Minnesota Sports Forum

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 2:03 am - I don't know if the Wolves can still win this series. In a lot of ways, it doesn't rally matter.

Seems a bit doomery of an opinion considering they're up 3-1.

Denver simply doesn't have answers for Minny, offense or defense. I don't know why we're all so resistant to accepting what are eyes see

That was a roller coaster. Even before Donte went down it looked like the Nuggets were gonna play much better and this was gonna be a tough one. Then Donte goes down. That was tough. They kept playing then Edwards hurts his other knee. For this game it probably wasn't the worst he wasn't playing all that well. Conley has a kinda bad turnover...then goes on to be a part of what turns into a gutty but double digit win.

Ayo was fantastic. The Wolves have enough to win this series even if Edwards doesn't play. Denver really doesn't defend well enough and the Wolves have some guys that can actually score off the bench.

McDaniels...I was like he is gonna do it isn't he? Lol what's funny is he was calming down a couple guys earlier in the game. I agree with Abe maybe he is gonna turn I to a bit of Rodman type guy playing mind games with people. Regardless he has been really good in this series.

I'm an emotional Wolves fan, and experiencing a lot of conflicting emotions this morning. We're going to win this series...Denver is a beaten team, and isn't going to recover after getting destroyed by 20 points by a team missing 2 key starters. And last night was fun: we played defense like we have seldom seen this season, and got to enjoy a jaw-dropping performance by Ayo.

But I don't feel that good this morning. We have lost my favorite player this season, one of the only Wolves who brought 100% energy every night. And his value is apparent in the on/off stats: he led the team all season, far ahead of second-place Rudy. And he was miles ahead of everyone in the playoffs: he is an outstanding +28.8 in the three full games he played, with 19.8 coming on defense. The next best on/off number among the 7 Wolves who have played at least 75 minutes? Julius, at a -3.0. That's right, Donte is the only rotation player with a positive on/off on cleaning the glass. It was fun watching this team last night, but I don't know that it is going to be as fun going forward...last night was probably fueled by a lot of "let's do it for Ant and Donte", and that probably isn't sustainable.

What about Ant? We don't know how bad the new knee injury is, but its difficult to be optimistic. He could be out for a while, but even if he isn't, he just hasn't been very good this postseason...his 1 for 8 shooting last night a case in point. Again, I have conflicting emotions. Ant and Donte were by far our most prolific 3-point shooters this season. While we haven't necessarily needed 3-pointers against a Nuggets team that can't protect the rim, San Antonio is a different story...with the freakish Wemby swatting away everything at the rim, our only chance of beating them was through success beyond the arc, and that seems very unlikely now.

But I don't think anyone can deny this team without Ant was really fun to watch last night. The only other times we have seen a swarming defense like that this season were mostly when Ant was out. Even missing one of our best "swarmers" in Donte, it was still a second half of hell for Denver. My favorite moment was when Mike and someone else (Ayo?) knocked the ball away at midcourt and created a 4 on 0 fast break. So even though the deep run I was thinking was possible 24 hours ago now seems unlikely, I'm going to take what I can from this team without Donte and maybe without Ant. I'm going to enjoy a roster going at 100% all the time. I'm going to enjoy watching an emerging star in Ayo. And since Conley likely joins Ayo in the starting lineup now, I'm going to enjoy watching a guy who really knows how to play basketball...perhaps for the last time.

Gotta take what they can give us...

I think Jaden made that layup because Jokic trucked him with 1:22 left in the game. I am here for it!

DNatagal wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 9:38 am I think Jaden made that layup because Jokic trucked him with 1:22 left in the game. I am here for it!

Well, many of the players say Jaden is crazy. Mike took the blame for throwing the ball ahead (his quote is really funny!). And don't forget AG's bounce-the-ball-off-the-floor dunk in an earlier game. I am convinced he did that because Jaden had done it against them 2 years ago at the end of game 7...

I don't know, FNG. I am not ready to waive the white flag just, yet. Ayo has shown he can fill some of the lost production. We might get a few more minutes from Bones, who had 7 assists in his 20 minutes last night. Shannon has shown in the past he can be impactful if called upon, and his handful of minutes at the end of the regular season and last night indicate he could be impactful again. I have a good feeling this team can still be competitive. And what an opportunity for Mike to possibly finish out his career!

Can the Wolves string out enough series for a possible return of ANT? We'll see just what kind of healing powers he possesses.

FNG wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 9:19 am
My favorite moment was when Mike and someone else (Ayo?) knocked the ball away at midcourt and created a 4 on 0 fast break. So even though the deep run I was thinking was possible 24 hours ago now seems unlikely, I'm going to take what I can from this team without Donte and maybe without Ant. I'm going to enjoy a roster going at 100% all the time. I'm going to enjoy watching an emerging star in Ayo. And since Conley likely joins Ayo in the starting lineup now, I'm going to enjoy watching a guy who really knows how to play basketball...perhaps for the last time.

Gotta take what they can give us...

That play gave me similar vibes to the big play in Game 7 that started with blitzing Murray and halfcourt... and ended up with Naz passing to Edwards for the dagger three.

60WinTim wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 9:46 am

DNatagal wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 9:38 am I think Jaden made that layup because Jokic trucked him with 1:22 left in the game. I am here for it!

Well, many of the players say Jaden is crazy. Mike took the blame for throwing the ball ahead (his quote is really funny!). And don't forget AG's bounce-the-ball-off-the-floor dunk in an earlier game. I am convinced he did that because Jaden had done it against them 2 years ago at the end of game 7...

Jaden IS crazy, and as long as he doesnt shiv someone, or throw a punch, he can be our bad guy!

60WinTim wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 10:02 am I don't know, FNG. I am not ready to waive the white flag just, yet. Ayo has shown he can fill some of the lost production. We might get a few more minutes from Bones, who had 7 assists in his 20 minutes last night. Shannon has shown in the past he can be impactful if called upon, and his handful of minutes at the end of the regular season and last night indicate he could be impactful again. I have a good feeling this team can still be competitive. And what an opportunity for Mike to possibly finish out his career!

Can the Wolves string out enough series for a possible return of ANT? We'll see just what kind of healing powers he possesses.

I get where you are coming from FNG I'm a big fan of Donte and he was playing so well.

Like Tim I'm not believing it's for sure over. This roster still has more options. Than last year IMO and Donte wasn't wasn't very good and Ayo is better than any non starter we had last year and Bones gives the wolves a ball handler player maker that can also get you buckets. TSJ could make an impact. Chances of guys including NAZ stepping up and they can continue the run? 20% is probably optimistic especially against any team that plays D and has rim protection and better depth than Denver has shown. I'm not expecting anything but the last time Donte went down in the payoffs his team won a championship and he was a key player. Different guys stepped up for Milwaukee. Again I doubt it happens but I do think the Wolves have the players and talent they COULD do something. Unlikely yes but not completely insane to have a little hope or belief.

Didn’t really know where to put this but I thought it was interesting. I was listening to the All NBA podcast and they mentioned the wolves recent success and failures and there was a main key to all of this

Wins: nuggets (possibly x2), suns, warriors, lakers
Losses: grizzlies, nuggets (wolves massively hurt), mavs, thunder.

In the wins, every team had no rim protection in Jokic, Nurkic, Hayes, Green and in the losses the teams did in JJJ, Livley and Chet outside of the one Jokic series.

Just thought that was a very interesting point going forward