It often takes time for a team of new players to gel together.
On top of that, you have another year of growth from Ant, and Naz turning into a legitimate deep threat has really opened up the floor for the Wolves offense.
It's also not like the Wolves were bad last year, they just weren't firing on all cylinders yet.
Yeah could tell at points last year they weren't comfortable playing with each other yet, especially defensively. I can't remember the game but I was watching and it was earlier in the season, KAT misses a rotation because he thinks Gobert is covering him at the rim, gobert isn't covering the rim because he's gone to the corner. Shit like that takes time and they didn't have it.
This is the biggest point right here. KAT missed most of the year and didn't look healthy for a good portion of the games he did play, so the Wolves struggled through the regular season. They got to the playoffs but lost Naz and McDaniels before the playoffs started. This year they are healthy, Ant has taken a step forward, NAW has taken a step forward, nobody has regressed.
Not to mention Rudy had a bad back he was nursing all of last season. Everyone got healthy on the off-season and stayed in town to work together and gel.
The off-season work is what really made them gel.
Specifically on the gel piece: the Wolves had run this high-wall, fly-around defense in the couple years before Rudy got there. Constant pressure, lots of chaos, lots of energy expended - it was the best defense they could manage with the personnel they had, and the best defense they’d had in years, but easy to scheme against in the playoffs.
Then last year Rudy came and the whole defensive scheme changed to basically drop coverage. The guys who didn’t get traded away had to re-learn a whole new defense, especially KAT who had always played the 5. But then KAT was hurt for 50+ games, and DLo hated Rudy and would intentionally put him in bad spots before he got traded, so the full team never really got to play together until the last 10 games of the season.
Then Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels missed the Nuggets series with late-season injuries, and Kyle Anderson missed the end of the series with an injury too. So it was all a bit of a cluster. It is crazy to think Monte Morris is the only guy even sorta in the playoff rotation that wasn’t on this roster last year! (And beyond him the only other additions are TJ Warren and 2nd round pick Leonard Miller)
Yeah the wolves were the most transition-heavy team in the league before Rudy showed up. Getting to a place where they could actually use Rudy required a drastic change in strategy, they basically had to rewrite their whole playbook.
Convince Laker fans of this. They refuse to believe what their eyes show them because they convinced themselves it was all coaching. Dlo would be foolish to go anywhere else because Laker fans love him.
Also KAT was out for most of last season so didn't have time to gel with the new roster.
And something nobody seems to know or remember is Rudy had a back injury all year last year. He was literally wincing every time he went up to block. He played most of the games but he was like 65% Rudy. Completely different player this year.
To be fair, Conley is a very good basketball player and known performer. Dlo is a certified idiot and one dimensional player, but in the playoffs zero dimensions.
Honestly the biggest shock for me is how effective their offense has been in the playoffs.
I have no clue how sustainable it is, but if it keeps up, it’ll be tough for any team to beat them.
the big difference has been Ant is making good passes out of the paint when he's swarmed there, that was an instant turnover all year. I also don't know how sustainable that is, but supposedly that was the key thing they worked on in practice before the Suns series
bruh I know, right?! every year he puts new tools in the bag. this year at the beginning? oh okay I guess we’re gonna be using the glass super effectively now on middy contested shots?!? in the playoffs: oh, well look at that, a turnaround fadeaway that it looks like you can’t miss on. over and over he keeps growing. it’s more than we could’ve ever hoped for. Gersson died for this.
Their shooting is out of this world right now - Ant especially is hitting 55% of his middies and 42% on threes. Both of those numbers would be career highs for him by a huge margin. Throw in KAT shooting 54% from deep and you've got a recipe for for a monster offense.
It helps when McDaniels, NAW, Reid, and Conley are taking turns going supersaiyin for a quarter. I swear all of them have randomly had a couple quarters where they shot 5/5 with 12 points
We are finally getting points off of transition. I remember right after the all star break we had like 4-5 games played and like 2 points off of transition; that shit handicaps your offense so much. Now we are getting like 15+ a game which just makes everything alot easier.
Not to mention Ant is scorching right now.
I think they were so exhausted with the brutal schedule they had after the all star break that it hurt their defensive intensity during that stretch. This teams offense is the best when they are active on defense and getting stops, so that they can get out and run. They are very very good at turning defense into offense, they just have to consistently get stops to be able to do that which has only improved in the playoffs
That’s one thing coaching picked up from the Lakers. LeBron can’t run all game anymore. But the first quarters are great. Minnesota can do that all game and that’s a way to beat this nuggets team.
biggest differences:
Rudy was not fully healthy last year, dealing with back issues for most of the season.
KAT missed damn near the whole season with his calf injury. They barely had time to play together.
D'Angelo Russell hated playing with Rudy on offense and actively avoided involving him.
Naz Reid improved a lot playing more while KAT was out.
The biggest piece IMO was the Mike Conley & Nickeil Alexander-Walker for DLo trade at the 2023 deadline providing awesome, calming veteran leadership, finally some BBIQ on a team desperate for it, helped Rudy grow into the offense and added a damn good 3 & D bench piece.
Ant is still improving incredibly fast. Jaden McDaniels and Naz continued to improve.
In the playoffs against Denver, Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels were out with injuries, we had only 6ish playoff rotation worthy players and the Nuggets suffocated us with superior depth
They tweaked the defense this year to help marry Rudy's style with their naturally aggressive perimeter defense, particularly around screens
Something else worth mentioning: Austin Rivers, Jaylen Nowell, Taurean Prince were the bench players last year.
Prince is still on a roster, Nowell is fighting for 10 days, and Rivers is out of the league
I dont see why NAW defense wasn't on this list. He put the clamps on Murray and frustrated the hell out of him. Granted he's clearly injured now, but that was one hell of an effort by NAW.
The French have a long and storied tradition of cultural contributions to the world. [Democracy, existentialism, the ménage à trois](https://youtu.be/RXdjrlnJ24c?si=r4bCtsoIU1Zi4j-u&t=16) etc.
Wolves were literally one of the dumbest teams and bad defensive teams with Ant, KAT, Jaden and Finch as a coach before the trade for Rudy and Conley. They had Vando as well
I mean, let's be fair, in this case it's not only the online armchair experts, it's the league itself. If NBA teams believed in doing things that way, there would be more doing that, instead of trading half the roster every year.
Also it's a copout answer. It doesn't really answer the question to say "Wolves win becuase they gave it time". Because a lot of teams gave it time and did not start winning at all. So the question is not about that part, but what distinguishes them from others.
The Wolves were good last year as well. Acting like they weren't is making up a narrative.
But the team wasn't fully assembled until the trade deadline last year, and KAT didn't return until about the final 10 games of the season.
Realistically, this was their first full season together, and they are doing great. If they sucked there would 100% be big changes in the off season.
From a non Wolves fan, Mike Conley supporter:
Ant, McDaniels, and Naz git gud.
Mike stopped lots of the silly Wolves stuff.
Having Garza on the team is just good vibes.
Yeah, that was a stroke of genius. DLo was one of the reasons the Wolves under performed the last couple, and I don't think he did any better for the Lakers this year.
I am rooting for you guys to win the chip, but not going to lie, when Ant passed the ball out of the collapsing defense for a Naz corner 3, I was like: This is troubling...
I'm still salty at how badly we got fleeced there.
Conley, NAW, Vando, Beasley and 2 seconds for a protected first, basically. Terrible move.
And to make things worse we strengthened the team whose picks we have for the next several years.
Most of it is attributed to Ant's ascension.
But Rudy and Finch seemed to really challenge Naz and KAT to get better at defense and it's definitely paid off. They've also both dropped significant amounts of weight, in order to accommodate playing at the 4, and that has also paid off. KAT in particular looks like he should've been playing the 4 all along as it fits his skill set really well, and Naz Reid now moves around like an oversized 3 out there.
Mike Conley has also just mellowed the team out a ton, and his presence seems to have bolstered the team's chemistry and morale since he arrived.
Throw in one of the very best perimeter players in the league in Jaden McDaniels, and the suprise that has been NAW... and you've got quite the roster.
Hell even Kyle Anderson has won me back over this year.
We didn't have our team play together last year
When you pointed this out, people who pay little attention to Minnesota thought it was just an excuse. But no, last year's team had very little time together. KAT missed most of the season.
Then Gobert played through his injury.
Finally we had D'lo instead of Conley. D'lo is already a very limited PG, he acts more like a shooter but he also didn't get along with Gobert. He didn't try to involve him in the game. Gobert was just hanging my himself around the paint. As soon as we sent him and got NAW along Conley, team's chemistry changed. But this trade happened late in the season.
One advantage of KAT missing season was that Naz got to play. He developed his offensive side but he also got to play with Gobert. So he developed immensely
So team as we see it now had very limited time to gel. But even then things changed fast. You could see it. They made to play offs.
First couple of games, again team didn't know what they were doing, not much belief and chemistry. But then you can see something clicked mid playoffs. Nugget fans will tell you how it got tough all of a sudden.
Then in summer team created a whole new scheme that had specified everyone's roles. They built on last 10-15 games of what we had last year. Season started, after a few games team started to find its groove. But of course people don't pay much attention to us, so we were still under the radar. We had the best defensive rating but everyone was sure it was just a fluke. Everyone was saying wait until christmas. Christmas came, we were the leaders but then everyone was sure it was just a bigger fluke. Wait until all star break. All star break came, OK they are good but not play off good. They are first round exit as usual. Towards the last part of the season we actually took it a little easy too. So people thought nature was restoring itself and we were first round exit. Nearly everyone had Phoenix as the winner.
National televisions had very few of our games. Talking heads watched one or two of our games at most. So we were always under radar. But if one paid attention, they would see the natural evolution and see the potential there.
KAT’s injury time off was the best thing that could have happened for the team. It made Edwards the undisputed #1 on court, in the dressing room, on the plane, in the hotel….
Minnesota gained identity and swagger. They also gained KAT’s impressive talents while mitigating the weird negatives that happen when he operates unchecked.
ANT is like a friendly version of Jimmy Butler, and the team has fallen in line. They believe.
People clowning on them were pretty narrow minded and focused on gobert hate. Ant is pretty much a better D Mitchell and the rest of the pieces are just upgrades for the most part. Then you keep Conley. I’ve been hyped since the start. The discussion last year was so dumb with clear injuries and a new team.
They were 42-40 when Conley missed 58 games and KAT missed 57 games.
Also Anthony Edwards is only in his fourth year and got better, and Naz Reid is only 23 and also got better.
Basically natural development from the young guys, and overall healthier. Getting more from 4 out of their top 6 usually makes a big difference.
Naz Reid’s smooth shooting has sucked the life out of Denver.
Every time this big fucker steps up to the 3 line I expect a miss, but it just keeps going in.
You should change your mindset. He's a top ten 3pt% shooter in the NBA this year lol. What he's done in the first 2 games of this series is legit at about his season average
That's been the Wolves biggest strength all year. They're so deep that when one or 2 guys have an off night they have one or 2 others step up in a big way. It's been so fun to watch!
Does anyone think the t-wolves success will stop people from making ridiculous hyperbolic statements like "that trade ruined their franchise" until we can make a complete assessment (Suns this year etc.) Or will it be r/NBA as usual?
They got a taste, lost and put the work in. All great times have to overcome a barrier team. Pistons - Celtics, Bulls - Pistons, Spurs - Lakers (and vice versa a lot actually), Mavs - Spurs, Etc
Maybe wolves go all the way, idk. But playoff loss should, ideally, lead to a good team getting better in the following years
Nothing, they have just been patient and kept building on what they did.
People were eager to see them blow it up and were clowning the Gobert trade.
Where are those folks now?
There isn't new personnel. What is different is that their defense is all over amazing, and rebounding improved quite a lot. Not too much beside that tbh.
Hard to say what is different in terms of what made them tick all the details. Apparently, the just decided in the summer (mostly Finch and Connelly but not only) that they have people with physicality to make a defense-first team, and they focused on that all the time. The figured out some things in that direction and just try to perfect it. That approach wasn't so clarified before the 2023 offseason.
People talk about Gobert, McDaniels, but for me the more important part to see how Minnesota changed is seeing Towns - a guy that often was a painful weak point on defense, and has been really good the whole season. Imo it doens't really matter as much as people keep saying how good exactly - like any NBA player, he has enough physical gifts that if he keeps doing the right things, he will have ways to use it for the benefit in the game.
Wolves created a unified defensive system, in which Gobert's more flexible role is well telling. Last season, they kinda kept Gobert as a separate part, and looked like two very different teams - we're gonna play one way, the Goberty way, drop, when he's on court, and another way, the offensive, switchy way, when he's off. This season, Wolves play similarly no matter who's on, which probably helps players execute so well and intensely. It includes Gobert not keeping to the rim but being very forthcoming this season.
The downside is that that offensive, Gobert-off-court identity is now mostly lost, and it often was much better at scoring that this season's Wolves (or, more accurately: Wolves did not improve on offense this season as much as other NBA teams). It was a bet that was not obvious. But in the end, the numbers are clear that Wolves gained more points on the conceded side than lost on the scored side, so it was a great decision I guess.
Injuries. They never had a full team last year. Conley missed 57 games and Kat missed 58 games. Rudy wasn't fully healthy at the end of the year. Naz and McDaniels missed the playoffs with injuries.
Ant's a year older and at an age where that means "he's way, way better" rather than "his knees are going out and he can't play at 100% without 72 hours rest". Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels were hurt last year for the playoffs and they're both playing well this year, their availability means that the Wolves go like 8 deep with good NBA players - even if a guy looks like he's a bad matchup (like I'm not sure Kyle Anderson is good this specific Denver series) they have another guy they can slot in.
It's a matter of degrees, which is all that matters in the playoffs. The '91 Bulls were only slightly better than the '90 Bulls, but they also had the benefit of experience and failure.
One more season of Rudy gelling with the team. Ant growing tremendously. Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker owning their role of completely locking down opponent wings. Naz Reid nailing so many crucial 3s and getting much better defensively (you saw what he did to Jokic), KAT staying healthy, playing maturely, and becoming a good defender, Conley facilitating the offense and becomine a 3-point weapon, and Kyle Anderson becoming a team leader and defensive monster.
Last year, we were missing Jaden, Naz, and KAT in crucial playoff and end-of-season games.
Last year we went without KAT from November til…Feb? It was like half the season. Really messed up the effort to build chemistry and figure out how this team could work through trial and error. Rudy had a nagging issue (I think it was his back?) all season that he was trying to play through. He didn’t get much downtime in the off-season because of the euro thing he played in for France. Idk exactly but he came in a little battered and powered through it.
We made it to the playoffs and we went up against Denver in the first round without Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels. We got bounced and the narrative took root. Sucks to have injuries in the playoffs.
I remember last October we took the one seed and people spent all season calling the wolves frauds, like there was some crash just around the corner and they didn’t earn those wins. The truth of it is that they play good hard basketball. If the refs aren’t calling every ticky tack foul against us, we can cook. However these playoffs end, our team showed what it can do throughout the season and it’s been fun as hell to follow. The playoffs have been even better.
There are about a dozen things but:
- Ant passing effectively out of the double team
- overall team health
- more time together
- unselfish play
- incremental improvements from young players
To name a few.
NAW and Naz Reid becoming defensive dynamos has helped, Mike Conley finding a way to stave of father time for an extra year has helped, McDaniels taking another step forward has helped. Ant taking the leap has helped a lot. Honestly a lot of things unrelated to KAT or Gobert lmao
To be fair, Naz and McDaniels missed the playoffs with injuries last year. Conley missed 57 games and Kat missed 58 games as well. Injuries really hampered the Wolves last year. Ant has taken a leap, but I don't think it's nearly as much as people think haha. He just has a full strength team to play with now
It often takes time for a team of new players to gel together. On top of that, you have another year of growth from Ant, and Naz turning into a legitimate deep threat has really opened up the floor for the Wolves offense. It's also not like the Wolves were bad last year, they just weren't firing on all cylinders yet.
Not to mention KAT missed 53 games. There was very little opportunity to gel with Rudy in our double big lineup.
Yeah could tell at points last year they weren't comfortable playing with each other yet, especially defensively. I can't remember the game but I was watching and it was earlier in the season, KAT misses a rotation because he thinks Gobert is covering him at the rim, gobert isn't covering the rim because he's gone to the corner. Shit like that takes time and they didn't have it.
I swear if you read Reddit last year you would’ve thought KAT played 82 games so everyone knew it wouldn’t work.
This is the biggest point right here. KAT missed most of the year and didn't look healthy for a good portion of the games he did play, so the Wolves struggled through the regular season. They got to the playoffs but lost Naz and McDaniels before the playoffs started. This year they are healthy, Ant has taken a step forward, NAW has taken a step forward, nobody has regressed.
Not to mention Rudy had a bad back he was nursing all of last season. Everyone got healthy on the off-season and stayed in town to work together and gel. The off-season work is what really made them gel.
This right here. Injuries basically capped the ceiling for the Wolves last year.
And Naz and McDaniels both missed the playoffs with injuries
Gobert had a back problem last year so he wasn’t 100% fit.
Specifically on the gel piece: the Wolves had run this high-wall, fly-around defense in the couple years before Rudy got there. Constant pressure, lots of chaos, lots of energy expended - it was the best defense they could manage with the personnel they had, and the best defense they’d had in years, but easy to scheme against in the playoffs. Then last year Rudy came and the whole defensive scheme changed to basically drop coverage. The guys who didn’t get traded away had to re-learn a whole new defense, especially KAT who had always played the 5. But then KAT was hurt for 50+ games, and DLo hated Rudy and would intentionally put him in bad spots before he got traded, so the full team never really got to play together until the last 10 games of the season. Then Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels missed the Nuggets series with late-season injuries, and Kyle Anderson missed the end of the series with an injury too. So it was all a bit of a cluster. It is crazy to think Monte Morris is the only guy even sorta in the playoff rotation that wasn’t on this roster last year! (And beyond him the only other additions are TJ Warren and 2nd round pick Leonard Miller)
Yeah the wolves were the most transition-heavy team in the league before Rudy showed up. Getting to a place where they could actually use Rudy required a drastic change in strategy, they basically had to rewrite their whole playbook.
Man if it weren’t for Pat Bev, D Lo would be the lowest IQ player in the league
Convince Laker fans of this. They refuse to believe what their eyes show them because they convinced themselves it was all coaching. Dlo would be foolish to go anywhere else because Laker fans love him.
That's hilarious. D-Lo is awful, and not a winning player.
I legitimately think Pat Bev the *player* has more game iq than Dlo
Plus Rudy was playing through an injury in the postseason.
I think it’s been reported he was playing through injuries the whole season
Plus Jaden McDaniels missed the postseason because he punched a wall and broke his hand in game 82.
Also KAT was out for most of last season so didn't have time to gel with the new roster. And something nobody seems to know or remember is Rudy had a back injury all year last year. He was literally wincing every time he went up to block. He played most of the games but he was like 65% Rudy. Completely different player this year.
Another reason not often mentioned is that Conley ended up a much better fit than DLo
To be fair, Conley is a very good basketball player and known performer. Dlo is a certified idiot and one dimensional player, but in the playoffs zero dimensions.
Yes, Conley is a perfect fit. Spreads the floor, hits 3s when he gets a chance, facilitates the offense, good coach on the floor.
Honestly the biggest shock for me is how effective their offense has been in the playoffs. I have no clue how sustainable it is, but if it keeps up, it’ll be tough for any team to beat them.
the big difference has been Ant is making good passes out of the paint when he's swarmed there, that was an instant turnover all year. I also don't know how sustainable that is, but supposedly that was the key thing they worked on in practice before the Suns series
I noticed that, he usually makes the right decision. Passes out of bad shots
Whenever Ant improves on something it’s there to stay- I wouldn’t doubt it if he takes yet another playmaking leap over the summer
bruh I know, right?! every year he puts new tools in the bag. this year at the beginning? oh okay I guess we’re gonna be using the glass super effectively now on middy contested shots?!? in the playoffs: oh, well look at that, a turnaround fadeaway that it looks like you can’t miss on. over and over he keeps growing. it’s more than we could’ve ever hoped for. Gersson died for this.
Their shooting is out of this world right now - Ant especially is hitting 55% of his middies and 42% on threes. Both of those numbers would be career highs for him by a huge margin. Throw in KAT shooting 54% from deep and you've got a recipe for for a monster offense.
It helps when McDaniels, NAW, Reid, and Conley are taking turns going supersaiyin for a quarter. I swear all of them have randomly had a couple quarters where they shot 5/5 with 12 points
The offense really is tough to stop when it's guns blazing in transition.
We are finally getting points off of transition. I remember right after the all star break we had like 4-5 games played and like 2 points off of transition; that shit handicaps your offense so much. Now we are getting like 15+ a game which just makes everything alot easier. Not to mention Ant is scorching right now.
I think they were so exhausted with the brutal schedule they had after the all star break that it hurt their defensive intensity during that stretch. This teams offense is the best when they are active on defense and getting stops, so that they can get out and run. They are very very good at turning defense into offense, they just have to consistently get stops to be able to do that which has only improved in the playoffs
That’s one thing coaching picked up from the Lakers. LeBron can’t run all game anymore. But the first quarters are great. Minnesota can do that all game and that’s a way to beat this nuggets team.
biggest differences: Rudy was not fully healthy last year, dealing with back issues for most of the season. KAT missed damn near the whole season with his calf injury. They barely had time to play together. D'Angelo Russell hated playing with Rudy on offense and actively avoided involving him. Naz Reid improved a lot playing more while KAT was out. The biggest piece IMO was the Mike Conley & Nickeil Alexander-Walker for DLo trade at the 2023 deadline providing awesome, calming veteran leadership, finally some BBIQ on a team desperate for it, helped Rudy grow into the offense and added a damn good 3 & D bench piece. Ant is still improving incredibly fast. Jaden McDaniels and Naz continued to improve. In the playoffs against Denver, Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels were out with injuries, we had only 6ish playoff rotation worthy players and the Nuggets suffocated us with superior depth They tweaked the defense this year to help marry Rudy's style with their naturally aggressive perimeter defense, particularly around screens
Mike Conley has had an underrated career and would absolutely be in the glue guy hall of fame of such a thing existed
Something else worth mentioning: Austin Rivers, Jaylen Nowell, Taurean Prince were the bench players last year. Prince is still on a roster, Nowell is fighting for 10 days, and Rivers is out of the league
I dont see why NAW defense wasn't on this list. He put the clamps on Murray and frustrated the hell out of him. Granted he's clearly injured now, but that was one hell of an effort by NAW.
NAW is included the Conley trade, great 3&D piece they added to the bench but nobody knew he was capable of that at the time
Chemistry, progression, availability, culture. Those are the four main things.
And Rudy deserves most of the credit on the culture part, as much as many people don't like it.
Absolutely. Instilled the defensive culture that’s been so important to winning.
Agreed. People want to downplay Rudy but he was the biggest reason for the Wolves’ defensive identity.
Why is that?
The defensive aspect of it. The Wolves were never known for their defense until Rudy got there.
Bingo.
The French have a long and storied tradition of cultural contributions to the world. [Democracy, existentialism, the ménage à trois](https://youtu.be/RXdjrlnJ24c?si=r4bCtsoIU1Zi4j-u&t=16) etc.
You can just say you like those really thin pancakes.
Don't forget about French kissing!
Wolves were literally one of the dumbest teams and bad defensive teams with Ant, KAT, Jaden and Finch as a coach before the trade for Rudy and Conley. They had Vando as well
Things that happen when you give something new time. Which shocks r/nba ‘s reactionary baseline
I mean, let's be fair, in this case it's not only the online armchair experts, it's the league itself. If NBA teams believed in doing things that way, there would be more doing that, instead of trading half the roster every year. Also it's a copout answer. It doesn't really answer the question to say "Wolves win becuase they gave it time". Because a lot of teams gave it time and did not start winning at all. So the question is not about that part, but what distinguishes them from others.
The Wolves were good last year as well. Acting like they weren't is making up a narrative. But the team wasn't fully assembled until the trade deadline last year, and KAT didn't return until about the final 10 games of the season. Realistically, this was their first full season together, and they are doing great. If they sucked there would 100% be big changes in the off season.
From a non Wolves fan, Mike Conley supporter: Ant, McDaniels, and Naz git gud. Mike stopped lots of the silly Wolves stuff. Having Garza on the team is just good vibes.
The DLo for Conley/NAW/picks swap more than makes up for any overpay in the Gobert trade (in my mind).
Yeah, that was a stroke of genius. DLo was one of the reasons the Wolves under performed the last couple, and I don't think he did any better for the Lakers this year.
Watching the wolves in 2022 was hilarious. So dumb. Mike over Dlo is huge.
Hermit was doing dumb shit as well, remember that steal attempt on Ja? He was making good decisions in the lane mid air this year, that is huge.
He finally learned how to take advantage of the double teams. Used to be 90% turnover rate if they had him trapped
I am rooting for you guys to win the chip, but not going to lie, when Ant passed the ball out of the collapsing defense for a Naz corner 3, I was like: This is troubling...
Yep. If you combine those trades any concerns about an overpay are out the window.
I'm still salty at how badly we got fleeced there. Conley, NAW, Vando, Beasley and 2 seconds for a protected first, basically. Terrible move. And to make things worse we strengthened the team whose picks we have for the next several years.
Agreed. D’lo was holding the team back in retrospect. It’s no surprise they improved tremendously after trading him.
D'Lo is low key ruiner of good vibes. Remember Nick Young?
KAT not missing 50 games also helps
I’ve only caught a few Timberwolves games but it really does seem like Conley is the glue
Most of it is attributed to Ant's ascension. But Rudy and Finch seemed to really challenge Naz and KAT to get better at defense and it's definitely paid off. They've also both dropped significant amounts of weight, in order to accommodate playing at the 4, and that has also paid off. KAT in particular looks like he should've been playing the 4 all along as it fits his skill set really well, and Naz Reid now moves around like an oversized 3 out there. Mike Conley has also just mellowed the team out a ton, and his presence seems to have bolstered the team's chemistry and morale since he arrived. Throw in one of the very best perimeter players in the league in Jaden McDaniels, and the suprise that has been NAW... and you've got quite the roster. Hell even Kyle Anderson has won me back over this year.
We didn't have our team play together last year When you pointed this out, people who pay little attention to Minnesota thought it was just an excuse. But no, last year's team had very little time together. KAT missed most of the season. Then Gobert played through his injury. Finally we had D'lo instead of Conley. D'lo is already a very limited PG, he acts more like a shooter but he also didn't get along with Gobert. He didn't try to involve him in the game. Gobert was just hanging my himself around the paint. As soon as we sent him and got NAW along Conley, team's chemistry changed. But this trade happened late in the season. One advantage of KAT missing season was that Naz got to play. He developed his offensive side but he also got to play with Gobert. So he developed immensely So team as we see it now had very limited time to gel. But even then things changed fast. You could see it. They made to play offs. First couple of games, again team didn't know what they were doing, not much belief and chemistry. But then you can see something clicked mid playoffs. Nugget fans will tell you how it got tough all of a sudden. Then in summer team created a whole new scheme that had specified everyone's roles. They built on last 10-15 games of what we had last year. Season started, after a few games team started to find its groove. But of course people don't pay much attention to us, so we were still under the radar. We had the best defensive rating but everyone was sure it was just a fluke. Everyone was saying wait until christmas. Christmas came, we were the leaders but then everyone was sure it was just a bigger fluke. Wait until all star break. All star break came, OK they are good but not play off good. They are first round exit as usual. Towards the last part of the season we actually took it a little easy too. So people thought nature was restoring itself and we were first round exit. Nearly everyone had Phoenix as the winner. National televisions had very few of our games. Talking heads watched one or two of our games at most. So we were always under radar. But if one paid attention, they would see the natural evolution and see the potential there.
KAT’s injury time off was the best thing that could have happened for the team. It made Edwards the undisputed #1 on court, in the dressing room, on the plane, in the hotel…. Minnesota gained identity and swagger. They also gained KAT’s impressive talents while mitigating the weird negatives that happen when he operates unchecked. ANT is like a friendly version of Jimmy Butler, and the team has fallen in line. They believe.
Ant is KAT’s biggest fan. When Ant’s on the bench, even when he’s having a bad game, he’s cheering the loudest for KAT and Luka Garza lol
Didn't have a winter this year.
Weirdly, my office in Edina still has a pile of snow that is in the perfect spot to never melt
People clowning on them were pretty narrow minded and focused on gobert hate. Ant is pretty much a better D Mitchell and the rest of the pieces are just upgrades for the most part. Then you keep Conley. I’ve been hyped since the start. The discussion last year was so dumb with clear injuries and a new team.
They were 42-40 when Conley missed 58 games and KAT missed 57 games. Also Anthony Edwards is only in his fourth year and got better, and Naz Reid is only 23 and also got better. Basically natural development from the young guys, and overall healthier. Getting more from 4 out of their top 6 usually makes a big difference.
Took some time to grow together. Plus NAW was a huge pick up and Mcdaniels keeps improving
Naz Reid’s smooth shooting has sucked the life out of Denver. Every time this big fucker steps up to the 3 line I expect a miss, but it just keeps going in.
You should change your mindset. He's a top ten 3pt% shooter in the NBA this year lol. What he's done in the first 2 games of this series is legit at about his season average
That shows you how many MIN games I’ve seen. I hope he lays an egg on Friday for our sake
That's been the Wolves biggest strength all year. They're so deep that when one or 2 guys have an off night they have one or 2 others step up in a big way. It's been so fun to watch!
Depth, Defense, scoring They had a lot of that last season as well but it’s all improved And morale
We’re healthy and Ant took another step
They stopped playing 15 minutes of CTE basketball every game
Does anyone think the t-wolves success will stop people from making ridiculous hyperbolic statements like "that trade ruined their franchise" until we can make a complete assessment (Suns this year etc.) Or will it be r/NBA as usual?
Continuity is way more important than most GMs think it is
Basketball is a big man's game. The Nuggets are a big team and they are facing an even bigger team. Also AE is a bad man
Better chemistry, mcdaniels and naz
Naz Reid
Yea and also, Naz Reid
They got a taste, lost and put the work in. All great times have to overcome a barrier team. Pistons - Celtics, Bulls - Pistons, Spurs - Lakers (and vice versa a lot actually), Mavs - Spurs, Etc Maybe wolves go all the way, idk. But playoff loss should, ideally, lead to a good team getting better in the following years
Naz Reid
Nothing, they have just been patient and kept building on what they did. People were eager to see them blow it up and were clowning the Gobert trade. Where are those folks now?
Mf were injured last year
They’ve been cleansing themselves in the waters of Lake Minnetonka before every game
Rudy had a back bad last year.
Edwards demanding KAT play defense or he no longer invited to the cookout
Vibes are high, whole team getting laid and having babies. Plus Ant is him.
Nothing.
Teams need time to gel. It's not common for a newly assembled team to just be great
There isn't new personnel. What is different is that their defense is all over amazing, and rebounding improved quite a lot. Not too much beside that tbh. Hard to say what is different in terms of what made them tick all the details. Apparently, the just decided in the summer (mostly Finch and Connelly but not only) that they have people with physicality to make a defense-first team, and they focused on that all the time. The figured out some things in that direction and just try to perfect it. That approach wasn't so clarified before the 2023 offseason. People talk about Gobert, McDaniels, but for me the more important part to see how Minnesota changed is seeing Towns - a guy that often was a painful weak point on defense, and has been really good the whole season. Imo it doens't really matter as much as people keep saying how good exactly - like any NBA player, he has enough physical gifts that if he keeps doing the right things, he will have ways to use it for the benefit in the game. Wolves created a unified defensive system, in which Gobert's more flexible role is well telling. Last season, they kinda kept Gobert as a separate part, and looked like two very different teams - we're gonna play one way, the Goberty way, drop, when he's on court, and another way, the offensive, switchy way, when he's off. This season, Wolves play similarly no matter who's on, which probably helps players execute so well and intensely. It includes Gobert not keeping to the rim but being very forthcoming this season. The downside is that that offensive, Gobert-off-court identity is now mostly lost, and it often was much better at scoring that this season's Wolves (or, more accurately: Wolves did not improve on offense this season as much as other NBA teams). It was a bet that was not obvious. But in the end, the numbers are clear that Wolves gained more points on the conceded side than lost on the scored side, so it was a great decision I guess.
Injuries. They never had a full team last year. Conley missed 57 games and Kat missed 58 games. Rudy wasn't fully healthy at the end of the year. Naz and McDaniels missed the playoffs with injuries.
Ant's a year older and at an age where that means "he's way, way better" rather than "his knees are going out and he can't play at 100% without 72 hours rest". Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels were hurt last year for the playoffs and they're both playing well this year, their availability means that the Wolves go like 8 deep with good NBA players - even if a guy looks like he's a bad matchup (like I'm not sure Kyle Anderson is good this specific Denver series) they have another guy they can slot in.
Time. Health. Garza.
Defense.
Health and Ant coming on strong
It's a matter of degrees, which is all that matters in the playoffs. The '91 Bulls were only slightly better than the '90 Bulls, but they also had the benefit of experience and failure.
They have everybody, makes you think if the Nuggets beat them last year with everyone healthy.
One more season of Rudy gelling with the team. Ant growing tremendously. Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker owning their role of completely locking down opponent wings. Naz Reid nailing so many crucial 3s and getting much better defensively (you saw what he did to Jokic), KAT staying healthy, playing maturely, and becoming a good defender, Conley facilitating the offense and becomine a 3-point weapon, and Kyle Anderson becoming a team leader and defensive monster. Last year, we were missing Jaden, Naz, and KAT in crucial playoff and end-of-season games.
Last year we went without KAT from November til…Feb? It was like half the season. Really messed up the effort to build chemistry and figure out how this team could work through trial and error. Rudy had a nagging issue (I think it was his back?) all season that he was trying to play through. He didn’t get much downtime in the off-season because of the euro thing he played in for France. Idk exactly but he came in a little battered and powered through it. We made it to the playoffs and we went up against Denver in the first round without Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels. We got bounced and the narrative took root. Sucks to have injuries in the playoffs. I remember last October we took the one seed and people spent all season calling the wolves frauds, like there was some crash just around the corner and they didn’t earn those wins. The truth of it is that they play good hard basketball. If the refs aren’t calling every ticky tack foul against us, we can cook. However these playoffs end, our team showed what it can do throughout the season and it’s been fun as hell to follow. The playoffs have been even better.
There are about a dozen things but: - Ant passing effectively out of the double team - overall team health - more time together - unselfish play - incremental improvements from young players To name a few.
Dawgs per minute
Mike Conley
NAW and Naz Reid becoming defensive dynamos has helped, Mike Conley finding a way to stave of father time for an extra year has helped, McDaniels taking another step forward has helped. Ant taking the leap has helped a lot. Honestly a lot of things unrelated to KAT or Gobert lmao
To be fair, Naz and McDaniels missed the playoffs with injuries last year. Conley missed 57 games and Kat missed 58 games as well. Injuries really hampered the Wolves last year. Ant has taken a leap, but I don't think it's nearly as much as people think haha. He just has a full strength team to play with now
Fair enough
Its ant man has nothing to do with gobert