Lip was right

[rapsuperstar31]

Really the only worry I still have about Rudy, is the eventual hack-a-Rudy we are going to see at some point in the playoffs. Rudy can be very solid from the ft line, and can miss 8 in a row. Recently it seem like he has been pretty solid, so I hope that continues.

[FNG]

The initial thesis of this thread was less about Rudy being played off the floor defensively and more about the offense with Rudy...that teams will go small and bait the Wolves to force feed him the ball inside only for him to fumble it away, clog driving lanes, miss free throws, etc. Obviously that didn't happen yesterday, so in that sense, Rudy has held up his end of the bargain on both ends of the court by willingly contesting perimeter shooters on defense and being secure with the ball and hitting his FTAs yesterday.

(there was that one very clumsy high pick and roll where Ant made the pass to Rudy and it promptly got stolen from him. It was probably one of the more robotic pick and roll passes I've seen, as Ant just struggles so much with making clean interior passes to a rolling Rudy).

Yeah, Rudy's impact on offense was the theme of this thread. I just wanted to point out that the national media had more concerns about the Twin Towers working defensively against a versatile shooting team than they did about his impact on offense. It's only one game, but it is heartening to see that Rudy was every bit as effective in a playoff game as he was during the regular season.

[Q-is-here]

The initial thesis of this thread was less about Rudy being played off the floor defensively and more about the offense with Rudy...that teams will go small and bait the Wolves to force feed him the ball inside only for him to fumble it away, clog driving lanes, miss free throws, etc. Obviously that didn't happen yesterday, so in that sense, Rudy has held up his end of the bargain on both ends of the court by willingly contesting perimeter shooters on defense and being secure with the ball and hitting his FTAs yesterday.

(there was that one very clumsy high pick and roll where Ant made the pass to Rudy and it promptly got stolen from him. It was probably one of the more robotic pick and roll passes I've seen, as Ant just struggles so much with making clean interior passes to a rolling Rudy).

Yeah, Rudy's impact on offense was the theme of this thread. I just wanted to point out that the national media had more concerns about the Twin Towers working defensively against a versatile shooting team than they did about his impact on offense. It's only one game, but it is heartening to see that Rudy was every bit as effective in a playoff game as he was during the regular season.

Agree and I still think it's a legitimate concern. Rudy certainly has dis-spelled any concerns about his ability to guard out on the perimeter or be put on an island. The issue is that when you play two bigs, you are collectively slower in transition and in defensive rotations. So it's less a Rudy thing specifically and more of a Rudy + another Big thing. Again, things worked out yesterday, but let's not forget that we saw very little of KAT in the second half yesterday.....and that was with SloMo hurt.

[Porckchop]

The Gobert trade looks even better when you consider how awful the upcoming draft class appears to be.

[TAFKASP]

The Gobert trade looks even better when you consider how awful the upcoming draft class appears to be.

How so? The Wolves retain their pick this year.

[Porckchop]

I thought they traded this years pick, no?

[Sundog]

Well, Q, here is the central thesis in the very first post in this thread:

“You can't build a contender with Rudy Gobert as your starting Center. I'm not sure this is even controversial on this board, but I'll speak for myself in thinking that it was possible. I've seen enough - it's not. He can easily be game-planned for in a playoff or Finals series as long as the opposing team has the right personnel.”

It strikes that’s pretty definitive— you’re saying it’s not possible to build a contender with Rudy as starting center, you’d seen enough back in November. I don’t know, man, but it strikes me that we’ve seen a lot more of Rudy since then. The other day you said “So it's less a Rudy thing specifically and more of a Rudy + another Big thing.”

I don’t really know what you’re saying on this anymore… could you clarify?

[kekgeek]

I thought they traded this years pick, no?

Wolves have their pick this year.

They traded 23 (George), 25, swap rights in 26, 27 and 29 (top 5 protected)

[Q-is-here]

Well, Q, here is the central thesis in the very first post in this thread:

“You can't build a contender with Rudy Gobert as your starting Center. I'm not sure this is even controversial on this board, but I'll speak for myself in thinking that it was possible. I've seen enough - it's not. He can easily be game-planned for in a playoff or Finals series as long as the opposing team has the right personnel.”

It strikes that’s pretty definitive— you’re saying it’s not possible to build a contender with Rudy as starting center, you’d seen enough back in November. I don’t know, man, but it strikes me that we’ve seen a lot more of Rudy since then. The other day you said “So it's less a Rudy thing specifically and more of a Rudy + another Big thing.”

I don’t really know what you’re saying on this anymore… could you clarify?

My thesis hasn't changed and it's largely based on how we do offensively with Rudy, not defense. The quote above about not being a Rudy thing has to do with our defense against Phoenix. I think Phoenix can exploit a two-big defense. They were obviously unsuccessful last night and I hope to be proven wrong again in the next game!

Below was my second post on this topic after I started the thread back in November. I think it's a pretty balanced take and not overly negative, but you obviously felt otherwise at the time.

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Q-is-here » Sat Nov 18, 2023 4:17 pm

#1 - I'm not calling the trade for Rudy Gobert a failure or a success - it's a path we chose, but I think Lip is right in saying we could have gone down a different path. I believe he's a bridge that lifts the floor of this team as Ant and Jaden reach their prime years. Like I said, it's great to see young guys on the Wolves play on a winning team for once.

#2 - We are 19th in Offensive Rating this year and we were 23rd last year, in both cases with Rudy playing the 3rd most minutes on the team. Not good enough and Rudy is one of the reasons why. And wait until we get into the vice grip of a playoff series. Rudy isn't going to grow better hands between now and then and you better believe that good teams will bait us to try to force feed the ball to Rudy in the paint. They would LOVE us to do that versus seeing Ant get in the lane all night or watching KAT go off.

#3 - I consider winning a playoff series this season a decent success. I won't be ecstatic, but I'll be satisfied. If we win two, that will get me ecstatic. I think getting to the Western Conference Finals or Finals is unrealistic no matter what our regular season record is.

#4 - I agree with others that Ant needs to be the best player on the floor almost every night. He's not right now. The "Rudy bridge" enables this team to play high level ball while Ant and Jaden continue to get better.

[Sundog]

Ok thanks. It seems like your primary point is Rudy is the main reason for the Wolves’ middling offensive showing, and the reason for that is Rudy’s off and on problem with bad hands. That’s definitely frustrating, but I haven’t seen that nearly as much this season as last.

I think the main reason for the Wolves’ offensive problems are they can tend to stop moving the ball, which lets defenses settle in and stay connected. That leads to bad shots late in the clock… they also seem to shoot 3s better when the ball is moving. I don’t think either of those things has anything to to with Rudy but I could be wrong.

This Wolves team is easily the best we’ve seen in 20 years and Rudy is a primary reason for that. I think Lip would agree with that.