***Official Suns vs. Wolves Play Off Thread***

[focker]

This, this and more of this.
We should know by now. No calls are coming.

The less we whine, the more calls we'll get IMO. When we go nuts about the calls we're not getting, it almost always gets worth rather than better.

NBA refs do not like being 'shown up' during the game.

And you know they got a thing for Rudy. KAT has done it so much they don't even pay attention anymore. Now Ant yelling EEiihhhhhyyy every time he goes hard is going to start rubbing refs the wrong way. Like you said, refs don't like to be shown up, and yelling like Ant does insinuates the refs missed a call.
I just wish it would drive him to play harder. That's why MJ was so great, if he didn't get a call he would cram it down their throats the next time down.

Ant now cries for a foul on 90% of the shots he takes and 100% of the drives. It's gotten out of control.

[salamander]

If we do win against the Suns, we'll most likely end up playing the Nuggets the next round and I'd feel more comfortable with that matchup. What a weird year.

[YBBR]

Was anyone able to listen to Finch with PA this morning?

I heard it. Starting strong and not falling behind was Finch’s main key to success.

Paul Allen was focused on Grayson Allen, weirdly. Also PA stated that it’d be hard to beat the Suns if their “big three freaking mamma jammers” were “on hit legit and scoring with aplomb, ya say.”

PA also said, "My favorite puffy squad the plucky Twolves are looking to put the Suns in arears for size. A1 from Day One, king of the captain cool covenant, is looking to montage a victory in common thread fashion and house a series win in a bad economy with a smoking ban. And trip on this. Here comes Kat, like wildfire strolling over yellow mountain, looking to take something called Jusuf Nurkic to handling school. The Wolves will grease the wheels of a noisy bad dream that's gone fully pear-shaped the last three matchups and bring Loserville USA the love we lost. In closing, copyright the Sanford Townsend Band, don't let the mickey-freaking screendoor hit you on the way out, Suns. Bee Deet! Covenant claps for ya boy!"

I hope that's real. Either way well done

[focker]

If we do win against the Suns, we'll most likely end up playing the Nuggets the next round and I'd feel more comfortable with that matchup. What a weird year.

No way. Suns may have beaten us more this year, but they are not as good of a team as Denver, especially in the playoffs.

[PurpleValhalla]

Wolves in 7. The championship run starts now!

[witljon]

I think folks about being WAAAYYYY to negative on here and in T-wolves land overall. Wolves have a legitimate chance of winning this series. Phoenix is not that good and has lost a ton of game they should have won this year. They definitely have a tendency to check out of games.

If we bring it early each game we can win each game. Stop worrying about the refs and play ball.

I believe the Wolves can win this series, but the Suns are really good. Beal is a star player. Booker might be the best SG in the league. And Durant is a top 20 player all time. It doesn’t matter who we play because it’s going to be tough. We have to play someone, it might as well be the Suns. Our star players have be at their best. And we need contributions from our bench.

[MolluskVonMuskie]

If we do win against the Suns, we'll most likely end up playing the Nuggets the next round and I'd feel more comfortable with that matchup. What a weird year.

No way. Suns may have beaten us more this year, but they are not as good of a team as Denver, especially in the playoffs.

I would respectfully disagree as we actually don't know how the Suns will be in the playoffs as they have a healthy Bradley Beal, KD, Booker, Nurkic, and Grayson Allen, which they haven't had most of the year. To me the Suns might be a legit Championship contender now that they are playing at full strength. They certainly have the firepower to beat everyone, but they also got enough Primma Donna on that squad to get rattled and flame out harmlessly. Guess we will just have to see which Suns squad we face.

[Jimi_Thing]

This matchup and playoffs in general is why I think the Wolves made a mistake by picking up TJ Warren instead of Marcus Morris.

He not only brings more to the table than today’s TJ, he’s a player that isn’t above handing out hard fouls. Maybe it’s recency bias but the Wolves feel a bit soft.

[BBG]

Was anyone able to listen to Finch with PA this morning?

I heard it. Starting strong and not falling behind was Finch’s main key to success.

Paul Allen was focused on Grayson Allen, weirdly. Also PA stated that it’d be hard to beat the Suns if their “big three freaking mamma jammers” were “on hit legit and scoring with aplomb, ya say.”

PA also said, "My favorite puffy squad the plucky Twolves are looking to put the Suns in arears for size. A1 from Day One, king of the captain cool covenant, is looking to montage a victory in common thread fashion and house a series win in a bad economy with a smoking ban. And trip on this. Here comes Kat, like wildfire strolling over yellow mountain, looking to take something called Jusuf Nurkic to handling school. The Wolves will grease the wheels of a noisy bad dream that's gone fully pear-shaped the last three matchups and bring Loserville USA the love we lost. In closing, copyright the Sanford Townsend Band, don't let the mickey-freaking screendoor hit you on the way out, Suns. Bee Deet! Covenant claps for ya boy!"

Phenomenal stuff, bro

[weimy froob]

they've been real good when they've been healthy.

[weimy froob]

wolves have to get up on the shooters.

[A$$MAN]

wolves have to get up on the shooters.

Towns just needs to be able to score when they put Greyson Fuckin Allen on him.

[RubeTube]

This series is sure to be interesting.

[weimy froob]

[weimy froob]

Matchup issues or not, Timberwolves’ first-round opponent Phoenix would be a tough out for anyone

Phoenix made a big splash in the offseason, trading for multi-time all-star Brad Beal for pennies on the dollar thanks to Beal’s exorbitant salary. It dealt Ayton to Portland for a better fit in Jusuf Nurkic. That same trade, which also sent Dame Lillard to Milwaukee, also brought Allen to the Suns. Phoenix signed Eric Gordon for the minimum in free agency and then dealt for “3-and-D” wing Royce O’Neale at the trade deadline.

Suddenly, a roster that was two and a half players deep in last year’s playoffs can now comfortably include seven or eight quality players. Minnesota sports one of the NBA’s best benches. The Wolves are Boston’s only rival when it comes to depth and versatility.

But Phoenix will no longer have its top-10 talent torpedoed by incompetence elsewhere. All of those new pieces had a tough time gelling for much of the season, especially with Beal missing ample time, but Phoenix appears to be hitting its stride at the perfect time of the year.

For starters, Beal has gotten going. Over his last 22 games, he is averaging 18.7 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds while shooting a blistering 52 percent from beyond the arc. In Sunday’s win over Minnesota in the final game of the regular season, Beal scored 36 points while going a perfect 6 for 6 from deep.

“This guy’s one of the best players in the world, and people see him as a good player. When he plays like this, he’s one of the best players in the world,” Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said after the win over the Wolves. “He was doing it at both ends. He was guarding Ant on the other end, and he’s locking down and doing a great job and competing as best he can. … I can’t speak highly enough about the performance he had today.”

Since their Christmas Day loss to Dallas, the Suns are 35-18, the fourth-best mark in the NBA. For reference, the Wolves are 34-20 in that span. The Suns are sixth in offense and 10th in defense in that time.

Phoenix won 10 of its final 14 games of the regular season to narrowly escape the play-in tournament.

“I mean, we’ve been playing well. Whether it’s our best, we probably still don’t know,” Beal said. “We haven’t even really put together a full season with us three playing together still, with the amount of games we’ve played, but I think we’re definitely hitting our stride at the right time. In the playoffs, anything can happen. Every team is tough. We’ve just got to make sure to buckle down, lock in every single game.”’

[salamander]

If we do win against the Suns, we'll most likely end up playing the Nuggets the next round and I'd feel more comfortable with that matchup. What a weird year.

No way. Suns may have beaten us more this year, but they are not as good of a team as Denver, especially in the playoffs.

I know that. I just feel more comfortable against the Nuggets.

[Slap Shot]

Was anyone able to listen to Finch with PA this morning?

I heard it. Starting strong and not falling behind was Finch’s main key to success.

Paul Allen was focused on Grayson Allen, weirdly. Also PA stated that it’d be hard to beat the Suns if their “big three freaking mamma jammers” were “on hit legit and scoring with aplomb, ya say.”

PA also said, "My favorite puffy squad the plucky Twolves are looking to put the Suns in arears for size. A1 from Day One, king of the captain cool covenant, is looking to montage a victory in common thread fashion and house a series win in a bad economy with a smoking ban. And trip on this. Here comes Kat, like wildfire strolling over yellow mountain, looking to take something called Jusuf Nurkic to handling school. The Wolves will grease the wheels of a noisy bad dream that's gone fully pear-shaped the last three matchups and bring Loserville USA the love we lost. In closing, copyright the Sanford Townsend Band, don't let the mickey-freaking screendoor hit you on the way out, Suns. Bee Deet! Covenant claps for ya boy!"

jfc - another example of why I can't listen to that blowhard. I cannot believe he has an audience large enough to justify his continued employment beyond calling games.

[kindman]

With the Defensive player of the year, the best shooting big in the game and A1 from day1 you would think teams would fear us.
I think it will be the backups that prove to be the difference.

Finch needs to add pace and wear those old bastards out. We have a second unit that should cause fear.

[weimy froob]

[weimy froob]

[weimy froob]

"Physicality has to go up. The desperation has to go up. We have to get that building and that crowd into it right away."- Coach Finch

[Beef Supreme]

"Physicality has to go up. The desperation has to go up. We have to get that building and that crowd into it right away."- Coach Finch

I like this quote. This is the remedy for the mismatch problems the Suns present with their perimeter shooter guys who are all finesse guys. Use your size advantage. Use the mismatch the other way. Beat the fuck out of them. Take their legs away with overwhelming physical play. Punish them. Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentation of the women.

[witljon]

"Physicality has to go up. The desperation has to go up. We have to get that building and that crowd into it right away."- Coach Finch

Make shots! The Wolves need to shoot better against the Suns.

[A$$MAN]

"Physicality has to go up. The desperation has to go up. We have to get that building and that crowd into it right away."- Coach Finch

I like this quote. This is the remedy for the mismatch problems the Suns present with their perimeter shooter guys who are all finesse guys. Use your size advantage. Use the mismatch the other way. Beat the fuck out of them. Take their legs away with overwhelming physical play. Punish them. Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentation of the women.

This...we need to beat the shit out of this team, offensively and defensively. Don't bail them out by chucking 3's.

[aztimberwolves]

"Physicality has to go up. The desperation has to go up. We have to get that building and that crowd into it right away."- Coach Finch

I like this quote. This is the remedy for the mismatch problems the Suns present with their perimeter shooter guys who are all finesse guys. Use your size advantage. Use the mismatch the other way. Beat the fuck out of them. Take their legs away with overwhelming physical play. Punish them. Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentation of the women.

And you can get away with that style of play more in the playoffs than regular season. They need to constantly hammer this soft team. Don’t bale them out. If they do that consistently, i see the Wolves winning this series.

[witljon]

"Physicality has to go up. The desperation has to go up. We have to get that building and that crowd into it right away."- Coach Finch

I like this quote. This is the remedy for the mismatch problems the Suns present with their perimeter shooter guys who are all finesse guys. Use your size advantage. Use the mismatch the other way. Beat the fuck out of them. Take their legs away with overwhelming physical play. Punish them. Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentation of the women.

And you can get away with that style of play more in the playoffs than regular season. They need to constantly hammer this soft team. Don’t bale them out. If they do that consistently, i see the Wolves winning this series.

It sounds good, but also could be foul trouble.

[somuchyummy]

Hey Witljon - are you going to do a TB writeup in the draft thread? I made your last two picks.

[A$$MAN]

I like this quote. This is the remedy for the mismatch problems the Suns present with their perimeter shooter guys who are all finesse guys. Use your size advantage. Use the mismatch the other way. Beat the fuck out of them. Take their legs away with overwhelming physical play. Punish them. Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentation of the women.

And you can get away with that style of play more in the playoffs than regular season. They need to constantly hammer this soft team. Don’t bale them out. If they do that consistently, i see the Wolves winning this series.

It sounds good, but also could be foul trouble.

Probably, but I would rather lose playing physical than try to avoid foul trouble. If we play soft, we play right into the Sun's hands and lose our biggest advantage over them.

[Beef Supreme]

And you can get away with that style of play more in the playoffs than regular season. They need to constantly hammer this soft team. Don’t bale them out. If they do that consistently, i see the Wolves winning this series.

It sounds good, but also could be foul trouble.

Probably, but I would rather lose playing physical than try to avoid foul trouble. If we play soft, we play right into the Sun's hands and lose our biggest advantage over them.

Right. Go down swinging if you have to go down. Perhaps literally.


Besides, we ought to have decent depth. Foul away.


In fact, I'd kinda like to see Conley come out and get his first career technical foul early in game 1 to set the tone. Send a message that way.

[aztimberwolves]

I like this quote. This is the remedy for the mismatch problems the Suns present with their perimeter shooter guys who are all finesse guys. Use your size advantage. Use the mismatch the other way. Beat the fuck out of them. Take their legs away with overwhelming physical play. Punish them. Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentation of the women.

And you can get away with that style of play more in the playoffs than regular season. They need to constantly hammer this soft team. Don’t bale them out. If they do that consistently, i see the Wolves winning this series.

It sounds good, but also could be foul trouble.

I’ll take my chances in the playoffs that some physical play will be allowed.!Besides isn’t depth a strength of ours?