Western Conference Finals: Minnesota Timberwolves (3) vs Dallas Mavericks (5)

Jimbodandy

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This is way too harsh. No, he is not the most intelligent basketball player, but he is thoughtful and smart and at times makes excellent reads. Not sure what is a magnitude better than a 2 cent head but not a savant is classified as though
"At times" is doing a lot of work in this post. Peak KAT is an absolute stud and looks like a top-10 player or better. But Peak KAT comes around like Peak Jeff Green used to. His game logs look like an EKG. That's the frustration with him.
 

benhogan

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Me too. But at the time of the trade Naz Reid was pretty much a nobody so the thinking would have been Mitchell/Ant/KAT core
KAT was starting. Kyle Anderson was signing. Kessler was drafted. Naz Reid had completed his 3rd year (was a rotational BIG for 2 seasons at that point).

I agree it's not Rudy Gobert's fault but hearing Doris & Co slobber over Tim Connelly's work is laughable. I'd rather have folks like ARod spin that Wolves front office PR bullcrap.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Some really high-quality posting around the Port Cellar these days. Lots of people here are in playoff-contender form.
It began in March when peoole began ramping up their posts to be best prepared for this time of the year. Sadly, a few are out w carpal tunnel from overuse.
 

cheech13

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KAT was starting. Kyle Anderson was signing. Kessler was drafted. Naz Reid had completed his 3rd year (was a rotational BIG for 2 seasons at that point).

I agree it's not Rudy Gobert's fault but hearing Doris & Co slobber over Tim Connelly's work is laughable. I'd rather have folks like ARod spin that Wolves front office PR bullcrap.
Wait, is the argument that Connelly is not one of the best GMs in basketball? He put together last year’s champ in Denver, and then went to Minnesota and constructed the perfect team to beat them, and may get another chip in the process. I’d take him over almost anybody to be my GM.
 
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benhogan

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Wait, is the argument that Connelly is not one of the best GMs in basketball? He put together last year’s champ in Denver, and then went to Minnesota and constructed the perfect team to beat them, and may get another chip in the process. I’d take him over almost anybody to be my GM.
is that you Doris?
 

cheech13

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is that you Doris?
Why win titles when you can horde extra first round picks and lose in the second round?

Forgive me if I don’t understand why the architect of 2 of the 3 best teams in the NBA wouldn’t be considered great at that job? Because he “lost” the Gobert trade?
 
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DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Wait, is the argument that Connelly is not one of the best GMs in basketball? He put together last year’s champ in Denver, and then went to Minnesota and constructed the perfect team to beat them, and may get another chip in the process. I’d take him over almost anybody to be my GM.
How it started: Connelly, immediately upon leaving Denver turned around and made a bunch of moves designed to stop Denver, including several trades that many of us panned.

How its going: Connelly's team is in the WCF after beating the world champ Nuggets.

Meanwhile we are still writing "you are doing it all wrong" from the comfort of our mother's basements.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Why win titles when you can horde extra first round picks and lose in the second round?
There is a real simple answer to this. It’s called “Job Security.” The only time a GM should be going all-in with his assets is if that is what he is hired to do, like a Dombrowski, for example.
 

the moops

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KAT was starting. Kyle Anderson was signing. Kessler was drafted. Naz Reid had completed his 3rd year (was a rotational BIG for 2 seasons at that point).
Yes, KAT was starting at center and it was disastrous defensively.
Kyle Anderson is a fine basketball player but not anybody that should be starting or playing more than 20 minutes unless against particular matchups.
Kessler was drafted at #22 and not expected to make such an impact.
Naz had completed his 3rd season and was indeed a rotation guy.

None of those 4 guys were expected to be able to compete defensively against the best of the best (Jokic). Maybe Kessler could have done that, but a rookie #22 pick is not expected to do much.

They got some stuff wrong for sure, and way overpaid (way way overpaid) and maybe a Kessler/KAT/Naz front line with a different PG with the assets sent to UTA would make them a better team, but that seems unlikely considering they are in the conference finals and just beat the defending champs.
 

lovegtm

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Me too. But at the time of the trade Naz Reid was pretty much a nobody so the thinking would have been Mitchell/Ant/KAT core
That sounds like a really awesome core, even without hindsight? The player sizes are perfect, the offense would be very dynamic....seems great.

You can generally find defensive-minded centers to round that type of team out, even if they're not at Gobert's level. So even if Naz hadn't worked out, there would have been a path.
 

Euclis20

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The best was that none of the nine people on the broadcast realized what happened until they came back from commercial.
Job #1 for these guys is to explain what we're seeing on the screen, and they completely blew it. As bad as it is to lose Inside the NBA, I won't miss this broadcasting crew one bit.
 

lovegtm

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I think Dallas is for real, but this is why I keep having to pump the brakes on them. Minnesota got one game of film, and has already found some nice ways to attack Luka. Conley keeps breaking him down by rejecting the screen, and that triggers everything.

Two fouls on KAT? Never change.
Yeah, it's hilarious. Before that though, they had nice stuff having him just take PJ Washington down low.
 

JoeSuit

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Luka’s primary defensive objective always appears to be to position for an easy rebound or be positioned for the inevitable inbound pass.
He’s unbelievable on offense but gives an awful lot back on D. I‘m actually infatuated with watching him on defense.
 

JCizzle

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Luka’s primary defensive objective always appears to be to position for an easy rebound or be positioned for the inevitable inbound pass.
He’s unbelievable on offense but gives an awful lot back on D. I‘m actually infatuated with watching him on defense.
It's kinda funny reading this observation from folks in this thread two days ago, only for the national media folks to compliment him on a great defensive effort because he bothered to try at the very late stages of the game.
 

JoeSuit

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That early TO by Minny seemed to work. I don’t think they’ve had an inbound the ball issue since!
 

the moops

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Slo Mo at the line, does his typical super slow mo free throw, every single players steps in the lane before he shoots - and a lane violation is called on him. lol
 

JCizzle

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This one feels kinda close to over. Still time for runs and stuff, obviously, but Minnesota is locked-in.
 

lovegtm

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This one feels kinda close to over. Still time for runs and stuff, obviously, but Minnesota is locked-in.
They are, but a lot of shots are falling too. Things could change.

Agree though: they've started to figure out how they want to handle Dallas on both ends. Dallas' offensive predictability and defensive weak links are starting to hurt.
 

Cellar-Door

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On the one hand...things change quick in the NBA... on the other hand DAL certainly looks like a team that said "we got 1 on the road, mission accomplished"
 

JoeSuit

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Feb 9, 2017
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My Celtic-centric wife couldn’t remember Luka’s name early this year. Ended up calling him “that Donka guy”. The name has stuck in this household.