Nuggets vs. Timberwolves is the Series We've Been Waiting For | The Bill Simmons Podcast
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- Bill Simmons is joined by Ryen Russillo to talk through the fireworks of Game 1 in the Nuggets vs. Timberwolves series. Anthony Edwards looks every bit the superstar he's been hyped to be, and the defending champion Nuggets might be facing their biggest challenge yet. Subscribe for more NBA Playoffs content, livestreams, and podcast episodes.
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Minnesota’s defense is championship caliber, it’s that good. What makes it work is if Ant plays D as hard as he does, everyone has to follow suit.
Would Ant be the one guarding Murray?
@@fortynights1513 he did start game 1, which I loved. It reminded of guys like MJ & Kobe who would guard the other teams best swingman from jump street unlike today where Kawi/Bron minded players will guard their elite counterparts periodically, a sort of in game load management 🙄😆. However, with Murray being hurt I think Minnesota will only have Murray if he’s healthy and/or cookin, like in the fourth🤔. As a fan I want to see two of the games absolute elite two guards go at each other healthy & when it matters the most. Looks like we’ll at least get the latter🤔
I mean yea Ant is a good defender, but the anchor is Rudy.
@vanslang5385 Why would you mention Leonard/James when one clearly has a chronic leg injuries situation and LeBron who has played about 70,000 minutes. Come on man!!!
Don’t forget that Gobert is the anchor of the defense. He’s why Minnesota can do what they do. Mcdaniels is the best wing defender in the league in my opinion.
The reason you put Towns back in for Naz at the end of the game, is because Towns plays better defense on Jokic than Naz.
And he’s a better FT shooter.
@@johnshottie4415 and scorer in general, no disrespect to Naz
@@jonandersen7208and down the stretch Naz on the offensive end and Rudy on the defensive end per multiple substitutions.
And naz was tired
You're living in la la land if you think that Towns is better on defense than anyone.
Shout out Finch and the staff for keeping Anthony growing and developing this young man!! Anthony is a smart man respect the ability to be coached.
curiously it seems like it was Kerr that ignited the fire when they were at Team USA - he told him that he didn't work anywhere near as hard as guys like Klay, so Ant then wanted to become a beast in training. Since then Ant has been absolutely unique.
Ant is such a likable young man. As a Warriors fan, its a killer to think we have to face this guy going forward. But wow, respect this kid for working hard and being confident yet humble.
Hey, we MN fans feel like we gifted you Steph and all that greatness. Ant is our prize for A LOT of patience and suffering.
@@chadlaughlin-vr7yfas a lifelong Wolves fan, Amen. There isn’t a fanbase more deserving of Ant than MN.
Wolves 4ever
Don’t worry, you’re not going to have to face him in the playoffs since the Warriors will be rebuilding soon.
what should kill warriors fans is you were 1 pick away from getting him but instead got james wiseman probably the biggest bust 2nd pick in a long time.
Coachability is an underrated skill. Philly fans in shambles over Ben Simmons being uncoachable while watching Antman literally talk about how much work he puts in, 2000 shots a day, and infinite film room time.
This is the perfect series to show what would happen to a lot of these guys, if they played in the 90’s. Big man bringing up the basketball, gets picked up full court. Guards going to the rim, gets met by a big or two. Physicality, tenacity… thank you Minnesota. Today’s bigs (Embiid, Jokic) have been living in la la land, thinking that their doing something.
Jokic is a post scorer. It doesn’t get more 90s than that.
Do you actually watch him? 65-70% of his shots are within 10 feet. He’s basically Hakeem
Olajuwon and Kevin McHale with Bird’s passing and some Walton/Sabonis style high post playmaking
@@michaelahurt Who is he shooting over? Rui Hachimura? Or Dikembe Mutombo? Brook Lopez Or Shaq? Daniel Gafford or Hakeem Olajuwon? I didn’t say that Jokic couldn’t play, I’m saying that he’s not in an era, where he is facing a big every night. He’s being guarded by 4’s and big 3’s today.
@@michaelahurt He does not have Hakeem’s footwork. His footwork is ok, he travels a lot. He has Mchale’s pump fake but he doesn’t have Mchale’s up and under. Yeah he passes like Bird but the passes are wide open, there is no one in the paint. Walton is a better passer. And Sabonis in his prime was a better athlete. Jokic is great for today.
@@Dbo_Sportsand the sky is blue
Yeah, players didn’t shoot as efficiently when they couldn’t/didn’t get mismatches as easily. That’s why Hakeem shot 51% and Jokic shoots 60%.
Minnesota is perfectly constructed to not just compete, but beat the Denver nuggets. I really thought Minnesota was a year or two early to be serious contenders but man, this is not a good matchup for the nuggets.
If you really look at the stats they t wolves werent holding jokic down at all
Last year with guys hurt proved they could compete with the nuggets who were s buzzsaw last season...this year they are better nuggets are worse..
@@ollytropics173511/25 FG? 2/9 3P? 7 turnovers? What are you talking about?
@@ollytropics1735 bro he had 7 turnovers and under 50%, yeah he filled up the stat sheet but it wasn't his normal greatness
@@ollytropics1735 He had 7 turnovers? Jokic is always going to put up numbers since the offense runs through him, you just have to make him make mistakes
I have to give Bill and Ryen their props, they’ve been high on Ant Edwards for a long time, way before the national media was.
They don't give the Wolves as a whole any credit though.
Nah they def do
But they picked there lord and savoir Jokic anyway
Hell no they hated on the Gobert trade so much and loved the Durant and PG trades. Well well well
half a year after ants draft he said he would redo that draft with wiseman at 1 and ant at 4
They put KAT back in at the end because he was more effective defensively against Jokic than Naz. That’s the only reason.
Yup, along with a better pure shooter. Naz is great to get the offense flowing because of his decisiveness on whether to move the ball or shoot/drive.
Oh, and the fact that KAT has a consistent track record of being a better player. There's that fact.Naz is my guy, but he's not on KATs level
Naz had also been out there for a long stretch so he was surely gassed in the altitude.
@@danielrasmussen2167 yeah but if it wasn’t for the defensive matchup against Jokic, I would 100 percent have left Naz out there. I believe in hot hands and he was sizzling in the 4th.
@@skoolynugenator1802 KAT's hand is hot the moment he rolls out of bed.
The fact they were able to beat them with towns in foul trouble in the 3rd to me indicates that this series is in Minnesotas hand
I love Towns but that's so many playoff games for him
I can’t remember a game where Towns wasn’t in foul trouble. He is a walking foul. He will always be in foul trouble. He’s probably in foul trouble right now. He dreams about being in foul trouble
Minnesota Timberwolves are mentally weak there's no way that they're going to win this series with their terrible half court offense.
denver cant afford to start games the way they have anymore. they dont have the depth for it, and every team from here on out will take advantage of those bad starts and build leads, which will make resting jokic harder because they'll need him out there longer to keep up
@@cleigh113 Worst...BS... take ever. Ant mentally weak? Mike Connelly mentally weak?
Did you not watch the PHX series? Kat was not on the floor to close any of those games because the D was better with NAW in. KAT plays better D on Joker than NAZ and rebounds better so he closed yesterday. Wolves staff plays the matchups.
And the players don't complain about it. This teams self-awareness is a major superpower. Team basketball
You are wrong about KAT going back in this game. They had a lead and Towns simply defends Jokic better than Naz. And if he would have fouled out, Naz just goes back in, easy. The lead in the 1st quarter was also with Towns on the floor, not Naz. He is clearly a plus.
Yep. Also Towns sat out entire 4ths against suns and he doesnt care. He just wants to win and do whats needed of him. So if he would not have gone back in, that would not have made him leave MN. Terrible take by these guys.
@@WheresWaldo05 Man, people just hate on KAT. He is locked in this season. And which star would have done what he did by embracing Rudy and ANT and not let his ego get in the way. He is a great guy.
Please please please employ this strategy.
@@smanc Great guy but still makes way too many decisions on the court. Not really what i want from a guy we are gonna be paying 50 plus million going forward on his extension. I was willing to live with it when the number was around 35 per season. I still think we win last series and have a chance equally against Nuggets if Kat was subbed out for whatever other pieces we had gotten in a Kat trade deadline move. One of those pieces would still have needed to be a big man of some capacity. One trade idea i am loving right now after his regression from season before is Franz Wagner. Wagner plus salaries plus both Magics 2025 1sts for Kat sounds about good to me. Franze we be getting an extension no richer than 30 per season. Between 25 to 30 per year. That helps our current cap issue. Cole Anthony will be on an expiring contract next season. Just a thought/idea....
@@WheresWaldo05 I mean thats ifs. We are where we are, because KAT is on the team. Ofc his contract in comparison to his role now seems way too much. But i mean look at the shots he made against Denver. Those where all great plays. Moneywise its hard for the Wolves, there is no denying that. But i would say lets live in the moment of these playoffs first. Rest later.
The Wolves D scheme is kinda like Phil Jacksons triangle offense....It takes time to learn and perfect and needs the right guys who commit to running it. If you've complained about lack of d in NBA there's a team in minnesota u might wanna become a fan of.
They remind me of the Larry Brown piston team but even better offensively because as much as i love rip hamilton, as your primary scorer, he's nowhere near Antman.
Like the pistons, its a great defensive team anchored by a great rim protector. Gobert is Ben Wallace. Towns is Sheed. Great power forward who can score anywhere. McDaniels is Prince, a lengthy wing defender. And connelly is Billups who runs the point.
Then you have Naz who does the elden Campbell/okur/corliss Williamson job off the bench.
look up Towns defensive stats vs the joker. shockingly good. that’s why they subbed him in.
That was my first ever in person playoff game and boy was it a good one. The final score hurt as a Nuggets fan but as a fan of the game I saw some amazing basketball. Players always say the level of intensity goes way up during the playoffs and I take there word on that because my intensity as a fan was like 4x. My voice still hasn’t fully come back.
Wow. Great historic game to be at. Ant is a guy I'd root for no matter where I'm from. So amazing to watch. As a wolves fan though, it's so amazing. No matter how this plays out. What a great series as a fan of basketball.
@@thomasdanielson7383 Ant is my favorite superstar. I’ve seen him one other time and both times he put on an absolute clinic. He just so fun to watch.
Hell yea man be thankful you’re alive now to witness this….Wolves are good AF don’t get me wrong…but at the end of 7 games I think Denver pulls it out and snows why they’re the defending champs….Joker gonna come hard af
Jokic got sped up like I've never seen before.
My man accidentally pressed the 1.50x speed button.
Jokic was noticeably agitated
You can tell all that size is gonna have an effect
The KAT slander, dude beside Ant, KAT was the only one giving them scoring in both halfs. His passing was really good and his defense on Joker is better than anybody rlse primarily defending him. His fouls are a problem but the way hes officiated is questionable. But they dont win the game without KAT.
Absolutely the Kat disrespect is insane
The case for ANT and Timberwolves going on a magical run is the number 3. 3rd playoff appearance for Dwade goes to the 2006 Finals and wins finals MVP. Next, KD, Harden, Westbrook 3rd Playoff Appearance makes finals lose to Heat 4-1 in 2012 Finals. 3rd playoff apperance for Curry, Klay, Draymond Finals 2015 Win.
I think Bringing Towns in late in the game for Reid (who had worked hard on both ends),was simply to bring in a fresher, big-body, to guard Jokic, who had to be exhausted from playing both ends as well. MIN has enough bigs to keep Joker busy at all times. And, hes KAT... lol
When Bill got into listing the historical examples (10:00), that was his best argument. Minnesota looks like teams we’ve seen in the past that ‘shouldn’t have’ _but did._ And Ant looks like a player who will do-whatever it takes.
Most people like his attitude; some don’t. But his passion is undeniable. I know he will show up in this series. He already has.
My prediction: Idk what the odds are, but take the 5 game money. If Minnesota wins this series, they win it quick. Ant has to knock Jokic out before Jokic can figure Ant and Minnesota out.
This is a chess boxing match between Mike Tyson (Ant) and Garry Kasparov (Jokic).
This series will show us the difference between two mindsets-Ant’s modern Mamba mentality, Jokic’s Serbian workmanship. Does Ant’s reliance on emotion mean that he could get easily tilted (Draymond, Westbrook, etc.)? Are we really supposed to pick against Jokic, the guy who says the game starts the day before for him-that’s how long he spends thinking about it and analyzing it, picking it apart and putting it together? Jokic simulates games of basketball in his head like grandmasters play blindfolded chess. This is gonna be a great series!
The thing about Ant is that he is still learning and maturing. During the regular season Ant definitely took nights off against teams he thinks as lesser. He was also using those games to get off the ball and learn how to facilitate. By the end of the season he was putting it all together. That kept his ppg low enough to not consider him for MVP. Wilbon gave him a 2nd place vote, though.
That's smart, I think he was able to because the team is good, coaching is incredible to have role players play this well is mostly because of coaching.
Yeah he’s literally a different player in the playoffs. Obviously the shots just going in helps but his approach is different.
He looks to get downhill more and his outside shooting feels more intentional. He’s constantly putting pressure on the defense, always ready to get downhill when it’s available, but he’s not forcing anything and not giving away possessions like he did in the regular season
It’s honestly shocking how quickly he’s figured out the balance. Even unprecedented. It took MJ until he was 27. LeBron until at least 27 and probably 30. Kobe never figured it out and always leaned way harder into hero ball.
How can Denver get 10 more FTs at home and lose? The officials certainly were trying to keep the Nuggets in the game. That technical on Edwards was an unbelievably brutal call.
That chop foul non call on Ant was insane! NEver seen something like that missed by 3 refs
Ant had like 3 travels he didn't get called for...
@@jonathankim6755 He’s certainly not treated like the future face of the NBA. After that chop, the mics picked up Edwards saying to the ref, “MFer chopped both arms.” After all of that, Denver appeared to be affected by the altitude at the end.
@@jonathankim6755 they literally let a foul go on Jokic the *next* possession. Lol
Idk if you just don’t watch a lot of NBA games but refs miss calls all the time and will usually “miss” another call to make up for it like they did there.
(The tech- I mean idk. I would’ve let it go. But they usually are quick on stare downs because they start fights more than turning your back and doing a celebration the defender can’t see)
But the way KCP hit him there wasn’t a slap and that’s often what is called - the sound. And good defenders often do get the benefit of the doubt. Draymond fouls a ton on plays just like that but the refs usually just assume he hit it clean
At only 22, Ant is already unbelievably great! 🤩 🤩
Bill is so impressed with ANT.
LeBron is exiting and the media needs someone to compare to Michael Jordan constantly for clickbait.
@@BigginsInAmericaso far he’s exceeding those expectations. Jordan and LeBron by year 4 was either the best player in the world or close to winning a championship
He is basically 23 year old d wade 22.5 year old kobe and close to 23 year old mj....
Imagine if Ant would get 50% of the calls from the refs!! The entire year he been on the refs hate list!!
The reason that they want KAT in at end of games is that he's the best defensive option on Jokic. Crazy to say but watch that film and see how Gobert as the primary gets backed down too deep, Naz is a little too light as well
"He (Ant) was bad the first 2 months"... Pls god someone remember Ryan Saunders had no idea what he was doing. Ant didnt start for 18 games. Ed Davis, Jarret Culver and Jake layman all started over him. He was also the 4th option standing in the corner with no real development plan. Look up Ant's stats under Ryan Saunders vs Finch.
It’s so funny how everyone (including me)called the Gobert trade one of the worst trades of all time and said the Wolves needed to blow the roster up.
Now they’re a legitimate title contender 😂
IT JUST SHOWS NO ONE EVEN THE ONES WHO DO THIS ALL THE TIME REALLY DONT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT!
I think the gm had to do it knowing he had to beat denver if healthy with gordon which they could of last year when healthy might this year and could next year as well..they did the shaq then jason antoine posey trades basically like miami did in 04 and 05 to give them a 3 yesr window...do I think by 2026 that conley kyle morris and gobert will be even 6th men no but naz and walker can become starters by late 2025 and you hope you add a piece...
They proved 2 bigs was never going to work until Ant became so good that he can put them over the top while the 2 bigs focus on Jokic/Gordon.
@@am3818They didn’t prove anything, the 2020 Lakers won with the same receipt, 3 elite defensive Bigs (Even 4 if you count Lebron), and an an army of strong and long 3 and D players like KCP, Caruso, Kuzma, Danny Green or even Rondo who has a 6’9 wingspan despite only being 6’1 … And then in 2021 same thing, BUCKS won with 3 Bigs, Lopez, Giannis and Portis+ elite defensive wings and guards like Jrue, Middleton, Grayson Allen ect.
And even Denver is one of the biggest team in the league, Jokic 7ft 285, Aaron Gordon is like the size of Lebron, 6’9 250, MPJ is 6’10, KCP 6’6 and Murray their smallest player is 6’4 …
The 2020’s is a big man era, only the Warriors in 2022 won with Looney and Draymond, and even tough they are small for their positions, they are super strong, super smart and agressive .. And even Boston played with Rob Williams and Al Horford at times, and Tatum is 6’9 ..
So nothing new, don’t know why people act like it is.
And don’t get me wrong i love the Wolves, im French so i support Gobert and i love ANT and their whole team but if they win this year they’ll be the 4th team in 5 years to win the title with 2 big in their starting lineup 🤷🏾♂️
Was at a bar in Austin Texas screaming my head off watching the Wolves while everyone else was waiting for the Canelo fight lol
Ant is here. God tier.
5-25 Game 2 performance incoming.
MJ watching and smiling from afar.
He can't wait to see Antman impact the league the same way he use to back in the day.
Antmans demeanor and play style is so reminiscent of Air Jordan❤
This isn’t a Minny vs Denver segment, this is a Minny segment
As it should be
They put towns in cuz he has been such a good defender on Jokic. They benched Kat for the last like 8 minutes of Phoenix game 3 when they put KD at the 5 and Kat said whatever it takes to win
kat also played well after subbing in. Nazz reid was super hot and cold but through the entire playoffs: cold. you bring towns in everytime.
Another good example is 2011 Mavs vs Lakers. Even down 3-0, analysts were asking if Kobe could lead them to a comeback and got demolished in Game 4
I commented the same thing before I saw your comment.
People were not playing attention. Kobe had 2 terrible ankle sprains back-to-back. And Pau was in free fall.
Ant was visibly gassed and still went bonkers in the 2nd half. Joker was winded too. Wolves making him work on both ends. Murray is very obviously not at 100%. The Wolves are too deep though. Wolves are taking it in 5.
How about the 2024 Timberwolves / Suns - where everyone thought the Wolves were in trouble, and then the Wolves swept them 😂😂😂
I think ppl are still processing it. Nobody talked about Wolves after the sweep, everyone was on the Suns "big-3" and what/how Suns should do next.
Wolves sweeping anyone should've been the main story and not the Suns.
After the game they asked jokic what they could to deal with the the Minnesota 3 bigs lineup and he literally said if there were 2 of him that could work. Even he knows they’re in trouble
Tim Connelly should get a ton of credit. He built a championship team, left, then built another team that is tailor made to beat the team he built. 😅
Lol these guys hate on KAT so much he had 2 legit fouls the rest were so soft. He was the worst whistle of all time. You play KAT because hes bigger and better then NAZ.
It’s amazing how people don’t see how good KAT is. He does commit dumb fouls but you live with that for what he gives you in spreading the floor and all the matchup problems he creates on both ends.
@@johnshottie4415 If there were an All NBA Worst Defensive Team, Towns would easily be on it. He alone holds this team back from being great, and they should've traded him and his ridiculous contract for some pieces that would've helped them win a championship this season.
@@wileyschmitt Nah he just guarded Jokic better than anyone. I don't think an All NBA worst defensive team member could do that
@@Iamrxch3 Jokic isn't difficult to defend on the perimeter, but Jokic was used to being guarded by a savvy defender like Gobert, and Towns is a complete change up pitch, not a good one, but all in all it was effective enough. No need to out think Towns like he needs to do with Gobert, all he needs to do against Towns is bully him, which many players do to him with great success. Towns is just lucky to have teammates like Gobert (who does everything that Towns can't do) and Naz Reid, making that contract he has look absolutely ridiculous, and if they don't win a championship it because they should've traded him and that contract before the deadline to get more useful pieces for this current run.
Great commentary.. love both of your depths and authenticity
He was that frantic against the bucks the second game. The had Giannis as Rudy and Lopez as KAT.
"He broke Phoenix, he BROKE them!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I think one thing thats not being mentioned here is the talent of minnesota. Ant and kat are 2 high profile no. 1 picks that have both panned out while ant is surpassing his lofty expectations. Aside from the 2 stars you still have good defensive players in gobert and mcdaniels and the always reliable mike conley who is a true pg with veteran experience. To top it off you have the 6th man of the year in reid. Denver meanwhile are mostly developed home grown not very high draft picks in jokic, murray and porter jr which is very impressive but also obvious that jokic carries the team so much because of his offensive prowess letting the other players mostly get good and easy shots.
Ringer finally putting up content on youtube
Been doing it at least a couple years.
You're a troll, Right? This has consistently been the only way i hear these guys for years
Ringer puts up like 5 percent. But lately theyve been doing the full sunday episodes. Thats what he means. Dont be an ass @bryanmills1638
I've been a suffering Timberwolves fan since 1995, when KG came into the league. This is the best team we've ever had and ANT is only 22. The next decade of Wolves basketball should be exciting. I love your guys' excitement for ANTMAN. Keep it up!
@@poorchris the next decade will be incredible. Minnesota never said that about the KG/Spree/Cassell trio. them dudes were old and KG was the only man left.
So exciting to see how this series plays out. So good to see big plays from pretty much anyone
McDaniels & Walker didn't score for Wolves and they still won. They were off all night.
They were not off on their defensive play.
Pretty sure walker scored eventually...
Kept the nugget s under 100 that s getting it done on the defensive end.
Minnesota fans have been fighting a battle against the owners of their teams, trying to get them to understand that we are not going to keep accepting 10th-best rosters led by 10th-best players who make the playoffs and give us nice, little respectable seasons, and then get bounced in round one.
We finally ran Kirk Cousins out of town. And we finally bullied the Vikings to draft their first quarterback in the top ten in team history.
We’re finally getting the Twins to prioritize starting pitching.
We’re in a holding pattern with the Wild as we wait out the dead money from the mediocre Parise/Suter years.
We never had hope to demand anything special of the Wolves. Glen Taylor’s dumpster fire ownership was truly so bad, hiring just the worst possible coaches and front office, they ironically could benefit from the parity measures in place to help bad teams. But of course, no matter how many disastrous seasons the Wolves had, the lottery kept giving the team cursed results, year after year. Conspiracy theories were numerous. With KAT and Ant, variance finally swung our way, and we got history-changing 1st overall draft picks. And the new ownership influence has brought in the coaching to utilize this talent.
In the background, there are the challenges that MN teams face. The Wolves, for instance, get almost no national games. Hence almost nobody has seen Ant play until these playoffs. Of course he won’t get MVP votes. He was merely a backup in the All Star Game. The lack of exposure robs MN players of individual awards. This deters players from coming to play here. Gobert had to come here via trade. I sincerely hope that Ant has exposed and changed this situation, and the Wolves actually get featured on national TV next year. A whole bunch of people now are rushing back watch the three seasons of Ant’s career that they ignored.
Ant didn’t play like this in the regular season. Lol.
That’s why he’s gonna make (probably) second team All-NBA and wasn’t being discussed with Brunson let alone Jokic, Luka, Shai and Giannis for MVP
Maybe if his TS in the regular season was 65.6% (like it is in the playoffs) instead of 57.5 (below league average) he would have been included.
And everyone who votes for MVP has league pass so national TV games aren’t really relevant.
But sure keys just pretend he was +7% TS in the regular season and everyone ignored it because they hate Minnesota. That seems logical
Bill is 100% right about jokic being sped up it was weird but they will adjust
This is the series of the champion imo!
That Wolves sweep doesn’t seem so disrespectful anymore lol
Congratulations NBA…now you get 10+ years of Ant-Man vs Ja in annual blood feuds….we’re about to get some great basketball for a long time.
I love how Ant can have a great Series 1 and score 40+ in ONE game vs the Nuggets and all these MJ, Kobe, and LeBron comparisons are thrown out, and people are claiming, "he's the new face of the league" etc..... Yet a player can win 3 out of 4 of the last MVP awards, be the Finals MVP and an NBA Champ, and the moment he gets compared to anyone, it gets shut down immediately and it's called ridiculous. The Denver and Jokic disrespect is mind-blowing to me, seriously.
THey put KAT in because he's better on Jokic.. casuals.
Gm of the year Gerson Rosas. Getting all of Ant, Jaden and Naz in the same draft. Well, Naz was a undrafted signee. But still. Dude was awesome at evaluating talent. Too bad he could not keep it in his pants.
Naz 2019.
He also brought in coach Finchy
They went back to Towns at the end of the game because Towns can generally play a bit better situational defense compared to Naz Reid and (more importantly) Towns is really good at free throws, which were likely going to come into play if Denver wanted to start fouling.
One of these teams are going to win the finals, and i'm betting on the one with MJ's heir.
Y’all don’t know jack about ball wolves in fo💯 comeback on Monday wolves had a bad game on Saturday and still won gg nugs
Come back on Friday Gobert game + an ant 30 piece nugget
A few days ago Bill was saying Denver was the 3rd greatest team of this century to now not be sure they can win this series. I thought they were overrated, they didn't play any great teams last year. Minnestoa isn't great yet, but at least they've got potential. Hopefully this is a good test.
Anthony edwards will be the best player on team usa and more people will realize whats going on
Team Earth soon* :))
Towns is the best player to defend Joker. He has been one of the few who has effectively defended him and slowed him down. Thays why he's brought in. Naz cannot do that. Not yet at least.
People keep referring to the decision to put KAT back as one based solely on his defense on Jokic. Uhhhh he's a 2-time all-nba player, 5x all-star? One of the most efficinet scorers of his generation? Had 20 on 13 shots in the game?
Simmons and Rusillio are half-buffoons who decide that they don't like guys because of their flaws and take every opportunity to gleefully shit on them. It's pathetic. Their style crosses the line often from analysis into petty berating and belittling.
The team USA experience was invaluable for him. Got another set of plays from Kerr and coach K and play with other really good players and still excel. Just more top level experience and reps.
A key to the Wolves is that they have Ant and Gobert's excellent defensive rebounding to cover up for McDaniels and KAT's poor defensive rebounding.
Really just Rudy. I’d argue Ant is a pretty poor rebounder as well relative to his physical gifts.
@@michaelahurt I'm afraid you don't know ball then. Ant is averaging 6 def rebs a game this playoffs and is always our 2nd best defensive rebounder in big games when it is most needed.
@@samwisegamgee1635 He is better in the playoffs -- he's better everywhere in the playoffs -- but he doesn't move the needle on their rebounding rate in the regular season. (A better measure than individual rebounds since so many defensive rebounds are uncontested.)
With his ability he should look a lot more like Russell Westbrook and, sorry, but he just doesn't.
Honestly I don't really know how much of anything he does is he's actually this good and just plays at 80% in the regular season or it's small sample variance
@@michaelahurt I only care about playoffs when talking top tier NBA basketball. Gobert is the biggest contributor but don't underestimate what Ant does on the defensive board in the playoffs as a guard.
@@samwisegamgee1635 Fair enough. Certainly having someone like Ant is better than having a Jamal Murray or Devin Booker who just aren't as athletic but I don't really notice him the way I do Russ or Luka or Josh Hart or Ausar or Amen where it's like having another big man out there.
Love both takes on the game. Keep up the great work. I can only imagine being able to watch game 3 court side!! Let’s go wolves
Mentioning Towns's fouls without mentioning the fact that he gets the worst whistle in the league is disingenuous at best
He’s constantly off balance and he does dumb stuff. His reputation is well earned
seeing bill laugh at ryans jokes always make me laugh the vibes are immaculate
Booker had 49 and kd 33 and the suns still lost by 7...ant ain't scarred of jokic
Bill simmons said it would be a fireable offense if the wolves took ANT over Wiseman in the draft, don’t trust his takes fellas
He also said the Rudy trade was one of the worst trades ever. Always got egg on his face. This is just for entertainment not for getting great NBA analysis.
To be fair, alot of clowns said Rudy trade wouldnt work... especially after dam near everyone in MIN got hurt and missed alot of games... they lacked Chemistry is all and they've had it since the end of last season to build off of.
All analysts are clowns. You forget they voted Ben Simmons to the all star game year after year and called him the next LeBron for years until LeBron took it personal and exposed Simmons. It makes me laugh how bad ALL analysts are when it's their job to watch sports and still get it wrong. Also they think Jokic is an all time great when he hasn't even beat a 50 win team in the playoffs to win a chip.
@@AngelValdez-mr3fq i was with you until you talked that Nonsense about Jokic lol
@@dusttaker Rudy got traded for so many draft picks at 30yo - a bigger package than any other superstar. But he was slept on 💯
I think KAT was subbed in for Naz because of his defense. Over the past 2 years, Jokic worse offensive efficiency numbers have occurred when KAT is the main defender versus anybody else with similar amount or more possessions including Anthony Davis. Obviously Rudy Gobert roaming is a big reason why, but Naz Reid has been noticeably worse in the exact same defense.
These guys dont really study the games.
On a scale from 1-10, what is William’s panic level that the Celtics have no chance after the last two Wolve’s games?
Anyone gaurding joker gets a bad whistle. KATs a good player he played his roll.
AD got a pretty good whistle last series.
The reason KAT played late is his defense on Joker was good. Look it up
I’ve honestly never realized why teams just let Joker run up the floor as point
Exactly, it’s not like he has pg handles.
My favorite part of playoffs is the conversation of whos next and legacy
Mcdanielas disappeared on offense along with Naw
Kyle morris too...conley first half nothing not much in 4th naz 2 through 3 towns nothing in 4 had some moments rudy was bleh...
Connelly built this team to beat Denver after he was hired in Minnesota. He pulled the deals to get Rudy, Mike Conley, and Alexander Walker. He knew what changes needed to be made defensively. This team is winning because of the defensive moves and Ants ascension!! If you really watch it is so difficult for teams to get to 105 points a game now against us. Everyone bought in on the defensive changes. Kat, Jaden, Ant, Walker, and Rudy. If the Wolves hit 38 percent of threes, they will beat anyone.
Nah the way I was pressed to see this.. and then it was there lol bill.. and especially RUSS thank you for the nba coverage please continue to speak on nba coverage
I want the Antman to roll, but I'll play devils advocate here. They got a great matchup with Jokic v Rudy, and they should use the threat of that to open up Murray. Juice, your 2 guys. This series is going to be a banger.
I disagree on no other reason for putting towns back in. Wolves grew a 7-9 point lead at that point and needed defense and while Naz has been okay against Jokic, Towns is a whole lot better defensively than him
The Towns hate us ridiculous 😂. If you really listen to Ant he knows how unfair the hate is for Kat and has stuck up for him since day one.
Ever since the Jimmy year people have had an unrealistic amount of hate for Kat. Nothing he does will ever be good enough. Yeah he has a lot of things to work on but so does Ant and everyone else in the league. That's Ants big bro. And it's probably not a more respectable, giving person in the league.
"i feel like i'm gonna get hit by lightning" 😂
Ant is great but it might just be variance/small sample size. Ant 2024 regular season shooting splits: 46.1/35.7/83.6. Ant 2024 playoffs shooting splits (so far): 53.2/43.6/86.5.
Towns is really a PF in my eyes . It take two players him and Gobert size to gaurd a jokic Shaq tim duncan
This reminds me of bostons 2022 run only this time I really think Boston is playing the role of golden state in veterans who are gonna get it done but a bright future for Minnesota
No Boston not getting it done if they meet the wolves in the finals …Ant is a killer and i think he will beat Boston in six .
@@FeDx318 Boston will beat Minnesota man lol they have too much depth and size at the wing and ant himself says he gets worked by Tatum NBA is exciting rn because it’s all about matchups for the title
If Boston plays Denver Denver wins in 6 if Boston play’s Minnesota Boston wins in 5 if Minnesota plays anyone else in the east they win in 5
@@anthonymelendez333 i disagree…
I've been an NBA fan my entire life. I may or may not be completely stupid when it comes to the sport still, as evidenced by Minnesota this year. They have legitimately blown me away. All the shit with Gobert, Towns being Towns, and Ant being really young still just had me not believing in them at all before the season. Then they started off really well, and I figured they would either get bounced in round 1 or fade away before the playoffs. Instead, it looks like they've gotten better!
Edwards is just amazing. Everybody has already said everything they love about him, so it's pointless to go over again. His fearlessness is my favorite aspect of his game though. He doesn't seem to care what the repercussions might be, he's going for it.
Fun team to watch for sure. They've become my favorite squad to watch when the Pacers aren't playing. Nothing against the Nuggets, they are amazing to watch also and I wouldn't mind seeing them repeat. But it would be awesome to see Minnesota advance further than they have since KG was terrorizing power forwards 20 years ago. I actually remember watching that series against LA as a like, 14 year old. Good times.
I'm so sick and tired of the Karl-Anthony Towns slander. He's been the Timberwolves' 2nd or 3rd (Gobert) best player these playoffs and has sacrificed so much and is staying so fucking positive when other "stars" would try to prove they are the guy and not Ant and claim "You can't win without me" before fucking off to Miami via Philadelphia.
Not gonna take that from Mr. and Ms. "Picking Ant over Wiseman because you have Towns could be a fireable offence". Fuck that.
KAT is not gonna complain about not getting enough credit, cause he's such a great guy, but I'm gonna stand up for my guy who has done nothing but try his best to make the Timberwolves a winner. Which they are now going to be, with KAT as the 2nd/3rd best player.
With that lighting/lens Bill looks like one of those golden aliens from Guardians of the Galaxy.
Denver might apply Jordan rule on Ant maybe double him more in 2nd game.
Re: guessing correctly and breaking up Jokic and Gordon's in-between pass thing - Wemby did it this season. I think in that last Spurs/Nuggets game where the Spurs won and spoiled Denver's #1 seed.
Bill and Ryen great breakdown. Ant Man is the real deal. Let’s see iit again!
The best part of Ant is talking to Kat about fouling...
They sat Towns in the Phoenix series in the 4th a couple times. I don't think they put him back in to avoid a story. For all his fouling he's more equipped at defense then Naz. Naz is a liability on defense. Also he had played a pretty heavy 10 minute stretch.
KAT was just coming off of the knee surgery / being out for over a month when the playoffs begin... resting him more
This won't be much of a series. Denver is falling apart physically and Wolves are much deeper.
3 players didn't score and rudy was meh conley had 2 in 3 quarters of the game same for naz kyle was me but that is what he is but he can be better and towns had 2 in the 4th
Braun actually guarded ANT very well. Wouldn't shock me if Braun gets the starting spot over KCP for this series
That's what I was thinking. They need some size on ANT.
Goodluck! I hope and pray Denver tries that.
@@kyliedadify he did better than KCP so why not?
Stop it dude 😂😂 Braun is a ZERO on offense. A few good defensive possessions don’t make him an elite defender
Bill taking Kenny Smith's take and acting like it's his. LOL
So nobody else can think the same thing? 😂
Which take?
Aint nobody trying to steal Kenny Smith's takes lol
What take?
@@michaelwaldron3168him seeing Jokic “sped up” for the first time
“It’s so disrespectful” yet we’re here Ryan the hack
We are lucky Naz arose from his playoff slumber!!!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Don't know if "the goddess of victory" is going to let Ant cook in the Olympics
I havent watched the vid yet, does bill create a draft list?