All Things 2023-2024 Minnesota Timberwolves In-Season Thread

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tmvander said:
The west is just a fricken gauntlet...yeah it sucks we have to play Phoenix but i wouldn't be jumping for joy having to play anyone else either. Dallas, Sac, NO, Lakers, GS are not exactly easy outs. The Wolves just need to buck up and win a series...there's a reason we're the 3 and they're the 6...act like we belong.
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Kings are the only team you would have been happy to face, and thats only because theyve had injuries.

Lakers, Warriors, Pels would have scared the be-jesus out of us too. We've beaten all of those teams, so Suns a little more scary. But West is stacked, and the team that gets to the finals might end up getting their because their stars didnt get hurt
 

The Wolves really need to go small in order to be able to defend in this series. I would start and matchup defensively like this:

Conley - Allen
Ant - Booker
NAW - Beal
McDaniels - Durant
Gobert - Nurkic

Naz and Towns would be the first two off the bench. They can't afford to have either one of these two big guys chase around Allen or Beal. It's killing them.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
The Wolves really need to go small in order to be able to defend in this series. I would start and matchup defensively like this:

Conley - Allen
Ant - Booker
NAW - Beal
McDaniels - Durant
Gobert - Nurkic

Naz and Towns would be the first two off the bench. They can't afford to have either one of these two big guys chase around Allen or Beal. It's killing them.
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agreed. you get cooked off the penetration and kick and 3 as Kat can't cover Durant. What you get in increased size in rebounding gets you murdered in open shots.

The biggest thing though, to me, is Ant needs to be Ant. This postseason has the chance to be a coming out party for him and he has the mentality for it on both ends. the only worrisome part of putting him on Booker early is you're going to need him in the 4th. Think I'd rather flop him onto Beal until the 4th as the offense needs him to go unless you're going to win games in the 90s (this team has the capability to do that, just don't think you're going to do that to the Suns 4 times)
 

upnorthkid said:
agreed. you get cooked off the penetration and kick and 3 as Kat can't cover Durant. What you get in increased size in rebounding gets you murdered in open shots.

The biggest thing though, to me, is Ant needs to be Ant. This postseason has the chance to be a coming out party for him and he has the mentality for it on both ends. the only worrisome part of putting him on Booker early is you're going to need him in the 4th. Think I'd rather flop him onto Beal until the 4th as the offense needs him to go unless you're going to win games in the 90s (this team has the capability to do that, just don't think you're going to do that to the Suns 4 times)
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That makes sense to me too. I think the Wolves can and will try to keep them in the 90s - low 100s to win in this series.

Ant has showed up and played very well in the playoffs the last two years. Phoenix has been the most aggressive team in defending him this season. They have to figure that out and the Wolves will go as far as Ant takes them.
 

Is it just me or is ANT turning the ball over a ton in the lane when he penetrates the last few games? I'm sure there's been a few slaps on his arms that haven't been called, but the last two Suns games for sure and a few others, he's being baited into the lane, D collapses and ball comes loose. I don't know if game film is exposing him not keeping the ball tight or that he's exposing the ball to be slapped away or what, but I didn't notice as much until the last 4-6 games.

Howl Wolves!!
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
The Wolves really need to go small in order to be able to defend in this series. I would start and matchup defensively like this:

Conley - Allen
Ant - Booker
NAW - Beal
McDaniels - Durant
Gobert - Nurkic

Naz and Towns would be the first two off the bench. They can't afford to have either one of these two big guys chase around Allen or Beal. It's killing them.
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We can't score against these guys. That lineup could go 5 minutes without scoring.

We have to score to beat them. Naz and Towns coming off the bench would kill any chance at scoring. Can you imagine how they would gang up on Ant with neither Naz or Towns?
 
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GopherWeatherGuy said:
The Wolves really need to go small in order to be able to defend in this series. I would start and matchup defensively like this:

Conley - Allen
Ant - Booker
NAW - Beal
McDaniels - Durant
Gobert - Nurkic

Naz and Towns would be the first two off the bench. They can't afford to have either one of these two big guys chase around Allen or Beal. It's killing them.
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Finch would never bring Towns off of the bench. Towns would never accept this. It would be best for the team though. I think Finch knows this, but I guarantee Towns could never bring himself to.
 

BleedGopher said:
Is it just me or is ANT turning the ball over a ton in the lane when he penetrates the last few games? I'm sure there's been a few slaps on his arms that haven't been called, but the last two Suns games for sure and a few others, he's being baited into the lane, D collapses and ball comes loose. I don't know if game film is exposing him not keeping the ball tight or that he's exposing the ball to be slapped away or what, but I didn't notice as much until the last 4-6 games.

Howl Wolves!!
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He's been doing it for a while now. Hero ball is very much part of his game.
 

kg21 said:
We can't score against these guys. That lineup could go 5 minutes without scoring.

We have to score to beat them. Naz and Towns coming off the bench would kill any chance at scoring. Can you imagine how they would gang up on Ant with neither Naz or Towns?
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They're going 5 minutes without scoring with Towns or Naz in their current starting lineup. And then they're instantly down by 10-15 because that lineup can't play D against the Suns starting lineup.

I would much rather match up with them better defensively to begin the game. Conley, NAW, and McDaniels will have to be able to make shots, but that's the case regardless. Towns and Naz can then come in and score on their backup bigs.
 



tikited said:
Finch would never bring Towns off of the bench. Towns would never accept this. It would be best for the team though. I think Finch knows this, but I guarantee Towns could never bring himself to.
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There's been a lot of talk about how egos need to be set aside for the playoffs and it's the team above all else. We'll see if that's true.

If there's any time to bring Towns off the bench it's in this matchup as he's still recovering from injury. Get through this series and he can start against Denver.
 

As counterintuitive as it sounds, I'd rather be freaked out by the matchup (and I am!) than over confident. There's something about super scary that turns into a win in sports that is inexplicable.

The west is so competitive that there will definitely be lower tier playoff teams beating upper tier playoff teams. Lets hope it's not us.
 

The NBA saw record numbers in attendance for regular-season games this season. The records include all-time highs in total and average attendance, in the percentage of capacity teams sold seats for and for sellouts.

It is the second straight year the NBA set new records in those categories. It drew roughly 304,000 more fans into its arenas this season than last (22,538,518 in all) and averaged 18,324 per game. There were 873 sellouts across the league, the NBA said, which was 82 more than last season.

Seventy-one percent of games sold out and 12 teams sold out each of their true home games (Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz).

The league sent out a clarification after publication Monday to make some minor changes to the attendance numbers and sellout information.

The league also released viewer data for its social and digital media consumption.

It found that LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Victor Wembanyama and Luka Dončić were, by far, its most viewed players along those platforms, and the only ones who surpassed an aggregate of one billion views.

The most-watched play this season across the NBA’s social and media digital media platforms was a steal by Dončić that led to a pass to Kyrie Irving and an alley-oop dunk by Derrick Jones Jr. That highlight, the NBA said, has had 250 million views since it occurred on March 21 against the Utah Jazz.
theathletic.com

NBA announces record regular-season attendance

The league set all-time highs in total and average attendance, in the percentage of capacity teams sold seats for and for sellouts.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
There's been a lot of talk about how egos need to be set aside for the playoffs and it's the team above all else. We'll see if that's true.

If there's any time to bring Towns off the bench it's in this matchup as he's still recovering from injury. Get through this series and he can start against Denver.
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Need more NAW. Less Towns.
 



I'm predicting the Wolves lose in six games. I just don't think the Wolves have the maturity to overcome what Phoenix has been able to do to them this season. Phoenix absolutely crushes us.

Ant has to figure out how to get his without turning it over 5-6 times a game. He has to suddenly stop getting so flustered and find other ways to be effective. We aren't going to win the series without Ant getting 20 or more a game IMO.

Besides Ant..... Anderson has to pull his head out and it would be nice if one of Naz/Kat gets hot. Hot as in hitting 3's at a high clip.

I hope Finchy has something up his sleeve come Saturday because that game could decide if the Wolves have a chance or not.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
They're going 5 minutes without scoring with Towns or Naz in their current starting lineup. And then they're instantly down by 10-15 because that lineup can't play D against the Suns starting lineup.

I would much rather match up with them better defensively to begin the game. Conley, NAW, and McDaniels will have to be able to make shots, but that's the case regardless. Towns and Naz can then come in and score on their backup bigs.
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If Towns does not score, we have no chance whatsoever.

Towns will have to put up 25 point nights to do this.

McDaniels will be out there, and he does not exist. NAW is not a scorer to be counted on.

I totally disagree with not starting Towns. And not only that, we need to know what we have in him. We more than likely lose this series either way. We need to know with him.

If he doesn't play well, then we trade him in the off season.
 

kg21 said:
If Towns does not score, we have no chance whatsoever.

Towns will have to put up 25 point nights to do this.

McDaniels will be out there, and he does not exist. NAW is not a scorer to be counted on.

I totally disagree with not starting Towns. And not only that, we need to know what we have in him. We more than likely lose this series either way. We need to know with him.

If he doesn't play well, then we trade him in the off season.
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We need to know what we have in Towns? This is his 9th season, we know exactly who he is.

Like some others on this board, you seem to forget that the Wolves have a better record this season without Towns than with him, and that was over 25% of the season. Despite what he can give you with his shooting, the ball moves better on offense without him, and they are much more agile on defense without him.

McDaniels is also still one of the Wolves best defensive players despite his lack of scoring. He's a significantly better defender than Towns, but he will need to score more in this series.

The Wolves are not going to win this series by trying to outscore the Suns. They are going to win it by playing elite defense, and scoring just enough to win. That's how they're built, and that's how they've won all season.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
We need to know what we have in Towns? This is his 9th season, we know exactly who he is.

Like some others on this board, you seem to forget that the Wolves have a better record this season without Towns than with him, and that was over 25% of the season. Despite what he can give you with his shooting, the ball moves better on offense without him, and they are much more agile on defense without him.

McDaniels is also still one of the Wolves best defensive players despite his lack of scoring. He's a significantly better defender than Towns, but he will need to score more in this series.

The Wolves are not going to win this series by trying to outscore the Suns. They are going to win it by playing elite defense, and scoring just enough to win. That's how they're built, and that's how they've won all season.
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Wake me when McDaniels stops any of them.

What is scoring just enough? The Suns will kill us on the boards with Towns/Reid both sitting. They might anyway

NAW or Towns defensive abilities is not going to win or lose this series.

Right now, we can't score enough even if we play good defense.
 

kg21 said:
Wake me when McDaniels stops any of them.

What is scoring just enough? The Suns will kill us on the boards with Towns/Reid both sitting. They might anyway

NAW or Towns defensive abilities is not going to win or lose this series.

Right now, we can't score enough even if we play good defense.
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Better not watch then. There is no hope.
 


Per Shama:

Anthony Edwards is in elite company after finishing the regular season on Sunday with 2,049 points, 430 rebounds and 405 assists.

At 22 years and 253 days old, Edwards became the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to total 2,000 plus points, 400 plus rebounds and 400 plus assists in a season. The others are legends LeBron James (three times), Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson.


Howl Wolves!!
 


tikited said:
I'm predicting the Wolves lose in six games. I just don't think the Wolves have the maturity to overcome what Phoenix has been able to do to them this season. Phoenix absolutely crushes us.

Ant has to figure out how to get his without turning it over 5-6 times a game. He has to suddenly stop getting so flustered and find other ways to be effective. We aren't going to win the series without Ant getting 20 or more a game IMO.

Besides Ant..... Anderson has to pull his head out and it would be nice if one of Naz/Kat gets hot. Hot as in hitting 3's at a high clip.

I hope Finchy has something up his sleeve come Saturday because that game could decide if the Wolves have a chance or not.
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Zion put on his big boy pants 👖 tonight and they almost pulled it out.

There’s hope.
 


Lakers squeezed by New Orelans 110 to 104. The game was tied by Zion 95-95 with 3:19 when he was injured and left the court. Lakers now face Denver.

The Warriors were eliminated by the Kings last night 118-94. Klay Thompson played 32 minutes and scored zero points. He went 0-10 from the field.

The Pelicans and the Kings play Friday night in an elimination game.

Tonight, it's Miami at Philly and Atlanta at the Bulls
 

With Zion out it looks like Sac vs OKC, Lakers vs Denver, and us vs Phoenix...could easily be 3 upset series
 


Jimmy Butler is done for the playoffs.

"Butler, a former Bull and Sixer, scored 20.8 points in 60 games for the Heat this season."

www.espn.com

Sources: Butler expected to miss several weeks

Heat star Jimmy Butler is expected to be sidelined for several weeks with a right MCL injury suffered against the 76ers, sources told ESPN. Both he and Terry Rozier have been ruled out for Friday's game vs. the Bulls.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 

Iceland12 said:
Jimmy Butler is done for the playoffs.

"Butler, a former Bull and Sixer, scored 20.8 points in 60 games for the Heat this season."

www.espn.com

Sources: Butler expected to miss several weeks

Heat star Jimmy Butler is expected to be sidelined for several weeks with a right MCL injury suffered against the 76ers, sources told ESPN. Both he and Terry Rozier have been ruled out for Friday's game vs. the Bulls.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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Sucky game time. Wasn't thinking when I agreed to golf this Saturday.
 

stocker08 said:
Sucky game time. Wasn't thinking when I agreed to golf this Saturday.
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And game 2 begins at 4:30 PM Tuesday Phoenix time. Apparently as soon as the Lakers made it, the NBA decided they don't care about this series.
 

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