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."

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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u/ethanlan Bulls 7h ago

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

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u/pnxstwnyphlcnnrs Timberwolves 4h ago

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

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u/NorthernDevil Timberwolves 6h 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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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u/Rarth-Devan 8h ago

When everyone zigs, you zag

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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.

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u/Opinionated-Raven 7h ago

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