Match-ups. That's what it is. 1. Wolves are better suited against Nuggets - the GM of Wolves was from Nuggets, and knows how to slow jokic using gobert, towns, and reid. They don't have the personnel to stop the athleticism of Lively and Gafford trading minutes. 2. They also don't have a designated physical defender like Dort for Luka, and you still have to defend Kyrie. 3. Overly relying on 3 pointers is a red flag in the playoffs. 4. Towns played scared. He was fortunate that despite fouling out, Lively was on the bench for game 4. That missing constant physical presence and lob threat was really the key to not being swept.
When Gobert is on the court it’s hard for KAT to get paint shots without clogging the lane for Ant. The three just wasn’t falling unfortunately. Gobert is still ultimately not a good fit for the roster.
Your points also explain exactly why the Celtics are going to lose to the Mavs. For your last point Instead of KAT, I believe at least one of Tatum/Brown/white is gonna get clamped the entire series.
@@Benedict_Savage LOL. All the starting 5 of Celtics are physical defenders and they have size. In the Wolves and Thunder, both Kyrie and Luka can hide on defense. Celtics big men are not offensively innept like Gobert. And Tatum now knows how to counter traps and blitzing. The strategy Mavs laid against Edwards will not work on Tatum, especially if KP is available
I honestly believe Jason Kidd's eclectic lineup selection is lowkey genius. He does it on purpose solely to create a consistent bench presence, and a psychological fortitude for all his players to understand how inconsistent things can be, therefore they always need to stay ready. That's why Dallas is having such success this year. Getting decent minutes from random counter plays in the playoffs is 1) much needed rest for the starters, and 2) a great way to make the other team's coach have to try and gameplan for you with out-of-practise players, where you automatically get the advantage.
Eh, I think Joe Mazzula does the same thing as well. Especially with the advent of how the Celtics play offense and defense. It's going to be an interesting finals but I think that the Mavericks length will be a slight detriment due to Boston's offensive philosophy.
Reminds of the Patriots of the early 2000s: “next man up” mentality. Build your team up so well, so that opponents fear even the last man on the bench.
The Timberwolves had their best franchise season since 2004, when Garnett was on the roster. And for just the second time in their history, they made it past the first round. However, just like 2004, the team lost the Western Conference Finals.
I don't want to hate, but Minnesota might not make it back here. What did we see from the Nuggets and Heat last year? They lost good role players to other teams that offered more $$$ and never saw the same success. They have THREE max players and none of them were even the reason they got to the WCF. Players like McDaniels, Conley and Walker were the real glue to this team along with their coach.
They can run it back. McDaniels contract will expire until 2029, Walker's contract will expire until 2025 and Conley just signed a 2-year extension. The core player that's going to expire this year is Kyle Anderson.
It’s crazy that Minnesota refused to make Luka work on defense. They just allowed him to stand near the dunkers spot waiting in help or to close out on McDaniels in the corner. Luka was absolutely cooking on offense and they just let him rest on defense. Not to mention they have no clue on how to stop high screen action. Just let Luka’s defenders crash into screens, immediately get put in jail on Luka’s hip, all while the big is retreating in drop coverage.
They did try but Luka mostly funnelled them to lively/gafford in the paint..And Minnesota couldn't make them pay with their perimeter shooting..Also outside of edwards and McDaniels they didn't have many players who could beat you off the dribble take it to the cup.. This is why the finals is gonna be epic.. Because these teams are each other's kryptonite when it comes to playstyle.
The Timberwolves had many issues to beat the Mavs: 1. The Mavs exploited their weaknesses thanks to Jason Kidd's strategy 2. Towns and Gobert are extremely passive espescially their offense and defense. Towns was really scared of making mistakes and Gobert was mostly a shell of his former self like he just really scared of the critics doubting his defensive abilities especially that he had got the DPOY title over Wemby and that pressure puts him in a bad spot. 3. Anthony Edwards used alot of energy guarding the best players (Luka and Kyrie) until at the point he is wearing himself down and shows zero energy to produce efficiently. 4. The Mavs got so much good players especially with the drafting of Lively acquiring PJ and Gafford at the trade deadline
Wolves pick their poison simple as that it's either a gortat screen from gafford or lively for lay ups and corner defender is always worried about helping in exchange for open 3's.
He addressed that with the on off numbers defensively speaking defense was not their issue nor was Gobert. The issue is KAT and Ant didn't show up offensively.
he didn’t get humiliated by anybody. the wolves didn’t have someone who could really match up with kyrie on defense. sure they could put ant on him but then ant would be even more exhausted with all the running around and be useless on offense. when you have someone who the other team is literally unable to guard for matchup reasons it opens up everyone else. moron
to be fair, The Timberwolves had their best franchise season since 2004, when Garnett was on the roster. And for just the second time in their history, they made it past the first round. but that season like in 2004, they lost in the WCF
I agree on the Nuggets. I think their downfall was not utilizing the size they have on the bench. They needed Deandre Jordan and Zeke Nnaji, both 6’11. They ran Jokic into the ground in game 7. He was exhausted. Nuggets need to address backup Center in the draft or free agency.
Their problem is that while it's not called "heliocentric" because Jokic is a center and doesn't dribble, they do play Jokic-ball and they need his decision making for them to have an advantage. Maybe their coach should teach them another way to play for when he's on the bench to rest?
I agree and they probably need an OG PG too that'll help guide Jamal on what good playmaking is. A lot of people thought that the NBA is disrespecting Murray by not making him All-Star but IMO this DAL-MIN series showed us what a true All-Star is. No amount of defense can stop true Offensive All-Stars like Luka or Ky, not the same with Jamal, I hope he learned that and humble himself to come back next season as a true PG.
We all forgot about Luka during our infatuation with Edwards. Luka is every bit as good as MJ, Kobe and LeBron at 25 and some would say better. I can’t wait to see what kind of numbers he puts up this series.
This season is Luka’s first year of his PRIME. Looking scary for the league. And his teamates are within the same age as him. Not to mention their rookie center and shooting guard mentored by Kyrie. Dallas will be a contender for years.
KAT’s eligible for a supermax, which the Wolves should not give him for any reason. They gotta trade him next season, when his stock is at its highest; I don’t doubt that KAT can be an All-Star next season. That will be the Wolves’ cue to deal him for inside defensive depth and 3-point shooting. Knicks have the same issue with Julius Randle. Despite all the flack he gets, the Wolves should keep Gobert. A 4-time DPOY is still a 4-time DPOY. Wolves should build around him and Ant and try to complement for Gobert’s lack of offensive versatility. A guy like Gobert can win you a chip when optimized. The Jazz made the same mistake, not surrounding Gobert with enough offensive power; and when they did, they sacrificed all their perimeter defense, which Gobert doesn’t help with since he’s more focused on defending inside (and shouldn’t, as the team’s starting CENTER). The Wolves are also a stupidly expensive team and are due to pay a luxury tax of $70M+ with the new CBA. Trading KAT will relieve a ton of that, but simultaneously they have to retain Conley and McDaniels. Ant making the All-NBA team makes his salary jump way up and Gobert’s contract is very expensive (but deservedly so). Best course of action is to trade KAT for perimeter defense and 3-point shooters/shot creators. But given the Wolves’ poor management history, I think they’ll run it back…
That won't work. Gobert is a slug on offense and Ant + role players won't win a ring when other teams have way more firepower on offense. And defense; the Wolves are paper Tigers on defense
@@sanojames9518 Luka in Game 1 - 33 points, game 2 - 32 points, game 3 - 33 points, game 4 - 28 points, game 5 - 36 points. Wolves didn't stop Luka at all. If anything, they might've slowed him down a little
The analysis was good and brought up points I never thought about. To be better, I believe there should be further emphasis on: - conditioning training - skills training - coming up with new or unique plays (this may be a challenge, but worth the investment of time) There will need to be a serious discussion on "who wants it bad enough" and perhaps some tough decisions will need to be made in terms of who plays. But with all of that said, in general, most of the ingredients are there, they now need more: - heart - work-out time - humility
Y'all do realize when KAT actually makes his threes, he's unguardable right? Dallas's weakness is good 3 point shooting. They occupy the paint so well otherwise. He is 6'11 though so he outsizes most of those defenders.
At least we don't have to listen to Antman yelling "HEY..." every time he drives the net now... "HEEEEY... HEYYYYY... HEEYYYYY... HEY.... HEEEEEEYYYYYY..."
Their series wasn't lopsided other than Game 5. Every other game was close but the Mavs have Luka and Kyrie. Reminded me a lot of the Spurs-Lakers series in 02 where every game was a dogfight but the Spurs couldn't stop Kobe at the end of games so LA got a series win 4-1. Ant needs to get better; he will. Dude is still only 22 with a ton of potential for development in the next 2-4 years.
I think kyrie & luka clutch plays is the real reason thats it.. game 1,game 2,game 3... Minnesota leading until the 5 min mark of the 4th then pressure time..luka & kyrie handle it
I think Jason Kidd is opening the door for more retired NBA All-Stars to coach a team, and it’s fun to watch. I wouldn’t ever consider myself a fan of Kidd when he played, but I love seeing former NBA stars succeed in coaching, management and other parts of the game. I think these guys would make great coaches one day too: - Rajon Rondo - LeBron - Chris Paul - Tyrese Halliburton - Jaylen Brown - Kyrie - Fred Van Vleet - Mike Conley This is just based on their court vision, their awareness on the floor and just how smart some of these guys are. Although Brown can be a liability at times (like last year’s playoffs), that man is probably the smartest guy in the NBA in terms of knowledge and book smart, so I’m sure that could translate well to coaching
As a Mavs fan they should have taken Rudy off the floor played KAT at the 5 and naz at the 4. But trading Rudy for another ball handler would be what I would do in the offseason if I were the wolves
Not sure what the wolves will do to build on this, but here's hoping they can improve on the offense and get some more depth. They really need to figure out the finances for this team though. At least they own their 1st rd pick this year. A reliable backup PG would be nice, along with some SG/SF depth. We'll see. Tyus Jones rumors have been in circulation again as Monte Morris might walk in free agency. Good season, regardless of the loss, and I'm proud of these guys.
Matchups and playoff experience was the deciding factor in this series. Luka and Kyrie have been to the WCF before, Kyrie already has a ring. No one for Minnesota has been there before. And then for matchups, Edwards got what he wanted, he wanted to guard Kyrie. However, Kyrie is one of the most mobile players in the league, right alongside with Curry. They will always move off-ball, which tires out their defenders, hence why Edwards was so gassed in game 1 & 2, until they had to switch him to guarding Luka instead, who doesn't move much off-ball. Also, give Kidd his flowers, he did plays to get Gobert guarding Luka at the perimeter. Gobert is DPOY, but his strength is shutting down the paint, he's not athletic enough to guard the perimeter.
In 2K24, I traded Gafford because the Wizards game plan with him screening was to give him the pop instead of the roll. He couldn't shoot, and I traded him for somebody. I deleted the save, and I forgot where I traded him to. It was predictable for Washington to trade Gafford. Their game plan did not reward Gafford giving a screen. I have a fantasy draft MyNBA, and I picked Tatum first and then Rudy to have a good front court. I then drafted Jrue late because I wanted Lonzo and Clarkson before they were drafted. I then went for Batum, Payton, Nance Jr., and McGee to give me an all Lakers bench. I then rounded it with 5 more players in each position. We haven't lost while being the Pelicans and using Willie Green's game plan. I even have an expansion league with KCP as the leading scorer and Gordon Hayward as the shot chucker. I also drafted Okongwu first overall and went on from there. I even had a Wolves save where I traded Gobert and KAT to bring in Dejounte Murray, and I forgot who else earlier on in the season. I like building teams because it's fun to do instead of always using the pre-set roster and teams.
Mavericks had so much injuries this season especially prior to All Star break. They’re used to an inconsistent lineup. Their depth is more on flexibility rather than big name players. They can beat teams in different ways and their roster can play a lot of styles.
@@mofftarkin6010 everybody knows that a luka team can't win with his style of play so the mavs sb blown out in 4 game by the best team in the nba so that they don't embarrass the city of Boston
@@TheKing60210 The odds of finding a point guard ready to contribute to a playoff team in the late first are pretty low. Maybe Kolek but he has an uphill battle with his lack of length and athleticism.
Tim Hardaway Jr. Is an underrated bucket that’s why tbh. I watched a lot of Mavs games this year and when he gets going, it’s incredible to watch. He reminds me of JR Smith when he first got to Cleveland tbh
The problem is that's the ONLY thing he does, so when he doesn't do it he's useless and a ball stopper. Every Mavs fan would DREAM of Timmy being consistent.
@@theophilusjones6024 You must not be a Mavs fan. Timmy's dad took a shot at the Mavs offense a while back and claimed Kidd needed to utilize his bench more. Bench meaning his son. But Timmy is far too inconsistent with his shooting, and he's a turnstile on the other end. That's why his minutes now go to Jaden Hardy. I'll admit he's fun to watch when he's on one, but those games come far to infrequently. Not too many Mavs fans lobbying for minutes for Hardaway these days, so I took a guess you might be his dad.
@@Un_k_noWN Both Luka and Ant have made the WCF as underdogs at age 22. They tweaked the Mavs roster and now Luka broke through. Hopefully Minnesota can do the same
Ain’t this only the 2nd time the wolves been past the 1st round? Their core still has a nice future but let’s keep it real: *KAT just ain’t built for the playoffs!*
Weirdly enough, I think that the irony of having PJ and Derrick Jones Jr will help the Celtics exhaust them. The lob won't be there for boston, but the threes will. Gafford is hesitant to come out to the three-point land and I think that will lead to him having less minutes than against Minnesota
@@Primus_Phallus tell me you didn't watch the games without telling me you didn't watch the games. KP, Al, and to an extent Luke are there for the lobs, but while integral, they aren't all of Dallas' offense
@@dominiquewashington2553 actually, if you watch the Celtics, you would know that Al horford's weakness is in the mid-range or having to face the shooter, not at the rim. But that's how I know you don't watch
"Without expectations" is a bit of an understatement though.. It's quite obvious that the T-wolves roster was built to beat the then-defending-champion Denver Nuggets. And they thought that was already half the job. They saw the Mavs matchup as nothing but a conditioning workout en route to face the Celtics in the Finals.
The biggest thing that happened to the Wolves is they were victims of believing their own press clippings. Denver had NO ONE (other than Braun) who could guard Edwards and like you said, Joker wasn't going to risk getting into foul trouble to try to stop him. So he scored and scored and scored (and still had games in the teens). Then he gets to Dallas and suddenly there are 4 guys who can guard him to a point, and a shot blocking center protecting the rim every minute of the game. Having 2 guys playing part time allows them to be on the floor at all times and with great energy, which KILLED Minnesota because they never got easy baskets except on offensive rebounds (which they still struggled to lead).
J Kidd does love Tim Hardaway. Timmy had a rough rough rough ass shooting stretch after the trade. But for some reason he stayed out there. Just wished that Hardy got more play during that time. Timmy a better shooter but Hardy can shoot and put it on the floor
Dallas looked dominant with a 4-1 win, but you can't forget the Wolves in the first 2 games were leading like 80% of the time or something ridiculous like that. They had an 18-point lead in Game 2 in the 2nd quarter. They just completely ran out of gas, combined with KAT having one of the worst shooting performances of all-time in Games 1-3. 27.8% FGP and 13.6% from 3 🤮 Once Dallas got that momentum after Games 1 and 2 it was pretty much all over. They're the more experienced team and it showed. I do think you point out some really good points here though. Dallas's 2 bigs are extremely athletic and have great hands - stone-hands Gobert really hurt the Wolves in this series, couldn't stop them in the paint, score or even rebound despite his +/-. Luka and Kyrie performed in the clutch while Ant only had 1 clutch performance in Game 4 (again, probably due to running out of gas). Ant was a lot better than I think people give him credit for - he had to learn how to play point guard literally during these playoffs because Conley was dealing with an achilles injury. He almost averaged a triple-double this series despite the poor shooting in Games 1 and 2, he was leading his team in points/rebounds/assists through the first 3 games, he just didn't have any consistent help. People also forget the tailbone injury - he wouldn't use it as an excuse but you could see him grimacing and grabbing at it in Game 7 and during his post-game interviews in the Dallas series.
From my naked eye that knows only the basic concepts of basketball, what I saw was that the Wolves lost because the Mavs played better. The Mavs shooting was better, their offensive and defensive game plans were better, even their head coach Jason Kidd whom I didn't think much of, seems to work well with the team in harmony. I think this Dallas team has a chance to win it all as long as their magic holds and that's the Luka magic that many are talking about.
I don't think Anthony Edwards understood how much Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving rest during the games. They can afford to do that, since they both are considered a "lead guard" for the Dallas Mavericks, and take turns running the starting unit. There hasn't been too many backcourts with both guards being All-Star level shoot-first, "create your own shot" predators. Usually the 2-guard on a team is a catch-and-shoot 3&D specialist. 🏀
Don't get me wrong I love Ants fiery competiveness, but sometimes he talks too much without backing it up, he is borderline delusional some times in his trash talking lol, he got humbled by an injured Luka in that WCF
I see what u mean but its just his personnality, dont forget many superstars in the past were still trash talking even if they down, thats who they are.
Call me a patriot but I cheer for AE because he's the next American born NBA superstar. Nothing against foreigner coming to the NBA but it's nice to cheer for someone who grew up in the US.
What went wrong is Naz Reid out played KAT and Daniel Gafford had more blocks than Rudy. Although Ant struggled he still took shots and played defense.
Goes to show how the league is all about matchups, Minnesota was the best matchup for Denver cause they have so much size for Jokic and Murray is a heavy scorer off screens and Wolves defense is strong in that department, Dallas however got the 2 best tough shot makers in the game but Ant wasn’t able to get to the rim as much compared to the last 2 series’, also KD/Book/Beal were pretty predictable to guard compared to Luka/Kyrie
Although I agree with most of your analysis, even though the play at 4:10 showed ant missing a contested layup, gobert is there at the rim unable to finish two chances at a put back. This is why dallas is able to drive and finish in the paint cus the wolves bigs are reluctant to help off gafford and lively; two bigs who can clean up the offensive boards really well. Gobert averaged just over 7 boards in 5 games, to be 7 foot tall and grabbing less than ant is kinda crazy
Totally saddening to see one of my favourite NBA teams Minnesota Timberwolves to bow out such a way while eliminating the defending champions Denver Nuggets but I hope to see them coming back stronger through a few more solid draft picks and quality signings,good friends!!!🙏🏻
lineup wise,the Nuggets will also lose in the Mavs if they ever face in the playoffs regardless,they have personnel that can at least slow down Jovic and Murray.
Y'all messed that man up. Had Ant Man and them ugly sneakers, thinking he really was MJ and rocking J's. All of the media and you RU-vidrs ruined that boy. 😢😁
Suns dont count since they dont have a point guard and center. If DBook is your PG and KD your Center, you wont win a playoff game. I'll give you props for beating the Nuggets since your team is built for it. But you'll definitely lose to OKC
the problem with minnesota is KAT, because he doesnt know how to use his height like jokic, he prefer to play like a guard instead of a bigman. If he actually learn post moves he would be unstoppable.
Yea Jamal Murray was given too much leash in that series and the nuggets just seemed like they couldn't get into the offense they had last year come off screens and back door cuts, almost like the length of Minnesota was too much
I thought Wolves can go all the way because of Ant, but Dallas had the Best Player, 1 of the Skilled Player, 2 Tyson Chandler-esque Bigs plus PJ, DJ, Green, Hardy, THJ, Kleber Mavs can also beat the Nuggets with that lineup I'm going all in for Mavs this Finals
Wolves were built to beat Joker, with two frontcourt bigs and enough good wing defenders to stiffle guys like Murray, who is a great player but not elite offensively. But against two of the top 5 offensive backcourt players? The Mavs were built to exploit their weaknesses and ignore their strengths. Add in the fact that the team Alpha is still very young and none of the vets are known as playoff performers and you get what you get.
I think alot of critics are harsh on the timberwolves. I think they did amazing to beat the nuggets but were not prepared to face a playoffs mavericks team after the trades. They will always be a contender when they have Anthony edwards.
Everybody was on Anthony Edwards and kat for their lack of offense for God sakes, they literally nicknamed kat bad kitty and Barkley and Shaq. We’re all over him basically saying that all he’s doing is shooting threes and not trying to get into the paint. And everybody has been clowning ant because he got tired out and couldn’t do anything on offense because he was guarding Kyrie
It's a shame that the Timberwolves lost to the Mavericks. Still, the Timberwolves did a really good job this year. The players on the Timberwolves deserve a lot of credit.
The Twolves have nothing to fear because they got Edwards Edwards need to keep working on his shot and McDaniels needs to be more aggressive on offense and improve his shot KAT needs to improve his shots and maybe actually take those 1500 threes a day
Never count the chicks before they’re hatched. Never chase a bubble between cliff and ravine. Never under estimate a fighter’s last ounce of courage. Never put too much stars above your head… you only need one.
