2023-24 NBA Season Discussion

[OhayoKD]

Legacy game for Karl Anthony Towns. Shutting down Jokic on one end and torching him on the other was not on my bingo card.

[TheGOATRises007]

That 1st half defense from the Wolves was maybe the best I've ever seen in the playoffs(without their best defender too). Certainly up there if not the best.

They've been incredible thus far.

[GSP]

Size is still king in Nba w/ exception being the Warriors

2019 - Raps
2020 - Lakers
2021 - Bucks
2023 - Nuggets

they were among the biggest if not the biggest team when they won

Bruce Brown and Jeff Green gave Denver great depth and legit size last year. They look so small and overmatched now.

[Colbinii]

Wolves are going to be in trouble when the superior regular season sample size takes over.

Yup, they are going to be in for a wake-up call once they revert to their regular season level in October.

[Colbinii]

Remember who Denver played last year. All teams they faced in the post-season were significantly worse than Minnesota and likely worse than this years Lakers.

[OhayoKD]

Remember who Denver played last year. All teams they faced in the post-season were significantly worse than Minnesota and likely worse than this years Lakers.

considering health, "likely" is doing alot of work

[Colbinii]

Remember who Denver played last year. All teams they faced in the post-season were significantly worse than Minnesota and likely worse than this years Lakers.

considering health, "likely" is doing alot of work

Very likely

[eminence]

Will the league have the spine to suspend Murray for game 3?

[TheGOATRises007]

Will the league have the spine to suspend Murray for game 3?

They should, but I don't think they will.

What he did could have seriously injured a player out there.

[OhayoKD]

Will the league have the spine to suspend Murray for game 3?

They should, but I don't think they will.

What he did could have seriously injured a player out there.

insane edwards got a tech and murray didn't.

[Heej]

Shocking Jokic looks like 2020 (playoff) Jokic when playing against size at the 5 and 4. It's almost like he's basically the same player...

Kat and Rudy both played in their series last year and he averaged 26,12,9 on .575ts

Biggest difference is Denver has no depth this year losing Brown and Jeff. They dont have anyone reliable off the bench and anyone paying attention couldve seen that before playoffs started

Murray calf injury and Kcp injury has made both play bad so far too. Murray was a disaster most of La series but just had like 3 great quarters that was enough

Eh that and the fact that they were able to have Jaden McDaniels who is arguably the best perimeter defender in the league and Naz Reid the best backup big man in the league come back. Jokic's lack of creation ability as a big limits him when his lead guard can't do it well enough. Not to mention his defense is a real target

[OhayoKD]

Shocking Jokic looks like 2020 (playoff) Jokic when playing against size at the 5 and 4. It's almost like he's basically the same player...

Kat and Rudy both played in their series last year and he averaged 26,12,9 on .575ts

Biggest difference is Denver has no depth this year losing Brown and Jeff. They dont have anyone reliable off the bench and anyone paying attention couldve seen that before playoffs started

Murray calf injury and Kcp injury has made both play bad so far too. Murray was a disaster most of La series but just had like 3 great quarters that was enough

Eh that and the fact that they were able to have Jaden McDaniels who is arguably the best perimeter defender in the league and Naz Reid the best backup big man in the league come back. Jokic's lack of creation ability as a big limits him when his lead guard can't do it well enough. Not to mention his defense is a real target

This defense would not be nearly as effective on Luka me thinks.

[GSP]

Shocking Jokic looks like 2020 (playoff) Jokic when playing against size at the 5 and 4. It's almost like he's basically the same player...

Kat and Rudy both played in their series last year and he averaged 26,12,9 on .575ts

Biggest difference is Denver has no depth this year losing Brown and Jeff. They dont have anyone reliable off the bench and anyone paying attention couldve seen that before playoffs started

Murray calf injury and Kcp injury has made both play bad so far too. Murray was a disaster most of La series but just had like 3 great quarters that was enough

Eh that and the fact that they were able to have Jaden McDaniels who is arguably the best perimeter defender in the league and Naz Reid the best backup big man in the league come back. Jokic's lack of creation ability as a big limits him when his lead guard can't do it well enough. Not to mention his defense is a real target

His defense is a real issue i never bought the narrative that his defense is actually good. I wonder how Elgee feels about this series and even La series w/ what they were running on him?

Watch on YouTube

[Heej]

Kat and Rudy both played in their series last year and he averaged 26,12,9 on .575ts

Biggest difference is Denver has no depth this year losing Brown and Jeff. They dont have anyone reliable off the bench and anyone paying attention couldve seen that before playoffs started

Murray calf injury and Kcp injury has made both play bad so far too. Murray was a disaster most of La series but just had like 3 great quarters that was enough

Eh that and the fact that they were able to have Jaden McDaniels who is arguably the best perimeter defender in the league and Naz Reid the best backup big man in the league come back. Jokic's lack of creation ability as a big limits him when his lead guard can't do it well enough. Not to mention his defense is a real target

His defense is a real issue i never bought the narrative that his defense is actually good. I wonder how Elgee feels about this series and even La series w/ what they were running on him?

Watch on YouTube

People like his game and forget part of having a high IQ is not getting into foul trouble. It's probably the most underrated superpower that LeBron has

[Doctor MJ]

Are Wolves one of the best defenses ever? This is insane...............Rudy is not even playing this game Wtf

It's eye-opening to see the Wolves due this without Gobert. Says fantastic things about where Finch has his team now.

We'll learn more as the playoffs go along about how much this is about Denver and how much this is about Minnesota, but this has the potential to really be a path to mainstream superstardom for Ant - after all the talk of no more great American players.

[GSP]

Are Wolves one of the best defenses ever? This is insane...............Rudy is not even playing this game Wtf

It's eye-opening to see the Wolves due this without Gobert. Says fantastic things about where Finch has his team now.

We'll learn more as the playoffs go along about how much this is about Denver and how much this is about Minnesota, but this has the potential to really be a path to mainstream superstardom for Ant - after all the talk of no more great American players.

The most underrated part about this series is Tim Connelly built both these teams. He made Denver and had us thinking they were the new blueprint. Then he builds a team w/ massive size and 7fters which most said wouldnt work and is now tearing apart the other team he built

[Doctor MJ]

Are Wolves one of the best defenses ever? This is insane...............Rudy is not even playing this game Wtf

It's eye-opening to see the Wolves due this without Gobert. Says fantastic things about where Finch has his team now.

We'll learn more as the playoffs go along about how much this is about Denver and how much this is about Minnesota, but this has the potential to really be a path to mainstream superstardom for Ant - after all the talk of no more great American players.

The most underrated part about this series is Tim Connelly built both these teams. He made Denver and had us thinking they were the new blueprint. Then he builds a team w/ massive size and 7fters which most said wouldnt work and is now tearing apart the other team he built

It's an ultimate "You shoulda paid me!" moment definitely, though I think it's important to recognize that Ant & Finch were there first, and I'd say both deserve more credit for this than Connolly.

But of course, Finch also used to be with Denver, so that only further pushes the revenge narrative.

[homecourtloss]

Wolves are going to be in trouble when the superior regular season sample size takes over.

80 points total in a must-win Game 2 at home against a team missing the DPoY.

GOAT offence.

[The-Power]

A lot of people seem to have been locked and loaded to unload on Jokic and the Nuggets the moment they entered a rough patch. The commenting over the past two pages would be a great fit for the GB.

That being said, the Nuggets are in serious trouble and I'm curious to see if and how they can get out of it. As I mentioned before, this team is not some juggernaut. Murray in particular was bound to come back to earth. While it is certainly true that some players are more likely to raise (or lower) their level of play in the playoffs than others, I still do believe that it is unlikely that someone consistently plays much better (or much worse) than they do in the RS. Murray's skill-set is nice for closing games and he is a good fit with the Joker, but his overall level of play just isn't at the level of All-NBA type players.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Jokic' response. Two losses in a row at home and last night in particular had him looking unprepared to deal with the T'Wolves. The greatest players are usually able to adjust and figure opponents out – at least their first game plan – and Jokic undoubtedly is one of the greatest players. I expect him to perform better from here on out (even if it still might not be enough to advance); if not, then it's going to be interesting to see over the next couple seasons whether it's just one team being able to contain him or is it something other teams can achieve as well? Coach Malone also needs to make adjustments.

On the Knicks versus the Pacers: it's truly remarkable to see Haliburton not even looking for his own shot. First and second option is to pass, and only then he'll think of scoring – even though the scoring opportunities are absolutely there. That's not going to cut it in the long run. While part of it certainly is a function of his limitations as a creator and scorer, that cannot be all of it because he managed to strike to very nice balance prior to his injury. He needs to go back to that even if he's still not at 100%.

The Knicks are a fun team to watch but they benefitted from whistles towards the end and they shot the ball really well. Part of it is Indiana's subpar defense but not all. I know a lot of people had the Knicks win this series and that's reasonable. After all, they play tough defense, should dominate on the boards, and they have the best go-to scorer in the series by a distance. That matters, and even more so in a playoff series. But I'd caution against writing off the Pacers. The reason a lot of people seem to do/have done that is because the Knicks look and play like a playoff team, while the Pacers with their weak defense and fast pace feel like a regular season team. However, I will say that the Pacers offense has the potential to run a lot smoother with less risk of failure than the Knicks one, and there is a world in which the Knicks cannot keep up with it over the course of a series. It might not happen and I do have the Knicks as (at least slight) favorites but it would not surprise me at all either.

[Lou Fan]

These last two pages read like casuals trashing Gobert but for Jokic.