Wolves vs. Spurs

[Q-is-here]

If someone wants to create a separate poll, have at it, otherwise you can just state your prediction here along with any thoughts and analysis.

Here are two data points to think about....

- After Wemby and Kornet, who rarely play together, the Spurs' 3rd tallest player in their rotation is Harrison Barnes at 6'7".

- In Game 6 against Denver, Finch fielded a lineup for 12 minutes that consisted of Shannon at PG, Jaden at SG, Naz at SF, Julius at PF, and Rudy at C. They had a net rating of +36 (pro-rated for 100 possessions).

[Lipoli390]

I’m not going to predict this series. The Spurs are really good and we’re running on fumes. But who could have predicted the outcome of the Denver series. In my view, the Wolves are the Cinderella story of this year’s NBA playoffs. For that reason alone, it would be tremendous if the Wolves could get past the Spurs. But I’m already looking ahead to next season and excited about our prospects after watching the emergence of Jaden (offensively and rebounding) and Ayo along with the re-emergence of TSJ. Those three guys with Ant and Rudy form a great foundation to tweak for next season. We have to find a way to keep Ayo at a much higher price than we expected. Naz might need shoulder surgery and we’ll probably need to trade Randle. We have a 1st round pick to package with Randle in a trade. So I like where we’re at.

[mjs34]

I think this will be over in 5 with our only chance depending on how Rudy comes out and plays Wemby. If he is physical with him and stays out of foul trouble, we have a chance. If not, these games will be blowouts.

Looking at the schedule for the series, they have us playing back to back in games 1 and 2. I have not witnessed any team playing with zero rest. How much control has the NBA granted to the networks with respect to scheduling?

[AussieWolf3]

I'm with Lip, I don't want to nor can I predict this series. However, I will say that I know Wolves will be a tough out for the Spurs. Even if it ends in 5 it won't be an easy 5 for them and my gut tells me the Wolves are gonna surprise some people in this series too

[AussieWolf3]

I think this will be over in 5 with our only chance depending on how Rudy comes out and plays Wemby. If he is physical with him and stays out of foul trouble, we have a chance. If not, these games will be blowouts.

Looking at the schedule for the series, they have us playing back to back in games 1 and 2. I have not witnessed any team playing with zero rest. How much control has the NBA granted to the networks with respect to scheduling?

They play on Monday and then on Wednesday, so no back to backs

[60WinTim]

My brain is afraid it might be Spurs in 5, but my heart tells me Wolves in 6.

Both Rudy and Julius have shown they can at least make life difficult for Wemby. The ANT and Donte injuries have opened a door for Jaden on the offensive end, which he took full advantage of against Denver (and Cool has been requesting for over a year!). I assume Ayo will be back. And is point-Shannon a real thing?!? It'll be interesting to see what kind of lineups Finch rolls out there.

The Wolves are playing with house money now. Shannon (and Clark) have a great opportunity to establish themselves as part of ANT 2.0. And who knows, Baby Bear might get a few opportunities to get his feet wet depending on the likely foul trouble we will see with our BIGS. Win or lose, we might have some nice auditions for the future.

[AussieWolf3]

Call it a hot take if you want, but Wemby is approaching overrated territory, and right now, in this moment in time, Rudy is better defender.

There a holes in Vic's game that are being ignored by the broader media. He can't do anything in the post, doesn't really have a bag to get past defenders and shoots too many middys for a below average rate. He's a alien rim runner, so the lob threat is enough to ruin anyone's day, but he's containable outside of that.

The biggest problem for the Wolves is if they don't have many shooters left and they need to be able to hit from outside if they're going to score. I think they'll need Rudy on defense but he might be so much of a hindrance on offense that they can't play him as much as needed.

Just spilt the first two games and we have a series, and possibly even a story book ending if Ant comes back for game 3 and can return to form

[Monster]

Someone made a point and I don't remember if it was here, my brother or elsewhere but the Wolves are now a team with legit playoff experience. The Spurs? They have playoff vets Barnes and Kornet. Fox has now played in 2 playoff series that's it. Basically everyone else that plays this is their first playoffs. TSJ and Clark are the least experienced and they have still been on the roster for 2 playoff runs and have gotten some worthwhile minutes in a few games. Meanwhile guys like McDaniels and Reid have played in over 40 playoff games each. Conley over 100 Gobert 90. Randle somewhat surprisingly has only played in 36. The Wolves are the vet team that might give them a shot at making this weird more interesting than it should be. I was saying to my brother that this wolves team does have an edge to them. They have their issues as well but there is no denying there are players that are gonna go at people and the other team. 2 of those guys are not available but they weren't the only ones. Will Rudy and McDaniels defense be as good as the last series?

I don't want to make a prediction other than what I have said above. Winning the last series was very enjoyable. Even if they get swept I can't really get too upset they are still playing pretty undermanned.

[FNG]

If someone wants to create a separate poll, have at it, otherwise you can just state your prediction here along with any thoughts and analysis.

Here are two data points to think about....

- After Wemby and Kornet, who rarely play together, the Spurs' 3rd tallest player in their rotation is Harrison Barnes at 6'7".

- In Game 6 against Denver, Finch fielded a lineup for 12 minutes that consisted of Shannon at PG, Jaden at SG, Naz at SF, Julius at PF, and Rudy at C. They had a net rating of +36 (pro-rated for 100 possessions).

Let's start with a little bit of reality: The Spurs are a 20-1 favorite to win the series...that's right, you can bet $200 on them to win $10. Who's in? Further, they are 13 1/2 point favorites in game 1 Monday. You just don't see odds like that in round 2 very often. The Wolves won 2 out of 3 from the Spurs this season. But they were mostly healthy (Rudy missed one game with a suspension), and my sources tell me they may not be healthy now.

Q, Dane Moore was talking about the "big lineup" on their most recent pod. There's no question our length was a big factor in our series win...every Nugget seemed to be aware of Rudy's presence in the paint, and Jaden made life hellish for Murray. Further, Jaden's height advantage seemed to give him a good look at the basket every time he shot. We might see Finchy role out these 4 occasionally.

But we're never going to have a height advantage at center when Wemby is out there, and also the paint and rim are no longer going to be wide open like they were against the Nuggets. This is bad news for Shannon, Ayo (if he plays), Jaden and Naz, all who seemed to prefer scoring in the paint to 3-pointers. But we have little chance of winning unless at least two of these guys are successful beyond the arc in this series.

So, who is going to guard Wemby? The obvious choice is Rudy. Wemby seems to have some reverence for the elder Frenchman. Did you ever feel uncomfortable beating your dad in some sport when you were younger? Maybe we'll get some of that from Wemby. But it actually might be Ju guarding him, since he had a lot of success being physical with him this year. But them who does Rudy take? You can't leave Champagnie alone beyond the arc.

I'm going into this series with low expectations, but also anticipating it will be a lot of fun. I know we have a lot of Ant stans here, but can anyone really make a case that our team is more fun to watch when he is playing? We just never seem to have the ball movement and the crazy pressure defense when Ant is on the court, and those are aspects of buckets I like best. But with the big freak roaming in the paint, there's no question that we are going to miss our two most prolific 3-point shooters. Charania says Game 3 Friday is the earliest Ant could return, so we'll see. I know I'm in a small minority here, but I actually think we are going to miss Donte's 2-way play and energy more than we miss Ant in the first two games. And of course Ayo is a mystery too...

[FNG]

Our best chance to win? I would never wish for this, at least not out loud, but Wemby does miss a lot of games...he's missed 54 games the past two seasons.