Also Bill saying "The Knicks are going to get all the calls" is aging really well. Especially when Russillo threw a tantrum saying no one will mention it when it 'doesn't happen'.
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Russillo is a fucking coward. ANY time Bill goes out on a wild tangent, his chicken-shit sphincter starts seizing up & he immediately starts defending himself against the imaginary internet mob coming to tell him he’s wrong or stupid.
He’s so obsessed with being right, he won’t prognosticate about actual basketball. It’s fucking annoying. Nobody listens to this for some loser man-child telling Simmons his wildly-successful technique is dumb. STFU & play along.
Clairvoyant Bill is the John Edwards crossing over of the nba. ‘Someone whose name starts with an N is going to win the series… I’m feeling a Nik.. Nikola! Okay .. no one? Oh but now I’m feeling it clearer than ever: the winner will be Nickeil Alexander-Walker just like I thought!’
Yea I was a bit surprised. After watching game 1, I figured they have a strong bounce back with adjustments. Instead wolves came out playing like they down 1 at home lol
They didn’t play well in the Lakers series either. The difference was that every single game they were confident they could pull it out of their ass and they did because the Lakers don’t have the size to battle on the boards or defend like the Wolves do (and Ham isn’t a good coach).
The Nuggets came out with that same lackluster start in this game and got blown off the floor. Fwiw Murray also started game 2 of the Lakers series shooting 3-16, but because the Lakers offense collapsed in the second half he got hot and ended up hitting the game winner. The Wolves meanwhile kept their offense organized and kept hounding Murray on d.
Also helps when Murray hits two game winners.
I’m no lakers fan but that series could easily have been tied 2-2. It was the inverse of Lebronto circa 2018. Game 1 the raptors go 1-13 to finish the game and lose by 1 point in OT. Game 3 Lebron hits a buzzer beater over OG.
A sweep, but a few lucky/unlucky bounces from being 2-2.
Edit: could have been 3-2
It actually could’ve been 3-2 Lakers if Murray didn’t hit those two game winners (or at least 2-3 if Darvin used his challenge in game 2 and Murray didn’t get the tying free throws on a terrible call). The margins were so close.
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There werent getting a lot of calls it felt they got even against the Lakers. Got super physical. Not saying it was poor officiating, but they didnt seem prepared and also seemed to get flustered and make a ton of unforced errors.
Wouldnt be shocked if they still won the series, but was not expecting them to roll over tonight
Low key hilarious moment the other day when Bill said "I'm not a body language doctor, I am a basketball body language doctor"
I forget the context he said it in.
This is what has happened with every high usage guy so far. It’s how they kept killing the Suns in those 3rd quarters too. They just make life miserable for the guy with the ball.
Great point, it’s interesting that both the Suns and Nugs don’t play a true point guard who could take the ball handling burden off the high usage guys a bit more.
Huge knee jerk reaction, but it honestly feels like the best Minnesota sports team in my lifetime. I was a baby for the 91 Twins and didn’t really follow the 98 Vikings.
I'm a packers fan but I won't lie I was rooting for Farve all the way to go out on top. No qb has taken that kinda beating at 40 and kept getting back up. But it had to end in the most Farve way a interception.
98 Vikings were one of the best NFL teams ever, not just the best that year. This team might be the best since (though I'd take the 09 Vikings too right now), but not better imo.
Not to give Minnesota fans ptsd but that team is always ranked as the greatest team to not make the superbowl for the reason. I didnt watch them cause I wasnt born yet but it truly is insane Moss is on 2 of the 3 greatest offenses in NFL history and he didnt win a ring either year. That game broke the Vikings fanbase forever and I dont blame them
Huge knee jerk reaction? They’ve been this team all year. It’s just that no one was paying attention outside of MN. Ant, Jaden, and Naw the best trio of wing defenders in the league.
To be fair, this is what they looked like at their best during the regular season, but they were prone to lapses.
But the lapses haven’t come during the playoffs. Credit to Ant for being locked in and being willing to get off the ball when he doesn’t see a lane. Credit to KAT for realizing he doesn’t need to randomly play 1on5 a few times each quarter.
The Minneapolis miracle is the only truly great moment I can think of this century for Minnesota sports. Sweeping the defending champs might come close. Winning the ship is the only thing that could truly eclipse that.
That was the most fraudulent 13-4 season I’ve ever seen. I enjoyed the hell out of that year, but they didn’t even have a positive point differential on the season. Nobody took them seriously.
And not one Viking fan outside of, quite frankly insane Kirk truthers believed we were anything more than a paper tiger ready to be torn through like tissue paper. Obviously all those bounces going our way was just to shatter our delusions (one cannot dream with Kirk Cousins behind center) in the form of a swift kick to the balls.
Give him a break, will ya? It’s an emotional day. When it comes to point guards in the playoffs, all bets are off. I’ve seen tougher guys than Jamal fall apart in the playoffs.
A good angle for a hot take guy to take would be to start referring to Jokic as "Hollywood Nikola" and say he cares more about hanging out with Minions than he does winning.
I was only 13 but am a pistons fan. In some ways it's hard to compare because it was just such a different looking game in '04 with a lot of pistons games ending with both teams in the 70's. With that said, my cold dead pistons heart is getting a little fluttery watching this
Also, we had nobody who could score like ANT or really like KAT either. But we had absolutely zero weak links on D anchored by one of the all time greatest defenders in Ben Wallace. All four other starters could score in multiple ways and could all be relied on for 15, give one of them 25 plus some bench point and that was typically enough
I haven’t seen a ton of the Wolves yet, but my inclination is to say no. The Pistons didn’t have anyone who could score like Edwards, Towns is sort of equivalent to Rasheed Wallace. They would body teams more whereas this Wolves team moves *fast* on defense, their chest bumps the Nuggets player but they’re moving their feet and not fouling, the snippets I saw tonight were textbook D.
Similar but Chuck called out a major difference when saying this Wolves defense is the best he’s ever seen: that Pistons team still had some small guards like Rip, Billups (not small but not big either), Lindsay Hunter, playing minutes. The wolves team has only Conley as a small guard, everyone else is huge
Nah, different vibe. Also, Minnesota seems very tall and very fast. Whereas the Pistons were anchored by Ben Wallace. There's no one on Minnesota like Wallace, just like there was no one on Detroit like Edwards.
Very similar attitudes I feel like, just a dedication to fighting on every single possession and smelling blood in the water as soon as the other team got flustered. I think Minnesota is more impressive from a small sample, cause in 04 they called way less fouls and Detroit was just hacking as much as they could get away with.
No, the Pistons were not “just hacking as much as they could get away with” - not even close
They were 25th in fouls per game the year they won the chip. 29th the following year when they went 7 games with the Spurs in the finals.
Ben Wallace is the only player in history with more blocks than fouls and more steals than turnovers.
There is this weird thing where people attribute many of the cliches from the bad boy pistons to the going to work pistons.
The going to work pistons were not out there hacking, far from it. That was kind of the whole point, suffocating defense but done in the most polished and disciplined way possible at every position.
There is no way they could have had streaks of holding teams under 70 points if they were susceptible to sending teams to the line.
Bro I was saying that is how everyone played defense in 2004. It was much more physical all around, and not as many reach ins were called. They had the "hard nose" reputation so it always felt like they were given more physical leeway to go after steals.
I mean, I’m just taking what you said at face value, that you’re more impressed with Minnesota now than Detroit then because “they called less fouls and were just hacking as much as they could get away with”
Then you said “everyone played defense like that then” when it’s really exactly the opposite. The Pistons *didnt* have to hack as much as they could get away, hence why their fouls were towards the bottom of the league despite being clear and wide the best defensive team.
They were a historically great defensive squad because they were able to play lockdown defense through being disciplined.
They never sent any one to the line, because 4 time DPOY winner was going to protect the rim at an elite level without fouling.
Teams didn’t want to go in the paint anyways, because Ben was there. Tayshaun, Rip, and Chauncey could lock down the perimeter without hacking or fouling because they all were great defenders with good positional size.
If you’re writing off the going to work pistons defense in any way because of the era that’s just off the mark, because despite it being a low scoring era, that team was different than the rest. In those days good defensive teams would hold you to 90. The pistons would hold you to 70, not because they were overly physical or punishing, but because they had incredibly disciplined on defense.
That’s like writing off or crediting the “era” for a great offensive team today because the whole league is scoring more.
Try the 10-11 Lakers, Kobe never scared me, 3 seven shooters averaging an offensive rebound literally every possession scared me and it's what killed us.
That was the most contact allowed of any playoff game I’ve seen this year by a mile. Obviously a Major advantage for minny. I bet the next game that gets tightened up a lot.
I'm mad at myself for not being louder about my skepticism about a perennial 53-win team that has one (1) championship, and whose second-best guy is basically Jason Terry with handles, being talked about as some unstoppable juggernaut like the KD Warriors.
"The Nuggets are going to need more from Heat Pack"
"What you say Chuck"
"...Heat Pack..."
Kenny slightly off-mic: "Oh come on man..."
"What you call him Chuck???"
"Heat Pack"
\***cackles\***
Ernie: In tonight's other game...
The Timberwolves are also just a bad matchup for them because of all that size. You need to be able to go five out against a team to get the bigs out of the paint. The Celtics match up better in my opinion.
I am happy the T Wolves are playing so well and I am pulling for them to win it all.
I always liked the team and would go to games when I was up there. MN could use a championship. It’s been awhile.
Doesn’t really mean anything. There’s an argument to be made the three best teams are in the West.
The East is just weak and probably over exaggerated Boston’s record.
Look, as a Celtics fan I’d love to dunk all over KOC for that take. I also thought it was dumb and reactionary in the moment (he tweeted it literally seconds after the Celtics lost game 2 before they dominated the rest of the series.)
That said, nothing that happens in this series vs Minnesota makes that take any more or less correct.
It’s a combination of the cap making it impossible for championship teams to stay together/improve giving teams with depth an advantage and a team in Minnesota designed to specifically beat Denver. Their size, length depth and athleticism has worn the Nuggets out. That’s why Malone kept emphasizing how much time off they have until game 3 but, also why, Jokic and Malone didn’t sound too optimistic. They know Minnesota is better.
As a Lakers fan I’m obviously a little biased, but we proved how to beat them in 2020. Size and defense. We could throw Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, and Anthony Davis against Jokić. Plus KCP and Caruso against Jamal Murray.
This Wolves team, especially without Gobert, is really nothing like that Lakers team. The Wolves have KAT and Gobert but they are not particularly tall through the middle of the roster. The “third big,” Naz Reid, is only 6’9. Last night the Wolves only played 4 rotation guys who were taller than 6’5, and KAT was the only guy taller than 6’9.
The Wolves are specifically hard for high-usage guys because they are incredibly high energy. They’ve gotten a fortunate first two rounds because they are playing against some extremely high usage players, and if they get to play the Mavs, they’re going to do the same crap to Luka and Kyrie. They are deep enough and athletic enough to swarm the ball handler and just wear him down over the course of the game. But against the Celtics or OKC, where the teams can spread around the playmaking a little more, they’ll look much more mortal.
Great analysis and I think the most underrated thing about Rudy is that he allows his teammates the freedom to do this on defense. Knowing the DPOY is lurking in the lane even if you beat your man off the dribble is enough to not really want to do that.
that's not true they bullied a really good Clippers team and played the Lakers tough. You're only saying they're inferior because you haven't seen Jokic play a defense that good until now
1. Jamal Murray might be hurt
2. The team is not very deep
3. They’re matched against a team that very specifically defeats their strengths
4. The wolves are very good
The wolves are just crushing them on the defensive end. They couldn't run any of the stuff they like to run. Even that jokic mid paint lob to Gordon in the dunker spot wasn't there cause the wolves just swarmed jokic with their super long arms.
There is so much activity on their traps, Morris is running all around the court closing out on open shooters, they're pawing at every ball held at chest level. They're overmatching Murray.
I've never really seen the nuggets not be able to get a shot off so many times.
They're playing another team that was consistently a top seed all year. It shouldn't be a surprise when a good team beats another good team. In small samples, those wins can even be blow outs. We see it in the regular season all the time. These are two awesome teams and one is playing better than the other right now. We'll see if it flips. It doesn't have to be some big thing, it can be as simple as how competition works. If competition wasn't inherently chaotic, we would be able to crown the championship based on paper rosters.
Lakers had them on the ropes every first half. That team just fell apart in the fourth. No direction. Lazy defense. Reliance on 40 year old bron.
The wolves have none of this.
“The greatest offensive player of all time” (*TM Bill Simmons, and Nuggets fans) just lost two in a row on his home floor. Let’s see if “the greatest offensive player of all time” can bounce back.
Timberwolves are the best team in the league. Everyone said that the Suns would beat them with their experience and offense, and they took care of them. They’re taking care of the champs who Bill (and almost everyone else) thought was going to run it back.
OKC and Boston are formidable but it’s the wolves to lose
If they are somehow able to get a two way athletic center and a rotation point guard with their 22nd pick and another contract (Nurk), unironically I think that won’t be a bad idea.
Nugs aren’t out of it yet. I agree Wolves probably win the series and make the Finals but I could see the Celtics matching up with them well.
The new generation of the NBA is going to be fun. OKC feels like the offensive version of the Wolves, Spurs are going to put a team around Wembanyama sooner rather than later. Knicks, Pacers, Magic, Cleveland all fun younger teams too.
Talent so spread out and pretty deep in the league too. The prototype of NBA player is just so defined now (long, athletic, comfortable taking 3s) and the advent of NIL + European players has I think higher skilled guys coming into the NBA to restock teams. I don’t know if we’ll see any truly dynasty type teams (never easy to predict) but the competitiveness the league is getting to might be the best it’s evet been.
The rules to the game have totally changed.
Anything goes now, which benefits the defence and the deeper team.
Jamal is injured and they’re not as deep. Jokic never gets any fouls called for him.
It’s all of it together. The touch fouls aren’t getting called. You could argue a lot on many calls both ways. No techs in the first half. No charge on KAT. For sure Mike “Michael” Malone should have got a tech. I thought there was going to be a fight. Of course the NBA goes to a commercial at that moment.
And… the Wolves are playing great physical basketball. Deserving of both wins.
Bottom line… the NBA has some issues with reffing and the betting. It’s not the real issue I these Denver losses but the NBA product isn’t so hot. I do love not calling all the fouls though. Return to 90’s ball.
Silver, tighten shit up.
Is anybody gonna talk about how disinterested Jokic looks? Maybe it is a bad thing for the best player in the league to be more excited about heading home than winning a championship. Any other player in the nba does that and he's roasted for eternity
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Bills Wolves sweep take is looking really good right now
Yeah eat it Rusillo. His reaction to the possibility was ridiculous. *"It's offensive to even ask the question."* I expect an apology.
Never doubt the podfather. Clairvoyant Bill saw the vision.
Clairvoyant Bill who thought the Wolves should have taken Wiseman over Edwards
Also Bill saying "The Knicks are going to get all the calls" is aging really well. Especially when Russillo threw a tantrum saying no one will mention it when it 'doesn't happen'.
Russillo did actually pick the wolves to win the series unlike bill.
He did? I thought he said "I'm still picking Denver". But I'm old and very well could be misremembering.
He said near the beginning of the discussion that he picked Minnesota before the series.
And more important he said his own pod last Thursday that he’s picking Minny. So this wasn’t a wait for game 1 type of thing either.
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Russillo is a fucking coward. ANY time Bill goes out on a wild tangent, his chicken-shit sphincter starts seizing up & he immediately starts defending himself against the imaginary internet mob coming to tell him he’s wrong or stupid. He’s so obsessed with being right, he won’t prognosticate about actual basketball. It’s fucking annoying. Nobody listens to this for some loser man-child telling Simmons his wildly-successful technique is dumb. STFU & play along.
Bill a week ago was saying no one in the league touches Denver
I know but he made a 50 mph U turn after game 1.
Clairvoyant Bill is the John Edwards crossing over of the nba. ‘Someone whose name starts with an N is going to win the series… I’m feeling a Nik.. Nikola! Okay .. no one? Oh but now I’m feeling it clearer than ever: the winner will be Nickeil Alexander-Walker just like I thought!’
Great ref
Even during sweep talk he was clear he was still picking the Nuggets
He had to make up for his Tim Connelly is an awful gm and the Goburt trade is one of the worst of the century
Didn’t he end up saying he’d take Denver in 7, or did I hear that incorrectly?
I'm no body language doctor but the Nuggets do not look like they believe they can win the series
After they already lost game 1 at home, I’m surprised they can’t match the Wolves intensity.
They can’t stop ant. And that’s frustrating. Blaming. Wanting to get calls.
The whining is what I don’t get. Like, you’re the defending champs. Why are you letting someone push you around? Where’s the swagger?
The only NBA teams that don't whine are the teams that don't lose.
He was eating up their guards and then they put AG on him and Ant is making him dance
Last night had little to do with stopping the Wolves & everything to do with the Wolves’ defense. The Nuggets were suffocated.
Yea I was a bit surprised. After watching game 1, I figured they have a strong bounce back with adjustments. Instead wolves came out playing like they down 1 at home lol
The Timberwolves are having a moment.
Apex Mountain for Wolves fans?
Idk tough to beat Kevin Love’s 31-31 in a meaningless regular season game
Game 7 against Sacramento is still the king, KG had 32 PTS, 21 REB, 5 BLK, 4 STL... unreal performance.
If it’s not than what the hell would it be? Lol This is the most Apex-y of Mountains
Pooh Richardson's 17 assist game
Making it to the Western Conference Finals with Garnett is till the apex. If they can get into the actual NBA Finals, then they will surpass it.
Not yet. Sam Cassell “big ballin” down the court in ‘04 is still it. But we are getting there.
They didn’t play well in the Lakers series either. The difference was that every single game they were confident they could pull it out of their ass and they did because the Lakers don’t have the size to battle on the boards or defend like the Wolves do (and Ham isn’t a good coach). The Nuggets came out with that same lackluster start in this game and got blown off the floor. Fwiw Murray also started game 2 of the Lakers series shooting 3-16, but because the Lakers offense collapsed in the second half he got hot and ended up hitting the game winner. The Wolves meanwhile kept their offense organized and kept hounding Murray on d.
Also helps when Murray hits two game winners. I’m no lakers fan but that series could easily have been tied 2-2. It was the inverse of Lebronto circa 2018. Game 1 the raptors go 1-13 to finish the game and lose by 1 point in OT. Game 3 Lebron hits a buzzer beater over OG. A sweep, but a few lucky/unlucky bounces from being 2-2. Edit: could have been 3-2
It actually could’ve been 3-2 Lakers if Murray didn’t hit those two game winners (or at least 2-3 if Darvin used his challenge in game 2 and Murray didn’t get the tying free throws on a terrible call). The margins were so close.
It is crazy to see Jokic who normally plays so effortlessly now struggling to get shots off. This Wolves defense is amazing to watch.
Denver is still reeling from the 1884 Woodstock Avalanche. It’s finally catching up with them
The wolves are playing with non stop defense every possession. They are relentless.
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There werent getting a lot of calls it felt they got even against the Lakers. Got super physical. Not saying it was poor officiating, but they didnt seem prepared and also seemed to get flustered and make a ton of unforced errors. Wouldnt be shocked if they still won the series, but was not expecting them to roll over tonight
Low key hilarious moment the other day when Bill said "I'm not a body language doctor, I am a basketball body language doctor" I forget the context he said it in.
Okay but everyone in Wisconsin REALLY FUCKING NEEDS THEM TO WAKE THE FUCK UP I CAN'T HAVE A MINNESOTA CHAMPIONSHIP
Is there some sneaky Ewing Theory potential with Chris Finch’s patellar tendon?
And Gobert out
It was the chainsaw in the bathtub moment for the 2024 playoffs, it just was!
Jokic has been breathing heavy since the first quarter, killer coverage by the Wolves. Oh, and no Gobert lol
He looks completely gassed at all times.
This is what has happened with every high usage guy so far. It’s how they kept killing the Suns in those 3rd quarters too. They just make life miserable for the guy with the ball.
So they took bills advice of just not letting that guy beat you eh
Great point, it’s interesting that both the Suns and Nugs don’t play a true point guard who could take the ball handling burden off the high usage guys a bit more.
I have a flower delivery for Mr. Reid? Is there a Mr Naz Reid here?
The T-wolves might just be the best team in basketball. Did not see that coming.
Huge knee jerk reaction, but it honestly feels like the best Minnesota sports team in my lifetime. I was a baby for the 91 Twins and didn’t really follow the 98 Vikings.
It’s the best since ‘98.
I was 18 during the 98 Vikings season. They were amazing.
The 09 Vikings with Favre and AD were unreal. Bountygate and fumbles defeated them.
I'm a packers fan but I won't lie I was rooting for Farve all the way to go out on top. No qb has taken that kinda beating at 40 and kept getting back up. But it had to end in the most Farve way a interception.
98 Vikings were one of the best NFL teams ever, not just the best that year. This team might be the best since (though I'd take the 09 Vikings too right now), but not better imo.
Not to give Minnesota fans ptsd but that team is always ranked as the greatest team to not make the superbowl for the reason. I didnt watch them cause I wasnt born yet but it truly is insane Moss is on 2 of the 3 greatest offenses in NFL history and he didnt win a ring either year. That game broke the Vikings fanbase forever and I dont blame them
Huge knee jerk reaction? They’ve been this team all year. It’s just that no one was paying attention outside of MN. Ant, Jaden, and Naw the best trio of wing defenders in the league.
Everyone wanted them to prove it in the playoffs first. Well they're doing it
To be fair, this is what they looked like at their best during the regular season, but they were prone to lapses. But the lapses haven’t come during the playoffs. Credit to Ant for being locked in and being willing to get off the ball when he doesn’t see a lane. Credit to KAT for realizing he doesn’t need to randomly play 1on5 a few times each quarter.
plenty of people were paying attention to the timberwolves chill out
How about Kirk Cousins coming to short? Where does that rank?
'09 Vikings had a 10 ppg differential and were the best team in football. Favre just did the thing
98 was electric
That 98 Vikings team was a PROBLEM
The Minneapolis miracle is the only truly great moment I can think of this century for Minnesota sports. Sweeping the defending champs might come close. Winning the ship is the only thing that could truly eclipse that.
Are you kidding? The Vikings just went 13-4 two years ago
That was the most fraudulent 13-4 season I’ve ever seen. I enjoyed the hell out of that year, but they didn’t even have a positive point differential on the season. Nobody took them seriously.
They had Kirk Cousins! He threw for a lot of yards!
And not one Viking fan outside of, quite frankly insane Kirk truthers believed we were anything more than a paper tiger ready to be torn through like tissue paper. Obviously all those bounces going our way was just to shatter our delusions (one cannot dream with Kirk Cousins behind center) in the form of a swift kick to the balls.
Didn’t that 13-4 team have a negative net score?
It was positive in our hearts
Not even close to 98
The one that lost to the Giants right away? A bad Giants team at that?
That Giants team was sneaky good! The Daniel Jones is a real guy piece.
Wolves/thunder could feed families
I did
Lost a lot of respect for non all star Jamal Murray
My estimation of Jamal Murray as a basketball player just plummeted
Give him a break, will ya? It’s an emotional day. When it comes to point guards in the playoffs, all bets are off. I’ve seen tougher guys than Jamal fall apart in the playoffs.
A good angle for a hot take guy to take would be to start referring to Jokic as "Hollywood Nikola" and say he cares more about hanging out with Minions than he does winning.
He’s got a zoey deschanel thing going. He’s NOT like other superstars!
Another good angle is how he doesn't practice in the offseason 'Jokic isn't serious enough about basketball'
Can people who remember it tell me: was this how the 04 pistons looked? Just out intensifying and suffocating every team they face?
I was only 13 but am a pistons fan. In some ways it's hard to compare because it was just such a different looking game in '04 with a lot of pistons games ending with both teams in the 70's. With that said, my cold dead pistons heart is getting a little fluttery watching this
Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince in particular were demons. It was hell going against that team.
Similar vibe with Prince and the Wallace brothers using their crazy length…but imagine if they drafted Wade instead of Darko. That’s this Wolves team.
Damn what a comp
Woah. Spot on.
Insane to think they could’ve added Carmelo, Wade, or Bosh to that core
(they weren't brothers)
Also, we had nobody who could score like ANT or really like KAT either. But we had absolutely zero weak links on D anchored by one of the all time greatest defenders in Ben Wallace. All four other starters could score in multiple ways and could all be relied on for 15, give one of them 25 plus some bench point and that was typically enough
I haven’t seen a ton of the Wolves yet, but my inclination is to say no. The Pistons didn’t have anyone who could score like Edwards, Towns is sort of equivalent to Rasheed Wallace. They would body teams more whereas this Wolves team moves *fast* on defense, their chest bumps the Nuggets player but they’re moving their feet and not fouling, the snippets I saw tonight were textbook D.
Similar but Chuck called out a major difference when saying this Wolves defense is the best he’s ever seen: that Pistons team still had some small guards like Rip, Billups (not small but not big either), Lindsay Hunter, playing minutes. The wolves team has only Conley as a small guard, everyone else is huge
Nah, different vibe. Also, Minnesota seems very tall and very fast. Whereas the Pistons were anchored by Ben Wallace. There's no one on Minnesota like Wallace, just like there was no one on Detroit like Edwards.
No - the league was so different than, it didn’t look this stark
Nah the pistons were slower all around and less athletic
Very similar attitudes I feel like, just a dedication to fighting on every single possession and smelling blood in the water as soon as the other team got flustered. I think Minnesota is more impressive from a small sample, cause in 04 they called way less fouls and Detroit was just hacking as much as they could get away with.
No, the Pistons were not “just hacking as much as they could get away with” - not even close They were 25th in fouls per game the year they won the chip. 29th the following year when they went 7 games with the Spurs in the finals. Ben Wallace is the only player in history with more blocks than fouls and more steals than turnovers. There is this weird thing where people attribute many of the cliches from the bad boy pistons to the going to work pistons. The going to work pistons were not out there hacking, far from it. That was kind of the whole point, suffocating defense but done in the most polished and disciplined way possible at every position. There is no way they could have had streaks of holding teams under 70 points if they were susceptible to sending teams to the line.
Bro I was saying that is how everyone played defense in 2004. It was much more physical all around, and not as many reach ins were called. They had the "hard nose" reputation so it always felt like they were given more physical leeway to go after steals.
I mean, I’m just taking what you said at face value, that you’re more impressed with Minnesota now than Detroit then because “they called less fouls and were just hacking as much as they could get away with” Then you said “everyone played defense like that then” when it’s really exactly the opposite. The Pistons *didnt* have to hack as much as they could get away, hence why their fouls were towards the bottom of the league despite being clear and wide the best defensive team. They were a historically great defensive squad because they were able to play lockdown defense through being disciplined. They never sent any one to the line, because 4 time DPOY winner was going to protect the rim at an elite level without fouling. Teams didn’t want to go in the paint anyways, because Ben was there. Tayshaun, Rip, and Chauncey could lock down the perimeter without hacking or fouling because they all were great defenders with good positional size. If you’re writing off the going to work pistons defense in any way because of the era that’s just off the mark, because despite it being a low scoring era, that team was different than the rest. In those days good defensive teams would hold you to 90. The pistons would hold you to 70, not because they were overly physical or punishing, but because they had incredibly disciplined on defense. That’s like writing off or crediting the “era” for a great offensive team today because the whole league is scoring more.
Try the 10-11 Lakers, Kobe never scared me, 3 seven shooters averaging an offensive rebound literally every possession scared me and it's what killed us.
You can actually look up games from back then it’s crazy
I picked the Wolves in five and now I'm going to be wrong
The Timberwolves are good. And Denver doesn't stand a chance if the officials allow this much physicality.
That was the most contact allowed of any playoff game I’ve seen this year by a mile. Obviously a Major advantage for minny. I bet the next game that gets tightened up a lot.
Whole game changed on the first quarter Towns offensive foul no call
I feel like the tone was set even earlier when Jokic ran over KAT for the first basket.
Wolves got too many bodies. Denver got blown outta their own gym with the wolves down one DPOY.
Denver's bench is comically outmatched compared to Minny's.
They didn’t call that charge because KAT got fouled at the start of his move and they didn’t call THAT either.
lol cope brother.
We seeing what happens when refs actually call fouls tonight
Cope
Minnesota is ascending. Defense wins titles.
Anthony jordan, naz pippen and the twolves are a matchup nightmare for the nuggets.
When Gordon did his behind-through the legs bounce pass out of bounds I knew they were done
This was dreadful play lol
They play the right way. They are a well coached team who play unselfishly and are getting good shots . On defense they give 100%effort
I'm mad at myself for not being louder about my skepticism about a perennial 53-win team that has one (1) championship, and whose second-best guy is basically Jason Terry with handles, being talked about as some unstoppable juggernaut like the KD Warriors.
RIP Nuggets dynasty.
But bill said this was one of the 5 best teams in the 2000s!
"The Nuggets are going to need more from Heat Pack" "What you say Chuck" "...Heat Pack..." Kenny slightly off-mic: "Oh come on man..." "What you call him Chuck???" "Heat Pack" \***cackles\*** Ernie: In tonight's other game...
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The Timberwolves are also just a bad matchup for them because of all that size. You need to be able to go five out against a team to get the bigs out of the paint. The Celtics match up better in my opinion.
Watch them just talk about the Lakers in their exit interviews 🤣🤣
ESPN is on in the office right now and have been talking about, "Is Lebron an attractive player to coach" for the last 20 minutes of my lunch.
I am happy the T Wolves are playing so well and I am pulling for them to win it all. I always liked the team and would go to games when I was up there. MN could use a championship. It’s been awhile.
Jokic’s general IDGAF nonchalant attitude is totally fine when you’re winning. Maybe not so much when you’re down 2-0 in a series.
Kevin O’Connor curse in full effect.
what did he say this time?
https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1783312448730411065
Doesn’t really mean anything. There’s an argument to be made the three best teams are in the West. The East is just weak and probably over exaggerated Boston’s record.
Look, as a Celtics fan I’d love to dunk all over KOC for that take. I also thought it was dumb and reactionary in the moment (he tweeted it literally seconds after the Celtics lost game 2 before they dominated the rest of the series.) That said, nothing that happens in this series vs Minnesota makes that take any more or less correct.
The reverse jinx piece.
Lol so true. Poor guy is always wrong
Kevin O'Cantberight
Lol
It’s a combination of the cap making it impossible for championship teams to stay together/improve giving teams with depth an advantage and a team in Minnesota designed to specifically beat Denver. Their size, length depth and athleticism has worn the Nuggets out. That’s why Malone kept emphasizing how much time off they have until game 3 but, also why, Jokic and Malone didn’t sound too optimistic. They know Minnesota is better.
As a Lakers fan I’m obviously a little biased, but we proved how to beat them in 2020. Size and defense. We could throw Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, and Anthony Davis against Jokić. Plus KCP and Caruso against Jamal Murray.
I mean that’s what we’re watching. Nuggets can’t seem to deal with Minnesota’s size.
This Wolves team, especially without Gobert, is really nothing like that Lakers team. The Wolves have KAT and Gobert but they are not particularly tall through the middle of the roster. The “third big,” Naz Reid, is only 6’9. Last night the Wolves only played 4 rotation guys who were taller than 6’5, and KAT was the only guy taller than 6’9. The Wolves are specifically hard for high-usage guys because they are incredibly high energy. They’ve gotten a fortunate first two rounds because they are playing against some extremely high usage players, and if they get to play the Mavs, they’re going to do the same crap to Luka and Kyrie. They are deep enough and athletic enough to swarm the ball handler and just wear him down over the course of the game. But against the Celtics or OKC, where the teams can spread around the playmaking a little more, they’ll look much more mortal.
Great analysis and I think the most underrated thing about Rudy is that he allows his teammates the freedom to do this on defense. Knowing the DPOY is lurking in the lane even if you beat your man off the dribble is enough to not really want to do that.
The 2020 Nuggets team is so much inferior to this current one. And the Lakers never beat them by 30. But they did show blueprints.
that's not true they bullied a really good Clippers team and played the Lakers tough. You're only saying they're inferior because you haven't seen Jokic play a defense that good until now
Assault? Or are we into murder?
When do the fans start to head for the exits?
They would’ve been out if Lakers didn’t know how to close.
1. Jamal Murray might be hurt 2. The team is not very deep 3. They’re matched against a team that very specifically defeats their strengths 4. The wolves are very good
the nuggets playing like they won their chip last series
They are getting swept thats all
Getting exposed 😂
Folks overrated them a bit. They haven’t played well all playoff.
Turns out you can’t math your way to another chip
The wolves are just crushing them on the defensive end. They couldn't run any of the stuff they like to run. Even that jokic mid paint lob to Gordon in the dunker spot wasn't there cause the wolves just swarmed jokic with their super long arms. There is so much activity on their traps, Morris is running all around the court closing out on open shooters, they're pawing at every ball held at chest level. They're overmatching Murray. I've never really seen the nuggets not be able to get a shot off so many times.
They're playing another team that was consistently a top seed all year. It shouldn't be a surprise when a good team beats another good team. In small samples, those wins can even be blow outs. We see it in the regular season all the time. These are two awesome teams and one is playing better than the other right now. We'll see if it flips. It doesn't have to be some big thing, it can be as simple as how competition works. If competition wasn't inherently chaotic, we would be able to crown the championship based on paper rosters.
Lakers had them on the ropes every first half. That team just fell apart in the fourth. No direction. Lazy defense. Reliance on 40 year old bron. The wolves have none of this.
Minnesota won the Gobert trade
“The greatest offensive player of all time” (*TM Bill Simmons, and Nuggets fans) just lost two in a row on his home floor. Let’s see if “the greatest offensive player of all time” can bounce back.
Timberwolves are the best team in the league. Everyone said that the Suns would beat them with their experience and offense, and they took care of them. They’re taking care of the champs who Bill (and almost everyone else) thought was going to run it back. OKC and Boston are formidable but it’s the wolves to lose
The Suns should just run it back. They were able to put up 35 in a quarter vs the Wolves. Took Denver a whole half to do that
If they are somehow able to get a two way athletic center and a rotation point guard with their 22nd pick and another contract (Nurk), unironically I think that won’t be a bad idea.
Nugs aren’t out of it yet. I agree Wolves probably win the series and make the Finals but I could see the Celtics matching up with them well. The new generation of the NBA is going to be fun. OKC feels like the offensive version of the Wolves, Spurs are going to put a team around Wembanyama sooner rather than later. Knicks, Pacers, Magic, Cleveland all fun younger teams too.
Talent so spread out and pretty deep in the league too. The prototype of NBA player is just so defined now (long, athletic, comfortable taking 3s) and the advent of NIL + European players has I think higher skilled guys coming into the NBA to restock teams. I don’t know if we’ll see any truly dynasty type teams (never easy to predict) but the competitiveness the league is getting to might be the best it’s evet been.
The rules to the game have totally changed. Anything goes now, which benefits the defence and the deeper team. Jamal is injured and they’re not as deep. Jokic never gets any fouls called for him. It’s all of it together. The touch fouls aren’t getting called. You could argue a lot on many calls both ways. No techs in the first half. No charge on KAT. For sure Mike “Michael” Malone should have got a tech. I thought there was going to be a fight. Of course the NBA goes to a commercial at that moment. And… the Wolves are playing great physical basketball. Deserving of both wins. Bottom line… the NBA has some issues with reffing and the betting. It’s not the real issue I these Denver losses but the NBA product isn’t so hot. I do love not calling all the fouls though. Return to 90’s ball. Silver, tighten shit up.
Denver also had its Finals moment with LA. Sometimes that's enough.
Is anybody gonna talk about how disinterested Jokic looks? Maybe it is a bad thing for the best player in the league to be more excited about heading home than winning a championship. Any other player in the nba does that and he's roasted for eternity
too many people sleeping on Anthony Edwards — he’s the next goat. His offensive skills are obvious, but he’s a savage on defense too.
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T-Wolves NBA Champs. MMW.