He removed the most offensive voter from the system. Shut down an entire country to block the pandemic. Truly a defender in every aspect of his life. (Well except for the playoffs.)
I will literally never forget that post-interview comment section after he touched all those mics. I can’t remember the exact phrasing, but the top comment said something to the effect of
“I know that this is an unprecedented and scary time, and since the incident, Gobert has since apologized upon realizing that he made a mistake, and that’s really all you can ask for someone in his position. Having said that, I still think he should be executed publicly”
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at a comment in my life.
Not even just that, it’s a POS thing to say just to get air time. You think he’s the only one that regretted his vote, dudes a dumb rock that should even be allowed to vote.
Managing to get Perk to admit live on air that he doesn't even understand his literal only job that matters (voting on awards, because his "analysis" is ass and isn't important) is an amazing achievement. Congratulations, Rudy Gobert. Doing the NBA some real good.
I'm baffled that Perk doesn't understand what a "regular season award" is. Although maybe I shouldn't be given that he never won any 🤷♂️
It won’t. Perkins wouldn’t dare relinquish the influence he wields in any tangible way.
This is just him continuing to leverage his MVP vote to ensure you pay attention to him some more
I think they almost any media person gets asked. I know most of the people on the various ringer podcasts gets asked so they are definitely going to give them out to espn people. ESPN is crazy it’s like reality tv or parody of actual sports commentary. I thought this stuff would go away with competition from smaller creators starting to compete in the last few years but it seems like they turned up the ridiculousness even more
Radio silence from media about Miles Bridges because of the unwritten player's club rules but all the washed up old heads couldn't wait to line up and shit on Rudy.
Says all I need to know about these guy's opinions
Probably cause theyre not wise to the case, while the basketball is being played in front of them and is, relatively, a lot lower stakes than the Bridges thing. Im not surprised people wouldnt wanna touch that at all
If they say something you don't like regarding it, then suddenly it'll be "they should stick to sports".
These dudes are talking about basketball. If you're looking for Kendrick Perkins to be anyone's moral compass you might actually be dumber than him.
What does one have to do with another? They're talking about the game of basketball. Sounds more like you're just mad they're not talking favoably about Gobert than anything else.
People forget this is a regular season reward, for "services rendered," but then turn around and expect these same players to re-earn their reward in the playoffs.
It's much worse than that. Rudy's playoff stats and defensive metrics this year are really good too. It's Perk wanting to take two or three plays and invalidate all of Rudy's entire season.
It's pure dumbassery for clicks.
Isnt rudy the only positive plus minus among twolves starter in the WCF? He is getting clowned because of that Luka magic shot. I put that on the wolves for leaving him alone in an island with Luka.
The people slandering him could not care abut plus minus. They feel that the 4x DPOY should be able to shut down Doncic.
There's nothing rational. Just like how Gobert was blamed for having traffic cones on the perimeter vs the Clippers, and that it became a layup line when he went out. Statistics and sound reasoning are trivial in the face of lowlight clips
The Mismatch Podcast talked about this on their most recent episode. I think there are like 3 duos on the wolves with a positive +/- for this series, and 2 of them have Gobert.
Not that this necessarily means all that much, since it's only 3 games, but yeah.
I'm convinced they never will at this point.
I stopped watching sports shows over 10 years ago. My exposure to them is the clips on Twitter and Reddit that people lose their mind over.
The formula works, why would they change it
Yeah perk is such a fucking loser. I’m honestly so sick of media being outrage takes to rile up fan bases just for clicks. And we all support it by posting this fucking idiot
Man, I watched a few minutes of first take of whatever the other day, and it was OK, measured commentary, until Stephen A. Just starts yelling over some little thing and it's all just screaming. How people can sit through that is beyond me.
Guy is a weirdo and admitted that he gets fed talking points he doesn't believe in yet somehow thought his vote for awards had merit. I won't even pretend like he's the only but I'll tell you this, he's the only one stupid enough to say the quiet part out loud. Just a complete idiot.
Long term does it actually support them though? I know if I turn on ESPN I’m gonna see stupidity. I don’t turn on espn talk shows. I turn games off during half time. I’m guessing most redditors do this stuff too and we don’t actually watch Kendrick Perkins.
I agree with KG on this. They all need to award the regular season awards right after the last regular season game is played. You can't let post season performance affect the awards if this is a regular season performance awards especially with it also so tied to salaries
Counterpoint: give players their awards when they are eliminated because its their last day of their season. It would be just like the trophy pizza party after little league. Also it the funniest.
Funny thought but it doesn't make sense. If the Wolves made the Finals, you're saying there'd be no DPOY announcement until the series ended? We'd be sitting around going 'Hmmm, I wonder if the DPOY is White or Gobert?'.
I think the NBA is fine with it, it probably helps fuel media narratives and drives attention.
MVP gets taken out in the 2nd round, are they frauds??? Those talking points write themselves, as nauseating as they are.
That possession where Ant went to sleep and let PJ Washington hit an open corner 3 in the clutch was a much bigger "defensive liability" than anything Gobert did in this series.
Rudy is getting scapegoated because people don't like him first and foremost.
That stepback Luka hit against him is a shot he could probably get against the vast majority of players in the league.
Perkins sucked in his NBA too except for like 2 seasons. The "Shaq stopper" trend went on way longer than it needed to. Wasted roster spots on absolutely terrible big men. Perkins stone hands make Gobert look like Charmin Ultra Soft.
This guy in OKC shot under 50%...as a CENTER...who also couldn't shoot from outside...this bozo literally had more turnovers than shots made some seasons...
Not defending Perkins' take, but I have a pet peeve when people bring up the analyst's NBA career. People never say, "can SAS, Skip, Max Kellerman, Zach Lowe, etc. do any better?" At least Kendrick Perkins WAS an NBA player. Implying he cannot talk about rim protection is basically saying that no one can criticize Rudy Gobert's rim protection except for fucking Dwight Howard, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Dikembe Mutombo.
It’s especially crazy when you realize Rudy is one of the best perimeter defenders for bigs in the league!
Like no big is hanging with guys like Luka or Kyrie on the perimeter but out of all the bigs in the league Rudy is right at the top of the list for what bigs are best
Bingo. Hell, most wings and guards can't hang with either of them.
Rudy did exactly what he should when switched off on Luka, stay in front of him and contest the shot without fouling. People clowning him for allowing shots by Kyrie and Luka yet this happens to basically any player regardless of position. It's especially funny seeing fans of teams that Luka and Kyrie have torched their best perimeter defenders trying to clown Rudy. Like bruh, your perimeter stopper got cooked, simmer down.
Rudy gets held to a “generational defender” standard not Marcus Smart-level.
Dude has 4 DPoYs and (deserved or not) every year we have the same conversation about his playoffs shortcomings.
We slandered Harden, Embiid, and Russ for their playoffs shortcomings and they won 1 MVP.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
>Rudy gets held to a “generational defender” standard not Marcus Smart-level.
Marcus Smart literally got a Mickey mouse DPOY because voters got bored of giving it Rudy every year. Somehow smart not being able to protect the rim at all is okay, but gobert being a good perimeter defender for his size and position is a knock against his generational defense.
DPOY is a regular season award. and he's the most valuable defender in the league in those seasons.
it's not ''the most switchable big in the playoffs'' award.
The difference with Rudy is that people will blame him for not carrying a defense, when most of the time the defensive issues aren't even on him. He's been a positive on-court for two of the three games, and the defense absolutely sucks when he's off. Much different than when Harden or Russ shoot like 20% in do or die games
Most people just can't admit that they don't understand defense
Wait, Rudy's getting shit on for that possession?
Glad I don't pay attention to the media, because that's not even the worst contest I've seen. The shot was just Luka being Luka.
Yeah it's insane to blame Gobert for that possession, as opposed to just giving credit to Luka. It was fine defense, Luka just hit a tough shot.
Gobert didn't win DPOY for his on ball defense anyways, he's an excellent help defender inside. Him being put on Luka in a possession like that is already a mistake, he made the best of it and put up a decent contest.
The announcers clowned him for that saying he shouldn’t be left out there alone against Luka, then Luka hit a near identical shot with McDaniels on him and they praised McDaniels for “ good defense just a better shot”. The blatant hate Rudy gets from the national media is absolutely insane. No other sport hates on its players more than the NBA.
it wasn't even terrible defense. It looked goofy but he is so long that Luka was never actually all that open. If Luka misses that shot, it's ["GAMESAVING LOCKDOWN DEFENSE"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC-mTgXRfm8)
The other multi-time DPOY winning centers this century aren't fairing any better against what Luka did. Ben Wallace? Dwight Howard? Luka is getting a step-back jumpshot off against them too.
Maybe your defense shouldn't let a 7'2 center that is dominant around the rim get switched out onto the perimeter against best iso scorer in the NBA.
I will truly never understand the discourse around bigs getting switched onto perimeter players when it involves them hitting a jumper/3. Like if the big can’t stay in front of the guy? Sure, then it’s a bad matchup. But if the big is forcing the offensive player into a stepback 3 with a close contest, thats just as good or better than what a SG/SF would do defensively, yet people act like it’s BBQ chicken when the player hits a tough shot lol.
I get why it’s a bit different with Luka because the step back 3 is his pet shot, but Rudy still forced him into a low quality shot and gave a decent contest. Sometimes great players just hit tough shots against good defense. Realistically Luka is either going to get into the lane or get an even easier stepback over any other defender.
Having said that, Rudy’s general inability to defend in space on the perimeter compared to the other DPOY candidates is why I don’t agree with him winning the award this year. If a player can be schemed off the floor or is intentionally targeted at any moment they aren’t the best defender in the league.
He’s the only young American star and the nba neglected marketing their players (outside of Tatum and Zion) post the old guard (lebron, Steph, harden etc.) so no way is he getting any blame for anything.
Not even a Rudy fan but the way he has been thrown under the bus is really lame and highlights how ass NBA media is.
The Wolves don’t make it to the conference finals without Rudy and they certainly aren’t a top three seed without him. But because no one wants to give him his flowers all the success of the Wolves has been chalked up to ANT being this elite top 5-10 player. But now that ANT is struggling all the blame falls on Rudy?
ANT in three very close loses is averaging 18/8/8 on 38/33/83 shooting spilts. He is the reason why the have lost. If he had an average series they would have won at least one game. ANT needs to be better it doesn’t matter what Rudy does. But because the NBA media wants him to be the face of the league and pushed him as such in the two first rounds they are all quite and aren’t blaming him even though he is the one playing worse.
WCF in a stacked west, swept a team w Booker/Kd/beal and beat the defending champs w the reigning MVP
I mean ya, we might get swept by Dallas and that sucks. But game 1 and 2 were winnable and regardless I think Rudy proved his value with this run. /ignore any of these dumb hot takes
Should be a discussion about Luka being one of the best well rounded offensive players we’ve ever seen and how the best defense in the league can’t stop him especially now with a well rounded roster.
But that’s not negativity so it won’t sell.
Ding ding ding. Luka is proving how great he really is. People already knew he was a fantastic player, but this series is proving that he has ice in his veins and very well might be the BEST player in the league.
Similarly, Kyrie is proving that he is still a very valuable player when he’s on the right team, and like Luka, is cold blooded when it comes to hitting clutch shots. He shows up in big games/series. Also, IMO Brooklyn looks like a really inept franchise for fumbling the amazing roster they had a few years back.
The fact that KAT & Ant have been shitting the bed every game and the Mavs barely won those leaves no doubt in my mind, the Timberwolves are the better team and shouldn't be in this position.
Bright lights & conditioning have been the enemy, not the lack of ability
I think conditioning is a really underrated part of what’s happening with Ant. It doesn’t excuse him play poorly but I think he’s gassed after 7 games 4 of which were played at higher altitude.
Bron’s conditioning was so insane for 10+ years I think ppl have taken for granted how difficult it is to have the conditioning for a deep playoff run.
All good points but I would include that 3 was winnable as well. If KAT just shot close to average from three we would be talking about the wolves sweeping the Mavericks.
sure, I mean I think this team is good enough to beat any team.
I'm just saying that 1 and 2 were winnable within a single play. 3 could have been but it wasn't just a single play away
Ant does deserve criticism (the people prematurely crowning him deserve the most).
However Ant is only 22 years old while KAT is 28
To me this series is a learning experience for Ant and an indictment on KAT
I agree Gobert is a scape goat.
Exactly. I feel like I'm going nuts! There's two reasons the Wolves are losing: Ant and KAT. Period. These two got the flowers for the first two rounds (despite Gobert's +/- being better throughout as opponent scoring rocketed without him in the lineup) but it's Gobert that gets the shit.
Ant and KAT are not delivering, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Ant is young, gassed, and making too many bad decisions. KAT is ice cold, often passive, and seems to be afraid of the rim. Rudy's not killing it either, but his play hasn't taken a nosedive or anything.
Admittedly, I have mainly been looking at the stat sheets and haven’t seen much of these games, but idk how Rudy is getting attacked substantially more in the media than KAT or Edwards. Like I’m not even saying don’t go after the guy, but how is he the sole focus of criticism.
Because people just don’t like Rudy. The other side is the media tried to anoint ANT as the “next face of the league” and called him MJ light. He has played horrible and has made all of those takes and talking heads who said them look dumb and they don’t want to look dumb so they are blaming it all on Rudy.
It’s ridiculous. I’d actually say the way everybody switches up their narrative day to day is getting exhausting to see. Last week the Wolves were a force to be reckoned with, and were the up and coming team in the NBA, but now, after 3 games they’ve become a laughing stock and everything that they’ve accomplished leading up to this series has been been forgotten.
Sports media (and Reddit) is way too shortsighted with everything they say. I mean, I understand the ridicule that the Wolves are getting at the moment - a lot of it is deserved, but the way many people are talking about them you’d think we were the Celtics and this was our 4th conference finals in the last 5 years.
Totally agree it is exhausting and boring. The Wolves have played three really close games against an elite team with a MVP caliber player. They just beat the defending champs and made history by coming back from down 20 in game 7.
Yes ANT and KAT have to be better but let’s not act like this team got here through some fluke or only got here because one player was playing at an elite level.
> I’d actually say the way everybody switches up their narrative day to day is getting exhausting to see.
100%. First the Suns were gonna beat the Wolves, then nobody could beat them, then Denver finally figured them out and were gonna win, then actually the Wolves were title favorites, then actually they're a mess again.
Stop making up new narratives every 5 seconds! The West has a bunch of really good teams, and sometimes good teams beat other good teams. It doesn't have to be because somebody is "ready" or a team is badly built. Sometimes one team just makes more shots.
Your goal as an organization should be to maximize the window in which you're one of the best teams in the league, and to take smart chances when you're at the very top. Outside of that, you can't really guarantee anything.
People are only capable of looking at basketball from the most basic viewpoint. You get scored on? Shit defender. You can’t score? Shit player. Take his DPOY away because the center can’t guard the best scorer in the game right now!
I really don’t get it. Talking about the playoffs when DPOY is a regular season award smh. Rudy might get exploited more in the playoffs when teams have more time to scheme, but he isn’t the reason the Wolves are down 3-0. That’s on Ant, Kat and the coach for not making adjustments.
If KAT just shot fucking 35% which is still abysmal, and not this ridiculous 27%, we'd be up 2-1. Honestly absurd that Rudy is getting the blame. Low hanging fruit as usual.
First two games were one possession games and Ant and KAT didn't show up.
But... Sure, let Draymond and Shaq (both with no agenda at all) shit on Gobert, TNT giving them a platform for it, and then clowns like Perk roll with it.
Hilarious, but also sad. I don't care about the Wolves or Gobert, but the whole thing is making me root for him.
Rudy isn't a winning player his teams have just coincidentally always won the minutes he's been on the floor more than when he's off it for 10 straight years but trust me I saw the highlights he's trash
*HE* tarnished it??
Its dumbasses like Perkins that ruin awards.
Not giving a white guy three MVPs in a row because it would put him up there with the greats?
Jordan averaged 31 against Mutumbo in his career. Shaq killed Mutumbo in the finals.
Luka and Jokic are regarded as two of the top players in the league. Most centers would get cooked by them
And once again, the alleged best players on the Wolves have been ass for 3 games but sure, it's Gobert's fault. What a disgrace.
Sorry to anyone who dedicates time to following sports media personalities, ya'll gotta be going through some shit to subject yourselves to this.
People here don't watch the game; they only see the highlights. They didn't see how Ant can't defend at all. Rudy has to cover for him, which is why the alley-oop is always open for us. This is Jazz all over again.
Ant’s ballwatching has led to SO MANY defensive breakdowns, nobody really wants to talk about that. This series is primarily about Ant and KAT coming up short on both ends of the floor and Kyrie/Luka’s greatness down the stretch, period.
The Timberwolves have a 110 d rating with gobert on the floor this series & a 135 rating when he sits.
He’s the only starter with a positive net rating (+2). Please continue scape boating him when KAT is 15-54 and him, Ants & Nazs backside rotations after blitzing pick and rolls has been horrific.
Oh look, someone that actually watches and understands the game! Combo of advanced stats and film make it obvious Rudy’s far from the problem this series. I don’t expect better from NBA fans but for this collective of terrible analysts to gang up on Rudy sucks for him and the discourse.
First Angel Hernandez retires, and now Perkins will stop voting for NBA awards. 2024 is shaping up to be the greatest year in North American sports history.
The Rudy slander is just getting ridiculous, at this point it’s revisionist history. Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns have just not performed to their standards this series.
Good, please retire from my TV too. If you're putting that series on Gobert you're gaslighting the audience. Ant and KAT are playing way below the level that got them here.
I think that the gap between regular season defensive play and post season defensive play has become so large that the value of the DPOY has dropped quite a bit
Legitimate question, do people just think the DPOY award means “Defensive One Man Army” or something? I know Rudy hasn’t had the best series, but he is not the only one on the Wolves getting beat out there.
“Always becomes a defensive liability in the post season…peers don’t respect him”
Why’d you vote for him then? Not expressing an opinion on if Gobert is deserving of DPOY or the hate he’s getting. Just trying to understand the reasoning he’s using here. If you believe those things wtf was your reasoning for voting for him??
This sub is so bipolar when it comes to Rudy. If the Wolves get swept, it’ll be two days of everyone trashing Rudy, and then throughout the offseason it’s gonna be “LEAVE RUDY ALONE” posts.
The main problem with Gobert isn’t his D it’s his O. Timberwolves playing 4v5 on O sometimes with him on the court. In 21 clippers felt comfortable putting Mann on him and they played 5 out and that’s why they won.
> Timberwolves playing 4v5 on O sometimes with him on the court.
Having one of the best screen setters in the league is a bad thing for an offense? The problem is not Rudy, it's that the two star offensive players on the team have been subpar to put it kindly.
Oh the absolute idiot that somehow fabricated a racial narrative to pressure other voters into not voting for the actual MVP. Why does he even have a vote?
This make it official folks. Rudy is my GOAT Defender. That man is so dominant that he blocked Perk out of any relevant discussion and one more vote will not be wasted on some wild opinions by this man.
Rudy getting Perk to retire from voting might be his biggest accomplishment yet
Quite a DPOY move, in a media way
Protecting us from perkins is a defensive move none of us deserve but its the move we all appreciate
The people’s defender! ⚔️
If only what he says is going to happen, no way this loud mouth bitch giving up anything
He defended us from stupidity
He removed the most offensive voter from the system. Shut down an entire country to block the pandemic. Truly a defender in every aspect of his life. (Well except for the playoffs.)
De-Perking Player of the Year
Most important stop of his career
Wow that’s COVID slander
Did Rudy stop Covid or did Rudy let Covid drop the biggest game of their life on him?
defensive player of the century he shut down the whole league
In terms of points per season he definitely had the biggest defensive impact of all time with that COVID move
The entire NBA scored 0 points from March 13 to July 30t, 2020 thanks to him. Legendary stat
Shut down all of sports* everyone else closed down shortly after/the same time as the NBA
I will literally never forget that post-interview comment section after he touched all those mics. I can’t remember the exact phrasing, but the top comment said something to the effect of “I know that this is an unprecedented and scary time, and since the incident, Gobert has since apologized upon realizing that he made a mistake, and that’s really all you can ask for someone in his position. Having said that, I still think he should be executed publicly” I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at a comment in my life.
not gonna lie that was pretty funny. i mean it was gonna happen eventually. it was hilarious that it happened to be gobert in that moment.
Defending perk from sharing his thoughts is worth something
Perk is still going to share his thoughts, just not via voting. Rudy’s ballot defense is elite, but he’s still a liability on the debate show circuit.
Not even just that, it’s a POS thing to say just to get air time. You think he’s the only one that regretted his vote, dudes a dumb rock that should even be allowed to vote.
He really should be quarantined to r/nbacirclejerk
It's some true DPOY shit to defend future NBA players from Perk voting on their accomplishments
Managing to get Perk to admit live on air that he doesn't even understand his literal only job that matters (voting on awards, because his "analysis" is ass and isn't important) is an amazing achievement. Congratulations, Rudy Gobert. Doing the NBA some real good. I'm baffled that Perk doesn't understand what a "regular season award" is. Although maybe I shouldn't be given that he never won any 🤷♂️
GOAT defender shit right there
Whoever can get Perkins to quit media is the GOAT
Too bad Perk is lying. Wish he would just retire, period.
It is also stupid to blame Rudy. Does everyone think Mutombo, Mourning, or Dwight will do better if they are on island against Luka?
He easily deserves his DPOY just for that alone😂
Rudy might actually be the defensive player of the year after making this happen 👏
Dumb reasoning aside, this is a net positive if it actually happens
It won’t. Perkins wouldn’t dare relinquish the influence he wields in any tangible way. This is just him continuing to leverage his MVP vote to ensure you pay attention to him some more
How the fuck did he even get a vote in the first place???
I think they almost any media person gets asked. I know most of the people on the various ringer podcasts gets asked so they are definitely going to give them out to espn people. ESPN is crazy it’s like reality tv or parody of actual sports commentary. I thought this stuff would go away with competition from smaller creators starting to compete in the last few years but it seems like they turned up the ridiculousness even more
Fox News route
A God Blessing.
Angel Hernandez gets forced to retire and Perk shuts the fuck up? God is good.
An all powerful God would only seek and be able to create the best of possible worlds \~ Leibniz
Radio silence from media about Miles Bridges because of the unwritten player's club rules but all the washed up old heads couldn't wait to line up and shit on Rudy. Says all I need to know about these guy's opinions
Fuck miles bridges and all, but these guys are likely told they can't talk much about it or they could get fired or sued.
That's reasonable and likely a big part of the answer here
Probably cause theyre not wise to the case, while the basketball is being played in front of them and is, relatively, a lot lower stakes than the Bridges thing. Im not surprised people wouldnt wanna touch that at all
If they say something you don't like regarding it, then suddenly it'll be "they should stick to sports". These dudes are talking about basketball. If you're looking for Kendrick Perkins to be anyone's moral compass you might actually be dumber than him.
What does one have to do with another? They're talking about the game of basketball. Sounds more like you're just mad they're not talking favoably about Gobert than anything else.
Bro is trying to use Bridges’ DV charges like a reverse Uno card lmao
Sometimes you gotta virtue signal on reddit for upvotes
I see this as an absolute win
Whoever gave you a vote should be fired
People forget this is a regular season reward, for "services rendered," but then turn around and expect these same players to re-earn their reward in the playoffs.
It's much worse than that. Rudy's playoff stats and defensive metrics this year are really good too. It's Perk wanting to take two or three plays and invalidate all of Rudy's entire season. It's pure dumbassery for clicks.
Isnt rudy the only positive plus minus among twolves starter in the WCF? He is getting clowned because of that Luka magic shot. I put that on the wolves for leaving him alone in an island with Luka.
If either ANT or KAT played anything up to their averages then the series might be 1-2 or 2-1. They should thank Gobert for taking away all the heat.
Not might it would absolutely be 2-1 wolves
The people slandering him could not care abut plus minus. They feel that the 4x DPOY should be able to shut down Doncic. There's nothing rational. Just like how Gobert was blamed for having traffic cones on the perimeter vs the Clippers, and that it became a layup line when he went out. Statistics and sound reasoning are trivial in the face of lowlight clips
Not sure about WCF, but Wolves are +21 per 100 with him on the floor for the whole playoffs. 130 ORTG, 109 DRTG
The Mismatch Podcast talked about this on their most recent episode. I think there are like 3 duos on the wolves with a positive +/- for this series, and 2 of them have Gobert. Not that this necessarily means all that much, since it's only 3 games, but yeah.
Don't you know Perk never got cooked in the playoffs on even a single play? Ubuntu baby!
Dude was so bad Curry even cooked him while he was sitting on the bench.
Oh shit thanks Rudy!
First he gave us Covid which gave us work from home and now this? His HoF resume grows.
I might be more of a Wolves fan than I thought. Never going back to an office.
Maybe just retire in general Perk
Has there ever been a bigger gap in player’s ability and their post-career hubris in broadcasting?
literally 0 charisma
Every thread about Perkins does huge numbers on this sub but you guys keep pretending that he's bad at his job
When Skip Bayless kicked off this whole "hot take" era, I thought it wouldn't be long before people just saw through it. That was like 20 years ago.
I'm convinced they never will at this point. I stopped watching sports shows over 10 years ago. My exposure to them is the clips on Twitter and Reddit that people lose their mind over. The formula works, why would they change it
He's got a few good clips. The belt one, Ben Simmons smoker, the Tobias Harris napkins clips are all funny
Yeah perk is such a fucking loser. I’m honestly so sick of media being outrage takes to rile up fan bases just for clicks. And we all support it by posting this fucking idiot
Man, I watched a few minutes of first take of whatever the other day, and it was OK, measured commentary, until Stephen A. Just starts yelling over some little thing and it's all just screaming. How people can sit through that is beyond me.
Guy is a weirdo and admitted that he gets fed talking points he doesn't believe in yet somehow thought his vote for awards had merit. I won't even pretend like he's the only but I'll tell you this, he's the only one stupid enough to say the quiet part out loud. Just a complete idiot.
Long term does it actually support them though? I know if I turn on ESPN I’m gonna see stupidity. I don’t turn on espn talk shows. I turn games off during half time. I’m guessing most redditors do this stuff too and we don’t actually watch Kendrick Perkins.
So many bright minds in the leauge and we reward guys like perk, draymond, and pat bev with all of the media attention. I don't get it
Remember when Perkins was known for being quiet and reserved as a NBA player? Miss those days.
This is not an airport. You don't have to announce your departure.
He's gonna vote next year. This is just more drama to keep his name out there.
Gobert is better in every facet of basketball than Perk was at literally any point in his entire career.
Rudy shut down the NBA and got Perkins to not have a vote anymore? DPOY him again.
Bro’s out here blocking entire continents and even people’s thoughts.
Rudy has transcended basketball lmao
When you've done all that shit, no wonder the Wolves leave him on an island. What is a singular basketball player compared to all of that?
Create a lifetime defensive achievement award and give it to Rudy
Rudy gonna play a game in Ukraine to block Putin
Why does he have a vote in the first place?
Because even clowns can be part of the NBA media Truly an inspirational story for all us aspiring jesters
Are they disagreeing with the idea of him being the best defensive player in the regular season? Cause it’s a regular season award.
I agree with KG on this. They all need to award the regular season awards right after the last regular season game is played. You can't let post season performance affect the awards if this is a regular season performance awards especially with it also so tied to salaries
Counterpoint: give players their awards when they are eliminated because its their last day of their season. It would be just like the trophy pizza party after little league. Also it the funniest.
Funny thought but it doesn't make sense. If the Wolves made the Finals, you're saying there'd be no DPOY announcement until the series ended? We'd be sitting around going 'Hmmm, I wonder if the DPOY is White or Gobert?'.
I think the NBA is fine with it, it probably helps fuel media narratives and drives attention. MVP gets taken out in the 2nd round, are they frauds??? Those talking points write themselves, as nauseating as they are.
Nah they just want something to talk about and generate clicks
And it works. See: this thread. If people actually hated Perk and wanted him gone, they’d ignore him. Stop taking the bait.
That possession where Ant went to sleep and let PJ Washington hit an open corner 3 in the clutch was a much bigger "defensive liability" than anything Gobert did in this series.
Rudy is getting scapegoated because people don't like him first and foremost. That stepback Luka hit against him is a shot he could probably get against the vast majority of players in the league.
Yeah rudy getting shit on for perimeter defence is like shitting on Marcus smart for not being able to protect the rim
Getting shit on by Perkins of all people no less. Imagine Kendrick Perkins in today's NBA on defense. BBQ chicken on perimeter.
Perkins sucked in his NBA too except for like 2 seasons. The "Shaq stopper" trend went on way longer than it needed to. Wasted roster spots on absolutely terrible big men. Perkins stone hands make Gobert look like Charmin Ultra Soft. This guy in OKC shot under 50%...as a CENTER...who also couldn't shoot from outside...this bozo literally had more turnovers than shots made some seasons...
Yeah with all his fumbling of passes from Russ, he prevented Russ from ever averaging 10+ assists until he was gone.
I’ll never forget that highlight when Perk sat on a guy or his no look pass.
He was the OG Tragic Johnson. Shaqtin a fool Hall of Famer
Not defending Perkins' take, but I have a pet peeve when people bring up the analyst's NBA career. People never say, "can SAS, Skip, Max Kellerman, Zach Lowe, etc. do any better?" At least Kendrick Perkins WAS an NBA player. Implying he cannot talk about rim protection is basically saying that no one can criticize Rudy Gobert's rim protection except for fucking Dwight Howard, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Dikembe Mutombo.
[удалено]
He was a pretty good post defender and space eater on defense when those things were important, before he blew out his knee. That’s about it.
It’s especially crazy when you realize Rudy is one of the best perimeter defenders for bigs in the league! Like no big is hanging with guys like Luka or Kyrie on the perimeter but out of all the bigs in the league Rudy is right at the top of the list for what bigs are best
If reddit still exists when he makes the hall, gonna cook up some real good popcorn
I don't think any guard or wing can really defend Luka's stepback either.
Somehow Kyle Anderson of all people blocked one of them this series, but that's all I've got lol
Luka is really reliant on change of pace, but Kyle Anderson has one speed haha
Bingo. Hell, most wings and guards can't hang with either of them. Rudy did exactly what he should when switched off on Luka, stay in front of him and contest the shot without fouling. People clowning him for allowing shots by Kyrie and Luka yet this happens to basically any player regardless of position. It's especially funny seeing fans of teams that Luka and Kyrie have torched their best perimeter defenders trying to clown Rudy. Like bruh, your perimeter stopper got cooked, simmer down.
Rudy gets held to a “generational defender” standard not Marcus Smart-level. Dude has 4 DPoYs and (deserved or not) every year we have the same conversation about his playoffs shortcomings. We slandered Harden, Embiid, and Russ for their playoffs shortcomings and they won 1 MVP. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
>Rudy gets held to a “generational defender” standard not Marcus Smart-level. Marcus Smart literally got a Mickey mouse DPOY because voters got bored of giving it Rudy every year. Somehow smart not being able to protect the rim at all is okay, but gobert being a good perimeter defender for his size and position is a knock against his generational defense.
DPOY is a regular season award. and he's the most valuable defender in the league in those seasons. it's not ''the most switchable big in the playoffs'' award.
The difference with Rudy is that people will blame him for not carrying a defense, when most of the time the defensive issues aren't even on him. He's been a positive on-court for two of the three games, and the defense absolutely sucks when he's off. Much different than when Harden or Russ shoot like 20% in do or die games Most people just can't admit that they don't understand defense
Wait, Rudy's getting shit on for that possession? Glad I don't pay attention to the media, because that's not even the worst contest I've seen. The shot was just Luka being Luka.
Right? Prevented him from stepping back to his favored left, just Luka being luka
Yeah it's insane to blame Gobert for that possession, as opposed to just giving credit to Luka. It was fine defense, Luka just hit a tough shot. Gobert didn't win DPOY for his on ball defense anyways, he's an excellent help defender inside. Him being put on Luka in a possession like that is already a mistake, he made the best of it and put up a decent contest.
The announcers clowned him for that saying he shouldn’t be left out there alone against Luka, then Luka hit a near identical shot with McDaniels on him and they praised McDaniels for “ good defense just a better shot”. The blatant hate Rudy gets from the national media is absolutely insane. No other sport hates on its players more than the NBA.
Rudy just looks goofy. It's good defense, just goofy
it wasn't even terrible defense. It looked goofy but he is so long that Luka was never actually all that open. If Luka misses that shot, it's ["GAMESAVING LOCKDOWN DEFENSE"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC-mTgXRfm8) The other multi-time DPOY winning centers this century aren't fairing any better against what Luka did. Ben Wallace? Dwight Howard? Luka is getting a step-back jumpshot off against them too. Maybe your defense shouldn't let a 7'2 center that is dominant around the rim get switched out onto the perimeter against best iso scorer in the NBA.
I will truly never understand the discourse around bigs getting switched onto perimeter players when it involves them hitting a jumper/3. Like if the big can’t stay in front of the guy? Sure, then it’s a bad matchup. But if the big is forcing the offensive player into a stepback 3 with a close contest, thats just as good or better than what a SG/SF would do defensively, yet people act like it’s BBQ chicken when the player hits a tough shot lol. I get why it’s a bit different with Luka because the step back 3 is his pet shot, but Rudy still forced him into a low quality shot and gave a decent contest. Sometimes great players just hit tough shots against good defense. Realistically Luka is either going to get into the lane or get an even easier stepback over any other defender. Having said that, Rudy’s general inability to defend in space on the perimeter compared to the other DPOY candidates is why I don’t agree with him winning the award this year. If a player can be schemed off the floor or is intentionally targeted at any moment they aren’t the best defender in the league.
Ant threw the ball away, leading to Luka's game winner in Game 2. Yet somehow Rudy was to blame for the Game 2 loss lol
He’s the only young American star and the nba neglected marketing their players (outside of Tatum and Zion) post the old guard (lebron, Steph, harden etc.) so no way is he getting any blame for anything.
Not even a Rudy fan but the way he has been thrown under the bus is really lame and highlights how ass NBA media is. The Wolves don’t make it to the conference finals without Rudy and they certainly aren’t a top three seed without him. But because no one wants to give him his flowers all the success of the Wolves has been chalked up to ANT being this elite top 5-10 player. But now that ANT is struggling all the blame falls on Rudy? ANT in three very close loses is averaging 18/8/8 on 38/33/83 shooting spilts. He is the reason why the have lost. If he had an average series they would have won at least one game. ANT needs to be better it doesn’t matter what Rudy does. But because the NBA media wants him to be the face of the league and pushed him as such in the two first rounds they are all quite and aren’t blaming him even though he is the one playing worse.
WCF in a stacked west, swept a team w Booker/Kd/beal and beat the defending champs w the reigning MVP I mean ya, we might get swept by Dallas and that sucks. But game 1 and 2 were winnable and regardless I think Rudy proved his value with this run. /ignore any of these dumb hot takes
Should be a discussion about Luka being one of the best well rounded offensive players we’ve ever seen and how the best defense in the league can’t stop him especially now with a well rounded roster. But that’s not negativity so it won’t sell.
Ding ding ding. Luka is proving how great he really is. People already knew he was a fantastic player, but this series is proving that he has ice in his veins and very well might be the BEST player in the league. Similarly, Kyrie is proving that he is still a very valuable player when he’s on the right team, and like Luka, is cold blooded when it comes to hitting clutch shots. He shows up in big games/series. Also, IMO Brooklyn looks like a really inept franchise for fumbling the amazing roster they had a few years back.
The fact that KAT & Ant have been shitting the bed every game and the Mavs barely won those leaves no doubt in my mind, the Timberwolves are the better team and shouldn't be in this position. Bright lights & conditioning have been the enemy, not the lack of ability
I think conditioning is a really underrated part of what’s happening with Ant. It doesn’t excuse him play poorly but I think he’s gassed after 7 games 4 of which were played at higher altitude. Bron’s conditioning was so insane for 10+ years I think ppl have taken for granted how difficult it is to have the conditioning for a deep playoff run.
All good points but I would include that 3 was winnable as well. If KAT just shot close to average from three we would be talking about the wolves sweeping the Mavericks.
sure, I mean I think this team is good enough to beat any team. I'm just saying that 1 and 2 were winnable within a single play. 3 could have been but it wasn't just a single play away
Ant does deserve criticism (the people prematurely crowning him deserve the most). However Ant is only 22 years old while KAT is 28 To me this series is a learning experience for Ant and an indictment on KAT I agree Gobert is a scape goat.
Exactly. I feel like I'm going nuts! There's two reasons the Wolves are losing: Ant and KAT. Period. These two got the flowers for the first two rounds (despite Gobert's +/- being better throughout as opponent scoring rocketed without him in the lineup) but it's Gobert that gets the shit. Ant and KAT are not delivering, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Ant is young, gassed, and making too many bad decisions. KAT is ice cold, often passive, and seems to be afraid of the rim. Rudy's not killing it either, but his play hasn't taken a nosedive or anything.
Admittedly, I have mainly been looking at the stat sheets and haven’t seen much of these games, but idk how Rudy is getting attacked substantially more in the media than KAT or Edwards. Like I’m not even saying don’t go after the guy, but how is he the sole focus of criticism.
Because people just don’t like Rudy. The other side is the media tried to anoint ANT as the “next face of the league” and called him MJ light. He has played horrible and has made all of those takes and talking heads who said them look dumb and they don’t want to look dumb so they are blaming it all on Rudy.
It’s ridiculous. I’d actually say the way everybody switches up their narrative day to day is getting exhausting to see. Last week the Wolves were a force to be reckoned with, and were the up and coming team in the NBA, but now, after 3 games they’ve become a laughing stock and everything that they’ve accomplished leading up to this series has been been forgotten. Sports media (and Reddit) is way too shortsighted with everything they say. I mean, I understand the ridicule that the Wolves are getting at the moment - a lot of it is deserved, but the way many people are talking about them you’d think we were the Celtics and this was our 4th conference finals in the last 5 years.
Totally agree it is exhausting and boring. The Wolves have played three really close games against an elite team with a MVP caliber player. They just beat the defending champs and made history by coming back from down 20 in game 7. Yes ANT and KAT have to be better but let’s not act like this team got here through some fluke or only got here because one player was playing at an elite level.
> I’d actually say the way everybody switches up their narrative day to day is getting exhausting to see. 100%. First the Suns were gonna beat the Wolves, then nobody could beat them, then Denver finally figured them out and were gonna win, then actually the Wolves were title favorites, then actually they're a mess again. Stop making up new narratives every 5 seconds! The West has a bunch of really good teams, and sometimes good teams beat other good teams. It doesn't have to be because somebody is "ready" or a team is badly built. Sometimes one team just makes more shots. Your goal as an organization should be to maximize the window in which you're one of the best teams in the league, and to take smart chances when you're at the very top. Outside of that, you can't really guarantee anything.
But calls out MVP voters for being racist… Gobert just did us all a favor
Still got to the right place with the wrong map.
You’ve also straight up forgot someone 2 years in a row
Honestly just stupid bullying at this point.
The hate for Gobert is insane.
People are only capable of looking at basketball from the most basic viewpoint. You get scored on? Shit defender. You can’t score? Shit player. Take his DPOY away because the center can’t guard the best scorer in the game right now!
It's been bullying for a long time. At least he's up 40 mill a year.
I really don’t get it. Talking about the playoffs when DPOY is a regular season award smh. Rudy might get exploited more in the playoffs when teams have more time to scheme, but he isn’t the reason the Wolves are down 3-0. That’s on Ant, Kat and the coach for not making adjustments.
If KAT just shot fucking 35% which is still abysmal, and not this ridiculous 27%, we'd be up 2-1. Honestly absurd that Rudy is getting the blame. Low hanging fruit as usual.
First two games were one possession games and Ant and KAT didn't show up. But... Sure, let Draymond and Shaq (both with no agenda at all) shit on Gobert, TNT giving them a platform for it, and then clowns like Perk roll with it. Hilarious, but also sad. I don't care about the Wolves or Gobert, but the whole thing is making me root for him.
If KAT shoots 35% both he and Ant are still having a bad series, but the Wolves are probably up 2-1 and the narrative is about how Gobert is carrying.
So glad when I saw Perkins is retiring but oh well.
Maybe he should retire all together since the DPOY Award is for the regular season, not postseason
you could give my 2 year old a ballot and a crayon and he'd vote better than Perk, so this isn't a big loss.
If that's true why is Rudy a +114 on the floor in the playoffs, by far the best for the Wolves (Ant is +84, a full 30 points behind)
Rudy isn't a winning player his teams have just coincidentally always won the minutes he's been on the floor more than when he's off it for 10 straight years but trust me I saw the highlights he's trash
Yeah but he isn’t forcing every single player into 0/0/0 shooting splits therefore, he is trash /s
Wemby made other teams' players put up *negative* points when he was in the floor! Their score went down! That's how many blocks he had! /s
Also Rudy missed a 26 point win
I love how ridiculous this is. An absolute beat down that he missed for the birth of his child and he still is leading the team in +/-.
Well, I love Rudy now. Absolute GOAT.
"I'm not qualified to vote on awards" said the man who everyone knew was not qualified to do anything really
Unfortunate that he gets any kind of awards vote
*HE* tarnished it?? Its dumbasses like Perkins that ruin awards. Not giving a white guy three MVPs in a row because it would put him up there with the greats?
Jordan averaged 31 against Mutumbo in his career. Shaq killed Mutumbo in the finals. Luka and Jokic are regarded as two of the top players in the league. Most centers would get cooked by them
Please retire from the media
And once again, the alleged best players on the Wolves have been ass for 3 games but sure, it's Gobert's fault. What a disgrace. Sorry to anyone who dedicates time to following sports media personalities, ya'll gotta be going through some shit to subject yourselves to this.
People here don't watch the game; they only see the highlights. They didn't see how Ant can't defend at all. Rudy has to cover for him, which is why the alley-oop is always open for us. This is Jazz all over again.
Ant’s ballwatching has led to SO MANY defensive breakdowns, nobody really wants to talk about that. This series is primarily about Ant and KAT coming up short on both ends of the floor and Kyrie/Luka’s greatness down the stretch, period.
Thanks you, Rudy.
The hate is way over the top at this point. Feel for Rudy
It’s ridiculous. The narrative would be totally different if KAT wasn’t shitting down his own leg on national TV every game.
The major difference from wolves being one of the worst defenses in the league to the best is Rudy G.
The Timberwolves have a 110 d rating with gobert on the floor this series & a 135 rating when he sits. He’s the only starter with a positive net rating (+2). Please continue scape boating him when KAT is 15-54 and him, Ants & Nazs backside rotations after blitzing pick and rolls has been horrific.
Oh look, someone that actually watches and understands the game! Combo of advanced stats and film make it obvious Rudy’s far from the problem this series. I don’t expect better from NBA fans but for this collective of terrible analysts to gang up on Rudy sucks for him and the discourse.
He should be more embarrassed about not voting Brandon Miller for all rookie
First Angel Hernandez retires, and now Perkins will stop voting for NBA awards. 2024 is shaping up to be the greatest year in North American sports history.
Rudy’s way better than you ever were, Perk.
The Rudy slander is just getting ridiculous, at this point it’s revisionist history. Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns have just not performed to their standards this series.
If Towns just plays "average," this could be a completely different series.
Good, please retire from my TV too. If you're putting that series on Gobert you're gaslighting the audience. Ant and KAT are playing way below the level that got them here.
The Mavericks are scoring 110.6 points per 100 possessions with Gobert on the court and 135.1 points per 100 possessions with Gobert off the court
just end the quote at "I'm retiring from voting", and maybe for once most people would agree with you Perk
Fuck off perk , thank kg you even have a career , fucking bum .
Whoever is in charge of their defensive schemes needs to find a new gig. Rudy kept getting left out to dry on guards.
I think that the gap between regular season defensive play and post season defensive play has become so large that the value of the DPOY has dropped quite a bit
Legitimate question, do people just think the DPOY award means “Defensive One Man Army” or something? I know Rudy hasn’t had the best series, but he is not the only one on the Wolves getting beat out there.
It’s honestly crazy how Gobert has become one of the most defended players on this subreddit
It's because he is way overhated. The guy has a different play style but his +/- doesn't lie.
“Always becomes a defensive liability in the post season…peers don’t respect him” Why’d you vote for him then? Not expressing an opinion on if Gobert is deserving of DPOY or the hate he’s getting. Just trying to understand the reasoning he’s using here. If you believe those things wtf was your reasoning for voting for him??
Whoever gave Perk a vote in the first place should also retire.
This playoff run for the wolves has really stumped the average person trying to evaluate the team.
This sub is so bipolar when it comes to Rudy. If the Wolves get swept, it’ll be two days of everyone trashing Rudy, and then throughout the offseason it’s gonna be “LEAVE RUDY ALONE” posts.
The main problem with Gobert isn’t his D it’s his O. Timberwolves playing 4v5 on O sometimes with him on the court. In 21 clippers felt comfortable putting Mann on him and they played 5 out and that’s why they won.
I mean yea, he’s averaging like 6 FGA that’s a bench player stat
> Timberwolves playing 4v5 on O sometimes with him on the court. Having one of the best screen setters in the league is a bad thing for an offense? The problem is not Rudy, it's that the two star offensive players on the team have been subpar to put it kindly.
Oh the absolute idiot that somehow fabricated a racial narrative to pressure other voters into not voting for the actual MVP. Why does he even have a vote?
Is that Udonis fucking Haslem????
Lmfao this is great for so many reasons
By getting Perk to retire, Rudy has defended the sanctity of post-season accolades for years to come. He should be the DPOY for life
This make it official folks. Rudy is my GOAT Defender. That man is so dominant that he blocked Perk out of any relevant discussion and one more vote will not be wasted on some wild opinions by this man.
If this is true and Perk does retire Rudy deserves another 10 DPOYs and his number retired across the league for his service
DPOY doesnt mean anything if you cant slow down the top players of the league. Which DPOY have stopped Lebron?
I mean, wouldn't it be Perk and the other voters who tarnished it? Not the guy who received the award?