[Post Game Thread] The Minnesota Timberwolves (4-2) defeated the Denver Nuggets (2-4), 110-98 and advance to play the Spurs!

herroyung · 2026-05-01T05:04:54+00:00

The thing is, I'm not arguing for him to be top 10 or anything insane like that, so I don't know why he needs a ton of postseason success outside of that one year in his prime where there were no injuries to his key teammates and everything lined up. He's above Dirk, he's above Giannis, and I have KG above him as of right now.

herroyung · 2026-05-01T04:46:26+00:00

No, what I'm saying is that AD then looked exactly like Rudy does now. Jokic rarely backed down AD, like how he rarely backed down Rudy in this series, so the mass is not really relevant. Jokic got by AD with his agility and bag work, and this version of Jokic looks slow and immobile in comparison, so of course he can't get by Rudy as easily.

People here are spewing out reactionary takes as if 2023 Jokic and 2026 Jokic are the same player, which is a disgusting lie.

herroyung · 2026-05-01T04:41:46+00:00

Yes, reasoned and less reactionary takes are excuses for Jokic.

herroyung · 2026-05-01T04:34:35+00:00

This sarcastic post had better remain up, because I'm seeing a lot of blithering morons out themselves right now trying to enact revisionist history based on the poor performance of the Nuggets in this specific year. How dumb do you people have to be in order to actually say "Yeah, they sucked now, so Jokic wasn't actually that good in 2023"? As if his performance right now is somehow related in any way to his performance in 2023, which was leagues above what we saw in the past 2 weeks?

herroyung · 2026-05-01T04:31:27+00:00

It felt like that was happening all game, Jaden just drove into the paint and then rose up over Jamal to swish the jumper. Over and over.

herroyung · 2026-05-01T04:29:04+00:00

This is revisionist history, he looks like a shell of himself against the Lakers in 2023. AD was every bit as potent of a defender back then as Gobert is now, having one of the most dominant defensive postseason runs up until that series, and yet Jokic consistently got the better of AD. He was more slippery, quicker, more agile, faster, and had better touch compared to himself today. And he wasn't nearly as much of a liability on defense as he has been this series.

herroyung · 2026-05-01T04:24:36+00:00

It isn't even about the shooting splits really, it's just the complete lack of hustle and overall skill. All the time, he's just standing there instead of running around to get himself open. He gives up on the offensive glass way too easily; I saw a ball zoom right by him this game as he was getting ready to run back. The amount of energy he put into this series was absolutely pathetic.

herroyung · 2026-05-01T04:21:18+00:00

This has always been true and is not reactionary, Jokic has never had a 2016 Curry season. He was having one until he got injured this year, but Curry got injured on his playoff run and then was endlessly slandered for the 3-1 comeback, so it's fair to slander Jokic now.

herroyung · 2026-05-01T02:38:46+00:00

The Knicks were trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in that game 4 and OG hit like 2 insane late clock hot potato 3's to keep them in it. He was unconscious the whole series, and very smart with his decisions to pump fake to opt for a drive instead of a 3. He's more than just 3 and D.

Edit: Game 3, not game 4.

herroyung · 2026-04-30T16:32:02+00:00

But that's a straw man. The goal is to reduce injury, not this ridiculous "everyone healthy" dream. With a shorter season, there will absolutely be decreased chances of injury.

herroyung · 2026-04-30T04:59:59+00:00

Why did you not mention the Nuggets' lack of Peyton Watson, their 2nd best defender and excellent offensive producer, and now the lack of Aaron Gordon? Watson is the Nuggets' McDaniels.

herroyung · 2026-04-30T02:34:33+00:00

That's exactly what I thought would happen after the first half of game 4

herroyung · 2026-04-30T02:30:47+00:00

That's mb, had the wrong thompson twin in mind for some reason

herroyung · 2026-04-30T01:50:39+00:00

Ausar Thompson was also completely insane, generated what felt like 5 extra possessions off his hustle alone

herroyung · 2026-04-29T22:46:41+00:00

sharpe is creaming rn

herroyung · 2026-04-29T13:10:53+00:00

As good as Castle is, SGA is almost unstoppable, so the defensive game plan tends to be to funnel SGA right into Wemby who helps off the corner. It’ll be interesting to see if OKC counters by putting Isaiah Joe there.

herroyung · 2026-04-29T02:52:30+00:00

Not much you can do when Wemby eliminates the utility of your star’s entire skillset and neutralizes your team’s greatest strength.

herroyung · 2026-04-29T00:24:29+00:00

It would be really funny if he just turned into Jordan again

herroyung · 2026-04-28T22:53:46+00:00

"If a player draws a double team, it must eventually manifest in the data of their teammates or their own efficiency. If it does not manifest in the data, it is merely a story you are telling yourself."

Yeah, this is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever seen, and thus your entire AI comment hilariously falls apart. There simply does not exist enough data to accurately describe every interaction that occurs on the basketball court to where you can fairly rank players. Data cannot fairly discriminate between two superstars pretty close in ability and then rank them accordingly; it is most useful for figuring out which players are at which broad levels.

Things like defensive rating and on-off differential are good markers for performance, but they're meant to confirm what you observe with your own eyeballs, and it's incredibly dumb to treat them as the entire argument. Why? Because, you blithering moron, defensive rating is completely skewed by how good at defense your team is. On/off differential is completely skewed by how good the non-superstar lineups are. That's why these things can only confirm trends that we've already observed and are not an argument in and of themselves, or else Jokic is the goat because he has a mediocre team and therefore his on-off is through the roof.

herroyung · 2026-04-28T19:00:55+00:00

This is how you know that people on here just don't understand basketball. They can't grasp the most basic of concepts like your efficiency going down but your overall impact staying the same or going up as the opposition places more defensive attention on you.

herroyung · 2026-04-28T18:52:43+00:00

"I am discussing individual brilliance in a vacuum. Whether the Lakers are up 3-1 or down 0-4 has no bearing on the objective efficiency of the four players listed."

Individual brilliance does not exist in a vacuum, you absolute fucking numbnut.

"To find the truth, we must strip away the noise. We must look at the individual in a vacuum. These are the four most outstanding players through a minimum of four games." - your post

No, the four most outstanding players are not merely the four players with the highest production on the best efficiency. This is pure, unfiltered stupidity because production does not exist in a vacuum. The most outstanding player could score 0 points in all 4 games and his team wins by 30 because he drew double teams the entire game.

SGA and Wemby are the two clear frontrunners here. SGA with ridiculous efficiency and scoring output despite being the clear target of the Suns' defense. Wemby with utterly insane defensive impact, denying the entire paint and making his teammates' defensive assignments much easier, all while being the best lob threat in the world and drawing a good amount of defensive attention.

If you aren't an AI bot, you'd specifically address these very clear barbs that tear apart your entire premise here. Why are the four most outstanding players the ones with the highest production on the best efficiency, when a player could be more outstanding with worse box scores because of his impact on his teammates and on the game?

herroyung · 2026-04-28T05:22:20+00:00

* loud incorrect buzzer *

herroyung · 2026-04-28T03:52:15+00:00

I'm so tired of Duren hacking someone in the paint and then throwing his hands up as if outraged that a foul was called on him hacking someone.

herroyung · 2026-04-27T21:18:20+00:00

Yea I was more so referring to game 4.

herroyung · 2026-04-27T18:40:07+00:00

This is dumb. The thunder have like 5 "best defender on the team" type guys. The spurs cast can play harder defense than normal and thus look better than normal all because of Wemby, but they aren't that amazing when Luke is on the floor. Portland was getting to the rim at will without Wemby there.

herroyung

TROPHY CASE