Around the NBA (non-Wolves talk)

[Lipoli390]

Another great battle between the Sixers and Heat. The Sixers are hanging on to a 6 point lead with about 4 minutes to go. The Sixers are so talented and deep.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Another great battle between the Sixers and Heat. The Sixers are hanging on to a 6 point lead with about 4 minutes to go. The Sixers are so talented and deep.

Embiid is such a freakin' monster. He's raw in some ways still, but his mere presence on the floor makes an impact, especially on defense. And Simmons....so smooth. And the way he can operate effectively without a reliable jumper. Reddick was the PERFECT guy to put next to him in the back court.

And Miami....play their asses off. Love how hard they play. They just don't have the sheer talent.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Utah with some crazy playoff color scheme....or did I miss something during the regular season?

[kekgeek]

Rubio is going off. Happy for him

[Monster]

Utah with some crazy playoff color scheme....or did I miss something during the regular season?

You did. I don't really get why they selected those colors but I sorta like the look. Nice sequence for the Jazz with Rubio hitting that 3 for finish the 3rd but it hasn't been a good start to the 4th.

And...then the jazz go on a run and Rubio gets a triple double.

[Lipoli390]

How about the Jazz and Ricky Rubio? Ricky with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists along with 2 steals. He's been tremendous for the Jazz this season and so far in the playoffs. The Jazz are a joy to watch. They play a beautiful brand of basketball. The ball moves and Ricky orchestrates the offense like a great conductor. I'd still take Ricky over Teague, but the guys I'd really like to have on the Wolves are Mitchell, Gobert and Ingles. And the guy we could use the most would be Ingles. He is such a terrific 3-point shooter as we all know, but he's also a very good defender and terrific teammate.

[KiwiMatt]

Are we just going to ignore the fact the Pelicans just swept the Blazers? AD with 47 points and Jrue Holiday with 41 points. All this without Demarcus Cousins (coincidence or not)?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Are we just going to ignore the fact the Pelicans just swept the Blazers? AD with 47 points and Jrue Holiday with 41 points. All this without Demarcus Cousins (coincidence or not)?

It's pretty amazing how well they have played without Cousins....or may be not. His absence, along with the addition of Rondo, has allowed Jrue Holiday to really blossom into a big time scoring guard. That's tough to do when you are the full time PG with mouths to feed like Davis and Cousins.. They have just achieved a really nice balance now with a guard and a big as their two main scorers, surrounded by a bunch of other guys whose strengths have been maximized (Mirotic, Rondo, etc.).

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

How about the Jazz and Ricky Rubio? Ricky with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists along with 2 steals. He's been tremendous for the Jazz this season and so far in the playoffs. The Jazz are a joy to watch. They play a beautiful brand of basketball. The ball moves and Ricky orchestrates the offense like a great conductor. I'd still take Ricky over Teague, but the guys I'd really like to have on the Wolves are Mitchell, Gobert and Ingles. And the guy we could use the most would be Ingles. He is such a terrific 3-point shooter as we all know, but he's also a very good defender and terrific teammate.

Ingles was a guy I was hoping the Wolves would pursue hard this past offseason. He would have been PERFECT for us. Oh well.

And what can you say about Khansy's favorite PG Ricky Rubio? He's basically been their best player over the past two wins. I don't know if he will keep it up, but the idea that Ricky was going to be this huge liability in playoff basketball hasn't seemed to play out yet.

[Lipoli390]

How about the Jazz and Ricky Rubio? Ricky with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists along with 2 steals. He's been tremendous for the Jazz this season and so far in the playoffs. The Jazz are a joy to watch. They play a beautiful brand of basketball. The ball moves and Ricky orchestrates the offense like a great conductor. I'd still take Ricky over Teague, but the guys I'd really like to have on the Wolves are Mitchell, Gobert and Ingles. And the guy we could use the most would be Ingles. He is such a terrific 3-point shooter as we all know, but he's also a very good defender and terrific teammate.

Ingles was a guy I was hoping the Wolves would pursue hard this past offseason. He would have been PERFECT for us. Oh well.

And what can you say about Khansy's favorite PG Ricky Rubio? He's basically been their best player over the past two wins. I don't know if he will keep it up, but the idea that Ricky was going to be this huge liability in playoff basketball hasn't seemed to play out yet.

Ricky shot 40.8% from the field and 35.2% from the 3-point line this season. Many of us always thought he needed to get his shooting somewhere near those benchmarks to be effectively neutralize his one weakness. With all the other things he does, including his rebounding and playmaking, getting his shooting to those thresholds makes him a championship caliber PG al la Rondo or Jason Kidd. Unfortunately for Utah, they don't have the talent around him to compete for a championship. But they're a fun team to watch and an easy team to root for.