Minnesota Sports Forum

I still would love to see Ayo, Bones, Shannon w/o Ant or Randle. I think that lineup...without the governors, can run teams like Denver right off the court.

Leado01 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:19 am I still would love to see Ayo, Bones, Shannon w/o Ant or Randle. I think that lineup...without the governors, can run teams like Denver right off the court.

Fast-paced basketball and getting easy buckets in transition always sounds good in theory. It's harder to do in practice because you first half to create turnovers or missed shots on the other end plus secure the rebound. The Ayo/Bones/Shannon trio has at least two guys (Hyland and TSJ) that are without question defensive liabilities, even though they both try hard. The jury is out on Ayo. The eye test suggests he is a solid defender while the stats say otherwise. Perhaps if they were out there with Rudy and Jaden at the 5 and 4 it could work.

The big weak spot I see with Denver is Jokic's unwillingness to challenge shots in and around the paint. He's very good at walling up and his sheer size is a presence, but otherwise he can be attacked. We saw how Jaden, Naz, and Ant flipped up multiple short mid-range shots or weaved their way through the paint for layups with minimal resistance. He is so important to their offense that he simply can't afford to make hard contests.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2026 5:19 pm We continually prove we have it in us. Let's go on a run like we did at the end of last year and get home court for at least one round.

I agree, Cool. I’ve thought all season that this team has the talent to compete for a championship this year. I’m even more convinced since the acquisition of Ayo. It’s a matter of them giving maximum effort every minute of every game and not letting Ant and Randle stagnate the offense with too much iso ball.

As I’ve been watching the last month I’ve identified five rotation players who in my view consistently play the right way: Donte, Jaden, Naz, Rudy and Bones. I’ll add Ayo to that list and make it six. By right way, I mean three things: (1) they take the game seriously, rarely cracking a smile while on the court or even off the court - anti Wes Johnsons; (2) they give max effort on both sides of the ball nearly all the time (Donte’s the best in this department); and (3) they keep the ball moving on the offensive end. There’s no sign of Wes Johnson in any of these six. They all give max effort defensively nearly all the time. And none of them stalls the ball with a lot of dribbling in place. They all make relatively quick decisions with the ball - attacking, shooting or passing. The problem is that our two scorers - Ant and Randle - continue to stall the ball far too often although Randle seems to be improving a bit in this area. It’s particularly problematic because Ant is our highest usage player. He’s a great player and we have to expect quite a bit of iso ball from him, but I’d like to see less. Further, these two guys fail to provide consistent max effort defensively.

Leado01 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:19 am I still would love to see Ayo, Bones, Shannon w/o Ant or Randle. I think that lineup...without the governors, can run teams like Denver right off the court.

Bones had a great 2nd quarter with both Murray and Joker on the bench, I'm still not sold he is gong to be playable in the playoffs. I'm not sure if Shannon is going to get much run the rest of this season, as we just played 8 yesterday in a playoff feeling game and we still have quite a few important tough games coming up. I'd love to see Ayo, Donte, Anderson, Jaden and Naz some in that 2nd unit given a chance. Next seasons that 2nd unit of Ayo, Donte, Shannon, Jaden, and Joan would be a dream if Shannon and Joan can get to the point they can play and earn the coaches trust.