Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 7:50 am
Jaylen Brown with another stinker of a game.....1-9 from 3 and 8 turnovers!
Brown is the Celtics' version of KAT, at least in this series.
Q - Seriously, that’s not fair to KAT. Look back at how KAT performed in the playoffs last season. Jaylen Brown’s performance in this year’s series against the Heat is more comparable to DLO than KAT. And let’s also remember that KAT didn’t have anything close to the talent around him last season that Brown had around him this year. KAT has apparently become a punching bag for the frustrations of Wolves fans and it’s time dial it back a bit.
We can all agree that KAT is not a #1 on a championship contender. But I’ll note that Jokic is the only NBA center today who clearly fills that role. As we’ve seen over the past few years not even Embiid lives up to that role on his team. We all saw how he performed against the Celtics this year. Giannis is the only other “big” in today’s NBA who fits the bill as a #1 on a championship contender is Giannis, but he’s a forward and I would argue more of a SF than PF. Over the entire history of the NBA, the list of centers who could credibly be viewed as the best players on their respective championship finals team is really small.
KAT has plenty of flaws like all NBA players, even all-stars, but I’d take him in a nanosecond over Brown as my #2.
Well, I agree that Brown had a really bad Miami series, but I think if you look at their overall body of work as playoff players, Brown has had more success than KAT not just as a team, but as an individual. And he's still not a good enough #2.
Bottom line is if we keep KAT around, he simply has to do better in the playoffs.
Yep.
It's a disservice to Brown to group him in with Towns for one bad series. Last week, I posted the guy's stats from several other series late in the playoffs over the years. He's actually been very consistent.
Towns on the other hand... carries a 4 - 12 playoff record with 18 or fewer points in 9 of those games (including 11 or fewer points in 5 of those games).
[Note: As a reminder... Jaylen Brown's teams have won 12 playoff series. He's only 26. The Timberwolves as an organization have won 2 playoff series in 34 years.]
Q - Seriously, that’s not fair to KAT. Look back at how KAT performed in the playoffs last season. Jaylen Brown’s performance in this year’s series against the Heat is more comparable to DLO than KAT. And let’s also remember that KAT didn’t have anything close to the talent around him last season that Brown had around him this year. KAT has apparently become a punching bag for the frustrations of Wolves fans and it’s time dial it back a bit.
We can all agree that KAT is not a #1 on a championship contender. But I’ll note that Jokic is the only NBA center today who clearly fills that role. As we’ve seen over the past few years not even Embiid lives up to that role on his team. We all saw how he performed against the Celtics this year. Giannis is the only other “big” in today’s NBA who fits the bill as a #1 on a championship contender is Giannis, but he’s a forward and I would argue more of a SF than PF. Over the entire history of the NBA, the list of centers who could credibly be viewed as the best players on their respective championship finals team is really small.
KAT has plenty of flaws like all NBA players, even all-stars, but I’d take him in a nanosecond over Brown as my #2.
Well, I agree that Brown had a really bad Miami series, but I think if you look at their overall body of work as playoff players, Brown has had more success than KAT not just as a team, but as an individual. And he's still not a good enough #2.
Bottom line is if we keep KAT around, he simply has to do better in the playoffs.
Yep.
It's a disservice to Brown to group him in with Towns for one bad series. Last week, I posted the guy's stats from several other series late in the playoffs over the years. He's actually been very consistent.
Towns on the other hand... carries a 4 - 12 playoff record with 18 or fewer points in 9 of those games (including 11 or fewer points in 5 of those games).
[Note: As a reminder... Jaylen Brown's teams have won 12 playoff series. He's only 26. The Timberwolves as an organization have won 2 playoff series in 34 years.]
Reminder - the WOLVES have a 4-12 playoff record. As Scottie Pippen noted recently, it’s a team sport. Miami’s success so far in this season’s playoffs illustrates that reality. Brown has had the luxury of playing with a clear #1 superstar, Tatum, and a tough-as-nails talented competitor, Marcus Smart. As Ant now becomes our clear #1, it will take pressure off KAT and he’ll likely improve. Now if only we also had a Marcus Smart type.
Well, I agree that Brown had a really bad Miami series, but I think if you look at their overall body of work as playoff players, Brown has had more success than KAT not just as a team, but as an individual. And he's still not a good enough #2.
Bottom line is if we keep KAT around, he simply has to do better in the playoffs.
Yep.
It's a disservice to Brown to group him in with Towns for one bad series. Last week, I posted the guy's stats from several other series late in the playoffs over the years. He's actually been very consistent.
Towns on the other hand... carries a 4 - 12 playoff record with 18 or fewer points in 9 of those games (including 11 or fewer points in 5 of those games).
[Note: As a reminder... Jaylen Brown's teams have won 12 playoff series. He's only 26. The Timberwolves as an organization have won 2 playoff series in 34 years.]
Reminder - the WOLVES have a 4-12 playoff record. As Scottie Pippen noted recently, it’s a team sport. Miami’s success so far in this season’s playoffs illustrates that reality. Brown has had the luxury of playing with a clear #1 superstar, Tatum, and a tough-as-nails talented competitor, Marcus Smart. As Ant now becomes our clear #1, it will take pressure off KAT and he’ll likely improve. Now if only we also had a Marcus Smart type.
It's a disservice to Brown to group him in with Towns for one bad series. Last week, I posted the guy's stats from several other series late in the playoffs over the years. He's actually been very consistent.
Towns on the other hand... carries a 4 - 12 playoff record with 18 or fewer points in 9 of those games (including 11 or fewer points in 5 of those games).
[Note: As a reminder... Jaylen Brown's teams have won 12 playoff series. He's only 26. The Timberwolves as an organization have won 2 playoff series in 34 years.]
Reminder - the WOLVES have a 4-12 playoff record. As Scottie Pippen noted recently, it’s a team sport. Miami’s success so far in this season’s playoffs illustrates that reality. Brown has had the luxury of playing with a clear #1 superstar, Tatum, and a tough-as-nails talented competitor, Marcus Smart. As Ant now becomes our clear #1, it will take pressure off KAT and he’ll likely improve. Now if only we also had a Marcus Smart type.
If only Okogie had developed a jumper.....
No kidding! I was really high on Okogie because I thought he’d become our very own Marcus Smart. But unfortunately, his shot never developed. Alas…
Reminder - the WOLVES have a 4-12 playoff record. As Scottie Pippen noted recently, it’s a team sport. Miami’s success so far in this season’s playoffs illustrates that reality. Brown has had the luxury of playing with a clear #1 superstar, Tatum, and a tough-as-nails talented competitor, Marcus Smart. As Ant now becomes our clear #1, it will take pressure off KAT and he’ll likely improve. Now if only we also had a Marcus Smart type.
If only Okogie had developed a jumper.....
No kidding! I was really high on Okogie because I thought he’d become our very own Marcus Smart. But unfortunately, his shot never developed. Alas…
Corey Brewer, Ricky Rubio, Josh Okogie, Andrew Wiggins, Tyus Jones, Vanderbilt, Jordan McLaughlin....all guys that were either critical starters and/or critical role players that had some great attributes, but sabotaged their full potential with the Wolves due to a lack of a consistent 3-point stroke. Think of how valuable even little Jordan McLaughlin could have been to us if he could hit the open 3 at a 38% clip. He was an excellent game manager and feisty defender, but that damn shot.....
Of course much to my frustration a couple of those guys eventually did develop a decent stroke - Wiggins and Jones especially and Rubio to a lesser degree, so long as he wasn't wearing a Wolves uniform!
Well, I agree that Brown had a really bad Miami series, but I think if you look at their overall body of work as playoff players, Brown has had more success than KAT not just as a team, but as an individual. And he's still not a good enough #2.
Bottom line is if we keep KAT around, he simply has to do better in the playoffs.
Yep.
It's a disservice to Brown to group him in with Towns for one bad series. Last week, I posted the guy's stats from several other series late in the playoffs over the years. He's actually been very consistent.
Towns on the other hand... carries a 4 - 12 playoff record with 18 or fewer points in 9 of those games (including 11 or fewer points in 5 of those games).
[Note: As a reminder... Jaylen Brown's teams have won 12 playoff series. He's only 26. The Timberwolves as an organization have won 2 playoff series in 34 years.]
Reminder - the WOLVES have a 4-12 playoff record. As Scottie Pippen noted recently, it’s a team sport. Miami’s success so far in this season’s playoffs illustrates that reality. Brown has had the luxury of playing with a clear #1 superstar, Tatum, and a tough-as-nails talented competitor, Marcus Smart. As Ant now becomes our clear #1, it will take pressure off KAT and he’ll likely improve. Now if only we also had a Marcus Smart type.
Fair enough.
But also... Towns has played with a clear #1 superstar, Jimmy Butler. Granted, in true Timberwolvesian fasion... Butler only averaged 15.8 ppg on 44% shooting in that one fateful playoff run in MN.
There's just no way to justify the no-shows in Town's playoff resume. Three trips... and at least one inexplicable game in each of the series.
It's a disservice to Brown to group him in with Towns for one bad series. Last week, I posted the guy's stats from several other series late in the playoffs over the years. He's actually been very consistent.
Towns on the other hand... carries a 4 - 12 playoff record with 18 or fewer points in 9 of those games (including 11 or fewer points in 5 of those games).
[Note: As a reminder... Jaylen Brown's teams have won 12 playoff series. He's only 26. The Timberwolves as an organization have won 2 playoff series in 34 years.]
Reminder - the WOLVES have a 4-12 playoff record. As Scottie Pippen noted recently, it’s a team sport. Miami’s success so far in this season’s playoffs illustrates that reality. Brown has had the luxury of playing with a clear #1 superstar, Tatum, and a tough-as-nails talented competitor, Marcus Smart. As Ant now becomes our clear #1, it will take pressure off KAT and he’ll likely improve. Now if only we also had a Marcus Smart type.
Fair enough.
But also... Towns has played with a clear #1 superstar, Jimmy Butler. Granted, in true Timberwolvesian fasion... Butler only averaged 15.8 ppg on 44% shooting in that one fateful playoff run in MN.
There's just no way to justify the no-shows in Town's playoff resume. Three trips... and at least one inexplicable game in each of the series.
I wouldn’t justify his bad playoff games. I’m just offering some perspective. First, he’s been in only two playoff series so it’s a pretty small sample size. Second, he was only 22 years old in the first series when paired with Jimmy Butler. Third, Jimmy was just coming back from a long injury lay-off going into that playoff series and he was a shadow of the Butler we saw this season. Fourth, KAT was much better in last year’s playoff series against Memphis. So there’s improvement. Finally, we now have a bona fide #1 for the long haul in Edwards, which means we can finally see KAT in his more appropriate role as the team’s #2.
Getting back to the topic of this thread, I’ll go on record that I’ll be rooting for the Heat. I don’t like the whole South Beach thing, but I really like this Miami team. I love their grit and the way they play as a team. They’re the underdog and I typically pull for underdogs. I’m also a big Jimmy Butler fan. I didn’t like the trade that brought him to Minnesota because of fit issues and I didn’t like the way he acted out right before he left. But I loved him when he was here and I’ve continued to like and admire him as a player since he left. He might be the smartest and most competitive player in League. He doesn’t have MJ’s talent, but he has MJ’s relentless drive and ability to block out distractions for focus.
So for the first time in my life, I’ll be cheering for the Miami Heat.
Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 9:17 pm
Getting back to the topic of this thread, I’ll go on record that I’ll be rooting for the Heat. I don’t like the whole South Beach thing, but I really like this Miami team. I love their grit and the way they play as a team. They’re the underdog and I typically pull for underdogs. I’m also a big Jimmy Butler fan. I didn’t like the trade that brought him to Minnesota because of fit issues and I didn’t like the way he acted out right before he left. But I loved him when he was here and I’ve continued to like and admire him as a player since he left. He might be the smartest and most competitive player in League. He doesn’t have MJ’s talent, but he has MJ’s relentless drive and ability to block out distractions for focus.
So for the first time in my life, I’ll be cheering for the Miami Heat.
Not sure who I'm rooting for. Jokic is probably the best player in the game right now and Denver was built the "right way", if there really is such a thing. They have never won a title in the modern era (or ever??) and they are a mid-market team not on one of the coasts, just like the Wolves.
Miami has a full trophy case, but man, it's hard to dislike their current team. Total opposite of the super-friends team put together with LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. These guys are street fighters with bunch of hard-nosed competitors.
And then there is Jimmy Butler....just had his best season at age 33! Was a late bloomer to begin with, so it's only fitting that he's saving the best for this stage of his career.
Like Lip, I also usually cheer for the underdog. But I cheer for the Wolves before I cheer for the underdog, and a decisive win in this series by Denver looks better for the Wolves. Plus Jokic is one of my favorite players in the league. So as much as I like the Miami story, I'll be cheering for Denver in this one. A solid win by Denver would be more evidence that we might have be building something here.
