Minnesota Sports Forum

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2026 7:07 am

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2026 8:20 pm

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2026 5:57 pm

Obviously it's a player's league, but the whole point is these exact same players couldn't beat the Pacers last year in the ECFs and this year have steamrolled through the East with ease and won Game 1 @ SAS. The only difference is the coaching staff.

That’s a really hard question to answer. On the surface, it would seem that the coaching change was a major factor, perhaps the only meaningful factor. But their success this season could simply be the result of more time playing together.

Would they be in the same or better spot with Thibs? Thats a really tough ask considering how historically great they have played for 12 games now. Not even Thibs would probably argue that.

Yeah, it's not the fact that they made it to the Finals vs. not making it to the Finals last year. It's the 12 straight wins and total dominance. No team in the history of the NBA has had as dominant of a stretch when measured by point differential, which is nuts since all those games were playoff wins. No Washington Wizards as opponents!

And let's remember they don't have a single player that won an MVP vote. They don't have a single player on the all-NBA first team. Where is the top 3 player that a Finals team supposedly needs to get to this point???

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2026 8:02 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2026 7:07 am

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2026 8:20 pm

That’s a really hard question to answer. On the surface, it would seem that the coaching change was a major factor, perhaps the only meaningful factor. But their success this season could simply be the result of more time playing together.

Would they be in the same or better spot with Thibs? Thats a really tough ask considering how historically great they have played for 12 games now. Not even Thibs would probably argue that.

Yeah, it's not the fact that they made it to the Finals vs. not making it to the Finals last year. It's the 12 straight wins and total dominance. No team in the history of the NBA has had as dominant of a stretch when measured by point differential, which is nuts since all those games were playoff wins. No Washington Wizards as opponents!

And let's remember they don't have a single player that won an MVP vote. They don't have a single player on the all-NBA first team. Where is the top 3 player that a Finals team supposedly needs to get to this point???

Yeah the Knicks didn't settle for good last year, making the ECF. They fired Thibs, got roasted by the media and now look, they are favored to win the whole thing. Of course imo we should have fired Finch, we certainly would have been roasted by the media too, but maybe it helps us take that next step? Just the message by the franchise that we don't settle for anything but the chip.

I'm not predicting the Knicks win it even, I'm still a doubter. I really think the Spurs are that great that they can and do come back and win it all.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2026 9:04 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2026 8:02 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2026 7:07 am

Would they be in the same or better spot with Thibs? Thats a really tough ask considering how historically great they have played for 12 games now. Not even Thibs would probably argue that.

Yeah, it's not the fact that they made it to the Finals vs. not making it to the Finals last year. It's the 12 straight wins and total dominance. No team in the history of the NBA has had as dominant of a stretch when measured by point differential, which is nuts since all those games were playoff wins. No Washington Wizards as opponents!

And let's remember they don't have a single player that won an MVP vote. They don't have a single player on the all-NBA first team. Where is the top 3 player that a Finals team supposedly needs to get to this point???

Yeah the Knicks didn't settle for good last year, making the ECF. They fired Thibs, got roasted by the media and now look, they are favored to win the whole thing. Of course imo we should have fired Finch, we certainly would have been roasted by the media too, but maybe it helps us take that next step? Just the message by the franchise that we don't settle for anything but the chip.

I'm not predicting the Knicks win it even, I'm still a doubter. I really think the Spurs are that great that they can and do come back and win it all.

Not sure firing Finch would have made a difference in light of our injury issues in the post-season. Injury luck is absolutely key to making a title run. You take one guy out of that Knicks starting lineup and it would be tough for them to pull this off. The Spurs could may be get away with Fox being hurt since they have Dylan Harper, but anyone else in their starting lineup is a lot tougher to replace.

All that being said, I just think the Knicks run to the Finals has been very fascinating.

GhostOfZelko wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2026 7:02 pm

The only difference is the coaching staff.

Some differences in the opponents though

The Knicks last year were up 3 - 1 on a healthy Celtics team. Then, they lost HC in the ECF in Game 1 on one of the craziest shots we'll ever see in basketball before losing in 6 games to a team that had a legit chance at winning the title until Haliburton went down. They were good (but to be fair, I think OKC woulda trounced them in the Finals).

Meanwhile, Landy Shamet is shooting 59% on three pointers in these playoffs and Anunoby is shooting 48%. Is it something Mike Brown is doing? Maybe. But Anunoby shot only 34% last year... and Shamet has been in the playoffs 6 other times (3 other teams) and never shot better than 38% until last year.

I think there's a combination of factors that go into this. Again... right coach, right team, right time, right bounces.

But do we think Cavs, Lakers, and Kings fans have been pissed off for the past few years because their team sent Mike Brown packing?



[Note: A new coach COULD have a Mike Brown impact with the Timberwolves. Or, he could have a Doc Rivers impact.]

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2026 9:11 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2026 9:04 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2026 8:02 am

Yeah, it's not the fact that they made it to the Finals vs. not making it to the Finals last year. It's the 12 straight wins and total dominance. No team in the history of the NBA has had as dominant of a stretch when measured by point differential, which is nuts since all those games were playoff wins. No Washington Wizards as opponents!

And let's remember they don't have a single player that won an MVP vote. They don't have a single player on the all-NBA first team. Where is the top 3 player that a Finals team supposedly needs to get to this point???

Yeah the Knicks didn't settle for good last year, making the ECF. They fired Thibs, got roasted by the media and now look, they are favored to win the whole thing. Of course imo we should have fired Finch, we certainly would have been roasted by the media too, but maybe it helps us take that next step? Just the message by the franchise that we don't settle for anything but the chip.

I'm not predicting the Knicks win it even, I'm still a doubter. I really think the Spurs are that great that they can and do come back and win it all.

Not sure firing Finch would have made a difference in light of our injury issues in the post-season. Injury luck is absolutely key to making a title run. You take one guy out of that Knicks starting lineup and it would be tough for them to pull this off. The Spurs could may be get away with Fox being hurt since they have Dylan Harper, but anyone else in their starting lineup is a lot tougher to replace.

All that being said, I just think the Knicks run to the Finals has been very fascinating.

It's not just that for me of course. It's how we played the regular season that makes me feel like we are fake contenders. Now the players are 100% mostly to blame, they even say they don't listen to Finch. But if your team doesn't listen to the coach, why is he there? What do you do here is my question?

Yeah I get it, lots of NBA players/superstars ignore play calls and go rogue too or don't "follow the gameplan", but I think it's the severity of it as a whole that I have issues with. To me Finch was not helping this past season, and I have questions if he was good enough in prior ones as well.