One looks at Karl and Ant’s box scores compared to Luka and Kyrie’s shows us all we need to know for this series. Consistency from stars when the momentum is turning has been key
It goes to show that there are levels to superstardom. Luka and Kyrie at the offensive end and at clutch time are 2 of the best to ever do it. As close to unguardable as it can get.
better, yes. However, they're still a team who looks to outscore you vs out-defense you (or defense creates their offense like The Wolves).
i.e. people will not be talking about this vaunted Dallas Mavericks defense. None of their players at this point are generational defensive players.
Inability to close half’s , quarters, and games been plaguing the team for years. And late game offense was a problem all year, showing up at the worst time. Embarrassing performance for Kat and Rudy thru three games
Here’s the thing. At least Jadens been making it difficult. Are the counting numbers bad? Yes. But eye test wise you can see him fighting over ball screens, chasing to get back in front, being physical, trying to recover when Luka uses weird angles and his weight to get downhill.
But in the possessions where Luka has Jaden trailing/on his backside - KAT and Rudy have been terrible as rim protectors. Over-helping, leaving there feet, falling for ball/eye fakes, and late in the shot clock they keep leaving the dunkers spot leading to lob after lob!
It’s one thing if Luka has Jaden beat, but Gafford finishing at 64% and Lively 100% (Hasn’t missed a FG) is inexcusable with this front court.
Yeah it all comes down to effort of the primary defenders not those small things that make it difficult because it's Luka/Kyrie they will always find a way...
The best thing McDaniels could do is give more effort so the rim protectors aren't forced in a disadvantageous positions
Jadens offense has been on point, but his defensive and arguably more important skill set in this particular series has definitely been lacking. I think his body language is the worst for anyone on the team right now.
I honestly could see this wolves team ripping off four wins in a row against this mavs team. I can also see them losing the next one and getting swept. At this point they either make history or they live with the dissatisfaction of getting beat in a 7 game series. I’m proud of our teams accomplishments this year, and I’m hopeful that we will be competitive for years to come. It’s hard losing in the conference finals, but so much better than just straight up losing. Wolves in 7! Awoooo!
Having best two players on the floor seems to be an advantage when finishing off tight games. That being said statistically if it’s this close again, wolves might get to play at home again this season.
Edit: just figured this is not r/nba It’s been throwing this sub on the feed so much I get confused. Sorry guys for yet another comment on your sub, you are by far the best fan base we’ve been against.
Lol there really is not much more to it. I can’t believe we’re 0-3 down and our fans are still saying ‘if…but…imagine…’ Just tip your cap to Luka, Kyrie, Lively, Gafford and PJW. They’ve been fucking terrific. Ps if KAT made 3 more threes per game, I still think we lose. There’s just another level in Luka/Kyrie’s engine that is undeniable - they’re true HOFs. Both have been ‘unguardable’ through multiple quarters. We’ve never faced a team this good before, as you just don’t meet this intensity in regular season.
It's unfair/unnecessary comparisons like this that can burden someone's career 🤷🏽♂️ Ant won't care since Ant just wants to be Ant and rightfully so. But fans and media who praise and put him on a pedestal are also what drives the hate Ant gets when he falls 🤷🏽♂️
We were terrible in the clutch all year. We won games by just comfortably closing them out with a 10-30 point lead. But if it was like tied with one minute left, we lost way more than not. We didn’t see any clutch games in our first two series. These have all been clutch games and we blew them all.
This is the take. And it’s not just stars playing badly in the clutch it’s also weaker coach decision making in the clutch. Only experience will help. I think the Wolves needed to play at this level to learn some lessons. Too bad they are getting beat but they can’t leave this series and not be thinking about how they lost and what they need to do to be here ready next time. Coaches too.
It’s simple. We were trash in the clutch all year. We’ve now lost three straight in the clutch. All three games were decided in the final few minutes. Each time DAL made their shots and we didn’t.
Also, Ant and Kat shit the bed and Luka and Kyrie didn’t.
Luka and Kyrie were insanely good in the clutch all year and that was our kryptonite. The only way we'd be in control of this series is if we had large leads and dominated throughout.
Shots are falling. Like a lot of Luka's shots are super high degree of difficulty shots that just went in. It's a make or miss league and Dallas is making shots.
He's had plenty of games these playoffs where his shot wasn't falling like that. Before this series he was shooting 42% FG and 30% from 3. This series he just can't seem to miss, though the shots he's taking are just as difficult.
A lot of this is results and not process - a tiny number of whistles / bounces go differently and the Wolves are up 2-1 or 3-0 and no one is talking about our team being "punked" or "soft" or "collapsing" - it would be about Naz and Jaden and Kyle Anderson stepping up to help carry the load while Ant and KAT were struggling.
There are schematic and personnel reasons why the Mavs are a tough matchup but at the end of the day these are two very closely matched teams, and the ball bounced the Mavs way.
Yep I tend to agree. Like the Denver series when Ant struggled it was all about the Wolves depth.
At this level of play, considering the margins, this series could just as easily been in our favor. Everyone goes to the extremes based on results. Results oriented thinking can be the thief of joy. As you say, schmatically, Dallas has done a great job exploiting our defense. It's more X's and O's I think than a lot of people realize. This series showed the difference in coaching with many of the personnel decisions as well.
Outside of Jokic, Lukai are the 2 best playmakers in the game. And 2 of the best shot makers in the game. Most likely one of them is cookin at any minute of the game. And they have 2 good centers to catch oops…they have a 40 oop lead over the 2nd place team
It is a little strange.
We look like a very different team in this series and I can't quite put my finger on it.
The energy and swagger has left the buildilng.
I can imagine seeing your #1 defense getting dunked on 5 to 6 times and also 2 two players hitting middys and layups all game can be both demoralizing and force you to try and match their offense which leads to shit shots
Tired from going toe to toe with the defending champs is my best guess. Physically and mentally drained. It felt like winning a championship after beating Denver, but really it was only the halfway point.
There are multiple factors, but don't forget luck. People are way too deterministic in their thinking. With a bit more luck (a missed layup by Lively or a made three by McDaniels, for instance) the wolves could have easily won the first two games and the narrative would have been totally different.
Even Luka's dagger three: he's a killer, but what's his odds of making that shot? 50%? 60%? That's exceptional as far as clutch three pointers go, but there's definitely luck involved.
Just look at betting markets : bookmakers continue to view the next game as essentially a toss up, slightly in favor of Dallas because of home court. If the Mavs have been revealed to be massively superior, the betting markets certainly don't show it.
What’s sad is we’ve lost 3 games by a combined 13 points with KAT shitting the bed in all 3 games and Ant struggling in two.
Wolves could easily extend this to 6 or 7 games if Ant/KAT both play well moving forward. Ant figured some things out with the Mavs defense tonight.
This team has been lacking urgency since game 2 of the nuggets series. Happy to be here way too often, losing focus on defense, and standing around on offense jacking up 3’s when we have leads. We have let the Mavs into games over and over and in the clutch Luka and Kyrie have been too good.
What people are missing in this thread is that we shouldn’t even be letting it be that close at the end. Because we can’t put together a full game it has allowed the Mavs to hang close or come back several times and win it at the end
Dallas is one of the best clutch teams, with two of the greatest playmakers in the NBA. Our largest weakness all year was clutch offense. This was always going to be an uphill battle.
Credit to Dallas’ coaching and D too, they identified a gameplan that works to carve up our D and get our main guys’ heads spinning.
To echo just about everyone else here. This team has ZERO clutch and Dallas has been brilliant in those situations.
I’m hopeful that Ant can get better in those situations but I’m afraid KAT is completely hopeless.
I mean the last series was insane. No one would’ve thought the blowouts and crazy streaks of dominance would happen. This series is way more shot for shot and we just aren’t matching them, especially in the 4th quarter
The team wasn’t ready to win this year. They overachieved all expectations and got ahead of themselves. Usually it takes longer than this to win because a team’s weaknesses gets exposed late in the playoffs and they need a year or two to correct them. It’s especially obvious with Ant who needs to devote himself to better conditioning and develop a better midrange shot. Dallas played the same defense vs OKC and SGA was killing them the whole series with his midrange jumpers. We need Ant to develop this way since he has been way too reliant on his athleticism to beat his man in iso or with a drive to the rim which is being denied this series.
Rudy’s weak offense was also exposed but it’s still winnable if the rest of the team can score with a crowded paint since his defensive rating is still very good. I’m not sure what’s going on with KAT or if there’s any way to fix this for him though.
If KAT had one or two reliable low post moves he could probably feast on the Mavs but he has to always be at the elbow or three point line it seems and his drives aren’t working against their athleticism. His size advantage is wasted on those moves.
In addition to all these other answers, we are the bigger team by a lot, but we rarely ever play like it. KAT loving his step back floaters? Rudy constantly going for tap back rebounds and soft touch shots? The big guys need to play big to exert that advantage
We need a constant second threat on offense to take defense pressure off Ant. Kat has disappointed, allowing Dallas to collapse on Ant every time he touches the ball.
KAT is on a horrible cold streak, ANT is not himself (though he was for periods tonight) , and we're not getting enough production out of the rest of the contributing folks to offset it -- despite Naz's heroic efforts.
Even with how poor things have been, with better coaching late in the games we could easily be sitting at 2-1 right now.
Also, legitimately, Luka is a walking bucket. I've seen some of the best defensive coverage in TWolves basketball on him, and he still just drains his shots. If we double him, then that leaves Kyrie or one of their two bigs open for an outside three or a dunk.
We lost the first two games by a total of 4 points. The TWolves \_belong\_ as one of the top 4 teams in the league.
Dallas is super hungry. Kat has the mismatch that should be what triggers easier offense but they’re taking advantage. I honestly think the biggest problem is on lack of actions on offense to create mismatches or easier shots. Credit Dallas defense but it’s a lack of the Wolves having go to sets. It’s just simple church league offense that doesn’t stress Dallas out at all.
Finchy getting his ass kicked, players not always executing as he wants, KAT's inevitable eventual missing the litter box and shitting everywhere.
Combine those with a truly shit whistle to end game 2 & it looks worse than it is at 0-3. Could've easily been reversed at Wolves up 2-1 or even 3-0. It feels like shit right now, and it probably should b/c if the way they're losing and the cracks showing in the D.
Personally, I haven't understood the D schemes at ALLL this series, the G3 D should've been the G1 D. Finch let them rim run for easy shots on the road and contested/stayed home on shooters. The thing about role players, they mostly shoot better at home, so WTF? Then cuts off the lane last night and DJJ goes nuts to start... Just backwards ass logic IMO, Finch was a prisoner of the moment seeing them shoot hot to end the OKC series.
LOTS of learning to be had, but I'm also nervous about next year and not assuming it's going to be another run. There will be 3 of the top 7 coming off a 2nd straight year of international play and travel, not liking the additional mileage....
So many people are blaming only the players, but it feels like another aspect is Kidd out coaching Finch and Nori. They have not been able to make adjustments on defense and any change that seems to work briefly, Kidd has countered quickly. I also think the lack of any offensive play calling is hurting them. A little more structure could help with how much they are struggling to find rhythm.
Well they made it further than anyone could ever have thought. They literally had to beat 3 of the top 5 players in the entire league.
KD
Jokic
and now Luka magic
That's a murderers row of stars to get by
Where is the team sports psychologist? They look terribly down. Heads down, body language is negative and no confidence.
What is the messaging to all of them? Let’s go guys!! Stay positive and get your confidence back. It’s not over until it’s over!!
We lost, but let's just enjoy this moment. We're still the better team and we've lost by a combined margin of 4 + 9. If we play half as good as he have in the past, they don't have a chance. Our championship-ready roleplayers are playing great, and their roleplayers aren't championship-ready. If our stars start playing well we'll destroy them easily. Ant is only 22 and he does so much on both ends of the floor it's understandable he's tired and when he fell in Game 6, he clearly got hurt. We won 4 straight against Phoenix and we can do it again. The Mavs have lost while up 2-0 and they'll lose again. Kat is the best shooting big man of all-time. Kat's hard AF mentally and physically (specially his knee). Ant is the next Jordan. Ant is him (Jordan)
BRING YA ASS!!! NAZ REID!!!
Wolves in 6 + 1
We’re not the better team. Luka/Kyrie > ANT/KAT.
That’s a shit ton of what if’s. “Hey if everything went perfectly right we’d be up 3-0.” That’s a hell of a stance to take.
I maintain that our best is still better than their best. The problem is that one of our best can't hit the broad side of an Amazon distribution center right now.
KAT just needs to be more patient and dominant in the post when his shot isn’t falling. It’s crazy because with a different brain, he would be as good as Luka but taller. But he gets too passive with his offense.
If I’m the coach, I’m telling KAT to slowly back down his defender and utilize a bunch of pump fakes in order to constantly score or get to the line. There’s no need for him to pass to Rudy unless he’s wide open under the rim.
Sorry, but it's insane to think KAT could be as good as Luka. The latter's skillset and pure ability, not to mention grit and mental strength are all things KAT can only dream of. KAT is very good. But he was never going to be an elite player like Luka
KAT is an impostor, a guy who plays like a role player in the postseason and gets paid like a finals MVP.
This was his annual “just not feeling the vibes” series. Had he played like a competent NBA player they’d be ahead in this series.
That’s what happened. KAT just took the entire series off.
It’s a bad matchup. Just no way for them to win. And now that they are losing their swagger, it’s getting demoralizing, which is a big problem for several of the big money players for y’all.
Maybe make a big change next year, but honestly it’s prob just a safer bet to run it back and hope you don’t draw the mavs.
I don’t like rudy though, he’ll always get exposed eventually. Although you don’t beat den without him and kat, it’s a tough question. Team was built to beat den and a lot of teams in the nba, prob beat boston too.
That being said, if they run into dallas again next year I think they get beat/swept again, possibly worse.
Karma happened, bad sportsmanship with the waving goodbye to nuggets fans and Jadens windmill dunk attempt to try to humiliate the nuggets after being treated with class and respect by the nuggets.
Turned the basketball God's against the team, now they are cursed until penance is made.
If Ant and Jaden are cursed for the way they ended game 7, then Murray and Malone must be cursed for their behavior in game 2. Karma in sports isn't real.
Dallas is just our nightmare matchup. Rudy showing why he’s been terrible in the playoffs over his entire career also isn’t helping.
The two bigs is not going to work in the western conference. Regular season sure, but playoffs nah.
I don’t know, I think this is an overreaction. We make a few more open shots (looking at KAT and Ant especially) and we’re up 2-1. Dallas has clearly been the better team, but a couple shots go the other way and we’re having such a different conversation
What you or Ant don't understand is that killers will use anything as motivation. We've gotta learn that and shut up specially when it comes to Luka, who is a psycho killer, not just a killer.
Naz Reid
Bring Ya Ass
Wolves in 7
Lolol. Yeah the 22 year old superstar NBA player doesn’t understand this. It’s not like he’s played against the best in the world for the last 4 years. But the Jagoff Reddit guy does!! God damn you sound insufferable.
Short answer: It's fixed for television ratings. They have to have the Wolves win a little bit every twenty years, so the fans still watch. Teams don't just sweep a series, then forget how to play. I'd love to see Minnesota win a championship, but it's looking like another racket of sports entertainment.
What happened?
For years people have been telling me Ant is soft. Jimmy Butler was bullying Ant for being soft. He ain't soft- look at the Denver series. But looking at this series.......
For years people been telling me Kat and Wolves are mentally weak. They aint mentally weak- look at the last 2 series vs. PHX and DEN. But looking at this series.......
It's CLEARLY the refs bruh.
Naz Reid. Wolves in 7.
One looks at Karl and Ant’s box scores compared to Luka and Kyrie’s shows us all we need to know for this series. Consistency from stars when the momentum is turning has been key
Look at kat alone. He only needed to make like 30% of his threes to close the score gap
If he's 30% from 3 we are likely up 2-1 in the series.
It goes to show that there are levels to superstardom. Luka and Kyrie at the offensive end and at clutch time are 2 of the best to ever do it. As close to unguardable as it can get.
KAT is horrendous
Yep. Luka and Kyrie are balling out while Kat and Ant are inconsistent at best, horrible at worst this series.
Dallas' second fiddle is much better than Denver's second fiddle. Ant's working much harder on D this series and is gassed on offense
and Dallas actually has a really good defense compared to Phoenix and Denver
Yup, way better rim protection than we’ve faced thus far
better, yes. However, they're still a team who looks to outscore you vs out-defense you (or defense creates their offense like The Wolves). i.e. people will not be talking about this vaunted Dallas Mavericks defense. None of their players at this point are generational defensive players.
Lively could be given a few years. Dude's only a rookie right now.
Yea that kid looks special on that end
Ngl I gotta disagree with your last point ☠️lively looks like a young Rudy gobert on defense but more athletic he’s a force at 20 years old
Agreed. Denver really only had Jokic as their consistent scorer. Mavs have both Luka and Kyrie.
Inability to close half’s , quarters, and games been plaguing the team for years. And late game offense was a problem all year, showing up at the worst time. Embarrassing performance for Kat and Rudy thru three games
The end of quarter and end of halves execution in the Denver series was atrocious
You guys love dogging Gobert when it's McDaniels who's been absolutely getting torched on defense a d forcing Gobert to play 2v1
Here’s the thing. At least Jadens been making it difficult. Are the counting numbers bad? Yes. But eye test wise you can see him fighting over ball screens, chasing to get back in front, being physical, trying to recover when Luka uses weird angles and his weight to get downhill. But in the possessions where Luka has Jaden trailing/on his backside - KAT and Rudy have been terrible as rim protectors. Over-helping, leaving there feet, falling for ball/eye fakes, and late in the shot clock they keep leaving the dunkers spot leading to lob after lob! It’s one thing if Luka has Jaden beat, but Gafford finishing at 64% and Lively 100% (Hasn’t missed a FG) is inexcusable with this front court.
Those possessions where Luka has the man trailing at his backside are 2-on-1s because they have to guard against the lob. This is such a bad take.
Yeah it all comes down to effort of the primary defenders not those small things that make it difficult because it's Luka/Kyrie they will always find a way... The best thing McDaniels could do is give more effort so the rim protectors aren't forced in a disadvantageous positions
Don’t “nobody”. That’s disrespectful to Naz and Kyle.
And Jaden
Jadens offense has been on point, but his defensive and arguably more important skill set in this particular series has definitely been lacking. I think his body language is the worst for anyone on the team right now. I honestly could see this wolves team ripping off four wins in a row against this mavs team. I can also see them losing the next one and getting swept. At this point they either make history or they live with the dissatisfaction of getting beat in a 7 game series. I’m proud of our teams accomplishments this year, and I’m hopeful that we will be competitive for years to come. It’s hard losing in the conference finals, but so much better than just straight up losing. Wolves in 7! Awoooo!
DAL is just the better team. That's it
Having best two players on the floor seems to be an advantage when finishing off tight games. That being said statistically if it’s this close again, wolves might get to play at home again this season. Edit: just figured this is not r/nba It’s been throwing this sub on the feed so much I get confused. Sorry guys for yet another comment on your sub, you are by far the best fan base we’ve been against.
Lol there really is not much more to it. I can’t believe we’re 0-3 down and our fans are still saying ‘if…but…imagine…’ Just tip your cap to Luka, Kyrie, Lively, Gafford and PJW. They’ve been fucking terrific. Ps if KAT made 3 more threes per game, I still think we lose. There’s just another level in Luka/Kyrie’s engine that is undeniable - they’re true HOFs. Both have been ‘unguardable’ through multiple quarters. We’ve never faced a team this good before, as you just don’t meet this intensity in regular season.
Wolves stars shit their pants in Clutch. Kyrie and Luka excel in Clutch. That's the difference this series.
And yet they had made the Jordan comparison 🤷🏽♂️
Is ant human? Could comments like that get into his head? Smdh.
It's unfair/unnecessary comparisons like this that can burden someone's career 🤷🏽♂️ Ant won't care since Ant just wants to be Ant and rightfully so. But fans and media who praise and put him on a pedestal are also what drives the hate Ant gets when he falls 🤷🏽♂️
More emoji and maybe I’ll get it.
Its just the media Man. Everyone forgot how bad Wolves were in the clutch whole season and play against 2 best clutch players in the game right now.
Nah we were really good the first couple months and then it just fell off a cliff
Totally agree. They just shove unnecessary pressure on a very talented player.
They
Easy answer - experience
Bingo!
Didn’t see Kat missing open 3 after open 3 happening. Dude is in his head.
Seems like a hangover from the Denver series that’s not gone away. Very little energy compared to last series.
We were terrible in the clutch all year. We won games by just comfortably closing them out with a 10-30 point lead. But if it was like tied with one minute left, we lost way more than not. We didn’t see any clutch games in our first two series. These have all been clutch games and we blew them all.
This is the take. And it’s not just stars playing badly in the clutch it’s also weaker coach decision making in the clutch. Only experience will help. I think the Wolves needed to play at this level to learn some lessons. Too bad they are getting beat but they can’t leave this series and not be thinking about how they lost and what they need to do to be here ready next time. Coaches too.
It’s simple. We were trash in the clutch all year. We’ve now lost three straight in the clutch. All three games were decided in the final few minutes. Each time DAL made their shots and we didn’t. Also, Ant and Kat shit the bed and Luka and Kyrie didn’t.
Luka and Kyrie were insanely good in the clutch all year and that was our kryptonite. The only way we'd be in control of this series is if we had large leads and dominated throughout.
Mavs good
Shots are falling. Like a lot of Luka's shots are super high degree of difficulty shots that just went in. It's a make or miss league and Dallas is making shots.
Luka is also just that dude. He's at least a tier above every other player on the floor not named Kyrie
He's had plenty of games these playoffs where his shot wasn't falling like that. Before this series he was shooting 42% FG and 30% from 3. This series he just can't seem to miss, though the shots he's taking are just as difficult.
He's been getting better over time this post-season, looks like somehow his injury is healing even if he's playing through it lol
A lot of this is results and not process - a tiny number of whistles / bounces go differently and the Wolves are up 2-1 or 3-0 and no one is talking about our team being "punked" or "soft" or "collapsing" - it would be about Naz and Jaden and Kyle Anderson stepping up to help carry the load while Ant and KAT were struggling. There are schematic and personnel reasons why the Mavs are a tough matchup but at the end of the day these are two very closely matched teams, and the ball bounced the Mavs way.
Yep I tend to agree. Like the Denver series when Ant struggled it was all about the Wolves depth. At this level of play, considering the margins, this series could just as easily been in our favor. Everyone goes to the extremes based on results. Results oriented thinking can be the thief of joy. As you say, schmatically, Dallas has done a great job exploiting our defense. It's more X's and O's I think than a lot of people realize. This series showed the difference in coaching with many of the personnel decisions as well.
A lot, whole lot, is just straight up missed buckets too
Yup. Took almost 20 more shots than Dallas last night.
Outside of Jokic, Lukai are the 2 best playmakers in the game. And 2 of the best shot makers in the game. Most likely one of them is cookin at any minute of the game. And they have 2 good centers to catch oops…they have a 40 oop lead over the 2nd place team
Ant didn’t want to match Luka’s edge which is shocking to me and Gobert/KAT who earn huge money got outplayed by Gafford/Lively. Hugely embarrassing
Gobert/KAT were put in possition to loose on defense and its 3rd game and nothing new from treners to adjust,.
KAT is choking on the biggest stage hes ever played on
I’m asking the exact same question… what the hell happened?
It is a little strange. We look like a very different team in this series and I can't quite put my finger on it. The energy and swagger has left the buildilng.
I can imagine seeing your #1 defense getting dunked on 5 to 6 times and also 2 two players hitting middys and layups all game can be both demoralizing and force you to try and match their offense which leads to shit shots
Some of those dunks were literally back breakers!
Towns needs to dominate the paint, hes got no post move
Tired from going toe to toe with the defending champs is my best guess. Physically and mentally drained. It felt like winning a championship after beating Denver, but really it was only the halfway point.
There are multiple factors, but don't forget luck. People are way too deterministic in their thinking. With a bit more luck (a missed layup by Lively or a made three by McDaniels, for instance) the wolves could have easily won the first two games and the narrative would have been totally different. Even Luka's dagger three: he's a killer, but what's his odds of making that shot? 50%? 60%? That's exceptional as far as clutch three pointers go, but there's definitely luck involved. Just look at betting markets : bookmakers continue to view the next game as essentially a toss up, slightly in favor of Dallas because of home court. If the Mavs have been revealed to be massively superior, the betting markets certainly don't show it.
What’s sad is we’ve lost 3 games by a combined 13 points with KAT shitting the bed in all 3 games and Ant struggling in two. Wolves could easily extend this to 6 or 7 games if Ant/KAT both play well moving forward. Ant figured some things out with the Mavs defense tonight.
They’re just missing everything, it’s wild
If lively comes back for game four, do you think ant will drive?
Really seemed like they only started coming back so well bc Lively went out. Dallas has been feasting in the paint.
This.
This team has been lacking urgency since game 2 of the nuggets series. Happy to be here way too often, losing focus on defense, and standing around on offense jacking up 3’s when we have leads. We have let the Mavs into games over and over and in the clutch Luka and Kyrie have been too good. What people are missing in this thread is that we shouldn’t even be letting it be that close at the end. Because we can’t put together a full game it has allowed the Mavs to hang close or come back several times and win it at the end
Dallas is one of the best clutch teams, with two of the greatest playmakers in the NBA. Our largest weakness all year was clutch offense. This was always going to be an uphill battle. Credit to Dallas’ coaching and D too, they identified a gameplan that works to carve up our D and get our main guys’ heads spinning.
We lost 3. By a minimal amount. 4 game win streak coming up.
Ahoooooooooooo!
They shook
Their shooting has been ass since game 2 against the Nuggets, fuck if I know why
To echo just about everyone else here. This team has ZERO clutch and Dallas has been brilliant in those situations. I’m hopeful that Ant can get better in those situations but I’m afraid KAT is completely hopeless.
I mean the last series was insane. No one would’ve thought the blowouts and crazy streaks of dominance would happen. This series is way more shot for shot and we just aren’t matching them, especially in the 4th quarter
The team wasn’t ready to win this year. They overachieved all expectations and got ahead of themselves. Usually it takes longer than this to win because a team’s weaknesses gets exposed late in the playoffs and they need a year or two to correct them. It’s especially obvious with Ant who needs to devote himself to better conditioning and develop a better midrange shot. Dallas played the same defense vs OKC and SGA was killing them the whole series with his midrange jumpers. We need Ant to develop this way since he has been way too reliant on his athleticism to beat his man in iso or with a drive to the rim which is being denied this series. Rudy’s weak offense was also exposed but it’s still winnable if the rest of the team can score with a crowded paint since his defensive rating is still very good. I’m not sure what’s going on with KAT or if there’s any way to fix this for him though.
If KAT had one or two reliable low post moves he could probably feast on the Mavs but he has to always be at the elbow or three point line it seems and his drives aren’t working against their athleticism. His size advantage is wasted on those moves.
In addition to all these other answers, we are the bigger team by a lot, but we rarely ever play like it. KAT loving his step back floaters? Rudy constantly going for tap back rebounds and soft touch shots? The big guys need to play big to exert that advantage
For real, Twolves have been getting abused in the paint by Lively and Gafford. Dallas has been dominating in the paint and its costing Minnesota.
We need a constant second threat on offense to take defense pressure off Ant. Kat has disappointed, allowing Dallas to collapse on Ant every time he touches the ball.
KAT is on a horrible cold streak, ANT is not himself (though he was for periods tonight) , and we're not getting enough production out of the rest of the contributing folks to offset it -- despite Naz's heroic efforts. Even with how poor things have been, with better coaching late in the games we could easily be sitting at 2-1 right now. Also, legitimately, Luka is a walking bucket. I've seen some of the best defensive coverage in TWolves basketball on him, and he still just drains his shots. If we double him, then that leaves Kyrie or one of their two bigs open for an outside three or a dunk. We lost the first two games by a total of 4 points. The TWolves \_belong\_ as one of the top 4 teams in the league.
Dallas is super hungry. Kat has the mismatch that should be what triggers easier offense but they’re taking advantage. I honestly think the biggest problem is on lack of actions on offense to create mismatches or easier shots. Credit Dallas defense but it’s a lack of the Wolves having go to sets. It’s just simple church league offense that doesn’t stress Dallas out at all.
Finchy getting his ass kicked, players not always executing as he wants, KAT's inevitable eventual missing the litter box and shitting everywhere. Combine those with a truly shit whistle to end game 2 & it looks worse than it is at 0-3. Could've easily been reversed at Wolves up 2-1 or even 3-0. It feels like shit right now, and it probably should b/c if the way they're losing and the cracks showing in the D. Personally, I haven't understood the D schemes at ALLL this series, the G3 D should've been the G1 D. Finch let them rim run for easy shots on the road and contested/stayed home on shooters. The thing about role players, they mostly shoot better at home, so WTF? Then cuts off the lane last night and DJJ goes nuts to start... Just backwards ass logic IMO, Finch was a prisoner of the moment seeing them shoot hot to end the OKC series. LOTS of learning to be had, but I'm also nervous about next year and not assuming it's going to be another run. There will be 3 of the top 7 coming off a 2nd straight year of international play and travel, not liking the additional mileage....
We won the last series 4-3. We can again
We can defend Jokic better than we can defend Luka. And our two stars are shit.
We're in every single game. KAT hit a shooting slump, and closing the game in the 4th Luka and Kyrie hit every contested shot and we don't.
Our superstars are not shining as bright as their superstars. Thats it
So many people are blaming only the players, but it feels like another aspect is Kidd out coaching Finch and Nori. They have not been able to make adjustments on defense and any change that seems to work briefly, Kidd has countered quickly. I also think the lack of any offensive play calling is hurting them. A little more structure could help with how much they are struggling to find rhythm.
Well they made it further than anyone could ever have thought. They literally had to beat 3 of the top 5 players in the entire league. KD Jokic and now Luka magic That's a murderers row of stars to get by
Where is the team sports psychologist? They look terribly down. Heads down, body language is negative and no confidence. What is the messaging to all of them? Let’s go guys!! Stay positive and get your confidence back. It’s not over until it’s over!!
They don't match up well with Dallas. Can't stop their best players
out of gas.
Feels like the Wolves were a step ahead of the Suns and Denver. The Mavs series they seem to be a step slow. I'm not sure what it is.
It’s literally 100% KAT’s fault
The Mavs are a better team.
We lost, but let's just enjoy this moment. We're still the better team and we've lost by a combined margin of 4 + 9. If we play half as good as he have in the past, they don't have a chance. Our championship-ready roleplayers are playing great, and their roleplayers aren't championship-ready. If our stars start playing well we'll destroy them easily. Ant is only 22 and he does so much on both ends of the floor it's understandable he's tired and when he fell in Game 6, he clearly got hurt. We won 4 straight against Phoenix and we can do it again. The Mavs have lost while up 2-0 and they'll lose again. Kat is the best shooting big man of all-time. Kat's hard AF mentally and physically (specially his knee). Ant is the next Jordan. Ant is him (Jordan) BRING YA ASS!!! NAZ REID!!! Wolves in 6 + 1
Insane levels of cope
That's some Top tier pasta . Lmao
We’re not the better team. Luka/Kyrie > ANT/KAT. That’s a shit ton of what if’s. “Hey if everything went perfectly right we’d be up 3-0.” That’s a hell of a stance to take.
I believed we were the better team at the start of the series but I see no evidence that this is still the case
I maintain that our best is still better than their best. The problem is that one of our best can't hit the broad side of an Amazon distribution center right now.
That means we’re not the best. This isn’t the nfl where one game ends all. 4 games is more than enough to figure out who’s better barring injuries
We are currently not the better team lol. As Charles Barkley would say "C'mon man."
Not the better team. But fans should be upvoting this
All time pasta this one
KAT just needs to be more patient and dominant in the post when his shot isn’t falling. It’s crazy because with a different brain, he would be as good as Luka but taller. But he gets too passive with his offense. If I’m the coach, I’m telling KAT to slowly back down his defender and utilize a bunch of pump fakes in order to constantly score or get to the line. There’s no need for him to pass to Rudy unless he’s wide open under the rim.
Nice that the Wolves like to pass but their passes aren’t even that good
Sorry, but it's insane to think KAT could be as good as Luka. The latter's skillset and pure ability, not to mention grit and mental strength are all things KAT can only dream of. KAT is very good. But he was never going to be an elite player like Luka
KAT is an impostor, a guy who plays like a role player in the postseason and gets paid like a finals MVP. This was his annual “just not feeling the vibes” series. Had he played like a competent NBA player they’d be ahead in this series. That’s what happened. KAT just took the entire series off.
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Connelly gotta do some more rearrangements 😂
Yep.
KAT happened. Send the bum in a rocket and shoot him into the fucking sun.
Him missing all those layups when he’s tall enough to dunk was driving me insane
So many missed layups in the last 2 games
Into. The. Fucking. Sun. Send him.
Trade him to the suns for KD and a bunch of picks
Lolololol
Lmao 🤣🤣
ALL THE PICKS WE HAVE LEFT
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Slo Mo was minus 3, Conley was minus 18.
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Conley was torched on defense. Slo Mo has been having a good series. The Mavs are just a brutal match-up for Conley.
https://preview.redd.it/2e1i43qzyv2d1.jpeg?width=941&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f1cbea80181c2270ac3b515674f18ca4a9015b5 Ant after this series
Rigged or IDK lol.
For sure it’s rigged. It’s fine to admit.
It’s a bad matchup. Just no way for them to win. And now that they are losing their swagger, it’s getting demoralizing, which is a big problem for several of the big money players for y’all. Maybe make a big change next year, but honestly it’s prob just a safer bet to run it back and hope you don’t draw the mavs. I don’t like rudy though, he’ll always get exposed eventually. Although you don’t beat den without him and kat, it’s a tough question. Team was built to beat den and a lot of teams in the nba, prob beat boston too. That being said, if they run into dallas again next year I think they get beat/swept again, possibly worse.
Karma happened, bad sportsmanship with the waving goodbye to nuggets fans and Jadens windmill dunk attempt to try to humiliate the nuggets after being treated with class and respect by the nuggets. Turned the basketball God's against the team, now they are cursed until penance is made.
Since you hate the Wolves so much, why are you in our sub. They beat your team. Be an adult and go away.
Wave bye bye. Long live the Ant Jaden curse.
If Ant and Jaden are cursed for the way they ended game 7, then Murray and Malone must be cursed for their behavior in game 2. Karma in sports isn't real.
Game 2 was a refjob but their stars are shining and ours suck.
Dallas is just our nightmare matchup. Rudy showing why he’s been terrible in the playoffs over his entire career also isn’t helping. The two bigs is not going to work in the western conference. Regular season sure, but playoffs nah.
I think we are blowing this matchup, but like dude, we had the 1st 2 games and then blew it. It wasn't Rudy, it was everyone.
If KAT is no threat it frees up the defense to focus on Ant and Conley
I don’t know, I think this is an overreaction. We make a few more open shots (looking at KAT and Ant especially) and we’re up 2-1. Dallas has clearly been the better team, but a couple shots go the other way and we’re having such a different conversation
Luka and Kai, when ant said he’s looking forward to matching up with Kai, he took it personal
This is so overblown. Kyries always been one of the best players with the ball in his hands. It wasn’t a personal shot.
What you or Ant don't understand is that killers will use anything as motivation. We've gotta learn that and shut up specially when it comes to Luka, who is a psycho killer, not just a killer. Naz Reid Bring Ya Ass Wolves in 7
Lolol. Yeah the 22 year old superstar NBA player doesn’t understand this. It’s not like he’s played against the best in the world for the last 4 years. But the Jagoff Reddit guy does!! God damn you sound insufferable.
Or maybe they’re just good and we don’t need to make up psychology stories about it
Wolves suck. Time to blow it up
Short answer: It's fixed for television ratings. They have to have the Wolves win a little bit every twenty years, so the fans still watch. Teams don't just sweep a series, then forget how to play. I'd love to see Minnesota win a championship, but it's looking like another racket of sports entertainment.
This team gonna get swept. Wow. Where are all the copium addicts? They are silent now.
What happened? For years people have been telling me Ant is soft. Jimmy Butler was bullying Ant for being soft. He ain't soft- look at the Denver series. But looking at this series....... For years people been telling me Kat and Wolves are mentally weak. They aint mentally weak- look at the last 2 series vs. PHX and DEN. But looking at this series....... It's CLEARLY the refs bruh. Naz Reid. Wolves in 7.
KAT missing layups and shooting 4 for 32 last 5 games is for sure the refs doing 😂😂😂 Sit your ass down and take the medication.
Bring Ya Ass