Minnesota Sports Forum

Do we have any Spurs experts on this board? I would guess that is a 98th percentile performance for them and perhaps a 5th percentile performance for the Wolves. How much of that was the Spurs imposing their will on the Wolves? Give them credit for upping the ante but I saw a lot of shots that we would expect the Wolves to make.

Will Conley start game 3? I think Ant should and will probably start. I would guess you dont start TJ and Ant together.

Will we get more of the 3 big lineup? I think the stats give this look a big thumbs up.

Can Jaden stay out of foul trouble?

We probably have Jaden on Castle at times so we can sag off of him when he's behind the three point line, but that probably isn't a good choice. Castle like SGA is always trying draw fouls with his head snaps, flops, and exaggerated movements. Ayo didn't look right before he went out hurt, and we had trouble just bringing the ball up the court. Ant was doubled/trapped as soon as he crossed half court, Mike looked bothered by the full court pressure, Bones turned it over two possessions in a row trying to bring the ball up. Naz can't dribble anymore with that shoulder. I think the Wolves knew pretty early they weren't winning that game.

Everyone seemed bothered by the pressure. But we seemed to forget that we have an experienced, reliable PG who hasn't turned the ball over once in his 40 minutes in this series. Let him originate the offense!!!

I'll be honest, I felt pretty confident going into game one and even more so going into game 2, and last was obviously a humbling one.
Like most people I think it's a game you flush and there aren't many take aways
That said, I think the Wolves are in trouble IF Jaden has to continue being the primary POA defender and therefore exposed to more foul trouble. Which of course means the team is on crash course with its roster construction/limitations, but Jaden is too important offensively for him to be limited by fouls.

The reason of course that this is troubling is because with Ayo injured and Ant limited you're left weighing whether you should play Clark which I think will be a net negative.

Jaden's offensive importance also folds into Randle not being all that useful on that end. He needs to play better, he needs to abuse smaller defenders like he did last year in May. I think that's, unfortunately, really key to this series.

The last note for me last night was the significant drop off in downhill aggressiveness from the Wolves. Ant looked either completely unable or unwillingly to penetrate the arc at all and that pretty concerning to me.

All that doomsaying said, I still like the Wolves chances but they can't get out hustle and out muscled again--- that's my really their only edge left at this point

FNG wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2026 9:48 am Everyone seemed bothered by the pressure. But we seemed to forget that we have an experienced, reliable PG who hasn't turned the ball over once in his 40 minutes in this series. Let him originate the offense!!!

San Antonio did what they didn't in game 1 and targeted him tho.

I think they really need Ayo back healthy or for Bones to pull his head out of his ass

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2026 9:54 am

FNG wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2026 9:48 am Everyone seemed bothered by the pressure. But we seemed to forget that we have an experienced, reliable PG who hasn't turned the ball over once in his 40 minutes in this series. Let him originate the offense!!!

San Antonio did what they didn't in game 1 and targeted him tho.

I think they really need Ayo back healthy or for Bones to pull his head out of his ass

I'd guess Ayo is done for the series. He looked out of sorts yesterday and is now dealing with a heel thing?

Too much money at stake for him.

If we already lost Donte through most of next year and Ayo presents with right calf soreness that goes to right calf injury maintenance to right heel soreness…well long story short we can’t have him and Donte both out along with Conely being gone and expect to start next year deciding which PG we wanna pay moving forward. It’s a worst case scenario. At some point injury can’t be overcome and they showed a lot of heart doing it to Denver.

That being said I have never seen so many offensive possessions end with a defensive rebound where three defensive players got to literally take turns getting the rebound because EVERY offensive player was either beyond the arc or already trying to get back on defense AND getting continuously beat back on defense….the hope here is that a schematic adjustment can lead to some immediate success and confusion for the Spurs because if we don’t even the series Friday I’d say that’s it.

Still wouldn’t give up on Finch, he has no options and has been set up to fail with the guard injuries putting so much pressure on our forwards to be distributors and though they are decent at it they have been resistant to do so and thus are not efficient at it under pressure.

Next year the roster adjustments need to reflect the pros and cons of what Julius brings so that we can send him out for someone more bully ball efficient and less likely to try to take a game over when it’s not within them. And also we really need a big summer in the growth of Joan so that there is a legit option of lever to pull when it’s time to sit Rudy down for a stretch and not completely lose paint defense.

Phenom wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2026 8:54 am Do we have any Spurs experts on this board? I would guess that is a 98th percentile performance for them and perhaps a 5th percentile performance for the Wolves. How much of that was the Spurs imposing their will on the Wolves? Give them credit for upping the ante but I saw a lot of shots that we would expect the Wolves to make.

Will Conley start game 3? I think Ant should and will probably start. I would guess you dont start TJ and Ant together.

Will we get more of the 3 big lineup? I think the stats give this look a big thumbs up.

Can Jaden stay out of foul trouble?

I mentioned it in the game thread, but I'm afraid the Spurs 98th percentile performance, if you will, is something the Wolves can't even attain in their current state. Like our current 98th percentile would be equivalent to their 75th or 80th percentile. In other words, their top-end potential as a team is higher than ours, which isn't new news considering they won 60+ games in the regular season and beat OKC's ass multiple times. That ain't fakin' it.

Lurkin' is probably right about the injuries catching up to us. We used adrenaline, a highly experienced coaching staff, and a little duct tape and twine to finish off Denver and take Game 1 against the Spurs. But after witnessing that tsunami last night, it's clear who the more healthy and talented team is.

Perhaps Finch and the playoff-hardened vets on the team - which now includes Ant, Jaden, and Naz - still have a few tricks up their sleeve, but last night was a reality check.

I was shuddering as some of the national pundits were giving us our flowers after game 1. Perk even said he could see the Wolves winning the championship. Even Cowherd was in our camp along with Lou Williams and several others. I thought last night we were either going to see a close game repeat of game 1, or we were going to get our doors blown off. We all saw what happened. I think the winner of game 3 will take the series, and we are fully capable of winning. I wouldn't say we're favored at this point, but if we win tomorrow night we would be.

I'm almost to the "give up" point of expectations and the Timberwolves.

I have no idea from game to game.