Around the NBA (non-Wolves talk)

[Lipoli390]

Are we just going to ignore the fact the Pelicans just swept the Blazers? AD with 47 points and Jrue Holiday with 41 points. All this without Demarcus Cousins (coincidence or not)?

Good question, Matt. I was going to put the Pelicans on my list of great stories this season and I probably should have. What held me back was my assumption a while back that the Pelicans would probably be better without Cousins. I remember the last time we played them at Target Center I can shouting for Cousins to take the shot whenever he had the ball. Of course, whether he heard me or not, he almost alway took the shot. Yes, he made a number of them, but he also missed a lot and would turn the ball over more than a few times. In any event, the key is that Cousins actually disrupted the Pelicans' offense. The Pelicans had a hard time getting into an offensive flow because Cousins was dominating the ball. And it took the ball out of Holiday's hands and out of AD's hands.

Otherwise, no doubt the Pelicans have been impressive. I love the way they push the pace and move the ball. Like Rubio, Rondo is a master at running the offense and making players around him better. They're a fun team to watch and I'm glad they beat Portland.

Speaking of Portland, it will be interesting to see what they do this off-season. Will they try to add a piece or two around Lillard and McCollum or will they try to shake things up by possibly dealing either Lillard or McCollum? It will be an interesting off-season for them.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

How about the Jazz and Ricky Rubio? Ricky with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists along with 2 steals. He's been tremendous for the Jazz this season and so far in the playoffs. The Jazz are a joy to watch. They play a beautiful brand of basketball. The ball moves and Ricky orchestrates the offense like a great conductor. I'd still take Ricky over Teague, but the guys I'd really like to have on the Wolves are Mitchell, Gobert and Ingles. And the guy we could use the most would be Ingles. He is such a terrific 3-point shooter as we all know, but he's also a very good defender and terrific teammate.

Ingles was a guy I was hoping the Wolves would pursue hard this past offseason. He would have been PERFECT for us. Oh well.

And what can you say about Khansy's favorite PG Ricky Rubio? He's basically been their best player over the past two wins. I don't know if he will keep it up, but the idea that Ricky was going to be this huge liability in playoff basketball hasn't seemed to play out yet.

He's played great so hats off to him. Before you just credit him for doing this all playoffs long though you should keep in mind that even in MN he had Westbrook's number. He's a great matchup on the hero baller because he's big enough that Russ can't bully him on the court and Russ is allergic to defense which let's Ricky operate with no resistance of any kind. Ricky won that matchup frequently for us so I'm not as shocked at what he's done so far. If he does it again next round I'll just be wrong and have to wear that one.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Are we just going to ignore the fact the Pelicans just swept the Blazers? AD with 47 points and Jrue Holiday with 41 points. All this without Demarcus Cousins (coincidence or not)?

I think this was just a matchup nightmare for POR that NO took advantage of. Lilliard/CJ is basically a 2 PG backcourt which let NO get away with playing Jrue at the 2. Jrue has always been a good defender who took it to an All-NBA level this series and playoff Rondo is just a freaking glue guy out there doing everything. Oh and then they have AD on top of that and Portland just can't match that. We'll see if they can keep it up in Round 2 now that Jrue has to guard a 6-7, 6-8 Klay versus a 6-3 CJ. They were impressive, but I think they had the best matchup they could draw in round 1 and took advantage which is what you should do. Let's see how they play against dominant wings which exposes their weakest position.

And Portland learned the lesson of having all your eggs in the backcourt. They need a big or a wing who can help out when they draw a bad matchup and they don't have one anymore without LA. It will be interesting to see what they do this offseason because they don't have much they can use to get a lot better. They came in pretty cold down the stretch outside of that Utah win to close out the year and getting swept with home court is a bad look for Dame and CJ.

[Monster]

Are we just going to ignore the fact the Pelicans just swept the Blazers? AD with 47 points and Jrue Holiday with 41 points. All this without Demarcus Cousins (coincidence or not)?

I think this was just a matchup nightmare for POR that NO took advantage of. Lilliard/CJ is basically a 2 PG backcourt which let NO get away with playing Jrue at the 2. Jrue has always been a good defender who took it to an All-NBA level this series and playoff Rondo is just a freaking glue guy out there doing everything. Oh and then they have AD on top of that and Portland just can't match that. We'll see if they can keep it up in Round 2 now that Jrue has to guard a 6-7, 6-8 Klay versus a 6-3 CJ. They were impressive, but I think they had the best matchup they could draw in round 1 and took advantage which is what you should do. Let's see how they play against dominant wings which exposes their weakest position.

And Portland learned the lesson of having all your eggs in the backcourt. They need a big or a wing who can help out when they draw a bad matchup and they don't have one anymore without LA. It will be interesting to see what they do this offseason because they don't have much they can use to get a lot better. They came in pretty cold down the stretch outside of that Utah win to close out the year and getting swept with home court is a bad look for Dame and CJ.

Good points plus NO "wings" didn't have to do so much defensively against the Portland wings meaning SFs. They can play Moore wherever and not worry about getting killed on that matchup.

Now there are all kinds of stories about Stotts losing his job after this sweep. Personally I think that would be incredibly stupid. I don't know if those reports have any validity or it's just making some educated guesses for clicks.

[Monster]

How about the Jazz and Ricky Rubio? Ricky with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists along with 2 steals. He's been tremendous for the Jazz this season and so far in the playoffs. The Jazz are a joy to watch. They play a beautiful brand of basketball. The ball moves and Ricky orchestrates the offense like a great conductor. I'd still take Ricky over Teague, but the guys I'd really like to have on the Wolves are Mitchell, Gobert and Ingles. And the guy we could use the most would be Ingles. He is such a terrific 3-point shooter as we all know, but he's also a very good defender and terrific teammate.

Ingles was a guy I was hoping the Wolves would pursue hard this past offseason. He would have been PERFECT for us. Oh well.

And what can you say about Khansy's favorite PG Ricky Rubio? He's basically been their best player over the past two wins. I don't know if he will keep it up, but the idea that Ricky was going to be this huge liability in playoff basketball hasn't seemed to play out yet.

He's played great so hats off to him. Before you just credit him for doing this all playoffs long though you should keep in mind that even in MN he had Westbrook's number. He's a great matchup on the hero baller because he's big enough that Russ can't bully him on the court and Russ is allergic to defense which let's Ricky operate with no resistance of any kind. Ricky won that matchup frequently for us so I'm not as shocked at what he's done so far. If he does it again next round I'll just be wrong and have to wear that one.

Well said Kahns. I'll add that Rubio's shooting percentages aren't exactly impressive so we will see. Obviously overall the has been a positive for the Jazz. I'll admit it's easier to be happy for him and the Jazz now that we have at least won a playoff game.

Which reminds me does anyone know if shooting percentages generally trend either up or down overall in the playoffs historically?

[thedoper]

Whatever is going on with Rubio it has been a statistical anomaly, he had a career year no doubt. Would have been nice is he played anywhere near this level for longer than 20 games while he was a Timberwolf. I hope he can keep it up, maybe we will add him to the long list of players that forget how to score when they come play for us. Maybe he has finally turned the corner?

[Wolvesfan21]

Westbrook was really mad when asked about Rubio dominating him with a triple double. He said he is shutting that shit down next game. lol

Though I don't really care, I kind of want to see Rubio and the Jazz win the series. That defense is legit with Gobert inside. That team will go whatever way Rubio goes, they don't have enough firepower to score enough if he doesn't help out.

[Coolbreeze44]

Until Giannis gets more consistent on his jump shot, I'm sorry but you can't count him among the top 5 players in the league.

[mjs34]

Whatever is going on with Rubio it has been a statistical anomaly, he had a career year no doubt. Would have been nice is he played anywhere near this level for longer than 20 games while he was a Timberwolf. I hope he can keep it up, maybe we will add him to the long list of players that forget how to score when they come play for us. Maybe he has finally turned the corner?

Ricky is the same player efficiency wise as he was with the wolves. Which has always been good enough in my eyes.

[thedoper]

Whatever is going on with Rubio it has been a statistical anomaly, he had a career year no doubt. Would have been nice is he played anywhere near this level for longer than 20 games while he was a Timberwolf. I hope he can keep it up, maybe we will add him to the long list of players that forget how to score when they come play for us. Maybe he has finally turned the corner?

Ricky is the same player efficiency wise as he was with the wolves. Which has always been good enough in my eyes.

Career high by a huge margin in eFG with a 23% usage. His scoring contribution has never been close to this. I'm glad for Ricky but I'm not willing to rewrite history because he's shooting and making them. He was "efficient" for us because he stopped shooting and missing.