[WC SEMIFINALS] (2) Denver Vs. (3) Minnesota

Especially if A-Rod buys the team.

 

Who woulda thunk this was gonna be how it would play out? Ant is King.

 

Edwards is unreal and legit leader

 

Dumb take , you realize where they’re getting pummeled right?

 

This, that might have been the best defensive performance I’ve ever seen in the post season. Almost all of those were clean blocks and steals too.

the nuggets were deflated precisely because of that…minny is unreal

 

I think they can keep most of the squad intact. Conley's salary drops next year and they'll probably extend Gobert to a lower starting salary the year after that. Naz Reid is probably the one that ends up leaving but they'll probably have him for a couple more years before he gets a fat contract somewhere.

If they really do end up in the finals, I think it's unlikely they drop a necessary piece for money any time soon. That's super rare. Hell, the Clippers and Suns stay losing in the playoffs and won't let go of their bloated contracts.

Karl Anthony Towns apparently is all it takes.

 

Calvin Booth deserves a lot of blame here. He got lucky last year and picked up Christian Braun as a rotation ready rookie in the draft and thought he could just do it again. Last year Bruce Brown and Jeff Green were critical to the championship because they were steady enough to hold it down while the starters rested and they just let them walk. Now Braun and freaking Justin Holiday are the only real bench players getting run and they're struggling to keep it together. Big time hubris from the FO.

 

I tend to agree with you in that Jokic should be killing anyone single covering him to be even considered the best player in the world.

But you have to give credit to KAT, he is playing terrific defense, and is actually not soft for once.

The biggest 'surprise' i got from game two is how much Edwards exposed Jokic on the defensive end. Everytime he blew by his man, Jokic is too slow/unathletic to help on his drives.

 

Fair enough. You can see it either way I guess. I think it's more likely Jokic is not being an aggressive enough scorer because it's not comfortable to him than believe KAT transformed into an elite defender all of a sudden.

I wouldn't consider Jokic's defense a surprise either. It's always been his biggest weakness. The Nuggets usually make up for this by having Jokic play sort of a modified drop where he shows after the guard turns the corner and doesn't back all the way up to the basket. Then, Gordon can help off his man for rim protection. That doesn't work when a team has a bigger frontcourt. Gordon/MPJ's man will have any easy layup if they help off of them due to size. So, Jokic is forced to play more of a traditional center defense which is not good because he's neither a rim protector nor a good perimeter defender. His primary value is his wide body that can absorb contact as players roll to the rim but that value is reduced if he has to retreat all the way to the rim.

 

This is definitely what it felt like

 

this truly is the changing of the guard for the NBA, these new young teams are rising quick and no one knows anything about them. The old stars are fading away and are becoming relics of the past. I’m not saying I’m enjoying what’s happening but at least we don’t have to see the NBA dominated years and years by just a handful of teams everytime. Good riddance Golden State, hope they go in to land of mediocrity for years and years to come.

 

90’s basketball

 

Denver didn't play anyone last year

8th seed Wolves with no Reid or McDaniels...crappy Suns team...7th seed Lakers...then a damn 8th seed on their last legs in the finals

one of the least impressive championship runs in NBA history

 

It wasn’t just clean blocks and steals. A lot of grabbing and hacking going on that wasn’t called.