West Conference playoff thread

[KG4Ever]

I just realized there is exactly one of each seed left. There is only one one seed left (Denver), one two seed left (Boston), one three seed left (Phil), one four seed left (Phoenix), one five seed left (Knicks), one six seed left (Warriors), one seven seed left (Lakers) and one eight seed left (Miami). And therefore one of each seed has been eliminated too. Don't know how rare this is, but I find it funny how seeds didn't matter overall this year in the first round. In fact all four teams playing tonight were the lower ranked seeds that upset higher seeds.

[thedoper]

Great seeing Vanderbilt get meaningful minutes.

[Q-is-here]

Great seeing Vanderbilt get meaningful minutes.

The Lakers are borderline likeable with what is kind of a rag-tag group of players. Yes, LeBron and AD are the pillars of the team, but they have multiple guys that just joined the team a few weeks ago, including DLO and Vando.

AD is another guy I look at and just shake my head when I think about KAT. He's been a 2-way monster in the middle for the Lakers and no way do they get even to this point without him. So Embiid, Jokic, and AD were all guys that at one point I considered KAT's contemporaries just a few years ago. All are way better than him at this point.

[FNG]

Beasley has played himself out of the rotation, but our guys Vando and DLo each had pretty good one-way games...Vando on defense, and Dlo on offense. Put them together, and you would have a nice player! I know Steve Kerr isn't popular with some here, but I admire his coaching. He's usually quite stoic courtside, but whenever Dlo is on the court, he's more active and makes sure they target him on defense...Ham didn't know what to do! He started out putting DLo on Wig since Wig's offensive game hasn't been very good since his return, and Wig came out aggressive and scored on him right away. Then he tried to hide him on Poole, and Poole looked like Steph with DLo on him. Still, I thought the Lakers looked pretty solid last night...this could be a fun series.

[Q-is-here]

Beasley has played himself out of the rotation, but our guys Vando and DLo each had pretty good one-way games...Vando on defense, and Dlo on offense. Put them together, and you would have a nice player! I know Steve Kerr isn't popular with some here, but I admire his coaching. He's usually quite stoic courtside, but whenever Dlo is on the court, he's more active and makes sure they target him on defense...Ham didn't know what to do! He started out putting DLo on Wig since Wig's offensive game hasn't been very good since his return, and Wig came out aggressive and scored on him right away. Then he tried to hide him on Poole, and Poole looked like Steph with DLo on him. Still, I thought the Lakers looked pretty solid last night...this could be a fun series.

DLO has his flaws, yet here he is along with Vando as a key rotation piece for a team in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

[FNG]

Beasley has played himself out of the rotation, but our guys Vando and DLo each had pretty good one-way games...Vando on defense, and Dlo on offense. Put them together, and you would have a nice player! I know Steve Kerr isn't popular with some here, but I admire his coaching. He's usually quite stoic courtside, but whenever Dlo is on the court, he's more active and makes sure they target him on defense...Ham didn't know what to do! He started out putting DLo on Wig since Wig's offensive game hasn't been very good since his return, and Wig came out aggressive and scored on him right away. Then he tried to hide him on Poole, and Poole looked like Steph with DLo on him. Still, I thought the Lakers looked pretty solid last night...this could be a fun series.

DLO has his flaws, yet here he is along with Vando as a key rotation piece for a team in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

They sure are...fun to see. I'm still picking the Warriors to bounce back in this series though. LA is very dependent upon its two future HOFers, and both are just a pulled muscle away from not finishing a game...or a series. I hold my breath every time AD hits the floor...I saw him grimace a couple times last night. But they are going to be very tough if those guys can stay on the court.

[Carlos Danger]

Beasley has played himself out of the rotation, but our guys Vando and DLo each had pretty good one-way games...Vando on defense, and Dlo on offense. Put them together, and you would have a nice player! I know Steve Kerr isn't popular with some here, but I admire his coaching. He's usually quite stoic courtside, but whenever Dlo is on the court, he's more active and makes sure they target him on defense...Ham didn't know what to do! He started out putting DLo on Wig since Wig's offensive game hasn't been very good since his return, and Wig came out aggressive and scored on him right away. Then he tried to hide him on Poole, and Poole looked like Steph with DLo on him. Still, I thought the Lakers looked pretty solid last night...this could be a fun series.

DLO has his flaws, yet here he is along with Vando as a key rotation piece for a team in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

My opinion is this is part of the "sliding scale" of expectations. Anthony Davis and LeBron are driving that team. DLO is a complimentary piece. And there is nothing wrong with that (except his salary). When he was here, we were hoping for "All Star DLO" to carry us. That didn't happen. We might have to go through the same thing with Towns. These top draft pick guys understandably get saddled with HUGE expectations. They are often extended contracts based on potential vs. production. Some don't ever turn out to be stars, but still have OK careers (like DLO). Fans will forever compare them to their draft position/expectations. I could almost feel sorry for some of these guys until I see DLO has made over $100M by age 27. (insert Charlie Sheen "winning")

[Q-is-here]

Beasley has played himself out of the rotation, but our guys Vando and DLo each had pretty good one-way games...Vando on defense, and Dlo on offense. Put them together, and you would have a nice player! I know Steve Kerr isn't popular with some here, but I admire his coaching. He's usually quite stoic courtside, but whenever Dlo is on the court, he's more active and makes sure they target him on defense...Ham didn't know what to do! He started out putting DLo on Wig since Wig's offensive game hasn't been very good since his return, and Wig came out aggressive and scored on him right away. Then he tried to hide him on Poole, and Poole looked like Steph with DLo on him. Still, I thought the Lakers looked pretty solid last night...this could be a fun series.

DLO has his flaws, yet here he is along with Vando as a key rotation piece for a team in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

My opinion is this is part of the "sliding scale" of expectations. Anthony Davis and LeBron are driving that team. DLO is a complimentary piece. And there is nothing wrong with that (except his salary). When he was here, we were hoping for "All Star DLO" to carry us. That didn't happen. We might have to go through the same thing with Towns. These top draft pick guys understandably get saddled with HUGE expectations. They are often extended contracts based on potential vs. production. Some don't ever turn out to be stars, but still have OK careers (like DLO). Fans will forever compare them to their draft position/expectations. I could almost feel sorry for some of these guys until I see DLO has made over $100M by age 27. (insert Charlie Sheen "winning")

Understood, but I would argue that had KAT been healthy all year, DLO would have evolved into a complimentary piece in Minnesota as well this past season. His shot-making and ability to space the floor next to Ant in the waning weeks of his tenure were actually quite helpful to the offense.

I'm not knocking the trade we made, but my point is these guys who we pile all the blame on while here in Minnesota - Love, Rubio, Wiggins, DLO - often go on to be quite successful as equal or even lesser players on other teams. Again, I don't want to go rehash the merits of all these trades at the time they were made.

But relating this back to KAT....why can't he become a clear # 2 or potentially #3 guy while still in Minnesota? Why can this only happen if he moves elsewhere? Is he really blocking Ant's development? It certainly didn't look that way in the playoffs!

[Carlos Danger]

DLO has his flaws, yet here he is along with Vando as a key rotation piece for a team in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

My opinion is this is part of the "sliding scale" of expectations. Anthony Davis and LeBron are driving that team. DLO is a complimentary piece. And there is nothing wrong with that (except his salary). When he was here, we were hoping for "All Star DLO" to carry us. That didn't happen. We might have to go through the same thing with Towns. These top draft pick guys understandably get saddled with HUGE expectations. They are often extended contracts based on potential vs. production. Some don't ever turn out to be stars, but still have OK careers (like DLO). Fans will forever compare them to their draft position/expectations. I could almost feel sorry for some of these guys until I see DLO has made over $100M by age 27. (insert Charlie Sheen "winning")

Understood, but I would argue that had KAT been healthy all year, DLO would have evolved into a complimentary piece in Minnesota as well this past season. His shot-making and ability to space the floor next to Ant in the waning weeks of his tenure were actually quite helpful to the offense.

I'm not knocking the trade we made, but my point is these guys who we pile all the blame on while here in Minnesota - Love, Rubio, Wiggins, DLO - often go on to be quite successful as equal or even lesser players on other teams. Again, I don't want to go rehash the merits of all these trades at the time they were made.

But relating this back to KAT....why can't he become a clear # 2 or potentially #3 guy while still in Minnesota? Why can this only happen if he moves elsewhere? Is he really blocking Ant's development? It certainly didn't look that way in the playoffs!

Oh - I don't disagree with anything you wrote. I was just approaching it from the expectations standpoint based on draft position and salary. I've often said many of us would have a different opinion on DLO had he been paid half of what he was making. But with max salaries comes max expectations. I have a hard time paying a guy max (or Super Max) to be second fiddle or 3rd option.

[Q-is-here]

My opinion is this is part of the "sliding scale" of expectations. Anthony Davis and LeBron are driving that team. DLO is a complimentary piece. And there is nothing wrong with that (except his salary). When he was here, we were hoping for "All Star DLO" to carry us. That didn't happen. We might have to go through the same thing with Towns. These top draft pick guys understandably get saddled with HUGE expectations. They are often extended contracts based on potential vs. production. Some don't ever turn out to be stars, but still have OK careers (like DLO). Fans will forever compare them to their draft position/expectations. I could almost feel sorry for some of these guys until I see DLO has made over $100M by age 27. (insert Charlie Sheen "winning")

Understood, but I would argue that had KAT been healthy all year, DLO would have evolved into a complimentary piece in Minnesota as well this past season. His shot-making and ability to space the floor next to Ant in the waning weeks of his tenure were actually quite helpful to the offense.

I'm not knocking the trade we made, but my point is these guys who we pile all the blame on while here in Minnesota - Love, Rubio, Wiggins, DLO - often go on to be quite successful as equal or even lesser players on other teams. Again, I don't want to go rehash the merits of all these trades at the time they were made.

But relating this back to KAT....why can't he become a clear # 2 or potentially #3 guy while still in Minnesota? Why can this only happen if he moves elsewhere? Is he really blocking Ant's development? It certainly didn't look that way in the playoffs!

Oh - I don't disagree with anything you wrote. I was just approaching it from the expectations standpoint based on draft position and salary. I've often said many of us would have a different opinion on DLO had he been paid half of what he was making. But with max salaries comes max expectations. I have a hard time paying a guy max (or Super Max) to be second fiddle or 3rd option.

Understood. I guess I'm curious if the player involved, the organization involved, and the fanbase can collectively forget about the past expectations, accept the player for who he really is, and then adapt as needed without always feeling like the player needs to be traded. I know you're not necessarily saying that KAT must be traded, but it seems like that is often the conclusion fans come to, i.e. "he needs a fresh start!". Yet the Wolves in the long run never seem to benefit much on these "fresh start" deals!

And while you may have a hard time paying these underachievers big money, somehow Golden State had no problem paying Wiggins the max for being a role player, L.A. has no problem paying DLO big money to be part of their supporting cast, and Cleveland had no issue paying Kevin Love big money (at the time) to be the 3rd wheel on a championship team.