WCS Game 1: Minnesota at Denver, Saturday

[TimberKat]

Ant's stat against PHX is insanely good. 31 pt, .512 shooting pct, over .400 3pt pct, 8 rb, 6.3 ast. That is MJ type number

[karch34]

KAT won first series with a big game. Think that weight removed means something. Also think the narrative we beat a bad Suns team is BS. We played 5-8 a lot and came through many hay makers, not the least end of game 4 when two HOF scored 82. Might not be our turn but we played Denver well last two years especially with Naz and Jaden. Let the fun begin!

[winforlose]

Ant's stat against PHX is insanely good. 31 pt, .512 shooting pct, over .400 3pt pct, 8 rb, 6.3 ast. That is MJ type number

You think that looks good, check out his road numbers

[Guest84]

KAT won first series with a big game. Think that weight removed means something. Also think the narrative we beat a bad Suns team is BS. We played 5-8 a lot and came through many hay makers, not the least end of game 4 when two HOF scored 82. Might not be our turn but we played Denver well last two years especially with Naz and Jaden. Let the fun begin!

Especially with a lot of ppl expecting the wolves to get beat due to the reg season losses. They switched up quick and would rather say Phx played poor than give the wolves credit for actually making them play poorly. I like the underdog narrative though...keep it going.

[winforlose]

Apparently the Wolves won’t travel to Denver until Friday. Massive mistake that puts us at a severe disadvantage in games 1 and 2.

[Klomp]

Apparently the Wolves won’t travel to Denver until Friday. Massive mistake that puts us at a severe disadvantage in games 1 and 2.

That's pretty normal for teams.

[TimberKat]

Apparently the Wolves won’t travel to Denver until Friday. Massive mistake that puts us at a severe disadvantage in games 1 and 2.

Maybe they plan to play a 11 man rotation. I agree, the more time up there running, the better.

[winforlose]

Apparently the Wolves won’t travel to Denver until Friday. Massive mistake that puts us at a severe disadvantage in games 1 and 2.

That's pretty normal for teams.

Denver’s altitude is the ultimate home court advantage. You wanna get there ASAP and acclimate. Get your body used to the increase work load and your stamina will be better come game time.

[Klomp]

Apparently the Wolves won’t travel to Denver until Friday. Massive mistake that puts us at a severe disadvantage in games 1 and 2.

That's pretty normal for teams.

Denver’s altitude is the ultimate home court advantage. You wanna get there ASAP and acclimate. Get your body used to the increase work load and your stamina will be better come game time.

The fact that Tim Connelly, Chris Finch and Micah Nori all once lived and worked in Denver and still made the decision they did tells me they're not too worried about it.

[winforlose]

That's pretty normal for teams.

Denver’s altitude is the ultimate home court advantage. You wanna get there ASAP and acclimate. Get your body used to the increase work load and your stamina will be better come game time.

The fact that Tim Connelly, Chris Finch and Micah Nori all once lived and worked in Denver and still made the decision they did tells me they're not too worried about it.

Or they want to be close for Finch so they can visit him after his surgery and then all fly together. I honestly don’t know if it’s one, the other, or both.

[BlacJacMac]

Apparently the Wolves won’t travel to Denver until Friday. Massive mistake that puts us at a severe disadvantage in games 1 and 2.

That's pretty normal for teams.

Denver’s altitude is the ultimate home court advantage. You wanna get there ASAP and acclimate. Get your body used to the increase work load and your stamina will be better come game time.

A couple days isn't going to make a difference.

[BlacJacMac]

Canis comment:

BouncePass
I keep seeing comments like this. Denver isn’t that high, but it’s something like 17 percent less oxygen in the air. It takes around 5 days to get “used” to that for walking around, but strenuous exercise makes the problem worse. There is some suggestion that rigorous exercise is easier right away after traveling (within the first two days) than in the 3-5 day window when the body is going through the adjustment process.

By the way, it takes much longer for the body to accumulate an advantage for athletic purposes (altitude training) — at least 4 weeks.

All of this is to say that going to Denver early probably doesn’t help much—it’s just not enough time to acclimatize. These guys are incredible athletes, and their training should allow them to play at a high level of intensity.

[Domejandro]

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Above showcases why I think we could see Nickeil Alexander-Walker switched onto Michael Porter Jr. in niche cases, throughout the series. Michael Porter Jr. can shoot over anyone if he is given any space, so guarding him requires staying into his body to deny the initial catch and/or prevent him from being able to catch-and-release.

[Guest84]

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Above showcases why I think we could see Nickeil Alexander-Walker switched onto Michael Porter Jr. in niche cases, throughout the series. Michael Porter Jr. can shoot over anyone if he is given any space, so guarding him requires staying into his body to deny the initial catch and/or prevent him from being able to catch-and-release.

What I saw in that was a shooter shooting in rhythm. Regardless of the contest, these guys are too skilled to allow them to shoot in rhythm. However, as we saw in the Phx series, I think each of Jaden, Naw, Ant, Kyle, and even Karl will see time on MPJ. Same with Murray (Naw, Ant, Jaden, Kyle).

Can the wolves keep the poise they had against Phx? One thing in the LAL series was how tight Den rotations were. I think I heard they only went like 7-8 deep. The wolves' depth vs Den starters could play a huge role in this series. The wolves grew stronger over the course of the game while Phx weakened due to lack of depth.

I think you let Joker get his and stay home on everyone else. Do not let the hustle guys (Braun, etc) beat you either.

[Klomp]

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[TimberKat]

Canis comment:

BouncePass
I keep seeing comments like this. Denver isn’t that high, but it’s something like 17 percent less oxygen in the air. It takes around 5 days to get “used” to that for walking around, but strenuous exercise makes the problem worse. There is some suggestion that rigorous exercise is easier right away after traveling (within the first two days) than in the 3-5 day window when the body is going through the adjustment process.

By the way, it takes much longer for the body to accumulate an advantage for athletic purposes (altitude training) — at least 4 weeks.

All of this is to say that going to Denver early probably doesn’t help much—it’s just not enough time to acclimatize. These guys are incredible athletes, and their training should allow them to play at a high level of intensity.

Interesting... So it is saying the second game is harder. Should they flyout that night and come back for the 2nd game? I am also wondering if they have Oxygen tanks (like the football players) on the bench would help? Does DEN actually have an above average home court winning pct? Even in those losing seasons?

[Note30]

Do we know when they will update the time for the game?

[BlacJacMac]

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[thinktank]

Apparently the Wolves won’t travel to Denver until Friday. Massive mistake that puts us at a severe disadvantage in games 1 and 2.

That's pretty normal for teams.

Denver’s altitude is the ultimate home court advantage. You wanna get there ASAP and acclimate. Get your body used to the increase work load and your stamina will be better come game time.

Dane said they fly in today, I believe (Thursday). They will practice on Friday.

[wolves_89]

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The Wolves players are healthy for the Denver matchup, but they will be largely without their head coach. From the sound of it, Finch is going to be really limited in terms of mobility. The likely scenario is that he will be seated behind the bench with Nori being the defacto head coach during the games.