NBA Finals

[Lipoli390]

Gotta love how the Bucks are playing tonight. Giannis is so mentally tough. He has that iron will that all the truly great players have. He becomes unstoppable. And he's even got himself in a zone where he's hitting his free throws. He's the type of player I want the Wolves to find. Maybe Bolmaro will be that sort of guy - not as good as Giannis obviously, but the same type of mental toughness and competitiveness, perhaps at Manu's level. I'm not interested in mentally soft players like Ben Simmons. When he passed up that dunk in favor of passing the ball, that's all I needed to know.

[kekgeek]

Jeff Teague still brings me pain. Missing 2 FTs and a layup late to have me miss the over by a half of a point

[Lipoli390]

Jeff Teague still brings me pain. Missing 2 FTs and a layup late to have me miss the over by a half of a point

Lol. I'm sure Wiggins will do something similar to at some point too. :)

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I still think the Suns

Gotta love how the Bucks are playing tonight. Giannis is so mentally tough. He has that iron will that all the truly great players have. He becomes unstoppable. And he's even got himself in a zone where he's hitting his free throws. He's the type of player I want the Wolves to find. Maybe Bolmaro will be that sort of guy - not as good as Giannis obviously, but the same type of mental toughness and competitiveness, perhaps at Manu's level. I'm not interested in mentally soft players like Ben Simmons. When he passed up that dunk in favor of passing the ball, that's all I needed to know.

Don't forget the Bucks bringing in PJ Tucker and your guy Portis. They add some much-needed toughness and intensity. For Phoenix, Jae Crowder and Chris Paul bring an edge that some of the other guys don't necessarily have. So both teams have done a really nice job drafting their own guys and then filling in around them with real competitors.

Unfortunately, I don't see the Wolves getting that kind of intensity from KAT or DLO (KAT loses control of his emotions and flops about like a fish out of water when he gets all revved up). Edwards is still a baby (age-wise), but may be someday....

[FNG]

Gotta love how the Bucks are playing tonight. Giannis is so mentally tough. He has that iron will that all the truly great players have. He becomes unstoppable. And he's even got himself in a zone where he's hitting his free throws. He's the type of player I want the Wolves to find. Maybe Bolmaro will be that sort of guy - not as good as Giannis obviously, but the same type of mental toughness and competitiveness, perhaps at Manu's level. I'm not interested in mentally soft players like Ben Simmons. When he passed up that dunk in favor of passing the ball, that's all I needed to know.

I agree that the Wolves need more toughness, but I disagree that Simmons is soft. You aren't in the conversation for best defensive player in the NBA (I personally think he is a better defender than Giannis) if you are soft. The dunk he passed up was an absurdly bad play, but it was about poor court awareness not mental softness...and it was a one-off because nobody has ever accused Ben of having poor court awareness. He has talked about that play and said he assumed Collins was behind him ready to stuff him, so a pass to an open guy was the better option. Obviously he was wrong and looked silly passing up the dunk, but that one play may turn out to be the play that turns the Wolves into a good defensive team. There's no way we had the assets that would have brought Simmons to us prior to that tragic play, but he is in such disfavor now with the Philly fan base, two defensively challenged players like DLO and Beasley might be enough. I know you're not in favor of the deal and it's unlikely Rosas can get it done and I'm afraid we will be saddled with DLO until the end of his contract, but I would love to see my Wolves be transformed into a solid defensive team...and trading two guys who can't defend for the best defender in the league would be a nice start.

[Monster]

Giannis tends to be more effective when he is playing more like a big than an iso wing. Regardless he has been fantastic in this series. Watching Ayton and even to some extent Giannis is convincing me more Towns needs to learn how to play better of the ball going to the rim.

Ayton did get into foul trouble and that was a factor in this game.

Looks like we have a series folks.

[Lipoli390]

In game 3, Giannis imposed his will on the game and carried his team to victory. Tonight, Booker is imposing his will and has the Suns up by 6 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Trae Young did it a number of times for the Hawks. The question for Wolves fans is, who (if anyone) on the current roster could emerge as that guy for the Wolves. Right now, I think the best candidate to become that guy is Anthony Edwards. DLO and KAT will have their moments in that role, but Edwards is the key. He can become our Booker.

[Lipoli390]

Great win for the Bucks tonight. Giannis was great again even though he wasn't scoring like he had been the past two games. He did other things on both ends that were critical to the Bucks win tonight. But you can't say enough about Middleton - the way he played tonight and the way he's played throughout the playoffs. Holiday can be pretty frustrating on the offensive end with his poor shooting and sometimes loose handle. But that guy really, really defends.

Two terrific teams are giving us a great series.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

In game 3, Giannis imposed his will on the game and carried his team to victory. Tonight, Booker is imposing his will and has the Suns up by 6 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Trae Young did it a number of times for the Hawks. The question for Wolves fans is, who (if anyone) on the current roster could emerge as that guy for the Wolves. Right now, I think the best candidate to become that guy is Anthony Edwards. DLO and KAT will have their moments in that role, but Edwards is the key. He can become our Booker.

The thing I find interesting is how critical the mid-range game is for these shot makers. Middleton and Booker time and time again were forced to take and make shots from 6-20 feet. Edwards was NOT good pulling up off the dribble when going down hill. He's going to need to develop that shot. He may not need to get as good as Middleton or Booker, but he needs to get better in the mid-range off the bounce. He may already be better than both guys at getting all the way to the rack, but defenses will certainly play drop coverage on him in a playoff scenario.

[Lipoli390]

In game 3, Giannis imposed his will on the game and carried his team to victory. Tonight, Booker is imposing his will and has the Suns up by 6 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Trae Young did it a number of times for the Hawks. The question for Wolves fans is, who (if anyone) on the current roster could emerge as that guy for the Wolves. Right now, I think the best candidate to become that guy is Anthony Edwards. DLO and KAT will have their moments in that role, but Edwards is the key. He can become our Booker.

The thing I find interesting is how critical the mid-range game is for these shot makers. Middleton and Booker time and time again were forced to take and make shots from 6-20 feet. Edwards was NOT good pulling up off the dribble when going down hill. He's going to need to develop that shot. He may not need to get as good as Middleton or Booker, but he needs to get better in the mid-range off the bounce. He may already be better than both guys at getting all the way to the rack, but defenses will certainly play drop coverage on him in a playoff scenario.

I was thinking the same thing Q. The mid-range game has been critical for Middleton and Booker this series and throughout the playoffs. It's actually been critical for all the great players in just about every playoff game this year. Booker, Middleton, Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, Trae Young -- all those guys have depended a lot on mid-range jumpers off the bounce and floaters throughout the playoffs. And yes, that's an area of Ant's game that hasn't yet developed. I agree it will be key to his success, no matter how good he is at getting to the rack.