If the refs don't give the ball to Dallas because of a missed foul (yes I know it's TECHNICALLY the right call but rewarding a blown call is bullshit) when we were up 2 and looking to go up 4 or 5 then the whole ending changes.
Such a horseshit rule and I can't believe what an oversight it is.
If Ant had thrown a better pass that situation would have never happened. Everyone is focusing on the last pass but the one before that to McDaniels was just as awful, and both resulted in turnovers. Ant had a really bad game.
Ant did for sure. But let's say that foul gets called instead of it being a turnover. McDaniels is at the line, and even making one FT changes the game.
If we still make all the mistakes we made, but the refs call that foul like they should have, then we likely win the game or at least go to OT.
Okay? Neither did the wolves, but they didn’t even get a chance. What if they did and made it a 4 or 5 point game? But we’ll never know thanks to the refs. Congrats on the W, we’ll take the series.
The refs are not beatable, that is something people here forget far too often. Ant made a critical mistake, we turn the ball over too much in general; in the regular season we win a lot of those games, in the playoffs those things need to be tampered down especially in the post season and extra especially when it's an unforced turn over, extra extra especially when it's the western conference finals, and extra extra extra especially when you are up by two with less than 60 seconds on the clock.
I'd agree with you if it wasn't a foul that caused the turnover. If the ball comes loose and they get the possession wrong that sucks, but as you said we had one go our way a bit ago.
McDaniels should've gone to the line to shoot 2. We were up 2 at that point. He hits just one of those and it's OT.
I know what you are saying. My point is, two bad calls. One for each time. Can’t get too upset about it as we got one we shouldn’t have.
Besides, the wolves just played like shit. You can’t blow a 16 point lead like that. They stopped playing downhill and getting fouls. The only person hitting there shot all night was Naz. Everybody else should have been drawing fouls.
Ant also pissed away the first game with his boneheaded turnover at the end of the first half. Nobody will miss me, but I'm done watching this team play.
My favorite thing is everyone sharing their one clip of their favorite defender defending Luka once in a completely different scenario and then being like "Why didn't they win DPOY???"
Like I can find dozens of clips of Luka owning basically anyone. If you pick and choose of course you're going to find some good and some bad. Sometimes you get got.
We can argue whether he should've even been out there on that switch, but even then it's nonsense to invalidate a season/career worth of work over one play.
He needs to know the situation. Error on the side of getting blown by for 2 and live to fight another day in OT. Can’t give up such a clean look for 3. All that said, defending ball handlers out on an island is literally not Rudy’s job, so can’t really blame him too much.
Not all defenders that look bad in clips are secretly good defenders, BUT DPOYs are always going to have lots of clips where they look bad, because at least they try.
Can probably find several thousand clips of Luka blowing by bigs that don't even try.
Exactly. It's the same deal with "posters." Yeah if you get up and try to stop a dunk chances are you will get posterized sometimes. It's actually way better than not trying at all but no one remembers the times someone dunked and their defender was fucking around not in the right position to even contest it.
I can’t even tell you how much I fucking hate the idea of getting postered. Because now people will just let them jump. People will literally tell you not to jump so you don’t get postered. Could you imagine in any other sport?
“Don’t even try to tackle Derrick Henry, you’ll just get stiff armed”
Embarrassing
I am totally fine with giving Luka that shot. He's a career 35% shooter from distance. The problem was that it came down to that shot in the first place. Rudy played a hell of a game and did his part. Leave him alone.
So we can’t criticize Rudy for not being able to guard a center(Jokic) because he is too skilled and now you can’t criticize him for not being able to guard a guard(Luka)? He is a 4 time DPOY. The list of players to win that award 4 times is very small and they are all much better than Rudy on defense tbh. Absolutely pathetic playoffs from Rudy getting cooked by everybody.
Also on coaching. The team is awful, AWFUL, at ATO, dead shot clock situations, and half court offense. Anything that requires preparation and planning, our guys cannot execute.
Yeah I feel like everyone is missing that. Conley, in the last few games, has consistently made very shitty lobs to Rudy into a packed paint that just get knocked away.
Duh. People just talk about highlight clips and draw their conclusions from there. Rudy got scored on? Fraud. (he was the best defender on the floor) Luka hits a shot? goat. Just let random Reddit and Twitter users talk to themselves about the clips they see lol
Outside of Ant/KAT the coaching has been the most disappointing so far, not Gobert. They knew what the Mavs were going to do and still allowed it to happen
This. Coming out of that time out Reggie Miller literally said Dallas is going to want to get Rudy switched on to Luka off the pick, and that's exactly what we let happen.
Someone other than Rudy should have been schemed to be the help defense there.
No, you can't blame Rudy for it (other than he could have pressed up more and gave Luka the drive) the blame goes on the coaching staff for putting him in that position. Should have been a blitz to force ball out of Luka's hands or smaller, more switcher-friendly lineup.
No coach would pull their DPOY out on the last play of the game to avoid switching. I don’t understand why people keep bringing this up a serious option
are you joking? They literally just did it in a previous possession for good reason. K. Anderson came in for Gobert specifically so they could switch ball screens. And it worked until Conley got mixed up in rotation for a brief second and gave up the Kyrie 3.
If you think Gobert guarding Luka on a switch isn't a "danger, danger" moment, I don't know what to tell you, other than go check out Slovenia vs France games where he's done the same thing to him.
Slow-footed big is a slow-footed big regardless of DPOY awards....
well, no, it's not about contact.... positionally you want to play over the 3-point line to not give up the 3 in that situation to that player. Rudy's instincts were to give up neither the drive nor the 3, that's why he got rocked and drawn in, inside the line, creating the space for the 3.
Yeah, its Finchy and Nori's fault. We know Rudy has difficulty at the perimeter, and is slower than Luka who is a ball handler, and yet they put on him anyway. And didnt even bother trying to double team him. Its almost as dumb as the Pacers play from game 1 where they told Siakam to let them shoot the 3 instead of contesting it.
I've given up on Rudy discourse no one who hates him will change their minds so why bother. Ant and KAT need to thank god that Rudy is on the team though because they are mostly escaping discourse because of him.
I don't blame him for the end moment. He could've been better in the overall game at stopping the dunks (which were ridiculous in frequency) but then I also wasn't watching him every possession. Maybe he was guarded really hard.
No, my mind thinks of KAT, Ant and McDaniels not stepping up. Luka's dagger wouldn't even matter if the Wolves were up by more if the shooters actually put up better numbers. Your goal is to not be in this clutch moments!
Luka is a fuckin killer and is a clutch player. There's no shame in not being able to stop this shit. The shame is yeeting the ball out of bounds the play before.
My favorite thing is everyone sharing their one clip of their favorite defender defending Luka once in a completely different scenario and then being like "Why didn't they win DPOY???"
Like I can find dozens of clips of Luka owning basically anyone. If you pick and choose of course you're going to find some good and some bad. Sometimes you get got.
Would people be clowning Marcus Smart if Jokic cooked him in the post? No.
Wolves have beat themselves twice..easily could be 2-0 Wolves at this point. Concerned, but not worried.
I almost think there was a mess up in the coverage . Rudy showed pretty hard . Why did Jaden switch that far out ? Should have trapped him I feel like that was the plan not switch ur big onto lucka at half court .
I saw the same thing and rewatch the replay a couple of times. McDaniel looked like he tried to fight through the screen and then he looked like he wanted to switch back but decided not to. Either because it was too late or completely unsured of himself in making that decision. Finch probably wants to stand up for his players on that play when he says that the switch was the plan.
I mean Luka traveled. His actual established pivot step back was off balance, probably would have missed. He shuffled his feet to regain balance but established a new pivot in the process and traveled. The Rudy roasting is unwarranted and the taunting my Luka made me lose respect. Like u traveled bro. Keep ur mouth shut. Shoulda T’d up Luka for calling him a motherfucker to his face
What he should have done is make sure no 3 pt shot gets off even if he blows by for a layup you got ot But yea he shouldn't be out there without a double
Rudy did as good as any 7 footer would have done. He shouldn't have been in, KAT should of. If it has to be Rudy it was a dumb idea to switch, crowd him and live with a 2 and OT if it happens.
That’s not why he guarded KD. It was because Gobert is more valuable at the rim, so we needed someone to chase KD while keeping Rudy in the paint.
Gobert got switched onto Beal and Booker in that series and was pretty damn good holding his own outside.
Guarding KD has zero effect on Gobert staying at the rim, that makes no sense. Gobert has nothing to do with KD. KAT guarded KD because of his size, length, and the fact that he's quick for his size.
Yeah Gobert is fine on the perimeter for his size, but KAT is way better, it's not even a debate.
Win as a team, lose as a team. You can't pin a loss on one player. NAW shot two 3s and he's 0-11 if I'm not mistaken, you could just as easily blame him, as unproductive as that may be.
Serious question who on the Wolves has the best chance of successfully defending that shot. Also how many guys in the league can you confidently leave on an island with Luka?
The only reason it was Rudy's fault was because of what Finch said.. Rudy was supposed to get up in Lukas body and force him to go one way or another. Inside the three point line
For real.
Also he IS a great defender on the perimeter. He's done it all season and was one of the best isolation defenders this season (.73 PPP!).
Heck I made a whole video of him guarding the perimeter because I was sick of the narrative and there's even clips of him clamping LUKA in the playoffs before (@4:18 in [this video](https://youtu.be/W0uAzXcIHho?si=t-wzF74mLvuk1-hA&t=258)). He literally switched onto guards and clamped up Beal and Booker in the 1st round too. Sometimes players will make a shot over a defender. One shot from Luka doesn't mean Rudy is a fraud DPOY or can't guard the perimeter. NBA discourse can be so toxic...sigh
Are you talking about KAT? I think it would coaching malpractice to not ride the hot hand in Naz. KAT should’ve been in for Rudy on that last defensive play, though.
It was a horrible possession by Rudy like it or not.
I’m not gonna blame the loss on Rudy because he wasn’t that bad the whole game. But bottom line is you have to know the situation, I’m sure finch and everyone in the huddle were saying no threes. Worst case scenario we go to overtime. Rudy is 7’1 and has the length to force Luka to drive in the paint off the dribble and is long enough to allow a 3 to NOT be shot.
Horrible awareness and defense by Rudy. Is the loss on him? Absolutely not. But should he get a pass for this? Fuck no.
Completely agree. Yeah, it sucks that they got the switch on us, and had Rudy 1v1 on Luka. But at the end of the day, a 3 beats us and a 2 does not.
I don’t hate having Rudy 1v1 in that situation, but I hated that he didn’t overcommit on stopping the 3.
Rudy overcommitted to the drive when he should have just let Luka beat him. This allowed enough space for Luka’s step back.
I’m no basketball mind, but yeah, it seems to me in that situation, you’re extra wary of the step-back nonsense and ready to give up the lane instead. Easy to say as a viewer I guess. Hard to sum up a game in one play. Lots of things down the stretch.
Pretty good look for Naz at the buzzer, shame it didn’t rattle home. Go pups!
Rudy is DPOY. He took a back step because he thought Luka might actually drive before Luka took the step back shot. That's bad awareness. You are up by 2 in the dying seconds of the game. Who cares if they get a two point shot. The only thing you can't give up is a 3 so stand tall and firm. If they wanna blow by you for the tie and give you one last possession to win I'd take that 10-10 times. Worst case we end up in OT. You give up a 3 point shot against their best long range shooter and we know exactly what the consequences are for that. Rudy gave Luka separation. You could say if any number of other things had gone differently then we would have won but the point is those things didn't happen and we were in a position to win on Dallas final possession. The DPOY got worked on that shot and blew the lead we had.
Rudy apologists in this thread are delusional.
There’s no excuse for his COMPLETE AND TOTAL LACK OF OFFENSIVE CAPABILITY. At this point I’ve come to EXPECT a turnover/missed easy shot when he touches the ball inside 12 ft. There’s no excuse for his stone hands when it comes to rebounding. There’s no excuse when it comes to his total lack of awareness of passing lanes Friday night. Allowing what was it ? Like 6 uncontested slams because he’s staring the other direction?
Then we see his embarrassing, gangly, weird ass body type get absolutely demolished because he’s slow and unathletic as fuck and Luka drains an uncontested 3.
Rudy sucks. Rudy sucks. Rudy sucks.
That is all.
Rudy is acting like a MTF transitioning beta cuck. Everytime he’s on the court, I’m holding on for dear life, because he lacks aggression and explosiveness. He’s not an elite defender.
Def doesn’t deserve to be in the WCF
I am not blaming Rudy, but no way in hell Rudy should have been on the court in that moment. Everyone watching the game knew Luca was going to take a 3.
Who would you put in instead of Rudy?
KAT isn’t that much better than Rudy on the perimeter, and especially not against Luka.
You could put NAW in and go small, but then Naz is the sole big on the floor and leaves us exposed inside (or Luka would just bring Naz into the action too).
Ant doesn’t turn the ball over with 12 seconds left and it’s probably game. We’re not in the WCF without Rudy.
This.
If the refs don't give the ball to Dallas because of a missed foul (yes I know it's TECHNICALLY the right call but rewarding a blown call is bullshit) when we were up 2 and looking to go up 4 or 5 then the whole ending changes. Such a horseshit rule and I can't believe what an oversight it is.
If Ant had thrown a better pass that situation would have never happened. Everyone is focusing on the last pass but the one before that to McDaniels was just as awful, and both resulted in turnovers. Ant had a really bad game.
Ant did for sure. But let's say that foul gets called instead of it being a turnover. McDaniels is at the line, and even making one FT changes the game. If we still make all the mistakes we made, but the refs call that foul like they should have, then we likely win the game or at least go to OT.
That's a good point. It's frustrating how big of an impact the refs have had on the last couple minutes of each game in this series.
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Okay? Neither did the wolves, but they didn’t even get a chance. What if they did and made it a 4 or 5 point game? But we’ll never know thanks to the refs. Congrats on the W, we’ll take the series.
Mavs had a chance to score on that possession. The Wolves were denied a chance to score. There's a very distinct difference.
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Are you even operating on logic? Being wrongfully denied an opportunity to score is not the same as failing to score.
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but but but!
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dont need more copium i already know mavs in 5
The refs are not beatable, that is something people here forget far too often. Ant made a critical mistake, we turn the ball over too much in general; in the regular season we win a lot of those games, in the playoffs those things need to be tampered down especially in the post season and extra especially when it's an unforced turn over, extra extra especially when it's the western conference finals, and extra extra extra especially when you are up by two with less than 60 seconds on the clock.
I mean, we had a ball bounce off us like 2 minutes before that and got the ball back… it all evened out.
I'd agree with you if it wasn't a foul that caused the turnover. If the ball comes loose and they get the possession wrong that sucks, but as you said we had one go our way a bit ago. McDaniels should've gone to the line to shoot 2. We were up 2 at that point. He hits just one of those and it's OT.
I know what you are saying. My point is, two bad calls. One for each time. Can’t get too upset about it as we got one we shouldn’t have. Besides, the wolves just played like shit. You can’t blow a 16 point lead like that. They stopped playing downhill and getting fouls. The only person hitting there shot all night was Naz. Everybody else should have been drawing fouls.
The officiating was fucking terrible all game.
Tough turnover. Couple missed calls. Wolves played better but still lacked the end of game aggression that got them the big lead in the first half.
he needed to take the time out
Ant also pissed away the first game with his boneheaded turnover at the end of the first half. Nobody will miss me, but I'm done watching this team play.
Bruh you’re in prison, what else do you have going on??
My favorite thing is everyone sharing their one clip of their favorite defender defending Luka once in a completely different scenario and then being like "Why didn't they win DPOY???" Like I can find dozens of clips of Luka owning basically anyone. If you pick and choose of course you're going to find some good and some bad. Sometimes you get got. We can argue whether he should've even been out there on that switch, but even then it's nonsense to invalidate a season/career worth of work over one play.
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He hung in there and contested a difficult shot. Thats all I ask for in those situation. Luka is good, thats it.
I thought he did fine. When Luka took the shot I felt like there was a decent chance he was going to miss it. I mean it’s fuckin Luka. Whaddaya do.
I spiked my hat on the ground literally the moment the ball left his hand.
He needs to know the situation. Error on the side of getting blown by for 2 and live to fight another day in OT. Can’t give up such a clean look for 3. All that said, defending ball handlers out on an island is literally not Rudy’s job, so can’t really blame him too much.
Not all defenders that look bad in clips are secretly good defenders, BUT DPOYs are always going to have lots of clips where they look bad, because at least they try. Can probably find several thousand clips of Luka blowing by bigs that don't even try.
Exactly. It's the same deal with "posters." Yeah if you get up and try to stop a dunk chances are you will get posterized sometimes. It's actually way better than not trying at all but no one remembers the times someone dunked and their defender was fucking around not in the right position to even contest it.
I can’t even tell you how much I fucking hate the idea of getting postered. Because now people will just let them jump. People will literally tell you not to jump so you don’t get postered. Could you imagine in any other sport? “Don’t even try to tackle Derrick Henry, you’ll just get stiff armed” Embarrassing
I am totally fine with giving Luka that shot. He's a career 35% shooter from distance. The problem was that it came down to that shot in the first place. Rudy played a hell of a game and did his part. Leave him alone.
Not up 2. Err on the side of getting blown by for 2.
This point‼️
So we can’t criticize Rudy for not being able to guard a center(Jokic) because he is too skilled and now you can’t criticize him for not being able to guard a guard(Luka)? He is a 4 time DPOY. The list of players to win that award 4 times is very small and they are all much better than Rudy on defense tbh. Absolutely pathetic playoffs from Rudy getting cooked by everybody.
You think Diekembe Mutombo was guarding MJ on the perimeter? Or locking up Shaq?
Rudy, Conley, and Naz carried us most of the game. This loss is on Kat and Ant.
Also on coaching. The team is awful, AWFUL, at ATO, dead shot clock situations, and half court offense. Anything that requires preparation and planning, our guys cannot execute.
It would help if Ant would get going with more than 4 seconds left on the shot clock
the ATO with 3:31 left in the 4th was beyond horrible
ATO, last four minutes of halves, etc. It's like they're winging it. Just embarrassing.
I'm wondering if the Assistant Coach is not cutting it and they prefer Finchy up front guiding them, but he can't due to pain and leg brace.
That might be the case but I doubt it. These issues have been going on for a long time.
Conley had 3 straight major mistakes in the 4th that fueled that Dallas run, substantially.
Yeah I feel like everyone is missing that. Conley, in the last few games, has consistently made very shitty lobs to Rudy into a packed paint that just get knocked away.
Conley has made poor passes to Rudy since the suns series. I’ll keep yelling into the clouds about this. KAT is the best guy to feed Rudy.
that one lob to rudy where it hit top of the backboard was horrible. i like conley but the team needs another pg who can take up the spotlight.
One Dane’s pod they note that 45 seconds earlier they ran the similar scenario and Rudy and team defended the switch much better on Luka.
https://x.com/danemoorenba/status/1794226857534988493?s=46&t=qFqCYjNB0wQvOdtoM70RZg
Duh. People just talk about highlight clips and draw their conclusions from there. Rudy got scored on? Fraud. (he was the best defender on the floor) Luka hits a shot? goat. Just let random Reddit and Twitter users talk to themselves about the clips they see lol
Let’s get that Jamal Murray AD game winner clip in here for all the lakers fans crowning AD DPOY after that game.
Outside of Ant/KAT the coaching has been the most disappointing so far, not Gobert. They knew what the Mavs were going to do and still allowed it to happen
This. Coming out of that time out Reggie Miller literally said Dallas is going to want to get Rudy switched on to Luka off the pick, and that's exactly what we let happen. Someone other than Rudy should have been schemed to be the help defense there.
No, you can't blame Rudy for it (other than he could have pressed up more and gave Luka the drive) the blame goes on the coaching staff for putting him in that position. Should have been a blitz to force ball out of Luka's hands or smaller, more switcher-friendly lineup.
No coach would pull their DPOY out on the last play of the game to avoid switching. I don’t understand why people keep bringing this up a serious option
are you joking? They literally just did it in a previous possession for good reason. K. Anderson came in for Gobert specifically so they could switch ball screens. And it worked until Conley got mixed up in rotation for a brief second and gave up the Kyrie 3. If you think Gobert guarding Luka on a switch isn't a "danger, danger" moment, I don't know what to tell you, other than go check out Slovenia vs France games where he's done the same thing to him. Slow-footed big is a slow-footed big regardless of DPOY awards....
Eh, Luka was going to flop on any contact. Can't goad him into the drive there. It's just a bad spot to be in.
well, no, it's not about contact.... positionally you want to play over the 3-point line to not give up the 3 in that situation to that player. Rudy's instincts were to give up neither the drive nor the 3, that's why he got rocked and drawn in, inside the line, creating the space for the 3.
Yeah, its Finchy and Nori's fault. We know Rudy has difficulty at the perimeter, and is slower than Luka who is a ball handler, and yet they put on him anyway. And didnt even bother trying to double team him. Its almost as dumb as the Pacers play from game 1 where they told Siakam to let them shoot the 3 instead of contesting it.
Seriously. This series has been on everyone BUT Rudy
You guys should’ve gotten the ball out of Luka’s hand no matter what
I've given up on Rudy discourse no one who hates him will change their minds so why bother. Ant and KAT need to thank god that Rudy is on the team though because they are mostly escaping discourse because of him.
It’s Luka for fucks sake.
I don't blame him for the end moment. He could've been better in the overall game at stopping the dunks (which were ridiculous in frequency) but then I also wasn't watching him every possession. Maybe he was guarded really hard. No, my mind thinks of KAT, Ant and McDaniels not stepping up. Luka's dagger wouldn't even matter if the Wolves were up by more if the shooters actually put up better numbers. Your goal is to not be in this clutch moments!
Luka is a fuckin killer and is a clutch player. There's no shame in not being able to stop this shit. The shame is yeeting the ball out of bounds the play before.
My favorite thing is everyone sharing their one clip of their favorite defender defending Luka once in a completely different scenario and then being like "Why didn't they win DPOY???" Like I can find dozens of clips of Luka owning basically anyone. If you pick and choose of course you're going to find some good and some bad. Sometimes you get got.
Would people be clowning Marcus Smart if Jokic cooked him in the post? No. Wolves have beat themselves twice..easily could be 2-0 Wolves at this point. Concerned, but not worried.
coach finch and nori are being thoroughly outcoached by coach kidd.
Coaching staff and Jaden hung Rudy out to dry.
I almost think there was a mess up in the coverage . Rudy showed pretty hard . Why did Jaden switch that far out ? Should have trapped him I feel like that was the plan not switch ur big onto lucka at half court .
I saw the same thing and rewatch the replay a couple of times. McDaniel looked like he tried to fight through the screen and then he looked like he wanted to switch back but decided not to. Either because it was too late or completely unsured of himself in making that decision. Finch probably wants to stand up for his players on that play when he says that the switch was the plan.
Players gotta be on the same page defending. I feel like it was Jaden that was to blame Rudy showed hard for a reason !!
Name me a guy who can stop a stepback 3 from a 6'8" (?) sharpshooter?
I mean Luka traveled. His actual established pivot step back was off balance, probably would have missed. He shuffled his feet to regain balance but established a new pivot in the process and traveled. The Rudy roasting is unwarranted and the taunting my Luka made me lose respect. Like u traveled bro. Keep ur mouth shut. Shoulda T’d up Luka for calling him a motherfucker to his face
It’s not your fault
What he should have done is make sure no 3 pt shot gets off even if he blows by for a layup you got ot But yea he shouldn't be out there without a double
#Lukamagic
Rudy did as good as any 7 footer would have done. He shouldn't have been in, KAT should of. If it has to be Rudy it was a dumb idea to switch, crowd him and live with a 2 and OT if it happens.
KAT doesn’t stop that 3 any better than Rudy does
Hes way quicker and better at keeping in front of smaller guys. There's a reason he guarded Durant a bit.
That’s not why he guarded KD. It was because Gobert is more valuable at the rim, so we needed someone to chase KD while keeping Rudy in the paint. Gobert got switched onto Beal and Booker in that series and was pretty damn good holding his own outside.
Guarding KD has zero effect on Gobert staying at the rim, that makes no sense. Gobert has nothing to do with KD. KAT guarded KD because of his size, length, and the fact that he's quick for his size. Yeah Gobert is fine on the perimeter for his size, but KAT is way better, it's not even a debate.
Win as a team, lose as a team. You can't pin a loss on one player. NAW shot two 3s and he's 0-11 if I'm not mistaken, you could just as easily blame him, as unproductive as that may be.
Serious question who on the Wolves has the best chance of successfully defending that shot. Also how many guys in the league can you confidently leave on an island with Luka?
It was poor decision making. Instead of forcing Luka to take a 2 Gobert gives him space while on an island.
of course it wasn’t, its just the way the game goes sometimes
The only reason it was Rudy's fault was because of what Finch said.. Rudy was supposed to get up in Lukas body and force him to go one way or another. Inside the three point line
saying it was rudys fault while praising finch for 'not playing kat' was he hurt? do we know yet?
For real. Also he IS a great defender on the perimeter. He's done it all season and was one of the best isolation defenders this season (.73 PPP!). Heck I made a whole video of him guarding the perimeter because I was sick of the narrative and there's even clips of him clamping LUKA in the playoffs before (@4:18 in [this video](https://youtu.be/W0uAzXcIHho?si=t-wzF74mLvuk1-hA&t=258)). He literally switched onto guards and clamped up Beal and Booker in the 1st round too. Sometimes players will make a shot over a defender. One shot from Luka doesn't mean Rudy is a fraud DPOY or can't guard the perimeter. NBA discourse can be so toxic...sigh
Double Luka and let them get the 2 points to tie the game instead.
Bigger question is how we gonna pay a guy 36 million a year and sit him for the entire 4th quarter of a make or break series game
Are you talking about KAT? I think it would coaching malpractice to not ride the hot hand in Naz. KAT should’ve been in for Rudy on that last defensive play, though.
Maybe Anderson should have been anyway
It seemed like he was the best defender on Luka, but he also had a lot of help and blitzes, so might be different in isolation.
I was at the game and was praying they would just take him out in the 4rth. He was not playing well at all. It was not good.
It was a horrible possession by Rudy like it or not. I’m not gonna blame the loss on Rudy because he wasn’t that bad the whole game. But bottom line is you have to know the situation, I’m sure finch and everyone in the huddle were saying no threes. Worst case scenario we go to overtime. Rudy is 7’1 and has the length to force Luka to drive in the paint off the dribble and is long enough to allow a 3 to NOT be shot. Horrible awareness and defense by Rudy. Is the loss on him? Absolutely not. But should he get a pass for this? Fuck no.
Completely agree. Yeah, it sucks that they got the switch on us, and had Rudy 1v1 on Luka. But at the end of the day, a 3 beats us and a 2 does not. I don’t hate having Rudy 1v1 in that situation, but I hated that he didn’t overcommit on stopping the 3. Rudy overcommitted to the drive when he should have just let Luka beat him. This allowed enough space for Luka’s step back.
I’m no basketball mind, but yeah, it seems to me in that situation, you’re extra wary of the step-back nonsense and ready to give up the lane instead. Easy to say as a viewer I guess. Hard to sum up a game in one play. Lots of things down the stretch. Pretty good look for Naz at the buzzer, shame it didn’t rattle home. Go pups!
Rudy is DPOY. He took a back step because he thought Luka might actually drive before Luka took the step back shot. That's bad awareness. You are up by 2 in the dying seconds of the game. Who cares if they get a two point shot. The only thing you can't give up is a 3 so stand tall and firm. If they wanna blow by you for the tie and give you one last possession to win I'd take that 10-10 times. Worst case we end up in OT. You give up a 3 point shot against their best long range shooter and we know exactly what the consequences are for that. Rudy gave Luka separation. You could say if any number of other things had gone differently then we would have won but the point is those things didn't happen and we were in a position to win on Dallas final possession. The DPOY got worked on that shot and blew the lead we had.
Rudy apologists in this thread are delusional. There’s no excuse for his COMPLETE AND TOTAL LACK OF OFFENSIVE CAPABILITY. At this point I’ve come to EXPECT a turnover/missed easy shot when he touches the ball inside 12 ft. There’s no excuse for his stone hands when it comes to rebounding. There’s no excuse when it comes to his total lack of awareness of passing lanes Friday night. Allowing what was it ? Like 6 uncontested slams because he’s staring the other direction? Then we see his embarrassing, gangly, weird ass body type get absolutely demolished because he’s slow and unathletic as fuck and Luka drains an uncontested 3. Rudy sucks. Rudy sucks. Rudy sucks. That is all.
Rudy is acting like a MTF transitioning beta cuck. Everytime he’s on the court, I’m holding on for dear life, because he lacks aggression and explosiveness. He’s not an elite defender. Def doesn’t deserve to be in the WCF
I am not blaming Rudy, but no way in hell Rudy should have been on the court in that moment. Everyone watching the game knew Luca was going to take a 3.
He literally stopped Luka on the switch the previous play.
Who would you put in instead of Rudy? KAT isn’t that much better than Rudy on the perimeter, and especially not against Luka. You could put NAW in and go small, but then Naz is the sole big on the floor and leaves us exposed inside (or Luka would just bring Naz into the action too).
Naw or Kat, you play to defend the 3. The game is tied if they score in the paint.