2023-24 NBA Season Discussion

[bigboi]

Kyrie is one of the most overrated ever. Would think he was averaging 35 the way folks talk about him

[GSP]

1st closeout loss of Kyries career. 14-1.

Dallas should win game 5 comfortably w/ Lively back tho. The fact that it was tied w/ a couple minutes left w/ how bad Kyrie played is a bad sign for the Wolves

Difference in the game was the paint and Wolves have no answer for Lively on both ends in the paint. He literally hasnt missed a shot this series and Ant and Kat only seem effective whenever hes off the floor

[eminence]

Get real funky, bench KAT for Anderson, put him on Luka, McDaniels on Kyrie.

Eminence looking like a Nostradamus. But yeah, on paper Kyle Anderson on Luka sounds stupid when you have McDaniels but in this match-up he just looks a lot more effective. He doesn’t get bumped around and it lets McDaniels play a more disruptive role off-ball.

Eh not really since it wasnt by benching Kat who was a game high +15. It was benching Conley really or the Jaden,Ant,Slowmo,Kat,Rudy lineup. Slomo on Luka didnt really work. Better than Jaden sure but the real difference was starting Jaden on Kyrie and Kat showing up for once

I called in some favors with Scott to get the KAT benching part taken care of.

But seriously, credit to KAT for showing up big in the 2nd half. Would love to see more of that.

[bigboi]

1st closeout loss of Kyries career. 14-1.

Dallas should win game 5 comfortably w/ Lively back tho. The fact that it was tied w/ a couple minutes left w/ how bad Kyrie played is a bad sign for the Wolves

Difference in the game was the paint and Wolves have no answer for Lively on both ends in the paint. He literally hasnt missed a shot this series and Ant and Kat only seem effective whenever hes off the floor

Dallas hasn’t won any game comfortably. Why would you assume that with Wolves’ momentum?

[Peregrine01]

Get real funky, bench KAT for Anderson, put him on Luka, McDaniels on Kyrie.

Eminence looking like a Nostradamus. But yeah, on paper Kyle Anderson on Luka sounds stupid when you have McDaniels but in this match-up he just looks a lot more effective. He doesn’t get bumped around and it lets McDaniels play a more disruptive role off-ball.

Eh not really since it wasnt by benching Kat who was a game high +15. It was benching Conley really or the Jaden,Ant,Slowmo,Kat,Rudy lineup. Slomo on Luka didnt really work. Better than Jaden sure but the real difference was starting Jaden on Kyrie and Kat showing up for once

Yeah I was really just talking about the Slowmo on Luka adjustment. So much of Luka’s game is bully ball. He’s not gonna blow by anyone to get to the rim, he’s just gonna get a guy on his hip and plod his way there. Harder to do that against a guy that’s more your size than a guy you outweigh by 40 lbs. thought Ant also had good minutes against him for similar reasons.

[Colbinii]

Another reason we shouldn't jump to conclusions and use results-oriented thinking is this series is 2-2 more often than not. It does seem like the 6 best teams this season were in a tier of their own [Boston, Dallas, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Denver and Healthy Clippers].

[Special_Puppy]

Another reason we shouldn't jump to conclusions and use results-oriented thinking is this series is 2-2 more often than not. It does seem like the 6 best teams this season were in a tier of their own [Boston, Dallas, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Denver and Healthy Clippers].

Think you have to put the Celtics in a tier of their own, but otherwise yeah

[70sFan]

It's good to see Wolves finally win a game, but in reality they don't have much chance with Ant playing that way. It's shocking how bad he looks against a team with a competent rim protector.

[TheGOATRises007]

It's good to see Wolves finally win a game, but in reality they don't have much chance with Ant playing that way. It's shocking how bad he looks against a team with a competent rim protector.

He's still green and young.

I think he can improve and get better.

[tsherkin]

It's good to see Wolves finally win a game, but in reality they don't have much chance with Ant playing that way. It's shocking how bad he looks against a team with a competent rim protector.

He's still green and young.

I think he can improve and get better.

He's 22 and in year 4, so yeah, he's got time. We shall see what he does with it.

At least in Game 4, he was more aggressive and looking to try the D a little more. That made a difference.

[Colbinii]

It's good to see Wolves finally win a game, but in reality they don't have much chance with Ant playing that way. It's shocking how bad he looks against a team with a competent rim protector.

He's still green and young.

I think he can improve and get better.

He's 22 and in year 4, so yeah, he's got time. We shall see what he does with it.

At least in Game 4, he was more aggressive and looking to try the D a little more. That made a difference.

The biggest thing I saw him unlock and start to do in Game 4, which is how you beat an elite shot blocker, is posting up.

He started making Skip passes this year which was a massive step.

But continuing to build a post-game with his quickness/strength is really going to unlock the rest of his offensive game a-la Kobe, LeBron and Jordan.

[tsherkin]

The biggest thing I saw him unlock and start to do in Game 4, which is how you beat an elite shot blocker, is posting up.

He started making Skip passes this year which was a massive step.

But continuing to build a post-game with his quickness/strength is really going to unlock the rest of his offensive game a-la Kobe, LeBron and Jordan.

He was also using his pull-up quite effectively. He was taking the lanes available and then not forcing it, which is good. A post game will also help, even just a simple bump-and-fling type of deal.

I was watching a decent video about the evolution of Jordan's offensive game over his career earlier today; not to draw a direct comparison, of course, but athleticism into developing handle and jumper into post game and confident handle/tempo control is sort of the gist of the development arc. That'd be fairly ideal for Ant in loose concept, to start working on those pull-ups and his mid/elbow post game, even a bit on the baseline (though save that for last, because that shot with no backboard is a pain in the ass...).

[GSP]

Eh as far as Ants improved play in game 4 I think much of it had to do w/ Lively being out. Im gonna guess the on/off numbers for Ant and Kat w/ Lively on the court compared to off is very drastic

[tsherkin]

Eh as far as Ants improved play in game 4 I think much of it had to do w/ Lively being out. Im gonna guess the on/off numbers for Ant and Kat w/ Lively on the court compared to off is very drastic

Lively's absence certainly made a difference, but Ant was clearly being more aggressive about at least getting to the elbow, which is an opportunity he had even with Lively on the court.

[Colbinii]

Eh as far as Ants improved play in game 4 I think much of it had to do w/ Lively being out. Im gonna guess the on/off numbers for Ant and Kat w/ Lively on the court compared to off is very drastic

I mean, did you watch him in Game 1 compared to Game 4?

Him posting up was because his drive game wasn't working. We will see what happens with Lively back.

[rk2023]

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It’s a two way street. Edwards is never passing to Gobert on the roll because he knows Rudy will drop or mess up his passes. But at the same time Edwards is a mediocre passer and is the reason why Rudy is messing up some of these PnR passes. So the Mavericks know just to load up on Edwards because he’s not passing on his screen rolls, just resetting and passing to only 3 other teammates who are spaced on the other side of the floor unlike Rudy so the passes are sailing out of bounds.

Everyone else passes to Rudy which unlocks the full potential of the Wolves offense and he has been coordinated and hitting his FTs. Ironically using Rudy on offense will counteract the few things he gives up on defense.

[70sFan]

It's good to see Wolves finally win a game, but in reality they don't have much chance with Ant playing that way. It's shocking how bad he looks against a team with a competent rim protector.

He's still green and young.

I think he can improve and get better.

Sure, no doubt about. He has the future in this league, just give him some time.

[Texas Chuck]

Let's end it tonight boys. You let them get their one, now finish them.

[Colbinii]

Let's end it tonight boys. You let them get their one, now finish them.

Those margaritas hittin