% then we are better off letting him rest. We need him healthy. But the fact that he isn’t even doing shoot arounds worries me. Rib sprains are about dislocation that causes damage to the surrounding area. They take 3-6 weeks to heal if they are relatively asymptomatic, 2-3 months if symptomatic. I am not sure playing Rudy before the playoffs will leave us a healthy Rudy in the playoffs. Time will tell.

[winforlose]

I agree with both of you. If we were 100% healthy, I don't think there is a team that could bet us 4 out of 7 times. Even Boston.

I agree. But KAT won’t be 100% for round 1. We will be lucky if he is back at all. As for Rudy, if he has a rib sprain he will not be 100% for the playoffs. He might not even be healthy enough to play in round 1. Everything depends on our buying time. The only way to do that is to get to round 2. So I ask, what is the best matchup. I wonder about LAC.

The best matchup for getting to round 2? The Kings or the Clippers, IMO

If Naz could guard Nurk I wonder about Phoenix. Assuming limited or no KAT and Rudy.

[Klomp]

If Rudy is 75% then we are better off letting him rest. We need him healthy. But the fact that he isn’t even doing shoot arounds worries me. Rib sprains are about dislocation that causes damage to the surrounding area. They take 3-6 weeks to heal if they are relatively asymptomatic, 2-3 months if symptomatic. I am not sure playing Rudy before the playoffs will leave us a healthy Rudy in the playoffs. Time will tell.

Read on Twitter

[frankenwolf]

I agree. But KAT won’t be 100% for round 1. We will be lucky if he is back at all. As for Rudy, if he has a rib sprain he will not be 100% for the playoffs. He might not even be healthy enough to play in round 1. Everything depends on our buying time. The only way to do that is to get to round 2. So I ask, what is the best matchup. I wonder about LAC.

The best matchup for getting to round 2? The Kings or the Clippers, IMO

If Naz could guard Nurk I wonder about Phoenix. Assuming limited or no KAT and Rudy.

I'm really torn on them. If all three of the studs are playing at 100%, that could be a very dicey matchup without KAT, because they could go for 140 a night. It depends on our defense and who is ready to play at that time.

[winforlose]

If Rudy is 75% then we are better off letting him rest. We need him healthy. But the fact that he isn’t even doing shoot arounds worries me. Rib sprains are about dislocation that causes damage to the surrounding area. They take 3-6 weeks to heal if they are relatively asymptomatic, 2-3 months if symptomatic. I am not sure playing Rudy before the playoffs will leave us a healthy Rudy in the playoffs. Time will tell.

Read on Twitter

This is encouraging . Now we need to see him run and jump, defend and get hit in his sore area. I really do hope we have Rudy at around 90% or better for round 1, it would REALLY help.

[shrink]

Thought I’d move this here:

71 GSW. Sun, Mar 24
72 DET. Wed, Mar 27
73 @DEN. Fri, Mar 29
74 CHI. Sun, Mar 31
75 HOU. Tue, Apr 2
76 TOR. Wed, Apr 3
77 @PHX. Fri., Apr 5
78 @LAL. Sun, Apr 7
79 WAS. Tue, Apr 9
80 @DEN. Wed, Apr 10
81 ATL. Fri, Apr 12
82 PHX. Sun, Apr 14

8 home, 4 away
2 back-to-backs (another traveling against DEN?!!)

[Klomp]

Thought I’d move this here:

71 GSW. Sun, Mar 24
72 DET. Wed, Mar 27
73 @DEN. Fri, Mar 29
74 CHI. Sun, Mar 31
75 HOU. Tue, Apr 2
76 TOR. Wed, Apr 3
77 @PHX. Fri., Apr 5
78 @LAL. Sun, Apr 7
79 WAS. Tue, Apr 9
80 @DEN. Wed, Apr 10
81 ATL. Fri, Apr 12
82 PHX. Sun, Apr 14

8 home, 4 away
2 back-to-backs (another traveling against DEN?!!)

Just win the first and the second won't matter as much!

[winforlose]

I was listening to an Ed Sheeran song and I had a Eurka moment about the NBA. The song is Penguins. The lyric with slight changes “small market teams are like Penguins on the ice, they’re not meant to fly, but god knows they can try. I see the hope in their fans eyes, do they see the love in mine?” OKC, Denver, and Minnesota at the top of the west with LAL, and GSW at the bottom of the play in just makes this work.

[WolfAddict]

If the season finished as is, what do you all think of our chances against the Suns?

[winforlose]

If the season finished as is, what do you all think of our chances against the Suns?

Depends on Karl. Without him 65-35 we win. With a 80%+ Karl 80-20 we win.

[Zonarosa]

If the season finished as is, what do you all think of our chances against the Suns?

Depends on Karl. Without him 65-35 we win. With a 80%+ Karl 80-20 we win.

[Guest84]

If the season finished as is, what do you all think of our chances against the Suns?

Depends on Karl. Without him 65-35 we win. With a 80%+ Karl 80-20 we win.

Phx is prob the one team I wouldn't want for the wolves. Never been good at guarding Booker or KD. But, no matter who they face, any West matchup will be tough. Any top team could lose and I wouldn't see it as an upset, aside from maybe Den matchup.

[shrink]

If the season finished as is, what do you all think of our chances against the Suns?

MIN’s defense is designed to take away three pointers, both in frequency and percentage. With great perimeter defenders in McDaniels, NAW and Ant, they have been very successful. They have allowed the third least by opponents, and opponents shoot them at the fourth worst percentage. These players have the advantage that if they fly past an opponent and they start to drive, the defense still has Rudy Gobert underneath. No defense can take away everything, so MIN allows analytically bad mid-rangers, which has led them to the best defense in the the NBA by a wide margin. That said, the Suns have two players in Durant and Booker that are so good at mid-rangers, it becomes an analytically good shot. Both are in the top 5 in the percentage of mid-rangers that they take.

However, the Suns have some pretty big weaknesses. Their three stars don’t compliment each other, and there is a lot of duplication in their skillsets. Those three are expensive too, so their depth is very bad. That’s a strength for MIN, so I’d expect the Wolves to make some big runs. Their defense is mediocre, and they give up a lot of second chance points, so Gobert is dangerous to them. They don’t have a good answer for Ant.

The Suns are only a half game in front of the Mavs and Kings, and with the NBA’s hardest remaining Strength of Schedule, I doubt they will avoid the Play In Tournament. However, I they are uniquely designed to give MIN more trouble than their record indicates. I think Vegas would favor the Wolves, particularly at home, but they would be a tougher match up than they would first appear. We’ll get to see them two more times before the playoffs, so that should answer many questions.

[_AIJ_]

I dont want to face the Suns

[shrink]

Thought I’d move this here:

72 DET. Wed, Mar 27
73 @DEN. Fri, Mar 29
74 CHI. Sun, Mar 31
75 HOU. Tue, Apr 2
76 TOR. Wed, Apr 3
77 @PHX. Fri., Apr 5
78 @LAL. Sun, Apr 7
79 WAS. Tue, Apr 9
80 @DEN. Wed, Apr 10
81 ATL. Fri, Apr 12
82 PHX. Sun, Apr 14

7 home, 4 away
2 back-to-backs (another traveling against DEN?!!)

We have the #19 hardest strength of schedule remaining, and it breaks up pretty cleanly.

2 against DEN
4 against Play In teams in the West. (Yes, I’m including the Rockets).
5 against losing record teams in the East.

[KGdaBom]

If the season finished as is, what do you all think of our chances against the Suns?

Without KAT. 60/40.