Ant-agonizing the MVP! | Official Timberwolves (#6) vs. Thunder (#1) West Finals Thread

Who goes to the NBA Finals?


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UpAndComing

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Call me crazy, but I think this is the series you would see the value of Rudy Gobert on the Wolves

Rudy struggles against a big man who is offensively talented in the post. OKC has none of that
Rudy struggles against wing players abusing him in the pick and roll, OKC does none of that, because Analytics tells them not to

The way to stop the Thunder is the slow the game down, and to out-rebound them to stop their 2nd chance points. Timberwolves have that capability on their team. The Nuggets were successful with doing those things, but the reason they lost is that they just lack the outside shooting to make OKC pay

What the Wolves lack in offensive execution like the Nuggets, they are 10x better in overall offense, and more variety of their offensive attack then the Nuggets had. And I think the Wolve's perimeter defenders could also give OKC problems
 

Verbal Kint

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Wolves CAN win but Thunder should win. They've been the best team all year long. I won't pretend to be breaking down the film and studying tape on these teams but I'd predict Thunder in 7, mostly because I don't see the Wolves getting closed out at home. All that said I truly don't think Shae is better than Ant in a playoff setting (over 82 games as the driver of an offense and consistent presence, he's certainly better right now), so there is a real possibility that Ant simply outplays him and gives the Wolves a leg up.

***Homer Take Incoming***
This is a real homer take so non Wolves fans will roll their eyes but I think there's an 87% chance this is a real thing:
Last season Ant took a hard fall at the end of Game 6 against Denver when they were up big and was laid out on the court for a long time. From that point on his numbers were: 39.5% fg (49/124), 35% 3pt15/42 after shooting 53.5% fg and 42.5% the 1st 10 games of the playoffs. That's a huge dropoff.

Ant has also been on record saying how worn down he was by the time that Dallas series started.
My theory is that Ant has legit been pacing himself this postseason. It's an audacious thing to do but I don't think the Wolves have felt threatened by either matchup thus far. They smacked LA in Game 1, played poorly in Game 2, and handled business afterwards. We know about the GS series. I think he's been humming along in 3rd gear for the most part other than a few bursts here and there. I'm guessing you see a more aggressive and consistent Ant in this series than the last 2. May not be enough because OKC is excellent and they have a ton of guys that can pop at any moment, but something to watch for.
 

Verbal Kint

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Call me crazy, but I think this is the series you would see the value of Rudy Gobert on the Wolves

Rudy struggles against a big man who is offensively talented in the post. OKC has none of that
Rudy struggles against wing players abusing him in the pick and roll, OKC does none of that, because Analytics tells them not to

The way to stop the Thunder is the slow the game down, and to out-rebound them to stop their 2nd chance points. Timberwolves have that capability on their team. The Nuggets were successful with doing those things, but the reason they lost is that they just lack the outside shooting to make OKC pay

What the Wolves lack in offensive execution like the Nuggets, they are 10x better in overall offense, and more variety of their offensive attack then the Nuggets had. And I think the Wolve's perimeter defenders could also give OKC problems
This is absolutely much more of a Rudy series than the first 2 have been
 

Loose

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Call me crazy, but I think this is the series you would see the value of Rudy Gobert on the Wolves

Rudy struggles against a big man who is offensively talented in the post. OKC has none of that
Rudy struggles against wing players abusing him in the pick and roll, OKC does none of that, because Analytics tells them not to

The way to stop the Thunder is the slow the game down, and to out-rebound them to stop their 2nd chance points. Timberwolves have that capability on their team. The Nuggets were successful with doing those things, but the reason they lost is that they just lack the outside shooting to make OKC pay

What the Wolves lack in offensive execution like the Nuggets, they are 10x better in overall offense, and more variety of their offensive attack then the Nuggets had. And I think the Wolve's perimeter defenders could also give OKC problems
We literally take midrange jump shots we are the anti analytics team tf? Lmao

Anyway I like this series better jokic was annoying u basically had to scheme an entire defense for him, ant and Randle is nice but you can play more legit defenses crash the boards and get out in transition more. I hart can playmake more sense gobert not as good on stealing in passing lane like joker.

Make life tough for Conley naw etc. Should be a good series
 

BlackMajik

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If the Wolves are sloppy then for 4 games Ant is gonna have to go ssj2

giphy.gif
 

Wargames

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Give me something

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Here’s four from GPT @FAH1223

personally I think “Ant-agonizing the MVP” is pretty fukking good for a computer.

:hubie:Maybe build on that “Don’t play Shai when your being Ant-agonized”
 
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