FNG wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 9:33 am
I always need someone to focus my hate on when the Wolves enter a playoff series. Last year it was Booker (I've just never liked him personally, and his hipcheck of Mike into Finchy looked intentional to me), Murray (hate his whining about injuries...be a man like Gordon), and of course Luka. This year it has been Luka again, and then Butler (way more than Draymond for me). I like most of the guys on OkC so I'm struggling to find my series target. But although I don't know that much about him and he doesn't even start, I think it will have to be Caruso. Sure, I admire his defensive intensity, but I'm going to hate it in this series. And he just looks like he might be a dick. So yeah...absent any suggestions from you guys, I officially hate Caruso for this series.
I think Caruso is a good candidate. Dort is also a guy that gets really physical with people and seemingly gets away with a lot.
But the guy who deserves the most scorn is SGA. He's obviously a great player and he's quite understated as a personality, so it makes him hard to dislike personally, but his foul baiting and theatrics (the constant falling, head-snaps, and off arm entanglements) are really frustrating to watch and it feels like he's cheating the game of basketball even if it's all technically legal in terms of how the game is reff'ed. You contrast that with Ant, who generally does not engage in the same sort of foul baiting shenanigans and it makes it very easy to root for the more "pure" basketball player.
Jester1534 wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 3:29 pm
Wild stat on Dane Moore Podcast today
The nuggets in game 4-5-6-7
Were 6-46 from the corner three.
Holy crap, if Denver had just made a third of those corners, they win games 4 and 5 and we're getting ready to play them in the finals. OkC chose to double Jokic and leave those shots open, and Westbrook, Porter Jr., the bench for the most part, and even Braun complied. If Ju gets the ball in the paint and they double him, he'll find the open man...and we're not going to miss 40 out of 46 shots.
FNG wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 9:33 am
I always need someone to focus my hate on when the Wolves enter a playoff series. Last year it was Booker (I've just never liked him personally, and his hipcheck of Mike into Finchy looked intentional to me), Murray (hate his whining about injuries...be a man like Gordon), and of course Luka. This year it has been Luka again, and then Butler (way more than Draymond for me). I like most of the guys on OkC so I'm struggling to find my series target. But although I don't know that much about him and he doesn't even start, I think it will have to be Caruso. Sure, I admire his defensive intensity, but I'm going to hate it in this series. And he just looks like he might be a dick. So yeah...absent any suggestions from you guys, I officially hate Caruso for this series.
I think Caruso is a good candidate. Dort is also a guy that gets really physical with people and seemingly gets away with a lot.
But the guy who deserves the most scorn is SGA. He's obviously a great player and he's quite understated as a personality, so it makes him hard to dislike personally, but his foul baiting and theatrics (the constant falling, head-snaps, and off arm entanglements) are really frustrating to watch and it feels like he's cheating the game of basketball even if it's all technically legal in terms of how the game is reff'ed. You contrast that with Ant, who generally does not engage in the same sort of foul baiting shenanigans and it makes it very easy to root for the more "pure" basketball player.
Ha, we've covered this topic as a board before, and I recognize I'm an outlier, but I have no problem with players trying to fool the referees...in fact I wish our guys would do it more often! In basketball I would hold on to my man's shorts when the refs weren't looking to slow him down a bit, and in Senior Men's Baseball I still signal to the umpire I caught the ball in the outfield even if I know I trapped it...it's pretty much a reflex. And I still admire a catcher who can frame a pitch to make the umpire think a ball is actually a strike. Cheating? Maybe. But they're all moves made to try to win, and if the ref doesn't catch it, all the better. So I'm a big fan of SGA...seems like a great guy, and certainly a great player...even if he annoys some with his theatrics!
Jester1534 wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 3:29 pm
Wild stat on Dane Moore Podcast today
The nuggets in game 4-5-6-7
Were 6-46 from the corner three.
Holy crap, if Denver had just made a third of those corners, they win games 4 and 5 and we're getting ready to play them in the finals. OkC chose to double Jokic and leave those shots open, and Westbrook, Porter Jr., the bench for the most part, and even Braun complied. If Ju gets the ball in the paint and they double him, he'll find the open man...and we're not going to miss 40 out of 46 shots.
Yeah, we are going to miss 40 out of 47 shots, like the last Lakers' game...
I am spot on my series predictions so far -- both Wolves in 5. This time, Wolves in 6!
Jester1534 wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 3:29 pm
Wild stat on Dane Moore Podcast today
The nuggets in game 4-5-6-7
Were 6-46 from the corner three.
Holy crap, if Denver had just made a third of those corners, they win games 4 and 5 and we're getting ready to play them in the finals. OkC chose to double Jokic and leave those shots open, and Westbrook, Porter Jr., the bench for the most part, and even Braun complied. If Ju gets the ball in the paint and they double him, he'll find the open man...and we're not going to miss 40 out of 46 shots.
Yeah, we are going to miss 40 out of 47 shots, like the last Lakers' game...
I am spot on my series predictions so far -- both Wolves in 5. This time, Wolves in 6!
I love it, Tim…hope you’re right! I’m really excited about this series..two exciting and very good teams. But I still have a nagging feeling we’re only going to win one game at home and lose in 5. I’ve never wanted to be wrong more, but this OkC team scares me.
I'm expecting a rusty haphazard game 1 from the Wolves. That's not great but OKC is supposed to win game 1 so it's not the end of the world and I think those days off will help the Wolves over the course of the series. I don't think there is a massive gap between these 2 teams I could see this series going 6 or 7 games each direction.
The Wolves even with their improvements at limiting turnovers down the stretch of the season that's still a concern. GS defense was pretty good and OKC is even better. There are a lot of various matchups and x factors or if player B plays well...for each team. Wolves defense should be better than Denver's defense so it goes both ways.
Jester1534 wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 3:29 pm
Wild stat on Dane Moore Podcast today
The nuggets in game 4-5-6-7
Were 6-46 from the corner three.
Holy crap, if Denver had just made a third of those corners, they win games 4 and 5 and we're getting ready to play them in the finals. OkC chose to double Jokic and leave those shots open, and Westbrook, Porter Jr., the bench for the most part, and even Braun complied. If Ju gets the ball in the paint and they double him, he'll find the open man...and we're not going to miss 40 out of 46 shots.
Yeah, we are going to miss 40 out of 47 shots, like the last Lakers' game...
I am spot on my series predictions so far -- both Wolves in 5. This time, Wolves in 6!
This is going to sound strange but here is how I forecast this series: I do not believe the Thunder can win a 4 or 5 game series. I believe a short series would favor the Wolves. I think the only way OKC can win is if it goes the full 7 games. And that is what I think is going to happen. But I will provide one giant If. If the Wolves can win the first two games in OKC like they did last year in Denver, we will win the series. So my pick is the Thunder in 7.
Holy crap, if Denver had just made a third of those corners, they win games 4 and 5 and we're getting ready to play them in the finals. OkC chose to double Jokic and leave those shots open, and Westbrook, Porter Jr., the bench for the most part, and even Braun complied. If Ju gets the ball in the paint and they double him, he'll find the open man...and we're not going to miss 40 out of 46 shots.
Yeah, we are going to miss 40 out of 47 shots, like the last Lakers' game...
I am spot on my series predictions so far -- both Wolves in 5. This time, Wolves in 6!
This is going to sound strange but here is how I forecast this series: I do not believe the Thunder can win a 4 or 5 game series. I believe a short series would favor the Wolves. I think the only way OKC can win is if it goes the full 7 games. And that is what I think is going to happen. But I will provide one giant If. If the Wolves can win the first two games in OKC like they did last year in Denver, we will win the series. So my pick is the Thunder in 7.
That does sound strange and I don't quite understand the logic, as isn't it pretty obvious that if we took the first two games on their home court that we would be heavily favored to win the series at that point?
Perhaps your point is that we did the same in Denver last year, yet they managed to reel off three straight and make it go to 7 games and OKC may not have the experience or confidence to do that if we rattle them by going up 2-0.
Yeah, we are going to miss 40 out of 47 shots, like the last Lakers' game...
I am spot on my series predictions so far -- both Wolves in 5. This time, Wolves in 6!
This is going to sound strange but here is how I forecast this series: I do not believe the Thunder can win a 4 or 5 game series. I believe a short series would favor the Wolves. I think the only way OKC can win is if it goes the full 7 games. And that is what I think is going to happen. But I will provide one giant If. If the Wolves can win the first two games in OKC like they did last year in Denver, we will win the series. So my pick is the Thunder in 7.
That does sound strange and I don't quite understand the logic, as isn't it pretty obvious that if we took the first two games on their home court that we would be heavily favored to win the series at that point?
Perhaps your point is that we did the same in Denver last year, yet they managed to reel off three straight and make it go to 7 games and OKC may not have the experience or confidence to do that if we rattle them by going up 2-0.
I'm picking OKC to win the series unless we can win the first two games. If that happens I think we would likely win in 4-6 games. And I think the Wolves will be too competitive to lose in less than 7 games. Does that make sense?
