Nuggets at Wolves R2G3

[Coolbreeze44]

Last thought for the night: I think the winner of game 4 wins the series.

[Porckchop]

The defending NBA champs weren’t just gonna roll over and die. After 2 games where they were significantly outplayed along with the criticism directed at Jokic for winning his 3rd MVP this was a highly motivated and still very talented veteran team. Minnesotas defensive performance in game two was beyond great and above what we’ve seen this season. Yes they’re a good defensive team but I never expected them to duplicate that performance. This was always going to be a tough matchup.

[FNG]

I just got back from Target Center. We missed a lot of shots we should make and they made their shots. But I thought the Wolves’ lack of intensity tonight was shameful. Missed bunnies like the many we saw from the Wolves tonight often reflect a lack of intensity. Our defense was poor and we were out-rebounded, more signs of a lack of intensity. We played as if this was a regular season game in December rather than a playoff game - in this case a home playoff game with a loud capacity crowd in the arena. Rudy was probably the worst offender on the squad. He looked like he was taking his second game off. Seriously, he looked like his mind and most of his body were elsewhere. Inexcusably poor game and lack of effort from Rudy tonight.

I’m typically not one to complain about officiating, but the officiating tonight in the first half was absurdly skewed in favor of Denver.

The Wolves should be embarrassed by their performance tonight and we should expect them to come back with a vengeance on Sunday. If they do that, they should crush the Nuggets on Sunday and win the series the next game in Denver. If they don’t come out with that sort of fire on Sunday they will lose on Sunday and lose the series.

Lip, you had to see such a klunker...hopefully you'll get to see a better one next time.

I agree about the lack of intensity, but it wasn't entirely across the board. Ant didn't have a great scoring night, but I was impressed with his defensive effort when he was paired up with Murray. (And to echo Kek's point, Ant's leadership and maturity on the bench at the end of the game is another sign of his growth). But nobody had more to prove tonight than Rudy after we played the best game of the year in his absence, and he just didn't show up. He has been such an impactful player this year, but I hardly noticed him tonight at either end of the court. Halfway through the game I felt myself wishing his girlfriend would have another baby Sunday...I want the Monday version of this team, not last night's version. Rudy had 4 rebounds last night...do we need any more evidence that his head wasn't in the game?

And speaking of rebounds, out-rebounding our opponent has been one of our signatures this season, and tonight we had our asses handed to us. Our starting frontcourt seemed to have no interest in getting boards. And even worse...when Christian Braun has 2 more rebounds than your entire bench (pre garbage time), you're not going to win a game. Our garbage time reserves had more offensive rebounds in six minutes than our rotation guys did the entire game.

So we missed shots and didn't rebound, but Lip I don't agree that officiating had any impact on this game, and I hope our players pin this one on themselves and not talk about the referees at all. We had 20 fouls called on us tonight...exactly the same number of fouls called on us in games one and two. And Denver had 25 tonight! The Denver fans chanted "These refs suck!" Monday night even though the refs called 6 more fouls on us than them! I've watched basketball a long time, and games 2 and 3 are great evidence of one thing I know...if your team is getting their butts kicked because they're stinking up the court, it's much easier to blame the referees.

I know some are going to say the refs don't treat Jaden fairly, but I think this is Jaden's issue...not the refs. Fouling has been an issue for Jaden going back to college days (I think he averaged over 6 fouls per 100 possessions), and there is no conspiracy against him that college and NBA refs are collaborating on. For one thing, Jaden plays great defense...he cares, and almost never takes a defensive play off. An aggressive defender like Jaden is naturally going to get more fouls than a passive defender like Joker. But he can be better too. His last foul is a good example. He played elite defense on this man for at least 10 seconds without touching him, but then carelessly reached in and got the foul...I was like "yes, yes, yes, NOOOO!" He is still young and will get better, but right now we are going to have to live with his fouling. Luckily we have NAW ready to come in when Jaden goes to the bench, but we're better when we have both available.

I feel crappy about this game, but I guess we should have seen this coming. I was harboring some thoughts that Denver wouldn't get off the mat after Monday, but they are the World Champs and played like they had everything to lose. And we didn't. I'm hoping Rudy's paternity leave is over, and I expect him to show up Sunday like he has most of the season. And I think most of us think we will shoot better. This was the series most NBA fans have most been looking forward to, and instead we have had three blowouts. I think Game 4 will be a barnburner...buckle your seatbelts.

[Lipoli390]

The defending NBA champs weren’t just gonna roll over and die. After 2 games where they were significantly outplayed along with the criticism directed at Jokic for winning his 3rd MVP this was a highly motivated and still very talented veteran team. Minnesotas defensive performance in game two was beyond great and above what we’ve seen this season. Yes they’re a good defensive team but I never expected them to duplicate that performance. This was always going to be a tough matchup.

I agree. The Nuggets weren’t going to role over and die. But that should have simply translated into a close game last night if the Wolves had the Wolves come into the game with playoff intensity.

[rapsuperstar31]

I just got back from Target Center. We missed a lot of shots we should make and they made their shots. But I thought the Wolves’ lack of intensity tonight was shameful. Missed bunnies like the many we saw from the Wolves tonight often reflect a lack of intensity. Our defense was poor and we were out-rebounded, more signs of a lack of intensity. We played as if this was a regular season game in December rather than a playoff game - in this case a home playoff game with a loud capacity crowd in the arena. Rudy was probably the worst offender on the squad. He looked like he was taking his second game off. Seriously, he looked like his mind and most of his body were elsewhere. Inexcusably poor game and lack of effort from Rudy tonight.

I’m typically not one to complain about officiating, but the officiating tonight in the first half was absurdly skewed in favor of Denver.

The Wolves should be embarrassed by their performance tonight and we should expect them to come back with a vengeance on Sunday. If they do that, they should crush the Nuggets on Sunday and win the series the next game in Denver. If they don’t come out with that sort of fire on Sunday they will lose on Sunday and lose the series.

Lip, you had to see such a klunker...hopefully you'll get to see a better one next time.

I agree about the lack of intensity, but it wasn't entirely across the board. Ant didn't have a great scoring night, but I was impressed with his defensive effort when he was paired up with Murray. (And to echo Kek's point, Ant's leadership and maturity on the bench at the end of the game is another sign of his growth). But nobody had more to prove tonight than Rudy after we played the best game of the year in his absence, and he just didn't show up. He has been such an impactful player this year, but I hardly noticed him tonight at either end of the court. Halfway through the game I felt myself wishing his girlfriend would have another baby Sunday...I want the Monday version of this team, not last night's version. Rudy had 4 rebounds last night...do we need any more evidence that his head wasn't in the game?

And speaking of rebounds, out-rebounding our opponent has been one of our signatures this season, and tonight we had our asses handed to us. Our starting frontcourt seemed to have no interest in getting boards. And even worse...when Christian Braun has 2 more rebounds than your entire bench (pre garbage time), you're not going to win a game. Our garbage time reserves had more offensive rebounds in six minutes than our rotation guys did the entire game.

So we missed shots and didn't rebound, but Lip I don't agree that officiating had any impact on this game, and I hope our players pin this one on themselves and not talk about the referees at all. We had 20 fouls called on us tonight...exactly the same number of fouls called on us in games one and two. And Denver had 25 tonight! The Denver fans chanted "These refs suck!" Monday night even though the refs called 6 more fouls on us than them! I've watched basketball a long time, and games 2 and 3 are great evidence of one thing I know...if your team is getting their butts kicked because they're stinking up the court, it's much easier to blame the referees.

I know some are going to say the refs don't treat Jaden fairly, but I think this is Jaden's issue...not the refs. Fouling has been an issue for Jaden going back to college days (I think he averaged over 6 fouls per 100 possessions), and there is no conspiracy against him that college and NBA refs are collaborating on. For one thing, Jaden plays great defense...he cares, and almost never takes a defensive play off. An aggressive defender like Jaden is naturally going to get more fouls than a passive defender like Joker. But he can be better too. His last foul is a good example. He played elite defense on this man for at least 10 seconds without touching him, but then carelessly reached in and got the foul...I was like "yes, yes, yes, NOOOO!" He is still young and will get better, but right now we are going to have to live with his fouling. Luckily we have NAW ready to come in when Jaden goes to the bench, but we're better when we have both available.

I feel crappy about this game, but I guess we should have seen this coming. I was harboring some thoughts that Denver wouldn't get off the mat after Monday, but they are the World Champs and played like they had everything to lose. And we didn't. I'm hoping Rudy's paternity leave is over, and I expect him to show up Sunday like he has most of the season. And I think most of us think we will shoot better. This was the series most NBA fans have most been looking forward to, and instead we have had three blowouts. I think Game 4 will be a barnburner...buckle your seatbelts.

to even it out.

If you didn't notice a tighter whistle, I don't know what to tell you. Tickytack foul calls are expected whenever Tony Brothers refs, as was the case when we played Phoenix game 3 and OKC/Dallas played game one. It's not an unfair whistle, usually it balance out, but the Wolves strengths are when they are able to be more physical. That isn't the reason we lost this game, Denver made great adjustments, and played quicker not letting us trap and frustrate them. Murray sure didn't look injured in this game, he looked 100% here and he had a great game. Gordon is killing us from 3 from a player that isn't a good shooter and that opens the court up even more for Denver. We have to get more looks for Kat, he is shooting it fantastic in the playoffs. Denver played better defense, closing in the gaps making it hard to drive, and set better screens making it harder for Jaden and NAW to fight through the screens. Hopefully the Wolves aren't too down on themselves, watch the tapes and make the necessary adjustments.

[Lipoli390]

I just got back from Target Center. We missed a lot of shots we should make and they made their shots. But I thought the Wolves’ lack of intensity tonight was shameful. Missed bunnies like the many we saw from the Wolves tonight often reflect a lack of intensity. Our defense was poor and we were out-rebounded, more signs of a lack of intensity. We played as if this was a regular season game in December rather than a playoff game - in this case a home playoff game with a loud capacity crowd in the arena. Rudy was probably the worst offender on the squad. He looked like he was taking his second game off. Seriously, he looked like his mind and most of his body were elsewhere. Inexcusably poor game and lack of effort from Rudy tonight.

I’m typically not one to complain about officiating, but the officiating tonight in the first half was absurdly skewed in favor of Denver.

The Wolves should be embarrassed by their performance tonight and we should expect them to come back with a vengeance on Sunday. If they do that, they should crush the Nuggets on Sunday and win the series the next game in Denver. If they don’t come out with that sort of fire on Sunday they will lose on Sunday and lose the series.

Lip, you had to see such a klunker...hopefully you'll get to see a better one next time.

I agree about the lack of intensity, but it wasn't entirely across the board. Ant didn't have a great scoring night, but I was impressed with his defensive effort when he was paired up with Murray. (And to echo Kek's point, Ant's leadership and maturity on the bench at the end of the game is another sign of his growth). But nobody had more to prove tonight than Rudy after we played the best game of the year in his absence, and he just didn't show up. He has been such an impactful player this year, but I hardly noticed him tonight at either end of the court. Halfway through the game I felt myself wishing his girlfriend would have another baby Sunday...I want the Monday version of this team, not last night's version. Rudy had 4 rebounds last night...do we need any more evidence that his head wasn't in the game?

And speaking of rebounds, out-rebounding our opponent has been one of our signatures this season, and tonight we had our asses handed to us. Our starting frontcourt seemed to have no interest in getting boards. And even worse...when Christian Braun has 2 more rebounds than your entire bench (pre garbage time), you're not going to win a game. Our garbage time reserves had more offensive rebounds in six minutes than our rotation guys did the entire game.

So we missed shots and didn't rebound, but Lip I don't agree that officiating had any impact on this game, and I hope our players pin this one on themselves and not talk about the referees at all. We had 20 fouls called on us tonight...exactly the same number of fouls called on us in games one and two. And Denver had 25 tonight! The Denver fans chanted "These refs suck!" Monday night even though the refs called 6 more fouls on us than them! I've watched basketball a long time, and games 2 and 3 are great evidence of one thing I know...if your team is getting their butts kicked because they're stinking up the court, it's much easier to blame the referees.

I know some are going to say the refs don't treat Jaden fairly, but I think this is Jaden's issue...not the refs. Fouling has been an issue for Jaden going back to college days (I think he averaged over 6 fouls per 100 possessions), and there is no conspiracy against him that college and NBA refs are collaborating on. For one thing, Jaden plays great defense...he cares, and almost never takes a defensive play off. An aggressive defender like Jaden is naturally going to get more fouls than a passive defender like Joker. But he can be better too. His last foul is a good example. He played elite defense on this man for at least 10 seconds without touching him, but then carelessly reached in and got the foul...I was like "yes, yes, yes, NOOOO!" He is still young and will get better, but right now we are going to have to live with his fouling. Luckily we have NAW ready to come in when Jaden goes to the bench, but we're better when we have both available.

I feel crappy about this game, but I guess we should have seen this coming. I was harboring some thoughts that Denver wouldn't get off the mat after Monday, but they are the World Champs and played like they had everything to lose. And we didn't. I'm hoping Rudy's paternity leave is over, and I expect him to show up Sunday like he has most of the season. And I think most of us think we will shoot better. This was the series most NBA fans have most been looking forward to, and instead we have had three blowouts. I think Game 4 will be a barnburner...buckle your seatbelts.

I saw more intensity from Ant than I saw from Rudy by a long shot, but even he didn’t show the same level of intensity and urgency that he and the rest of the team had shown in the previous playoff games. It’s one klunker but it’s still inexcusable. Rudy’s performance in particular was unacceptable. He’s now had two games off in a row. The coaching staff and his teammates need to call him out in the locker room.

[kekgeek]

I just want to say

Michael Jordan lost by 17 in the 2nd round to the Knicks on the way to his first title.

Lebron James lost by 19 in game 3 against the pacers in the 2nd round on his way to a title.

The Mavs, Nuggets, Celtics 2x, Wolves, Pacers, Cavs have all gotten their ass kicked in the playoffs this year. Games like this happen all the time in the playoffs. Now how they respond is important but everyone it was one game. You don’t get extra wins for beating an opponent by a bigger margin

[FNG]

Oh, I certainly noticed a tighter whistle, Cypress...that's how Denver ended up with almost twice as many fouls in Game 3 as Game 2 (25-14). But the Wolves oddly had the same number of fouls in both games (20). There was clearly a tighter whistle in Game 3 as the refs called 45 fouls compared to only 34 in Game 2. But I agree with you that this didn't impact the outcome, because the 11 extra fouls were all called on the Nuggets! I'm not a fan of Tony Brothers either, but any analysis of the box score tells me we have no gripe here.

Your analysis of the game is spot on. Denver's adjustments were notable right from the start. Joker is huge, and his ambling screening slowly down the court allowed Jamal to get the Nuggets into their offense like they weren't able to Monday. I have no suggestions for how we can counter this, but I'm hoping Finchie and Nori do.

And yeah, Gordon shot well again...he's 6 for 9 on threes in the last 2 games. But I wouldn't change anything. I like the strategy of keeping Rudy on him and daring him to shoot threes. He was a 29% 3-point shooter this season, and he has to regress to the mean.

Here's the formula for a Game 4 win: light a fire under Rudy, rebound the basketball. fight through screens, and get Ant and KAT more looks. If we do those four things, we will be up 3-1 by the time we go to bed Sunday. We're 3 1/2 point favorites, and that sounds about right to me.

[FNG]

I just got back from Target Center. We missed a lot of shots we should make and they made their shots. But I thought the Wolves’ lack of intensity tonight was shameful. Missed bunnies like the many we saw from the Wolves tonight often reflect a lack of intensity. Our defense was poor and we were out-rebounded, more signs of a lack of intensity. We played as if this was a regular season game in December rather than a playoff game - in this case a home playoff game with a loud capacity crowd in the arena. Rudy was probably the worst offender on the squad. He looked like he was taking his second game off. Seriously, he looked like his mind and most of his body were elsewhere. Inexcusably poor game and lack of effort from Rudy tonight.

I’m typically not one to complain about officiating, but the officiating tonight in the first half was absurdly skewed in favor of Denver.

The Wolves should be embarrassed by their performance tonight and we should expect them to come back with a vengeance on Sunday. If they do that, they should crush the Nuggets on Sunday and win the series the next game in Denver. If they don’t come out with that sort of fire on Sunday they will lose on Sunday and lose the series.

Lip, you had to see such a klunker...hopefully you'll get to see a better one next time.

I agree about the lack of intensity, but it wasn't entirely across the board. Ant didn't have a great scoring night, but I was impressed with his defensive effort when he was paired up with Murray. (And to echo Kek's point, Ant's leadership and maturity on the bench at the end of the game is another sign of his growth). But nobody had more to prove tonight than Rudy after we played the best game of the year in his absence, and he just didn't show up. He has been such an impactful player this year, but I hardly noticed him tonight at either end of the court. Halfway through the game I felt myself wishing his girlfriend would have another baby Sunday...I want the Monday version of this team, not last night's version. Rudy had 4 rebounds last night...do we need any more evidence that his head wasn't in the game?

And speaking of rebounds, out-rebounding our opponent has been one of our signatures this season, and tonight we had our asses handed to us. Our starting frontcourt seemed to have no interest in getting boards. And even worse...when Christian Braun has 2 more rebounds than your entire bench (pre garbage time), you're not going to win a game. Our garbage time reserves had more offensive rebounds in six minutes than our rotation guys did the entire game.

So we missed shots and didn't rebound, but Lip I don't agree that officiating had any impact on this game, and I hope our players pin this one on themselves and not talk about the referees at all. We had 20 fouls called on us tonight...exactly the same number of fouls called on us in games one and two. And Denver had 25 tonight! The Denver fans chanted "These refs suck!" Monday night even though the refs called 6 more fouls on us than them! I've watched basketball a long time, and games 2 and 3 are great evidence of one thing I know...if your team is getting their butts kicked because they're stinking up the court, it's much easier to blame the referees.

I know some are going to say the refs don't treat Jaden fairly, but I think this is Jaden's issue...not the refs. Fouling has been an issue for Jaden going back to college days (I think he averaged over 6 fouls per 100 possessions), and there is no conspiracy against him that college and NBA refs are collaborating on. For one thing, Jaden plays great defense...he cares, and almost never takes a defensive play off. An aggressive defender like Jaden is naturally going to get more fouls than a passive defender like Joker. But he can be better too. His last foul is a good example. He played elite defense on this man for at least 10 seconds without touching him, but then carelessly reached in and got the foul...I was like "yes, yes, yes, NOOOO!" He is still young and will get better, but right now we are going to have to live with his fouling. Luckily we have NAW ready to come in when Jaden goes to the bench, but we're better when we have both available.

I feel crappy about this game, but I guess we should have seen this coming. I was harboring some thoughts that Denver wouldn't get off the mat after Monday, but they are the World Champs and played like they had everything to lose. And we didn't. I'm hoping Rudy's paternity leave is over, and I expect him to show up Sunday like he has most of the season. And I think most of us think we will shoot better. This was the series most NBA fans have most been looking forward to, and instead we have had three blowouts. I think Game 4 will be a barnburner...buckle your seatbelts.

I saw more intensity from Ant than I saw from Rudy by a long shot, but even he didn’t show the same level of intensity and urgency that he and the rest of the team had shown in the previous playoff games. It’s one klunker but it’s still inexcusable. Rudy’s performance in particular was unacceptable. He’s now had two games off in a row. The coaching staff and his teammates need to call him out in the locker room.

Yeah, I'm going to amend my statement, Lip. The intensity I saw from Ant was his defense on Jamal primarily after the game had gotten out of hand. But he was unusually passive on offense. And Rudy was a disgrace. I agree...I hope the coaches and teammates got in his face post-game and said "Paternity leave is ovah, dude!"

[Wolvesfan21]

You know what I noticed. Everytime the Wolves start doing interviews and get hype they come out weak as shit. This is embarrassing. (Saw KAT/Naz/Ant/Jaden and Conley do interviews in the last few days) Guys might be feeling themselves and not locked in.

Well if things keep going the way they are, media will go right back to shitting on the wolves and we can come into game 4 as an underdog again.

They should and they deserve it after that shitty performance.