The Non-Jazz NBA Thread in the Jazz Section

[jazznik]

Damn, you wasted no time shifting to a disingenuous argument.

Like I posted before:

Wolves DRtg with Gobert on the court this series: 110.6 (elite)
Wolves DRtg with Gobert on the bench this series: 138.9 (historically awful)

As you yourself said: these types of stats heavily depend on who Gobert is playing with or against. But there are other stats for centers that are pretty independent of match-ups. And the first of them is rebounds. Gobert is the biggest guy on the court who was 2nd in the NBA in rebounding. This series he averages 7.7 RPG. He is being outrebounded by KAT, Gafford and Lively (if you adjust for the difference in minutes played). But wait, he is also outrebounded by Edwards and Doncic too!

Minnesota is supposed to be a huge team with two towers. In reality they are losing the rebounding to Dallas and Gobert is a huge part of it. If he simply rebounded to his regular season average the Timberwolves would most likely be leading the series. I mean, this is not a complicated stuff: simply rebound like a biggest guy on the floor, the multiple DPOY. Rudy never had a playoff series when his rebounding was that bad.

 

[Deleted member 365]

Boston is basically a glorified version of Wolves. A really stong roster built around two very lackluster “star” players(Tatum and Brown). You generally would need at least one MVP caliber player(s) to win championship. Ant/KAT being good but not good enough is what doomed Wolves in this series. Just like how Tatum/Brown inability to deliver at the biggest stage costed Celtics in the past.

Let’s be honest, Minnesota would take Boston out quickly. Especially if they’re without Porzingas.

Dallas is clearly the best team in the league right now and it’s not close. They’ve got two unstoppable forces, wings that are freakishly athletic and can shoot, and two athletic bigs who are lob/rebound threats. Honestly, I don’t know how you defend these guys other than resurrecting LeBron’s heat teams and giving them prime joker.

I don’t know how long this Dallas team stays together for. But this starting 1-8 might be the best I’ve seen in a very long time. Cuban was sneaky this year with his trades. He might’ve built a team that could’ve beaten his last great maverick team that won it all.

 

[jom2003]

Let’s be honest, Minnesota would take Boston out quickly. Especially if they’re without Porzingas.

Dallas is clearly the best team in the league right now and it’s not close. They’ve got two unstoppable forces, wings that are freakishly athletic and can shoot, and two athletic bigs who are lob/rebound threats. Honestly, I don’t know how you defend these guys other than resurrecting LeBron’s heat teams and giving them prime joker.

I don’t know how long this Dallas team stays together for. But this starting 1-8 might be the best I’ve seen in a very long time. Cuban was sneaky this year with his trades. He might’ve built a team that could’ve beaten his last great maverick team that won it all.

I agree Dallas would crush Boston when fully healthy. But injuries have been the headlines for all teams playing against Boston during this playoffs. All of Miami/Cleveland/Indiana’s star player (#1 player, to be exact) missed time in their series versus Boston. And it's not looking good for Dallas either as they just lost Lively and Luka/Kyrie were reportedly playing through injuries themselves. Boston has THE deepest roster in the league and can destroy teams with Tatum/Brown struggling.

 

[stitches]

I really don't understand people who see Gobert's defense as the Wolves problem and not Ant and KAT's offensive (in)efficiency in this series... I really do think Gobert is the most unfairly maligned player I've ever seen, and it's disappointing to see it here of all places.

You are just never going to win in the playoffs if your two best offensive weapons shoot FG 33%/3pFG 22% for an entire series(yes those are KAT and Edwards' %s for the series). It's NEVER going to happen. If anything... it's kind of shocking that Minny has been THIS close in all those games.

 

[MTS]

I really don't understand people who see Gobert's defense as the Wolves problem

Yeah... Dallas is scoring like a bottom 5 offensive team in the Gobert minutes and at a WELL beyond historically elite rate when he's on the bench.

People just have a weird attachment to a narrative that should be long dead.

 

[jazznik]

Dallas is clearly the best team in the league right now and it’s not close. They’ve got two unstoppable forces, wings that are freakishly athletic and can shoot, and two athletic bigs who are lob/rebound threats. Honestly, I don’t know how you defend these guys other than resurrecting LeBron’s heat teams and giving them prime joker.

What is so unstoppable about Dallas? They won two hard-fought series with many close games. If Kawhi wasn't injured they very well could have lost in the first round and nobody would be talking about Dallas now. Their second series victory has been greatly helped by the youth and inexperience of OKC. This is the first series where Dallas looks dominant but even here every game comes down to the very last possessions. There is nothing about Dallas that screams "clearly the best team in the league right now and it’s not close".

 

[FalseFlagg K]

I really don't understand people who see Gobert's defense as the Wolves problem and not Ant and KAT's offensive (in)efficiency in this series... I really do think Gobert is the most unfairly maligned player I've ever seen, and it's disappointing to see it here of all places.

You are just never going to win in the playoffs if your two best offensive weapons shoot FG 33%/3pFG 22% for an entire series(yes those are KAT and Edwards' %s for the series). It's NEVER going to happen. If anything... it's kind of shocking that Minny has been THIS close in all those games.

drives me nuts. The fever to pile on Gobert whenever things go wrong for a team is one of the most bizarre things i've seen in basketball

 

[jazznik]

You are just never going to win in the playoffs if your two best offensive weapons shoot FG 33%/3pFG 22% for an entire series(yes those are KAT and Edwards' %s for the series). It's NEVER going to happen. If anything... it's kind of shocking that Minny has been THIS close in all those games.

Are you going to win a series when your starting center gets outrebounded by half of the players on the court including guards? Minnesota had multiple problems in this series (that's why they are 0-3) but Gobert's play is certainly one of them. I remember the Jazz losing series with Gobert but he always played with effort and fire until the very end. In this must-win game Rudy was quite invisible and looked like he was going through the motions. You at least could see the effort and emotions in McDaniels, Ant, Kat, Conley...

 

[jazznik]

drives me nuts. The fever to pile on Gobert whenever things go wrong for a team is one of the most bizarre things i've seen in basketball

There is little surprise in it. Rudy is one of the most disliked NBA athletes by both the players and fans of other teams. There are many centers with much smaller impact (Adams, Horford, Valanciunas, Lopez) who are liked and respected much, much more. It is understandable when the fans support their player but it was a bit more surprising when this board exploded with multiple topics praising Rudy several days ago.

Gobert is a good player who had possibly his worst playoff series. It would be interesting to see how he plays in the 4th game. The Rudy that I remember had a lot of pride and I hope he will show it next game.

 

[The Midnight]

There is little surprise in it. Rudy is one of the most disliked NBA athletes by both the players and fans of other teams. There are many centers with much smaller impact (Adams, Horford, Valanciunas, Lopez) who are liked and respected much, much more. It is understandable when the fans support their player but it was a bit more surprising when this board exploded with multiple topics praising Rudy several days ago.

Gobert is a good player who had possibly his worst playoff series. It would be interesting to see how he plays in the 4th game. The Rudy that I remember had a lot of pride and I hope he will show it next game.

Maybe what Twolves need is Rudy missing a game ala the Nuggets series.

That missed game kick started their series.

 

[stitches]

Are you going to win a series when your starting center gets outrebounded by half of the players on the court including guards? Minnesota had multiple problems in this series (that's why they are 0-3) but Gobert's play is certainly one of them. I remember the Jazz losing series with Gobert but he always played with effort and fire until the very end. In this must-win game Rudy was quite invisible and looked like he was going through the motions. You at least could see the effort and emotions in McDaniels, Ant, Kat, Conley...

Depends on what his assignments are ... but in general yes... there's plenty of blame to go around when you are on the verge of a sweep in the playoffs, but the specific focus on Gobert is weird when IMO there are much more pressing problems with what's going on with Minny.

 

[The Midnight]

The Twolves built a team to beat the Champ, I.e., Denver.

But that series is over.

They needed to adjust and meet Mavs with small ball. Mavs don’t have a low post threat so it makes absolutely no sense to keep throwing Rudy out there.

Like in the 4th quarter today, the Twolves were actually playing well and pulled to within 3 points. Then they subbed in Rudy, and the deficit ballooned and they lost.

Rudy should not start for the rest of the series imo.