ANT's Party - Wolves at Thunder Game 1 GDT

[DNatagal]

OKC defensive scheme collapses to the middle, which nullified the Randle postup, which stops the ball movement that lead to open 3s.
As pointed out by multiple people, the Wolves look rushed on every play on offense. They need to slow things down, Naz and DDV are the biggest culprits. Naz looks like a rookie of there.
This is where Finch needs to up his game. Off ball movement with a purpose, get the OKC defense looking around instead of concentrating on the ball has to happen if there is any chance of competing.

[FNG]

OKC defensive scheme collapses to the middle, which nullified the Randle postup, which stops the ball movement that lead to open 3s.
As pointed out by multiple people, the Wolves look rushed on every play on offense. They need to slow things down, Naz and DDV are the biggest culprits. Naz looks like a rookie of there.
This is where Finch needs to up his game. Off ball movement with a purpose, get the OKC defense looking around instead of concentrating on the ball has to happen if there is any chance of competing.

But D’n- Jon K posts stats that said we had plenty of open looks…we just missed them. The stats say we had an incredible 39 wide open threes, but we only made 11 of them. That’s disastrous. In contrast we only gave the thunder 16 open looks, but they made 10 of them. There’s your ballgame right there. I’m not sure we have to change anything on offense tomorrow…just need to make the shots!

[Coolbreeze44]

The real crime with Mark Lindsay falling for Shai's theatrics is not that he was awarded extra free throws. The real crime was it basically took Jaden off the floor for the entire 2nd half. The horrible shooting combined with not having one of our best players available cost us the game. Lindsay cannot ref any more games in this series. It was solely him who kept calling the phantom fouls.

[DNatagal]

OKC defensive scheme collapses to the middle, which nullified the Randle postup, which stops the ball movement that lead to open 3s.
As pointed out by multiple people, the Wolves look rushed on every play on offense. They need to slow things down, Naz and DDV are the biggest culprits. Naz looks like a rookie of there.
This is where Finch needs to up his game. Off ball movement with a purpose, get the OKC defense looking around instead of concentrating on the ball has to happen if there is any chance of competing.

But D’n- Jon K posts stats that said we had plenty of open looks…we just missed them. The stats say we had an incredible 39 wide open threes, but we only made 11 of them. That’s disastrous. In contrast we only gave the thunder 16 open looks, but they made 10 of them. There’s your ballgame right there. I’m not sure we have to change anything on offense tomorrow…just need to make the shots!

Denver had the same open looks and didn't cash in either. The Wolves need more paint scoring to get OKC moving on defense. They owned the glass.

[FNG]

OKC defensive scheme collapses to the middle, which nullified the Randle postup, which stops the ball movement that lead to open 3s.
As pointed out by multiple people, the Wolves look rushed on every play on offense. They need to slow things down, Naz and DDV are the biggest culprits. Naz looks like a rookie of there.
This is where Finch needs to up his game. Off ball movement with a purpose, get the OKC defense looking around instead of concentrating on the ball has to happen if there is any chance of competing.

But D’n- Jon K posts stats that said we had plenty of open looks…we just missed them. The stats say we had an incredible 39 wide open threes, but we only made 11 of them. That’s disastrous. In contrast we only gave the thunder 16 open looks, but they made 10 of them. There’s your ballgame right there. I’m not sure we have to change anything on offense tomorrow…just need to make the shots!

Denver had the same open looks and didn't cash in either. The Wolves need more paint scoring to get OKC moving on defense. They owned the glass.

Yeah, I’d like it too…our offense (and especially Ant) seems to click best when we are scoring inside and out. The problem here though (and maybe I’m wrong or overreacting) is that trips to the rim or even to the paint too often lead to turnovers…the thunder are elite at either poking the ball away or protecting the rim. By all means try getting to the rim tomorrow, but if we see the same thing happening, we just may have to jack up 50 treys again.

[DNatagal]

But D’n- Jon K posts stats that said we had plenty of open looks…we just missed them. The stats say we had an incredible 39 wide open threes, but we only made 11 of them. That’s disastrous. In contrast we only gave the thunder 16 open looks, but they made 10 of them. There’s your ballgame right there. I’m not sure we have to change anything on offense tomorrow…just need to make the shots!

Denver had the same open looks and didn't cash in either. The Wolves need more paint scoring to get OKC moving on defense. They owned the glass.

Yeah, I’d like it too…our offense (and especially Ant) seems to click best when we are scoring inside and out. The problem here though (and maybe I’m wrong or overreacting) is that trips to the rim or even to the paint too often lead to turnovers…the thunder are elite at either poking the ball away or protecting the rim. By all means try getting to the rim tomorrow, but if we see the same thing happening, we just may have to jack up 50 treys again.

Stealing a win on their court by jacking up 50 3s? I would take it!

[AbeVigodaLive]

The real crime with Mark Lindsay falling for Shai's theatrics is not that he was awarded extra free throws. The real crime was it basically took Jaden off the floor for the entire 2nd half. The horrible shooting combined with not having one of our best players available cost us the game. Lindsay cannot ref any more games in this series. It was solely him who kept calling the phantom fouls.

The Wolves were leading in the game and SGA was 2 - 13 fg...

Then, SGA got the and-one call vs. McDaniels for his 4th foul.

He would score 10 more points (4 - 7 fg) over the final 8 minutes of that quarter and the Thunder built a double digit lead all with McDaniels on the bench.

A potentially game-changing call.



[Note: I think OKC would have won that game with or without McDaniels on the court. Just saying...]

[Coolbreeze44]

The real crime with Mark Lindsay falling for Shai's theatrics is not that he was awarded extra free throws. The real crime was it basically took Jaden off the floor for the entire 2nd half. The horrible shooting combined with not having one of our best players available cost us the game. Lindsay cannot ref any more games in this series. It was solely him who kept calling the phantom fouls.

The Wolves were leading in the game and SGA was 2 - 13 fg...

Then, SGA got the and-one call vs. McDaniels for his 4th foul.

He would score 10 more points (4 - 7 fg) over the final 8 minutes of that quarter and the Thunder built a double digit lead all with McDaniels on the bench.

A potentially game-changing call.



[Note: I think OKC would have won that game with or without McDaniels on the court. Just saying...]

Yeah, our shooting was the main reason we lost. But can we afford to have Ant or Jaden guard Shai going forward?

[Wolvesfan21]

The real crime with Mark Lindsay falling for Shai's theatrics is not that he was awarded extra free throws. The real crime was it basically took Jaden off the floor for the entire 2nd half. The horrible shooting combined with not having one of our best players available cost us the game. Lindsay cannot ref any more games in this series. It was solely him who kept calling the phantom fouls.

The Wolves were leading in the game and SGA was 2 - 13 fg...

Then, SGA got the and-one call vs. McDaniels for his 4th foul.

He would score 10 more points (4 - 7 fg) over the final 8 minutes of that quarter and the Thunder built a double digit lead all with McDaniels on the bench.

A potentially game-changing call.



[Note: I think OKC would have won that game with or without McDaniels on the court. Just saying...]

Yeah, our shooting was the main reason we lost. But can we afford to have Ant or Jaden guard Shai going forward?

He's going to try and bait the refs every game into foul calls, that's his schtick. Ant needs to learn how to initiate contact also and then throw up a shot, he more so tries to avoid it mostly (euros/etc...) and it seems the refs don't like that, even though he gets hit as well and zero respect from the refs too.

As for who to throw on him. I'd say more Clark. He can do a good job on him and use up some fouls. He may even get hot from 3 himself, which could be a game changer if we can find a bench guy who gets it going. I honestly would cut some NAW and DDV minutes in favor of JC. I guess it depends on who hits a a couple or three shots first, versus missing. Go with the hot hand. Maybe even try TSJ to see if we can beat them down the court in transition, though that may be a tough task.

OKC's game is what I've been wanting the Wolves to do all year, push the damn ball. Don't let the defense set up! It all relies on playing great defense though, to spark the offense.

[Coolbreeze44]

I was credited for a foul on SGA last night from my couch.

[To channel my inner Abe - yes, I'm not over this game yet]