Rudy Gobert is the Wolven starting center. In the conference finals he averaged 26 minutes. He is big enough to dunk without jumping and he has some jumping ability, so obviously he should be able to finish some lobs at the very least. Right?
Yet he averaged 5.8 points including a dominant 2 points in the last game of the year for his team.
Some credit has to go to Chet and Hartie, but boy that Gobert is one of the biggest frauds of all time. I have a better chance of catching a passing hummingbird out of the air than he does of catching a basketball thrown directly to him.
Meanwhile, Chet continues to impress me like crazy. 18 points a game in the series, 56-36-71 shooting splits. Five blocks in the closeout game. SGA is the best player on the team but this guy is a close second.
Podz reportedly had a wrist "debridement" surgery on his left shooting wrist.
"Wrist debridement is a surgical procedure, often performed arthroscopically, to remove damaged or diseased tissue from the wrist joint. It's used to diagnose and treat issues like arthritis, loose cartilage, and ligament tears, helping to relieve pain and improve wrist function."
Turns out wolves were frauds. In hindsight, their post all star break run was because of the easies SOS (Dubs not far behind though) - gobert and randall continue to be who they are - losing players in big situations. For once I agree with Steven A Smith - dont try to make someone the face of the NBA before they have actually shown it - Antman is not it!
[Smith] The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers would be the first NBA Finals since the luxury tax was in effect (2002) where neither team was a taxpayer. At least one team was a taxpayer in every Finals where the luxury tax was in effect (02 & 05 did not have luxury taxes due to lack of BRI.
I'd be shocked if they break up SGA and Jalen. That's the closest combo we've seen to Michael and Scottie. Chet I think they'll do everything to keep because his skillset is so rare. Maaaaaybe injuries change the calculus on Chet.
I doubt any of those guys take anything other than very small discounts off the max, but Thunder have homecourt advantage on Chet and Jalen as RFA's no matter what.
I think the financial stuff is figuring out the rotation beyond that trio. How long can they keep Hartenstein, Dort, Caruso, Wallace, Joe, Kenrich Williams, Aaron Wiggins, the other Jaylen Williams. They have a lot of optionality, but they can use picks to:
1) Draft cheaper young guys, let older expensive guys walk
2) Pay to get off contracts that they no longer value.
3) Pay premiums for role guys on value contracts.
Nobody's doing a better job of finding and developing guys like that right now, but that doesn't mean it just continues forever.
Topic is a PG though, or at least, he's listed as one, and he hasn't even played an NBA game yet. Besides, it seems to me they'd make Jalen Williams, Shai, and Chet the core and build around that.
Dort is the guy they should try to move, his reputation and how good he actually is don't match at all imo. He gets too much credit for the defense of players he plays with, imo him being on ball so much isn't because he's the best on ball guy it's because he's the worst off ball guy. Would have been a complete joke if he had gotten DPOY.
Sadly, there was some truth to that for Klay with the Warriors as well, but Klay was much more useful offensively.
GEEZ...what a bunch of bums...and, I finally found another team that sucketh better than we do when we sucketh...whatever happened to the great competitive WEST...SPLASH BROS routinely whooped them OK bums even when they had 3 MVPS...none of them won anything anywhere unless they teamed up with the decade's perennial TEAM MVP-STEPH....going to bed...
I’m curious what the easiest road to a championship has ever been. I give credit to OKC for beating Denver. That’s a legit squad they beat in 7 games. But I gotta think their run this year is up there.
That was only happening if Steph had stayed healthy and JB had gotten past his injury (and possible illness). If that happens, I think we would give OKC a fight but lose in 6, maybe 5. They would blow us out a least once. They have the length and defense to make our lives hard.
And it looks like both Podz and Moody were nursing wrist injuries requiring surgery. I'd imagine we'd put up a much better fight than did the Wolves, but it would be pretty tough beating Thunder in a seven game series.
Here's my May 18 prediction of the WCF: "I think the Thunder will clobber the Wolves and cause a ton of turnovers resulting from their athleticism, shaky ballhandling from the Wolves, and a lack of calls from the refs."
You're probably right, and I've been saying for awhile that this is OKC's year. Still, a lot of people have underestimated Indy. They'll give OKC a battle.
What the heck! They really kept the injuries quiet, except Steph’s. Even JB’s was kept low key but we know he wasn’t his normal self in that Wolves series because he was hurting. Heal up guys!
So… every player in that starting lineup that closed on a 23-8 run got injured and unable to compete properly. Man, this team can go far if they can get out to a good start and not have to go playoff mode for 3 months of the regular season.
Rudy Gobert is the Wolven starting center. In the conference finals he averaged 26 minutes. He is big enough to dunk without jumping and he has some jumping ability, so obviously he should be able to finish some lobs at the very least. Right?
Yet he averaged 5.8 points including a dominant 2 points in the last game of the year for his team.
Some credit has to go to Chet and Hartie, but boy that Gobert is one of the biggest frauds of all time. I have a better chance of catching a passing hummingbird out of the air than he does of catching a basketball thrown directly to him.
Meanwhile, Chet continues to impress me like crazy. 18 points a game in the series, 56-36-71 shooting splits. Five blocks in the closeout game. SGA is the best player on the team but this guy is a close second.
Podz reportedly had a wrist "debridement" surgery on his left shooting wrist.
"Wrist debridement is a surgical procedure, often performed arthroscopically, to remove damaged or diseased tissue from the wrist joint. It's used to diagnose and treat issues like arthritis, loose cartilage, and ligament tears, helping to relieve pain and improve wrist function."
So could be cartilage and/or ligament issues?
Ludicrous blow out. OKC advances. Ugly for Minnesota.
Turns out wolves were frauds. In hindsight, their post all star break run was because of the easies SOS (Dubs not far behind though) - gobert and randall continue to be who they are - losing players in big situations. For once I agree with Steven A Smith - dont try to make someone the face of the NBA before they have actually shown it - Antman is not it!
To Ant’s defense, he said he didn’t want to be the face.
r/nba
nba-1
29 min. ago
Knightbear49
emoji:min-5: Timberwolves
[Smith] The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers would be the first NBA Finals since the luxury tax was in effect (2002) where neither team was a taxpayer. At least one team was a taxpayer in every Finals where the luxury tax was in effect (02 & 05 did not have luxury taxes due to lack of BRI.
Only temporary. And will probably have to be broken up. Thanks CJ
And CP, right?
CJ shouldn't worry about the top of things.
Thunder heads to the NBA Finals.
If Nikola Topic turns out to be up next I wonder if they'd be willing to let go of Jalen Williams and keeping Dort/Chet instead
I'd be shocked if they break up SGA and Jalen. That's the closest combo we've seen to Michael and Scottie. Chet I think they'll do everything to keep because his skillset is so rare. Maaaaaybe injuries change the calculus on Chet.
I doubt any of those guys take anything other than very small discounts off the max, but Thunder have homecourt advantage on Chet and Jalen as RFA's no matter what.
I think the financial stuff is figuring out the rotation beyond that trio. How long can they keep Hartenstein, Dort, Caruso, Wallace, Joe, Kenrich Williams, Aaron Wiggins, the other Jaylen Williams. They have a lot of optionality, but they can use picks to:
1) Draft cheaper young guys, let older expensive guys walk
2) Pay to get off contracts that they no longer value.
3) Pay premiums for role guys on value contracts.
Nobody's doing a better job of finding and developing guys like that right now, but that doesn't mean it just continues forever.
Topic is a PG though, or at least, he's listed as one, and he hasn't even played an NBA game yet. Besides, it seems to me they'd make Jalen Williams, Shai, and Chet the core and build around that.
Will Chet and Williams take paycuts on their first NBA extensions to keep the core together? Will Shai want 55m+ on his next deal?
Can OKC make that work if they're willing to go into the 2nd apron? They don't have to care about the trade restrictions.
BTW Chet and Williams are under contract for next season. So the Thunder have time before they have to make those decisions.
Dort is the guy they should try to move, his reputation and how good he actually is don't match at all imo. He gets too much credit for the defense of players he plays with, imo him being on ball so much isn't because he's the best on ball guy it's because he's the worst off ball guy. Would have been a complete joke if he had gotten DPOY.
Sadly, there was some truth to that for Klay with the Warriors as well, but Klay was much more useful offensively.
Klay was our best POA defender in the starting lineup though. Also helped Curry stay fresh. But I know what you’re saying.
Holmgren has more 3's than Ant (and now more blocks in the last 30 secs than Gobert had in the whole game)
OKC about to waltz into a Championship, But people will continually cry about 2015 Warrior’s run and Cleveland not having Kyrie or KL
Minnesota getting absolutely nothing from their starting PG didn't help either. Conley was just there for the ride lol
If OKC plays Indiana, would it be the shortest flight finals in the conference era of the NBA? Minny Indy would have been closer though.
I realize it's hard to stay focused for 48 minutes but this is a closeout game in the WCF, and OKC cannot let MIN get back into this.
GEEZ...what a bunch of bums...and, I finally found another team that sucketh better than we do when we sucketh...whatever happened to the great competitive WEST...SPLASH BROS routinely whooped them OK bums even when they had 3 MVPS...none of them won anything anywhere unless they teamed up with the decade's perennial TEAM MVP-STEPH....going to bed...
I’m curious what the easiest road to a championship has ever been. I give credit to OKC for beating Denver. That’s a legit squad they beat in 7 games. But I gotta think their run this year is up there.
How everyone feeling now if the Dubs had gotten to the WCF?
I mean the Warriors healthy were a LOT better than the Timberwolves, I’d still take the Thunder, but it’d be a tight 6-7 games imo.
WWGBC (We Were Gonna Be Championship).
They've never lost a WCF once they got there.
That was only happening if Steph had stayed healthy and JB had gotten past his injury (and possible illness). If that happens, I think we would give OKC a fight but lose in 6, maybe 5. They would blow us out a least once. They have the length and defense to make our lives hard.
And it looks like both Podz and Moody were nursing wrist injuries requiring surgery. I'd imagine we'd put up a much better fight than did the Wolves, but it would be pretty tough beating Thunder in a seven game series.
Here's my May 18 prediction of the WCF: "I think the Thunder will clobber the Wolves and cause a ton of turnovers resulting from their athleticism, shaky ballhandling from the Wolves, and a lack of calls from the refs."
We would've been stomped on by OKC.
Healthy Steph would have given us a better fight. Maybe 6 instead of getting stomped out like this
We'd need healthy Jimmy too. And now it turns out Moody and Podz were playing hurt, not sure for how long.
We beat the Thunder 2 out of 3 in the regular season, and all pre-Butler, but I think the Thunder have improved over the course of the year.
Going to be a good matchup between OKC and Indy but unless the Pacers can steal Game 1 I highly doubt that series go more than 6
You're probably right, and I've been saying for awhile that this is OKC's year. Still, a lot of people have underestimated Indy. They'll give OKC a battle.
Danny Emerman
@DannyEmerman
Brandin Podziemski underwent left wrist surgery, the Warriors announced. He’s expected to be ready for training camp.
Heal up, BP.
wow.
Talk about walking wounded. So, injuries to four rotation guys.
What the heck! They really kept the injuries quiet, except Steph’s. Even JB’s was kept low key but we know he wasn’t his normal self in that Wolves series because he was hurting. Heal up guys!
Steph’s was the only one they couldn’t keep quiet, too.
So… every player in that starting lineup that closed on a 23-8 run got injured and unable to compete properly. Man, this team can go far if they can get out to a good start and not have to go playoff mode for 3 months of the regular season.
Is that the reason why his shooting looked awkward during the Wolves series?
Whoa... when did that injury happen? Steph, JB, Moody, now Podz too. I know guys get beat up late in the season and playoffs but still, that's a lot.
He shoots left. Yikes.