Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
To quote the Meatmen from their vintage 1983 LP....One down three to go!
1965-2023
"He Meant Well"
"He Meant Well"
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AbeVigodaLive
- Posts: 9920
- Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
Abe's "I got to make this quick so I can get some sleep... after watching on DVR late at night... after speaking extremely and embarrassingly loud (for the gal pal) while walking past tvs with the game on so I wouldn't hear spoilers at an AAU tournament earlier this evening:
- Edwards. Damn. Thanks.
- I guess Naz Reid still has basketball skills. Very good skills. The guy was starting to scare me for a spell there.
- Jokic is incredible. An off game and he was still very good. Jamal Murray seemed to get into a rhythm with more room to attack downhill. Both players are scary. Is anybody else on the Nuggets? Porter is a great shooter, and he'll get his 15 - 25. But on his own? No.
- A game of runs for the Wolves.
Edwards. Then Towns. Then Conley. Then Reid. And finally, back to Edwards. One guy after another stepped up for his own mini-run when it was needed.
- Gobert stunting toward Jokic and then retreating to break up the alley oop to Gordon was masterclass defense.
- The Nuggets normally don't get a LA Lakers type of whistle. But it sorta feels like how these next (x) games are officiated might determine the outcome. Jokic gets fouled a lot. Edwards gets fouled a lot. NBA players in the playoffs foul a lot... it all just depends on when the officials want to call it.
There was a sequence when Jokic got Towns to foul him twice in 10 seconds. There will eventually be an NBA game when a savvy player gets another player to foul him 6 times in under a minute. And officials will claim they were all correct calls... even though several of them aren't called the majority of time. I was actually sorta shocked when Porter took a contested jumper instead of going right back to Jokic. Were both fouls on Towns? Yep (especially the first one)... but both were mostly initiated by the offensive player. Jokic is so good at it... it feels like he could get Towns fouled out quickly if he went all-in with a fouling gimmick.
- It's not enough to say these Timberwolves seem different. They are a very different type of team. They're tough. They're resilient. They're very good.
- There's a lot of this series to be played. Should be a lot of fun.
- Am I dreaming all this?
- Edwards. Damn. Thanks.
- I guess Naz Reid still has basketball skills. Very good skills. The guy was starting to scare me for a spell there.
- Jokic is incredible. An off game and he was still very good. Jamal Murray seemed to get into a rhythm with more room to attack downhill. Both players are scary. Is anybody else on the Nuggets? Porter is a great shooter, and he'll get his 15 - 25. But on his own? No.
- A game of runs for the Wolves.
Edwards. Then Towns. Then Conley. Then Reid. And finally, back to Edwards. One guy after another stepped up for his own mini-run when it was needed.
- Gobert stunting toward Jokic and then retreating to break up the alley oop to Gordon was masterclass defense.
- The Nuggets normally don't get a LA Lakers type of whistle. But it sorta feels like how these next (x) games are officiated might determine the outcome. Jokic gets fouled a lot. Edwards gets fouled a lot. NBA players in the playoffs foul a lot... it all just depends on when the officials want to call it.
There was a sequence when Jokic got Towns to foul him twice in 10 seconds. There will eventually be an NBA game when a savvy player gets another player to foul him 6 times in under a minute. And officials will claim they were all correct calls... even though several of them aren't called the majority of time. I was actually sorta shocked when Porter took a contested jumper instead of going right back to Jokic. Were both fouls on Towns? Yep (especially the first one)... but both were mostly initiated by the offensive player. Jokic is so good at it... it feels like he could get Towns fouled out quickly if he went all-in with a fouling gimmick.
- It's not enough to say these Timberwolves seem different. They are a very different type of team. They're tough. They're resilient. They're very good.
- There's a lot of this series to be played. Should be a lot of fun.
- Am I dreaming all this?
Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
I think my favorite play of the game was when Rudy was helping after jokic got free on a PNR. He knows Jokic wants to throw the lob, so he comes out just enough to get Jokic to commit to the pass and then immediately backpedals and tips away the lob. We turned Jokic over a lot and made it hard for him to get others involved - he was more effective as a screener than as a facilitator.
Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
Rewatched the 4th quarter:
- Naz was spectacular in the 4th quarter on BOTH ends of the ball. He ruffled Jokic with the full court press that forced the travel call. He followed up with close outs and quick feet on defense which gave Jokic a different style to play against. Made some crucial buckets in the 4th that gave us a defendable lead. That banked 3pt, put back jam, layup and 3pt shot back to back was huge. 10 straight points. That helped break the deadlock.
- Ant has been incredible these play offs. He is playing better than ANYONE else in the league at the moment. The difference between him and alot of great shooting guards is he is a legit two way super star. Just wait till get starts getting those 'superstar' foul calls like SGA, Embiid and Jokic. The mid range game has taken his game to the next level. Cold blooded.
- Gobert defensive prowess was on full display again tonight. Hopefully the mainstream media stand up and take notice of who should be DPOY and stop trying to over promote Wemby. There's more to Rudys game than size and length. IQ and experience which aren't part of Wembys game...... yet.
- I tend to give the officials a hard time during the game thread, but it was frustrating watching Jokic grab players when he was screening, or elbowing and shoulder barging to make space in the low post. If that was KAT it gets called. People harp on about what a smart and crafty player Jokic is, but getting away with it doesn't make him smart it makes the officiating look bad because it's plain to see. Well on TV anyway.
- We are still winning games being on the wrong end of the whistle. FTA were once again lopsided against us and we still find a way to win. Imagine if Edwards and Towns got the whistles Jokic and Murray get. Maybe they will at Target Center?
- That technical foul call on Ant was bad. The TNT crew called them out on a few back calls tonight, all against us. As they said "they should be better". Nice to know its not just Jim Pete and Grady that see it.
- A special mention to NAW and McDaniels who were great on defense. Also NAW's off ball movement on offense is a thing of beauty. Even when his shot isn't falling he is still effective to the teams offense.
- Mike Conley had a terrible 1st half. But he more than made up for it in the 2nd half.
- We are a significantly deeper team than Denver. Yes the Denver bench played better than ours for the first three quarters, but when it mattered ours stepped up.
- Micah Nori will be a head coach in this league. Hopefully later rather than sooner.
- Naz was spectacular in the 4th quarter on BOTH ends of the ball. He ruffled Jokic with the full court press that forced the travel call. He followed up with close outs and quick feet on defense which gave Jokic a different style to play against. Made some crucial buckets in the 4th that gave us a defendable lead. That banked 3pt, put back jam, layup and 3pt shot back to back was huge. 10 straight points. That helped break the deadlock.
- Ant has been incredible these play offs. He is playing better than ANYONE else in the league at the moment. The difference between him and alot of great shooting guards is he is a legit two way super star. Just wait till get starts getting those 'superstar' foul calls like SGA, Embiid and Jokic. The mid range game has taken his game to the next level. Cold blooded.
- Gobert defensive prowess was on full display again tonight. Hopefully the mainstream media stand up and take notice of who should be DPOY and stop trying to over promote Wemby. There's more to Rudys game than size and length. IQ and experience which aren't part of Wembys game...... yet.
- I tend to give the officials a hard time during the game thread, but it was frustrating watching Jokic grab players when he was screening, or elbowing and shoulder barging to make space in the low post. If that was KAT it gets called. People harp on about what a smart and crafty player Jokic is, but getting away with it doesn't make him smart it makes the officiating look bad because it's plain to see. Well on TV anyway.
- We are still winning games being on the wrong end of the whistle. FTA were once again lopsided against us and we still find a way to win. Imagine if Edwards and Towns got the whistles Jokic and Murray get. Maybe they will at Target Center?
- That technical foul call on Ant was bad. The TNT crew called them out on a few back calls tonight, all against us. As they said "they should be better". Nice to know its not just Jim Pete and Grady that see it.
- A special mention to NAW and McDaniels who were great on defense. Also NAW's off ball movement on offense is a thing of beauty. Even when his shot isn't falling he is still effective to the teams offense.
- Mike Conley had a terrible 1st half. But he more than made up for it in the 2nd half.
- We are a significantly deeper team than Denver. Yes the Denver bench played better than ours for the first three quarters, but when it mattered ours stepped up.
- Micah Nori will be a head coach in this league. Hopefully later rather than sooner.
Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
Blast from the past: Somehow a Dave Benz tweet popped up on my screen. "Ants thrive at altitude!". Brought back memories of all his corny comments about ants. Nice guy, but I don't really miss him.
My day after thought was how ordinary we made Jokic look last night, despite his 32/8/9. He's the best player in basketball, but he was not the best player on the court last night. We stayed away from doubling most of the night, but Rudy was always lurking. Forcing Jokic into 7 turnovers and 44% shooting was critical to our win.
Ill-advised looking ahead way too soon alert: The Wolves will have finished their second game before the other West semifinal will have even started. If we're fortunate to advance, we should be more rested than our opponent (who I think may be Dallas).
(especially if we sweep the nuggets)
My day after thought was how ordinary we made Jokic look last night, despite his 32/8/9. He's the best player in basketball, but he was not the best player on the court last night. We stayed away from doubling most of the night, but Rudy was always lurking. Forcing Jokic into 7 turnovers and 44% shooting was critical to our win.
Ill-advised looking ahead way too soon alert: The Wolves will have finished their second game before the other West semifinal will have even started. If we're fortunate to advance, we should be more rested than our opponent (who I think may be Dallas).
(especially if we sweep the nuggets)
Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
Two blatantly bad calls went against us last night...the absurd Ant tech and Ant getting mugged by KCP on a drive to the basket. Reggie loudly called out both of them. But let's not ignore KAT's flop that the refs missed when they called an offensive foul instead. And more important to our success last night was the refs not once calling Rudy for defensive three seconds...we are so much stronger defensively when they allow him to hang around in the lane. Watch Rudy's great play where he blocked Jokic's attempted lob to Gordon and count how long he is in there! If the refs let him do that without calling 3 seconds, we have a good chance of winning this series.
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Wolvesfan21
- Posts: 3647
- Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2017 12:00 am
Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
Grady is a bit corny to me like a Saturday Night Live skit. "Caaaash!" "Bottoms!" So cheesy.FNG wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 7:50 am Blast from the past: Somehow a Dave Benz tweet popped up on my screen. "Ants thrive at altitude!". Brought back memories of all his corny comments about ants. Nice guy, but I don't really miss him.
My day after thought was how ordinary we made Jokic look last night, despite his 32/8/9. He's the best player in basketball, but he was not the best player on the court last night. We stayed away from doubling most of the night, but Rudy was always lurking. Forcing Jokic into 7 turnovers and 44% shooting was critical to our win.
Ill-advised looking ahead way too soon alert: The Wolves will have finished their second game before the other West semifinal will have even started. If we're fortunate to advance, we should be more rested than our opponent (who I think may be Dallas).
(especially if we sweep the nuggets)
Benz was a bit annoying too for sure at times. His corniness was more on purpose. He was corny to be corny.
I think most announcers suck though, it's a tough job to stay fresh and on point and not annoying. Not many people can do it well. I would say Harlan was the only real good one.
Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
You (and others) are right about those two terrible whistles against Ant. We also have to remember that Jokic is largely going to avoid getting very physical and contesting aggressively when he plays defense (I get that he throws his weight around on offense), especially in the first half. The good news is that it makes Denver's interior defense kind of soft.KiwiMatt wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 3:19 am Rewatched the 4th quarter:
- Naz was spectacular in the 4th quarter on BOTH ends of the ball. He ruffled Jokic with the full court press that forced the travel call. He followed up with close outs and quick feet on defense which gave Jokic a different style to play against. Made some crucial buckets in the 4th that gave us a defendable lead. That banked 3pt, put back jam, layup and 3pt shot back to back was huge. 10 straight points. That helped break the deadlock.
- Ant has been incredible these play offs. He is playing better than ANYONE else in the league at the moment. The difference between him and alot of great shooting guards is he is a legit two way super star. Just wait till get starts getting those 'superstar' foul calls like SGA, Embiid and Jokic. The mid range game has taken his game to the next level. Cold blooded.
- Gobert defensive prowess was on full display again tonight. Hopefully the mainstream media stand up and take notice of who should be DPOY and stop trying to over promote Wemby. There's more to Rudys game than size and length. IQ and experience which aren't part of Wembys game...... yet.
- I tend to give the officials a hard time during the game thread, but it was frustrating watching Jokic grab players when he was screening, or elbowing and shoulder barging to make space in the low post. If that was KAT it gets called. People harp on about what a smart and crafty player Jokic is, but getting away with it doesn't make him smart it makes the officiating look bad because it's plain to see. Well on TV anyway.
- We are still winning games being on the wrong end of the whistle. FTA were once again lopsided against us and we still find a way to win. Imagine if Edwards and Towns got the whistles Jokic and Murray get. Maybe they will at Target Center?
- That technical foul call on Ant was bad. The TNT crew called them out on a few back calls tonight, all against us. As they said "they should be better". Nice to know its not just Jim Pete and Grady that see it.
- A special mention to NAW and McDaniels who were great on defense. Also NAW's off ball movement on offense is a thing of beauty. Even when his shot isn't falling he is still effective to the teams offense.
- Mike Conley had a terrible 1st half. But he more than made up for it in the 2nd half.
- We are a significantly deeper team than Denver. Yes the Denver bench played better than ours for the first three quarters, but when it mattered ours stepped up.
- Micah Nori will be a head coach in this league. Hopefully later rather than sooner.
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Jester1534
- Posts: 3525
- Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
Though I give my review of the game.
I coach Highschool baseball and this weekend we played a tourney up north in Minny. Our head coach has cabin in that area we were so we had 15-16 teenagers all in cabin watching the game. I can tell you these 16 kids are now fans for life because of this team.
I’ve never had a better sports moment in my life than when Naz Reid slammed that putback down watching those kids explode in chants of two words Naz Reid.
My favorite comment of the night was when it looked like the Nuggets were gonna go to hack a Rudy and kid ask why are they trying to foul Gobert. Another kid said it’s because Gobert sucks at free throws. Then our senior captain says that’s not true… Regular Season Gobert sucks at Free throws but playoff Rudy is the Steph curry of free throws lol.
Phenomenal game with much can’t be improved Denver scored 26 pts off turnover and scored more threes and still lost the game. Sadly I will be on cruise in Alaska for the games at home but hopefully I can find a bar on the ship and watch the team.
Also FNG Jokic was -12 last night I think the Nuggets Should cut him
lol Bazinga!!!
I coach Highschool baseball and this weekend we played a tourney up north in Minny. Our head coach has cabin in that area we were so we had 15-16 teenagers all in cabin watching the game. I can tell you these 16 kids are now fans for life because of this team.
I’ve never had a better sports moment in my life than when Naz Reid slammed that putback down watching those kids explode in chants of two words Naz Reid.
My favorite comment of the night was when it looked like the Nuggets were gonna go to hack a Rudy and kid ask why are they trying to foul Gobert. Another kid said it’s because Gobert sucks at free throws. Then our senior captain says that’s not true… Regular Season Gobert sucks at Free throws but playoff Rudy is the Steph curry of free throws lol.
Phenomenal game with much can’t be improved Denver scored 26 pts off turnover and scored more threes and still lost the game. Sadly I will be on cruise in Alaska for the games at home but hopefully I can find a bar on the ship and watch the team.
Also FNG Jokic was -12 last night I think the Nuggets Should cut him
lol Bazinga!!!Re: Wolves at Nuggets R2G1
Yeah, that 4th quarter Naz run was absolutely epic. We needed that so badly from him after one of the more miserable first halves I've ever seen.Jester1534 wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 12:05 pm Though I give my review of the game.
I coach Highschool baseball and this weekend we played a tourney up north in Minny. Our head coach has cabin in that area we were so we had 15-16 teenagers all in cabin watching the game. I can tell you these 16 kids are now fans for life because of this team.
I’ve never had a better sports moment in my life than when Naz Reid slammed that putback down watching those kids explode in chants of two words Naz Reid.
My favorite comment of the night was when it looked like the Nuggets were gonna go to hack a Rudy and kid ask why are they trying to foul Gobert. Another kid said it’s because Gobert sucks at free throws. Then our senior captain says that’s not true… Regular Season Gobert sucks at Free throws but playoff Rudy is the Steph curry of free throws lol.
Phenomenal game with much can’t be improved Denver scored 26 pts off turnover and scored more threes and still lost the game. Sadly I will be on cruise in Alaska for the games at home but hopefully I can find a bar on the ship and watch the team.
Also FNG Jokic was -12 last night I think the Nuggets Should cut him
"Sadly I will be on a cruise in Alaska...". Ha, love it! So you'd rather be Wolves-watching than whale-watching Jester?
I've had to travel for two different college graduations the past two weekends and find ways to catch the games against Phoenix and then last night against Denver. As Kekgeek likes to say, "just find a way!".