Western Conference Finals Minnesota Timberwolves vs Oklahoma City Thunder

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kg21 said:
OKC is so f------g good and unfortunately, only going to get better.

Injury will be the only thing stopping them.
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Paying for it. Ownership group is notorious for not wanting to go into the aprons.
 

Gold Vision said:
64 points from the bench, 51% shooting from the field, 18-3pt makes, and we f’ing lose. Edwards and especially Randle were awful tonight with 10 turnovers and horrid shooting.
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We scored 126 points.

We are supposed to be defensive minded. I don't get it.

OKC has put up 114, 118, AND 126

We can't stop them. Not many can.

What good is Rudy if they are going to score like that?
 


Moral is we got murdered on the glass and turned it over constantly and these were long boardsand some fluky stuff at times but you can’t give a team like this 15 more shot attempts. Especially when we have the size advantage between the teams.

Kudos to NAW who hung in there and absolutely deserved at least 2 more offensive fouls on sga for getting hit in the teeth tonight with the off arm and was hitting shot after shot from deep and in the paint.
 



kg21 said:
I think they are set for at least 2 more years after this.
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Dort Chet sga and Williams are all up for extension this offseason. Some still under contract but we’ll see real fast what they’ll do. Think they’d be idiotic to let it go, but they also let harden Durant and Westbrook all walk before their prime
 

upnorthkid said:
Moral is we got murdered on the glass and turned it over constantly and these were long boardsand some fluky stuff at times but you can’t give a team like this 15 more shot attempts. Especially when we have the size advantage between the teams.

Kudos to NAW who hung in there and absolutely deserved at least 2 more offensive fouls on sga for getting hit in the teeth tonight with the off arm and was hitting shot after shot from deep and in the paint.
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Ok, what do they do to fix the turnovers next year? They do this game after game after game.

We many times get killed on the offensive glass, too. It's a never ending theme.

How do we fix this?
 

upnorthkid said:
Dort Chet sga and Williams are all up for extension this offseason. Some still under contract but we’ll see real fast what they’ll do. Think they’d be idiotic to let it go, but they also let harden Durant and Westbrook all walk before their prime
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They are all under contract next year. When they win it all, they won't care about aprons down the road.
 

kg21 said:
Ok, what do they do to fix the turnovers next year? They do this game after game after game.

We many times get killed on the offensive glass, too. It's a never ending theme.

How do we fix this?
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Against okc? I don’t think they do as that team is better than we are as I said before the series (and why I chuckled at anyone who hinted they’d rather play okc than Denver). Your hope is their role guys don’t hit their shots. They hit a bunch of tough 2s and their 3s tonight.

The simple ones need to stop though. You can’t have that naw travel on the Randle handoff or ant starting early so Jaden gets an offensive foul. They’re going to strip us and things as it’s who they are defensively (long and agile and very handsy)

On the glass we’re usually pretty even
 
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kg21 said:
They are all under contract next year. When they win it all, they won't care about aprons down the road.
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Yeah as I said, we’ll see. They’ve historically cared and it’s part of why they’re in this spot is keeping their roster young and accumulating picks but they’ve shied away from the heavy spending. I think this is the team you do it for as you have everything to be really good for 5-8 years with synced timelines based on age and development.

As an aside and on your last part, It’s part of why the discussion of the wolves “winning” the Rudy trade annoys me. What did they win? Spending a ton of money and a couple WCF appearances? If you win a chip, then you won a trade or deal that got you there. Everything short is really equal when it comes to professional sports

Think okc will end up in a similar spot as what will happen to the Celtics this offseason in two years. A couple deals this year for guys then decision time the year after. They’re so good because of all the pieces they have.
 

upnorthkid said:
Against okc? I don’t think they do as that team is better than we are as I said before the series (and why I chuckled at anyone who hinted they’d rather play okc than Denver). Your hope is their role guys don’t hit their shots. They hit a bunch of tough 2s and their 3s tonight.

The simple ones need to stop though. You can’t have that naw travel on the Randle handoff or ant starting early so Jaden gets an offensive foul. They’re going to strip us and things as it’s who they are defensively (long and agile and very handsy)
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We turn the ball over massively against anyone. The numbers against the warriors were staggering also.

We need better ball handlers. We don't have the resources to get them.
 

kg21 said:
We turn the ball over massively against anyone. The numbers against the warriors were staggering also.

We need better ball handlers. We don't have the resources to get them.
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Part of that ant is younger than Okcs primary ball handlers. He will get better

They hoped tsj would get there and he’s shown some more promise in the playoffs. NAW is more and more serviceable all the time. But yes they need one more more ball handling guard to take mikes role and initiate more but be able to get their own on occasion (like 12-15 a game)
 




The Wolves are a very good team, maybe the 2nd best in the NBA.

OKC won 68 games. They're a historically great team and the best in the NBA this year. They're just better than the Wolves. Any other teams loses to the Wolves by a lot tonight.

The Wolves need to turn it over less. That's their biggest problem.
 

TruthSeeker said:
The Wolves are a very good team, maybe the 2nd best in the NBA.

OKC won 68 games. They're a historically great team and the best in the NBA this year. They're just better than the Wolves. Any other teams loses to the Wolves by a lot tonight.

The Wolves need to turn it over less. That's their biggest problem.
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but that's the whole point.......they have monster turnover games like this continuously!

There really is no fixing it. They don't handle the ball well.
 

TruthSeeker said:
The Wolves are a very good team, maybe the 2nd best in the NBA.

OKC won 68 games. They're a historically great team and the best in the NBA this year. They're just better than the Wolves. Any other teams loses to the Wolves by a lot tonight.

The Wolves need to turn it over less. That's their biggest problem.
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If Curry plays, I think the warriors take us out.

We seem to be stagnant.

It's going to be massively hard to take the next step.
 

kg21 said:
I think they are set for at least 2 more years after this.
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Chet/Williams will have to get paid after next season. SGA is also due a massive extension. They are going to have to keep drafting really well to keep this going after next season.
 

TruthSeeker said:
Turnovers were the story. Commit 2 less, and the Wolves probably win. Had they only committed 14 like Saturday, and they probably win by double digits.
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This was pretty much the game. I also wanted to say they needed more from Ant/Randle, but TO's were the story.

It's pretty amazing the game was as close as it was turning the ball over as much as they did, giving up 128, and only getting 21 combined from Ant/Randle. If you would have told me those numbers ahead of time, I would have guessed the Wolves lost by 30.
 


kg21 said:
If Curry plays, I think the warriors take us out.

We seem to be stagnant.

It's going to be massively hard to take the next step.
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I disagree entirely on the warriors. does the series go an extra game (or two)? Sure. But a grossly disinterested Butler and Draymond getting abused by Randle still don't change.

Money for next year gets rough.
Under contract: Ant, Rudy, Jaden, DDV, Conley, Dillingham, TSJ, Miller, Clark
Up for extensions:
NAW (UFA; would expect we want to resign him)
Randle (Player option; i'd expect he opts out)
Reid (Player option; i'd expect he opts out)
Club options on Garza and Minott (would expect they keep one of them and let other leave as it's a cheap contract for one more year)

They're 12 million below the second apron and 1 million below the first if Reid and Randle opt in or else will have about 57 and 45. Your options to make meaningful space and roster changes are (since you're married to Rudy's deal and you're not moving Ant or Jaden and you have next to no lucrative draft capital from the prior trades and finishing where we have-->we're ranked last in current draft capital in the league):

1. Sign and trade Randle (think probably most likely) or move him on his opt in year
2. Let Reid and Randle walk and you try sign a 1 or 2 year guy such as Kyrie (coming off injury and will miss half the year and he has a 44 million dollar player option already guaranteed if he wants to go that route so you'll have to pay him)
3. Resign the above guys (or they opt in) and count on NAW, TSJ, and Dillingham to take the reins from Mike with Ant growing more into a role of facilitator
 


bga1 said:
They are the ones drawing the double and triple teams as soon as they drive.
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yep huge reason why we had 30 assists last night was them aggressively doubling Ant and crashing into the lane with us then swinging it to the corner. Wolves shot chart is about perfect for the modern NBA (corner 3s and high percentage 2s at the rim as majority of shots).

Thunder stars played iso ball and won in the first half (due to them killing us on the glass). 2nd half their role guys hit all their shots
 

kg21 said:
but that's the whole point.......they have monster turnover games like this continuously!

There really is no fixing it. They don't handle the ball well.
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PG issues. Simple as that. Imagine how much better we would be if NAW, Donte, and Randle weren't running the show.
 



bga1 said:
They are the ones drawing the double and triple teams as soon as they drive.
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Yep. That's why the narrative that they didn't score enough is a fallacy. They took all the attention, and everyone else lit OKC up. The Wolves' offense was unstoppable. They had zero answers, and they're supposed to be the best defense in the NBA, supposedly in decades.

The Wolves lost because they committed more than 20 turnovers.
 

bga1 said:
They are the ones drawing the double and triple teams as soon as they drive.
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IMO that makes it worse they darn well no it’s coming.. has been coming will be.. indecisive and no anticipation of the double especially Randle… 5 dribbles and Turk to where the double was coming from…
 


tikited said:
PG issues. Simple as that. Imagine how much better we would be if NAW, Donte, and Randle weren't running the show.
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Three (3) of the four (4) remaining teams have an All NBA ball-dominant PG that runs the show and allows their teammates to work freely within the constructs of their offensive schemes:

OKC - Shai
NYK - Brunson
IND - Haliburton

To utilize Ant as our primary guy bringing the ball up the court, it makes it easier for other teams to isolate and double team him and thus reduce his overall impact on our offense.

It also expends a ton of energy for Ant on both sides of the ball making him a less effective player and more prone to errors and turnovers.

The Title drought by our men's pro teams devalue how great of an accomplishment it is to make the WCF's two (2) straight years and the credit goes to Connelly. He really has some tough decisions upcoming to try and get this team over the hump.
 

Point guard was 2 of 8, and can't defend anymore.

This whole thing is riding on Dillingham. I'd love to be a fly on the wall to know what they think of him.

We have to make teams pay for all the attention Ant gets. We need a point who can get you 15 points a game, can set people up, and being a better defender would also help. They don't grow on trees.
 

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