Can’t tell McDaniels to guard Kyrie unless he boutta guard Luka. Another reason why I think Kyle Anderson is an understated loss for Minnesota. Maybe he’s not consistent all season, but he’s a super valuable player to have on the bench to defend Luka or in general for the playoffs as a playmaker because that’s a weakness of the Wolves. Matchups matter come playoff time.
Nobody was guarding him that series. Dude did it on one leg. I fully believe he could have one hand chucked the ball from anywhere on the fucking court and made it damn near every time if he tried.
I think Donte gets back some of the defense they lost with Kyle. Between him, Ant, and Naw they have guys to throw at Kyrie while Jaden is probably the primary Luka defender. I don’t think losing Kyle is as big of a deal with Donte coming in defensively. And offensively I think Randle occupies a similar role to Slomo as a big creator
I agree a bit Kyle Anderson was a good defender against Luka. But not really that much better than Jaden to be honest. Also underselling the fact that our offense is anemic with Kyle on the floor.
Yea Kyle was unfortunately too much of a problem on offense, and he finished sooo many possessions when he was in (which is on finchy tbf) lol.
I have always loved Kyle but Donte and naw behind ant and Jaden is more adequate fodder to throw at the elite wings, along with whatever Randle may do in our scheme.
Yeah I could totally see him fighting through a screen, recover from behind, stay with his man, taking a couple bumps and then not bite at the pump fakes. Absolutely. And then do it time and time again even if his man scored despite good defense. Totally. That’s just who randle is.
He has no chance on Luka. Randle is a bruiser and believe it or not can guard guys much bigger than him (sabonis, siakam, sengun for example). More physical the guy is the better Randle plays on defense. Luka’s entire game is based on deceleration and hesitations built into every move.
Anytime Randle is switched on him it’s over. But like any other minus defender you can pre-rotate to avoid those matchups as much as possible. Randle has good enough dbbiq to call those out ahead of time and finish the possession with the rebound.
I Honestly dont feel like he’s had enough reps against Luka to make a judgement on that. I know he missed one of the games against us last year.
From a skillset standpoint, Randle has a bigger body to take away the post game but I just dont see him moving around screens well enough to really guard him for multiple possessions. Should be able to hold up well enough on occasional switches though.
I thought Kyle Anderson could legitimately guard Luka better than lot of players you’d consider better defenders. He can get skinny around the screen, has good strength and length, and most importantly is very disciplined with dealing with all the fakes Luka puts out there.
Kyle Anderson plays at the slower pace that Luka also plays at. It’s why Looney was so good against Luka as well. Fast players fall for his hestitation moves, these dudes fall for his hestitations so late that they are suddenly back in good guarding position at the second hestitation
It was bizarre watching Looney fail into guarding Luka during that WCF. Several times that Luka put three moves on him by the time that Looney got in position for the first. But his reaction to the first would end him up in good position for the third lol
Randle is slightly bigger but not by much. Teams Randle has been on (Knicks/Pelicans/Lakers) usually have had other defenders to throw at Randle so Luka hasn’t been his primary responsibility. So it’s hard to tell. But one thing Randle is very good at is killing the Mavs in Dallas. Since he’s from Dallas he usually has very good games in Dallas.
This is why I don’t understand the narrative that the series was close at all - the Mavs solved the Wolves defense, they got every single look they wanted and if Lively didn’t miss game 4 it probably would have been a sweep.
The Mavs scored 108 and 109 in the first two games, winning by a combined 4 points, all while the Wolves shot below their season averages from 2, 3, and FT. Obviously the Mavs were the better team in the series, but it was quite literally two bounces from being 2-0 Wolves going to Dallas. That’s not even mentioning the blown call that swung game 2 and caused the NBA to change a rule.
The Mavs deserved to win the series, but to act like it wasn’t close and that Minnesota was lucky to not be swept is laughable.
It’s cause Minnesota simply shot the ball from 3 much better than Dallas. Watching the games, I think the Mavs clearly outplayed them and it wasn’t as close as the scorelines suggested.
Unfortunately it kind of turned on its head in the Finals with Boston shooting incredibly badly from 3 yet still totally outplaying Dallas.
Can’t tell McDaniels to guard Kyrie unless he boutta guard Luka. Another reason why I think Kyle Anderson is an understated loss for Minnesota. Maybe he’s not consistent all season, but he’s a super valuable player to have on the bench to defend Luka or in general for the playoffs as a playmaker because that’s a weakness of the Wolves. Matchups matter come playoff time.
Nobody was guarding him that series. Dude did it on one leg. I fully believe he could have one hand chucked the ball from anywhere on the fucking court and made it damn near every time if he tried.
I think Donte gets back some of the defense they lost with Kyle. Between him, Ant, and Naw they have guys to throw at Kyrie while Jaden is probably the primary Luka defender. I don’t think losing Kyle is as big of a deal with Donte coming in defensively. And offensively I think Randle occupies a similar role to Slomo as a big creator
The wolves issues weren’t defensive related against the Mavs. Luka is gonna get his numbers regardless of who’s defending him
I agree a bit Kyle Anderson was a good defender against Luka. But not really that much better than Jaden to be honest. Also underselling the fact that our offense is anemic with Kyle on the floor.
Yea Kyle was unfortunately too much of a problem on offense, and he finished sooo many possessions when he was in (which is on finchy tbf) lol.
I have always loved Kyle but Donte and naw behind ant and Jaden is more adequate fodder to throw at the elite wings, along with whatever Randle may do in our scheme.
Genuinely asking, how has Randle done against Luka? I know he’s not a defensive player, but he’s a bigger body who should be able to stick with him.
Yeah I could totally see him fighting through a screen, recover from behind, stay with his man, taking a couple bumps and then not bite at the pump fakes. Absolutely. And then do it time and time again even if his man scored despite good defense. Totally. That’s just who randle is.
LOL
not on luka but one of my favorite randle moments as a laker was he was the only player able to slow down prime rockets harden without fouling
He has no chance on Luka. Randle is a bruiser and believe it or not can guard guys much bigger than him (sabonis, siakam, sengun for example). More physical the guy is the better Randle plays on defense. Luka’s entire game is based on deceleration and hesitations built into every move.
Anytime Randle is switched on him it’s over. But like any other minus defender you can pre-rotate to avoid those matchups as much as possible. Randle has good enough dbbiq to call those out ahead of time and finish the possession with the rebound.
In a 4th quarter last minute scenario and he tries on defense he can guard Luka
Luka dropped 60 last time he played against Randle.
I love how you remembered that off the top of your head.
Bet Randle does as well
LOL
60/21/10 monster triple double. But TBF that’s mostly on Grimes.
Why did they have grimes guarding someone so much larger
wasnt that the 60/20/10 game?
I Honestly dont feel like he’s had enough reps against Luka to make a judgement on that. I know he missed one of the games against us last year.
From a skillset standpoint, Randle has a bigger body to take away the post game but I just dont see him moving around screens well enough to really guard him for multiple possessions. Should be able to hold up well enough on occasional switches though.
I thought Kyle Anderson could legitimately guard Luka better than lot of players you’d consider better defenders. He can get skinny around the screen, has good strength and length, and most importantly is very disciplined with dealing with all the fakes Luka puts out there.
Kyle Anderson plays at the slower pace that Luka also plays at. It’s why Looney was so good against Luka as well. Fast players fall for his hestitation moves, these dudes fall for his hestitations so late that they are suddenly back in good guarding position at the second hestitation
It was bizarre watching Looney fail into guarding Luka during that WCF. Several times that Luka put three moves on him by the time that Looney got in position for the first. But his reaction to the first would end him up in good position for the third lol
Same exact thing he did to harden a few years earlier.
Running 4D chess by skip processing the extra movement and just chose to stay put LOL
Hahaha it’s so funny and true
Randle is slightly bigger but not by much. Teams Randle has been on (Knicks/Pelicans/Lakers) usually have had other defenders to throw at Randle so Luka hasn’t been his primary responsibility. So it’s hard to tell. But one thing Randle is very good at is killing the Mavs in Dallas. Since he’s from Dallas he usually has very good games in Dallas.
This is why I don’t understand the narrative that the series was close at all - the Mavs solved the Wolves defense, they got every single look they wanted and if Lively didn’t miss game 4 it probably would have been a sweep.
Definitely would have been
The Mavs scored 108 and 109 in the first two games, winning by a combined 4 points, all while the Wolves shot below their season averages from 2, 3, and FT. Obviously the Mavs were the better team in the series, but it was quite literally two bounces from being 2-0 Wolves going to Dallas. That’s not even mentioning the blown call that swung game 2 and caused the NBA to change a rule.
The Mavs deserved to win the series, but to act like it wasn’t close and that Minnesota was lucky to not be swept is laughable.
It’s cause Minnesota simply shot the ball from 3 much better than Dallas. Watching the games, I think the Mavs clearly outplayed them and it wasn’t as close as the scorelines suggested.
Unfortunately it kind of turned on its head in the Finals with Boston shooting incredibly badly from 3 yet still totally outplaying Dallas.