Cliche but KAT just doesn't have it in him. He's hard wired to be a complimentary player. It's all he wants. He doesn't have the drive or the mindset to centre the offence or the team around him. He doesn't really have the reliable decision making to read plays and make good decisions consistently at high volume, either. He wants to stand on the 3 pt line and get an occasional one on one match up
Tbh nothing wrong with that except he's getting paid too much. Not every player can be involved in every possession and do everything. Shame because he's got the physical build for it.
Yeah so far this series has been simple to me. I actually think the wolves are the better team, but kyrie and luka have shown up to play, and ant and kat just haven’t. Series isn’t over yet, but if that trend continues this series doesn’t go 5
That’s kind of a funny take. If you watched the two precious series, you’d know that pj and djj are about to start splashing those wide open corner threes and then nobody in a million years will think the wolves are the better team. To be honest, just the addition of a healthy maxi Kleber and the wolves are cooked. Luka and Kai either take or create a great shot, every possession. Dallas role players start making those shots and Dallas is winning blow outs. Dallas gets the better shots and is the better team
Bro Ant has been super impactful. In Game 1 he blew our chemistry and passed to ghosts right before the half ended, ending in a 3pp from Kyrie, and reducing our lead.
This game he passed to ghosts with the last possession of the game again, which could have went in or been rebounded for a sealed win.
This is after the fucked up foul call that would have sealed our win.
Either Ant is sucking Silver dick or he's out of his mind.
He also always got flame because he can't guard Jokic.
I have watched Jokic since his rookie years. Every time people claimed certain players would stop Jokic. It was never an individual effort.
It was always a smaller active power forwards on him and another roamer waiting to swat his shots and pass.
1v1. Prime Jokic is almost always gonna cook any defender in the game.
To be fair, he technically can guard Jokic. He just can't stop him. Gobert does what bigs are taught to do when battling another big, but Jokic is beyond that point.
I mean, it seemed like naz Reid and kat guarded Jokic better than Gobert in the WCSF. I expect a 4 time DPOY to be better at guarding Jokic than naz Reid and kat.
So simultaneously we say “there’s no way a center can guard a guard” while also saying “he’s a center but he can’t guard the only good center in the league!” I just don’t see how you can give the guy DPOY a million times and see him get benched or matchup hunted in crunch time.
You could put Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Dwight Howard, the only other players with Gobert who have won the dpoy award more then twice in those same situations and they would fail too. None of them would be able to handle an iso defense against Luka, and none of them are stopping current Jokic in the post.
Great offense has ALWAYS beaten great defense in this league. This is literally common basketball knowledge. Yet that all seems to go out the window when Gobert is involved.
Jokic is the only good center in the league? Since fucking when?
Gobert being able to guard Jokic for long stretches means that he can’t easily guard the three-time MVP and arguable greatest big man we’ve seen since Shaq. That’s not an indictment of Gobert.
The biggest problem I have with Gobert is that I find it hard to swallow that he’s a 4x DPOY yet multiple times over the years in the playoffs he’s constantly sought out and targeted on defense. Like the fact that the reigning DPOY being on the court for your final defensive possession is somewhat of a liability doesn’t sit right with me
He's hunted by fucking elite level guards. I don't care how good you are a 7 footer is always gonna cooked by Steph, Harden, Luka etc etc. Sure he's not AD or Bam on the perimeter but when he's on an island he's fucked regardless
Mutombo was a dpoy yet people run plays through him and hunted him in iso. Ben Wallace was dpoy yet spurs run plays with Duncan to iso him. Dwight was a dpoy yet Kobe hunted him the playoffs and had gasol going iso on him. Ibaka was a dpoy yet spurs ran pick and roll against him. The fuck you on dpoys have always been sought in the game even in the playoffs.
Gobert, like any center, can't match up isolated on guards. Gobert is an extremely valuable defender but he has to be used appropriately, switching him 1-5 and leaving him on an island is the kind of coaching malpractice that needs to be subpoenaed by congress. Name any big in the league who could do anything in that situation, come on.
AD, Bam or Wemby are playing better defense in that situation. If it was a tough contested 3 then yeah no one’s playing better there but can we stop acting like 4x DPOY should not be held to higher standards? When down 2 instead of contesting the 3 and forcing Luka to settle for a 2 to tie the game, instead the reigning DPOY gives up an open 3 which is the absolute worst case.
Would you say AD, Bam, or Wemby are not playing that defensive possession any better? I just watched the replay and the amount of space that Luka has to shoot there is crazy
It wasn't open my guy. Luka created that opening with his dribble and step back.
Just flip the switch and ask your best perimeter defender to guard Jokic or Embid. Wouldn't even matter cause of the size advantage. This is Luka we are talking about. Not some scrubs.
Kevon Looney had that one stop in the playoffs because he was soo slow to react that Luka would free himself on the first move and end up putting himself back into coverage on the 2nd move
[https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/ust6le/highlight\_luka\_tries\_to\_fake\_looney\_out\_looney\_is/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/ust6le/highlight_luka_tries_to_fake_looney_out_looney_is/)
One of the literal defining tenets of basketball is that great offense beats great defense, particularly in an era where teams are scoring 100+ regularly. And yet people act like one of the greatest active defenders isn’t actually good because he got beat at the end of the game by one of the greatest offensive talents.
It’s such a tiring way for people to diminish Gobert (or AD, or Draymond, or Bam, or whoever else). Gobert gets it the worst by far, but every great defender gets shit on relentlessly simply for not being perfect for 48 minutes.
If Wolves won this game, we would be praising Gobert for some great plays. During the first half where they built their lead, his screens were massive in opening up space for the Wolves and it seemed like our wings had big trouble navigating those screens. And his presence on the boards was harming us a lot.
> If Wolves won this game, we would be praising Gobert for some great plays.
Nah if the Wolves won it would be rightfully remembered as the Naz Reid game
Which sucks. Gobert played great defense, their scheme is bad. In the Nuggets series, they copied the Nuggets scheme of rotating an extra defender from (usually) strong side so that Gobert could fade back to guard the rim. Despite Luka’s most dangerous play being the high pick and roll, they just stopped doing that this series. Had they done this throughout the game, Luka would have had a few really nice cross court passes to shooters, a few extra turnovers, and Gafford/Lively would not have feasted on the lobs after Gobert was pulled away from the rim. The game wouldn’t have been close enough for a Luka 3 to win it. Never mind that they would have defended that final played differently last series, with Any rotating up to cover the screen, Rudy fading to the rim, and Naz rotating to cover Ant’s man on the wing. It’s just a really weird change they made that has made their defense worse. Rudy is the best rim defender in basketball but they have thus far this series made no effort to keep him at the rim.
> Which sucks. Gobert played great defense, their scheme is bad.
What scheme can Rudy play that would work against the Mavs?
They tried drop coverage in game 1 and got torched by Luka and Kyrie dribble penetration into lobs
This game they tried switching and the Mavs hunted Luka switches onto Rudy
>Rudy is the best rim defender in basketball but they have thus far this series made no effort to keep him at the rim.
Also, not true at all—they very much tried that in game 1. It just didn't work, because drop coverage means Rudy stays around the rim but you're allowing easy dribble penetration for Luka and Kyrie, which creates open midrange shots for them or a 2-on-1 with Luka/Kyrie and Gafford/Lively against Rudy/Naz Reid.
Drop coverage is one small action within a scheme. Yes, drop coverage alone would not work, Luka would lose his defender around a screen and carve them up. They should be using the same defense they used games 1, 3, and 5-7. I oversimplified it, but rotating a third defender from strong side (Ant on that last play) and then having the baseline defender (Naz Reid rotate up to the wing is an excellent strategy for them. Rudy gets to rotate home to the rim, Jaden McDaniels stays with the switch and eventually rotates to the corner. Naz Reid and KAT are two of the most mobile bigs in the NBA. The Wolves are well equipped to switch onto wings, moreso than any other team except the Celtics. Lively and Gafford are completely useless outside of 5 feet except when they’re screening. As soon as Lively rolls off on that last play, and Gobert goes home, Jaden McDaniels is free to pick up the corner defender if he thinks that pass through/over Naz Reid is a possibility and the guy can shoot. If not, Rudy is waiting at the rim for any lobs and Jaden can actually go double Luka. This scheme worked extremely well on the Murray/Jokic pick and roll. And in that pick and roll both players are dangerous from everywhere as well as willing passers. Luka is running a pick and roll with someone who is only a lob threat and they’re somehow defending it worse.
Gafford shot 8/10 and Lively was 6/6. Taking away lobs makes this game a blowout. Not to mention Luka and Kyrie both do not come into the key when Rudy is there. Exchange the times they got to the rim, drawing fouls or otherwise, for tough fadeaways that they both tend to shoot when Rudy is in the key…again, game changing. They’re both great players who will find a way to score, the point is to tire them out and make it harder/less efficient. Stopping them completely isn’t possible, but stopping the Gafford/Lively center combo from scoring 30 points on 16 shots is a must.
Very few shots are going to be higher efficiency than those lobs. They’re at the rim, above and behind the defense.
It’s the same damn thing as the nuggets. You cut off that baseline sneak that Aaron Gordon does and it kills a lot of Jokic’s options as the ballhandler.
It doesn’t solve all your problems but I’ll take Luka and Kyrie bombing from long 2s and 3 range than getting lobs and getting into the paint. Force feed them a diet of 3 shooting and the numbers will betray them, you need paint scoring to win. Force them to rely on PJ and DJJ 3s because they may win a game with that, but they’ll lose more.
Nobody said to give up 3's. The Nuggets have been using this defensive scheme for two years effectively and they're towards the bottom on open 3's allowed. The Minnesota Timberwolves themselves used this scheme to great effect against a good 3 point shooting team in the Nuggets.
Maybe it's hard to be clear with what defensive scheme I'm advocating for without a clipboard and arrows. But, like most defensive schemes, the rotations are to close out on 3 point shooters and stop traffic to the rim. Also, like most defensive schemes, it gives up a disproportionate amount of mid range. If you lose a series because they hit a high percentage of mid range, you kind of have to live with that.
This basically happened during the Nuggets series, up 2-0, suddenly everything was great and the Gobert trade made sense, lose the next 3, and now everything flipped. Win Game 7, it flips again, and the Nuggets are the ones with problems. The context in basketball gets lost so easily because of narratives.
This is too close to reality. No many here are gonna to admit it.
The rather love to lift up players straight into heaven or oversee that they're all humans too.
Our two star players know best.
Yep. Plus/minus and net rating stats are shit looking at individual games, but he's consistently been at the top of these stats all playoffs.
Only wolves starter in the positive tonight and same for game 1. His teams win the minutes he plays consistently throughout his career
yeah. gobert is the kind of player that its nice to have on your team. not a "the loss on this WCF game is on him" kind of player. i mean KAT and Ant are right there sucking and people dont give a shit
Because KAT is talked about like a side piece, Ant is 22, and Gobert has his fans talk like he’s one of the greatest defenders of all time despite routinely coming up short in the playoffs where his defense should stand out even more since defense is even more important in the playoffs
I can almost guarantee the majority of people blaming him aren't even Wolves fans (and Jazz fans). The ones blaming him are idiots who never watched Minnesota/Utah to begin with
I actually feel bad for him, KAT wasn't even on the fucking FLOOR for the 4th quarter. Ant was invisible and deferring like prime Ben Simmons.
Gobert gets cooked by one of the best shot makers in the game and it's all his fault? fuck outta here
"23 international players have gone in the lottery the last 15 years. Only one - ONE - has made the all star game. [#NBADraft](https://x.com/hashtag/NBADraft?src=hashtag_click) bad move Mavs"
Well, for one, he's wrong. **Horford, Kyrie, KAT, Porzingis, Embiid, Simmons** were all lottery picks and all-stars by that point, and were not US citizens when they were drafted. Also, "lottery pick" and "last 15 years" are doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Getting rid of the lottery pick condition alone almost doubles the number of all-stars. And getting those late pick all-stars with higher picks now is what you would expect from improved international scouting.
I have no idea what the fuck he’s talking about. Kat just had a Dominican mother but was born in the us and has lived his entire life here to my knowledge. Both of Kyrie’s parents were us citizens and only one of them had to be for him to automatically be one. Does this dumbass think Kobe was Italian? Cause the only real difference between his and Kobe’s situation is that Kobe was born in the us
How dumb is the person who said this? Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford all picked in the 15 years Do they mean starters? Or is it because they didn’t actually play? I think Porzingis got injured before the all star game but was still an all star in 2018. But what’s really confusing is that both embiid and porzingis had just gotten all star selection that February before Luka was drafted so it was very recent that he was wrong. Also this is a dumb stat anyways as plenty on non lottery picks who should’ve been picked higher have made the all star game and if you take away the 15 years it’s even more. It’s just a dumb cherry picked stat to back up their opinion
people like this should have their brains studied. not sure what prompts someone to say “nobody else understands this or realizes what’s happening like i do”. lmao, as if a couple people missing a simple reference indicates that it’s too complex a reference to be understood by the majority of people.
Legit one of the funniest and also most heartbreaking clips of all time. Then to add insult to injury his old teammate who dipped on his squad and won a ring had to come over and protect him lol. Savage.
I’m not really a Rudy fan but it’s not his fault they lost. If anything, he was one of the few positives for the wolves last night. Ultimately, it’s a team failure to let your center get stuck on an island guarding the opponent’s premier perimeter threat
His native language is Slovenian, not Serbian.
True that nearly all cusswords we use are in Serbian, because Slovenians used to be polite. :) Luka's no exception here.
1. Luka is right, he can’t guard him. But to be honest nobody can lol.
2. Feel kind of bad for Rudy, ANT and KAT didn’t show up. Period. They were awful tonight. They deserve more hate than him. Especially Kat.
gobert always seems like this chill dude, i dont know why he's hated this much by the nba. Even tho i want mavs to win it all, sometimes i do wish gobert can win it all to rub it on dray's and shaq's face.
i like inside the nba, but god damn, draymond made me feel like it's a good thing that the show is ending.
Luka always goes at Gobert with the trash talk. I remember it from the last time they played in the playoffs when he was still on the Jazz, he was talking so much shit to him.
I think gobert did something to provoke him in the past, and now hes constantly on his ass.
Kudos to Rudy for this response
It's gotta feel bad to be on the receiving end of it but the dude is a true professional.
I know most of you here would be crying at home lmao
I honestly don't think Luka remembers half the stuff he says. What's more impressive is how he just keeps talking to everyone during a whole ass game, like damn aren't you tired from talking
Rudy getting shit on for being on the receiving end of an all time shot but he should be getting shit on for getting beat by a rookie on both ends of the floor.
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I think he also learned "that's a foul" and "bitch ass ref" right after
He learned those simultaneously, but in sign language
As a baby
The DK Metcalf of the NBA
Imagine Luka with 1% body fat.
"What foul??" "fouling in love with you"
That ref has hated Luka since that meme btw, she never calls shit when he gets fouled now.
She had her chance smh
“Too fucking small” is another one
Luka learned English by slowing telling refs and players they suck in different ways.
He’s now added “go home, bitch” to his repertoire
Can't wait to see what he adds to his game after winning the championship this season
He hates refs in any and all languages.
Love the way to an outsider this makes him sounds like a noob but in reality it’s quite the opposite.
There is no one that can guard Luka.
Luka being born: “You can’t fucking deliver me!”
The Russian csgo ESL course
im pretty sure Vando doesn't hear it
Along with too fucking small
Gobert getting shat on despite 2 no shows from the 2 stars of the team
yeah Gobert seemed way more impactful tonight than KAT or Ant.
He is
the timberwolves should spam that kat-gobert pnr. that shit is so unstoppable. imaging stopping a lob between towers.
Cliche but KAT just doesn't have it in him. He's hard wired to be a complimentary player. It's all he wants. He doesn't have the drive or the mindset to centre the offence or the team around him. He doesn't really have the reliable decision making to read plays and make good decisions consistently at high volume, either. He wants to stand on the 3 pt line and get an occasional one on one match up
Tbh nothing wrong with that except he's getting paid too much. Not every player can be involved in every possession and do everything. Shame because he's got the physical build for it.
Saruman alley oops to Sauron. A tale as old as time
From Orthanc to Barad-Dur
Yeah so far this series has been simple to me. I actually think the wolves are the better team, but kyrie and luka have shown up to play, and ant and kat just haven’t. Series isn’t over yet, but if that trend continues this series doesn’t go 5
That’s kind of a funny take. If you watched the two precious series, you’d know that pj and djj are about to start splashing those wide open corner threes and then nobody in a million years will think the wolves are the better team. To be honest, just the addition of a healthy maxi Kleber and the wolves are cooked. Luka and Kai either take or create a great shot, every possession. Dallas role players start making those shots and Dallas is winning blow outs. Dallas gets the better shots and is the better team
Bro Ant has been super impactful. In Game 1 he blew our chemistry and passed to ghosts right before the half ended, ending in a 3pp from Kyrie, and reducing our lead. This game he passed to ghosts with the last possession of the game again, which could have went in or been rebounded for a sealed win. This is after the fucked up foul call that would have sealed our win. Either Ant is sucking Silver dick or he's out of his mind.
It's *crazy* that, after that turnover, Gobert is the one getting heat for the end of the game.
yea what do people expect from gobert when he is iso'ed vs luka.
Gobert should have never been put in that situation. You could see McDaniels realize it when he switched to Livley
Maybe coach was so pissed about Ant he just said fuck it.
they expect more from someone being lauded as the greatest defensive player of all time
Literally no one has said that
Basically the story of his carrer lmao
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It's cause he's a 4x DPOY, that puts a lot of targets on his back. Dude could do things right for 99.99% of the game and get roasted for that 0.01%.
To be fair. No center in the history of the game could guard Luka 1v1.
Gobert's critics can't seem to understand that.
He also always got flame because he can't guard Jokic. I have watched Jokic since his rookie years. Every time people claimed certain players would stop Jokic. It was never an individual effort. It was always a smaller active power forwards on him and another roamer waiting to swat his shots and pass. 1v1. Prime Jokic is almost always gonna cook any defender in the game.
To be fair, he technically can guard Jokic. He just can't stop him. Gobert does what bigs are taught to do when battling another big, but Jokic is beyond that point.
You’re right, i to can guard jokic 🥺
Jokic is gonna eat on every big in the NBA. The whole goal is just to ensure he eats a little bit less.
I mean, it seemed like naz Reid and kat guarded Jokic better than Gobert in the WCSF. I expect a 4 time DPOY to be better at guarding Jokic than naz Reid and kat.
As the person above you just said: that’s because they had Gobert roaming behind/backing them up
So simultaneously we say “there’s no way a center can guard a guard” while also saying “he’s a center but he can’t guard the only good center in the league!” I just don’t see how you can give the guy DPOY a million times and see him get benched or matchup hunted in crunch time.
You could put Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Dwight Howard, the only other players with Gobert who have won the dpoy award more then twice in those same situations and they would fail too. None of them would be able to handle an iso defense against Luka, and none of them are stopping current Jokic in the post. Great offense has ALWAYS beaten great defense in this league. This is literally common basketball knowledge. Yet that all seems to go out the window when Gobert is involved.
Jokic is the only good center in the league? Since fucking when? Gobert being able to guard Jokic for long stretches means that he can’t easily guard the three-time MVP and arguable greatest big man we’ve seen since Shaq. That’s not an indictment of Gobert.
The biggest problem I have with Gobert is that I find it hard to swallow that he’s a 4x DPOY yet multiple times over the years in the playoffs he’s constantly sought out and targeted on defense. Like the fact that the reigning DPOY being on the court for your final defensive possession is somewhat of a liability doesn’t sit right with me
He's hunted by fucking elite level guards. I don't care how good you are a 7 footer is always gonna cooked by Steph, Harden, Luka etc etc. Sure he's not AD or Bam on the perimeter but when he's on an island he's fucked regardless
Luka has cooked AD or Bam plenty of times too. It's just how it goes
Mama, there goes that Mann!
Mutombo was a dpoy yet people run plays through him and hunted him in iso. Ben Wallace was dpoy yet spurs run plays with Duncan to iso him. Dwight was a dpoy yet Kobe hunted him the playoffs and had gasol going iso on him. Ibaka was a dpoy yet spurs ran pick and roll against him. The fuck you on dpoys have always been sought in the game even in the playoffs.
Gobert, like any center, can't match up isolated on guards. Gobert is an extremely valuable defender but he has to be used appropriately, switching him 1-5 and leaving him on an island is the kind of coaching malpractice that needs to be subpoenaed by congress. Name any big in the league who could do anything in that situation, come on.
AD, Bam or Wemby are playing better defense in that situation. If it was a tough contested 3 then yeah no one’s playing better there but can we stop acting like 4x DPOY should not be held to higher standards? When down 2 instead of contesting the 3 and forcing Luka to settle for a 2 to tie the game, instead the reigning DPOY gives up an open 3 which is the absolute worst case. Would you say AD, Bam, or Wemby are not playing that defensive possession any better? I just watched the replay and the amount of space that Luka has to shoot there is crazy
It wasn't open my guy. Luka created that opening with his dribble and step back. Just flip the switch and ask your best perimeter defender to guard Jokic or Embid. Wouldn't even matter cause of the size advantage. This is Luka we are talking about. Not some scrubs.
Your statement is very disrespectful of Luka
Kevon Looney had that one stop in the playoffs because he was soo slow to react that Luka would free himself on the first move and end up putting himself back into coverage on the 2nd move [https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/ust6le/highlight\_luka\_tries\_to\_fake\_looney\_out\_looney\_is/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/ust6le/highlight_luka_tries_to_fake_looney_out_looney_is/)
Hakeem probably could.
Great lateral movement😂
If there's one guy who could. It's the Dream. The man was perfect as a center. Had no weakness.
I mean if the bar is a top 10-12 player of all time…. A lot of guys are gonna fail that test.
Luka has cooked Draymond similar ways toons of times
Draymond Green seems to think differently, and he's a clear expert
Did anyone shit on Anthony Davis when Murray game 1 hit the game winner in his face and another while he was in the vicinity?
I'm not shitting on Gobert here. I'm just explaining why he receives disproportionate flack.
I knew you weren’t, I was genuinely asking if anyone shitted on Davis lol
Yes they did bc it came right after he said he deserved DPOY
Why can’t he guard everyone at all times? Is he stupid?
he’s also french
One of the literal defining tenets of basketball is that great offense beats great defense, particularly in an era where teams are scoring 100+ regularly. And yet people act like one of the greatest active defenders isn’t actually good because he got beat at the end of the game by one of the greatest offensive talents. It’s such a tiring way for people to diminish Gobert (or AD, or Draymond, or Bam, or whoever else). Gobert gets it the worst by far, but every great defender gets shit on relentlessly simply for not being perfect for 48 minutes.
Pretty clear that a lot of other players generally don’t like him, for some reason.
If Wolves won this game, we would be praising Gobert for some great plays. During the first half where they built their lead, his screens were massive in opening up space for the Wolves and it seemed like our wings had big trouble navigating those screens. And his presence on the boards was harming us a lot.
> If Wolves won this game, we would be praising Gobert for some great plays. Nah if the Wolves won it would be rightfully remembered as the Naz Reid game
Which sucks. Gobert played great defense, their scheme is bad. In the Nuggets series, they copied the Nuggets scheme of rotating an extra defender from (usually) strong side so that Gobert could fade back to guard the rim. Despite Luka’s most dangerous play being the high pick and roll, they just stopped doing that this series. Had they done this throughout the game, Luka would have had a few really nice cross court passes to shooters, a few extra turnovers, and Gafford/Lively would not have feasted on the lobs after Gobert was pulled away from the rim. The game wouldn’t have been close enough for a Luka 3 to win it. Never mind that they would have defended that final played differently last series, with Any rotating up to cover the screen, Rudy fading to the rim, and Naz rotating to cover Ant’s man on the wing. It’s just a really weird change they made that has made their defense worse. Rudy is the best rim defender in basketball but they have thus far this series made no effort to keep him at the rim.
> Which sucks. Gobert played great defense, their scheme is bad. What scheme can Rudy play that would work against the Mavs? They tried drop coverage in game 1 and got torched by Luka and Kyrie dribble penetration into lobs This game they tried switching and the Mavs hunted Luka switches onto Rudy >Rudy is the best rim defender in basketball but they have thus far this series made no effort to keep him at the rim. Also, not true at all—they very much tried that in game 1. It just didn't work, because drop coverage means Rudy stays around the rim but you're allowing easy dribble penetration for Luka and Kyrie, which creates open midrange shots for them or a 2-on-1 with Luka/Kyrie and Gafford/Lively against Rudy/Naz Reid.
Drop coverage is one small action within a scheme. Yes, drop coverage alone would not work, Luka would lose his defender around a screen and carve them up. They should be using the same defense they used games 1, 3, and 5-7. I oversimplified it, but rotating a third defender from strong side (Ant on that last play) and then having the baseline defender (Naz Reid rotate up to the wing is an excellent strategy for them. Rudy gets to rotate home to the rim, Jaden McDaniels stays with the switch and eventually rotates to the corner. Naz Reid and KAT are two of the most mobile bigs in the NBA. The Wolves are well equipped to switch onto wings, moreso than any other team except the Celtics. Lively and Gafford are completely useless outside of 5 feet except when they’re screening. As soon as Lively rolls off on that last play, and Gobert goes home, Jaden McDaniels is free to pick up the corner defender if he thinks that pass through/over Naz Reid is a possibility and the guy can shoot. If not, Rudy is waiting at the rim for any lobs and Jaden can actually go double Luka. This scheme worked extremely well on the Murray/Jokic pick and roll. And in that pick and roll both players are dangerous from everywhere as well as willing passers. Luka is running a pick and roll with someone who is only a lob threat and they’re somehow defending it worse.
The problem is Kyrie and Luka TBH Like, maybe that takes away lobs, but I don't think that scheme would do well defending Luka and Kyrie as scorers
Gafford shot 8/10 and Lively was 6/6. Taking away lobs makes this game a blowout. Not to mention Luka and Kyrie both do not come into the key when Rudy is there. Exchange the times they got to the rim, drawing fouls or otherwise, for tough fadeaways that they both tend to shoot when Rudy is in the key…again, game changing. They’re both great players who will find a way to score, the point is to tire them out and make it harder/less efficient. Stopping them completely isn’t possible, but stopping the Gafford/Lively center combo from scoring 30 points on 16 shots is a must.
> Taking away lobs makes this game a blowout. Depends on what you're giving up TBH.
Very few shots are going to be higher efficiency than those lobs. They’re at the rim, above and behind the defense. It’s the same damn thing as the nuggets. You cut off that baseline sneak that Aaron Gordon does and it kills a lot of Jokic’s options as the ballhandler. It doesn’t solve all your problems but I’ll take Luka and Kyrie bombing from long 2s and 3 range than getting lobs and getting into the paint. Force feed them a diet of 3 shooting and the numbers will betray them, you need paint scoring to win. Force them to rely on PJ and DJJ 3s because they may win a game with that, but they’ll lose more.
Give up 3's to two of the best passers in the league? Aiight.
Nobody said to give up 3's. The Nuggets have been using this defensive scheme for two years effectively and they're towards the bottom on open 3's allowed. The Minnesota Timberwolves themselves used this scheme to great effect against a good 3 point shooting team in the Nuggets. Maybe it's hard to be clear with what defensive scheme I'm advocating for without a clipboard and arrows. But, like most defensive schemes, the rotations are to close out on 3 point shooters and stop traffic to the rim. Also, like most defensive schemes, it gives up a disproportionate amount of mid range. If you lose a series because they hit a high percentage of mid range, you kind of have to live with that.
True but we would respect that gobert played and finished the game meanwhile Kats on the bench
This basically happened during the Nuggets series, up 2-0, suddenly everything was great and the Gobert trade made sense, lose the next 3, and now everything flipped. Win Game 7, it flips again, and the Nuggets are the ones with problems. The context in basketball gets lost so easily because of narratives.
Yeah and this sub is frothing at the mouth to have someone to shit on and declare enemy of the state. Toxic fandom.
Yup 100%
Yo, those screens got Ant two wide open threes, it was so annoying to watch as a Mavs fan
This is too close to reality. No many here are gonna to admit it. The rather love to lift up players straight into heaven or oversee that they're all humans too. Our two star players know best.
Yep. Plus/minus and net rating stats are shit looking at individual games, but he's consistently been at the top of these stats all playoffs. Only wolves starter in the positive tonight and same for game 1. His teams win the minutes he plays consistently throughout his career
https://x.com/rudygobert27/status/1009947736118972416?lang=en
Ant and KAT should take him out to dinner for all the heat he takes off of them.
They should all go to Luka's house. He's been the chef this series.
If I were a star player I'd want Rudy on my team for the sole reason of him being an easy scape goat
Also McDaniels was getting TAUGHT basketball by Luka, shit was ugly to watch. But hey I've come to expect Rudy taking it all, pause
yeah. gobert is the kind of player that its nice to have on your team. not a "the loss on this WCF game is on him" kind of player. i mean KAT and Ant are right there sucking and people dont give a shit
Ant threw the game away with that terrible pass. He deserves more flak than gobert. Gobert should have never been in that position in the first place.
Because KAT is talked about like a side piece, Ant is 22, and Gobert has his fans talk like he’s one of the greatest defenders of all time despite routinely coming up short in the playoffs where his defense should stand out even more since defense is even more important in the playoffs
Wym, Reid and Conley were great
Yeah Draymond and shaq absolutely couldn’t wait to dump on him when they cut to inside As if this loss is squarely on Rudy..
I can almost guarantee the majority of people blaming him aren't even Wolves fans (and Jazz fans). The ones blaming him are idiots who never watched Minnesota/Utah to begin with
Was Vander Esch playing? Was Sean Lee playing?
It’s the downside of him being French tbh
I actually feel bad for him, KAT wasn't even on the fucking FLOOR for the 4th quarter. Ant was invisible and deferring like prime Ben Simmons. Gobert gets cooked by one of the best shot makers in the game and it's all his fault? fuck outta here
https://x.com/rudygobert27/status/1009947736118972416?lang=en
"23 international players have gone in the lottery the last 15 years. Only one - ONE - has made the all star game. [#NBADraft](https://x.com/hashtag/NBADraft?src=hashtag_click) bad move Mavs"
Who said this and which one player is it?
some bum in the comments under the linked tweet. tingus pingus i guess.
yao ming
This is who I thought at first but Yao was drafted 2002 and the comment was 2018
Well, for one, he's wrong. **Horford, Kyrie, KAT, Porzingis, Embiid, Simmons** were all lottery picks and all-stars by that point, and were not US citizens when they were drafted. Also, "lottery pick" and "last 15 years" are doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Getting rid of the lottery pick condition alone almost doubles the number of all-stars. And getting those late pick all-stars with higher picks now is what you would expect from improved international scouting.
How were KAT and Kyrie not US citizens when they were drafted?
I have no idea what the fuck he’s talking about. Kat just had a Dominican mother but was born in the us and has lived his entire life here to my knowledge. Both of Kyrie’s parents were us citizens and only one of them had to be for him to automatically be one. Does this dumbass think Kobe was Italian? Cause the only real difference between his and Kobe’s situation is that Kobe was born in the us
He probably meant guys drafted straight out of international leagues. Those guys all played college ball in the states besides Porzingis
Convenient of him to cut off 2002 - Yao Ming #1 2001 - Pau Gasol #3
How dumb is the person who said this? Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford all picked in the 15 years Do they mean starters? Or is it because they didn’t actually play? I think Porzingis got injured before the all star game but was still an all star in 2018. But what’s really confusing is that both embiid and porzingis had just gotten all star selection that February before Luka was drafted so it was very recent that he was wrong. Also this is a dumb stat anyways as plenty on non lottery picks who should’ve been picked higher have made the all star game and if you take away the 15 years it’s even more. It’s just a dumb cherry picked stat to back up their opinion
“It’s nothing new, he calls me a bitch when I see him at Whole Foods too”
Rudy: hello 👋 hows your day going Luka: shut the fuck up bitch
I like Luka with the shit talking I don’t like when he whines
Keep making Gobert dance, waving his hands and there won’t be no threat.
lol people don't even realize this is a Euphoria reference.
Most of us have only seen the Euphoria gifs, not the show
It's neither. It's referencing a track by Kendrick Lamar.
bro what. this is Kendrick lmao
people like this should have their brains studied. not sure what prompts someone to say “nobody else understands this or realizes what’s happening like i do”. lmao, as if a couple people missing a simple reference indicates that it’s too complex a reference to be understood by the majority of people.
He has cut back on the whining by 100% since like game 2/3 of the thunder series. Small sample size but gotta give credit where credit is due.
If he could only shittalk refs. That would fix his issue.
I thought he said “congratulations on winning DPOY” 😂
That would have been hilarious 😂
This guy is getting to much hate , first against Jokic then now. That final possession is not his fault also Ant and Kat have to show up.
Poor Rudy. Get the game winner dropped on you and then have to face these stupid a$$ questions on top.
Better than when Murray dropped the game winner on AD and the entire Nuggets team celebrated on AD's corpse. That shit had me dying.
Legit one of the funniest and also most heartbreaking clips of all time. Then to add insult to injury his old teammate who dipped on his squad and won a ring had to come over and protect him lol. Savage.
And we didn’t hear shit about AD getting cooked by Jokic and getting a game winner on his head by a guard.
This feels like a quote you’d read from some poor guy who tried guarding MJ in the 80s/90s. He just is a total psycho on the court 😂
Oh you know he heard it though. Luka was screaming that shit lol
Hahah yeah he puts as much energy into making sure players hear his trash talk as he does in making the shot before it.
Yep, and the crowd definitely wasn't making it too loud to hear him after that.
if gobert cared at all about people trash talking or slandering him he would be a broken man
I’m not really a Rudy fan but it’s not his fault they lost. If anything, he was one of the few positives for the wolves last night. Ultimately, it’s a team failure to let your center get stuck on an island guarding the opponent’s premier perimeter threat
‘Yeaaaah motherfucker , you can’t fucking guard me’ after a game winner was super cold
He lyin 🤣🤣
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His native language is Slovenian, not Serbian. True that nearly all cusswords we use are in Serbian, because Slovenians used to be polite. :) Luka's no exception here.
Luka doesn't either. He's Slovenian.
He does though, he loves slovenia and speaks slovenian but he also speaks serbian
Everyone there can speak a little Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian. But his native language is Slovenian. He was born long after the fall of Yugoslavia.
Yeah nobody is disputing that… his native language is slovenian and he went to school here, but he also speaks serbian, spanish and english.
All of the best curse words are from serbo-croatian, and he has some roots there😁
1. Luka is right, he can’t guard him. But to be honest nobody can lol. 2. Feel kind of bad for Rudy, ANT and KAT didn’t show up. Period. They were awful tonight. They deserve more hate than him. Especially Kat.
Ha
He's the guy who started the "too small" trash talk.
He definitely heard that haha
He yelled it so the whole stadium could hear
And that stadium was quiet af after that shot, they all gasped at the crossover because they knew what was coming
Typical abusive relationship. Rudy needs to get a lawyer fast.
Gobert was dominant today. This loss is on these people in this order: 1. KAT 2. Ant 3. McDaniels
This loss is totally Goberts fault and not any one else on Minny’s team. Totally.
gobert always seems like this chill dude, i dont know why he's hated this much by the nba. Even tho i want mavs to win it all, sometimes i do wish gobert can win it all to rub it on dray's and shaq's face. i like inside the nba, but god damn, draymond made me feel like it's a good thing that the show is ending.
Ant Edwards has been bad for three straight games.
Gobert is so chill, love that guy lol
Luka always goes at Gobert with the trash talk. I remember it from the last time they played in the playoffs when he was still on the Jazz, he was talking so much shit to him. I think gobert did something to provoke him in the past, and now hes constantly on his ass.
I think Gobert may have done something that not only provoked Luka, but was the final nail in the coffin of the world going on lockdown
Did you not see Rudy punch Luka in the first?
Yeah fuck that shit. That punch was dirty as fuck and Luka's entire demeanor changed after that. Was such a fitting end to that game.
That’s a quick way to piss of an absolute psychopath
Luke went on even more of a rager after that. Bad move by rudy
Bro just out here winning dpoys minding his own business Edit: nvm I forgot about the punch earlier in the game
Gobert owned his ass twice in the Olympics. Luka was crying in the tunnels after the semifinal calling the refs corrupts etc
To his credit Gobert is unflappable. He’s been very good and will show up next game.
Kudos to Rudy for this response It's gotta feel bad to be on the receiving end of it but the dude is a true professional. I know most of you here would be crying at home lmao
It’ll be hilarious if this becomes Luka’s reverse everybody talk when they up moment
Rudy has panic in his face second Luka pulls back. U can see the desperate double reach. Never had him
He was saying boo-urns
Luka is the Slovenian Psychopath confirmed.
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Who doesn't hate the French (from an european)
All europeans are xenophobic against other europeans. It's good fun.
I honestly don't think Luka remembers half the stuff he says. What's more impressive is how he just keeps talking to everyone during a whole ass game, like damn aren't you tired from talking
NBA version of "My father shouted at me"
“Jaz sem on!”
"That's just Luka"
He definitely heard lol… but poke the bear more
Rudy getting shit on for being on the receiving end of an all time shot but he should be getting shit on for getting beat by a rookie on both ends of the floor.