Round 1: LAL

[cupcakesnake]

I like Randle as an on-ball defender in this series. Luka and Lebron aren't beating guys with firsgt steps, so I think his combination of strength and footspeed could be functionally useful. Where I hate Randle in this series is as an off-ball defender. We can't really use him on Lebron because Lebron is a cutter now. Rui is a functional cutter as well.

I think putting Randle and Naz on the ball as much as possible mitigates the how much they struggle doing more complicated stuff against Luka pick & roll.

This Luka team doesn't have Gafford and Lively, who are two of the best rim running lob threats in the league. Jaxson Hayes is solid here though, and the Lakers will probably be forced to play him more minutes than they want to. Vando- theoretically- could be another lob threat for Luka, though I haven't seen that much in LA, and we all know how easy it is to punish team's who try keep Vando on the floor in the playoffs.

[Loaf_of_bread]

ANT has been composed, humble, and fantastic in recent interviews. Will be intriguing to see how he carries himself + leadership abilities displayed in this series.

[younggunsmn]

Connelly has continued to add higher basketball iq players like DDV and Conley etc and the team still makes dumb mistakes… because they take after the head coach.

Or you know it could be that your two highest usage players are also your two lowest BBIQ players.
Or that the only playable PG your GM gave you is also 37 years old and limited to playing half the minutes.

[Neeva]

No excuses Finch has coached Ant since he was 19 years old, Ant plays smarter and better for usa head coaches..Finch is a diservice to Ant’s career because he lets him do whatever and hasn’t taught him to play smarter at all!

[Klomp]

Or you know it could be that your two highest usage players are also your two lowest BBIQ players.

I think this is probably it. Ant is crazy talented! But he's young. And he's relatively new to the sport still. He didn't grow up as a basketball junkie. But I would remind people how young he is....he is still three years younger than SGA, for example. And three years ago, SGA hadn't even made an all-NBA team yet. He hadn't earned a whistle from the refs to the extent he has now. That came over time. But we as Timberwolves are so excited about Ant's future that it's easy to skip steps in our minds and place expectations on him that he is just not ready for yet. This would be the equivalent of 1988-89 for Jordan, for example. He was still two years away from winning his first title.

[younggunsmn]

There will be a large IQ disparity on the court for most of the series. That is one potential downfall.

This in a nutshell is why I'm less than optimistic about this series.

I would also add that we will be getting the playoff versions of LeBron James and Luka Doncic, not the coasting regular season versions.
The playoff versions of those 2 guys are absolute stone cold killers.

Add that to Reaves having leveled up this year, adding Finney-Smith as a high IQ switchable 3+D guy.

And the Laker whistle.

The Wolves are going to have to reach a couple levels I have yet to see from this group, on both ends of the floor, to win this series.

That means at a bare minimum consistently good defense and decsion making with the basketball from both Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards.

Remember two years ago when the cocky young next big thing 2 seed Grizzlies got stomped by the less talented 7 seed Lakers in the first round?
That's going to be us if we play low BBIQ basketball.

[younggunsmn]

Or you know it could be that your two highest usage players are also your two lowest BBIQ players.

I think this is probably it. Ant is crazy talented! But he's young. And he's relatively new to the sport still. He didn't grow up as a basketball junkie. But I would remind people how young he is....he is still three years younger than SGA, for example. And three years ago, SGA hadn't even made an all-NBA team yet. He hadn't earned a whistle from the refs to the extent he has now. That came over time. But we as Timberwolves are so excited about Ant's future that it's easy to skip steps in our minds and place expectations on him that he is just not ready for yet. This would be the equivalent of 1988-89 for Jordan, for example. He was still two years away from winning his first title.

Ant has 5 years and 400+ pro games under his belt.
He recently said he was going to work on his mid-range game this summer.
When asked if Finch would be okay with that, Ant said "he better be okay with it".

Sometimes people just are who they are.
And Anthony Edwards is just going to do what he wants to on the basketball court, for the most part.
He is who he is.
At some point we have to stop making youth an excuse. Because 23 aint young in the NBA anymore.

[Loaf_of_bread]

There will be a large IQ disparity on the court for most of the series. That is one potential downfall.

This in a nutshell is why I'm less than optimistic about this series.

I would also add that we will be getting the playoff versions of LeBron James and Luka Doncic, not the coasting regular season versions.
The playoff versions of those 2 guys are absolute stone cold killers.

Add that to Reaves having leveled up this year, adding Finney-Smith as a high IQ switchable 3+D guy.

And the Laker whistle.

The Wolves are going to have to reach a couple levels I have yet to see from this group, on both ends of the floor, to win this series.

That means at a bare minimum consistently good defense and decsion making with the basketball from both Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards.

Remember two years ago when the cocky young next big thing 2 seed Grizzlies got stomped by the less talented 7 seed Lakers in the first round?
That's going to be us if we play low BBIQ basketball.

My concern is Julius. Ant will be dialed. We just cannot afford to lose a game when Julius is pouty, disinterested, doesn’t bring it, and has a long leash even though it's obvious. An off night shooting is one thing, but a lack of effort CANNOT happen.

And bs effort is infectious..

[younggunsmn]

One of the biggest problems with Finch and his offense is what I would call "Overplaymaking".
You can tell at times guys (mostly Ant and Julius) are trying to be unselfish, but they do dumb things and make dumb passes because they have no guardrails.

Like driving the slot and getting cut off and then trying to make a wrap around pass from the baseline to the opposite corner. That one happens a lot.
Or passing up a contested layup to chuck it wildly out to the perimeter, sometimes mid-air.

Lakers are going to eat that kind of stuff alive if we try it in this series.

Go hard. Be decisive. But don't dribble yourself into a position where you don't have a scoring opportunity or an out.

[Klomp]

Ant has 5 years and 400+ pro games under his belt.

And?

LeBron James didn't win his first title until he had played 689 games. Michael Jordan took 509 games. Shaquille O'Neal took 534 games. None of them were drafted to what was at the time the least successful franchise in all four major professional sports.

[Klomp]

I would also add that we will be getting the playoff versions of LeBron James and Luka Doncic, not the coasting regular season versions.
The playoff versions of those 2 guys are absolute stone cold killers.

I'm rather concerned about Luka, but LeBron is no longer what he once was. Still dang good, but no longer invincible.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

I'm not worry about ANT. He is locked and when he is focus, he is near MVP level. How the others take responsibilities will be the key. ANT will be double most of the time and if he find the open guy, this one has to score. Name Randle, DDV, Jaden or others.
Rudy will also be very important, he should dominate the series inside.
I am on vacation and try to kill time playing golf (pretty poorly) and do some shopping with Madam but i can't wait series start. Go Wolves!

[minimus]

Just rewatched MIN against LAL on 27/2:

- Conley was unplayable: got abused in matchups, provided zero pressure at rim
- Reid couldn't hit a 3PT shot against smallball and couldn't not finish layups nor postups
- TJ was by far the best player: attacked the rim when no LAL rim protector was on the floor
- Hayes is nowhere near as passer and screener comparing to Lively and Gafford, which limits his pick-n-roll game with Doncic but still killed us in fast breaks and on offensive board
- those outlet passes from LAL are dangerous

[Ethomasp31]

I kind of think that this is the matchup the Wolves wanted. The Wolves were coming off of a super emotional and physical series against Denver last year, they were beat up and drained and never joined the battle against Dallas. ANT did not have a good series and KAT was 2-9, 1-5 and 0-8 from the 3 point line in games 1, 2 and 3 in that series. We were tied or leading going into the 4th quarter in all three games. On top of that, last years Dallas team was better than this years LAL team. They had rim protection with Lively and Gafford and Kyrie was excellent in that series. We also had to play SloMo in that series. DDV is a HUGE upgrade from him.

I think the Wolves will win in 5 or 6 games. Hopefully GSW win so we can beat them too.

[cupcakesnake]

Remember two years ago when the cocky young next big thing 2 seed Grizzlies got stomped by the less talented 7 seed Lakers in the first round?
That's going to be us if we play low BBIQ basketball.

To be fair, those Grizzlies were pretty injured. They lost their starting center, and their backup center before the playoffs, putting a massive hole in their rotation. They played JJJ at center exclusively (which sounds fine until you remember the guy rebounds like a 2-guard), Xavier Tillman, and an even skinnier version of Santi Aldama. Brooks had to play the 4, Bane had to play the 3, and then Ja got injured with the team down 3-2.

Despite all that, this team went 6 games against a healthy Lakers team that was only 7th because Lebron and AD missed half the season, and the team had a major shakeup (trading away Russ and bringing in Vando, D'Lo, and Rui).

We're healthy!

[TimberKat]

I'm not worry about ANT. He is locked and when he is focus, he is near MVP level. How the others take responsibilities will be the key. ANT will be double most of the time and if he find the open guy, this one has to score. Name Randle, DDV, Jaden or others.
Rudy will also be very important, he should dominate the series inside.
I am on vacation and try to kill time playing golf (pretty poorly) and do some shopping with Madam but i can't wait series start. Go Wolves!

Weather in Minneapolis been bad for golf this spring, so I end up spending way too much time reading and posting on realGM. Can't wait for the series to get started to see which Twolves team shows up.

[thinktank]

I'm not worry about ANT. He is locked and when he is focus, he is near MVP level. How the others take responsibilities will be the key. ANT will be double most of the time and if he find the open guy, this one has to score. Name Randle, DDV, Jaden or others.
Rudy will also be very important, he should dominate the series inside.
I am on vacation and try to kill time playing golf (pretty poorly) and do some shopping with Madam but i can't wait series start. Go Wolves!

Nice! Where’s vacation?

[cmoss84]

Cannot wait until we shock the sports world and sweep the Lakers. I live near LA and am anticipating a lot of sorrow from their fans. I will collect their tears on a shot glass.

[cmoss84]

Damn Yorkie!
*in a shot glass and cheers you all

[TimberKat]

Cannot wait until we shock the sports world and sweep the Lakers. I live near LA and am anticipating a lot of sorrow from their fans. I will collect their tears on a shot glass.

Enough tears to refill salton sea