NBA General Discussion: 2025 Offseason

[76ciology]

It’s tough to drive against OKC’s defense, even Jokic was forced into taking 10, 7, and 8 threes from Games 3 to 5. To break them down, you have to beat that first line of defense (Ant did it once by running PnR and keeping the defender behind him) and create a numbers advantage from the perimeter, then space the floor and kick out to open shooters.

The problem is, Edwards struggled to get past that initial line of defense, and Minnesota’s spacing isn’t helping.

The Wolves need to show zone principles whenever SGA drives, even if it seems unnecessary on paper since McDaniels or NAW can guard him one-on-one. The goal is to disrupt SGA’s rhythm and force him into tougher reads.

Ant has seen this type of defense before, like against the Lakers, but the personnel is a different story. From Austin Reaves to Alex Caruso, it’s night and day compared to OKC’s length and activity.

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[76ciology]

You need two guards who can break the zone, just like how the Mavs do it with Luka and Kyrie attacking from both sides. The Wolves tried a version of that with Ant, Donte, and Naz, but Donte and Naz aren’t great at breaking down their defenders. Dillinger eventually played the game on garbage time, I dont know if they plan to use him next game

On top of that, spacing has to be better. Get Gobert off the floor and lean into more zone defense. If it turns into a shooting contest off kickouts from the primary creator, so be it, that’s still better than letting SGA collapse the defense every time.

[76ciology]

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[mjkvol]

It’s tough to drive against OKC’s defense, even Jokic was forced into taking 10, 7, and 8 threes from Games 3 to 5. To break them down, you have to beat that first line of defense (Ant did it once by running PnR and keeping the defender behind him) and create a numbers advantage from the perimeter, then space the floor and kick out to open shooters.

The problem is, Edwards struggled to get past that initial line of defense, and Minnesota’s spacing isn’t helping.

The Wolves need to show zone principles whenever SGA drives, even if it seems unnecessary on paper since McDaniels or NAW can guard him one-on-one. The goal is to disrupt SGA’s rhythm and force him into tougher reads.

Ant has seen this type of defense before, like against the Lakers, but the personnel is a different story. From Austin Reaves to Alex Caruso, it’s night and day compared to OKC’s length and activity.

Watch on YouTube

The problem for the Wolves in this series is that it's a terrible matchup for them, as OKC is one of the few teams where their advantage in physicality and size is negated. Gobert is unplayable because it allows the OKC bigs to sit in the restricted area and wall it off, and even with Naz in the game they contest 3's so well that making them with any consistency is going to be unlikely.

MIN made their 3's in the 1st half and shut SGA down, but still only led by four, a really bad sign. Edwards can't get to the rim against this group, and is so far just settling for 3's. A sweep wouldn't surprise me, but the Wolves will probably get hot and steal a game at some point.

[ProcessDoctor]

STOCKs!

[Jailblazers7]

Minnesota was 19th in the league in TOV% this year - not a good recipe against OKC.

[the_process]

Yahoo Sports has SGA as MVP over Jokic this year.

Predictably, the Jokic knob slobbers are crying.

[Iverson Armband]

Is it me, or is Ant Man a little overrated?

[Stanford]

Congrats to SGA on back to back MVPs!

[Jailblazers7]

Is it me, or is Ant Man a little overrated?

I think he’s properly rated at the moment. Back to back WCF at 23 as his teams top dog is nothing to sneeze at. He still gets the benefit of people hyping his peaks but discounting his valleys because of his age. But if he struggles in this WCF he will get picked apart in a way he hasn’t before.

I think he’s one leap away as a playmaker before he’s MVP caliber but he pretty damn close and has continued to improve each year.

[76ciology]

Is it me, or is Ant Man a little overrated?

I think Ant is properly rated. There’s no real drop-off from his regular season to playoff production, his numbers in the postseason have actually been strong. The issue is that OKC is just a tough matchup for Minnesota. They have defenders who can guard Ant 1v1, and the NBA seems to be letting OKC play with a level of physicality that the Wolves aren’t allowed to match. What Minnesota really needs is another perimeter shot creator to help crack OKC’s defense.

[Iverson Armband]

Yeah, I’m probably being a bit too harsh. He needs to get to a Finals in the next two years though. He’s pretty widely considered a top 5 player and has had good teams.

[Negrodamus]

Is it me, or is Ant Man a little overrated?

He’s not top five like many like to say, but he’s very, very good.

[Iverson Armband]

Is it me, or is Ant Man a little overrated?

He’s not top five like many like to say, but he’s very, very good.

Yeah that’s kind of what I was getting at.

[Jailblazers7]

Is it me, or is Ant Man a little overrated?

He’s not top five like many like to say, but he’s very, very good.

Yeah that’s kind of what I was getting at.

Fair, I’d put him top 10 not top 5. But he gets the media boost for his recent playoff success.

[mjkvol]

Is it me, or is Ant Man a little overrated?

I think Ant is properly rated. There’s no real drop-off from his regular season to playoff production, his numbers in the postseason have actually been strong. The issue is that OKC is just a tough matchup for Minnesota. They have defenders who can guard Ant 1v1, and the NBA seems to be letting OKC play with a level of physicality that the Wolves aren’t allowed to match. What Minnesota really needs is another perimeter shot creator to help crack OKC’s defense.

Brutal matchup for the Wolves, the worst they could have drawn. Gobert is unplayable, and the OKC bigs are able to sit in the restricted area, taking away Edwards going to the rim. And as you said, they have multiple guys who can guard him. They'll lose this series in 4 or 5 games, and it will be incredibly shortsighted to lay this at Edwards' feet, but that's the way the media and fans usually react.

[Zumramania]

Is it me, or is Ant Man a little overrated?

I think he’s properly rated at the moment. Back to back WCF at 23 as his teams top dog is nothing to sneeze at. He still gets the benefit of people hyping his peaks but discounting his valleys because of his age. But if he struggles in this WCF he will get picked apart in a way he hasn’t before.

I think he’s one leap away as a playmaker before he’s MVP caliber but he pretty damn close and has continued to improve each year.

The second best player on that Wolves team is Randle, and he is questionable. They have a bunch of good role players, but that's about it. I'd say getting to WCF is pretty remarkable with that team. Knicks have a better team for example, in my opinion.

[sodmoraes]

TJ is so unfair as a backup PG, hes too good.

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[Murray_17]

Overrated guy does overrated things again

[stormi]

Overrated guy does overrated things again

I remember vividly who was FOR and who was AGAINST trading for Haliburton a few seasons ago.

The Ben rumors were unsubstantiated anyways, but our fans turned their nose up at him because he didn't have hoopmixtape handlez.

Fundamentals win out.