2024 NBA Playoffs: Western Conference Finals: #3 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (DAL leads 3-0)

[perempe20]

KAT is just one of those guys i cant imagine as a champion.

Can we please put to bed the "KAT isn't a winner and struggles in the playoffs" narrative?

He's been key to the Wolves this entire playoff run.

I saw a bunch of posts earlier stating how one cannot trust Towns, hence they had Denver winning.

Can I wait a round or two?

[dygaction]

Wolves DRtg with Gobert on the court this series: 110.6
Wolves DRtg with Gobert on the bench this series: 138.9

I really don't understand people who see Gobert's defense as the Wolves problem and not Ant and KAT's offensive (in)efficiency in this series... I really do think Gobert is the most unfairly maligned player I've ever seen.

You are just never going to win in the playoffs if your two best offensive weapons shoot FG 33%/3pFG 22% for an entire series. It's NEVER going to happen. If anything... it's kind of shocking that Minny has been THIS close in all those games.

A traded French center vs. team drafted American's next MJ, who do you think is more dispensable?

[Sweet Serenity]

Won’t be as good as this one , Mavs will sweep Celtics and won’t be close games

Don’t you dare disappear if the Celtics win the chip

You all disappear when Kyrie wins the chip in your building, book it

It gives me great joy knowing we set your pathetic franchise back years not once but twice.

It also gives me great joy knowing two of the drafts pick we took from you the first time we set you back are about to win a championship.

I’m looking forward to the tantrums from you in a couple of weeks.

[audiosway]

Don’t you dare disappear if the Celtics win the chip

You all disappear when Kyrie wins the chip in your building, book it

It gives me great joy knowing we set your pathetic franchise back years not once but twice.

It also gives me great joy knowing two of the drafts pick we took from you the first time we set you back are about to win a championship.

I’m looking forward to the tantrums from you in a couple of weeks.

We still have to get through the Minny series but I can tell you right now that Jrue is Booker's brother. Cause you know Luka is their Daddy!

Mavs in 6!

[Sweet Serenity]

You all disappear when Kyrie wins the chip in your building, book it

It gives me great joy knowing we set your pathetic franchise back years not once but twice.

It also gives me great joy knowing two of the drafts pick we took from you the first time we set you back are about to win a championship.

I’m looking forward to the tantrums from you in a couple of weeks.

We still have to get through the Minny series but I can tell you right now that Jrue is Booker's brother. Cause you know Luka is their Daddy!

Mavs in 6!

That makes absolutely no sense lol

[dygaction]

Luka has secretly increased his 3p% from .227 in the first 7 games to .424 in the last 7. Not only Luka knees are healing, the team is growing and maturing. Now let's hope Lively II and Maxi come back healthy soon.

[Klomp]

I was wrong about this series.

I think personally, the biggest misconception I had coming into the series was the memory embedded in my brain of the game shortly after Dallas added Irving. At that time, it was two alphas taking turns going back and forth in isolation. But Dallas completely changed the makeup of the team by drafting Dereck Lively and trading for Daniel Gafford. They both have the perfect skill sets to pair with Doncic and Irving. Their ability in the pick and roll and their explosion to the rim completely changed the makeup of this team and completely changed the outlook for the series. You could see Lively's impact by how Minnesota went on its 3rd quarter run immediately after Lively exited the game.

I still don't love the SG/SF rotation alongside Irving and Doncic, but they are doing enough in this series.

[blueberrysticky]

I was wrong about this series.

I think personally, the biggest misconception I had coming into the series was the memory embedded in my brain of the game shortly after Dallas added Irving. At that time, it was two alphas taking turns going back and forth in isolation. But Dallas completely changed the makeup of the team by drafting Dereck Lively and trading for Daniel Gafford. They both have the perfect skill sets to pair with Doncic and Irving. Their ability in the pick and roll and their explosion to the rim completely changed the makeup of this team and completely changed the outlook for the series. You could see Lively's impact by how Minnesota went on its 3rd quarter run immediately after Lively exited the game.

I still don't love the SG/SF rotation alongside Irving and Doncic, but they are doing enough in this series.

I think the key was looking at the team post trade-deadline and after drafting lively....not simply when they added kyrie with a terrible supporting cast and no chemistry.

Luka and kyrie have had enough time to become dynamic and pick defenses apart by feeding off each other's doubles and using the midrange to choose between 1) lob city, 2) open corner 3s or 3) just take the absurd shot b/c you're luka/kyrie and noone can hit those like those 2

Having both lively/gafford is key for option 1. Because they need to give full 100% energy and thus the real back and forth is Lively and Gafford alternating who is playing. Not luka and kyrie.

*: The key play for the mavs was luka placing his defender(mcdaniels) on his back and put him in jail as he entered the midrange to pick between those 3 options. The wolves hated anytime he was in this situation so blitzed him FAR away to try to prevent this but in the 4th quarter Luka and kyrie were able to use each other to get this favorable situation.

[GSP]

Wolves DRtg with Gobert on the court this series: 110.6
Wolves DRtg with Gobert on the bench this series: 138.9

I really don't understand people who see Gobert's defense as the Wolves problem and not Ant and KAT's offensive (in)efficiency in this series... I really do think Gobert is the most unfairly maligned player I've ever seen.

You are just never going to win in the playoffs if your two best offensive weapons shoot FG 33%/3pFG 22% for an entire series. It's NEVER going to happen. If anything... it's kind of shocking that Minny has been THIS close in all those games.

While defense is alot worse w/o Rudy hes also a factor in their offense being worse. He clogs an offense and his only valuable asset is setting screens and catching lobs. Wolves play 4 on 5 on offense w/ him. This is the same issue Utah had. Their defense falls off a cliff w/o him but their offense is hurt by his presence. He cant abuse the guards teams consistently put on him. He cant finish in traffic or contact, he cant pass, he cant do anything out of the short roll even Lively is already a much better and more advanced offensive player and hes a rookie. Even when he has a mismatch sealed he has some of the worst hands in the league so a brick or turnover is very likely which is why his teams dont trust to throw him the ball

Rudy just hurts your offense against great and smart defenses. Wolves actually got a lead and were trading buckets when they had Conley, Ant, Slomo, Kat, Naz lineup the offense was FAR better and while defense was worse they got the odd stop and at least were trading. Then when Rudy came back in the offense halted and bled into the defense and Dallas pulled away

[Klomp]

I think the key was looking at the team post trade-deadline and after drafting lively....not simply when they added kyrie with a terrible supporting cast and no chemistry.

I live in Minnesota, not Dallas, so I don't get to watch the Mavs game in and game out. It's easy to miss things around the league. That game I referenced last year was the last meeting of 2022-23. And in the three regular season matchups this year, we never saw the fully-constituted Mavs we have now.
Game 1: No Irving
Game 2: No Irving or Doncic
Game 3: No Lively

That's on top of the fact we never saw them with Gafford and Washington.

[Oscar9992]

Read on Twitter

Hahahaha love Luka!!!

Funny thing is that you can see Luka has some fat on his face. He is definitely not in a great shape fitness wise.

He has a lot of 'baby' fat on his face.

[turnaroundJ]

i loved that one play wherein luka just told hardy to go cook rudy. he was like "what are you looking at me for?"
(a) guards know that rudy is BBQ chicken 1v1
(b) the wolves should already know that luka likes to take plays off for rest while someone else (usually kyrie) creates. sag back and don't leave your big on an island.

[dygaction]

i loved that one play wherein luka just told hardy to go cook rudy. he was like "what are you looking at me for?"
(a) guards know that rudy is BBQ chicken 1v1
(b) the wolves should already know that luka likes to take plays off for rest while someone else (usually kyrie) creates. sag back and don't leave your big on an island.

That in-game tutorial session is TWolves' failure on helping Gobert. The coach should know better and help protect the player's confidence.

[audiosway]

It gives me great joy knowing we set your pathetic franchise back years not once but twice.

It also gives me great joy knowing two of the drafts pick we took from you the first time we set you back are about to win a championship.

I’m looking forward to the tantrums from you in a couple of weeks.

We still have to get through the Minny series but I can tell you right now that Jrue is Booker's brother. Cause you know Luka is their Daddy!

Mavs in 6!

That makes absolutely no sense lol

Right. lol. Jrue has never been able to stop Luka just like the rest of the league can't. They still have to win one more against the Wolves. Even though Boston would be a tough series I still see Dallas pulling it out.

[dygaction]

lol but it's true though...

Read on Twitter

Should Edwards be Booker's brother or cousin?

[Bob8]

I was wrong about this series.

I think personally, the biggest misconception I had coming into the series was the memory embedded in my brain of the game shortly after Dallas added Irving. At that time, it was two alphas taking turns going back and forth in isolation. But Dallas completely changed the makeup of the team by drafting Dereck Lively and trading for Daniel Gafford. They both have the perfect skill sets to pair with Doncic and Irving. Their ability in the pick and roll and their explosion to the rim completely changed the makeup of this team and completely changed the outlook for the series. You could see Lively's impact by how Minnesota went on its 3rd quarter run immediately after Lively exited the game.

I still don't love the SG/SF rotation alongside Irving and Doncic, but they are doing enough in this series.

DJJ and Washington are great in starting lineup, because they're bringing exactly what team with Luka and Kyrie need. They're very athletic and long, very good defenders, who are able to hit wide open shots. If you have Luka and Kyrie, you don't need great shooters and creators besides them, you need D and spot up shooting.

Mavs problem is bench,

- Kleber injured
- Exum after great RS unplayable
- Green very limited and although being athletic is lost in D constantly
- THJ defensive liability and in total shooting slump

[stitches]

Wolves DRtg with Gobert on the court this series: 110.6
Wolves DRtg with Gobert on the bench this series: 138.9

I really don't understand people who see Gobert's defense as the Wolves problem and not Ant and KAT's offensive (in)efficiency in this series... I really do think Gobert is the most unfairly maligned player I've ever seen.

You are just never going to win in the playoffs if your two best offensive weapons shoot FG 33%/3pFG 22% for an entire series. It's NEVER going to happen. If anything... it's kind of shocking that Minny has been THIS close in all those games.

While defense is alot worse w/o Rudy hes also a factor in their offense being worse. He clogs an offense and his only valuable asset is setting screens and catching lobs. Wolves play 4 on 5 on offense w/ him. This is the same issue Utah had. Their defense falls off a cliff w/o him but their offense is hurt by his presence. He cant abuse the guards teams consistently put on him. He cant finish in traffic or contact, he cant pass, he cant do anything out of the short roll even Lively is already a much better and more advanced offensive player and hes a rookie. Even when he has a mismatch sealed he has some of the worst hands in the league so a brick or turnover is very likely which is why his teams dont trust to throw him the ball

Rudy just hurts your offense against great and smart defenses. Wolves actually got a lead and were trading buckets when they had Conley, Ant, Slomo, Kat, Naz lineup the offense was FAR better and while defense was worse they got the odd stop and at least were trading. Then when Rudy came back in the offense halted and bled into the defense and Dallas pulled away

Except... Minny's offense is better with Gobert on the floor both in this series and in the playoffs in general. Now, don't get me wrong - it's all a give and take. Gobert gives you certain things but he also takes away from certain opportunities. At the end of the day you have to draw the line and decide if the positives outweigh the negatives. And in that calculation IMO the result is quite clear.

BTW I don't want people to think I'm advocating for anything revolutionary here. Just... saying KAT and Ant need to hit some shots if they want this team to win games. Hell if they were 40/30 instead of 33/22 we might be talking about a sweep the other way around and 40/30 is not even average efficiency...

[rockmanslim]

FYI I made new threads for the playoff series because we're trying to solve the problem of the site running really slowly and being super annoying.

There's a decent chance we'll have to move the previous thread completely off the GB and into the dreaded "restricted" forum, so if anyone wants to quote any incredibly wise posts from that thread from either yourself of someone else, probably do that soon. Sorry and thanks.

What is this restricted forum you speak of?

[mademan]

Read on Twitter

Huge play to break the tie and i have no idea what Edwards is doing

[Oscar9992]

Lively's loss is huge!

Read on Twitter