Home Sweet Home - Thunder at Wolves Game 3 GDT

[Lipoli390]

Only three times in the history of the NBA has a team with the current MVP lost by more than 40 points in the playoffs, and all three were against teams from Minnesota: last night, last year's blowout against the Nuggets, and a victory by the Minneapolis Lakers against the the St Louis Hawks and Bob Pettit. I'm fairly confident of two things: 1) nobody can come up with a cooler stat than that today, and 2) I'm the only one here that ever saw Pettit play live (at the Minneapolis Armory).

Ha. That’s great trivia, FNG. Love it!

[Lipoli390]

100% TJ plays. He brings the energy and controlled aggression which we need in this matchup.

I tend to agree with you, WF...he was terrific in this game, even taking on SGA on a couple defensive possessions. But let's be honest, it was our core 8 that won this game for us...they built a 34-14 first quarter lead by the time TJ checked in, and were playing with twice as much energy as a lethargic and perhaps overconfident Thunder team. So he was great (+11 in his 13 minutes) but I'm confident we would have won this game with our normal rotation. Still, I like Finchy giving TJ some important minutes in this one...he doesn't lack confidence anyway, but a performance like this can only make him more confident the next time he hits the court. I don't think Finchy will hesitate to put him in, especially if he sees us getting complacent like I thought we were in game 2. And perhaps even more important, it has to make us Wolves fans feel good about the reserve role TJ is going to play next year. I think he will become a fan favorite off the bench.

I think the bigger picture takeaway with TJ is the valuable experience he's getting in the WCF as a rookie and the fact that he can be part of the solution in dealing with OKC going forward, meaning beyond this series.

I’ve been calling for more TSJ minutes all season. He was impressive in that regular season stretch when he got some meaningful minutes due to injuries. He was even more impressive last night. You can’t impress or develop if you don’t play. More than any young player on our roster, TSJ is ready and needs to play. I agree that the immediate take-away from TSJ’s play last night is that he can help us going forward in this series. But my bigger take-away pertains to next season and how we approach the off season this summer.

The mindset of this organization once the Wolves’ season ends should include a projected rotation next season without NAW that includes TSJ and at least one of our other young guys - Clark, Dilly or Miller. Unfortunately, I think it’s time to move on from Minott. I don’t share Abe’s long-held view that Dilly is a bust (slight exaggeration) but I’m not sure he’ll be ready for a major rotation role next season. Nevertheless, I’d like to see him become part of our rotation consuming most of Mike Conley’s minutes. I’m fairly certain NAW will be gone. It will be interesting to see what the Wolves do this off season with Randle, Naz and Donte. Any or all of those three could be gone but all three could end up staying. I don’t think TC will move Rudy, but you never know.

[Lipoli390]

I’ve been predicting OKC would win in five. I still think OKC is the better team but maybe we’ll be able to take them to six or even seven games like the Nuggets. If we had just barely won last night I’d still be thinking a likely exit in five. But a win like last night can change the psychology of a series, potentially hurting the confidence of a very young OKC team and boosting the swagger of the Wolves. On the other hand, the Wolves could come into Monday night’s game without the chip on their shoulder that clearly drove them last night.

[mjs34]

Only three times in the history of the NBA has a team with the current MVP lost by more than 40 points in the playoffs, and all three were against teams from Minnesota: last night, last year's blowout against the Nuggets, and a victory by the Minneapolis Lakers against the the St Louis Hawks and Bob Pettit. I'm fairly confident of two things: 1) nobody can come up with a cooler stat than that today, and 2) I'm the only one here that ever saw Pettit play live (at the Minneapolis Armory).

Don't know if it is cooler but according to Jalen Rose since 1983 no team has lost by 40 or more points and won their playoff series.

[FNG]

Only three times in the history of the NBA has a team with the current MVP lost by more than 40 points in the playoffs, and all three were against teams from Minnesota: last night, last year's blowout against the Nuggets, and a victory by the Minneapolis Lakers against the the St Louis Hawks and Bob Pettit. I'm fairly confident of two things: 1) nobody can come up with a cooler stat than that today, and 2) I'm the only one here that ever saw Pettit play live (at the Minneapolis Armory).

Don't know if it is cooler but according to Jalen Rose since 1983 no team has lost by 40 or more points and won their playoff series.

Since we would love that outcome, I’m going to declare that cooler!

[Q-is-here]

Only three times in the history of the NBA has a team with the current MVP lost by more than 40 points in the playoffs, and all three were against teams from Minnesota: last night, last year's blowout against the Nuggets, and a victory by the Minneapolis Lakers against the the St Louis Hawks and Bob Pettit. I'm fairly confident of two things: 1) nobody can come up with a cooler stat than that today, and 2) I'm the only one here that ever saw Pettit play live (at the Minneapolis Armory).

Ha. That’s great trivia, FNG. Love it!

That is pretty amazing.

[Q-is-here]

I tend to agree with you, WF...he was terrific in this game, even taking on SGA on a couple defensive possessions. But let's be honest, it was our core 8 that won this game for us...they built a 34-14 first quarter lead by the time TJ checked in, and were playing with twice as much energy as a lethargic and perhaps overconfident Thunder team. So he was great (+11 in his 13 minutes) but I'm confident we would have won this game with our normal rotation. Still, I like Finchy giving TJ some important minutes in this one...he doesn't lack confidence anyway, but a performance like this can only make him more confident the next time he hits the court. I don't think Finchy will hesitate to put him in, especially if he sees us getting complacent like I thought we were in game 2. And perhaps even more important, it has to make us Wolves fans feel good about the reserve role TJ is going to play next year. I think he will become a fan favorite off the bench.

I think the bigger picture takeaway with TJ is the valuable experience he's getting in the WCF as a rookie and the fact that he can be part of the solution in dealing with OKC going forward, meaning beyond this series.

I’ve been calling for more TSJ minutes all season. He was impressive in that regular season stretch when he got some meaningful minutes due to injuries. He was even more impressive last night. You can’t impress or develop if you don’t play. More than any young player on our roster, TSJ is ready and needs to play. I agree that the immediate take-away from TSJ’s play last night is that he can help us going forward in this series. But my bigger take-away pertains to next season and how we approach the off season this summer.

The mindset of this organization once the Wolves’ season ends should include a projected rotation next season without NAW that includes TSJ and at least one of our other young guys - Clark, Dilly or Miller. Unfortunately, I think it’s time to move on from Minott. I don’t share Abe’s long-held view that Dilly is a bust (slight exaggeration) but I’m not sure he’ll be ready for a major rotation role next season. Nevertheless, I’d like to see him become part of our rotation consuming most of Mike Conley’s minutes. I’m fairly certain NAW will be gone. It will be interesting to see what the Wolves do this off season with Randle, Naz and Donte. Any or all of those three could be gone but all three could end up staying. I don’t think TC will move Rudy, but you never know.

If there is one valid criticism of Finch, it's the rigidness he has shown with his rotation. I think the benefit is that he has amassed a huge amount of political capital and trust from the top 8 of the rotation, so that, for example, when he sits a guy like Julius or Rudy at the end of games, he can expect they will come back the next game and give a professional effort without making waves in the locker room. And guys like NAW aren't always looking over their shoulder worried he'll get the hook in the midst of a poor shooting streak.

The tradeoff is that a guy like Shannon was clearly a "ready now" draft prospect given his age, skillset, and physical profile, yet he's been given minutes like a baby is fed solids for the first time - just a lil' teaspoon of Gerber at a time! It's just odd doing that when the baby is actually your grown-ass adult kid!

[FNG]

I’ve been predicting OKC would win in five. I still think OKC is the better team but maybe we’ll be able to take them to six or even seven games like the Nuggets. If we had just barely won last night I’d still be thinking a likely exit in five. But a win like last night can change the psychology of a series, potentially hurting the confidence of a very young OKC team and boosting the swagger of the Wolves. On the other hand, the Wolves could come into Monday night’s game without the chip on their shoulder that clearly drove them last night.

I've been a "Thunder in 5" guy since the beginning also. I love this Wolves team and the way we finished the season, but OkC is special and healthy. My prediction is that we would squeak one out at home but lose 3 road games. But you're right...last night was totally unexpected, and could potentially change the psychology. My head tells me though that OkC came into last night with their minds already on the finals, and got blown away by our aggressiveness. Rudy making two steals in the first quarter was all I needed to see to know this was going to be a blowout, and TJ was the icing on the cake. I think OkC is not only talented, but also psychologically mature. I would guess that team leader SGA held a lot of team meetings during the day today helping them get their heads on straight, and that they're going to come out tomorrow looking more like the Thunder we saw in the first two games. But if we shoot and defend like we did last night, we are a pretty special team too, and we will give them a battle. I'm getting ready to watch the Knicks/Pacers game, and while I really admire the way the Pacers play, I'm convinced the two West teams are the best 2 teams remaining...and that's pretty good.

[Q-is-here]

I’ve been predicting OKC would win in five. I still think OKC is the better team but maybe we’ll be able to take them to six or even seven games like the Nuggets. If we had just barely won last night I’d still be thinking a likely exit in five. But a win like last night can change the psychology of a series, potentially hurting the confidence of a very young OKC team and boosting the swagger of the Wolves. On the other hand, the Wolves could come into Monday night’s game without the chip on their shoulder that clearly drove them last night.

I think that Denver series probably helped build some resiliency with OKC such that they aren't losing too much sleep over the loss last night.

Having said that, we have won five straight quarters and may be figured some things out after the first seven quarters that are now being applied and can be sustained (?). I don't know, but clearly we have it in us to play at a super high level on both ends and may be take this series to 7 games where anything can happen.

[Coolbreeze44]

During the competitive phase of the game last night (3 quarters), the Wolves held a 37 point lead. Substitutions were the only thing that kept the margin from going into the 50's. It was not a contest. The Wolves are 9-4 in the playoffs, best in the conference. And although they have my respect, I don't view the Thunder as generational, at least not yet. The series is just getting started.

I saw the series going 7 games at the beginning and haven't seen anything to change that mindset. As athletic as the Thunder are, they don't have the best athlete. As deep as the Thunder are, they don't have the Wolves quality depth. And as aggressive as the Thunder are, it is no longer something we have to adjust to. I expect to win tomorrow night and go back to OKC for the start of a 3 game series Wednesday night.