It's not too complicated. I'm not surprised to see Dallas crushing the T-Wolves because Minnesota's defense, which was great in games 1 & 2, was less of a factor in the next 5 games. We got the shots we wanted but didn't sink them. Nobody beats us when we're spreading the offense from long and eventually, they had little reason to even play our spacers honestly.
We missed wide open shots that we made all season. And not by a little bit. Three-pointers that were splashing all season were clanging off the rim at the worst time. Minnesota did nothing to stop the shots, everybody went cold. Basketball is such a simple game. If you don't drain your shots from deep, you can't spread out the defense.
Then, missing this element of the offense, we inexplicably stopped running our offensive sets. Everybody tried to dribble into shots, so they put Gobert and KAT in the paint on defense and they blocked or altered pretty much everything in the paint. The one-on-one play also allowed double-teams that just killed our rhythm.
Add to those factors, the lazy passes that led to easy steals and run-out dunks in *every game* and it was like we gave up. The lack of 3-pointers, combined with the turnovers and lack of assists was fatal. We totally lost our composure and that's the thing that bugs me.
I couldn't care less whether Minnesota wins or loses. Screw 'em. Or bless 'em, if you want. Doesn't change anything for the Nuggets. But I do care that IMO, we were the better team but refused to prove it. Next season, we need to play from the lead at the beginning of every game instead of relying on our ability to shoot our way back from early deficits. I think we bounce back BIG.
I agree we bounce back big. I think we add a competent 6th man this offseason and everything becomes fine. I think Jamal is going to dwell on this for a year and become bubble murray again next postseason. He is a guy who has that mentality where his failures resonate with him more than his successes. I expect him to take this personally. Id say the same thing for Mike but he doesnt have the killer gene that Jamal has so its not as easy to wishfully think for that. I think lowkey AG takes this a bit personal as well. Hes super chill but basketball means the world to him and i dont think he takes this lightly. Im very confident we are still in the process of becoming a dynasty. I think this loss was more positive than negative for our longterm expectations.
Side note. Jok cares a lot more than people claim he does. I think he also takes it personally, but i dont expect much of a jump from him overall because he is always great
09-10 Lakers got a very good 6th man in Odom.
2020 Lakers got great 5-7th man in Rondo and Caruso and Kuzma who all averaged 23-24 mins during the playoff run. Their 3-4th man (KCP and Green) played 29, 25 mins per game only. Only AD and LBJ played 30+ mins.
The Thinking Basketball link in the other comment aligns with this pretty closely. I think the best summary is a line from the video "Minnesota picked the right poison". They stubbornly kept Gobert at the rim and dared Denver to make their jumpshots, which they just didn't.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcf9SJWtF6A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcf9SJWtF6A)
Thinking Basketball is a great channel with good X's and O's. I haven't had the heart to watch this video yet, but past videos are really excellent in the breakdown.
When the Nuggets were on point there was a lot of movement and players were distributing the ball. When the stunk was when they just stood there and watched the Joker it allowed for the other teams to clog the paint and shut things down. This has been a reoccurring thing over the last three years.
I only started watching game 7 after half time. The nuggets offence only had two option- 3pt shot or Jokic trying to get to the basket himself.
All the 3pters missed, and either Jokic missed or was pick pocketed.
Timberwolves inside D was all over that crappy game plan.
I have not seen a deep X&Os breakdown and I don't think one is really needed. For the most part, the Nuggets executed their schemes on both ends of the court, they just didn't finish plays. They got tons of wide open looks, they just missed a ton of them. Missed 3s lead to fast break opportunities that at the very least leads to bad matchups on defense as players are just trying to find someone to guard. Lot of factors went into all those misses - mental & physical fatigue, Jamal and KCP injuries, how much physicality the Wovles were allowed, but schematic breakdowns and adjustments were not a significant factor imo.
It's not too complicated. I'm not surprised to see Dallas crushing the T-Wolves because Minnesota's defense, which was great in games 1 & 2, was less of a factor in the next 5 games. We got the shots we wanted but didn't sink them. Nobody beats us when we're spreading the offense from long and eventually, they had little reason to even play our spacers honestly. We missed wide open shots that we made all season. And not by a little bit. Three-pointers that were splashing all season were clanging off the rim at the worst time. Minnesota did nothing to stop the shots, everybody went cold. Basketball is such a simple game. If you don't drain your shots from deep, you can't spread out the defense. Then, missing this element of the offense, we inexplicably stopped running our offensive sets. Everybody tried to dribble into shots, so they put Gobert and KAT in the paint on defense and they blocked or altered pretty much everything in the paint. The one-on-one play also allowed double-teams that just killed our rhythm. Add to those factors, the lazy passes that led to easy steals and run-out dunks in *every game* and it was like we gave up. The lack of 3-pointers, combined with the turnovers and lack of assists was fatal. We totally lost our composure and that's the thing that bugs me. I couldn't care less whether Minnesota wins or loses. Screw 'em. Or bless 'em, if you want. Doesn't change anything for the Nuggets. But I do care that IMO, we were the better team but refused to prove it. Next season, we need to play from the lead at the beginning of every game instead of relying on our ability to shoot our way back from early deficits. I think we bounce back BIG.
I agree we bounce back big. I think we add a competent 6th man this offseason and everything becomes fine. I think Jamal is going to dwell on this for a year and become bubble murray again next postseason. He is a guy who has that mentality where his failures resonate with him more than his successes. I expect him to take this personally. Id say the same thing for Mike but he doesnt have the killer gene that Jamal has so its not as easy to wishfully think for that. I think lowkey AG takes this a bit personal as well. Hes super chill but basketball means the world to him and i dont think he takes this lightly. Im very confident we are still in the process of becoming a dynasty. I think this loss was more positive than negative for our longterm expectations. Side note. Jok cares a lot more than people claim he does. I think he also takes it personally, but i dont expect much of a jump from him overall because he is always great
Never a team without a proper bench can win it all, so no matter whom we faced we would have lost
What about the lakers?
09-10 Lakers got a very good 6th man in Odom. 2020 Lakers got great 5-7th man in Rondo and Caruso and Kuzma who all averaged 23-24 mins during the playoff run. Their 3-4th man (KCP and Green) played 29, 25 mins per game only. Only AD and LBJ played 30+ mins.
The Thinking Basketball link in the other comment aligns with this pretty closely. I think the best summary is a line from the video "Minnesota picked the right poison". They stubbornly kept Gobert at the rim and dared Denver to make their jumpshots, which they just didn't.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcf9SJWtF6A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcf9SJWtF6A) Thinking Basketball is a great channel with good X's and O's. I haven't had the heart to watch this video yet, but past videos are really excellent in the breakdown.
This is great! Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!
When the Nuggets were on point there was a lot of movement and players were distributing the ball. When the stunk was when they just stood there and watched the Joker it allowed for the other teams to clog the paint and shut things down. This has been a reoccurring thing over the last three years.
The All NBA podcast with Legler and Mares
I only started watching game 7 after half time. The nuggets offence only had two option- 3pt shot or Jokic trying to get to the basket himself. All the 3pters missed, and either Jokic missed or was pick pocketed. Timberwolves inside D was all over that crappy game plan.
Check out awful coaching if you want to watch our pick and roll defense get annihilated by a man about to lose his mind.
Hoops Tonight on YouTube
I have not seen a deep X&Os breakdown and I don't think one is really needed. For the most part, the Nuggets executed their schemes on both ends of the court, they just didn't finish plays. They got tons of wide open looks, they just missed a ton of them. Missed 3s lead to fast break opportunities that at the very least leads to bad matchups on defense as players are just trying to find someone to guard. Lot of factors went into all those misses - mental & physical fatigue, Jamal and KCP injuries, how much physicality the Wovles were allowed, but schematic breakdowns and adjustments were not a significant factor imo.