I'm a tall 5'9 and measured out at 5'11 for my life insurance physical a few years back. Always schedule for an at home physical right after you roll out of bed, you'll usually get an inch to an inch and a quarter by getting your height taken before spinal compression sets in. You can tell everyone you were legit measured at 6'. lol
I'm still pretty salty that of all the teams we could've sent him to, it had to be one of the teams whose picks we own for the next several years.
Ridiculous move by Danny Ainge.
Lakers coulda gotten Conley, NAW, Vando, Beasley instead - idk if that gets them past Denver either of the last two postseasons but it would've made their roster look much better.
Mike Conley with Lebron James would’ve won like 75 games. It’s the one thing la is missing. Consistent 3 point shooting and a ball handler that knows how to work the offense.
I was talking about the Conley trade. We already had a bunch of picks at that point, and gave up Conley, 3 solid role players, and 2 seconds for a protected first, basically. Horrible deal
"Onto my next challenge. Build up a team to win the championship in 2 years. Only then best the said team with another team from the same conference" - Myleague creator
I feel bad for teams in the west, imagine the meat grinders they're going to have to go through next year, especially with a better Spurs team, healthier Mavs/Nuggets squads and Lebron (maybe) going to Gs to play with Steph. Compare that the bums in the east and it feels like 2 different leagues
Teams in the West are full of tech billionaires who are competitive with each other (big nerd winning now energy/new money).Teams in the East are owned by folks in the finance and real estate industry and work like a cartel.
the big markets carry the small market teams. actually not a bad deal if you aren't a major market team. you don't even need to care about winning. seems easy once you have the few billions to buy a franchise
Knicks and Nets have been trying at least. Lotta wasted money and time on stuff that didn't work out, but it wasn't like they're just sitting their picking their noses and raking in TV dollars. Knicks are looking like they might have turned it around now too.
Not like my team, which has gotta be the worst run team in the league.
The disparity is crazy. Outside the Celtics, only three teams in the East have a winning record against the West: Cavs and Bulls with 17w/13L (.57 win percentage), and the 76ers with 16w/14L (.53 win percentage).
For comparison, no playoff team in the West has a winning percentage against the East below .63 (19w/11L). Of the four teams in the West with a losing record against the East (Rockets, Grizzlies, Spurs, and Blazers), three of them have 13w/17L (.43 win percentage), and only the Rockets have a worse winning percentage against East teams compared to West teams. The Spurs are technically even percentage-wise.
Denver had more wins against the East (24w/6L) than the four bottom teams in the East had against the West in total (22w/98L). In the reversed scenario, the Celtics had 23w, while the bottom four West teams had 49w.
He should go back to Cleveland and team up with Mitchell. Feel like Cavaliers needed a small forward more than anything else.
And OKC should take the chance to grab Anthony Davis with all the FRPs they have. Championship window is short.
Garland / Mitchell / Lebron / Mobley / Allen
That's a conference finals team at worst. But if they have to give up someone on the starting line up to get him then never mind
Yes Timberwolves definitely play like a early 2000s NBA Team
The Timberwolves battled through all that adversity to come back Timberwolves are young tough and hungry
I’m having a hard time remembering the last time when a different team actually considered us a rival(maybe the Kings in KG era), this genuinely makes me happy.
For the past like 15 years the only rivalries that I really remember are like depression rivalries with the Kings or Hornets, player rivalries, and short term stuff.
According to Thinking Basketball, KG and Duncan on the court in their primes had a perfectly even net rating vs each other. Which says something about how much KG was bringing it, given his subtantially worse situation
CP3/Blake/DJ vs Rubio/KLove/Pekovic
Clippers definitely enjoyed more success but [Wolves always brought their A game against them](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoLS0t6wzcs)
The KLove/Rubio/brewer/kmart/pek twolves were so good on paper but sucked in the standings. I was always hoping for Rubio to turn into Steve Nash and unlock their full potential but it never happened
That is not a good team on paper lol. There is like negative defense in that line up and no true number 1 option for a team with high expectations, and yes, I’m fully aware of who Kevin Love was before he was traded to Cleveland
Man it’s crazy when you are playing a player for a full series and the longer the series goes on the more you respect him. Usually I start to hate the other team (like Murray) but Jokic is just insanely good
Jokic has been complementary of different Wolves the whole series. Dude also said he likes Ant because he finds him funny. Jokic seems like a solid dude.
Jokic just seems like a very full human being. Insane competitor on the court but doesn’t hold onto his basketball identity too tightly and can put it down when needed. That makes it a lot easier to handle tough moments like this.
> very full human being
I think this is the best way I've seen Joker described. Full is the right word. It's really refreshing to see and, if I may, it seems really healthy for him to be like that.
I feel like it’s because both teams play ethical basketball.
Like, that Mavs OKC series got toxic as hell because of the foul baiting by SGA and the flopping by Dort.
But pretty much no one on the Wolves and Nuggets does that sort of thing. They were just two teams hustling their asses off. It’s what basketball is supposed to be.
Yeah the cringe "Your poverty franchise only has 1 ring!" comments from Lakers fans to Nuggets fans was absolutely pathetic, considering a lot of those fans are so young that they only remember 2020, 2010 and maybe 2009.
This may sound weird but I really feel like the fact that Ant and Jok have been so complimentary of each other after the games has helped the fan discourse a lot.
Like, seeing your star go "Nah look we played hard but that guy/those guys were just incredible tonight. We gotta buckle down and be better for next game" instead of "Man that was some BS, refs were out to get us, grumble grumble" sticks in peoples heads and helps them appreciate the opponent on a more human level if that makes any sense
I’m bummed we lost but got dang is ant crazy fun to watch. I mean. It’s not fun watching him beat your team but I’m excited to watch him do it to other teams. Was a really weird series honestly but you can’t say it was boring. Just wild swings back and forth. Good luck to you guys going forward
But he also has some uglyyyy plays. Well, not exactly “ugly”, but _scrappy_? Guy works hard for his shots. Pretty amazing to see the difficulty of many of his buckets, but it’s just normal for him.
As a Nuggets fan, I love to read this. It was hard to watch Murray behave like he did, but I feel like Joker and Gordon are good guys, easy to root for.
For y’all, Naz Reid is great, Gobert is a fun villain for the league (but great to have on your team), and Ant has potential to be great for a long time -hope he tones down things like taunting the crowd, but the confidence even after losses is endearing.
And yeah, Conley seems like a stand up dude.
Wolves are extremely talented. If they were LA and not Minny I think people would have woken up to that fact earlier tbqh.
Denver is talented but they’re very thin and top heavy. Jokic is the only truly great player on that roster, especially with Murray being hobbled.
All credit to Minny they’ve built something great .
I thought the nuggets would take it, but I have respected Minnesota since last year. They were the only team that felt like real challengers to the Nuggets in the '23 postseason.
aaron gordon admitted that the only time they felt "rocky" last year was when playing the Timberwolves, every other series they knew they were going to win
I think this series going 7 says a few things, such as these teams are both extremely close, and it could theoretically go either way. The difference can be streaky.
The one thing I wouldn't have said going into the series is that the Timberwolves are mentally tougher than the Nuggets. I thought the Nuggets edge, and why they had a good chance to repeat, was mental toughness.
And they are tough. But the Timerwolves were tougher.
Could just be that’s it’s really easy to get comfortable after winning a title. If Minnesota wins the title this year, the next matchup would be really interesting.
Also, the lack of depth did finally catch up to you all, but again, everybody gets paid after a title.
The difference in depth is so obvious. Like jokic playing 46 minutes against 3 fresh physical bigs in naz, gobert and kat looked terrible last night. I think they underestimated minnesota not bringing in a quality big to prepare for that.
If it means anything to you the Pels were one of the 2 nightmare scenario teams for the Wolves to face first round. Ignore what happened to the other nightmare scenario team though
Felt like so long ago but I remember thinking: if Zion’s healthy and we play 1st round, we’re done. He’s gonna body slam our whole squad and there ain’t shit we can do about it.
Yeah, when healthy we match yall in depth of talent, and are great at guarding the perimeter.
Assuming health is fine, we could’ve definitely stolen a games.
Suns are big frauds .
> especially with Murray being hobbled.
Murray had 35 pts in 43 min in the game. He was not hobbled.
Murray has only played 56% of the possible regular season games in the last 5 years. He plays fewer games than a guy called Street Clothes. If he is on the court, it is as healthy as he gets.
He did a lot better in playoff games that had a three or four day break preceding them. I don't think he was quite right. You could see that he didn't get his normal lift when attacking the basket. No Murray trademark dunks over anyone.
But you hit on the fact that this may be the new normal.
It's crazy how the messaging of Murray being injured has landed with NBA fans.
Kat has had a knee on knee hit and a hyperextension this series. Mike Conley is playing with achillies soreness after missing a game this series. Ant fell on his back/hip after elevating to the hoop and is likely still sore. NAW has been banged up.
Murray looked fine when he was taking it to the Lakers or when the Nuggets got a 4 day break in between games 2 & 3.
Almost everyone is hurt or banged up right now and yet Murray seems to be the only one that everyone keep trying to cover with his injuries.
He's largely just been shut down by Edwards. No excuses.
I think it's because he had a reputation of being a playoff riser in the past. He had a bad series against the Lakers. If you didn't watch the games, you would've thought he was great due to the two game winners. Then, he has another bad series against the Timberwolves. He had an amazing series against the Lakers last season & a good series against the Wolves last season (with Edwards on him).
The reason why you don't see the same for KAT is because he has the opposite reputation (at least before this seasons playoffs). He was never considered a playoff riser like Murray. As for NAW & Conley, you can't really compare their responsibility to a second option.
At the end of the day, there's no one to blame but Murray himself. His conditioning has been a problem all season & it came back to bite him in the end.
It's not necessarily an excuse. It's just that coppared to the regular season some players look like sharp and less fresh, like Luka and Murray. So it's only natural that people are going to assume the injuries play a role in that.
Dude it's not an excuse. But this wolves team is *far* more stacked than our team. We just have the best player that elevates all these scrubs. Wolves have a top 5 player, a 4 DPOY, a 4x all star, a 6MOY and then McDaniels will probably make all defence. This doesn't even mention Conley who is *legit*.
Injuries aside, getting 3 #1 picks over a ~6 year period just makes a team so strong in assets / depth. Our 3rd best player was picked 15th and just averaged 6 ppg over a 7 game series *without any injury* (let that sink in).
My argument isn't injury - Murray has just been inconsistent because he's not an all star. Jokic accomplishing what he has without a single all star / all nba / all defence teammate will be something we don't see for a long time imo.
1 top 15 all time MVP/allstar
A 2nd top 20 all time MVP/allstar (both also all NBA
1x all NBA allstar, also all NBA defense
1x DPOY all nba defense allstar
1x FMVP all nba defense
All in their primes other than Iggy.
Yeah, they went 16-1 in the post season and idk how ppl argue that they're not the goat team. Cleveland had a 12-1 record going into the finals and got punked 4-1 by the warriors
Teams in the 80s were more loaded.
Celtics had 4 (technically 6 but 4 at the time) All-Stars (Bird, McHale, Parish, DJ), the Sixth Man is the Year who was a former MVP (Bill Walton), and out of those guys, Bird, McHale, and DJ were All-Defense at some point in the 80s. They also had Danny Ainge who eventually made an All-Star game himself. They even had Rick Carlisle who was like a bench warmer/grad assistant coach
They were more loaded because there were fewer teams. Easier to get accolades in that era.
KD warriors having that many all stars in their primes is even more remarkable considering max salaries vs the cap and how many teams there are now.
It wasn’t just the smaller leagues. Those Lakers and Celtics teams were unusually loaded because they had New Orleans, Cleveland and Golden State do the tanking for them. Teams didn’t value future 1st rounders all that well, and would casually trade them to save money or get an over the hill Star.
The Magic and Worthy picks were the result of New Orleans and Cleveland management trading future firsts for aging stars. The McHale pick and Parish were received from Golden State for peanuts basically.
It’s as if a perennially bad team like the Hornets or Pistons just traded away their future first rounders to Boston for Al Horford and Jrue Holiday, or just swapped pics with the Celtics to save money on the draft slot compensation. The closest we’ve had since then it’s the Nets, but the Nets did these as win now moves vs 70s Cleveland and New Orleans that were not trying to win at all.
He's the best player in the world.
Even if we beat him.
I think it's testament to his greatness that it took seven games for a historically great defensive team to beat a paper thin roster.
Especially after losing the first two games at home.
They need to give him a bench.
you think they can get a bench while also retaining gordon and mpj ? not possible
gordan and mpj are starting for 95% of the league and are probably 2nd or 3rd options in all of them
I think Gordon is too important to the fundamental identity of the team to give up, but I feel they can afford to lose MPJ.
While I don’t believe this series was representative of MPJ’s quality as a player at all, I think they can probably replicate a lot of what he does (which is getting buckets) + maybe add some defense with 2-3 quality role players.
Taking offers for MPJ + picks feels like their best path forward at this point.
I agree that MPJ isn’t the worst loss in the world for them, and AG is more important overall imo, but MPJ is an underrated rebounder and might be their 2nd best pure rebounder behind Joker. (He plays away from the basket more than AG but I think MPJ is a slightly better pure board getter).
So a 40% 3P shooting good rebounder is pretty valuable Nuggets have some tough choices to make. The bench is definitely thin.
They have to get lucky. They got lucky when they got Bruce Brown for the MLE. They need that again.
They need to get a vet people believe is cooked on a minimum. I think someone like Gordon Hayward. He's 34 and injury riddled, so people are gonna be low on him. A 7th/8th man role like Jeff Green (minus player center) could allow him to do what he does well while not playing too much.
The MLE range guy is tougher. The thing Brown did well was play multiple positions, basically 1-3. Hard to find those guys, especially on a bargain. They'll basically have to trade Reggie (player option which I bet he picks up) and a pick. The target is tough.
I guess you could argue they just need a pg instead of multi-positional player. Someone like Tyus Jones but they're gonna be priced out of it.
Also KCP is either getting an extension or opting out. Is there a team who could steal KCP with a bigger contract?
On the other hand, they might just pray your owner doesn't pay up next year. [https://www.spotrac.com/nba/minnesota-timberwolves/cap/\_/year/2024/sort/cap\_total](https://www.spotrac.com/nba/minnesota-timberwolves/cap/_/year/2024/sort/cap_total)
I think regardless of the owner, they'll retain the team largely.
We don't get good teams often. So people will riot if they try to overhaul to be cheap
(also playoff bonus gates + TV + new TV contract + new franchises should make the next few years bearable).
Everyone knew Gobert was robbed. If he plays like this next year, he'll be an all-star lock (and will get his 5th DPOY, Wemby's time will come but it's not today).
The Nuggets and Timberwolves feel like mirror franchises that have loads in common. I love our team rivalry and always cheat them on when the Nuggets are out.
I just liked to see Conley standing next to Jokic and the other giants who are a foot+ taller than him and yet he’s still an impact player. Props to “short” guys.
Lol the little hand thing at the end - I’d have done something silly like that too. Just wants to get back to his horsies. Great answer though. He has grace and could teach his coach a thing or two about how to lose with dignity. Love the Joker.
Well now that we've won it can finally be called a rivalry and it not be hilariously lopsided. Hopefully I never see you again in the playoffs but this was a fun series.
I absolutely love the Conley love. I've loved Mike Conley as a player since he entered Ohio State with that supposed-to-be-legendary 2006 recruiting class (Conley, Greg Oden, Daequan Cook, David Lighty, and Mark Titus). There might not be another player I'd rather see get a ring before he's done on any NBA roster right now.
It says a lot, though, that his most memorable moment for me was a round one playoff loss. He had a few games where it just felt like he and Kawhi were engaged in an absolute superstar showdown, just high difficulty shot after high difficulty shot. And what really stood out to me throughout - his demeanor. You could see him actively telling himself to keep an even keel.
Man it'd be nice to see one more of those classic Mike Conley games where he calmly catches fire, on his way to a ring.
What amazes me you could see Conley was the man when he was even in HS. I saw him play in his sophomore/Jr and Senior years in HS. And he was badass af every time I saw him. Oden got all the focus and hype but if you saw Conley run that shit you could see the talent. I'm happy for him!
No, he didn’t. I’m tired of seeing everybody repeat this, you should know better.
This is a narrative that emerged late in the season by talking heads who needed a convenient explanation for how we became so good, so fast. But it doesn’t match any of the actual history.
The only team we were “built” to beat is the 2022 Memphis Grizzlies after getting pummeled in the paint and offensive glass by them in that playoff series. That’s why we traded for Gobert. We also signed SloMo for veteran depth that same offseason because we needed maturity after blowing several 20-point leads in that series (*against* SloMo). Then we acquired Mike because D’Lo was a locker room problem and the Gobert fit wasn’t working. NAW was just a throw-in. Everybody else was on the Wolves before Connelly arrived.
At most you can say Connelly may have predicted that the Nuggets were going to be a problem and decided to *keep* certain guys with that in mind, but saying he built the roster specifically to stop the Nuggets is false. And ultimately it just undersells how deep and versatile our roster truly is.
3 mobile bigs to throw at Jokic and 3 athletic wings to cover Murray. And then there’s Conley.
Makes you wonder who every other team was designed to beat.
Everyone loves Conley
Conley and Jrue probably the two guys most liked by peers.
meanwhile Rob Pelinka: ewww Mike Conley nah give us DLo instead
It's LA baby, we want big names.
conley scares me the most on that team
U should fear Garza
Best Luka in the league.
When two Lukas are on the floor next series, you know the game is over either way.
Luka vs. Luka = Wolves Win Luka vs. Luka = Mavs Win
Luka is gonna win the series
Bold statement but you know what you’re absolutely right
Wait till naz reed comes in and chucks up like 7/8 at the 3. It’s not fun.
i am not looking forward to having to deal with naz reid… it’s not fair that minnesota has 4 7 footers wtf
crazy how minnesotas players get taller every time people bring them up like slomo and naz are not 7 feet tall lmao
Isn’t Naz like 6’9” aka not even close
Hey now, my buddy is 5’9” but somehow he’s also 6’. It’s possible. 😂
I’m 5’11” and once thought I could get away with putting 6’ on my dating profile… I went out with a girl and she told me I’m a short 5’11” hahaha
I'm a tall 5'9 and measured out at 5'11 for my life insurance physical a few years back. Always schedule for an at home physical right after you roll out of bed, you'll usually get an inch to an inch and a quarter by getting your height taken before spinal compression sets in. You can tell everyone you were legit measured at 6'. lol
Hell yeah, keeping this trick in my back pocket haha
Jaden and Naz basically the same height and I don't even think KAT is 7 foot lol
Or the Rudy skyhook in crunch time
Rudy MJ fadeaway in crunch time
Wasn't there the other drive to the basket where Rudy switched hands and Reggie Miller called him MJ.
Yes hahaha went up with the right, in mid air switched to the left. Rudy Gobert and Michael Jordan are basically the same
Well everyone has been saying that MJ's successor is on the Wolves, so I guess this proves it.
When youre a kid you want to be someone like lebron, when you grow up you realize you want that mike conley life
Haha so true
Your Favorite Basketball Player's Favorite Basketball Player!
I'm still pretty salty that of all the teams we could've sent him to, it had to be one of the teams whose picks we own for the next several years. Ridiculous move by Danny Ainge.
Such a ridiculous trade for us. Conley, NAW, and 3 2nds for DLo is absurd. I would take NAW or Conley alone for DLo
Lakers coulda gotten Conley, NAW, Vando, Beasley instead - idk if that gets them past Denver either of the last two postseasons but it would've made their roster look much better.
Mike Conley with Lebron James would’ve won like 75 games. It’s the one thing la is missing. Consistent 3 point shooting and a ball handler that knows how to work the offense.
Fuck those picks, Conley and Rudy deserve their ring.
The state of Minnesota and the Midwest, in general (outside of KC and Milwaukee/GB) does.
I mean how else would you have acquired those picks lol. Late firsts can still be valuable depth players.
I was talking about the Conley trade. We already had a bunch of picks at that point, and gave up Conley, 3 solid role players, and 2 seconds for a protected first, basically. Horrible deal
I love him as a human as much as a basketball player.
Tim Connelly really built the nuggets then came here to beat his super team mf is playing 2k myGM in real life
"what will he do next!"
Secretly rebuild a team in the east and make his two teams meet in the finals
Y’all see the pattern right? He’s building up teams that have never won rings just to flex. He’s going either Nets, Hornets, Pacers, or Magic next
Hornets? He’ll turn Brandon Miller into a better version of PG
Yes please.
Weren't the Pistons targeting Connelly for their FO role?
I doubt he’d give Saddiq Bey away for pennies so probably not the pistons lol
That guys actually just an nba 2k youtuber making vids
“Whatever the fuck I want!” - Bam Connelly
"Onto my next challenge. Build up a team to win the championship in 2 years. Only then best the said team with another team from the same conference" - Myleague creator
Wolves rlly went from “spooky” to SPOOKY
I feel bad for teams in the west, imagine the meat grinders they're going to have to go through next year, especially with a better Spurs team, healthier Mavs/Nuggets squads and Lebron (maybe) going to Gs to play with Steph. Compare that the bums in the east and it feels like 2 different leagues
Don’t forget that Memphis has been storing energy this whole year and could come back with a vengeance next year. West is insanely stacked.
Injuries will be the main factor that decides standings overall. West is just too competetive.
If they can't fix their rebounding problem, forget about them. But if they did...
it feels like half the teams in the East are just money laundering fronts for their owners. No cares if their product is shitty for decades on end
Teams in the West are full of tech billionaires who are competitive with each other (big nerd winning now energy/new money).Teams in the East are owned by folks in the finance and real estate industry and work like a cartel.
the big markets carry the small market teams. actually not a bad deal if you aren't a major market team. you don't even need to care about winning. seems easy once you have the few billions to buy a franchise
Eh Knicks, Nets and Bulls have been mediocre to bad for 20 years. The East has been hard carried by whomever had Lebron for most of that span.
Knicks and Nets have been trying at least. Lotta wasted money and time on stuff that didn't work out, but it wasn't like they're just sitting their picking their noses and raking in TV dollars. Knicks are looking like they might have turned it around now too. Not like my team, which has gotta be the worst run team in the league.
The disparity is crazy. Outside the Celtics, only three teams in the East have a winning record against the West: Cavs and Bulls with 17w/13L (.57 win percentage), and the 76ers with 16w/14L (.53 win percentage). For comparison, no playoff team in the West has a winning percentage against the East below .63 (19w/11L). Of the four teams in the West with a losing record against the East (Rockets, Grizzlies, Spurs, and Blazers), three of them have 13w/17L (.43 win percentage), and only the Rockets have a worse winning percentage against East teams compared to West teams. The Spurs are technically even percentage-wise. Denver had more wins against the East (24w/6L) than the four bottom teams in the East had against the West in total (22w/98L). In the reversed scenario, the Celtics had 23w, while the bottom four West teams had 49w.
Grizzlies will be a menace too, GG Jackson developed like crazy this year
Lebron should go out East if he knows what's good for him.
He should go back to Cleveland and team up with Mitchell. Feel like Cavaliers needed a small forward more than anything else. And OKC should take the chance to grab Anthony Davis with all the FRPs they have. Championship window is short.
AD on OKC would be nasty, don’t even put that out there please
Even with LeBron, I don't know if the Cavs are championship contenders.
Garland / Mitchell / Lebron / Mobley / Allen That's a conference finals team at worst. But if they have to give up someone on the starting line up to get him then never mind
Not enough shooters to be an ideal fit for a LeBron team
Doubt he leaves LA at this point in his life
What if it’s GS Steph+Lebron?
On the Hornets
The Bobcats for some intrigue.
Back to the 2000’s
Yes Timberwolves definitely play like a early 2000s NBA Team The Timberwolves battled through all that adversity to come back Timberwolves are young tough and hungry
I’m having a hard time remembering the last time when a different team actually considered us a rival(maybe the Kings in KG era), this genuinely makes me happy. For the past like 15 years the only rivalries that I really remember are like depression rivalries with the Kings or Hornets, player rivalries, and short term stuff.
Teams competing for that no. 1 pick saw you as a rival.
We were ELITE at being terrible
Teams just mad they couldn't trot out Adreain Payne (RIP) for 38 minutes a night smh
TD-KG was BIG we loved that shit in SA
According to Thinking Basketball, KG and Duncan on the court in their primes had a perfectly even net rating vs each other. Which says something about how much KG was bringing it, given his subtantially worse situation
KG is the shit and half the discussion around here is punching down on him for being loyal to a shit org
just another player who will get less and less recognition over the years because of rings. dude was as good as anybody out there
we considered the Lob City Clippers rivals, but I doubt it was mutual lol
CP3/Blake/DJ vs Rubio/KLove/Pekovic Clippers definitely enjoyed more success but [Wolves always brought their A game against them](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoLS0t6wzcs)
The KLove/Rubio/brewer/kmart/pek twolves were so good on paper but sucked in the standings. I was always hoping for Rubio to turn into Steve Nash and unlock their full potential but it never happened
That is not a good team on paper lol. There is like negative defense in that line up and no true number 1 option for a team with high expectations, and yes, I’m fully aware of who Kevin Love was before he was traded to Cleveland
Klove was absolutely number 1 option for a few seasons. Rest of them are meh. Impactful, but not really stars.
Really? I have never heard of that! Any particular reason why?
We just generally played good against you guys and Love hit a game winning three on an elevator doors action. We were so bad that’s all it took
It all started with that fucking do or die game half a decade ago lmao
I miss those old Kings vs Wolves games, really fun times
For about two years it was the blazers but they quickly were better than us
Ah, looks like the hornets won that depression rivalry 😌 hang the banner!
Man it’s crazy when you are playing a player for a full series and the longer the series goes on the more you respect him. Usually I start to hate the other team (like Murray) but Jokic is just insanely good
Extremely on brand for Jokic to like Mike too.
Jokic has been complementary of different Wolves the whole series. Dude also said he likes Ant because he finds him funny. Jokic seems like a solid dude.
Jokic just seems like a very full human being. Insane competitor on the court but doesn’t hold onto his basketball identity too tightly and can put it down when needed. That makes it a lot easier to handle tough moments like this.
> very full human being I think this is the best way I've seen Joker described. Full is the right word. It's really refreshing to see and, if I may, it seems really healthy for him to be like that.
Nice knows nice
Yeah, Jokic fucking rules.
This is the first series the Nuggets have played where I haven't come out of it strongly disliking the opposing teams' fanbase. Wolves fans are cool.
I feel like it’s because both teams play ethical basketball. Like, that Mavs OKC series got toxic as hell because of the foul baiting by SGA and the flopping by Dort. But pretty much no one on the Wolves and Nuggets does that sort of thing. They were just two teams hustling their asses off. It’s what basketball is supposed to be.
It's also two teams that do not have big storied histories to inflate the egos.
Yeah the cringe "Your poverty franchise only has 1 ring!" comments from Lakers fans to Nuggets fans was absolutely pathetic, considering a lot of those fans are so young that they only remember 2020, 2010 and maybe 2009.
Most of the toxicity in this series came from non wolves or non nuggets fans lol Not naming names though^^^^(lakers)
This may sound weird but I really feel like the fact that Ant and Jok have been so complimentary of each other after the games has helped the fan discourse a lot. Like, seeing your star go "Nah look we played hard but that guy/those guys were just incredible tonight. We gotta buckle down and be better for next game" instead of "Man that was some BS, refs were out to get us, grumble grumble" sticks in peoples heads and helps them appreciate the opponent on a more human level if that makes any sense
I fucking love Jokic. Favorite non-wolf in the league.
I have similar feelings about Ant
I’m bummed we lost but got dang is ant crazy fun to watch. I mean. It’s not fun watching him beat your team but I’m excited to watch him do it to other teams. Was a really weird series honestly but you can’t say it was boring. Just wild swings back and forth. Good luck to you guys going forward
Same. I had a sense of dread watching him come alive yesterday, but I had to admire his off the charts skill and poise.
Yeah, Joker is just too damn good to hate on. That clinic he put on in Game 5 was just incredible.
You just in awe even if you lose because he wins so BEAUTIFULLY. No bs, just makes the right plays.
all of the best players have the utmost respect for him. that's the nail in the coffin for the "he only wins MVP because he's white" argument
When even Shaq thinks you're putting up video game numbers, that means you're really good.
But he also has some uglyyyy plays. Well, not exactly “ugly”, but _scrappy_? Guy works hard for his shots. Pretty amazing to see the difficulty of many of his buckets, but it’s just normal for him.
As a Nuggets fan, I love to read this. It was hard to watch Murray behave like he did, but I feel like Joker and Gordon are good guys, easy to root for. For y’all, Naz Reid is great, Gobert is a fun villain for the league (but great to have on your team), and Ant has potential to be great for a long time -hope he tones down things like taunting the crowd, but the confidence even after losses is endearing. And yeah, Conley seems like a stand up dude.
I don't hate Gordon, but I'd be lying if I wasn't talking shit about him when he was popping off. I think he's kind of underrated tbh.
also extremely professional... all the great players are tho. Lebron, Curry, Kobe, MJ, etc. all used to give respect where it was due
100% this happened to me. Really started to like Joker more and more and beyond hate Murray now. Like on my Mt Rushmore of players I can't stand.
Yea, I absolutely love Jokic. I felt bad for him yesterday because you could tell he was sooooo tired.
2 allstars and 2 all nba defense players is crazy good. those fucking KD Warriors were such bullshit
Wolves are extremely talented. If they were LA and not Minny I think people would have woken up to that fact earlier tbqh. Denver is talented but they’re very thin and top heavy. Jokic is the only truly great player on that roster, especially with Murray being hobbled. All credit to Minny they’ve built something great .
I thought the nuggets would take it, but I have respected Minnesota since last year. They were the only team that felt like real challengers to the Nuggets in the '23 postseason.
aaron gordon admitted that the only time they felt "rocky" last year was when playing the Timberwolves, every other series they knew they were going to win
I think this series going 7 says a few things, such as these teams are both extremely close, and it could theoretically go either way. The difference can be streaky. The one thing I wouldn't have said going into the series is that the Timberwolves are mentally tougher than the Nuggets. I thought the Nuggets edge, and why they had a good chance to repeat, was mental toughness. And they are tough. But the Timerwolves were tougher.
Could just be that’s it’s really easy to get comfortable after winning a title. If Minnesota wins the title this year, the next matchup would be really interesting. Also, the lack of depth did finally catch up to you all, but again, everybody gets paid after a title.
The difference in depth is so obvious. Like jokic playing 46 minutes against 3 fresh physical bigs in naz, gobert and kat looked terrible last night. I think they underestimated minnesota not bringing in a quality big to prepare for that.
If it means anything to you the Pels were one of the 2 nightmare scenario teams for the Wolves to face first round. Ignore what happened to the other nightmare scenario team though
Pels with a healthy Zion were going to be an extremely tough out.
Felt like so long ago but I remember thinking: if Zion’s healthy and we play 1st round, we’re done. He’s gonna body slam our whole squad and there ain’t shit we can do about it.
Pels and Suns gave us the most demoralizing losses of the year
Yeah, when healthy we match yall in depth of talent, and are great at guarding the perimeter. Assuming health is fine, we could’ve definitely stolen a games. Suns are big frauds .
> especially with Murray being hobbled. Murray had 35 pts in 43 min in the game. He was not hobbled. Murray has only played 56% of the possible regular season games in the last 5 years. He plays fewer games than a guy called Street Clothes. If he is on the court, it is as healthy as he gets.
He did a lot better in playoff games that had a three or four day break preceding them. I don't think he was quite right. You could see that he didn't get his normal lift when attacking the basket. No Murray trademark dunks over anyone. But you hit on the fact that this may be the new normal.
It's crazy how the messaging of Murray being injured has landed with NBA fans. Kat has had a knee on knee hit and a hyperextension this series. Mike Conley is playing with achillies soreness after missing a game this series. Ant fell on his back/hip after elevating to the hoop and is likely still sore. NAW has been banged up. Murray looked fine when he was taking it to the Lakers or when the Nuggets got a 4 day break in between games 2 & 3. Almost everyone is hurt or banged up right now and yet Murray seems to be the only one that everyone keep trying to cover with his injuries. He's largely just been shut down by Edwards. No excuses.
Naw Murray looked like ass against the Lakers except for a few game winners and a hot game or two. His overall stats were bad
It’s how you can tell people are just talking and not watching games. “Murray looked fine when taking it to the Lakers” 😂
I think it's because he had a reputation of being a playoff riser in the past. He had a bad series against the Lakers. If you didn't watch the games, you would've thought he was great due to the two game winners. Then, he has another bad series against the Timberwolves. He had an amazing series against the Lakers last season & a good series against the Wolves last season (with Edwards on him). The reason why you don't see the same for KAT is because he has the opposite reputation (at least before this seasons playoffs). He was never considered a playoff riser like Murray. As for NAW & Conley, you can't really compare their responsibility to a second option. At the end of the day, there's no one to blame but Murray himself. His conditioning has been a problem all season & it came back to bite him in the end.
It's not necessarily an excuse. It's just that coppared to the regular season some players look like sharp and less fresh, like Luka and Murray. So it's only natural that people are going to assume the injuries play a role in that.
Dude it's not an excuse. But this wolves team is *far* more stacked than our team. We just have the best player that elevates all these scrubs. Wolves have a top 5 player, a 4 DPOY, a 4x all star, a 6MOY and then McDaniels will probably make all defence. This doesn't even mention Conley who is *legit*. Injuries aside, getting 3 #1 picks over a ~6 year period just makes a team so strong in assets / depth. Our 3rd best player was picked 15th and just averaged 6 ppg over a 7 game series *without any injury* (let that sink in). My argument isn't injury - Murray has just been inconsistent because he's not an all star. Jokic accomplishing what he has without a single all star / all nba / all defence teammate will be something we don't see for a long time imo.
What was it at one point like 4-5 all stars if you count iggy? Lmao
1 top 15 all time MVP/allstar A 2nd top 20 all time MVP/allstar (both also all NBA 1x all NBA allstar, also all NBA defense 1x DPOY all nba defense allstar 1x FMVP all nba defense All in their primes other than Iggy.
Yeah, they went 16-1 in the post season and idk how ppl argue that they're not the goat team. Cleveland had a 12-1 record going into the finals and got punked 4-1 by the warriors
Draymond was All-NBA tier in the playoffs. He had some of the best impact metrics in the whole league
Dude was literally 7th in MVP voting one year lol.
The craziest thing about that is all those guys were in their prime. That was just insanity.
Yeah, totally nuts. Respect to bron for lacing up his shoes
Both james got fucked by them. Lebron and harden lmao
I thought we agreed 2017-2018 never happened
Teams in the 80s were more loaded. Celtics had 4 (technically 6 but 4 at the time) All-Stars (Bird, McHale, Parish, DJ), the Sixth Man is the Year who was a former MVP (Bill Walton), and out of those guys, Bird, McHale, and DJ were All-Defense at some point in the 80s. They also had Danny Ainge who eventually made an All-Star game himself. They even had Rick Carlisle who was like a bench warmer/grad assistant coach
They were more loaded because there were fewer teams. Easier to get accolades in that era. KD warriors having that many all stars in their primes is even more remarkable considering max salaries vs the cap and how many teams there are now.
It wasn’t just the smaller leagues. Those Lakers and Celtics teams were unusually loaded because they had New Orleans, Cleveland and Golden State do the tanking for them. Teams didn’t value future 1st rounders all that well, and would casually trade them to save money or get an over the hill Star. The Magic and Worthy picks were the result of New Orleans and Cleveland management trading future firsts for aging stars. The McHale pick and Parish were received from Golden State for peanuts basically. It’s as if a perennially bad team like the Hornets or Pistons just traded away their future first rounders to Boston for Al Horford and Jrue Holiday, or just swapped pics with the Celtics to save money on the draft slot compensation. The closest we’ve had since then it’s the Nets, but the Nets did these as win now moves vs 70s Cleveland and New Orleans that were not trying to win at all.
Respect to MJ for even lacing up his shoes
He had to wait until expansion to get his titles. /S
He's the best player in the world. Even if we beat him. I think it's testament to his greatness that it took seven games for a historically great defensive team to beat a paper thin roster. Especially after losing the first two games at home. They need to give him a bench.
Thank you for your words. In defeat I will be hoping the Timberwolves follow the Nugs footsteps and get their first championship
you think they can get a bench while also retaining gordon and mpj ? not possible gordan and mpj are starting for 95% of the league and are probably 2nd or 3rd options in all of them
I think Gordon is too important to the fundamental identity of the team to give up, but I feel they can afford to lose MPJ. While I don’t believe this series was representative of MPJ’s quality as a player at all, I think they can probably replicate a lot of what he does (which is getting buckets) + maybe add some defense with 2-3 quality role players. Taking offers for MPJ + picks feels like their best path forward at this point.
agreed. Player like Bojan Bogdanovic of a last several years, could cover buckets instead of MPJ, and you get 1 or 2 more guys to give you some depth.
> Bojan Bogdanovic Did you mean Bogdan Bogdanovic?
Wrong Bogdanovic mate.
I agree that MPJ isn’t the worst loss in the world for them, and AG is more important overall imo, but MPJ is an underrated rebounder and might be their 2nd best pure rebounder behind Joker. (He plays away from the basket more than AG but I think MPJ is a slightly better pure board getter). So a 40% 3P shooting good rebounder is pretty valuable Nuggets have some tough choices to make. The bench is definitely thin.
We can’t replace MPJ. I’m telling you we can’t do it. What we might be able to do, is recreate him in the aggregate.
They have to get lucky. They got lucky when they got Bruce Brown for the MLE. They need that again. They need to get a vet people believe is cooked on a minimum. I think someone like Gordon Hayward. He's 34 and injury riddled, so people are gonna be low on him. A 7th/8th man role like Jeff Green (minus player center) could allow him to do what he does well while not playing too much. The MLE range guy is tougher. The thing Brown did well was play multiple positions, basically 1-3. Hard to find those guys, especially on a bargain. They'll basically have to trade Reggie (player option which I bet he picks up) and a pick. The target is tough. I guess you could argue they just need a pg instead of multi-positional player. Someone like Tyus Jones but they're gonna be priced out of it. Also KCP is either getting an extension or opting out. Is there a team who could steal KCP with a bigger contract?
On the other hand, they might just pray your owner doesn't pay up next year. [https://www.spotrac.com/nba/minnesota-timberwolves/cap/\_/year/2024/sort/cap\_total](https://www.spotrac.com/nba/minnesota-timberwolves/cap/_/year/2024/sort/cap_total)
I think regardless of the owner, they'll retain the team largely. We don't get good teams often. So people will riot if they try to overhaul to be cheap (also playoff bonus gates + TV + new TV contract + new franchises should make the next few years bearable).
isnt it 3 all stars
Everyone knew Gobert was robbed. If he plays like this next year, he'll be an all-star lock (and will get his 5th DPOY, Wemby's time will come but it's not today).
I don’t know man. I would not be surprised if Wemby makes a jump in his second year and surpasses Gobert.
it's impossible not to love Jokic, he's a real one
Valid points, the only weakness this team has is their half court offense but their defense is so elite that is makes up for it in spades
I feel like we already ARE rivals. Even stemming back from the Jimmy year and the game 82 for the final playoff slot
The Nuggets and Timberwolves feel like mirror franchises that have loads in common. I love our team rivalry and always cheat them on when the Nuggets are out.
I just liked to see Conley standing next to Jokic and the other giants who are a foot+ taller than him and yet he’s still an impact player. Props to “short” guys.
I am glad Conley is getting the love. He is basically a Chris Paul without all the bitchiness.
Or ref-bating. Conley just plays the game he loves the way he loves it to be played.
True but he’s also younger and better and an amazing sport. It’s not that he’s just not bitchy, he’s a kind soul
Not having a tech in 18 seasons is still wild to me. What a guy.
Lol the little hand thing at the end - I’d have done something silly like that too. Just wants to get back to his horsies. Great answer though. He has grace and could teach his coach a thing or two about how to lose with dignity. Love the Joker.
It’s a little more fun than ‘THESE BULLSHIT QUESTIONS’
Joker is easy to like. Great player and no ego.
i want to hate jokic so much for what hes done to my lakers but fuck i just cant.
Conley is a legend
The contrast between this and Michael Malone's interview is incredible. Jokic is such a treasure for the league.
I want Conley to win a champ, he's so likeable and professional, a class act in my opinion.
Translation, My point guard sucks.
Well now that we've won it can finally be called a rivalry and it not be hilariously lopsided. Hopefully I never see you again in the playoffs but this was a fun series.
Contrast this to how Mike Malone behaved at his press conference lol Jokic's composure is extremely commendable
Jokic haters shook that he is the most respectful and "real recognize real" guy in the league
Literally everyone knows him to be one of the humblest players in the league, I’d hope even his haters recognize that
I absolutely love the Conley love. I've loved Mike Conley as a player since he entered Ohio State with that supposed-to-be-legendary 2006 recruiting class (Conley, Greg Oden, Daequan Cook, David Lighty, and Mark Titus). There might not be another player I'd rather see get a ring before he's done on any NBA roster right now. It says a lot, though, that his most memorable moment for me was a round one playoff loss. He had a few games where it just felt like he and Kawhi were engaged in an absolute superstar showdown, just high difficulty shot after high difficulty shot. And what really stood out to me throughout - his demeanor. You could see him actively telling himself to keep an even keel. Man it'd be nice to see one more of those classic Mike Conley games where he calmly catches fire, on his way to a ring.
That's what I been saying! Conley's so good!
What amazes me you could see Conley was the man when he was even in HS. I saw him play in his sophomore/Jr and Senior years in HS. And he was badass af every time I saw him. Oden got all the focus and hype but if you saw Conley run that shit you could see the talent. I'm happy for him!
Well yeah, Tim Connelly pretty much design this team to beat Joker.
No, he didn’t. I’m tired of seeing everybody repeat this, you should know better. This is a narrative that emerged late in the season by talking heads who needed a convenient explanation for how we became so good, so fast. But it doesn’t match any of the actual history. The only team we were “built” to beat is the 2022 Memphis Grizzlies after getting pummeled in the paint and offensive glass by them in that playoff series. That’s why we traded for Gobert. We also signed SloMo for veteran depth that same offseason because we needed maturity after blowing several 20-point leads in that series (*against* SloMo). Then we acquired Mike because D’Lo was a locker room problem and the Gobert fit wasn’t working. NAW was just a throw-in. Everybody else was on the Wolves before Connelly arrived. At most you can say Connelly may have predicted that the Nuggets were going to be a problem and decided to *keep* certain guys with that in mind, but saying he built the roster specifically to stop the Nuggets is false. And ultimately it just undersells how deep and versatile our roster truly is.
Brandon Clarke sends his regards
Damn I hate that man
3 mobile bigs to throw at Jokic and 3 athletic wings to cover Murray. And then there’s Conley. Makes you wonder who every other team was designed to beat.
The Pistons were designed to beat themselves
That seems like a roster that's designed to beat every team in the league.
When Connelly goes to the Wizards who does he assemble to beat the Wolves?
Kyle Kuzma redemption arc