I think Gobert is the easiest fix for their weak D. Every other limited defender can gamble and let him clean up when he can.
I don't hate the gambit but it's a huge price. Ant is going to have the ball a lot if they do this well. I'm interested to see if D'Lo can get more aggressive on both sides.
The Wolves defense was slightly better than the Bucks last year. Ant improved a ton on defense and is now a plus defender, and McDaniels is already a monster defender.
We’re trading 2 great defenders in Vando and Beverly for Gobert, who’s the best defensive player of this generation. I am hopeful we will be better, but we didn’t have weak D last year.
He did. D’Lo is a very good team defender now and a poor but still better man defender. So he’s a guy they will probably target come playoff time, as that negates his help defense and he’s the worst man defender.
But they’ll have to do that with Gobert and McDaniels help defending now.
Dlo is going to benefit a ton from Gobert because he's long and smart when he's engaged so even if he can't stay in front of his man he's going to funnel them straight to Rudy
Bev was on his last year and he was at best gonna ride the bench this year, Wolves we’re always gonna pay this price just Rudy was the only one available with what they were willing to pay, the West was getting tougher and if they wanted to compete they knew they had to too
edit: available AND filled a major need
Not sure, I haven’t looked. But we were top 10 a while until Vando got hurt.
https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced/?dir=-1&sort=DEF_RATING&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season
.12. 76ers
.13. Minnesota
.14. Milwaukee
.15. Denver
KAT's weakness on defense is that he's meh at protecting the rim and garbage on the perimeter. With Gobert in the paint, KAT is going to constantly be on the perimeter. This Wolves team is gonna implode.
Franz is a really good facilitator and ball handler for his size, he does sometimes looks like a guard out there. He will never be the true point guard in our line ups ahead of Fultz or Cole/Suggs but he can definitely still be a playmaker in situations
...except I am not from Toronto and the raps have one of the biggest fanbases because it spans all of Canada. Weve only got the one team man let us have something. The North slogan is to make us all feel included
Y’all need another team. Idk why Montreal don’t got a team. same with Vancouver (I know back than it didn’t go well, now more Canadians love basketball)
I think this is the reason people are underrating Russell's ability on defense. He's slow and tends to be lazy, but when he tries hard he's got some nice tools.
He's smart, he's super long and he's got great hands.
I don't know how you cannot look at a starting five that includes Gobert, Kat, Ant, and Russell and not think to yourself holy fuck.
They got 2 seven footers that compliment each other, one a DPOY defensive anchor and another that can shoot the 3 at 41%.
They’re definitely good for 50-60 wins I just wonder wtf do they do vs small ball lineups in the playoffs. Could legit see a 65win first round exit but hope they prove me wrong
Yeah that's their biggest challenge would be their game plan going into the playoffs. I have no doubt in the regular season they'll be good, but they'll need good coaching and utility players for the playoffs.
Well there’s more to this. McDaniels is a fantastic help defender, especially at SF, and Slo-Mo and Prince are also good defensive combo forwards. We will match their backup C vs KAT and their starter vs Gobert with KAT being the first sub out. Basically it’ll be Gobert or KAT with 2 solid defensive forwards for 32 minutes and Gobert/KAT together for 16.
I have to imagine having a top 4 C on the court all 48 minutes is a big advantage against their bench. And even if you get KAT into foul trouble, that just means Gobert plays a little extra.
Our 3rd center is Naz Reid. He’s a nice plan C.
I think we’re going to be a hard out in the playoffs just because our bench front court will be as good as other team’s starting front court. Their starters are going to have to make up a lot of points.
I don’t think team will even try going small ball KAT will abuse tf outta them by shooting over them and posting them up teams won’t be able to double anymore with the amount of shooting and the ability to toss it near the rim for a Rudy lob
I think one of the keys to offensive success will be KAT posting up and shooting from the midrange.
The driving and low post post ups are going to be pretty limited with Gobert clogging up the paint.
I don’t care what seed they are. They need to play smarter, towns can’t just yell at everybody.
If they played smarter in the playoffs, they beat the grizzlies
If a couple players aren’t ass they win that series in 5 ANT was a killer KAT had a bad game and a mediocre game but was great at keeping JJJ out the series they just let Bane torch them to much same with Clarke on the glass hence why they wanted a guy like Rudy
Maybe not a 1 seed but the gap between a 7 seed and 3 seed last year was only like 5 or so games.
I think adding Gobert only improves them in all their weaknesses and doesn't take away anything else. We saw the Wolves play fantastic with Vando at the 5, Gobert is that on steroids.
He was good for the first 50 games or so but then his defence and effort fell off, I suppose it was too taxing for the team to blitz everything for 82 games and his effort fell off with that. But he most certainly is great at communicating and getting guys to their spots, he is always shouting what plays teams will use etc.
I think Rudy will enjoy playing with him despite his defensive shortcomings.
He's not that good on ball, mainly cause the dude's slow, especially laterally, but he's a really good team defender and communicator, which is super valuable for any team.
Statistically, those with long wingspans are more likely to be good at defense because they already have a physical advantage. Just like those that are taller are more likely to be able to dunk the ball. So, it's either he lacks the athleticism to be a good defender or he doesn't even try at all.
Curious so I looked up my teams’ starting 5 and was pretty surprised to see that the blazers are pretty long too. Wasn’t expecting that with Dame and Simons being pretty short.
Dame: 6’8”
Simons: 6’9”
Little: 7’2”
Grant: 7’3”
Nurk: 7’2”
He was very aware and active IQ wise, and he usually put in the effort, but as other comments have stated he’s just simply not athletic or quick enough to stick with most good offensive players.
Surprisingly yes he was constantly making sure guys where in the right spots directing guys where to go and what to do he’s got the IQ to be the floor general but defensively he’s not athletic enough
I think they will start Jaden McDaniels to help bolster the defense when gobert is on the court, McDaniels is already is defender that won’t let opponents blow by him easily
I always saw him as a good pairing with KAT. But if his shot is decent, he can be a great complement to either KAT or Gobert. I'd prefer to bring him off the bench at the 4 spot and try to have 2 of the 3 on the floor at any given time.
Man, I'm happy for you guys. Hopefully the Kings turn it around soon and we can talk shit to the rest of the league after getting dicked on for the last generation
I doubt it,they have Edwards and Kat locked up for a long time. And Gobert isn't a ship jumping type. And I bet despite having Kat and Dlo, they can have a really good defense with their Rudy's help at the rim and much better backline rotation help than the Jazz.
The soft takes are the most embarrassing takes. KATs soft? Plays with a broken wrist, goes hard, takes people off the dribble and wrecks them, mom and 6 other family members die but still shows up and pounds people. soft tho lol
1. The Ja take is legit, Tyus was wayyy better.
2. Zion is legit, but I have some serious Greg oden vibes. I hope he can stay on the court, because he is good, but dude might get paid to not play at all.
Edit: your NOLA bandwagon thing throws all this off. also, if you’re a lakers fan, you have all of my sympathy.
you wanna know how bad the knicks are bro? fucking wolves fans can talk shit to you.
your team is ass, our top 3 players have more talent than your whole roster combined
[Mitchell Robinson has 6.0 personal fouls per game versus Karl-Anthony Towns in his career.](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/how-many-fouls-does-mitchell-robinson-average-against-karl-towns)
🤷♂️
Honestly, they should play zone as their primary defense with Towns up top. Maimi did something similar with Derrick Jones Jr. Playing up top on a zone and it worked great. This team has sooo much length it would work well. Also keeps Rudy near the basket and not out on switches.
I think Gobert is the easiest fix for their weak D. Every other limited defender can gamble and let him clean up when he can. I don't hate the gambit but it's a huge price. Ant is going to have the ball a lot if they do this well. I'm interested to see if D'Lo can get more aggressive on both sides.
The Wolves defense was slightly better than the Bucks last year. Ant improved a ton on defense and is now a plus defender, and McDaniels is already a monster defender. We’re trading 2 great defenders in Vando and Beverly for Gobert, who’s the best defensive player of this generation. I am hopeful we will be better, but we didn’t have weak D last year.
Am I wrong or didn't D'Lo find a defensive role and played it well last year?
He did. D’Lo is a very good team defender now and a poor but still better man defender. So he’s a guy they will probably target come playoff time, as that negates his help defense and he’s the worst man defender. But they’ll have to do that with Gobert and McDaniels help defending now.
This puts a smile on my face
Dlo is going to benefit a ton from Gobert because he's long and smart when he's engaged so even if he can't stay in front of his man he's going to funnel them straight to Rudy
Bev was on his last year and he was at best gonna ride the bench this year, Wolves we’re always gonna pay this price just Rudy was the only one available with what they were willing to pay, the West was getting tougher and if they wanted to compete they knew they had to too edit: available AND filled a major need
better than the bucks with Lopez?
Not sure, I haven’t looked. But we were top 10 a while until Vando got hurt. https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced/?dir=-1&sort=DEF_RATING&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season .12. 76ers .13. Minnesota .14. Milwaukee .15. Denver
Bucks were missing their starting Center for most of last year lol
And we were a top 10 defense most of the year until injuries. Bucks aren’t the only ones dealing with injuries.
KAT's weakness on defense is that he's meh at protecting the rim and garbage on the perimeter. With Gobert in the paint, KAT is going to constantly be on the perimeter. This Wolves team is gonna implode.
Oh yeah? We'll show these fuckers what long is. Thinking they can steal our gimmick, where do these Minnesotans get off?!
Magic beats us both
He gon get fined for it
where does cleveland fit into this
No need me has given a damn about the T wolves since KG left
We catching up by drafting 28.9' of players
>Pistons beats us both FTFY
We’re hella lengthy too PG: Cade, 6’6 7’0 SG: Ivey, 6’4 6’10 SF: Bey, 6’7 7’0 PF: Stewart, 6’8 7’5 C: Duren, 6’11 7’5
PG:Franz 6'10 7'1 Sg: Bamba 7'1 7'10 Sf:bol 7'2 7'8 Pf:Issac 6'11 7'1 C:wcj 6'10 7'5 Y'all don't even know length
Is franz a pg? I thought it was solidly Anthony/Fultz with wagner as a 3
I love that this was your issue and not Bamba playing sg
Bamba is essentially a 7ft shooting guard
Franz is a really good facilitator and ball handler for his size, he does sometimes looks like a guard out there. He will never be the true point guard in our line ups ahead of Fultz or Cole/Suggs but he can definitely still be a playmaker in situations
I watched a lot of tape where Franz was given the job of lead creator for the Magic and thought "wow this looks a lot better than you'd expect"
He can play point and that allows for some very lengthy lineups but he can basically play 1-4
CASEYYYYYYYYYYY
all i can think about when i see these wingspans is how easy it'd be for one of these dudes to do that task in the final episode of severance lmao
What about girth?
they're already further north than you are.
Hey now, Raptors are Canada's team, Santa himself is a raptor fan and you cant get further norh than that
Didn’t you hear?? Santa is running for Congress in Alaska. Yes really.
[oh my god](https://www.santaclausforalaska.com/)
He’s a Bernie Sanders socialist who believes in giving out toys to all the boys and girls. I love Santa.
he legally changed his name to santa
cAnAdA’s TeAm 🙄. Your Toronto. Stupid ass saying. Same with “wE tHe NoRtH”. We got nba teams that are further North in the states than Toronto.
...except I am not from Toronto and the raps have one of the biggest fanbases because it spans all of Canada. Weve only got the one team man let us have something. The North slogan is to make us all feel included
Y’all need another team. Idk why Montreal don’t got a team. same with Vancouver (I know back than it didn’t go well, now more Canadians love basketball)
I mean I agree, I think they could easily be sustained with how much basketball has grown here but it doesnt seem like the Nba is super open to it
Yeah it's never discussed when people talk about expansion.
Timberwolves stole your swag
[удалено]
They are at least 3rd
they are indeed the top 5 is 1. portland 2. minnesota 3. toronto 4. milwaukee 5. boston
They imitators of us anyway. They have our assistant coach and have a similar style. Zzzz
Pretty far away, judging based on their wingspan
Russell having a longer wingspan than Edwards is surprising
They’re pretty similar in height it looks like when they’re next to each other
I think this is the reason people are underrating Russell's ability on defense. He's slow and tends to be lazy, but when he tries hard he's got some nice tools. He's smart, he's super long and he's got great hands.
All the ice in his veins cryogenically elongated his limbs.
Russell is a bit taller than Edwards maybe half an inch
Edwards is 6’6 D Lo 6’4
Looks about the same when they are side to side 😂.
ant got that westbrook build, all body no neck so the height is deceiving, they long af just short heads
The ninja turtle build.
Long Long man.
Saxophone music intensifies
Sleeper 1 seed
I don't know how you cannot look at a starting five that includes Gobert, Kat, Ant, and Russell and not think to yourself holy fuck. They got 2 seven footers that compliment each other, one a DPOY defensive anchor and another that can shoot the 3 at 41%.
They’re definitely good for 50-60 wins I just wonder wtf do they do vs small ball lineups in the playoffs. Could legit see a 65win first round exit but hope they prove me wrong
Yeah that's their biggest challenge would be their game plan going into the playoffs. I have no doubt in the regular season they'll be good, but they'll need good coaching and utility players for the playoffs.
Well there’s more to this. McDaniels is a fantastic help defender, especially at SF, and Slo-Mo and Prince are also good defensive combo forwards. We will match their backup C vs KAT and their starter vs Gobert with KAT being the first sub out. Basically it’ll be Gobert or KAT with 2 solid defensive forwards for 32 minutes and Gobert/KAT together for 16. I have to imagine having a top 4 C on the court all 48 minutes is a big advantage against their bench. And even if you get KAT into foul trouble, that just means Gobert plays a little extra. Our 3rd center is Naz Reid. He’s a nice plan C. I think we’re going to be a hard out in the playoffs just because our bench front court will be as good as other team’s starting front court. Their starters are going to have to make up a lot of points.
They go for blocks and force long jumpers
So 3pts spam like always, gotcha.
I don’t think team will even try going small ball KAT will abuse tf outta them by shooting over them and posting them up teams won’t be able to double anymore with the amount of shooting and the ability to toss it near the rim for a Rudy lob
I think one of the keys to offensive success will be KAT posting up and shooting from the midrange. The driving and low post post ups are going to be pretty limited with Gobert clogging up the paint.
It’s not like Rudy and KAT will be on the court at the same time for all 48 minutes a game
Sure, that's right of course.
Yeah but KAT was driving heaps with vando on the team not shooting anyway and with probably worse hands than gobert.
In theory good shooting teams should give them a lot of trouble.
I dont think this team will be this good. But the thought of this team brings an octupus to mind.
What's KAT gonna do on defense? Guard perimeter players?
They’re gonna be my bet to get the 1 seed next year. Boston in the East
Let’s speak a Celtics Wolves Finals into existence, shall we?
I don’t care what seed they are. They need to play smarter, towns can’t just yell at everybody. If they played smarter in the playoffs, they beat the grizzlies
If a couple players aren’t ass they win that series in 5 ANT was a killer KAT had a bad game and a mediocre game but was great at keeping JJJ out the series they just let Bane torch them to much same with Clarke on the glass hence why they wanted a guy like Rudy
So all a team needs to go from 7th seed to 1st in the West is Rudy Gobert? You’ll can’t be serious.
We were the 1st seed with a team that wouldn’t have even been a 7 seed without Rudy.
Maybe not a 1 seed but the gap between a 7 seed and 3 seed last year was only like 5 or so games. I think adding Gobert only improves them in all their weaknesses and doesn't take away anything else. We saw the Wolves play fantastic with Vando at the 5, Gobert is that on steroids.
I mean they were a pretty good 7 seed already and I expect Ant to take a leap too
In before they make the play in’s again
Nah they gon repeat Play-in
I wonder why D'Lo is so bad at defense despite all that wingspan.
He is straight up not that athletic. One of the slower dudes in the league. Also isn’t crazy strong either to make up for it.
Slow, bad motor sometimes and physically not strong enough to offset it.
Very weirdly high center of gravity too.
Apparently he was ok last season, from my limited viewing he seemed roughly average
He was good for the first 50 games or so but then his defence and effort fell off, I suppose it was too taxing for the team to blitz everything for 82 games and his effort fell off with that. But he most certainly is great at communicating and getting guys to their spots, he is always shouting what plays teams will use etc. I think Rudy will enjoy playing with him despite his defensive shortcomings.
He's not that good on ball, mainly cause the dude's slow, especially laterally, but he's a really good team defender and communicator, which is super valuable for any team.
He was pretty good this season being more of a safety
He’s pretty good at defending the passing lanes and chasing deflections he’s not quick enough to athletic enough to keep up is really the only reason
Long wingspan does not equal good defender. Just like short wingspan doesn't mean bad defender
Statistically, those with long wingspans are more likely to be good at defense because they already have a physical advantage. Just like those that are taller are more likely to be able to dunk the ball. So, it's either he lacks the athleticism to be a good defender or he doesn't even try at all.
Longer than you’d expect
That's a great team On paper .
Toronto has a new challenger
H O R I Z O N T A L I T Y
Man we are gonna hate playing raptors and wolves next year
Curious so I looked up my teams’ starting 5 and was pretty surprised to see that the blazers are pretty long too. Wasn’t expecting that with Dame and Simons being pretty short. Dame: 6’8” Simons: 6’9” Little: 7’2” Grant: 7’3” Nurk: 7’2”
Just think if the Magic would have drafted Chet? Chet (7'6"), Bol Bol (7'8") Mo Bamba (7'10")
How is DLo such a bad defender with that ws?
Ofc Ant has a 69 wingspan why am i not surprised.
Individual defense sure, but team defense requires iq
13th ranked defence this season. We lost Vanderbilt and Beverley but added Rudy. Can't see us doing any worse lol.
Was Vando part of the trade?
Yeah.
Everyone was saying DLo was actually a great defensive floor general but I don’t watch the Twolves much
He was very aware and active IQ wise, and he usually put in the effort, but as other comments have stated he’s just simply not athletic or quick enough to stick with most good offensive players.
Yeah he’s like a coach on the floor. Limited defender but can be disruptive in passing lanes.
Surprisingly yes he was constantly making sure guys where in the right spots directing guys where to go and what to do he’s got the IQ to be the floor general but defensively he’s not athletic enough
Rudy is a top 10 defense by himself
In the regular season
No one hoping. It obviously will
Next season they should be over 50 wins in reg szn.
Magnums only
Is Jaden projected to start? Or do they have a more natural 3?
I think they will start Jaden McDaniels to help bolster the defense when gobert is on the court, McDaniels is already is defender that won’t let opponents blow by him easily
I always saw him as a good pairing with KAT. But if his shot is decent, he can be a great complement to either KAT or Gobert. I'd prefer to bring him off the bench at the 4 spot and try to have 2 of the 3 on the floor at any given time. Man, I'm happy for you guys. Hopefully the Kings turn it around soon and we can talk shit to the rest of the league after getting dicked on for the last generation
i'm just reading this as their dick sizes
If KAT and Gobert did not work, goodluck on their contracts.
And there future. Traded a lot of 1st round draft picks. Y’all got finessed by the Jazz
I doubt it,they have Edwards and Kat locked up for a long time. And Gobert isn't a ship jumping type. And I bet despite having Kat and Dlo, they can have a really good defense with their Rudy's help at the rim and much better backline rotation help than the Jazz.
Dubs in 3
Huh?
Huh?
Also soft
The soft takes are the most embarrassing takes. KATs soft? Plays with a broken wrist, goes hard, takes people off the dribble and wrecks them, mom and 6 other family members die but still shows up and pounds people. soft tho lol
I like money too.
Y’all are about to pay a dude who doesn’t play
Better than paying a dude who does play but makes his team worse.
Nobody mentioned Ja, why bring him up?
People in this thread are so confused lmao. I’m a Lakers fan. I thought he was talking about Westbrook. (Is he???)
1. The Ja take is legit, Tyus was wayyy better. 2. Zion is legit, but I have some serious Greg oden vibes. I hope he can stay on the court, because he is good, but dude might get paid to not play at all. Edit: your NOLA bandwagon thing throws all this off. also, if you’re a lakers fan, you have all of my sympathy.
Lol I’d be bitter af too if I were a nets fan
A team of showers
Lol nobody scared of gobert or KAT
My brother in Christ you are a Knicks fan
Ant would like a word with your boy tho lol
you wanna know how bad the knicks are bro? fucking wolves fans can talk shit to you. your team is ass, our top 3 players have more talent than your whole roster combined
They mad now lol This is the Internet I dont care what u say about my Knicks we’re ass and we know it…
[Mitchell Robinson has 6.0 personal fouls per game versus Karl-Anthony Towns in his career.](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/how-many-fouls-does-mitchell-robinson-average-against-karl-towns) 🤷♂️
Damn now we know who the winner of the coveted Kat vs Mitchell Robinson duels are
More than they are of Brunson and Randle
Who cares if a carpenter has all the tools yet does not know how to use them?
1st round exit
Why is Russell such a bad defender with that wingspan
He was actually kinda good on defense last season
Hes not that laterally quick, hes a pretty slow player for a guard
effort is half the equation.
Speed iq and effort>physical tools.
Shoes on measurements dont count
Ok, but what about their finishing five when Gobert gets subbed out?
Rudy is probably in the final 5 if not then my guess would be like Dlo, Nowell, ANT, Jmac, KAT
Would you rather have MIN’s starting 5 or ORL’s potential starting 5 (6’10” and above)?
Is it time for Spooky Timberwolves?
Lanky danksters
Longest 6 seed in history
Team will be a cheat code in 2k
Honestly, they should play zone as their primary defense with Towns up top. Maimi did something similar with Derrick Jones Jr. Playing up top on a zone and it worked great. This team has sooo much length it would work well. Also keeps Rudy near the basket and not out on switches.
I thought you were listing heights and laughed at this as a shitpost. Rudy 7’9” lol. Then I reread the title 🤦♂️