Ants ascending

[Porckchop]

And however this series plays out we’re going to see this guy take a huge step going forward. He’s learning when and how to take over in situations that call for it. Early in this game when it looked like it could get out of hand he took it upon himself to go hard to the basket and score or draw a foul. Multiple times he was able to stop their momentum with tough buckets around the rim.

[Wolvesfan21]

I agree. When a team is on a run go downhill and draw a foul and or finish at the rim. Just get something to stop the bleeding. I actually thought we could have seen that sooner in the game. We started seeing a lot of missed 3's and just needed some buckets.

[Q-is-here]

Pork, that is indeed a silver lining in all of this. Ant is going up against the best of the best in high pressure situations early in his career and shining. It's a critical part of his growth process and helps justify the Rudy trade. Assuming Denver wins this series, they are going to be favorites to win the Finals.

I think what we're seeing in these last two games is that a great defense can only take you so far. Sometimes you just need to be able to win a shootout and we just don't have the personnel for that, as evidenced by our mediocre offensive rating all year.

I'm not sure what the offseason will bring, but assuming we lose this series and Tim Connelly is still our GM after the ownership B.S. gets resolved, he's got some serious decisions to make about the roster and whether running it back (assuming ownership doesn't want to immediately reduce salary) makes sense.

[Wolvesfan21]

Pork, that is indeed a silver lining in all of this. Ant is going up against the best of the best in high pressure situations early in his career and shining. It's a critical part of his growth process and helps justify the Rudy trade. Assuming Denver wins this series, they are going to be favorites to win the Finals.

I think what we're seeing in these last two games is that a great defense can only take you so far. Sometimes you just need to be able to win a shootout and we just don't have the personnel for that, as evidenced by our mediocre offensive rating all year.

I'm not sure what the offseason will bring, but assuming we lose this series and Tim Connelly is still our GM after the ownership B.S. gets resolved, he's got some serious decisions to make about the roster and whether running it back (assuming ownership doesn't want to immediately reduce salary) makes sense.

What is dissapointing is that the offense was number 1 in the playoffs through the first 6 games. Was it the defense feeding the offense for easy buckets? I think that was part of it. But it did look better. Now that the defense craps the bed our offense starts to look clunkier too.

[Lipoli390]

Pork, that is indeed a silver lining in all of this. Ant is going up against the best of the best in high pressure situations early in his career and shining. It's a critical part of his growth process and helps justify the Rudy trade. Assuming Denver wins this series, they are going to be favorites to win the Finals.

I think what we're seeing in these last two games is that a great defense can only take you so far. Sometimes you just need to be able to win a shootout and we just don't have the personnel for that, as evidenced by our mediocre offensive rating all year.

I'm not sure what the offseason will bring, but assuming we lose this series and Tim Connelly is still our GM after the ownership B.S. gets resolved, he's got some serious decisions to make about the roster and whether running it back (assuming ownership doesn't want to immediately reduce salary) makes sense.

I agree, Q. If we get past Denver, and make the Western Conference finals, I think we probably have to bring the team back and exceed the 2nd apron. If we make the NBA finals, then we definitely have to bring the same team back. However, if Denver knocks us out of the playoffs, then I think we should trade Rudy or KAT (maybe both). Rudy should bring a pretty high return because he’s coming off a career year and only has two guaranteed years left with the opportunity to renegotiated a lower salary contract after just one more season. KAT would also bring a substantial return.

[Q-is-here]

Pork, that is indeed a silver lining in all of this. Ant is going up against the best of the best in high pressure situations early in his career and shining. It's a critical part of his growth process and helps justify the Rudy trade. Assuming Denver wins this series, they are going to be favorites to win the Finals.

I think what we're seeing in these last two games is that a great defense can only take you so far. Sometimes you just need to be able to win a shootout and we just don't have the personnel for that, as evidenced by our mediocre offensive rating all year.

I'm not sure what the offseason will bring, but assuming we lose this series and Tim Connelly is still our GM after the ownership B.S. gets resolved, he's got some serious decisions to make about the roster and whether running it back (assuming ownership doesn't want to immediately reduce salary) makes sense.

I agree, Q. If we get past Denver, and make the Western Conference finals, I think we probably have to bring the team back and exceed the 2nd apron. If we make the NBA finals, then we definitely have to bring the same team back. However, if Denver knocks us out of the playoffs, then I think we should trade Rudy or KAT (maybe both). Rudy should bring a pretty high return because he’s coming off a career year and only has two guaranteed years left with the opportunity to renegotiated a lower salary contract after just one more season. KAT would also bring a substantial return.

Yeah, had we not made the playoffs or lost in the play-in or first round, I think a "competitive rebuild" around Ant would be the plan with at minimum KAT being traded. And if we reach the WCF or better, then a "run it back" scenario would be a pretty easy call. But if we lose in the Conference Semis to Denver, I'm not sure what the front office does. That's kind of a 'tweener scenario!