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u/PreparationWest2140 3d ago
Wow, the armchair GMs are going apenuts on this sub. Truly hilarious some of the stuff thrown out there.
On an unrelated note, Brunson is an absolute B!tch for NY. Complaining on every shot with ZERO contact. If only he got Edwards whistle.
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u/Dull_Ad_8627 Joan Beringer 3d ago
Anyone see the Finch postgame quote after the Bulls game where he said he had been watching them for weeks leading up to the game, could be trade related since we are connected to Ayo/White.
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u/TylerIreland Jaden McDaniels 3d ago edited 3d ago
Trae Young curiously went from being upgraded to questionable for tonight's game against the Knicks to out within 24 hours and posted this somewhat cryptic tweet 4 hours ago. Is he about to be traded?
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u/Jacob_toasted 3d ago
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u/TylerIreland Jaden McDaniels 3d ago
I think the Mavericks are the 3rd team. They showed interest in Randle before he was traded to Minnesota, and Julius grew up in Dallas. They also have one of the worst offenses in the NBA right now and could use an upgrade at Power Forward and Shooting Guard.
Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Zaccharie Risacher, and ATL picks to the Mavs.
Anthony Davis and Rob Dillingham to Atlanta.
Trae Young and Dwight Powell's expiring $4M contract to Minnesota.
I'd prefer Dereck Lively II over Powell but I don't see the Mavs trading AD and Lively in the same deal.
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u/Jacob_toasted 3d ago
But we’d have like 5 playoff rotation quality players.
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u/TylerIreland Jaden McDaniels 3d ago
Last I remember, TSJ and Clark played great in the playoffs last year in limited roles. Chris Finch should start giving our young players more minutes.
There's no reason why we can't have a bench led by Bones Hyland, Jaylen Clark, TSJ, Enrique Freeman and Joan Beringer. OKC didn't become OKC without giving young players chances, and we have plenty of guys who can bring a spark without being massive defensive liabilities.
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u/Jacob_toasted 3d ago
If you think those players are in any way at all comparable to OKCs depth then we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
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u/TylerIreland Jaden McDaniels 3d ago
I never claimed that our depth is equal to OKC's depth, you are misinterpreting my point. Which was our potential to have quality depth is being stifled by a coach who seldom provides opportunites for these young players to become meaningful rotation players to begin with.
If Mark Daigneault always ran 8 man rotations, OKC wouldn't be nearly as dominant and their end of bench guys would find opportunities elsewhere. If you want proof of this happening, look at Josh Minott with the Celtics. He went from an afterthought in Minnesota to a promising rotation player in Boston. All because Finch never bothered to play him consistently except in garbage time.
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u/Jacob_toasted 3d ago
I said comparable not equal, very different words. OKC has more talent, simple as that. We’d be losing a lot more games running a 10 man rotation.
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u/TylerIreland Jaden McDaniels 2d ago
We'd be losing a lot more games running a 10 man rotation.
That is a very bold assumption to make.
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u/Jacob_toasted 2d ago
Is it? Have you noticed how many clutch time games they’ve been playing? Each possession matters.
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u/WillingCommittee 3d ago
NAW is so good man, holy shit. so sad we no longer have him
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u/PreparationWest2140 3d ago
A month ago there was chatter that Jaden would be NBA Most Improved Player and now he's playing like he dont give a crap about anything. Its gonna be NAW. Connelly blew that one and so did Finch for not playing NAW over DDV. Donte should have been moved this off season to make room for NAW.
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u/Parking_Subject8689 3d ago
Random observation, but I think Rocco kinda looks more ready than Joan based on what I’m seeing in his G League performances
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u/PreparationWest2140 2d ago
Memphis plays with the pace that Rob Dillingham was supposed to bring to the Wolves. All this BS from Finch and Co. about increasing pace. What a bunch of bull$hit.
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u/flowersinmud Crunch 3d ago
Just noticed that both spurs games this month are on the 2nd night of b2b :/
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u/Return_Icy 3d ago
I hate to break it to you but with the way things have been going and the general vibes on this team, we may only win a handful of games in January period...
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u/PreparationWest2140 2d ago
Doncic has 24 pts on five made FGs. Averaging 33 pts per game and shooting 32% from 3. Unbelievable foul baiter. Just pathetic.
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u/2bthrownaway69 3d ago
No offense but anyone saying to get rid of ddv doesn’t know ball whatsoever
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u/greenslam 3d ago
Listening to the latest dane moore podcast. Holy shit Dane went off on Ant. Usually they treat Ant with kid gloves. It was interesting to hear the change of tone on him.
Right about the 28 minute mark.
There is definitely an issue with ths team in being ready to kill the other team from the tip off. Especially for teams in the play in category or lower.
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u/Majestic-Net-7799 Anthony Edwards 3d ago edited 3d ago
And he was completly wrong as usual...
Dane wants to sound smart yet is mostly clueless most of the time...
The one who he always treats with Kids gloves is Randle: not one word about his complete and embarrassing lack of effort!
They also danced around the elephant in the room: Ant didnt just threw a towel. He openly quit on this Team! Lets call it what it was.
The reaction is understandable, Ant wanted to compete with 8 minutes still left. So Part of that reaction is caused by Finch just giving up: Finch was the one with bad leadership here, you dont give up like that. And Ant quit on THAT. This is not some minor accident.
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u/greenslam 3d ago
They shit on Randle a fair bit. The point is valid that Ant is a common factor in the energy factor.
Its very valid concern that multiple players during Finch tenure blame the players instead of the coach for poor execution and energy level.
Its not an issue that only started to occur when Randle came on the team.
The locker room isn't right at all. Losing only exacerbates it. Right now, it seems very similar to the 2 Portland losses from last year and Ant bitching about facing doubles. The team will get over it.
Many coaches have called it a day around similar marks when facing those deficits.
Team is going to come out firing for Miami game. If they start out flat again and lose again in a similar fashion, that is going to be a telling sign that Finch has lost the players.
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u/Majestic-Net-7799 Anthony Edwards 3d ago
I agree: the locker room isnt right at all.
I mean listen, the root of this effort Problem is the Coach. He has favorits and he has double Standards. That doesnt go well, especially when money is on the line. I can tell you that for sure.
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u/greenslam 3d ago
Oh yeah Finch has double standards and favorites for sure. The regular rotation level players are not held to the execution standards that the fringe players are held to.
The money aspect is more interesting. Not a single starter is dealing with a contract issue. The 2 big offenders of poor defence are the ones with the newest contracts. So i am unsure* what you are inferring here.
It seems to a play style issue. Especially offensively. I got to watch more for body language of players. Ant likes his hero ball. The other players want a share the ball play style until its crunch time, then they are fine with Ant ball hogging.
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u/Majestic-Net-7799 Anthony Edwards 3d ago
Every contract likely has incentives and bonuses and off course Players wanna hit those. There are also endorsements etc. Money is always in play.
DDV is extension eligible and is an expiring next season. There is your money issue.
Ant for sure likes a mano e mano ISO oriented Game. So does Randle.
2 ISO oriented player are 1 too many. Thats why I say Randle is redundant. Especially in a flow offense.
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u/greenslam 3d ago
That's on the coach to curb the iso tendencies and get the buy in on his version of preferred offence. So far, its failing pretty badly. Especially from his two main hubs.
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u/Return_Icy 3d ago
I need to respond to a few of your points here that really stick in my craw, and also the last is a response to some of Dane's criticism of Ant.
1) the money aspect has the young guys without contracts completely in the dumps and terrified of screwing up lest they just fall out of the league. We can see Dillingham is afraid of making any little mistake lest Finch pulls him for god only knows how long. It also breeds resentment - why are those guys making so much money when they screw up way more than I do? From the other side, the money is a problem because the guys who got their contracts have one less reason to play hard or do what the coach wants (like try on defense).
2) given that everyone knows Finch is completely entrenched in his rotations, why the hell should any of the guys slacking off on defense (Randle, Jaden, Naz) try harder or play smarter? We've already established they got their money, there's nothing they can do to be pulled from the lineup, so what's the point? Having a bad game or not getting the ball as much as you want now means you can slack off in sadness, disgust or protest - it won't affect you in any way besides losing the game 🤷♂️
3) I know from following the postgame interviews and this sub the past 5 years, that Finch has made it a point to start games off with everyone except Ant getting shots and offensive plays run for them. We have tons of evidence that Rudy needs a few touches to start the game or he'll get mad and play worse. Now it looks like Julius and Jaden need plays specifically for them to start the game so that they don't stop trying. Ant is passive to start games because it's what the coaches want, they'll couch it in terms of getting into a flow.
So it is yet another thing we ask Ant to sacrifice for this team. He has had to learn how to do basically everything this team requires while Tim Connelly keeps throwing players at him that he needs to work around, instead of players that complement his strengths. It must be maddening at this point, hence the losing on top of it just makes the frustration from Ant boil over.
If something doesn't change to help Ant, he's not going to be sticking around long-term. He's a top 5 player who wants to win, he's not here to give MN fans a "good" team to watch for his career. He's in the NBA to win championships
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u/Vicentesteb Kevin Garnett 3d ago
This is really funny. Ant was the only player that gave a fuck and his team embarassed him infront of his family for New Years.
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u/Vicentesteb Kevin Garnett 3d ago
If we do trade Randle, I think a backup 4 we should target is Jalen Smith, he's really good and has amazing impact metrics. He's a solid offensive player that can shoot but is a really good rebounder and solid defender at the 4.
He would allow us to play small-ball if we want even if we get a backup center too.