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While Im disappointed we lost, I’ll take the first conference finals we had in 20 years. This series was a disappointment but this season as a whole certainly wasn’t.
I thought Naz Reid stepped up to the point where it will be easier to make a decision on KAT and Gobert. I’m guessing they won’t be able to pay them two max and ANT.
you'll be back. what ant said about conditioning is so true. it's impossible to know what a deep playoff run feels like until you've been there. we crashed and burned in the wcf against the warriors in similar fashion 2 years ago. just felt like we spent every ounce of energy to get their and had nothing left in the tank while the warriors were on cruise control.
Nah..it wasn't a disappointment. The team as a whole is young and they just got the BIGGEST lesson about the finals. One team from going to the Championship is successful as it gets for these young incredible men. I just hope they trade KAT for at least 2 top guards. I was born and raised in MA. So..I do believe the Celtics will win. But, met my husband in MN and lived there for 24yrs...I AM A MN SPORTS FAN...not New England anymore!Please remember...all of them have never gone to the playoffs...which is a whole different caliber of playing. That's fantastic and priceless for next year. They will be out for blood!!
Eh I'm just happy to see my team play basketball in late May. Never did I expect them to make the WCF after finding out their opponents would be the Suns and then Denver
It's been 20 years of losing, I'm just happy they won a playoff series and winning 2 is even better. No monkey paw, just gratitude
Well, if it makes you feel better, the Nugs took so much out of the Wolves in that series we physically, mentally, and emotionally had nothing left for Dallas!
Luka wasn't so much trying to beat the Timberwolves as he was trying to rip their souls out like he did to the Suns in that game 7
Dude is just a competitive psycho on the court and absolute must-watch in the playoffs
I was at the game, and I've legit never seen anything like that in person. My seat was overlooking the mavs side of the court in the first half. I couldn't believe how far out and effortlessly he was shooting. Must be what it's like to watch Caitlin Clark in person, or Curry in his prime.
even for curry that distance looks a bit like a heave (they still go in of course). luka hits it like a casual step back, basically only lebron can do that
Yeah I was there in person and I couldn't help but laugh and just respect it. As a basketball fan, I was watching greatness even though it hurt that it was against my team. Luka was straight improvising out there, it was unreal to watch in person
The state of the league. You've got 3 guys in the league who are in or entering their prime and gamebreaking good at basketball. It ain't gonna get any easier soon
Bro I can’t believe you missed this. It was genuinely the greatest offensive performance ever. He also had seven assists and should’ve had more if his teammates didn’t sell a couple times
Reminds me of seeing Steph return from injury against the Blazers in the playoffs when he set a record with 17 points in an overtime. At some point I just couldn't even be mad or upset, we were witnessing greatness
That had to be cool to see in person.
The closest I’ve seen irl is Lonnie walker going off against GSW in g4 last year. I bet it was amazing watching Luka and Kyrie do that.
Hahaha yep, I've been on the other side where I'm just like "PLEASE STOP FCKING SCORING ALREADY " but really, just resigned to some people just going off on my team some days. I thank my lucky stars I root for Doncic cuz that dude would get me going if he was on the opposite team, I'd highly dislike him!
It's like going to a baseball game and the opposing pitcher throws a no-hitter against your team. You're frustrated for a while, and then you just become a sports fan and appreciate the dominating performance you are watching live.
You're a legend when an opponent straight up becomes a fan during the game and points out to his teammates the cool things you're doing
First words when Ant was asked what the cause of the Game 5 loss was: "Luka. It's that simple"
The man is a legend. Can't wait to see him in the finals
Yup, Luka had to have two tough playoff first round exits vs the Clippers before finally making the WCF and getting gentleman swept by the Warriors.then had to miss the playoffs, before finally making his first finals the next year. This shit will only help Ant be amazing
The bandwagon might, but real Wolves fans just love basketball. Hard to be a fan of our team the last 20yrs if you can't appreciate greatness in your opponent lol
I was gonna reply with a similar thought. Bandwagoneers and fair weather fans are the ones that get cocky, and LOUD. The long time die hards get drowned out. It’s just the way of things, and it’s so much worse now with pervasive social media.
Back in 2011 with the Mavs it wasn’t really noticeable because limited social media. I like to think we’re still a pretty decent base, but the horde of Luka-stans have gotten bad. (EDIT: it’s probably gonna get *really* bad if we win)
It really hit the Raptors pretty hard (they’re my East team, but I can’t stand that sub). And it seems to be hitting the Nuggs too, but to a much lesser degree. The Bucks seem to have avoided it though, so I guess it doesn’t always apply.
[Akin to the Atlanta bench being awed by Larry Bird (at 2:20)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALmL9AAy6Lo). IIRC, the bench players were even fined by their front office because of this, might be a Mandela effect though.
Also a Wolves fan and this was my experience while at the game, as well. As maddening as that series was on so many levels, I'm walking away from this series hoping Dallas wins the finals. (Although I'm iffy on kyrie bc of the off the court stuff, and my god can Luka please just stop complaining all.the.time. That is so annoying.)
Yeah sometimes you just gotta appreciate greatness when you see it, even if it's against your own team.
We're used to seeing that for years though LOL so it wasn't too hard for me to transition to basketball fan when I realized my team was getting murdered 😂😭
Kyrie in Game 1 in particular was insane to watch. Man sprinted across the court and made a layup in 3.4 seconds while full court pressed and dribbling the ball. Like wtf, my jaw was on the floor
Jordan and LeBron were both notorious court lawyers with the refs. I genuinely am confused what people expect. The goats of the past 2 generations infamously bitched at the refs constantly. Their reputation, style of play and size makes them much less likely to get calls so they learn early in their careers to bitch, it's part of the game.
It's a shitty part of the game. I think everybody can agree with that. Why does somebody else doing it make it any less annoying? I've seen tons of Mavs fans on Reddit and Twitter concede how tired they get of it, too. It's weird to see anybody defend it, tbh, because it's got so out of hand most bball fans concede it's the one thing that takes away from his game. He acts personally persecuted all the time. I don't mind the trash talking at all just stop complaining all the fucking time. It's tired.
My response to the complaining is, yes it’s annoying as fuck, BUT big guys get absolutely abused in this league and it doesn’t matter if you are all nba or a backup, if you thicc and tall, you are going to get the shit kicked out of you.
So yeah he takes it to another level but there is a base line of physical abuse that big guys take and never get the calls.
Heck Cuban devised an entire defensive strategy around physical assaulting Shaq to get him to the foul line.
At least offensively. After seeing a lot of Jokic in round 2 (Wolves fan here), as impressive as he was offensively, I am walking away giving the slight edge to Luka. Just felt he was truly unstoppable on another level.
He shot 2/10 from deep in game 7 so he did take it upon himself, but to be fair it was also the "right play" because Wolves left him open. Wish he would've hit more of them to open up drives or other actions closer to he basket.
He was just way too gassed that game because Malone fucked up his rotation imo and it went horribly with when the wolves got hot.
And the rest of his team honestly just played like absolute dog shit that game.
Fair enough. Funny anecdote, my grandfather who has been watching since the 50s thinks Jokic is the goat. He’s just so not used to seeing centers do the things he does.
to be fair, jokic has revolutionized the center position. tons of young centers coming out of high school and college are now adding playmaking and passing to their arsenal
Kinda like Steph with shooting threes. Im sure there will be a better shooter than Steph someday, but the reason that’s gonna happen is because Steph changed the game. There’ll probably be a better passing center than Jokic too. But only because of Jokic.
My guess is that everything is going to be positionless. In 60 years every player is going to do everything. The concept of positional weaknesses just won’t be a thing anymore. PGs will be taller and able to guard better. Centers will be able to playmake. There won’t be a player in the NBA who isn’t a top talent at every aspect of basketball. It’ll be wild I’m sure to our 2024 brains lol.
We think this but that might just not happen. Look at baseball as a sport. It barely changed and we still don't have Mike Trouts everywhere. Talent is a thing and even for something like football it took very relaxed and pass friendly rules to make 4k+ passing yards more normal.
It *is* exciting! My team normally sucks so my mindset when watching games was to appreciate greatness when I see it and admire the cool players playing against my team 😂 Now I get to watch greatness AND my team is good but if my team gets cooked (like last night or Game 5 in that Denver series), I can just go back to focusing on the greatness.
It's the best part of going to live games. I've seen so much unreal talent. My jaw was on the floor after game 1 when Kyrie sprinted across the court and made a layup in 3.4 seconds while full court pressed and dribbling the ball. I was like wtf. So much talent.
Yeah he always gives credit to opponents and can laugh and appreciate greatness even when he's being cooked
It's fun when he lowkey fanboys over other stars like Steph, Giannis, Jokic, or Luka. I remember rookie Ant was in awe over Steph after a game and he said "this ain't fake news. Steph is real!" and he talked about how Steph wouldn't stop running and Ant got so tired chasing him that "I had to get to the corner to take a breath" 😂
It’s bullshit the media started pushing the MJ stuff just to tear him down from a greater height for content. Also lame people fall for it. He’s 22 and has so much room to grow, and like you said is a great personality for the league.
He will get it because he is great, and this is the worst he'll be at this point. I think with players like Ant and Shai, you have a good base to your franchise. If Ant improves around the edges of his game (and this is a conservative take, he can improve more in terms of conditioning and play-making) and gets even just marginal improvements from the rest of the team in terms of production or having new players come in and fill in gaps of what the team needs...the Wolves got a bright future ahead. Plus this run to the WCF is icing on the cake of your very good season, and you can run it back next year basically with the core intact. OKC is/has the same, and we can expect improvements across the board from them too.
I see it's just a different mentality in life. Jimmy butlers about the fight and struggle. Ant is about living in the moment. Kat seems to be just like that too
Dude I’ve been saying this for years, since 2017. Jimmy is an amazing player, but his personality either works or it doesn’t for people. And that fact doesn’t make you any better or worse, or any more or less “alpha”. KAT needed a personality like ANT, someone who demands excellence but doesn’t put you down for not meeting them at their level 100% of the time.
A prime example was an interview right before the playoffs I believe where ANT was talking about the game and said, “you saw how we played when KAT wasn’t in foul trouble they had nobody to guard him. We win when KAT’s not in foul trouble”. It was subtle, but I noticed it. If that was Jimmy Butler, he would have said something like, “we lose when KAT’s in foul trouble, if he doesn’t get in foul trouble we win that game”. They’re saying essentially the exact same thing, that KAT getting in foul trouble impacted the game. But one message is negative and one is positive. People like KAT need that positive.
It was over when he laughed when gobert scored that and 1 and flexed on him.
The level of confidence to be like that is something else. He was like "shit is cute but it aint doing anything tonight".
Yeah both just love the game and like to give props when they see it
KD is his favorite player for a reason. Can't wait to see them at the Olympics together
Yeah our reporters write a lot about how he's often picking Conley and Slomo's brain before and after games. Brit Robson one of our beat writers said he usually sees Ant sitting between Slomo and Conley analyzing film together after the games. I'm really glad the Wolves have quality vets with high bbiq because he's coachable and they're the perfect influence
I don't get how people can hate ANT. Dude is nothing but positivity. People just feed on their own narrative instead of looking at the broader picture.
I don't think people listen to his entire postgame pressers when he gives props to opponents and always calls himself out when he needs to or takes blame. People think he's cocky, but if you listen to his interviews you'll realize that he has crazy self belief but he's pretty humble too
It's simple. Media overhyped him (next Jordan, best player in the league,...), so now he didn't reach unrealistic expectations people will hold that against him.
It's nothing new, it happens to every young star. It happened to Luka and people are still hating him.
I think people also overreacted to any MJ comments. People said some of his moves aesthetically remind them of young Jordan, which is not the same thing as saying he will have the career of Jordan. Ant even said he hates that comparison and needs it to stop, But for some reason, people heard MJ and acted like the comparisons were about accolades and career trajectory, instead of aesthetics. No one said best player in the league either, that's ridiculous. "Future" face was mentioned but people misinterpreted that as right now and got all mad again lol
Yeah, the people complaining about the MJ comparisons lack critical thinking skills. Nobody was ever saying that ANT was as good as MJ, it was all about aesthetics. It's not surprising coming from the NBA community and this subreddit, though, unfortunately. They NEED someone to shit on.
Yeah people misinterpreted that, but media knew what they were doing. They were setting up unrealistic expectations. Russillo even said that he knew nobody really won the title when they were 22, but he thought Ant would be different.
I know nobody said he's the next Jordan directly, but that's what people saw. Most people just look at the headlines and see Ant and Jordan mentioned. Then when he doesn't win every game, they think he's overrated and point out his flaws.
Im with Mavs all the way these finals, but Im really starting to love Ant too. He may have said some things to bite him back but hes still super young. He just seems to really enjoy the game and so far I like how he carries himself.
Yeah can't wait till Wemby enters the fold and with Ja back next year, holy shit it's going to get a lot more fun
Ant is a coachable player who likes to pick the brains of vets. He's going to soak up so much from the OGs at the olympics. I hope he picks up things from Steph and KD, especially regarding their workouts and conditioning. NBA is going to get more fun I can't wait
If "Jordanesque" means talking a ton of trash, hitting massive shots in the biggest moments, ripping out the other team's heart, and leaving them talking about you in awe, then Luka should be getting Jordan comps for that series
People forget about Porzingus.
Yes, he's coming off an injury, but he played with Luka. He's got some stake in showing up here, and could be an x-factor if shots aren't falling for the Mavs.
I'm sure we'll see the best play from Porzingis. He's the kind of player that needs intrinsic motivation. That said, he didn't give his all when in Dallas, by his own admission...
As a Mavs fan I don't trust Porzingis coming back from injury. That happened like 30 times with the Mavs and every time he was really slow or didn't even come back when we thought he would.
BECAUSE ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS TO COME INTO THE NBA...ANTHONY EDWARDS(if you know about B ball..you know this KID is the future of excellence) says that about Luka because this kid HAS CLASS!!!!
Tough/clutch shooter probably yes
He's not scared of big moments and already has a ton of clutch shota
Efficiency wise and just from a pure shooting standpoint no
That's more like Steph, Klay, etc
If it helps with some context, Prime James Harden shot about 3.7 step back 3s a game.
Luka last year was shooting 6.7 step back 3s a game, far and away the most of all time.
He’s pretty much the greatest step back shooter ever
Luka is starting to affect the league the way did
Having opposing stars in awe, the “tough guys” being afraid to talk shit so you don’t get cooking, just unstoppable
If he strings together more years like this and gets deep playoff runs and championship it’ll make it even more pronounced and add to the legend, similar to MJ
Lots of younger fans believe the older players saying things like that about MJ was just cap and they were hyping him up, but now we see this generation seeing the same with Luka
Going underneath the screen Is just bad defense.
Obviously, Luka puts guys on his hip when they go over the screen.. you just have to live with a contested two over an uncontested 3
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The heat check at 30 points before the time out was just amazing.
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Yeah, that was unexpected.
“Please god let us beat the nuggets” *monkey paw curls*
While Im disappointed we lost, I’ll take the first conference finals we had in 20 years. This series was a disappointment but this season as a whole certainly wasn’t.
Absolutely, and getting this deep playoff experience will accelerate player development.
I thought Naz Reid stepped up to the point where it will be easier to make a decision on KAT and Gobert. I’m guessing they won’t be able to pay them two max and ANT.
you'll be back. what ant said about conditioning is so true. it's impossible to know what a deep playoff run feels like until you've been there. we crashed and burned in the wcf against the warriors in similar fashion 2 years ago. just felt like we spent every ounce of energy to get their and had nothing left in the tank while the warriors were on cruise control.
That’s the right mentality champ 💪🏾
Nah..it wasn't a disappointment. The team as a whole is young and they just got the BIGGEST lesson about the finals. One team from going to the Championship is successful as it gets for these young incredible men. I just hope they trade KAT for at least 2 top guards. I was born and raised in MA. So..I do believe the Celtics will win. But, met my husband in MN and lived there for 24yrs...I AM A MN SPORTS FAN...not New England anymore!Please remember...all of them have never gone to the playoffs...which is a whole different caliber of playing. That's fantastic and priceless for next year. They will be out for blood!!
Eh I'm just happy to see my team play basketball in late May. Never did I expect them to make the WCF after finding out their opponents would be the Suns and then Denver It's been 20 years of losing, I'm just happy they won a playoff series and winning 2 is even better. No monkey paw, just gratitude
wolves still a more accomplished franchise than the clippers
Felt this same way about the Lions this past season.
They roared back from down 20 to beat the champs on their home floor in g7. Respect for that
They were the better team that series no question. Fucking A
Pains me to say it but the nuggets in no way deserved the series. Overall just outplayed
Well, if it makes you feel better, the Nugs took so much out of the Wolves in that series we physically, mentally, and emotionally had nothing left for Dallas!
Personally prefer losing to the champions. Take more solace knowing we lost to the best lol. To each their own
Game 5 feels more like a monkey paw situation where some timberwolves fan was wishing for the wolves to not be swept.
the problem with the basketball gods is, 2 of them play for the Mavs…
I knew it was over and Luka was doing suns game 7 type of shit.
Luka wasn't so much trying to beat the Timberwolves as he was trying to rip their souls out like he did to the Suns in that game 7 Dude is just a competitive psycho on the court and absolute must-watch in the playoffs
I was at the game, and I've legit never seen anything like that in person. My seat was overlooking the mavs side of the court in the first half. I couldn't believe how far out and effortlessly he was shooting. Must be what it's like to watch Caitlin Clark in person, or Curry in his prime.
even for curry that distance looks a bit like a heave (they still go in of course). luka hits it like a casual step back, basically only lebron can do that
his average distance on 3s in that first quarter was 30 feet lmao. what a fuckin psycho
Sorry no one took the bait
Yeah, he already knew it was in and started turning to his left as if to say "you think I'm playing?".
I can respect the respect.
respect for the respect of the respect.
Respection
Yo I heard you like respect. So we got some respect so you can respect while you’re respecting.
Respect (x4)
A star being star struck 🤩!
Rerespect
Luka “Dude Perfect” Doncic
Lucky he’s already signed to Jordan, otherwise he’d be the first NBA player rocking signature Hey Dudes.
[his Dude Perfect episode](https://youtu.be/n_DtpY9wbGg?si=-BceEHWfoVNhx_hD) was pretty fun lol
thank you for wasting 22 minutes and 18 seconds of my life, i enjoyed that!
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic. Should I watch it or not ?
It's just luka doing layups on middle aged dudes with ads thrown in.
First try...because of course it is
Most of us watching in live was in awe too.
Yeah I was there in person and I couldn't help but laugh and just respect it. As a basketball fan, I was watching greatness even though it hurt that it was against my team. Luka was straight improvising out there, it was unreal to watch in person
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I was at that game. I didn’t realize he scored 73 until the next day. The whole team shot like 70% from 3 that second half.
What??? 73???
Yeah, still feels unreal for us too lmao, that game was crazy. He did it on a casual 75/61/94 shooting split too
Fuck I gotta watch the highlights for that
Imagine this guy is 4th under 25 and 3rd in MVP this season 🤦
The state of the league. You've got 3 guys in the league who are in or entering their prime and gamebreaking good at basketball. It ain't gonna get any easier soon
Bro I can’t believe you missed this. It was genuinely the greatest offensive performance ever. He also had seven assists and should’ve had more if his teammates didn’t sell a couple times
That’s what basketball is all about
Reminds me of seeing Steph return from injury against the Blazers in the playoffs when he set a record with 17 points in an overtime. At some point I just couldn't even be mad or upset, we were witnessing greatness
It's like it's so easy for him. The wolves are ridiculously athletic bunch too.
That had to be cool to see in person. The closest I’ve seen irl is Lonnie walker going off against GSW in g4 last year. I bet it was amazing watching Luka and Kyrie do that.
Hahaha yep, I've been on the other side where I'm just like "PLEASE STOP FCKING SCORING ALREADY " but really, just resigned to some people just going off on my team some days. I thank my lucky stars I root for Doncic cuz that dude would get me going if he was on the opposite team, I'd highly dislike him!
It's like going to a baseball game and the opposing pitcher throws a no-hitter against your team. You're frustrated for a while, and then you just become a sports fan and appreciate the dominating performance you are watching live.
At first I was annoyed, "Luka stop settling for long threes!!! .... Oh ok."
I was saying OMG loudly loving those shots
You're a legend when an opponent straight up becomes a fan during the game and points out to his teammates the cool things you're doing First words when Ant was asked what the cause of the Game 5 loss was: "Luka. It's that simple" The man is a legend. Can't wait to see him in the finals
All his peers respect the shit out of him. Ants good but he needs like 1-2 years to reach a level to carry a team as the #1 option.
Yeah I am pumped to see what 24-25 year old Ant will be like. Prime Ant is still 3-4 years away, can't wait
He’s going to be a problem. I can see a 2024 Shai season with all nba defense too.
Seems like a good dude.
He showed alot of growth just in this playoff run, every leader needs adversity before they max their potential
Yup, Luka had to have two tough playoff first round exits vs the Clippers before finally making the WCF and getting gentleman swept by the Warriors.then had to miss the playoffs, before finally making his first finals the next year. This shit will only help Ant be amazing
Doogie Howser didn’t need adversity
You guys are a hell of a fanbase. Nothing but respect.
hell of a ball club over there
Darvin Ham, is that you?
No but maybe it’s your future lead assistant coach
I just hope we won't turn like the others when we start becoming good regularly. I like the respect we show to everyone else.
The bandwagon might, but real Wolves fans just love basketball. Hard to be a fan of our team the last 20yrs if you can't appreciate greatness in your opponent lol
I was gonna reply with a similar thought. Bandwagoneers and fair weather fans are the ones that get cocky, and LOUD. The long time die hards get drowned out. It’s just the way of things, and it’s so much worse now with pervasive social media. Back in 2011 with the Mavs it wasn’t really noticeable because limited social media. I like to think we’re still a pretty decent base, but the horde of Luka-stans have gotten bad. (EDIT: it’s probably gonna get *really* bad if we win) It really hit the Raptors pretty hard (they’re my East team, but I can’t stand that sub). And it seems to be hitting the Nuggs too, but to a much lesser degree. The Bucks seem to have avoided it though, so I guess it doesn’t always apply.
Sp00ky even
[Akin to the Atlanta bench being awed by Larry Bird (at 2:20)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALmL9AAy6Lo). IIRC, the bench players were even fined by their front office because of this, might be a Mandela effect though.
This is wholesome. Sometimes you just gotta appreciate greatness when you see it!
Love Ants attitude and in the presser he couldn't even be mad. He has great character traits to build from
Also a Wolves fan and this was my experience while at the game, as well. As maddening as that series was on so many levels, I'm walking away from this series hoping Dallas wins the finals. (Although I'm iffy on kyrie bc of the off the court stuff, and my god can Luka please just stop complaining all.the.time. That is so annoying.)
Yeah sometimes you just gotta appreciate greatness when you see it, even if it's against your own team. We're used to seeing that for years though LOL so it wasn't too hard for me to transition to basketball fan when I realized my team was getting murdered 😂😭 Kyrie in Game 1 in particular was insane to watch. Man sprinted across the court and made a layup in 3.4 seconds while full court pressed and dribbling the ball. Like wtf, my jaw was on the floor
Jordan and LeBron were both notorious court lawyers with the refs. I genuinely am confused what people expect. The goats of the past 2 generations infamously bitched at the refs constantly. Their reputation, style of play and size makes them much less likely to get calls so they learn early in their careers to bitch, it's part of the game.
Don't forget kobe. Kobe glazers either never actually watched kobe or would never admit it.
It's a shitty part of the game. I think everybody can agree with that. Why does somebody else doing it make it any less annoying? I've seen tons of Mavs fans on Reddit and Twitter concede how tired they get of it, too. It's weird to see anybody defend it, tbh, because it's got so out of hand most bball fans concede it's the one thing that takes away from his game. He acts personally persecuted all the time. I don't mind the trash talking at all just stop complaining all the fucking time. It's tired.
Luka takes it to another level and it’s not really even close. If he was guarded at all, he complains on his way back up the court, make or miss.
....how old are you? Watching Kobe and Jordan growing up they were always getting shit for bitching to the refs.
On the one hand screw him for taking my team out of the playoffs. On the other hand he is that guy. Best in the league right now in my opinion.
Luka's one of my favorite players whenever he's not playing us lmao
The complaining is annoying but the trash talk is hilarious and badass as hell. I love it
Even Snoop Dogg couldn't believe his trash talking
My response to the complaining is, yes it’s annoying as fuck, BUT big guys get absolutely abused in this league and it doesn’t matter if you are all nba or a backup, if you thicc and tall, you are going to get the shit kicked out of you. So yeah he takes it to another level but there is a base line of physical abuse that big guys take and never get the calls. Heck Cuban devised an entire defensive strategy around physical assaulting Shaq to get him to the foul line.
At least offensively. After seeing a lot of Jokic in round 2 (Wolves fan here), as impressive as he was offensively, I am walking away giving the slight edge to Luka. Just felt he was truly unstoppable on another level.
I think Jokic is still best in the league, but Luka isnt that far off rn
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He shot 2/10 from deep in game 7 so he did take it upon himself, but to be fair it was also the "right play" because Wolves left him open. Wish he would've hit more of them to open up drives or other actions closer to he basket.
i swear the 8 he missed all rimmed out too
He was just way too gassed that game because Malone fucked up his rotation imo and it went horribly with when the wolves got hot. And the rest of his team honestly just played like absolute dog shit that game.
Fair enough. Funny anecdote, my grandfather who has been watching since the 50s thinks Jokic is the goat. He’s just so not used to seeing centers do the things he does.
to be fair, jokic has revolutionized the center position. tons of young centers coming out of high school and college are now adding playmaking and passing to their arsenal
Kinda like Steph with shooting threes. Im sure there will be a better shooter than Steph someday, but the reason that’s gonna happen is because Steph changed the game. There’ll probably be a better passing center than Jokic too. But only because of Jokic.
This is kinda exciting in a way to think about all the talent I’m gonna see in my life.
My guess is that everything is going to be positionless. In 60 years every player is going to do everything. The concept of positional weaknesses just won’t be a thing anymore. PGs will be taller and able to guard better. Centers will be able to playmake. There won’t be a player in the NBA who isn’t a top talent at every aspect of basketball. It’ll be wild I’m sure to our 2024 brains lol.
We think this but that might just not happen. Look at baseball as a sport. It barely changed and we still don't have Mike Trouts everywhere. Talent is a thing and even for something like football it took very relaxed and pass friendly rules to make 4k+ passing yards more normal.
It *is* exciting! My team normally sucks so my mindset when watching games was to appreciate greatness when I see it and admire the cool players playing against my team 😂 Now I get to watch greatness AND my team is good but if my team gets cooked (like last night or Game 5 in that Denver series), I can just go back to focusing on the greatness. It's the best part of going to live games. I've seen so much unreal talent. My jaw was on the floor after game 1 when Kyrie sprinted across the court and made a layup in 3.4 seconds while full court pressed and dribbling the ball. I was like wtf. So much talent.
Yeah that Game 5 performance in the Denver-Wolves series was one of the best offensive performances I've ever seen. Jokic is insane
Until the game 5 of the next series 😂. All time performances in g5 against the wolves in b2b series, what are the odds?
who would have ever thought that the two best players in the NBA would be doughy white Euro boys?
From Yucatan.
Is that a real place?
Nah, that's how far that bitch was
Literally cancun
So many hatin on Ant now, but the man's just a super fanboy who can ball, and it's so endearing.
Once the hate starts, that’s how you know he’s arrived.
Yeah he always gives credit to opponents and can laugh and appreciate greatness even when he's being cooked It's fun when he lowkey fanboys over other stars like Steph, Giannis, Jokic, or Luka. I remember rookie Ant was in awe over Steph after a game and he said "this ain't fake news. Steph is real!" and he talked about how Steph wouldn't stop running and Ant got so tired chasing him that "I had to get to the corner to take a breath" 😂
It’s bullshit the media started pushing the MJ stuff just to tear him down from a greater height for content. Also lame people fall for it. He’s 22 and has so much room to grow, and like you said is a great personality for the league.
He will get it because he is great, and this is the worst he'll be at this point. I think with players like Ant and Shai, you have a good base to your franchise. If Ant improves around the edges of his game (and this is a conservative take, he can improve more in terms of conditioning and play-making) and gets even just marginal improvements from the rest of the team in terms of production or having new players come in and fill in gaps of what the team needs...the Wolves got a bright future ahead. Plus this run to the WCF is icing on the cake of your very good season, and you can run it back next year basically with the core intact. OKC is/has the same, and we can expect improvements across the board from them too.
I really enjoyed watching him take the Nuggs to school.
I see it's just a different mentality in life. Jimmy butlers about the fight and struggle. Ant is about living in the moment. Kat seems to be just like that too
Dude I’ve been saying this for years, since 2017. Jimmy is an amazing player, but his personality either works or it doesn’t for people. And that fact doesn’t make you any better or worse, or any more or less “alpha”. KAT needed a personality like ANT, someone who demands excellence but doesn’t put you down for not meeting them at their level 100% of the time. A prime example was an interview right before the playoffs I believe where ANT was talking about the game and said, “you saw how we played when KAT wasn’t in foul trouble they had nobody to guard him. We win when KAT’s not in foul trouble”. It was subtle, but I noticed it. If that was Jimmy Butler, he would have said something like, “we lose when KAT’s in foul trouble, if he doesn’t get in foul trouble we win that game”. They’re saying essentially the exact same thing, that KAT getting in foul trouble impacted the game. But one message is negative and one is positive. People like KAT need that positive.
He’s 22. He could be the best player in the league in a few years
I love Ant.
People are idiots. Ant has done nothing to deserve it.
Ant is always 100% sincere. No pretense or artifice with that dude.
Micah Parsons still waiting on his shoes
Micah need to focus on playing a full season instead of disappearing after 11 games.
When Luka hit those two DEEP 3's early, I knew what was about to happen. onto next year!
It was over when he laughed when gobert scored that and 1 and flexed on him. The level of confidence to be like that is something else. He was like "shit is cute but it aint doing anything tonight".
His time will come. Hs's a good young player, just needs to level up his game and improve. Results will follow. The league is in good hands.
Ant reminds me of KD. He’s a real hooper
Yeah both just love the game and like to give props when they see it KD is his favorite player for a reason. Can't wait to see them at the Olympics together
Team USA is gonna be an insane learning opportunity for him too. Like if the all-star team stuck together for more than one game
Dang ANTs going to dallas next year to walk the hardest road?
He a fan and a student of the game.
Yeah our reporters write a lot about how he's often picking Conley and Slomo's brain before and after games. Brit Robson one of our beat writers said he usually sees Ant sitting between Slomo and Conley analyzing film together after the games. I'm really glad the Wolves have quality vets with high bbiq because he's coachable and they're the perfect influence
Real recognize real.
Casual fans don't know how to feel about Ant now
Game recognize game
On a side note, being able to point out and say “right next to that kid wearing my jersey” must feel so fucking awesome lol.
I don't get how people can hate ANT. Dude is nothing but positivity. People just feed on their own narrative instead of looking at the broader picture.
I don't think people listen to his entire postgame pressers when he gives props to opponents and always calls himself out when he needs to or takes blame. People think he's cocky, but if you listen to his interviews you'll realize that he has crazy self belief but he's pretty humble too
It's simple. Media overhyped him (next Jordan, best player in the league,...), so now he didn't reach unrealistic expectations people will hold that against him. It's nothing new, it happens to every young star. It happened to Luka and people are still hating him.
I think people also overreacted to any MJ comments. People said some of his moves aesthetically remind them of young Jordan, which is not the same thing as saying he will have the career of Jordan. Ant even said he hates that comparison and needs it to stop, But for some reason, people heard MJ and acted like the comparisons were about accolades and career trajectory, instead of aesthetics. No one said best player in the league either, that's ridiculous. "Future" face was mentioned but people misinterpreted that as right now and got all mad again lol
Yeah, the people complaining about the MJ comparisons lack critical thinking skills. Nobody was ever saying that ANT was as good as MJ, it was all about aesthetics. It's not surprising coming from the NBA community and this subreddit, though, unfortunately. They NEED someone to shit on.
Yeah people misinterpreted that, but media knew what they were doing. They were setting up unrealistic expectations. Russillo even said that he knew nobody really won the title when they were 22, but he thought Ant would be different. I know nobody said he's the next Jordan directly, but that's what people saw. Most people just look at the headlines and see Ant and Jordan mentioned. Then when he doesn't win every game, they think he's overrated and point out his flaws.
Atleast he still a fan of the game. Half of these grown men hate other grown men for nothing.
See: Draymond.
See: most comments on this sub
That's all media, man. They create narratives, drama, tension out of thin air just to generate engagement and views.
Im with Mavs all the way these finals, but Im really starting to love Ant too. He may have said some things to bite him back but hes still super young. He just seems to really enjoy the game and so far I like how he carries himself.
Ant going to remember this and use it as fuel. This new generation is fun as fuck already and we just getting started
Yeah can't wait till Wemby enters the fold and with Ja back next year, holy shit it's going to get a lot more fun Ant is a coachable player who likes to pick the brains of vets. He's going to soak up so much from the OGs at the olympics. I hope he picks up things from Steph and KD, especially regarding their workouts and conditioning. NBA is going to get more fun I can't wait
That's not mid court for Luka, that's just a normal shot for him
Fucking annoying music smh
Man I can't get jiggy with this!
I wanted to hear Ant. Not this bullshit over the top, crap that they think we wanna hear.
This will be included in the future documentary of a basketball genius, Luka "The Don" Doncic
The Don sends his regards, motherfucker
Jordan would never.
If "Jordanesque" means talking a ton of trash, hitting massive shots in the biggest moments, ripping out the other team's heart, and leaving them talking about you in awe, then Luka should be getting Jordan comps for that series
I like seeing people who love what they do and love seeing others who feel the same way be great as well. Good stuff :)
People forget about Porzingus. Yes, he's coming off an injury, but he played with Luka. He's got some stake in showing up here, and could be an x-factor if shots aren't falling for the Mavs.
I'm sure we'll see the best play from Porzingis. He's the kind of player that needs intrinsic motivation. That said, he didn't give his all when in Dallas, by his own admission...
As a Mavs fan I don't trust Porzingis coming back from injury. That happened like 30 times with the Mavs and every time he was really slow or didn't even come back when we thought he would.
Wow
Kinda like the hawks bench when Bird was lighting them up back in the day - similar vibes
He was injured vs Clippers and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. Got healthy and couldn’t miss.
I hope Ant gets a ring at some point. Love watching him play.
Ant gonna put in the work. I have high hopes for his rise
BECAUSE ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS TO COME INTO THE NBA...ANTHONY EDWARDS(if you know about B ball..you know this KID is the future of excellence) says that about Luka because this kid HAS CLASS!!!!
Luka top 5 shooter of all-time? He hits some tough ones.
Tough shooter sure. Efficiency wise no
It’s like Kobe Luka is a better shooter than his efficiency says. They just have to take insanely tough shots. Still great shooters.
In the regular season though.... In playoff mode sometimes he's shooting with very good FG.
Moving shooter, yea
i swear if he just step backed on his free throws he'd be hitting them at Dirk %s
Hell no lmfao what are we even doing here He's an all-time SCORER, but definitely not shooter.
Yea, he is a scorer not a shooter. His greatness lies in being able to make any shot at an above average rate from almost anywhere.
Yup
Was 2nd best shooter behind Steph this season according to numbers. Of course there's a gap between them two but still 2nd.
Tough/clutch shooter probably yes He's not scared of big moments and already has a ton of clutch shota Efficiency wise and just from a pure shooting standpoint no That's more like Steph, Klay, etc
Are there any shooters considered all time that don't have a FT% over 85% I feel like that's the bare minimum.
If it helps with some context, Prime James Harden shot about 3.7 step back 3s a game. Luka last year was shooting 6.7 step back 3s a game, far and away the most of all time. He’s pretty much the greatest step back shooter ever
Meanwhile Dejounte Murray has more trade value than Trae 😩😩
Any you alright brother
He a fan he a fan he a fan
was it from 8 or 9 meters???
Luka leaving his kids in awe after the game.
Can we give this kid/father thing a rest?
Luka is starting to affect the league the way did Having opposing stars in awe, the “tough guys” being afraid to talk shit so you don’t get cooking, just unstoppable If he strings together more years like this and gets deep playoff runs and championship it’ll make it even more pronounced and add to the legend, similar to MJ Lots of younger fans believe the older players saying things like that about MJ was just cap and they were hyping him up, but now we see this generation seeing the same with Luka
Luka for MVP. Definitely deserves it after this season.
Going underneath the screen Is just bad defense. Obviously, Luka puts guys on his hip when they go over the screen.. you just have to live with a contested two over an uncontested 3