The talk has been talked, the walk remains, Nuggets @ Wolves GAME THREE GDT

[TheFuture]

That was awesome!!

[Wolvesfan21]

We had better fire Finch pretty soon.

Yeah BUT, this is what we expected to see from this squad all year.

On a side note, it was fun watching the DNVR Nuggets postgame show on youtube. They looked like they were ready to cry at times.

[AussieWolf3]

This just dawned on me, but how crazy is it that it was completely inconsequential that two guys in Shannon and Clark couldn't play tonight when they were supposed to be key fixtures coming into this year.

What a credit to TC for navigating that puzzle!

[FNG]

Great win last night...Denver now has to win 3 of the next 4 games (two of them on our home ice) to eliminate us. Not impossible but daunting for them with the status of Gordon and Watson still in doubt. Before last night's game Denver was a 2 to 1 favorite to win the series. I haven't seen the updated odds, but I suspect the Wolves are now favored. A couple takeaways:

Jaden: Most of the analysts on NBA Radio and I were concerned about what impact Jaden's postgame dissing might have on the series. As it turns out, one player was most affected: Jaden! He was a star last night at both ends of the court.

Conditioning and physicality: Many thought the Wolves might have had a slight advantage in this area entering the series, but the advantage has been much more significant than anticipated. Our relentless defense has the Nuggets' tongues hanging out, while the Wolves look comparatively fresh. Rudy is almost 4 years older than Jokic, but he looks younger...his footwork and quickness were astonishing to watch last night.

Ant: Okay, most of you might not agree with this take, and I admit there is some wishful thinking implicit in it. Cool suggested sarcastically that Ant doesn't look limited. I'm going to agree actually. Hurt, yes...but not all that limited. Have any of you ever had an injury that really hurts, but that you are able to forget about in the heat of battle with the adrenaline pumping? I have, so I suspect this is what is happening with Ant. Last night he was visibly limping during play stoppages and especially walking to the locker room...you can see he is in some pain. But when the game is on, I don't see any signs of him being limited. He wouldn't be able to sky to get the blocks and rebounds he has been getting or easily slither to the basket if he was that limited. I suspect he is getting a lot of treatment and pain killers to limit the pain, but he's still feeling it big time when the clock is stopped. But when it's action time, he looks to me like he can go almost full speed. I'm a little concerned about what we are going to see in game 4 because his limping to the locker room was much more noticeable last night. But Ant has shown us before that he is Superman when it comes to injuries, so I'm going to stay optimistic.

Role players: I posted yesterday that Denver might have the two best players in this series, but we have the next 5 best. Not only did Denver's big 2 underperform last night, but I would add Ayo to impact players 4 through 9 (after Jokic, Murray and Ant). Meanwhile Denver's supporting cast has been bad. Every Wolves' starter plus Ayo finished in double figures...in contrast, Denver's three starters other than their big 2 scored 14 points total in 76 minutes! Ant will usually be the straw that stirs the drink, but I think our role players dominating their role players might be the key to winning this series.

Naz: Well, we need to talk about him. He continues to shoot poorly and hurt us on defense. Naz averaged 26 MPG during the regular season, but Finchy limited him to 18 last night. Admittedly foul issues played a role here, but frankly if he continues to play like this, he may have to give up some of his minutes to SloMo. Kyle isn't going to score much but neither is Naz, and at least he will be effective on defense and facilitate on offense. But if Naz somehow rediscovers his scoring touch, our chances of winning this series skyrocket.

Ayo/Donte: Both were brilliant last night and really fun to watch...the pace they bring, especially when Ant is out, is a big factor in wearing Denver out. A few weeks ago we had anointed Ayo as the running mate to Ant in the starting lineup next season. I hope this doesn't happen. As hard working and spectacular as Ayo is getting to the basket, there remains the mystery of his substandard +/- and on/off numbers. In the admittedly too small 3 game sample size, Donte is an absurdly brilliant +48.3 on/off...we score 18 more points per 100 possessions when he is on compared to off, and hold Denver to 30.3 points fewer! In contrast Ayo is at -15.5 in the three games. Too small a sample size, you say? True, but Donte also led the team in on/off for the entire season. They both hustle their tails off, but for some reason, Donte's hustle is consistently more effective. Ayo's best role has to continue to be as an energy guy off the bench, both for the rest of the playoffs and next season.

[Q-is-here]

What's funny (and I've pointed it out numerous times) is that DDV has an awful net rating and net on/off rating track record over his career in the playoffs. This is with multiple teams in multiple contexts and with a large sample size.

I know he isn't the ideal fit in the starting lineup because he isn't really a PG (Ayo is certainly more point guard-y than DDV), but he's close to ideal with all the "white space" he fills up without the ball in his hands: Shooting, off ball movement, chasing down loose balls, pesky defense, etc. If anything, Ayo has lifted his game as he can pair up with him more with Ayo taking on the more difficult defensive assignment.

I'm concerned about Ant, as you would think after the week off with no games and now shaking the rust off he would be starting to get into a rythym. But I'm not seeing it and there is no reason to think it's going to get any better at this point. So far I'd call his play "adequate". He still draws the opposing team's best defender and attracts a ton of attention, but he obviously isn't shooting the ball well and seems a step slow at times.

[FNG]

I just read Dane Moore's in-game twitter feed. He was sitting courtside and tweeted "I think it's worth noting that Anthony Edwards looks healthy".

[Monster]

I've watched all 3 games of this series in the last few hours and the Wolves seem to be getting better every game. Denver missing Gordon is a pretty big deal though but man Rudy has been awesome and Jaden game 3 was one of his best all around games I have seen in a while. His defense on Murray is REALLY good the past 2 games.

It's interesting how Finch has gone with the crafty Vets Conley and Anderson this series. To be fair I think it's probably made sense they have often come in when the Wolves needed some guys to settle down and not make boneheaded plays. Conley has been worthy of the minutes he has played. Anderson has been alright but his ability to be a PG type on the floor is valuable.

Edwards is definitely not healthy and yeah he hasn't exactly hit his rhythm but man he is still doing a lot of good things out there especially making some plays on defense. Idk how long he can keep playing through this but to some extent the Wolves are only gonna go as far as some of the other supporting cast can take them anyway. Like like the group available this year better than the previous 2 and the depth of vet options is there plus some young guys they could throw in if they want to get really wild.

[Wolvesfan21]

What's funny (and I've pointed it out numerous times) is that DDV has an awful net rating and net on/off rating track record over his career in the playoffs. This is with multiple teams in multiple contexts and with a large sample size.

I know he isn't the ideal fit in the starting lineup because he isn't really a PG (Ayo is certainly more point guard-y than DDV), but he's close to ideal with all the "white space" he fills up without the ball in his hands: Shooting, off ball movement, chasing down loose balls, pesky defense, etc. If anything, Ayo has lifted his game as he can pair up with him more with Ayo taking on the more difficult defensive assignment.

I'm concerned about Ant, as you would think after the week off with no games and now shaking the rust off he would be starting to get into a rythym. But I'm not seeing it and there is no reason to think it's going to get any better at this point. So far I'd call his play "adequate". He still draws the opposing team's best defender and attracts a ton of attention, but he obviously isn't shooting the ball well and seems a step slow at times.

I'm with you on Ant. While I think we now can win this series because we're finally playing up to our standard and potential. His injury sounds like the type that needs months of rest to get better, not just a week or a couple. Continuing to play won't help it either.

So with an Ant at 70-80% or whatever number you put on it, we are a very long shot of making the Finals.

With Ant healthy I'd give us a slight chance, with him hobbled. I'm going to say impossible.

[Q-is-here]

What's funny (and I've pointed it out numerous times) is that DDV has an awful net rating and net on/off rating track record over his career in the playoffs. This is with multiple teams in multiple contexts and with a large sample size.

I know he isn't the ideal fit in the starting lineup because he isn't really a PG (Ayo is certainly more point guard-y than DDV), but he's close to ideal with all the "white space" he fills up without the ball in his hands: Shooting, off ball movement, chasing down loose balls, pesky defense, etc. If anything, Ayo has lifted his game as he can pair up with him more with Ayo taking on the more difficult defensive assignment.

I'm concerned about Ant, as you would think after the week off with no games and now shaking the rust off he would be starting to get into a rythym. But I'm not seeing it and there is no reason to think it's going to get any better at this point. So far I'd call his play "adequate". He still draws the opposing team's best defender and attracts a ton of attention, but he obviously isn't shooting the ball well and seems a step slow at times.

I'm with you on Ant. While I think we now can win this series because we're finally playing up to our standard and potential. His injury sounds like the type that needs months of rest to get better, not just a week or a couple. Continuing to play won't help it either.

So with an Ant at 70-80% or whatever number you put on it, we are a very long shot of making the Finals.

With Ant healthy I'd give us a slight chance, with him hobbled. I'm going to say impossible.

Yeah, it would be a really tough road. It also clouds the offseason a bit because assuming we fall short, the front office will be left wondering what if Ant was 100%? Would they maintain the continuity theme we came into this season with or still look to make some pretty big changes.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Ayo/Donte: Both were brilliant last night and really fun to watch...the pace they bring, especially when Ant is out, is a big factor in wearing Denver out. A few weeks ago we had anointed Ayo as the running mate to Ant in the starting lineup next season. I hope this doesn't happen. As hard working and spectacular as Ayo is getting to the basket, there remains the mystery of his substandard +/- and on/off numbers. In the admittedly too small 3 game sample size, Donte is an absurdly brilliant +48.3 on/off...we score 18 more points per 100 possessions when he is on compared to off, and hold Denver to 30.3 points fewer! In contrast Ayo is at -15.5 in the three games. Too small a sample size, you say? True, but Donte also led the team in on/off for the entire season. They both hustle their tails off, but for some reason, Donte's hustle is consistently more effective. Ayo's best role has to continue to be as an energy guy off the bench, both for the rest of the playoffs and next season.

Since Dosunmu arrived, we've discussed it in largely "either/or" terms when it comes to him and Divincenzo.



They seemed to be playing with some legit chemistry yesterday. How often will they play together when Edwards is playing 35 mpg? Dunno. But I want both.