Klomp wrote:ShootersShoot wrote:Ant on MPJ seems like a mismatch in favor of the nugs. Ant's not going to be able to block him off the boards or contest the jumper.
This makes no sense.
How will ANT out rebound Porter or contest his shot?
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Klomp wrote:ShootersShoot wrote:Ant on MPJ seems like a mismatch in favor of the nugs. Ant's not going to be able to block him off the boards or contest the jumper.
This makes no sense.
Klomp wrote:ShootersShoot wrote:Klomp wrote:This makes no sense.
The question was, who guards MPJ is Jaden is on Murray?
MPJ is 6'11 and a pretty decent rebounder..Its hard to contest his jumper, especially at 6'5. If he's spotting up and Ant even helps off of him a little, its an open shot. If he crashes the boards and Ant's trying to box him out, tough matchup for Ant..
Obviously on the other end MPJ is not guarding Ant, otherwise the nugs would be in a lot of trouble.
If Porter is a "pretty decent rebounder" at 6'10" with 8.4 rebounds per game in the playoffs, what is Edwards at 6'4" technically with 8.0 rebounds per game?
AleksandarN wrote:Klomp wrote:ShootersShoot wrote:
The question was, who guards MPJ is Jaden is on Murray?
MPJ is 6'11 and a pretty decent rebounder..Its hard to contest his jumper, especially at 6'5. If he's spotting up and Ant even helps off of him a little, its an open shot. If he crashes the boards and Ant's trying to box him out, tough matchup for Ant..
Obviously on the other end MPJ is not guarding Ant, otherwise the nugs would be in a lot of trouble.
If Porter is a "pretty decent rebounder" at 6'10" with 8.4 rebounds per game in the playoffs, what is Edwards at 6'4" technically with 8.0 rebounds per game?
Rebounding vs the Suns is a lot different than rebounding against a bigger team like the Nuggets
tsherkin wrote:The important thing to take away here is that Klomp is wrong.
Esohny wrote:Why are you asking Klomp? "He's" actually a bot that posts random blurbs from a database.
Klomp wrote:I'm putting the tired in retired mod at the moment
AleksandarN wrote:Klomp wrote:ShootersShoot wrote:Ant on MPJ seems like a mismatch in favor of the nugs. Ant's not going to be able to block him off the boards or contest the jumper.
This makes no sense.
How will ANT out rebound Porter or contest his shot?
Shaka_Zulu wrote:Domejandro wrote:SportsGuru08 wrote:I'm going to say Minnesota in 7, but only if KAT growns a spine and uses his size on those undersized defenders. If he just settles for threes, Denver wins.
This talking point kills me, because it's the complete opposite where Karl-Anthony Towns should be throwing up way more threes than he currently does. He already drives a ton, which leads to a bunch of offensive fouls. Towns' whistle is horrendous.
These people don't watch games, they just listen to Chuck talking points about Kat needing to drive and not shoot 3s. "Hurr durr back in my day a big went to the basket, so he should too."
When we litterally are way more likely to lose if Kat just drives (more turnovers/offensive fouls), then focus on shooting 3s which he is insanely elite at.
Klomp wrote:AleksandarN wrote:Klomp wrote:If Porter is a "pretty decent rebounder" at 6'10" with 8.4 rebounds per game in the playoffs, what is Edwards at 6'4" technically with 8.0 rebounds per game?
Rebounding vs the Suns is a lot different than rebounding against a bigger team like the Nuggets
As is rebounding against the Lakers vs. rebounding against the Timberwolves
Klomp wrote:-I think a lot of people know Chris Finch used to coach in Denver under Michael Malone, as did assistant coach Micah Nori. But do people know that on Michael Malone's staff are former Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders and former Wolves assistant David Adelman?
GeorgeSears wrote:DaFan334 wrote:GeorgeSears wrote:Jaden McDaniels hounding Murray all game with an iffy calf does concern me. Even with a healthy calf, it's a tough matchup for Murray because of the size.
Who would they have guarding MPJ if McDaniels is on Murray? I'm curious how that will work because if that's the matchup, MPJ is going to be able to get more than his fair share.
Ant.
Murray - McDaniels
KCP - Conley
MPJ - Ant
Jokic - KAT
AG - Gobert
Shaka_Zulu wrote:Domejandro wrote:SportsGuru08 wrote:I'm going to say Minnesota in 7, but only if KAT growns a spine and uses his size on those undersized defenders. If he just settles for threes, Denver wins.
This talking point kills me, because it's the complete opposite where Karl-Anthony Towns should be throwing up way more threes than he currently does. He already drives a ton, which leads to a bunch of offensive fouls. Towns' whistle is horrendous.
These people don't watch games, they just listen to Chuck talking points about Kat needing to drive and not shoot 3s. "Hurr durr back in my day a big went to the basket, so he should too."
When we litterally are way more likely to lose if Kat just drives (more turnovers/offensive fouls), then focus on shooting 3s which he is insanely elite at.
He carried us first quarters vs Suns game 4 by basically being lights out from 3, when they overhelped on Ant. And he is so big he shoots over most matchups.
tmorgan wrote:This Finch thing is going to matter, at least a little. Not having your HC in the huddle is gonna be weird.
Domejandro wrote:Bobbymcgee wrote:Gonna be embarrassing if Rudy Gobert wins DPOY and then gets ragdolled by Jokic this series.
Barring foul trouble, Rudy Gobert should not be frequently guarding Nikola Jokić throughout this series. Minnesota has sent Karl-Anthony Towns as Jokić's primary defender for two seasons now, they have him defend in single coverage.
That is what makes Minnesota such a difficult match-up for the Denver Nuggets. Karl-Anthony Towns is arguably the best man-to-man defender against Jokić in the NBA (very unique match-up) and Rudy Gobert is able to roam off of Aaron Gordon to jam up the paint and hard hedge on ball-screen actions.
TheFire wrote:Domejandro wrote:Bobbymcgee wrote:Gonna be embarrassing if Rudy Gobert wins DPOY and then gets ragdolled by Jokic this series.
Barring foul trouble, Rudy Gobert should not be frequently guarding Nikola Jokić throughout this series. Minnesota has sent Karl-Anthony Towns as Jokić's primary defender for two seasons now, they have him defend in single coverage.
That is what makes Minnesota such a difficult match-up for the Denver Nuggets. Karl-Anthony Towns is arguably the best man-to-man defender against Jokić in the NBA (very unique match-up) and Rudy Gobert is able to roam off of Aaron Gordon to jam up the paint and hard hedge on ball-screen actions.
Why do you think KAT is the best man-to-man defender against Jokic?
Domejandro wrote:AleksandarN wrote:Klomp wrote:This makes no sense.
How will ANT out rebound Porter or contest his shot?
I am pretty comfortable about Anthony Edwards being able to rebound adequately against Michael Porter Jr., the big question is whether or not Anthony Edwards can stay connected to Porter Jr. off-ball (where Anthony Edwards occasionally can get jammed-up/lost). If Anthony Edwards stays engaged off-ball, he should be able to contest fine, but Denver is extraordinarily creative with their sets to get MPJ open. While people people point to MPJ's height as a problem in that match-up, the real concern is that he is very slippery with his ability to change direction and hit defenders with a back-cut, when they over-commit to his three-point shooting ability.
If Denver wins this series, I would fully expect Michael Porter Jr.'s stats to be similar to what he dropped in the Los Angeles Lakers series. Minnesota is going to make it a point of emphasis, but the dude is a freak at getting himself open for Jokić.
Klomp wrote:AleksandarN wrote:Klomp wrote:If Porter is a "pretty decent rebounder" at 6'10" with 8.4 rebounds per game in the playoffs, what is Edwards at 6'4" technically with 8.0 rebounds per game?
Rebounding vs the Suns is a lot different than rebounding against a bigger team like the Nuggets
As is rebounding against the Lakers vs. rebounding against the Timberwolves
Domejandro wrote:TheFire wrote:Domejandro wrote:Barring foul trouble, Rudy Gobert should not be frequently guarding Nikola Jokić throughout this series. Minnesota has sent Karl-Anthony Towns as Jokić's primary defender for two seasons now, they have him defend in single coverage.
That is what makes Minnesota such a difficult match-up for the Denver Nuggets. Karl-Anthony Towns is arguably the best man-to-man defender against Jokić in the NBA (very unique match-up) and Rudy Gobert is able to roam off of Aaron Gordon to jam up the paint and hard hedge on ball-screen actions.
Why do you think KAT is the best man-to-man defender against Jokic?
Karl-Anthony Towns has the size to physically battle with Nikola Jokić, while also being very mobile laterally. People aren't aware of it, but Towns is actually a really impressive defensive player in single-coverage and high-wall action. Towns has the capacity to get into the body of Jokić without giving up driving lanes or height, which enables Minnesota to not have to double. It is similar to what people saw in the Phoenix series (I know a lot more people watched that, rather than last year's Minnesota/Denver series, understandably). Leave Karl-Anthony Towns on an island against Durant/Jokić while Minnesota largely eliminates any open three-point attempts for the rest of the team; Towns is elite at being able to contain, which empowers others to do their jobs.
Small sample-size evidence of Karl-Anthony Towns actually being an outrageously underrated defensive player:
The reason why he sucked for so many years defensively is that Towns is arguably the worst player in the NBA in drop-coverage (even before Rudy Gobert joined Minnesota, he graded out as a positive-impact defender immediately when Minnesota switched away from drop-coverage). I legitimately have never seen a worse drop-coverage big man in my entire life, it was a revelation when Minnesota made the swap and Towns magically looked competent.
As a note, Karl-Anthony Towns did shed 15-20 pounds during his recovery from the torn meniscus, so that may be a consideration for the point on size. I don't particularly think so, but figured it was worth mentioning. A secondary point is that Nikola Jokić has an ability to torch Rudy Gobert, even when Gobert plays the most aggressive man-to-man defense of his career. I have seen Jokić make unethically freakish and-1's around Rudy's wingspan that give me nightmares.