The “let’s see it against prime Drose” thing is missing the point of why this is exciting entirely.
We know he can guard the elite ball handlers in the league in high leverage moments, like he’s got all-defensive caliber tape against a ton of stars in the league. Effort/consistency have always been the big question for him on defense. So to see him focused on defense like this in a meaningless game against a hapless team like this is really promising.
KAT playing defense like this is a game changer. Straight-up, strong defense in the paint, shuffling his feet and keeping his hands active on the perimeter. Over the last few seasons, he’d improved from a bad defender to a mediocre defender, and this year he’s just actively a good defender.
Lmao. Instead of retaliating, KAT helped break the fight up, scored a third of the teams points and came out with a win.
Star players’ value comes from what they do on the court. PatBev thinks that’s the proportional response cause he’s a bench player whose presence on the court is a net loss for his own team as often as it is a net asset. A player like him or Draymond can afford to get thrown out of game, KAT cannot.
It was obvious once Draymond starting jawing with Ant a few nights ago that he’s trying to stir something up to bait technicals or get guys thrown out of the game. That KAT didn’t lean into that is a huge part of what won them that game
Look at the bottom left corner. The Timberwolves rim protection is so good that teams just aren’t even attempting shots at the rim anymore.
It’s actually really depressing watching Russ, Harden, PG, and Kawhi team up to look like one of the absolute worst teams in basketball.
If you’re under 30, these four have been some of the biggest names in basketball practically your entire life. To see them reduced to this and not even being able to beat a dramatically undermanned, colossally struggling Grizzlies team, is just kinda pathetic
This is not like Rudy’s Utah teams where a generational defender is covering for a bunch of bad defenders; the Timberwolves are a team with a ton of really talented, versatile defenders in addition to Rudy.
Rudy is back to DPOY frontrunner level of play; his speed/mobility is on a completely different level than the player Timberwolves fans watched last season. Jaden McDaniels is almost a DPOY-tier defender in his own right; he’s the best non center rim protector in basketball and he is maybe the best PoA defender in the league. Ant is an all-defensive caliber SG when he wants to be (tbf this is a huge caveat). Kyle Anderson is a great defender, both on-ball and as a defensive playmaker. NAW is a great PoA defender. Naz can hold his own on the perimeter. Conley’s lost a step but he can still keep his man in front of him. KAT is playing legitimately solid defense. The entire roster is bought into playing good defense.
They’ve got the best rim protector in basketball, a stable of good to elite PoA defenders they can swap in and out, they’ve got suffocating size while not compromising on speed. I think true 5-out teams could still be an issue, but this is undoubtedly the best defensive team in basketball right now.
This is like a five alarm fire, players only meeting tonight kind of game.
70 to 30 run is unimaginable against even the 2017 Warriors, let alone the Hawks. Jesus fucking Christ they are just completely broken on offense, only time it’s looked good is because Ant or Naz or someone is going on a run.
One of the deepest among half the league. I’m getting kinda tired of having to explain to people that don’t actually watch real NBA games how valuable Naz, Anderson, Naw, and Milton will be in their respective roles. That is a serious 9-man playoff rotation. Who in the West, if we are discussing in good faith, even has a claim to a deeper roster?
Clippers and Lakers might be the only teams in the west that are deeper, and I’d argue neither of them have depth that is as well-rounded in terms of fit and versatility.
If you don’t think Naz and Kyle Anderson are high quality players then it’s just hard to take your opinion seriously. On NAW, you of all people as a Nuggets fan should understand his value. Murray had a couple of games where he just could not miss no matter how covered he was, but NAW had him uncomfortable almost the entire series on defense.
Yeah, and they were one of the deeper teams in the league last year. They missed their multiple all-NBA PF for 50 games and Gobert, Naz, Anderson, Prince, JMac all missed 12 to 28 games and they still won 42 games.
You get also get a massive gain in addition by subtraction from just losing Jaylen Nowell (truly one of the worst players in the NBA last season) alone, and that’s nothing to speak of Milton being a massive upgrade on the floor as a player, as well as Austin Rivers. It’s also worth noting that it wasn’t clear they’d be able to keep both NAW and Naz this offseason.
Do I as a Vikings fan have a right to be mad if Mullens isn’t under center after the commercial break or am I just being a prisoner of the moment right now.
Dobbs has shown that not only can he not make plays, but his accuracy, velocity, and decisionmaking are playing a colossal role in this game right now.