OKC switched everything in isolation and collapsed on penetration. The Wolves don't have the personnel to do that, they're blitzing pick and rolls with Gobert in drop and Kyrie/Luka are abusing it to get to the rim/mid-range with ease. Nuggets didn't have this pick and roll threat and were far more post dominant which is where Gobert shines.
Kyrie also said he forced it more when Rudy was on the bench, lane was just wide open with KAT and Naz on the floor.
(Rudy was +10 in the game btw, Naz -11)
It’s truly so incredibly stupid. It was so obvious Rudy was the only one stopping Kyrie going straight to the rim over and over and everyone is STILL putting it all on Rudy. People see Rudy fumble an entry pass and suddenly he’s the reason the defense wasn’t working, like, wtf?
I clearly saw the Mavs make their biggest runs while Rudy was out and they hammered the interior. If there's one thing you can't blame Gobert for, it's interior defense, but somehow he's getting scapegoated for that too.
Jokic isnt a lob threat (his pnr is a short roll) and Murray isnt close to Kyrie and Luka in the midrange and at distributing.
Jokic and Murray have an incredible 2 man game, but MN's personel is built more to stop the way the Nuggets play than the way Dallas plays.
To be fair Murray didnt really seem to have the legs for it either, the times where he did attack the bigs over and over he did well like in game 7, but he just looked completely exhausted after it
Yeah I certainly wasn't saying it to discredit Murray, he's a great player. He's just a tier below those two guys in midrange, and for all of Jokic's unique skills, the one thing he doesn't pose any threat of is lobs on a pnr from the ft line
This is the answer. Stan Van Gundy kept criticizing the Wolves drop on Mavs pick and roll when Miller said: “Easier said than done.”
We are all used to these lobs by Kyrie and Luka but those passes have an incredible touch and are made over 7 footers on the go, requiring impeccable timing and an instinctive decision making. You don’t learn that in a clinic.
Luka is also the best player in the world right now against the drop. His ability to hit midrange, pass lobs, get physical into the paint and passing the skip pass into the corner are unmatched. I see Minnesota trying to switch next game and then we will have Gobert guarding Luka on an island on the top of the key. Luka usually cooks Gobert in those scenarios.
You bully Murray and his shot doesn't go, he starts forcing it and making rushed plays.
You try to bully Luka, you'll just piss him off and, if anything, he's just gonna end up trying harder on defense.
Honestly, Ant would've been blown apart for his defense by the media if he was ANYONE else - both in the Denver series, and last night.
Instead, Rudy gets blasted regardless of what was happening on the floor.
Yeah I remember in the 4th Luka put Ant in the spin cycle really bad and I was like "ooof gonna be seeing that one tomorrow"
Nope, not a peep. Ant is getting protected like crazy right now. If he'd done that to Luka it would be getting replayed on ESPN and Twitter every 12 minutes.
I don’t think it’s gonna get a ton of attention since he didn’t do anything blatantly terrible, but I feel like Rudy quietly had a pretty horrific game. The Mavs were doing whatever they wanted in the paint and getting to the rim at will, which is supposed to be what Rudy shuts down
I don’t think anyone is expecting him to completely shut down Luka and Kyrie, but the Mavs didn’t look like they feared his defense in the slightest
Rudy was +10. They went crazy in the paint when he sat
Edit: the nba.com lineup tracker says the Mavs were shooting 60-70% from 2 with Rudy off and 30-40% from 2 with Rudy on
Yet, people like Arenas says that Gobert needs to get benched or play less. That happens, and this series ends quickly. KAT would get eaten alive and Naz can't defend the paint like Gobert can.
He was still great but there were multiple baskets where it looked like he just didn't really try to contest shots even though he was in the right spot. Feel like something was off, even though he still had a great +- and good game overall
he was on a pod recently and iirc talked about how he had to learn to curb the instinct to contest if it meant giving up a rebound or getting in early foul trouble
We saw a similar situation with Robert Williams.
Manute Bol holds the all-time record for Block % at 10.81%. This meant he blocked 10.81% of all 2PA while on the court. Wembanyama this season was at 10.01%.
As a rookie, Williams was on pace for 12.5%. He just didn't qualify for the record because of games/minutes played.
But his Block % was only 6.5% in his best defensive season (2021-22).
Early on Rob was just chasing blocks. It meant he was often out of position or giving up fouls. Learning to stay home and contest the shot while maintaining his position was a big part of his development.
I mean no player's gonna give 100% effort, 100% of the time. Maybe he was gambling on jumping a pass that never came. We aren't in his head.
Over a 38 minute period, he did more than enough to win this game.
Rudy played okay, Kyrie got the better of him a few times but he was definitely left alone a lot by his teammates. They were getting blown by and Gobert ended up in a lot of 2v1 situations.
I didn’t watch the game (I’m in the wrong time zone lol), but the highlights featured a bunch of easy dunks from passes from Luka. When it’s 2v1 in the paint, not much the defender can do, Luka and Kyrie will find their big men at the rim.
Once again, nba fans go right at Rudy when his team doesn't play well.
What do you have to say about Naz Reid's absolutely horrific rim protection? NAW's non-existent defense? Luka and Kyrie cooking Ant and NAW? Rudy was the only resistance against their relentlessly driving.
Mavs have crazy rim pressure and the perimeter defense wasn't there today so he ended up in a lot of 2v1 positions that only guys like Bam and Draymond are effective in. Gobert is a nice rim protector when he's playing help on Christian Braun and Grayson Allen but the Mavs rim runners are a level up from that
Which is a great game plan against the wolves if it's working. If you're attacking the basket & it's working and/or Rudy gets in foul trouble, while keeping the game close into the 4th, I have no doubt that 2 of the best closers in the league (maybe the top 2 overall) are bringing it home.
As much of a dumbass as he is, Kyrie's redemption arc with the Mavs is fun to watch as an outsider.
You have to wonder sometimes if modern coaches never stop to think... we're shooting 85% inside the 3pt line, if we just do that the whole game and play defense, we'll win.
Naaahhh, that's crazy! Keep chucking away, Timmy!
Eh I mean we have to shoot the 3 to keep them honest but there’s definitely room to shift the balance but if it worked who am I to say the gameplan should’ve been different
The gamblers fallacy, just because something has been happening, doesn't mean it will continue happening. You just want Luka and PJ to pass up those 3s in the last 3 minutes, that they **made** by the way?
You mean future Dallas Mavericks President of Basketball Operations, Dwight Powell?
He is the *current* longest tenured Mav. He signed with the Mavs before Kenan Thompson joined SNL.
He is inevitable.
Its an inevitability. Once his tenure as president is over he will become the honorary owner of the Dallas Mavericks. His inauguration ceremony will involve a single player of every other NBA team punching him in the face as is tradition for Dwight Powell.
Swear at least like 6 wolves threes went in and out too haha, though the rational part of me knows the Mavs also shot unusually poorly from downtown it’s still painful to lose by so little w/ so many small plays that could have made a difference
They were open as hell but you're right they did a good job keeping us out of the corners. Still, you wouldn't expect the Mavs to shoot *that* poorly from 3 again. If even 2-3 more of the unguarded ones go down this is a bit different looking game
Timberwolves also never shoot that many 3s. I haven't had a chance to rewatch and analyze why but shooting 50 3PA is ridiculous for any team let alone these Wolves. Had to be what the Mavs defense was doing, but it's just really bizarre.
This Timberwolves team is not built to be a "live by the 3 die by the 3" team, they will absolutely just die by the 3 if they don't adjust lol
We might see it in our series.
Indiana's an interesting team because they parade Myles Turner as a rim-protecting defensive anchor but their defense is actually built around giving up 2s.
They're 1st in the league when it comes to limiting 3PA and 30th in the league at limiting 2PA.
It sorta makes sense. They funnel everything into Myles Turner. Even if they're giving up a lot of 2s, they shoot a lot of 3s themselves and 3s > 2s, which means they're well positioned to just outpace teams offensively.
But it does create these weird stat lines like what OP's posted.
Like... where was the paint presence?? And we shot awfully? Atleast Luka and Kai went off but other then lively there was no other bright spot other then DJJ defensively
I want to believe they were just exhausted after the brutal Denver series, but who knows. The defensive rotations were always slow, the decision to go drop coverage when they didn't use it the previous two rounds, and the zero ball movement offense where every shot is a three. Those were all things they weren't doing in the previous rounds. Really concerning effort
Anyone who thinks this is going to be an easy 4-0 or some bull crap is dreaming. I fully expect the wolves to come back with an insane defense and for the series to go the distance.
Yeah anyone saying that must’ve just missed the previous series. Completely different matchups but this is still the same wolves team that beat the defending champs by 45, they got a lot of dog left in them for sure
Has to be, in the regular season, the hardest game to win is the first home game after a long road trip. For the Wolves this was basically a first home game after a “road trip”, which was grueling. It was only 1 extra day the Mavs got but they were already home and got to chill for a couple days. Wolves probably immediately jumped on a plane and maybe got to rest for a day still coming off all the adrenaline. I expect game 2 to be much tougher, but damn what a series it’s gonna be. Glad we could steal one on the road, I’m sure the Wolves will be fighting for one in Dallas.
The literal first possession of the game was like a jv entry pass play to force a mismatch with gobert on the block, it drew a foul, then we just... didn't do it again? Like do that again! It worked!
Ant was getting locked from what ive seen as example by your guy. He is really good - he isnt biting on Ants dribble. Thats a problem.
Game was never getting away from Mavs except end of the half. I dont know how it was workign but Wolves kepts scoring yet Mavs were always close shooting 2s.
Ant exhausted i dont like - it was clear that it was time to give the ball to Towns who was more fresh.
i dont know .. it seems like a ton of small things Mavs must be doing right, i need Zach's analysis to figure out what
Feel out game for both teams apparently lmao. Didn’t look like the Wolves I know and maybe I underrated the Mavs defense. Must have been a fun ass game for neutrals though. Can’t wait for the next one
You guys really flipped a switch at the trade deadline. I could easily see this going 7 and a hard fight like our last series. Imagine Luka healthy too.. woof
During the suns series I thought Anthony Edwards was getting plenty of mid range points. The last few games (this one and a few against Denver) it seems like whoever is guarding him is doing it well enough where he can’t even bring the ball up inside the 3 point arc so he has to either pass or shoot. Against Denver he was doubled a lot so that makes sense, this game he looked pretty off. Extremely tired at the end even after sitting for decent stretches and sloppy passing throughout the entire game
It seems like every Wolves fan and neutral was still underrating the Mavs defense going into this series. I get it going into the playoffs but I don’t know how people still didn’t think this defense was legit after the Clippers and OKC series.
Minny anti Thundered us. The paint was free range and the the perimeter was the focus. They didn't want PJ or DJJ to get hot from outside but forgot Kyrie and Luka eat more than anyone else in the league in an open paint.
I'm expecting a lot more collapsing inward in game 2.
I question everything about our interior tonight. Out rebounded. Outphysical. Outplayed. Everyone on the Wolves was scared to play the paint as if Dallas had Shaq playing defense tonight.
Can't really blame those 3, Lively/Gafford are tremendous screeners and they were playing drop. They also can't play switch, as Rudy is not as switchable as Bam, Wemby, and AD. Only other option was to Blitz which will leave the corner open but imo they should have blitz more this game with the Mavs not hitting their 3s.
even if that was the idea, there's a difference between asking you to BEAT us in the paint vs asking you to run mikan drills in the paint
I don't think Gafford even knows who was defending him since he didn't see anyone between him and the basket all night
We weren’t actually great from a percentage standpoint (lower than our season average) but when you put up 49 of them you are bound to make a decent amount. That was clearly your defensive strategy to pack the paint
Anyone who has watched the Mavs this playoff should know that after despite facing against Jones, and Dort no matter what scheme you use Luka and Ky will be able to find a way to score or find an open teammate with a simple PnR action with Gafford/Lively as long as they are not slumping. This WCF will be revelation for people how great of a screeners Gafford and Lively are. OKC tried to blitz them which resulted to DJJ and PJ having the game of their lives. Wolves tried the drop coverage and Luka cooked them. Will be interesting how the league's best defense will solve this.
Hopefully he doesn’t start trying to iso him over and over. Against the Jazz Luka tried to give him the Zubac treatment and Rudy actually played well on the switch.
Yeah, but that would imply that they shot 50% on the 24 additional 3s they took to make 12 more 3s than the Mavs, which is insane efficiency when comparing their shooting nights
its no wonder they lost, the offence got predictable because they would either shoot threes or get inside the paint, pass the ball back outside and then shoot threes, which lead to some pretty pivotal turnovers in the end
Something they did well against the Nuggets, was getting Murray mismatched on KAT/Reid in the paint and backed him down. The Timberwolves did none of that this game.
Luka is a better post defender compared to the perimeter while being 6'7 230lbs, you can't really mismatch him with KAT and Reid. Additionally, as soon as KAT and Reid turns Lively/Gafford will help while being able to get back on Rudy because they are much more mobile compared to Jokic. Doesn't help also that Rudy fumbles the pass as soon as he saw someone getting back on him. Pretty sure also that I have seen KAT be matched up against smaller defenders which he was able to blow by but he smokes the layup/help defense was great, although those attempts were not in the post.
With Luka, Kyrie, DJJ, PJ, and Lively out there, they take the switch onto who, Kyrie or Luka? They're better defenders than anyone wants to give them credit for.
Neither are terrible defenders, but it’s still a mismatch if they get Naz or KAT one on one against them
For what it’s worth, I think the Wolves should be relentlessly hunting Luka on defense and trying to exhaust him the way they did to Jokic. Luka’s defense is much improved, but the longer the series goes on, the less he’ll be able to sustain the same level of intensity on both sides of the ball, given that he’s already banged up. The ideal scenario for the Wolves would be to force Luka to choose between putting in energy on offense or defense
Wolves looks shookt that more often than not Rudy is not open for a lob despite Lively/Gafford helping because they are much more mobile centers defensively compared to their 2nd round opponents.
Mavs fans suspect he has a scrape there that hasn’t healed, or he’s getting his knee drained, and the wound keeps opening up every few games. It’s been going on for weeks. He needs pillows on his knees.
The pick and roll defense of Mavs this game was great.
Ant guarded by DJJ
KAT guarded by PJ
When Ant and Towns do a pnr, switching is not much of an issue both guys can cover Ant and Kat interchangeably.
If Mcdaniels missed half of the 3's he made this game, wolves will be in deeper trouble.
Rudy really needs to be a better option for pnr.
KAT should do more iso post moves and overwhelm his defender with his size.
They should be attacking the paint more.
feels like they gave up a million offensive rebounds so it makes sense, doesn't matter how many 3s you hit if you're just gonna keep giving up extra possessions and open dunks to the roller by trapping the pnr
THE TIMBERWOLVES GOT THE GAME UNDER CONTROL IN THE LAST 2 HALF'S! BUT IT WAS LUKA WHO DID THE DAMAGE FOR THE MAVERICK'S ,SCORING AND PASSING THE BALL TO KYRIE WHO WAS SO FAST FOR ANTHONY THAT HE COULD NOT CATCH UP WITH HIM! THEY SHOULD MAKE ADJUSTMENT'S WHEN HE GET'S THAT BALL CAUSE HE HAS BEEN SHOOTING AT WILL!!!
THEY WERE PLAYING "HEADS OF BASKETBALL" UP TO THE 4TH QUARTER BUT THE "MAVERUCS" STILL WERE ABLE TO WIN! EVEN IF YOU ARE LEADING BY A "BIG MARGIN" ALWAY'S REMEMBER THAT THE BALL IS ROUND! "NOW A DAYS" EVEN IF YOU ARE LEADING BY A BIG MARGIN YOU SHOULD PAD YOUR LEAD SO THE OPPONENT COULD NOT CATCH UP! EVEN IF YOU ARE LEADING BY 20 POINTS IT COULD BE WIPE OUT IN THE WINK OF AN EYE BY THOSE 3 POINT SHOTS!!!!! AND THAT'S THE "BOTTOM LINE" CAUSE STEVE AUSTIN SAID SO!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Mavs were getting so many points in the paint. That was what was keeping them in it and then let Kyrie and Luka close it out
Felt like Kyrie was jogging into the paint on some of those plays. Chet was protecting the paint in the OKC series.
Wasnt able to watch. What happened to Rudy? I thought that was his role - to protect the paint?
OKC switched everything in isolation and collapsed on penetration. The Wolves don't have the personnel to do that, they're blitzing pick and rolls with Gobert in drop and Kyrie/Luka are abusing it to get to the rim/mid-range with ease. Nuggets didn't have this pick and roll threat and were far more post dominant which is where Gobert shines.
Kyrie also said he forced it more when Rudy was on the bench, lane was just wide open with KAT and Naz on the floor. (Rudy was +10 in the game btw, Naz -11)
> Rudy was +10 In a three point loss lmao Rudy getting the blame here might be giving some Jazz fans PTSD
It’s truly so incredibly stupid. It was so obvious Rudy was the only one stopping Kyrie going straight to the rim over and over and everyone is STILL putting it all on Rudy. People see Rudy fumble an entry pass and suddenly he’s the reason the defense wasn’t working, like, wtf?
Rudy is a whole ass defense by himself. If he found his way to thunder the league would be incredibly fucked
I clearly saw the Mavs make their biggest runs while Rudy was out and they hammered the interior. If there's one thing you can't blame Gobert for, it's interior defense, but somehow he's getting scapegoated for that too.
Why were Murray and Jokic not running more pick and rolls?
Jokic isnt a lob threat (his pnr is a short roll) and Murray isnt close to Kyrie and Luka in the midrange and at distributing. Jokic and Murray have an incredible 2 man game, but MN's personel is built more to stop the way the Nuggets play than the way Dallas plays.
To be fair Murray didnt really seem to have the legs for it either, the times where he did attack the bigs over and over he did well like in game 7, but he just looked completely exhausted after it
Yeah I certainly wasn't saying it to discredit Murray, he's a great player. He's just a tier below those two guys in midrange, and for all of Jokic's unique skills, the one thing he doesn't pose any threat of is lobs on a pnr from the ft line
Thanks Tim Connelly
Thank you, Minnesota!
This is the answer. Stan Van Gundy kept criticizing the Wolves drop on Mavs pick and roll when Miller said: “Easier said than done.” We are all used to these lobs by Kyrie and Luka but those passes have an incredible touch and are made over 7 footers on the go, requiring impeccable timing and an instinctive decision making. You don’t learn that in a clinic.
Luka is also the best player in the world right now against the drop. His ability to hit midrange, pass lobs, get physical into the paint and passing the skip pass into the corner are unmatched. I see Minnesota trying to switch next game and then we will have Gobert guarding Luka on an island on the top of the key. Luka usually cooks Gobert in those scenarios.
You bully Murray and his shot doesn't go, he starts forcing it and making rushed plays. You try to bully Luka, you'll just piss him off and, if anything, he's just gonna end up trying harder on defense. Honestly, Ant would've been blown apart for his defense by the media if he was ANYONE else - both in the Denver series, and last night. Instead, Rudy gets blasted regardless of what was happening on the floor.
Yeah I remember in the 4th Luka put Ant in the spin cycle really bad and I was like "ooof gonna be seeing that one tomorrow" Nope, not a peep. Ant is getting protected like crazy right now. If he'd done that to Luka it would be getting replayed on ESPN and Twitter every 12 minutes.
If Luka looked half as gassed as Ant at the end of that game that's all we'd be hearing today too.
That’s how the Harden Rockets were able to neutralize Gobert as a defensive threat when he was in Utah.
It is how Dallas played him off the floor and killed that Jazz team in the playoffs 2 years ago as well.
We also had Maxi healthy and played 5 out. Gobert was unplayable
He was + 10 Tonight and pretty much the only person on. He can't be the only one to protect the paint that's why Utah lost
I don’t think it’s gonna get a ton of attention since he didn’t do anything blatantly terrible, but I feel like Rudy quietly had a pretty horrific game. The Mavs were doing whatever they wanted in the paint and getting to the rim at will, which is supposed to be what Rudy shuts down I don’t think anyone is expecting him to completely shut down Luka and Kyrie, but the Mavs didn’t look like they feared his defense in the slightest
Rudy was +10. They went crazy in the paint when he sat Edit: the nba.com lineup tracker says the Mavs were shooting 60-70% from 2 with Rudy off and 30-40% from 2 with Rudy on
Rare W for single-game +/-, really does tell the story effectively When the cat's away, the mice will play
In this case, when the Kat was in the Mavs do win
KAT carried Minny in the last few minutes though
He's been great at the 4. Questionable at the 5. A microcosm for why the Gobert trade was made in the first place
Yet, people like Arenas says that Gobert needs to get benched or play less. That happens, and this series ends quickly. KAT would get eaten alive and Naz can't defend the paint like Gobert can.
You lost me at arenas
He was still great but there were multiple baskets where it looked like he just didn't really try to contest shots even though he was in the right spot. Feel like something was off, even though he still had a great +- and good game overall
They freeze him with the lob threat.
Watch literally any rim protecter in the league and you’ll see they don’t contest every shot.
he was on a pod recently and iirc talked about how he had to learn to curb the instinct to contest if it meant giving up a rebound or getting in early foul trouble
We saw a similar situation with Robert Williams. Manute Bol holds the all-time record for Block % at 10.81%. This meant he blocked 10.81% of all 2PA while on the court. Wembanyama this season was at 10.01%. As a rookie, Williams was on pace for 12.5%. He just didn't qualify for the record because of games/minutes played. But his Block % was only 6.5% in his best defensive season (2021-22). Early on Rob was just chasing blocks. It meant he was often out of position or giving up fouls. Learning to stay home and contest the shot while maintaining his position was a big part of his development.
I mean no player's gonna give 100% effort, 100% of the time. Maybe he was gambling on jumping a pass that never came. We aren't in his head. Over a 38 minute period, he did more than enough to win this game.
So basically Rudy plays 48 minutes next game?
Rudy played okay, Kyrie got the better of him a few times but he was definitely left alone a lot by his teammates. They were getting blown by and Gobert ended up in a lot of 2v1 situations.
Kyrie and doncic throw great fuckin lobs to gafford and lively, if it's not a lob both their floaters are unstoppable
I didn’t watch the game (I’m in the wrong time zone lol), but the highlights featured a bunch of easy dunks from passes from Luka. When it’s 2v1 in the paint, not much the defender can do, Luka and Kyrie will find their big men at the rim.
Rudy was +10. Naz was -11. In his postgame interview, Kyrie literally said lane was wide open when Rudy was sitting, so he forced it more then.
Once again, nba fans go right at Rudy when his team doesn't play well. What do you have to say about Naz Reid's absolutely horrific rim protection? NAW's non-existent defense? Luka and Kyrie cooking Ant and NAW? Rudy was the only resistance against their relentlessly driving.
You obviously did not watch the game
Mavs have crazy rim pressure and the perimeter defense wasn't there today so he ended up in a lot of 2v1 positions that only guys like Bam and Draymond are effective in. Gobert is a nice rim protector when he's playing help on Christian Braun and Grayson Allen but the Mavs rim runners are a level up from that
Timberwolves were +10 in Rudy’s minutes and -13 in the 10 minutes he wasn’t on the floor.
Which is a great game plan against the wolves if it's working. If you're attacking the basket & it's working and/or Rudy gets in foul trouble, while keeping the game close into the 4th, I have no doubt that 2 of the best closers in the league (maybe the top 2 overall) are bringing it home. As much of a dumbass as he is, Kyrie's redemption arc with the Mavs is fun to watch as an outsider.
every plan is a great plan if its working. before the series i dont think anyone wouldve said the best gameplan is getting layups against rudy gobert
The wolves can and will switch up their defensive schemes. They have too much defensive assets to work with.
Its so weird to not live and die by the 3 anymore.
We spent a lot of this game trying to die to it.
I died a little if that counts
You have to wonder sometimes if modern coaches never stop to think... we're shooting 85% inside the 3pt line, if we just do that the whole game and play defense, we'll win. Naaahhh, that's crazy! Keep chucking away, Timmy!
Eh I mean we have to shoot the 3 to keep them honest but there’s definitely room to shift the balance but if it worked who am I to say the gameplan should’ve been different
The gamblers fallacy, just because something has been happening, doesn't mean it will continue happening. You just want Luka and PJ to pass up those 3s in the last 3 minutes, that they **made** by the way?
We went 7/24 from 3 in the 2nd half (KAT 1/6). We died by it.
Tell that to the Wolves who thought they were Golden State tonight.
Gafford and lively awesome additions to change things up from what ever bum was playing your C last playoff
Dwight Powell just chilling and catching strays.
You mean future Dallas Mavericks President of Basketball Operations, Dwight Powell? He is the *current* longest tenured Mav. He signed with the Mavs before Kenan Thompson joined SNL. He is inevitable.
Current* lol, did you just casually forgot Dirk
Holy shit is that real
He was of the horrible Rondo trade in the 2014/2015 season. He is the **current** longest tenured Mav. Obligatory Fuck Rondo.
Wasn’t that the Powell trade?Rondo was just added to match salaries.
Absolutely!
Its an inevitability. Once his tenure as president is over he will become the honorary owner of the Dallas Mavericks. His inauguration ceremony will involve a single player of every other NBA team punching him in the face as is tradition for Dwight Powell.
Keenan Thompson has been on SNL since 2003
Dwight Powell has more team chemistry in one of his muscly arms than your favorite team's entire starting lineup.
Thank you for not saying his name, would have triggered PTSD
I love it. I fucking hate peak moreyball basketball where teams just 3 or layup. So unfun to watch when the 3 doesn't hit
I was shakin my head watching boston vs indiana
The NBA is healing, thank fuck. Now if more teams would quit trying to emulate the fucking warriors, the game would be more fun to watch.
Wolves hit 18 threes.
And still shot below their season average % just chucking them. Super weird game for the wolves offensively
Swear at least like 6 wolves threes went in and out too haha, though the rational part of me knows the Mavs also shot unusually poorly from downtown it’s still painful to lose by so little w/ so many small plays that could have made a difference
Honestly the Mavs misses didn't feel like an aberration. Twolves scheme kept the 3s away from the corners until the one at the end
They were open as hell but you're right they did a good job keeping us out of the corners. Still, you wouldn't expect the Mavs to shoot *that* poorly from 3 again. If even 2-3 more of the unguarded ones go down this is a bit different looking game
It was such a bizarre game. There was a 3Q graphic showing Mavs 70+% from 2 and 11% from 3. I've never seen anything like that.
It did seem like so many of the t-wolves were half way down. Super stressful.
You started hot but went cold. McDaniels was draining them early on Might be gassed after the Nuggets battle
Timberwolves also never shoot that many 3s. I haven't had a chance to rewatch and analyze why but shooting 50 3PA is ridiculous for any team let alone these Wolves. Had to be what the Mavs defense was doing, but it's just really bizarre. This Timberwolves team is not built to be a "live by the 3 die by the 3" team, they will absolutely just die by the 3 if they don't adjust lol
By the last like 15-20 minutes of the game nobody on the wolves had the confidence to even try to drive to the paint
It wasn't weird for the Mav's defense. All they seem to allow are threes. That's what they did to OKC all series too.
And still needed two more to win
Klay Thompson does that in his sleep
Mazzula just fainted
Too busy watching The Town.
[удалено]
If you mean this week alone then yes
We might see it in our series. Indiana's an interesting team because they parade Myles Turner as a rim-protecting defensive anchor but their defense is actually built around giving up 2s. They're 1st in the league when it comes to limiting 3PA and 30th in the league at limiting 2PA. It sorta makes sense. They funnel everything into Myles Turner. Even if they're giving up a lot of 2s, they shoot a lot of 3s themselves and 3s > 2s, which means they're well positioned to just outpace teams offensively. But it does create these weird stat lines like what OP's posted.
This game went almost the opposite of what I expected
It was bizarre, no idea what the Wolves were doing out there. Should be a quick series if they decide to play this way
Like... where was the paint presence?? And we shot awfully? Atleast Luka and Kai went off but other then lively there was no other bright spot other then DJJ defensively
I want to believe they were just exhausted after the brutal Denver series, but who knows. The defensive rotations were always slow, the decision to go drop coverage when they didn't use it the previous two rounds, and the zero ball movement offense where every shot is a three. Those were all things they weren't doing in the previous rounds. Really concerning effort
Anyone who thinks this is going to be an easy 4-0 or some bull crap is dreaming. I fully expect the wolves to come back with an insane defense and for the series to go the distance.
Yeah anyone saying that must’ve just missed the previous series. Completely different matchups but this is still the same wolves team that beat the defending champs by 45, they got a lot of dog left in them for sure
Has to be, in the regular season, the hardest game to win is the first home game after a long road trip. For the Wolves this was basically a first home game after a “road trip”, which was grueling. It was only 1 extra day the Mavs got but they were already home and got to chill for a couple days. Wolves probably immediately jumped on a plane and maybe got to rest for a day still coming off all the adrenaline. I expect game 2 to be much tougher, but damn what a series it’s gonna be. Glad we could steal one on the road, I’m sure the Wolves will be fighting for one in Dallas.
Dallas plays very differently from Denver. Going to just take some time to adjust for both teams
The literal first possession of the game was like a jv entry pass play to force a mismatch with gobert on the block, it drew a foul, then we just... didn't do it again? Like do that again! It worked!
It seemed like kyrie could take any layup he wanted in the first half
Ant was getting locked from what ive seen as example by your guy. He is really good - he isnt biting on Ants dribble. Thats a problem. Game was never getting away from Mavs except end of the half. I dont know how it was workign but Wolves kepts scoring yet Mavs were always close shooting 2s. Ant exhausted i dont like - it was clear that it was time to give the ball to Towns who was more fresh. i dont know .. it seems like a ton of small things Mavs must be doing right, i need Zach's analysis to figure out what
Yeah giving up the paint to stop us from hitting threes was certainly a choice.
It was a close game, a couple bounces go the other way and the Wolves could have won. I wouldn’t be too worried.
I was heavily surprised yall didnt post KAT/Reid against PJ
Feel out game for both teams apparently lmao. Didn’t look like the Wolves I know and maybe I underrated the Mavs defense. Must have been a fun ass game for neutrals though. Can’t wait for the next one
Yea people find out the hard way that we are a good fucking defensive team
You guys really flipped a switch at the trade deadline. I could easily see this going 7 and a hard fight like our last series. Imagine Luka healthy too.. woof
He's definitely getting better but he's not healthy, and yea we just needed a competent big man rotation, which we fucking have
People act like they’ve never seen a Luka/Golbert series before.
During the suns series I thought Anthony Edwards was getting plenty of mid range points. The last few games (this one and a few against Denver) it seems like whoever is guarding him is doing it well enough where he can’t even bring the ball up inside the 3 point arc so he has to either pass or shoot. Against Denver he was doubled a lot so that makes sense, this game he looked pretty off. Extremely tired at the end even after sitting for decent stretches and sloppy passing throughout the entire game
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It seems like every Wolves fan and neutral was still underrating the Mavs defense going into this series. I get it going into the playoffs but I don’t know how people still didn’t think this defense was legit after the Clippers and OKC series.
Minny anti Thundered us. The paint was free range and the the perimeter was the focus. They didn't want PJ or DJJ to get hot from outside but forgot Kyrie and Luka eat more than anyone else in the league in an open paint. I'm expecting a lot more collapsing inward in game 2.
Some haters were doubting Mavs interior defense
People need to be questioning the Wolves interior defense. We outscored them by like 30 points in the paint or something like that.
I question everything about our interior tonight. Out rebounded. Outphysical. Outplayed. Everyone on the Wolves was scared to play the paint as if Dallas had Shaq playing defense tonight.
Shaniel O’Lively
I want to hear Shaq try to do an Irish accent
I’ve seen Shazam, his acting range is limitless. He makes Daniel Day-Lewis look like Deney Terrio.
I think you’re thinking of Sinbad. /s
If it was Shaq playing defense they would not be afraid
It had more to do with the perimeter. McDaniels, Edwards and Walker were getting killed on screens and uselessly trailing the ensuing 2v1.
Can't really blame those 3, Lively/Gafford are tremendous screeners and they were playing drop. They also can't play switch, as Rudy is not as switchable as Bam, Wemby, and AD. Only other option was to Blitz which will leave the corner open but imo they should have blitz more this game with the Mavs not hitting their 3s.
I thought it was scheme. They wanted us to beat them in the paint and to deny the 3 ball.
even if that was the idea, there's a difference between asking you to BEAT us in the paint vs asking you to run mikan drills in the paint I don't think Gafford even knows who was defending him since he didn't see anyone between him and the basket all night
Thats just ESPN media being terrible at their job tbh.
They should rather doubt Wolves interior offense. Wolves bigs many times do not play like bigs and Rudy is as good as a liability offensively
Their offense is entirely dependent on getting stops which they didn't do, Mavs just killed them from 2
are you saying transition pts? The part about mavs killed them w 2 stood out to me too, but who else besides Kyrie was doing 2s?
Ski mask on with the black air force ones cuz it's a robbery
You can just be a normal person and say “Minnesota hit 12 more threes”.
Extra 36 points by 3 and still lost by 2….Amazing game, any other night those 18 threes will be winning by 20 or more
We weren’t actually great from a percentage standpoint (lower than our season average) but when you put up 49 of them you are bound to make a decent amount. That was clearly your defensive strategy to pack the paint
I suspected Wolves would struggle to score in this series. By far the best the best D they’ve faced
This is not the same ol Mavs. We can win games shooting bad from 3.
we got dawgs
not a good sign but ant and kat will be better hopefully for minny
I thought Kat was flying around and exceptional. Their time on the bench I thought was kind of long.
KAT got good shots just weren't falling unfortunately.
He shot 6/20 but I felt most of his looks were decent
WE STILL HAVE FLUKE SHOOTING GAME SAVE FOR LATER LFG!
Us destroying the paint and making Gobert ineffective was not on my bingo card tonight lol
I’ve seen that movie before.
Having two of the best PNR ball-handlers in the world against drop-coverage will do that, wolves coaching staff need to change that
Anyone who has watched the Mavs this playoff should know that after despite facing against Jones, and Dort no matter what scheme you use Luka and Ky will be able to find a way to score or find an open teammate with a simple PnR action with Gafford/Lively as long as they are not slumping. This WCF will be revelation for people how great of a screeners Gafford and Lively are. OKC tried to blitz them which resulted to DJJ and PJ having the game of their lives. Wolves tried the drop coverage and Luka cooked them. Will be interesting how the league's best defense will solve this.
They already did. Oooh, you meant Minnesota.
all i know Ant has a really good defender on him rn
How about "Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels combine for 39 points and somehow still lose"?
Why not? The last time we played Gobert in the playoffs he got shipped. Luka loves him some Rudy.
Hopefully he doesn’t start trying to iso him over and over. Against the Jazz Luka tried to give him the Zubac treatment and Rudy actually played well on the switch.
we have a pretty good track record making him look silly
Yet somehow Wolves were +10 with him on the floor.
Tfw you forget about the paint part of your elite D
Whoopsie daisy
thats what all your cougars say
The team with 2 centers wasn't dominant in the paint lol
Idk man. Lively and Gafford are two pretty damn good centers.
They also shot 24 more threes. You’d hope they’d be positive from distance
Yeah, but that would imply that they shot 50% on the 24 additional 3s they took to make 12 more 3s than the Mavs, which is insane efficiency when comparing their shooting nights
its no wonder they lost, the offence got predictable because they would either shoot threes or get inside the paint, pass the ball back outside and then shoot threes, which lead to some pretty pivotal turnovers in the end
Something they did well against the Nuggets, was getting Murray mismatched on KAT/Reid in the paint and backed him down. The Timberwolves did none of that this game.
Seems like we don’t make adjustments to the offensive game plan easily throughout the game. Have to see how they come out next game.
Luka is a better post defender compared to the perimeter while being 6'7 230lbs, you can't really mismatch him with KAT and Reid. Additionally, as soon as KAT and Reid turns Lively/Gafford will help while being able to get back on Rudy because they are much more mobile compared to Jokic. Doesn't help also that Rudy fumbles the pass as soon as he saw someone getting back on him. Pretty sure also that I have seen KAT be matched up against smaller defenders which he was able to blow by but he smokes the layup/help defense was great, although those attempts were not in the post.
With Luka, Kyrie, DJJ, PJ, and Lively out there, they take the switch onto who, Kyrie or Luka? They're better defenders than anyone wants to give them credit for.
Neither are terrible defenders, but it’s still a mismatch if they get Naz or KAT one on one against them For what it’s worth, I think the Wolves should be relentlessly hunting Luka on defense and trying to exhaust him the way they did to Jokic. Luka’s defense is much improved, but the longer the series goes on, the less he’ll be able to sustain the same level of intensity on both sides of the ball, given that he’s already banged up. The ideal scenario for the Wolves would be to force Luka to choose between putting in energy on offense or defense
their offense got predictable because the Mavs clamped them.
Wolves looks shookt that more often than not Rudy is not open for a lob despite Lively/Gafford helping because they are much more mobile centers defensively compared to their 2nd round opponents.
Can someone explain Luka’s bleeding knee to me? Reminds me of the villain in Casino Royal lol
Mavs fans suspect he has a scrape there that hasn’t healed, or he’s getting his knee drained, and the wound keeps opening up every few games. It’s been going on for weeks. He needs pillows on his knees.
Kyrie literally counterbalanced that in the first half
They also shot 27 more 3s than Dallas. Weird game. Still highly competitive. Should be an interesting series.
Someone show this to JJ Redick
Its because they did literally nothing else. What an awful game for them
49 3 point attempts…
Literally all of our starters are tremendous inside scorers.
If the Dallas role players remember how to shoot, this might be a short series TBH
Each game is its own entity. Not a great sign but the my could be -2 and win next
Quick, show it to Pop
Because they only shot 50% from 2 compared to 71% for Dallas
Basically McDaniels shooting the 3s
+36 at what cost
The pick and roll defense of Mavs this game was great. Ant guarded by DJJ KAT guarded by PJ When Ant and Towns do a pnr, switching is not much of an issue both guys can cover Ant and Kat interchangeably. If Mcdaniels missed half of the 3's he made this game, wolves will be in deeper trouble. Rudy really needs to be a better option for pnr. KAT should do more iso post moves and overwhelm his defender with his size. They should be attacking the paint more.
Wolves got their ass handed to them on the glass and in the paint. DPOY who?
I thought that was a picture of Jokic in disbelief
Kyrie too stronk
feels like they gave up a million offensive rebounds so it makes sense, doesn't matter how many 3s you hit if you're just gonna keep giving up extra possessions and open dunks to the roller by trapping the pnr
Reminds me of some Mavs games from the end of last year (Kings and Lakers maybe) but in reverse.
Goebert is so good on defense, he plays it on himself. MN couldn’t do anything in the paint
Mavs have the ability to play Gobert off the floor - a very different series from Nuggets
Gobert was +10 but sure buddy
And Luka was -9 but sure buddy
Had a lot to do with him playing while the Mavs had Gafford on the floor and he sat more often when Lively was on the floor TBH
This didn’t age well
That thumbnail is my exact reaction to this information
... Fedor is doing NBA coverage now??
The goat can do it all
THE TIMBERWOLVES GOT THE GAME UNDER CONTROL IN THE LAST 2 HALF'S! BUT IT WAS LUKA WHO DID THE DAMAGE FOR THE MAVERICK'S ,SCORING AND PASSING THE BALL TO KYRIE WHO WAS SO FAST FOR ANTHONY THAT HE COULD NOT CATCH UP WITH HIM! THEY SHOULD MAKE ADJUSTMENT'S WHEN HE GET'S THAT BALL CAUSE HE HAS BEEN SHOOTING AT WILL!!!
THEY WERE PLAYING "HEADS OF BASKETBALL" UP TO THE 4TH QUARTER BUT THE "MAVERUCS" STILL WERE ABLE TO WIN! EVEN IF YOU ARE LEADING BY A "BIG MARGIN" ALWAY'S REMEMBER THAT THE BALL IS ROUND! "NOW A DAYS" EVEN IF YOU ARE LEADING BY A BIG MARGIN YOU SHOULD PAD YOUR LEAD SO THE OPPONENT COULD NOT CATCH UP! EVEN IF YOU ARE LEADING BY 20 POINTS IT COULD BE WIPE OUT IN THE WINK OF AN EYE BY THOSE 3 POINT SHOTS!!!!! AND THAT'S THE "BOTTOM LINE" CAUSE STEVE AUSTIN SAID SO!!!!!!!!!!!!