Minnesota Sports Forum

As tough as the West always is, it's significant to make the finals in back to back years. Let's go at least one more rung this year.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Wed May 14, 2025 11:48 pm As tough as the West always is, it's significant to make the finals in back to back years. Let's go at least one more rung this year.

So true...you can't overlook how significant getting to the finals twice in a row is. Now, let's go a little deeper!

And as others have said, you can't ignore this fact: In the 33 years before Luka Garza joined the team, we made the finals only once. But in the three years he has played for us, we have already made it twice!

On Get Up this morning Greenberg, who had picked OKC all year, said the Wolves win that series. Steven A. Smith has turned on KAT and is wishing that trade never happened. He pointed out that KAT can shoot, but is not a good post player. That trade is looking better every game. We just need to Wolves to buckle down from here on out. The turnovers are killers. The defensive intensity by Ant and Randle has been inconsistent as though they were conserving energy. Only 8 more wins, with a possibility of only 14 total games left in the season. Time to lay it all out there. Ant ran out of gas last year vs the Nuggets. He should be more than ready for the conference Finals.

DNatagal wrote: ↑Thu May 15, 2025 11:11 am On Get Up this morning Greenberg, who had picked OKC all year, said the Wolves win that series. Steven A. Smith has turned on KAT and is wishing that trade never happened. He pointed out that KAT can shoot, but is not a good post player. That trade is looking better every game. We just need to Wolves to buckle down from here on out. The turnovers are killers. The defensive intensity by Ant and Randle has been inconsistent as though they were conserving energy. Only 8 more wins, with a possibility of only 14 total games left in the season. Time to lay it all out there. Ant ran out of gas last year vs the Nuggets. He should be more than ready for the conference Finals.

I think OkC will be a -150 favorite in a series against us, but heck, the Lakers were a -200 favorite...I'm not counting us out!

I don't agree with Smith that KAT is not a good post player. I think he's proven to be an effective 3-level scorer. Still a great 3-point shooter, but also effective driving to the basket. That said, and while the trade might have helped both teams, I feel pretty confident concluding we won the trade. I don't know why Julius has struggled in the playoffs in the past...his physical size and strength seems to make him the prototypical playoff performer with the way refs let them play. And while Donte has had his issues in the playoffs this year, we're probably a play in team at best without him during the season. Great trade!