Portland@Wolves GDT

[Lipoli390]

https://soundcloud.com/wolves-radio/anthony-edwards-postgame-0104?ref=clipboard&p=i&c=0&si=BA1ABB8523C4465898099AFACF91CF0D&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Ant's postgame has some great quotes on how much easier it has been to play D with Gobert this year. I was impressed with Ant tonight, 32 in what was a bad game for him. He's coming.

https://soundcloud.com/wolves-radio/anthony-edwards-postgame-0104?ref=clipboard&p=i&c=0&si=BA1ABB8523C4465898099AFACF91CF0D&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Always fun and sometimes revealing to listing to Ant. Thanks for posting. Ant's praise of Prince was effusive and spot on. You can tell he loves and really respects Prince as apparently the rest of the players do as well. Ant also clearly loved the way Rudy played tonight. I think the quote was, "Rudy's great to play with, especially when he plays the way he did tonight." Or something like that. If we could get the Rudy we saw in the 4th quarter tonight just about every quarter of every game, then I'd stop talking about the trade that brought him here. :). Some encouraging signs these last two games. Let's see if this two game streak can turn into a 6 or 7 game streak.

[Q-is-here]

My god Lip, stop whining and repeating the same shit every post.

Lol. My God, Duke, do you ever have anything worthwhile to contribute to this board? That's not a rhetorical question because the answer is an obvious no.

He doesn't contribute. He consumes all the content folks like you, me, and other regular posters contributes, without ever offering any of his own views and opinions to a debate or analysis, then only pops in to shit on people. He's an idiot.

(by the way, I have no issue with lurkers and folks that don't post much. It's when the only time they post is to take shots at regular posters that do all the heavy lifting that I have an issue with.)

[FNG]

2 terrific wins this week in games we needed to win as the season felt like it was slipping away. Undefeated in 2023! I have to admit I felt uneasy and didn't think we were going to prevail until Ant's layup put us up 7 with 4 1/2 left.

I don't want Abe to get a swelled head, but almost everything you need to know about this game is in his excellent summary. As I watched a completely different DLo on defense in the first half, I had the same thought as Abe did...he was told by his teammates that he needed to pick it up on defense. It was the best performance I have seen by him. Funny what a little effort can bring on defense.

So why didn't Russell play in the 4th quarter despite Finchie probably seeing more effort on defense? I think it's because his shot was off tonight, and frankly we have better options on defense. Even without Jaden down the stretch (and he was brilliant on Dame most of the game, but the way), it was really fun to watch Rudy/Prince/Ant/Rivers/SloMo close our the game with textbook NBA defense!

Rudy: Painful to watch the first 3 quarters, but world class dominant in the 4th when we needed him.

Prince: Man, how we missed him at both ends of the court. Nice to see a smart crowd recognize what he brings us. My favorite moment of the game? The bench reaction after Prince's bizarre but creative layup. Really fun to watch KAT and bench jester Knight pantomiming Prince's combined change of hands and direction in the same move.

Ant: His 4th quarter is what an all-star does. There were two elite scorers out there tonight, and one of them was going to win the game for his team in the 4th..tonight it was Ant, not Dame.

Kyle Anderson- What a terrific signing by TC...he may have the highest basketball IQ in the league. I loved how he ran the offense as our de facto PG tonight...5 assists and no turnovers, and many many more hockey assists.

I'm feeling some cautious optimism after the last two games, and might even try to score some tickets for Friday night. Portland will be on the back end of a BTB and likely resting Kawhi, so maybe a three-game win streak and a move ahead of fading Utah.

[TheFuture]

What happened to LST?

[TheFuture]

2 terrific wins this week in games we needed to win as the season felt like it was slipping away. Undefeated in 2023! I have to admit I felt uneasy and didn't think we were going to prevail until Ant's layup put us up 7 with 4 1/2 left.

I don't want Abe to get a swelled head, but almost everything you need to know about this game is in his excellent summary. As I watched a completely different DLo on defense in the first half, I had the same thought as Abe did...he was told by his teammates that he needed to pick it up on defense. It was the best performance I have seen by him. Funny what a little effort can bring on defense.

So why didn't Russell play in the 4th quarter despite Finchie probably seeing more effort on defense? I think it's because his shot was off tonight, and frankly we have better options on defense. Even without Jaden down the stretch (and he was brilliant on Dame most of the game, but the way), it was really fun to watch Rudy/Prince/Ant/Rivers/SloMo close our the game with textbook NBA defense!

Rudy: Painful to watch the first 3 quarters, but world class dominant in the 4th when we needed him.

Prince: Man, how we missed him at both ends of the court. Nice to see a smart crowd recognize what he brings us. My favorite moment of the game? The bench reaction after Prince's bizarre but creative layup. Really fun to watch KAT and bench jester Knight pantomiming Prince's combined change of hands and direction in the same move.

Ant: His 4th quarter is what an all-star does. There were two elite scorers out there tonight, and one of them was going to win the game for his team in the 4th..tonight it was Ant, not Dame.

Kyle Anderson- What a terrific signing by TC...he may have the highest basketball IQ in the league. I loved how he ran the offense as our de facto PG tonight...5 assists and no turnovers, and many many more hockey assists.

I'm feeling some cautious optimism after the last two games, and might even try to score some tickets for Friday night. Portland will be on the back end of a BTB and likely resting Kawhi, so maybe a three-game win streak and a move ahead of fading Utah.

Anderson is my favorite player on the team right now. So smart, hoping he rubs off on the younger players.

Prince was sorely missed, glad to have another pro back. Rivers (the phantom foul calls on him are insane), Prince, and Anderson are the glue for this team. I kind of want Beverley back just to see a vet pro defensive lineup out there of Beverley, Rivers, Prince, SloMo, and Rudy. Those 5 would share majority of minutes together, and then let Dlo, Ant, Jaden, KAT share the majority of minutes together and feast on offense.

Ant had an outstanding 4th quarter. He still takes a lot of bad jumpers, but he is taking the right steps. I wish Finch and the vet players would just sit him down and tell him that nobody can stop him going to the rim. He should be going to the rim always with the occasional 3. Hoping his passing improves more, as he tends to get blinders on quite a bit.

There were multiple times again where the team just didn't throw it up to Rudy. I really hope they figure out that nobody is getting to the ball but Rudy if you just throw it up around the rim for him. Rudy rebounding still frustrates me. It almost seems like he has oven mitts on half the time, and has zero lower body leverage.

Garza is gifted offensively, and seems to have a decent enough IQ to position himself well on D. If Naz cannot agree on a long term deal, package him and Nowell for some pieces. Garza would be a fine 3rd center.

Jaden impresses me more every game. 21 years oldand guarding any teams best player 1-4 every game. Never whines about calls, doesn't demand the ball, just plays within himself and the game. He is a perfect Robin to Ants Batman.

[kekgeek]

It is being reported Dlo was in a car crash before yesterdays game that could of led to less minutes

[Q-is-here]

It is being reported Dlo was in a car crash before yesterdays game that could of led to less minutes

That's unfortunate. Seems curious though that the incident wasn't serious enough to prevent him from starting an NBA game, but would somehow limit his playing time late in the game (?).

[FNG]

It is being reported Dlo was in a car crash before yesterdays game that could of led to less minutes

That's unfortunate. Seems curious though that the incident wasn't serious enough to prevent him from starting an NBA game, but would somehow limit his playing time late in the game (?).

Not surprising considering the 16 inches of snow we had...lovely driving conditions. I also was wondering if he might have been a little winded coming off a virus. More likely, Finchie saw his shot was off and liked what he was seeing defensively from the guys he had on the floor. Whatever the reason, it worked!

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

You guys should consider listening to Chris Finch post-game more often. You could avoid some of this reckless speculation type stuff.

Finch said after the game that he was mostly focused on getting stops late [because the team was playing with a lead]. He said that he wanted to go switch-heavy down the stretch, especially against Portland's backcourt -- Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons. Jerami Grant was also a killer last night. That mostly explains why Taurean Prince and Kyle Anderson were part of the closing unit, strategically. Finch also made glowing remarks about Austin Rivers and likely rewarded him for the night he had defensively as well.

What he didn't include was the fact that Portland came into that game with the 20th-ranked defense with a specific weakness in terms of protecting the paint. That, in part, allowed Finch to put out a lesser offensive unit and ride Ant the rest of the way, especially since he was attacking the rim late, which is where Portland is/was vulnerable.

Finch was asked about the noticeable absence of D'Angelo Russell in the fourth quarter when talking about who he decided to put on the floor late. He said it wasn't an anti D-Lo decision, but that he wanted to play certain matchups (ie. switchable, especially against Blazers' backcourt). He also said he thought Russell played well.

I think his reasoning is fair, and it worked out to the tune of a win last night, though I don't think he can expect to get away with that most nights with Russell on the roster. He's too good to not be out there, especially in clutch game situations.

[Leado01]

You guys should consider listening to Chris Finch post-game more often. You could avoid some of this reckless speculation type stuff.

Finch said after the game that he was mostly focused on getting stops late [because the team was playing with a lead]. He said that he wanted to go switch-heavy down the stretch, especially against Portland's backcourt -- Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons. Jerami Grant was also a killer last night. That mostly explains why Taurean Prince and Kyle Anderson were part of the closing unit, strategically. Finch also made glowing remarks about Austin Rivers and likely rewarded him for the night he had defensively as well.

What he didn't include was the fact that Portland came into that game with the 20th-ranked defense with a specific weakness in terms of protecting the paint. That, in part, allowed Finch to put out a lesser offensive unit and ride Ant the rest of the way, especially since he was attacking the rim late, which is where Portland is/was vulnerable.

Finch was asked about the noticeable absence of D'Angelo Russell in the fourth quarter when talking about who he decided to put on the floor late. He said it wasn't an anti D-Lo decision, but that he wanted to play certain matchups (ie. switchable, especially against Blazers' backcourt). He also said he thought Russell played well.

I think his reasoning is fair, and it worked out to the tune of a win last night, though I don't think he can expect to get away with that most nights with Russell on the roster. He's too good to not be out there, especially in clutch game situations.

He specifically called out DLO's defense on Simons...(2 points through 3 quarters?) The only subtext I heard was...'we got this game if Lillard doesn't go off...and if DLO is forced to switch to Lillard there could be trouble"......which is fair