Is Minnesota better without Gobert?

[CodeBreaker]

Lol, like Game 1 never existed

[jpatrick]

Not at all. Denver had a good game, they are the defending champs. They weren't going to just roll over.

This. Gobert played terrible in game 3 but the entire team was terrible. I think they heard over three games how great they were and didn’t play with energy or execute. Add in a tight whistle early and the Wolves collapsed, like the Nugs did in game 2. I suspect you’ll see a different Wolves team in game 4 with Rudy anchoring the D.

[AdagioPace]

some people are ridiculously biased towards Gobert. He will never get enough respect. Is it because he doesn't shoot contested fadeaways, pull up jumpers and has no swag while simply being the best defender every night?

[shi-woo]

Bro the over reactions this year after every single game is starting to get nauseating

I honestly am going to feel bad and pity for which ever team loses in the finals, it's going to be a bloodbath for the stars on that team.

No, they are not better, Gobert is a fantastic player and the main cog to their incredible defense. Denver ot smacked in the mouth, made adjustments, and threw a counter punch.

Now it's Minny's turn to try and figure it out

[HMFFL]

Teams make adjustments.
Most of you will be shocked or blame Rudy when Denver ties the series.

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[Bergmaniac]

This is pretty hilarious even by the standards of the kneejerk threads here considering that the Wolves were destroyed in this game in the minutes Gobert was on the bench. They had a -36.6 net rating in these minutes (compared to -17.6 with him on the court) and this was even after taking into account the 6 minutes of garbage time where the Wolves scrubs massively outscored the Nuggets scrubs (58.8 net rating in 6 minutes). In the first half the Wolves had a -8.2 net rating with Gobert on the court and a horrendous -61 net rating when he was on the bench.

[danvato]

is realgm better withuot stupid hot takes?

people can't help themselves. they want to be the talking head show host sooooopo bad.

[danvato]

Bro the over reactions this year after every single game is starting to get nauseating

I honestly am going to feel bad and pity for which ever team loses in the finals, it's going to be a bloodbath for the stars on that team.

No, they are not better, Gobert is a fantastic player and the main cog to their incredible defense. Denver ot smacked in the mouth, made adjustments, and threw a counter punch.

Now it's Minny's turn to try and figure it out

downvote system or something. I'll roll the dice with group think issue limiting *some of the topics if it gets rid of majority of these moronic posts. either about how good Scottie Pippen would be if he was an astronaut or how a 3 time MVP and finals MVP all of the sudden is like the 200th best player in the league cause his team lost one game.

it's hopeless too ask people not to engage, so lets downvote it.

[DonaldSanders]

downvote system or something. I'll roll the dice with group think issue limiting *some of the topics if it gets rid of majority of these moronic posts. either about how good Scottie Pippen would be if he was an astronaut or how a 3 time MVP and finals MVP all of the sudden is like the 200th best player in the league cause his team lost one game.

it's hopeless too ask people not to engage, so lets downvote it.

That's one of the benefits of something like Reddit over RealGM. Less conversational, but the ridiculous takes get downvoted quickly. Here the controversial takes get a lot more focus, which makes some of these pot stirrer types love this site because instead of getting mostly ignored, their takes get attention.

Gobert does need to step up to match his reputation, but it's obviously silly that the Wolves are worse with Gobert. He's played well, but his reputation as a game changer hasn't been felt yet and the rest of his team showed their defense matters quite a bit (but we all should have known that). Odds are he will show up big at some point and this thread will get bumped.

[dhsilv2]

Seems like they played much better in game 2 without him slowing them down and clogging up the paint.

WTF are you guys watching? In game 3 they were clearly better with him on the floor. Same with game 1. Stop this crap of over reacting to the outlier which was game 2.

[dhsilv2]

I guess I'll be the one that responds with "it depends on the match up". Against a player like Jokic or Embiid, his opponents will still get numbers. Just not as dominant as they would be otherwise. But against more guard oriented/jump shot teams, yes?

What do you expect from someone using deduction work from reading all those Holmes novels.

Minny won without Gobert but lost with him - Wow dat must be it Lol

Lots of ball left to be played, but if Minnesota wins a 'chip, beating the defending champs and the unbeatable Celtics, I will eat so much crow for criticizing the Gobert trade.

The trade is already a clear success. If they win this year....it might go down as the best trade ever.

[dhsilv2]

In game 2 without Gobert, they were heavily doubling Jokic. In G3 With Gobert playing they 1v1 him. Maybe they should go back to doubling even with Gobert in the backline. They can recover very well with their length and force TO's.

That game was lost in the first half, Jokic wasn’t really a factor. It was just the overall team execution for Denver and lack of execution for Minny.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Yeah...when the issue is getting the ball across the half court line. It isn't about the big men.

[dhsilv2]

Not at all. Denver had a good game, they are the defending champs. They weren't going to just roll over.

This. Gobert played terrible in game 3 but the entire team was terrible. I think they heard over three games how great they were and didn’t play with energy or execute. Add in a tight whistle early and the Wolves collapsed, like the Nugs did in game 2. I suspect you’ll see a different Wolves team in game 4 with Rudy anchoring the D.

Gobert didn't have his best game, but terrible? The team did just fine when he was playing. They fell off a cliff without him.

[flow]

Denver dominating last night was the most predictable thing of all time. Minnesota returning home with an extended break all fat & happy while Denver was licking its wounds after being embarrassed. Gobert being back had nothing to do with it. Would have been the exact same outcome if he had sat out.

.

[Knightfall]

Gray wolves usually hunt in packs as it enables them to catch and kill large prey than they would typically handle on their own. They are most suited to catch medium to large ungulates, but will also feed on smaller prey items when available or out of necessity. In Northern Minnesota, and on the Leech Lake Reservation, this would have historically been Moose (Alces alces), Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus), Plains Bison (Bison bison), Eastern Elk (Cervus canadensis canadiensis). Due to timber harvest that altered the composition of our forests and overharvest by European settlers all of these species have all been extirpated, or in the case of the Eastern Elk, it is extinct. The forest found here now are more suitable for white-tailed deer and this is the primary prey species for wolves on the Leech Lake Reservation. The other common food item in their diet here is beaver that have also prospered from the conversion of pine and hardwood forests to young aspen.

[cdubbz]

The Gobert hate is weird from NBA players and some fans.

I get that he clogs the paint 100% and makes it difficult for a more open offense, but having his presence in the paint on defense and his teammates not having to worry about working hard every single play for defensive rebounds goes a long way.

[The High Cyde]

We’re definitely an intellectual site

[kodo]

Nah Gobert is the key to this series. He's the DPOY for a reason. He owns Jokic and always has, tbh.

He does as good of a job as anyone but “own” is a bit of a stretch since he’s sent Gobert home twice already in the playoffs.

Even on a personal stat level, last 3 years (including Utah) Joker has averaged 27 / 10 / 8 against Gobert in the RS, last year's playoffs was 26 / 12 / 9.

[jazzfan1971]

Usually Gobert is a top 15 guy in the regular season and a top 100 guy in the playoffs. He's worse in the playoffs usually, but still contributes to winning, just on a lesser level.

[Uncle Mxy]

The Gobert hate is weird from NBA players and some fans.

I didn't care much about Gobert until he became the COVID-19 doofus.
Now I want to see him lose in general, not just when he plays my team.