[Highlight] Timberwolves’ rotating defense in the clutch ends in an Ayo steal
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The defensive intensity was beautiful to watch all night
23-24 vibes
I’m looking forward to looking back at that heartbreak being the thing that took us to this year’s level. Never been more excited for the Wolves.
Definitely 23-24 vibes, which says a lot about the coaching because there are so many new players on the roster that weren’t there in 23-24
And people said we won’t be a good defensive team with LaMelo Ball
You don’t get it, we lost the immense defensive presence of Julius Randle and Naz Reid
Naz was great on perimeter. Randle was elite when he tried hard, which admittedly wasn’t often enough. But yes LaMelo has been very good.
Disagree here. Naz was not a great perimeter defender, and Randle was never elite (he was solid / good when he tried hard, but not elite)
Naz was good next to Rudy as a defender. Without Rudy he was very bad.
Naz was not great on the perimeter lol.
Randle was ‘elite’ for about 10 quarters randomly interspersed throughout a season and solid to bad for the rest.
Randle was never “elite” lmao. Occasionally he would put effort in like you said and actually keep his guy in front. And it seemed like a huge play because all 4 other people were doing their job and he actually stepped up and did his.
The rest of the time he was always the last one back on defense and as a forward he average one block per decade.
Randle was basically a very good defender in situations where he was A. trying B. had the strength advantage and C. allowed to foul
Naz was not a great perimeter defender. Average at best. He would bite at any pump fake even from non-3pt shooters and get beat to the rim almost every time
Naz was absolutely great at remaining on the perimeter as his man dribbled right past him
Naz was a bad perimeter defender. Randle was one of the worst defenders in the NBA. He refused to rotate 98% of the time.
Naz was possibly the worst perimeter defender who got minutes on our team last year. Only one worse might have been Bones. He offered some value next to Rudy as decent weak side rim protection and rebounding but not on the perimeter.
Naz wasn’t a positive defender and Randle was pure beans when it mattered
Naz and Randle were both… fine at best
was ready to tee up my reply but seems the record has been set straight 😂
While all the rotations there were excellent, the play being broken up was 100% Rudy taking on the 2-on-1 in the paint from the pick-n-roll until ayo got down to force the kickout. That was the real hard stop of the blender Houston had going.
Good lookin. This is the stuff people don’t understand when talking shit about Rudy. He is in control of the paint.
Maybe is a cold take but even without Edwards this is still the best team Lamelo has ever been on in the NBA and a lot of people are going to see why in the next couple months
How is that a cold take lol. Also Ant decided to just get the surgery over with now precisely BECAUSE this is our team
Yeah of course, its still a team. Charlotte was just a bunch if dudes doing stuff
It took a few games for them to figure out their identity without Ant but last night was very fun
Ayo is a dawg
They’re all good defenders.
Timberwolves are playing really well. Pretty sure they have the #1 offense without Dante and Ant, who could easily drop around 30 PPG. They also top 3 in defense. Still very early into the season, but I believe they could maintain the #1 offense in the league and be a top 5 defensive team this season.
Not to mention being without the spark plug that is TSJ off the bench
I swear he’s good for 10-15 pts any time it’s needed (see: playoffs vs nuggs last year)
That whole sequence was a thing of beauty right there.
I had the audio playing without looking and thought this was a blazers highlight. Then remembered Kevin is in Minnesota 😢
I had the same thing happen with Micah Nori in a video.
He’s been great. I enjoyed him pronouncing it as youston all game as well
Chris Finch. In Finchy we Trust.
Smith Jr. probably should’ve just taken that shot instead of tossing a grenade to Fred. Feel like he had the space to get a clean off over Lamelo.
I think the main error is in the Eason-Amen exchange. That could have been a lob if Eason read it quicker. But really Amen should be spaced out a little further with Rudy on him, either for a middy which he can hit or to get some momentum going into a layup. Understandable cause against most centers he’ll get that dunk/lay from the dunker spot there
Almost as good as the Suns playoff game where everyone was rotating!
love a good team defense highlight
Ayo gonna get 6MOY. Calling it
Finch got these dudes rotating on a string, that clutch possession was a clinic fr
Beautiful
You got some ball players, Finchy!
Love how it’s like only Timberwolves commenters in this post
I’m here lurking, feeling sad 👋