WCF Game 4, 5/26: OKC @ Timberwolves, 7:30 PM CST

[jpatrick]

I actually thought are offense was fine, primarily because we knocked down 3s. We couldn’t get a critical stop to save our lives though.

[KGdaBom]

I keep thinking we came up 1 play short. 1 freaking play short.

[KGdaBom]

I actually thought are offense was fine, primarily because we knocked down 3s. We couldn’t get a critical stop to save our lives though.

You are correct. Nothing wrong with scoring 126 points against a historically good D, but that doesn't win when you give up 128.

[TimberKat]

Just came in peace to say that you guys have an amazing team and I hope we can close this in 5 because your team is scary good. It took OKC best game in the playoffs by a pretty big margin to win a close one. I was so wrong about Gobert and his overall impact because he's such a great anchor. His game will age well and ANT isn't in his prime yet so you guys are gonna be a problem for a long time.

OKC has a great team and I been saying that since last year. The Wolves are still too unpredictable with ups and downs. Really should not had let this one got away. Very disappointing loss. If we ever unlock 5 more points from Gobert, get him back to UTA level offense, I think Wolves will be very good.

[TimberKat]

19 Offensive rebound, 21 TO give too many possessions to OKC. SGA shoot only 13/30 so he was not that good. I watch players ITW and Finch one and they all point out those 2 data. Chet was the main reason, he totally dominated Julius.

Plus … defenses look superior when offenses stop moving the ball. We held the ball, dribbled too much, and could not see the trees in the forest.

OKC got physical immediately and the officials let them have at it. The Wolves … they just took it more or less.

Not one of Finches better games.

Randle will not be a Wolf next year,

I get the frustration and Randle was terrible last night, but Randle has been great the last half of the year and through the playoffs. If we could extend him at 3/90m, I’d do it. Naz isn’t near a starter on a good team; and even if Randle opts in, we’re not getting real value in a trade.

I hate to say this, but OKC is better than us. SGA and Ant are a wash. J-Will better two-way player than Randle. He’s really good defensively. And Chet gives so much more than Gobert. Love Rudy, but unless he’s absolutely dominating the glass, he doesn’t give enough on a championship team to offset his offensive deficiencies. The rest of the two rosters are pretty similar. Both teams have good depth/shooting.

If we trade him for KD, we won last night's game.

[TimberKat]

I am not concern with Ant only took 17 shoots. Sometimes you take whatever the defense give you. I am more concerned with his 1 for 7 threes. Randle couldn't handle the zone with his back to the basket. I think chet could be a bad match up for him if chet isn't the primary defender. You would think we had a couple counters waiting when OKC drops into the zone. Overload one side or something. But that may be why the bench had so many points. OKC are determined to not beat by Any and Randle.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Plus … defenses look superior when offenses stop moving the ball. We held the ball, dribbled too much, and could not see the trees in the forest.

OKC got physical immediately and the officials let them have at it. The Wolves … they just took it more or less.

Not one of Finches better games.

Randle will not be a Wolf next year,

I get the frustration and Randle was terrible last night, but Randle has been great the last half of the year and through the playoffs. If we could extend him at 3/90m, I’d do it. Naz isn’t near a starter on a good team; and even if Randle opts in, we’re not getting real value in a trade.

I hate to say this, but OKC is better than us. SGA and Ant are a wash. J-Will better two-way player than Randle. He’s really good defensively. And Chet gives so much more than Gobert. Love Rudy, but unless he’s absolutely dominating the glass, he doesn’t give enough on a championship team to offset his offensive deficiencies. The rest of the two rosters are pretty similar. Both teams have good depth/shooting.

If we trade him for KD, we won last night's game.

I went to the same point. But the point is, what we will have to give to get KD? Randle-ANT combo show their limit and unless we trade for a very good PG, KD is a good option.

[moss_is_1]

If we trade him for KD, we won last night's game.

If we trade for KD we have to send out Randle along with another 24m in contracts. It would have to be Randle with Jaden. Or Randle with Ddv and Conley. Which then we wouldn't have enough players under contract.

[cmoss84]

Randle and Rudy.
Is this thing on?

[KGdaBom]

It's great to play the what-if game, but bottom line is that we never led once in this game.
I think we tied it once very briefly in the 3rd quarter.
It was a heroic effort to make it so close at the end, but OKC dominated us from start to finish, for the 3rd time in this series.

That wasn't domination. a small lead isn't domination. We were one play away from winning. That's all.

[Calinks]

It's great to play the what-if game, but bottom line is that we never led once in this game.
I think we tied it once very briefly in the 3rd quarter.
It was a heroic effort to make it so close at the end, but OKC dominated us from start to finish, for the 3rd time in this series.

That wasn't domination. a small lead isn't domination. We were one play away from winning. That's all.

It felt dominant because of what OKC did. Its true, it was a close game, at the same time, OKC was able to execute their gameplan nearly flawlessly. It's very impressive on their part, they hit every note they needed to get that win and if they were just a little less disciplined, they could have lost that game. We played great despite our starts getting shut down but OKC just had that extra level of poise and execution that separates great from Elite.

[Nick K]

Thunder-Wolves thriller hijacked by free-throw parade, showing again why NBA needs to get serious about a fix
Fouling up three is an epidemic that is killing the ends of games

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/thunder-wolves-thriller-hijacked-by-free-throw-parade-showing-again-why-nba-needs-to-get-serious-about-a-fix/

I love this piece. I'd award fouls in the last minute 3 ft's. That will discourage fouling.

[Nick K]

Personally, I feel like if we sign Julius Randle to a big multi-year contract we are finished as a contending team and Ant will be playing somewhere else 3 or 4 years from now because it will severely limit our options of who to add around Ant, besides locking in an unreliable and mediocre player into a very key role.

But who do you replace him with?

Do you move Jaden down to the 4 and feature DDV as a wing like he should be with TJ getting his current rotational role, and bring in another PG like Tyus Jones to pair with Mike? Draft a PF like Fleming or Yaxel to develop at the 4 and re-sign Naz.

Jaden is just too damn talented to continue to get such low usage on offense.

I don't quite see it as doom-and-gloom as you, but I do agree that it would be difficult to continue our success longterm by simply re-signing Randle. Too many dominos at risk of falling with that decision. And I think now is the right time to keep increasing Jaden's usage. He's taken a clear step forward offensively over the back half of the season, and his playoff numbers have steadily climbed for three years in a row now.

I think the number will be important, but I would be in favor of signing Naz Reid as a starter. It wouldn't so much be Naz replacing Julius' production, but Naz and Jaden together outperforming what Jaden and Julius did. Naz and Jaden are just a clean pairing, and they complement and elevate each other so well! It could also allow us to redistribute some assets and dollars more into the PG and C positions.

We will see if the front office feels the same this summer, but I personally believe that Naz Reid can be the third member of the core group with Ant and Jaden. Maybe not right away at the same level of postseason success, but it is a group that will continue to grow and develop more cohesion.

We're pretty much forced to sign him or we lose him for nothing. That can't happen. I'd try to do a sign and trade deal if we can get a very skilled shooting PG or another PF.
Randle does some good things but he does a lot of bad things too. He's wildly inconsistent. I don't see a future here with him.

[Nick K]

Personally, I feel like if we sign Julius Randle to a big multi-year contract we are finished as a contending team and Ant will be playing somewhere else 3 or 4 years from now because it will severely limit our options of who to add around Ant, besides locking in an unreliable and mediocre player into a very key role.

But who do you replace him with?

Do you move Jaden down to the 4 and feature DDV as a wing like he should be with TJ getting his current rotational role, and bring in another PG like Tyus Jones to pair with Mike? Draft a PF like Fleming or Yaxel to develop at the 4 and re-sign Naz.

Jaden is just too damn talented to continue to get such low usage on offense.

I don't quite see it as doom-and-gloom as you, but I do agree that it would be difficult to continue our success longterm by simply re-signing Randle. Too many dominos at risk of falling with that decision. And I think now is the right time to keep increasing Jaden's usage. He's taken a clear step forward offensively over the back half of the season, and his playoff numbers have steadily climbed for three years in a row now.

I think the number will be important, but I would be in favor of signing Naz Reid as a starter. It wouldn't so much be Naz replacing Julius' production, but Naz and Jaden together outperforming what Jaden and Julius did. Naz and Jaden are just a clean pairing, and they complement and elevate each other so well! It could also allow us to redistribute some assets and dollars more into the PG and C positions.

We will see if the front office feels the same this summer, but I personally believe that Naz Reid can be the third member of the core group with Ant and Jaden. Maybe not right away at the same level of postseason success, but it is a group that will continue to grow and develop more cohesion.

I think it should be apparent to anyone watching closely that Jaden McDaniels is our 2nd best player now.
A monster on defense and 54/40/89 shooting in the playoffs.
He's averaging the same rebounding per minute as Randle while guarding wing players.

If it were my team I would move on from Randle. If he opts out let him walk.
If he opts in break him down into 2 or 3 contracts and get back at least one useful rotation player, preferably a PG or backup C.

The amount Randle will want in an extension is going to be ridiculous.
30 mil per wont get it done and I dont think we should pay that.

I think moving Jaden to the 4 part time makes him a really difficult matchup and opens up wing minutes for DDV and TJ.

We need more ballhandling next to Ant and Randle is not it.

Once again I couldn't agree more. Jaden is close to breaking out to stardom. Finch needs to use him the right way though.
I don't see a future with Randle either. Aren't we forced to re-sign him or lose him for nothing?
I'd like us to do a Randle sign and trade deal for a starting PG or another PF.

Leonard Miller looked really good the other night. Do you see him as a potential PF replacement for Randle?

[Nick K]

Is this a valid critique? Is this what anybody else saw?

Watch on YouTube

I really like this guy but he seems to let personal bias affect some of his analysis. I never felt like Julius pouted and gave up, he was bad but i don't think he just decided to quit and shut down. Maybe he did but that's not how I was reading the game. This guy also said the Wolves were one of the best matchups for his lakers team, he then later admitted he was a bit blind to the Timberwolves strengths because he's a lakers fan.

He also goes on a rant about how Rudy is pretty useless and though he has some points, I do think he is buying into too much the narrative that Rudy is a bad player. Again he has a point but it's like he didn't see any of the defensive impact Rudy had in the last couple of games.

Rudy does some nice things defensively and sets good screens. That said, he has bad hands and no offensive game so he needs to dominate defensively and he just doesn't do that. He needs to dominate the boards on both ends and he doesn't do that.
How many times do players take the ball from him under the basket? Look at all the 2nd chance points okc got. Rudy isn't the blame for all of them but he is for many. Lastly he's a 60% FT shooter. I cringe in late game situations when he goes to the line.

I wish we had moved Rudy and kept KAT to get under the apron.

Talk about a high pressure off season for Connelly he can't afford to make a mistake.

[Nick K]

Plus … defenses look superior when offenses stop moving the ball. We held the ball, dribbled too much, and could not see the trees in the forest.

OKC got physical immediately and the officials let them have at it. The Wolves … they just took it more or less.

Not one of Finches better games.

Randle will not be a Wolf next year,

I get the frustration and Randle was terrible last night, but Randle has been great the last half of the year and through the playoffs. If we could extend him at 3/90m, I’d do it. Naz isn’t near a starter on a good team; and even if Randle opts in, we’re not getting real value in a trade.

I hate to say this, but OKC is better than us. SGA and Ant are a wash. J-Will better two-way player than Randle. He’s really good defensively. And Chet gives so much more than Gobert. Love Rudy, but unless he’s absolutely dominating the glass, he doesn’t give enough on a championship team to offset his offensive deficiencies. The rest of the two rosters are pretty similar. Both teams have good depth/shooting.

[u]If we trade him for KD, we won last night's game.[/u]

No doubt of that. I'd do that deal in a minute if we could afford to.

[Nick K]

If we trade him for KD, we won last night's game.

If we trade for KD we have to send out Randle along with another 24m in contracts. It would have to be Randle with Jaden. Or Randle with Ddv and Conley. Which then we wouldn't have enough players under contract.

Randle, DDV and Conley for KD? In a heart beat! Done.

[Guest84]

Is this a valid critique? Is this what anybody else saw?

Watch on YouTube

I really like this guy but he seems to let personal bias affect some of his analysis. I never felt like Julius pouted and gave up, he was bad but i don't think he just decided to quit and shut down. Maybe he did but that's not how I was reading the game. This guy also said the Wolves were one of the best matchups for his lakers team, he then later admitted he was a bit blind to the Timberwolves strengths because he's a lakers fan.

He also goes on a rant about how Rudy is pretty useless and though he has some points, I do think he is buying into too much the narrative that Rudy is a bad player. Again he has a point but it's like he didn't see any of the defensive impact Rudy had in the last couple of games.

Rudy does some nice things defensively and sets good screens. That said, he has bad hands and no offensive game so he needs to dominate defensively and he just doesn't do that. He needs to dominate the boards on both ends and he doesn't do that.
How many times do players take the ball from him under the basket? Look at all the 2nd chance points okc got. Rudy isn't the blame for all of them but he is for many. Lastly he's a 60% FT shooter. I cringe in late game situations when he goes to the line.

I wish we had moved Rudy and kept KAT to get under the apron.

Talk about a high pressure off season for Connelly he can't afford to make a mistake.

It's truly a double-edged sword situation with Rudy. He's so valueable to the defense as currently constructed but a huge problem to the offense due to his limited ability, as well as the team not being able to use him properly.

Personally, I think it's time to move on from him, Julius and also Naz potentially if he wants starter money. Is Naz worth the same/more/less than Jaden's contract?

This team needs to add more high IQ, versatile athletes. I'm tired of the slow, plotting teams. I don't need the 7 sec or less Suns but Ant needs some players who can run with him. I want Ant to be a finisher on the break, not necessarily the starter of it all the time.

[Worm Guts]

I really like this guy but he seems to let personal bias affect some of his analysis. I never felt like Julius pouted and gave up, he was bad but i don't think he just decided to quit and shut down. Maybe he did but that's not how I was reading the game. This guy also said the Wolves were one of the best matchups for his lakers team, he then later admitted he was a bit blind to the Timberwolves strengths because he's a lakers fan.

He also goes on a rant about how Rudy is pretty useless and though he has some points, I do think he is buying into too much the narrative that Rudy is a bad player. Again he has a point but it's like he didn't see any of the defensive impact Rudy had in the last couple of games.

Rudy does some nice things defensively and sets good screens. That said, he has bad hands and no offensive game so he needs to dominate defensively and he just doesn't do that. He needs to dominate the boards on both ends and he doesn't do that.
How many times do players take the ball from him under the basket? Look at all the 2nd chance points okc got. Rudy isn't the blame for all of them but he is for many. Lastly he's a 60% FT shooter. I cringe in late game situations when he goes to the line.

I wish we had moved Rudy and kept KAT to get under the apron.

Talk about a high pressure off season for Connelly he can't afford to make a mistake.

It's truly a double-edged sword situation with Rudy. He's so valueable to the defense as currently constructed but a huge problem to the offense due to his limited ability, as well as the team not being able to use him properly.

Personally, I think it's time to move on from him, Julius and also Naz potentially if he wants starter money. Is Naz worth the same/more/less than Jaden's contract?

This team needs to add more high IQ, versatile athletes. I'm tired of the slow, plotting teams. I don't need the 7 sec or less Suns but Ant needs some players who can run with him. I want Ant to be a finisher on the break, not necessarily the starter of it all the time.

I think moving on from Randle Naz and Gobert at the same creates a giant hole in the front court. You have to have a real plan in place if you want to replace them and still be a contender.

[Guidus88]

I really like this guy but he seems to let personal bias affect some of his analysis. I never felt like Julius pouted and gave up, he was bad but i don't think he just decided to quit and shut down. Maybe he did but that's not how I was reading the game. This guy also said the Wolves were one of the best matchups for his lakers team, he then later admitted he was a bit blind to the Timberwolves strengths because he's a lakers fan.

He also goes on a rant about how Rudy is pretty useless and though he has some points, I do think he is buying into too much the narrative that Rudy is a bad player. Again he has a point but it's like he didn't see any of the defensive impact Rudy had in the last couple of games.

Rudy does some nice things defensively and sets good screens. That said, he has bad hands and no offensive game so he needs to dominate defensively and he just doesn't do that. He needs to dominate the boards on both ends and he doesn't do that.
How many times do players take the ball from him under the basket? Look at all the 2nd chance points okc got. Rudy isn't the blame for all of them but he is for many. Lastly he's a 60% FT shooter. I cringe in late game situations when he goes to the line.

I wish we had moved Rudy and kept KAT to get under the apron.

Talk about a high pressure off season for Connelly he can't afford to make a mistake.

It's truly a double-edged sword situation with Rudy. He's so valueable to the defense as currently constructed but a huge problem to the offense due to his limited ability, as well as the team not being able to use him properly.

Personally, I think it's time to move on from him, Julius and also Naz potentially if he wants starter money. Is Naz worth the same/more/less than Jaden's contract?

This team needs to add more high IQ, versatile athletes. I'm tired of the slow, plotting teams. I don't need the 7 sec or less Suns but Ant needs some players who can run with him. I want Ant to be a finisher on the break, not necessarily the starter of it all the time.

I’d keep Randle and Naz but I agree that we have to move from Rudy and that we should replace him with a stretch-5.
Both Ant and Randle would benefit. My dream is Myles Turner but it seems that he is not going to leave Indiana. Maybe Brook Lopez?