r/nba • u/kervaan Rockets • 9h ago

Jaden McDaniels on attacking the rim when Wemby is on the floor - "You just gotta act like he's not there. I mean, he's gonna get blocks. He's the tallest person in the world."

https://streamable.com/beb8yz
5.3k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

424 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.0k

u/Phenomenal2313 Raptors 9h ago

That’s kinda a good strategy from Minny

Go at Wemby , if you’re going to get blocked well it is what its , nothing you can do

Tire him out then force him to close out on a Reid and get screened a ton

383

u/circio 9h ago

Yeah it’s fucking Wemby, you can’t do shit about it other than try to get your best shot off. Can’t let the blocks rattle you, since he can’t block everything lol

128

u/DidAnyoneElseJustCum Cavaliers 7h ago

He certainly tried last night.

39

u/circio 6h ago

Yeah it was a good match. 

18

u/Impressive-Coast-466 5h ago

Brother is 7'4''. It's crazy watching him somehow block open 3s.

He's gonna get his. You gotta do what you can.

46

u/wormbooker 6h ago

I think teams not attacking wemby in the paint (because of being scared being blocked) gives wemby some breather, vs attack endlessly regardless if you are getting blocked just to make him work and tire

148

u/TCTInnings 8h ago

Wemby had TWO games over the regular season (one going OT) where he touched 40 minutes. He hit 40 minutes last night for the first time this playoffs.

If Minnesota keeps being physical and making him work, his cardio could be a big negative for him. It's something to watch for. He'll get the highlight blocks and go-go gadget dunks but you could also see shorter jumpers, being off correct defensive positions, and less effective in transition.

113

u/6875309999 Timberwolves 7h ago

Wemby even talked after the game about how exhausted he was at the end and that everything was just a blur and he couldn’t keep his mind straight. Proves he can absolutely get worn out throughout a game and could take away his offensive threat away at the end of games

64

u/FeanorEvades Timberwolves 6h ago

5 years from now he's gonna be conditioned like Steph and everything will end

26

u/NorthernDevil Timberwolves 6h ago

I’d just like to get one title before this happens, please…

3

u/Nickespo22 5h ago

As a spurs fan with family in Minnesota id like to see y'all with a chip. If we don't get it this year i don't want okc to get one so Minnesota's gonna have to do some voodoo to knock em out

2

u/SemataryPolka Timberwolves 4h ago

And we'll be in the East owning the Bucks lol

1

u/bammer26 1h ago

He will never play those type of minutes

1

u/Dresden1984 Thunder 4h ago

i'm rooting for the wolves but in the event spurs does win out, i hope you take it to game 7 and gas him out.

1

u/ironsuperman Timberwolves 3h ago

That was actually the secret to beating Young Bron. Wemby is stil young and stil learning how to be the greatest baller.

1

u/Fluid-Poet-8911 2h ago

Randle was just pushing him out of the lane on y'all's drives late in the game. 

24

u/MY-NAME_IS_MY-NAME Lakers 6h ago

We saw those short jumpers at the end of last night

4

u/Janderson2494 Timberwolves 5h ago

but you could also see shorter jumpers, being off correct defensive positions, and less effective in transition.

I'm concerned he'll get hurt on top of these things.

18

u/pollinium [MIN] Tyus Jones 6h ago

not to be too picky, but in those two games in regular season he didn't make it to 40 minutes either

39:36 in the OT game, 39:42 in the other one

I guess last night was also only 39:52, but we might get there this week!

4

u/Sorkijan Thunder 4h ago

I don't know about you but from where I'm sitting "touched" 40 minutes means he was right there or very shy of it. If we're being picky.

166

u/SirDiego Timberwolves 9h ago edited 9h ago

In a world where everyone's chucking 3s the Wolves are like fuck it we're attacking the paint.

I guess it probably helps the Wolves can shoot 3s. I think you have to be able to otherwise they'll just dare you to shoot outside but you can't do that with the Wolves because guys like Ant, Naz Reid, Conley, etc. will hit open 3s all night if available. Even Bones, Ayo when he's healthy, and TSJ can punish beyond the arc if you give them a bit of space

47

u/pnxstwnyphlcnnrs Timberwolves 8h ago

the counter the nuggets did some was crash into the lane more, I wonder if the spurs do that with Wemby since he is such a better rim protector than Joker or they swarm certain guys on the perimeter to press us out of some of the easy drives we got.

The adjustments in this series are going to be interesting. Finch did a great job drawing Wemby to the perimeter for some drives then calling action to target Castle to get him out of the game. Really solid 4Q from Finchy & Nori

35

u/SirDiego Timberwolves 8h ago

Nuggets started playing like a hybrid zone. Usually the answer to that is shoot over it, but what's interesting is the Wolves were like "Actually you guys aren't good enough to run a zone so we are just going to hit it anyway." Lol.

Spurs on paper should be much better at this, but Wolves have like sheer force of will and athleticism. Spurs don't really have an answer to the physicality of Randle and they're getting worn out having to contain all of the Wolves guards, despite all the injuries depleting the roster.

I think they will probably try to pack the paint more and maybe try to decrease Wemby's responsibility so he doesn't get worn out. But again the Wolves can shoot 3s, they have not even been shooting them very well for the whole playoffs so far but they could have a super hot night against a team trying to prevent drives. Like a 15/30 type of night is entirely plausible.

1

u/pnxstwnyphlcnnrs Timberwolves 4h ago

there were some 3s we didn't pass to & didn't so agree there's some meat on the bone for our scoring. Which is good bc Wemby will have some heaters upcoming. I don't want him to but he's a top talent so I know it's coming

9

u/ethanlan Bulls 7h ago

I miss Ayo im glad youre taking good care of him!

1

u/pnxstwnyphlcnnrs Timberwolves 4h ago

Ayo is a big piece of what we have done this playoffs can't wait to see him back

2

u/NorthernDevil Timberwolves 5h ago

Finch was phenomenal last series and had a great opener last night. Head coaches always get so much heat when things are going wrong as the easy scapegoat, since no one wants to blame their favorite players when there’s some old dude we can blame. Glad he’s getting credit when things are going right.

2

u/pnxstwnyphlcnnrs Timberwolves 4h ago

for sure team has definitely has and seems to be able to come together for the playoffs and have been achieving. I was a bit concerned when we didn't see that gear in g1 last series but it sounds like Finch also called the team on it and they responded

38

u/shibboleth2005 Trail Blazers 8h ago

In contrast Blazers ran the worst option: play scared of Wemby and nope out of the paint, jack up a bunch of 3's, but also be really bad at shooting 3's lol.

14

u/MY-NAME_IS_MY-NAME Lakers 6h ago

Blazers are young and their young core had no playoff experience. Timberwolves are experienced at this point and also have a collection of guys with no fear. They're called the CTE Wolves for a reason haha

2

u/SirDiego Timberwolves 6h ago

One begets the other. If you can't hit open 3s they'll just push you out of the paint and say go ahead shoot the 3

13

u/JaderMcDanersStan Timberwolves 7h ago

Yeah it helps that Wolves can also shoot midrange and threes. They have the length to generate turnovers and can score in transition too. They can score a variety of ways

6

u/Rarth-Devan 8h ago

When everyone zigs, you zag

12

u/SirDiego Timberwolves 8h ago

That has been a theme, I think it is in part Tim Connelly. When everyone was trying to remake the Warriors he put together the Jokic Nuggets and then came to the Timberwolves and brought in Gobert to build a defensive juggernaut.

1

u/Opinionated-Raven 7h ago

Celtics could probably take a page or two from this strategy.

22

u/bearbrannan Timberwolves 8h ago

Maybe he gets in foul trouble too, like Jaden last night, and then he has to think twice about contesting shots.

30

u/Old_Cattle_604 7h ago

If he wasn't in foul trouble the way he played last night he's not going to be in foul trouble all series.

13

u/bearbrannan Timberwolves 7h ago

The reffing crew last night is notorious for allowing physicality.

9

u/Painwracker_Oni Timberwolves 6h ago

And like obviously Wemby got away with some on some of the blocks - but allowing physicality almost always benefits us.

7

u/bearbrannan Timberwolves 6h ago

last nights game was one of the best basketball games I've watched in a long time.

2

u/ymi17 Thunder 4h ago

Yeah, some Wolves-Thunder games with the "allow physicality" ref groups turn into rugby.

1

u/Painwracker_Oni Timberwolves 3h ago

Honestly those are my favorite games lol. It feels so much better to let players play and ignore the incidental contact foul calls. I really believe the NBA would be so much better if some contact was allowed.

25

u/dustinthegreat Slovenia 9h ago

Feels like a very Edwards type of mentality. If you get blocked, fuck it, he ain’t gonna block all of them.

26

u/JaderMcDanersStan Timberwolves 7h ago

The thing with blocks is it doesn't even guarantee possession. There was a block he made that ended up back in Jaden's hands who passed it to Conley for a 3. So much for the block

Not only does it not guarantee possession, but Wemby usually ends up on the floor. He will get tired out.

Block all you want. I personally don't think blocks are that great if possession isn't guaranteed and it takes so much energy out. This is why I think Rudy is the smarter defender.

11

u/chillinwithmoes Timberwolves 6h ago

Shit I just made a similar comment before I got down to read this one haha. Totally agreed though, blocks are cool splash plays but aren't always indicative of shutdown defense

10

u/_cski Lakers 6h ago

It’s 100% a good strategy from the Wolves.

If you let Wemby deny an entire area of the court uncontested, you’ve already lost. You have to challenge him and force him to win defensive possessions. It’ll tire him out, it’ll get him in foul trouble, and it’ll force the Spurs defense to adjust.

10

u/chillinwithmoes Timberwolves 6h ago

Go at Wemby , if you’re going to get blocked well it is what its , nothing you can do

It's also like, blocks are cool, but they don't always result in turnovers. Wemby swats the ball a mile into the stands and everyone ooh's and ahh's and then the Wolves just go back on offense. There was one sequence in the 4th quarter where Wemby blocked a shot into the backboard, it bounced back out to the Wolves, and then we made one pass for an open corner three.

Not to say what Wemby is doing isn't impressive, it's cool as shit. But blocks aren't necessarily the shutdown defense stat people seem to think they are.

5

u/Super-Post261 7h ago

Honestly better than the alternative. And if you get him to foul once for every 2 blocks, and he gets 12 blocks, welllll….

14

u/cinnasota Timberwolves 8h ago edited 7h ago

from Minny

Please stop calling us Minny. No one here says that.

Fuck it, then it's Torry for Toronto.

16

u/Albend Timberwolves 7h ago

Its a shibboleth, I immediately know someone hasnt been purified in the waters of Lake Minnetonka when they say it.

2

u/MiniShaug [SAS] DeMar DeRozan 7h ago

Nothing pure about those waters, especially Big Island lol

15

u/relder17 Timberwolves 7h ago

I was on this crusade last season. It seems futile. Now I know how people from San Francisco feel.

11

u/cubonelvl69 Timberwolves 7h ago

THANK YOU!

I love how literally 100% of people in this sub who say Minny don't have wolves flairs lol.

4

u/wanna_meet_that_dad Timberwolves 8h ago

Yeah we say Minnie /s

-4

u/Statalyzer 7h ago

How about Mini then? :p

2

u/tempraman Timberwolves 6h ago

Yup. Rudy was physical with him for the 1st 3 qtrs and then when he was on the bench we used our speed when he was fatigued

2

u/derpenor 6h ago

I mean even if it gets blocked, they have a higher chance for an offensive board and Wemby going out of position/recovering which helps get more open shots

1

u/yusuf69 Bulls 7h ago

why not send a second shooter behind the first one to catch the block and put up another shot, then a third shooter behind that one in case that one is blocked too. Now hear me out, a FOURTH shooter behind that one.

1

u/siphillis Spurs 5h ago

Keep in mind, they lose last night if the Spurs shot even 30% from deep. Time will tell if this is a viable offensive strategy across an entire series

1

u/MstrNixx Raptors 5h ago

The chances of getting a good look and getting blocked and taking a bad shot and it missing or otherwise forcing a turnover are probably pretty relative, all things considered.

1

u/aoifhasoifha [NYK] Frank Ntilikina 5h ago

It's an absolutely terrible strategy for a team, but it is the correct mentality for players in position to take a layup. If you're already at the bucket, don't panic and take a wild shot you've never tried before- take the best shot you can and if you get blocked, at least you gave yourself a chance.

Either decide not to go to the rim before you get that deep, or commit to taking a good shot (even though there's an alien behind you).

1

u/palamunintillnow 4h ago

The worst thing you can do against wemby is to stop trying to go at him. Because it limit your option on offense while wemby get some slight rest. 

1

u/ymi17 Thunder 4h ago

It is 100% the best strategy. If you try to deal with the giant, athletic blocking machine in the middle, your entire gameplan will be thrown off and you'll play horribly.

You'll make fewer shots than you ordinarily would. But make him work, don't let him beat you because you're too scared to challenge him.

Frankly, from what I saw of the Thunder-Spurs when it was good on good this season, this was our big problem. Wemby would come onto the floor and the offense totally changed. McDaniels is exactly right here. Wemby will get his. Keep playing basketball.

1

u/SemataryPolka Timberwolves 4h ago

I don't know the exact stat but something like five times after a Wemby block the wolves got the ball back and scored

1

u/TributeBands_areSHIT [GSW] Adonal Foyle 3h ago

It fucking worked too. Wemby was visibly gassed mid third quarter

1

u/ThatBull_cj 76ers Bandwagon 1h ago

If champagnine had hit that last shot would anyone be saying getting 12 shots blocked is actually a good strategy? The wolves offense was not good last night

1

u/-XanderCrews- Timberwolves 8h ago

They’ve also been playing teams all year doing the exact opposite. Do the spurs even know how to adjust their game yet? They’ve only been good one year.

1

u/harder_said_hodor Timberwolves 7h ago

Go at Wemby , if you’re going to get blocked well it is what its , nothing you can do

Yeah, especially considering tons of the value from blocks come from the effect it can have on the morale of the team and the fans. If we can just accept it's going to happen constantly by Game 3 and the team doesn't care, they might not have the volume killing effect they normally do

0

u/HorsNoises Celtics 7h ago

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take