How the Wolves clamped the Nuggets

How did the Minnesota defense slow down Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Nuggets offense to advance to the 2024 Western Conference Finals? This detailed film breakdown & scouting report explores their scheme to stop Jokic, adjustments throughout the series, Game 7 comeback, Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Defensive player of the Year Rudy Gobert and more.
NB: The final bar chart is with Nikola Jokic on the floor
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Music by Nemesis (instrumental)
#ThinkingBasketball

[@miloobrzut5497]

"They got KD but we got Jaden McDaniels" is a quote that will go down in history

[@discowolf25]

Yeah as accurate.

[@mr.bellefleur]

Especially if they win

[@shanemathre]

Idk. I think luka gonna cook jayden this series.

[@Quince477]

​​​@@shanemathreit'll probably be much better to have Ant on Luka since McDaniels is smaller. McDaniels can guard kyrie. With that in mind idk the numbers on the Luka v Ant matchup, but they'll probably both do their thing regardless

[@rickayy831]

@@Quince477mcdaniels is 6”9?

[@tekkenman7]

Kat deserves all the praise. He stepped up big time in game 7.

[@chrispfeiffer6905]

That was for all the haters lol. I think Kat is showing a lotta growth. And people were talking about trading him…

[@David-iv6je]

KAT deserves a lot of credit but he's a lot stronger than Gobert but not quick like Gobert. Gobert roaming was doing far more damage on D than he was marking Jokic. Saying KAT deserves "all the praise" is ridiculous.

[@andyj952]

@@David-iv6je youre splitting hairs with his statement. are you actually making a point or just trying to be right online? KAT guarded the MVP in games 6 and 7 and kept us in the game singlehandedly offensively in game 7 until his teammates came to the party late. He deserves an absurd amount of praise, especially for a guy who has been branded "bad defensively" and "not a winning player"

[@ThatLampTho]

Agreed. I was expecting him to disappear like how he used to but the man stepped up big time, i love it. This WCF is gonna be interesting

[@David-iv6je]

@@andyj952 Criticizing "all the praise" is not splitting hairs. The fact is, both deserve tons fo praise. Switching KAT onto Jokic maximized the impact of both KAT and Gobert. Gobert was a wrecking crew off ball and a liability on ball. COoch Finch deserves the greatest praise.

[@lawbinson]

This series was a masterclass in Basketball tactics and strategy.

[@richy2258]

Yes. But it was ultimately decided by the Nuggets doing their best 2018 Rockets impression by missing a nauseating number of wide open shots. KCP, Jokic, Murray, and MPJ will likely never shoot that bad again in their lives, even when contested. But they were WIDE OPEN. It's mindboggling.

[@mizzoutiger2694]

@@richy2258 And the role players for the Nuggets will likely never shoot as good the rest of their careers as they did in games 3/4/5.

[@WaveRider1989]

As if Aaron gorden shooting 8/8 was the norm. ​@@richy2258

[@Levi2743]

​@@mizzoutiger2694that same argument could be used against the wolves too though... McDaniels two games in a row over 20 points with over 70%FG is an extreme outlier.

[@HurricaneMike513]

@@Levi2743McDaniels has always had that potential though. He just plays with zero aggression 95% of the time. I personally think because he’s constantly high af. Whenever he plays with aggression he has these offensive spurts though. Dudes 6’9, long, and athletic lol

[@SB-in8rw]

47 minutes Jokic, while 3 centers switch on him, Minesota did a good job tactically, defensively and overall. Malone should have rested Jokic more, when they had 20 points lead that was the perfect time. But the bench is non existant anyway... even starters were terrible. They miss Bruce Brown and Jeff Green a lot. How could you expect to play so many playoff games with only 2 big guys? (Jokic and AG)

[@smittywerbenjagermanjensen320]

The coaching staff and front office is to blame, not MPJ or KCP. Denver needs to replace DeAndre Jordan and Zeke Nnaji with bigs that are actually playable in the postseason. Especially when Minnesota regularly has two or three 7 footers on the court at the same time. They should also focus more on keeping the starters healthy for next postseason, and worry less about seeding. Let the young guys off the bench play more to gain some confidence in their shot and defense, like P Wat, CB, and Strawther

[@BigA678]

When Denver won 3 in a row Jokic fans were praising his stamina saying how he's the most conditioned in the league. Funny to me

[@01chohan]

@@BigA678 Both are true.

[@smittywerbenjagermanjensen320]

@@BigA678 At a certain point, it doesn’t matter how good his conditioning is. He’s still human just like you and I

[@JasonAtlas]

When a team doesn't win they may not have been bad then other team was simply better. However that means certain aspects they were outclassed/not good enough. So what do we blame here: Jokic The starters The bench The coaching Or A combination

[@alang8850]

The level of missed open 3 shots by Denver was extremely surprising. Also, Jokic played almost the whole of game 7. The nuggets lack of shooting and depth was the huge problem

[@MistyKathrine]

Yeah, Jokic averaging over 40 minutes a game this post season probably didn't help his shooting percentages. Unfortunately, the Nuggets bench is about as bad as the 2018 Cleveland Cavaliers forcing him to play heavy minutes to try and hard carry his team.

[@HarryCrackz]

That's what is insane about this Denver team. As crazy as Minnesota's defense is, if Denver make a couple more open 3s they likely win the series.

[@Mrjhugr]

@@HarryCrackz I also firmly believe that, we see two super open MPJ 3's in that video and one for jokic and KCP, each of them to either repel the Wolves comeback and one to get back to one point instead of being -6 after the counter. Huge difference from players that are expected to make these shots. Even Jokic going from 36% on 3 (career avg) to 23% on the series with a lot of wide open ones. Minnesota was incredible and completely exhausted them but those wide open shots should have gone in. The Nuggets can really regret these misses, I think Dallas would have been way easier for them match-up wise.

[@gandydancer9710]

@@Mrjhugr Three pointers give inherently highly variable results. Especially from crap players like the two you named.

[@kadinwilliams7474]

@@HarryCrackz I could easily make the case that if Minnesota made a few more threes they would have won the series as well.

[@disappointedant]

I was so disappointed when Draymond kept criticizing Gobert’s defense as if he could do better 1 on 1 against Jokic. Both of them are SYSTEM defenders that shine most when their rosters are communicating and working off eachother, but I guess that’s Draymond for ya.

[@xavierb9061]

Draymond the most amazing defender last 50 years. To be that good at that size and athletic ability. Hes smaller than lebron, imagine lebron being the center on title run. Nothing stopping it

[@nathanxu666]

​@@xavierb9061 brotha prime Lebron vs prime Draymond is a debate in itself. You put prime bron in the warriors defensive scheme and he woulda had a couple DPOY's too imo

[@aaronperry3950]

Amdrew Bogut and Kevon Looney exist ​@xavierb9061

[@xavierb9061]

@@nathanxu666 draymon play center, if bron could he would

[@caydenrichmond9551]

He was being intentionally ignorant

[@lawbinson]

Denver not even fouling with 45 seconds left speaks to how defeated they felt.

[@michaelahurt]

Yeah I think when Ant hit that three to go up 10 they mentally conceded the series.

[@andreitaker3527]

With how bad they got Denver lose on game 6 I'm surprise they still had motivation to play.

[@ndnd7614]

They really thought those role players can repeat lmao get jokic a proper all star help.

[@David-iv6je]

It doesn't work if the Nuggets hit open 3s. Jokic missed a ton and the role players come up zero> And THAT was because they played only a 6 man rotation. 7 is the minimum viable.

[@samuelmorse784]

Colin was right. Nuggets have no bench

[@Boogalyhu]

You could just as easily say it wouldn’t have been close if Edwards was hitting open 3s. Jokic had a higher than avg ppg game 7. Ant had lower than his avg ppg. This wasn’t down to just one of their performances though. Minnesota won because of depth, and just outclassed the Nuggets over all.

[@DaMonstaMasta]

They played Braun, Watson, and Reggie so it was a 8 man rotation, they just could not replace not having Jokic on the floor. Which is why his legs were probably dead and couldn't hit jumpshots and having to hide him on defense.

[@youtubewatcher4955]

They got to the dance with that crew they gotta dance. No excuses. Should have picked better partners going into it.

[@David-iv6je]

@@DaMonstaMasta Check the box score: in Game 7, outside of their starting 5, the Nuggets played Braun 19:47, Holiday 9:13 and Jackson 5:26. That doesn't even add up to 6 men in time. Not sure WTF coach was thinking. That's what killed the 2018 Rockets after Chris Paul pulled his hamstring: a 6-man rotation so exhausted them, especially with their swarming defense that had beaten GSW thus far, they were gassed and started short-arming shots, leading tho that ridiculous stretch of missed 3s. Rockets win that series if CP doesn't pull that hammie. Maybe Nuggets win this game if Reggie Jackson plays 15 minutes and Braun plays 25.

[@dylanbach8578]

Even though so many of the games were blowouts, this series was on par with the bubble Celtics vs Raptors series in terms of back and forth adjustments from Stevens and Nurse. Definitely need a third rendition of this next year once the Nuggets make their roster adjustments and Timberwolves face the wrath of the CBA with NAW extension and Mcdaniels contract kicks in to see who really runs the north west division

[@richy2258]

I think 80% of the time the Nuggets win that series. They were not great in game 1, sloppy, unprepared. Complete no show in game 2. Okay, that's on them. The missed WIDE OPEN shots in game 6 and 7 was a fever dream like when the Rockets went like 0-27 from 3. It wasn't a whole lot better than that, an is on par considering the talent and history of the shooters in MPJ, Jokic, Murray, and KCP who collectively had the yips like I have *NEVER* seen in my life.

[@Edd_LShore]

@@richy2258 Lol. Coping hard?

[@phothewin6019]

That was such a good series. The Nuggets vs. Jazz series too. The Bubble playoffs had some amazing series.

[@sparksup327]

​@@phothewin6019& the crazy thing is, Conley & Gobert was on that Jazz team

[@tomthumb4252]

Undercover Nugs fan

[@alofbaui]

All that said and done their bench scored 13 and nuggets bench had 5. That's your game. Losing Bruce brown was devastating. He was a major force off the bench for them last year.

[@willrobbins2550]

In this game, the Nuggets bench was +6 and the wolves bench was -17. Nice attempt to try and simplify this but you’re not right

[@antichaos]

@@willrobbins2550 Using plus minus in big 2024?

[@willrobbins2550]

@@antichaos all you ever do is troll. Have fun

[@antichaos]

@@willrobbins2550 Using plus minus in 2024 is more of a troll than anything I could possibly do

[@willrobbins2550]

@@antichaos not if used correctly, which I did. You can’t gatekeep stats gtfoh. If you have anything coherent to say about the topic at hand go ahead if not seeya

[@VladimirElliot]

Ant shut the water off second half on Murray

[@FahadYasin13]

Thought Murray was gonna have 50 ngl. God..

[@phothewin6019]

That's what happens when you play in South Korea instead of North Korea.

[@Kevin.Costner.]

clamped me up too, i couldn’t go to the Kitchen i was glued to the game😅

[@davidfebreeze428]

@@Kevin.Costner.the man is starving and ant still clamped him up😂

[@mcshitums9362]

@@phothewin6019KAT is the reason Gobert was able to bring a son into this world

[@e.r.a2744]

In the 90's I use to crave for some beautiful offence, never imagine how beautiful would be to see or watch some nice defence... back to the basics..! I love it..!

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

Kinda crazy how hard it was to be that peak level offense back in the late 90’s-mid 2000’s, and how hard it is to be that peak defense in today’s league

[@GoRavens520]

The Wolves hounded the Nuggets and the physicality took its toll. Plus the Nuggets bench is almost non existent offensively. They didn’t solve Jokic but made him work and the other guys didn’t show up enough, especially in game 7. Edwards didn’t have a great night offensively but the other guys did. Even Rudy was good, drew a bunch of fouls on the Nuggets. Wolves are championship material, even more so with the rules of emphasis.

[@WolframeHDX]

Yeah, at this point there really is no "solving" Jokic. Best you can do is slow him down/wear him out, which, thankfully, the twolves did. Rest of that nuggets team really let him down too

[@Zemlja_je_ravna]

Jokic is 3rd in played minutes in 4 seasons combined. What did they have only 1 month of rest after winning championship.

[@owmegwoagm]

Respect for breaking this one down as well 🫡

[@usamabinobama2857]

The transformation of this Timberwolves team since last season is incredible!! The times when the Rudy Gobert trade was seen as an all-time fleece is way past us now. Love this team and the intense ball pressure they bring on defense!!

[@fredharvey2720]

The transformation is their use of illegal contact tactics that are only allowed in the lower defensive box and they're getting away with it more often than not.

[@michaelahurt]

That was still an awful trade. It was reckless and they gave up way too much. It's like a poker hand where you have Ace-10 and go all in with a jack showing. Just because you hit queen/king for your straight on the turn and river doesn't mean it was a good bet. It was still stupid. They just got really lucky a bunch of different ways. And they still have to win a title and keep Ant for the bet to pay off. Also they played their best defensive game all year _without_ Gobert. Just saying

[@Anthonydu01630]

@@michaelahurtTheir best defensive game was game 6 lol, Nuggets only scored 70pts and they blow them up by 45 😂

[@sebbyh9764]

@@michaelahurtif you don’t think Gobert against the Mavs or Celtics isn’t a massive bonus, I’ve got news for you

[@michaelahurt]

@@Anthonydu01630 Ahh. So you either didn't actually watch the game and just saw the score or don't know what you're watching. There's a difference between a team missing open shots and not allowing the open shots in the first place. In game 2 Minnesota was up 32 before backing off and Denver's starters chipped away at the lead a little. A lead they built by suffocating Denver's offense. In game 6 Minnesota's run was driven primarily by Denver missing open shots as they *scored* on 9 straight possessions. Only two of the nine off turnovers. Then Denver conceded early in the fourth and Minnesota's reserves beat up on Denver's reserves. To get to the final score.

[@barbershopchop4143]

Thinking Basketball uploads, I click. That simple.

[@GeronimoPlaz]

Do you live in NORTH KOREA???

[@hylandweb749]

Dude froze for a week😂

[@nonebeach]

thinking idiotically about basketball

[@cjplx]

Thinking Basketball uploads, I advocate for people to stop bringing children into this world

[@nor-in5kj]

@@nonebeach thinking basketball still doesn't recognize awful coaching exists. I like it

[@RegularFlyGuy]

Jokic went 34/7/19. This wasnt a “we figured out Jokic” type of effort. This was KCP, MPJ and Murray not showing up for 4-6 games. Murray decided to play for a half. Anyone who watched this saw how many wide open shots were missed by the Nuggets. What you qualify as a tough 3 really isnt. This went down as a team wanting it a lot more than the other. The Nuggets should feel embarassed.

[@RoryChristopher]

but the wolves forced jokic to shoot so many threes, where he also went 2/10, but you're right, no one else showed up at all in game 7

[@Weebei]

Murray had a tough second half game. I still believe. Nuggets in 9

[@rgonzalo511]

​@@RoryChristopherNah don't throw KCP under the bus he showed up

[@ryanw9122]

@@rgonzalo511 he had 5 points

[@rgonzalo511]

@@ryanw9122 Yeah that's a normal statline for him. He's just there too spread the floor, be a secondary ball handler, and play defense.

[@roy7661]

6:14 gobert pushing naz reid into jokic preventing space making over naz reid. Great defence

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

For the bad IQ of not sticking on Luka during his step back, this was some good ass IQ

[@andrewbarnes5745]

If my memory serves me correctly KAT was a great defender in college and funnily enough, was one of if not his greatest strengths on his scouting report going into the draft. Donovan Mitchel is another guy who was touted as a strong on-ball defender but was a traffic cone in Utah. I believe Rudy brought that gritty, defensive culture to Minnesota and with ANT being a great leader they just have this absolute unit of defense together. Rudy is the heart of that defense and people are delusional to think he isn't worthy of DPoY. He moves well and positions well and with every score Jokic got he was still contesting. The reality is great offense beats great defense and you couldn't ask for a better defensive big than Rudy because he knows his role and embraces it entirely. He also hit clutch free throws when they needed it and that crazy fade away for good measure.

[@ainnocent]

I thought I was the only one that remembered this!!! KAT could play D when he wants to but people don't realize he was literally the Twolves offense for years.

[@scottwinn5043]

These breakdowns are outstanding every single time.

[@malte5493]

I've been listening to the Thinking Basketball Podcast for 4 Years now. It's really amazing to see the steady incline in quality and personality over the years, not only with the podcast, but with the KZbin side of things as well. For whoever is only consuming the yt thinking basketball content, I wholeheartedly recommend listening to the pod. Not only is it hart hitting analysis (as cody would say), but the charm and chemistry these two have is really something. For long stretches of the regular season, this podcast is really what keeps me into following the NBA. I am not much of a commenter most times, but I really had to get that out :) Much love from Germany

[@EAZYMONEYSNIPER7]

Before the series started Edwards said "they got the MVP but we got Jaden McDaniels" and people laughed. Jaden McDaniels dropped 20+ pts in game 7 on 7/10 shooting. McDaniels was the X-factor, it's hilarious that when Edwards said that that it ended up being all too true.

[@radliffjeantinor9437]

before the SEASON started lmaooo

[@samn90834]

he said they’ve got KD, we’ve got Jaden McDaniels before the Suns series. Are you sure he said that too? I don’t remember that at all

[@rado22]

Luka will cook both him and McDaniels

[@krizagbisit1637]

People will just hate his game, because he's not an American to be considered by this murican people as among of their basketball heroes. Jokic dropped an almost 40/20/10 game, and they still want more from him. They didn't even consider that he's the lone all-star from his team, thereby no one from his team will carry the other load as much as he do. His weight requires more energy, yet he played an entire game 7, while being considered an unathletic person, isn't it commendable? But muricans from this comments section will still hate his game and will blurt some fantastic words, such as defense, as if muricans know how to play defense, whilst losing FIBA world cups against non-NBA players, yikes!

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

Good sentiments got ruined by sad jealousy in your comment

[@phothewin6019]

The Nuggets played like they were in North Korea.

[@bdrpogo1834]

Man of culture I see

[@Jacob-gm4hq]

Any team that the Wolves beat apparently always beat themselves. This train is never late.

[@carson.4612]

WE LIVE IN NORTH KOREA

[@18hot30]

@@carson.4612 came here to say this, and dammit i will

[@thanhky5824]

KAT's defense in game 7 reunited North and South Korea

[@ryanm4074]

gobert somewhat beating the playoff dropper allegations is something i did not see happening but that wolves coaching staff deserves alot of credit. great chess match kind of series

[@Phriedah]

If you listen to the players, the defensive effort was entirely led by Gobert this year, he's earned that DPOY for sure this year.

[@MistyKathrine]

@@Phriedah Yep, they bought into a defensive scheme he helped design and it's working well for them.

[@Mage017]

Gobert was never a playoff dropper. He just had to make up for wayyyy more defensive weakness on the Jazz due their lack of perimeter defenders. Wolves as a team is literally setup perfectly for Rudy to fit into as arguably the best help defender in the league.

[@tdot2351]

Goon under a 7 footer’s ball screens makes sense to me. The NBA treats every player like they’re Steph Curry, it makes no sense. If Jokic wants to shoot pull up and off the dribble threes, let him.

[@AidanXavier988]

I knew Ben would cover this game! Hyped for this drop

[@db2921]

He only covers 1 team Dude refuses to post anything good about Dallas or any other team besides this

[@AidanXavier988]

@@db2921 Stop whining, annoying Dallas fans everywhere I go

[@Uebelkraehe]

Everyone better listen when Mister "I wouldn't pick Luka for these POs at all" shares his infinite wisodm.

[@jesustenes2]

Spoelstra tried this on Jokic last year, iirc in game 5, and Jokic went 3/6 or something like that in the first quarter so they stopped leaving him open. His 3 needs to be consistent for Denver's offense to work, it can't be off for an entire series.

[@tridra5714]

heat didnt have the size

[@Day1JoeMiltonBeliever]

Bam even he is a amazing defender is just 6'9, they had Caleb martin playing PF

[@Edd_LShore]

Literally sold the game with 0 defense and paired with Gordon, providing no space for anybody else to attack the rim

[@RegularFlyGuy]

Y’all have a hard time watching more than one player. MPJ, Murray and KCP have sucked big time. Its perfectly ok to not be familiar with everyone’s game since its quite normal. Its also fine to give an opinion on something you’re not familiar with. Denver does not need Jokic to hit his threes, they need their max contract players to not suck. We saw close to 90M worth of salary be bystanders for game 3-4-5-6-7 (half of game 7). Wolves’ roster showed up, Denver’s didnt.

[@jesustenes2]

​@@RegularFlyGuy Ben comments in the video on this specific coverage on this specific player, which made me think of that finals game last year so I brought it up. But I agree, your thoughts on players sucking are more interesting. Also, that is one of the most condescending messages I have ever read.

[@benjousan8470]

We better get a Mavs video on how we stopped a top 5 offense/defense #1 defense by being better defensively 😎

[@ChibiMalzahar]

Something interesting to me is that, yeah Jokic is a great shooter, but its primarily a counter. The wolves defense is always keeing in mind guarding the *entire system* more than just Jokic, and makes them beat them with their worst counters. What drives the offense is his post game, passing, and screen action. Even if Joker makes his jumpers, his teammates aren't comfortably doing their jobs either. Gobert is skilled enough to takeaway Gordon cuts, and the wings are aggressive enough to turn it into a Jokic shoot out. Denver is fine with that if it's in the post since Jokic is so dangerous in isolation. But the wolves have body after body to throw at the two man game, even their sixth man can do well on their best scorers.

[@michaelahurt]

It was a good gambit but I also think it kind of shows how evenly matched the teams are and how few answers Minnesota really had. Let the three time MVP have wide open threes and hope he misses. That's our best strategy. Lol. That game was the definition of its a make it miss league though.

[@ChibiMalzahar]

@@NothingElseMattersJM he shoots a great percentage I mean. He isn't really creating off the dribble, but the fact that he can hit the shots when they leave him open is the cherry on the top of his offensive package. But if you make him lean on it more like the wolves did then it's less reliable a weapon

[@ChibiMalzahar]

@@michaelahurt I agree it was very close. Though, I also think it's because the defense is so intense. When your team's defense is strong it tires out the offense and leads to easier offense of your own. I feel like even when Denver was rolling offensively it was easier for the Wolves to come back, but when the Wolves were rolling defensively the leads exploded to 30+ points

[@timeakway7021]

This is the best breakdown I have seen of the wolves defense!!!

[@zacharydegraeve5264]

This wolves team is the best defensive team I have had the pleasure of watching in my lifetime. Huge Nuggets fan so it sucks. But this was a masterclass and is how I imagine people felt in 04 when the pistons made their unlikely run to the title upsetting big names along the way

[@baffourappiah3853]

Timberwolves are truly the best defensive team, that being said, they didn't solve Jokic, they solved the Nuggets. Despite the loss, Jokic still led all players in the series in points, rebounds, assists and was tied with Ant for steals while playing against the number one defense in the league. When three of your starters can't even score up to 8 points in a Game 7, and the entire bench scores 5, best player in the world or not, you ain't winning.

[@MD-jf1ml]

That’s why it’s 5 on 5 man 😂

[@owmegwoagm]

You’re speaking facts, but keep that same energy for other superstars

[@Edd_LShore]

He has the ball in his hands all.game long. Did you expect for him to finish with 4 pts and 3 assists per game? Lol

[@Day1JoeMiltonBeliever]

He is a cone in defense, Imagine if embiid would have failed all those 3's people would cook him

[@richy2258]

Jokic also kind of played like shit in game 7. The number of missed *wide open* shots was some kind of historical aberration. It took a miraculous collapse for the Wolves to win narrowly. The choke job by the Nuggets is probably the biggest in history, and completely inexplicable. Contested shots are one thing, but Jokic was double and triple pumping those 3-pointers when he was left totally unguarded. MPJ, Murray, and KCP, AND Jokic all had basically their career worst night on open shots and especially 3s. Nobody is really talking about this except for a passing remark that "they were ice cold." Never seen anything remotely near that bad in my life.

[@nikkomarcocabuhat3155]

As a Nuggets fan this was painful to watch but this was a great breakdown. This loss will sting for a while but you gotta keep moving forward.

[@TheWhyPodJH]

This is a great video, and I think it goes to show that even with the modern system of offenses/defenses, it comes down to: 1. The team that wins has to make shots 2. Pick your poison, make Jokic score rather than pass 3. In a 7-game series, it comes down to how much energy is left After all the strategies and tactics, we've come full circle.

[@Dorray]

Over the final three games, MPJ was held to 6 points a game on 19% shooting. Awful.

[@je5406]

He shot terrible in 3 playoff series last year as well. Some guys are regular season players. Sad

[@michaelahurt]

"held" is a generous term. He just missed shots. Although keeping McDaniels on him a lot _was_ smart.

[@danielodom9305]

What a series! Probably going to be the best/ most back and forth series of the entire playoffs when all is said and done! There were some highly competitive games!

[@BasketballCoachesNetwork]

Minesota did an amazing job I am very suprised. Biggest problem I think was MPJ for Denver.

[@noname85808]

mike conley played an important part in this series as well, his ability to make smart and unselfish decisions helped the team to stay cohesive on both ends of the court. very underrated player and the game he was missing you could see that the team was simply not there.

[@nickwilson7241]

I think it's very weird that so many people are looking at the denver game 7 and saying, "ahh well Dallas is going to give the wolves different looks they haven't seen yet" and then lists a bunch of stuff the wolves saw in round 1 and earlier in the denver series. Like, yeah, Dallas is going to be a fundamentally different kind of challenge than GAME 7 against Denver after each team made a bunch of adjustments and counter adjustments, but it's not like Minnesota has no idea how to deal with two good shooters. That's literally what the suns series was

[@vinkozoric1283]

Suns were lacking pure PG who will bring the ball and let scorers score. I still have TWolves in finals, but wouldn't be surprised if Dallas wins this.

[@nickwilson7241]

@@vinkozoric1283 yeah, I'm not saying it's a 1-to-1 comparison, but when I hear people say stuff like "Minnesota hasn't faced two good perimeter shooters like Luka a Kyrie" I'm just like, "what? Did you only watch like half the Denver series?"

[@rickharrison1737]

Biggest questions for the Mavs offense vs. Wolves will be how do the Dallas shooters perform when left open, how healthy is Luka, and can they keep Gobert out of the paint.

[@nickwilson7241]

@@rickharrison1737 I think the biggest difference between OKC and Min is going to be the rebounding. OKC just doesn't have the kind of size that can compete with Dallas bully ball, but now Min will be the bigger team, so that rebounding battle will be really important for both teams

[@michaelahurt]

The difference is twofold: 1) Kyrie is a significantly better passer/playmaker than anyone on Phoenix let alone Luka who is best PnR passer in the world 2) Luka and Kyrie are both KD level shot makers and KD wasn't the one who struggled. Those guys are like Kobe or Dirk or Steph where you can contest, but it's not going to change the outcome. Contests don't bother them. Also Luka's size and strength will negate how much McDaniels can bother him. And he can shoot over Ant or NAW. Luka is a completely different animal than Booker or Murray. What Minnesota will do though is help and recover so Dallas' role players won't have a bunch of open threes. Dallas will need to earn everything and -- I think -- they'll make Luka score 40-50 and take away the lobs and corner threes. How well DJJ, Green, Hardaway, Exum make threes against Conley closeouts is going to be very important.

[@gregarsen7000]

I think its pretty simple to see, Jokic imploded when he is trying to do everything for his team. His zone defense was weak because he was too worried about the other bigs. Hes cooked at the perimeter if conley or Ant have the ball. He was gassed so his shots got sloppy. The entire denver team relies jokic to be playmaker, shooter, and rim protector. T-wolves had better transitions and a lot of relief from the bench. No matter how much you hate the nugs, jokic and jamal nearly beat the best defense in the league single-handedly. Jokic was far from perfect that game but he was still able to keep it within striking distance of winning. T-wolves deserve this win in the end. A lot of changes need to be made to this nugget team before their next playoff run.

[@bohanxu6125]

It would be interesting to see what fatigue effect more, shooting or driving. You would image drive requires more gas, but one can sort of still make a decent drive on sheer will despite fatigue. On the flip side, when you are fatigued, your shooting muscle memory just naturally become worse, and will power doesn't really help that much. Of course, those are just guess. You need to somehow use data to see if the guess is true.

[@Cheeseball-z9r]

Man, Rudy got a lotta flack after g5…hope people start to understand it’s not all about guarding guys 1v1

[@petasmith6258]

Jokic averaged 24.7/5.7/10.1 in the series. 34/7/19 in game 7. Jokic is not to blame for this series loss.

[@anthonyrodriguez7950]

Love this analysis - great series evolution by the Wolves

[@fredharvey2720]

This analysis is trash. What the Wolves are doing is using contact only allowed in the lower defensive box all over the court which is against the rules. They should be getting called on personal fouls left and right but the league is tolerating it, especially certain referees like Marc Davis who has been accused of being in the pocket of bookies for years.

[@dhj9013]

Kat finally showed heart in that game. Legacy game fr

[@mikeamara7410]

great vid about the defense turning into offense

[@marc8317]

Finally Thinking Stupid Basketball drops

[@arp_909]

Looking forward to the analysis of the Mavs series. Sounds weird to say, but I massively underestimated Kyrie’s impact, he was getting to the basket at will in the first game. Edwards was absolutely gassed in Q4 when Luka then did the damage. Mavs back court is going to be a tough problem to solve! Can’t wait to see the adjustments in game 2!

[@dariobalado4054]

This is the best video of the month for me, about how the best defense stopped the best player in the league. La crème de la crème!

[@LLPOF]

Good god, was there a memo that went out mandating the words "master class" be used in every video, podcast, and tv broadcast. Sheesh.

[@Shark_In_The_Box]

Man that’s a great video

[@Jsch23]

solved? i would say they wore him down and they picked the lesser of two evils giving up so many wide open 3s, jokic was completely burnt out and i think fatigue played a big role in all those misses, plus he probably felt the weight of the world on his shoulders with none of the role guys making their wide open jumpers either. mpj was terrible in this series, murray probably played 5 good quarters the entire series, plus murray seems to be made of glass these days, gordon was so incredibly inconsistent all playoffs(i felt like jeff green playing mentor to him last year was a big deal), kcp was invisible, his impact couldnt be felt on the defensive end either with the size differential, the bench was mostly invisible throughout the series, the wolves are just a terrible matchup for denver and even with denvers flaws i feel like they couldve beaten everyone else in the playoffs besides minnesota. give the wolves so much credit though that generational defense made those role players and murray suck.

[@glovs4188]

The shooting that made jokic unstopable last year was missing this year. Wolves game him wide open 3s.

[@weiwayne8505]

This series is a masterpiece

[@jcmaybenot]

Joker had to take more midrange shots imo. Man was deadly from there last year and it feels like he abandoned it

[@thearchivist250]

I literally have been waiting for this since the game ended.

[@Tonio5100]

Translation get ready for ALOT of whining and complaining by Luka to the refs this upcoming series LoL

[@shins0ub0y]

I've been waiting for this video. I'm sad that my nuggs lost, but I wanted the breakdown to see why

[@fredharvey2720]

The breakdown is simple: The Wolves this year began to use illegal contact as a routine aspect of their defense. All the handsy garbage you see against the ball handler on the perimeter is illegal. Every one of those touches by the defense on the ball handler is a personal foul. That kind of contact is only allowed in the lower defensive box and more often than not, especially with referees like Marc Davis, it's not being called. This Wolves team is dirty and they cheat on a regular. Hope this helps.

[@owmegwoagm]

@@fredharvey2720ain’t reading allat, but enjoy that second round exit 😂😂😂

[@dacap10]

Props to you man. I don’t have the guts to watch breakdowns of my team losing in such a heartbreaking fashion.

[@fredharvey2720]

@@dacap10 My team also. They play dirty like this with everybody when they can get away with it.

[@forestcitytrivia9167]

Maybe now that TB has shown how good Rudy was defensively, his haters can shut up for 5 minutes. That would be nice. Just five minutes, please.

[@WrongButtonWB]

Denver needed a player that can get to the rim, simple as that. No team can defend 3pt line and protect the rim, at the same time. The inability of Nuggets guards and SFs to do anything about it, was the thing that gave Minnesota's coaching staff "the how to". Once you limit their attempts at going to the rim, they only had 3pt line left, to go to and when you are forced to take a lot of contested 3pt shots, numbers go down.

[@Yallowbanana]

Mavs and pacers have won 2 hard fought series but lets only cover the wolves for 3 videos straight

[@BonesDMS4life]

Cuz they beat the champs

[@StocktonSmurf]

I didnt realize how poorly Jokic ended up shooting from 3 by the end of this season, good point!

[@shadmalik5125]

Naz and kat being noticeably better post defenders than jokic was something that I wasn’t expecting lol

[@joevince6066]

I do recall joker missing 7 wide open 3s. Had he hit his average of 38% the wolves go home. Dame with mpj. That's why the warriors were so insane consistent jump shooting does not happen

[@ComicalInstrument]

I was so confused why Kat ran past those screens! It looked so weird. Thank you for the great video explanation.

[@FinesseFather]

Damn we really are living in NORTH KOREA

[@jlinphotos]

I'm a Warriors fan & am fairly fond of Draymond. But I gotta admit, it's so nice that Gobert made Draymond choke on his words. Now Draymond NEEDS to say something nice about Gobert lmao

[@MistyKathrine]

At this point, I kind of feel like Draymond wont be satisfied unless Gobert wins the title AND Finals MVP.

[@SamD-fc8vq]

We all wondered if t-wolves had enough defense to beat the nuggets and I thinl that is their most important asset

[@georgealexander1059]

In game 5 the nuggets dared the dpoy to guard Jokic. In game 7, the twolves dared the mvp to make wide open shots. Really interesting chess match considering the awards on both sides

[@redbirdrising5734]

Thank so much, this truly allowed me to appreciate what the Wolves did. Excellent. Subscribed👌(great logo btw)

[@Roonjuice0706]

Ben have you ever thought of moving into a coaching position within the league. I feel like a team such as Denver could use a basketball savant such as yourself.

[@Joke3xMVP]

I agree he would certainly make better and quicker adjustments than that idiot Malone

[@phothewin6019]

The last thing the league needs is more North Korean propaganda.

[@GeronimoPlaz]

DO YOU LIVE IN NORTH KOREA???

[@Broba_Fett]

What were the percentages of players guarded by Anthony Edwards? Just from watching a few games it couldn't have been high. He is a good defender.

[@epicgamersvv1582]

38% the lowest mark of the playoff so far.

[@Kulasisi-xj9fk]

I think the series between Dallas and Minnesota tells us what a true All-Star is. You don't care about elite defense, you're gonna get yours if you want it. Jamal and MPJ, good as they are, aren't Luka or Kyrie. Joker needs a true All-Star with him if they want to defeat the Wolves (they will be better next year too). If Jamal's injury is the real reason he's not playing his usual Playoff self then they're gonna be fine next year. But if Minnesota's defense is his ceiling then sad to say he needed to be traded. It's win-now for Denver, Jokic is gonna be 29.

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

0:18 I FUCKING LOVE THIS, especially since it has so much peak defense, but it's also balanced with great offense as treat.

[@cameronchappell8265]

No mention of the RG fadeaway? Not even in passing? Seems like the most weird shot of the series. Probably would have fit in the Denver half court defense section.

[@showdaKOs]

Was a good defense. I would even say that it THE shot that Denver want the Twolves to take. When a shot like that from Gobert goes in it's just luck. Nothing to analyze

[@ShinMadero]

AwfulCoaching already analyzed this. Denver has nepotism coaching and can't guard a pick and roll to save their lives.

[@rgonzalo511]

Nah Denver lost because we're living in North Korea

[@michaelahurt]

Is that why Minnesota had a 103 offensive rating in the half court? Awful Coaching can be funny but it's not the best analysis.

[@Account-jn7xu]

Bro finally had the courage to respond 💀

[@blaxson10]

We gonna see Denvers bad defensive breakdowns or slow motion plays and graphs??

[@carson.4612]

We don’t ever hear these channels talk about it ever because we live in North Korea

[@matt-tb6gt]

“Thinking Idiotically About Basketball” doesn’t like to talk about that with his big baritone voice

[@jm_e5385]

Brilliant analysis!

[@kidkop7127]

Yes KAT deserves credit. But just as much credit to Finch/Nori

[@michaelahurt]

I wouldn't say that. Everything they did only works because of how well KAT played. It was good game planning but plans aren't worth anything if you can't physically execute.

[@Erkkae]

Amazing job with this one

[@benjihuynh2970]

Amazing series

[@neilrotoni9170]

Man this is HIGH HIGH LEVEL coaching from both teams. Unfortunately someone had to get bounced

[@gb1style]

At last an analysis I agree 💯 Well done

[@terandrefoster3829]

Ive been waiting so patiently 😅...❤

[@nicoabad9326]

My love for Thinking Basketball outweigh my love for Jokic that's why I'm watching this.

[@MrChunkyFlubba]

PLEASE DO NOT make a Dallas video glazing us now we’re winning, you’ve been shitting on Dallas all year. We do not want that shit. Sit out the rest of the playoffs my boy

[@Aaron-nm1ob]

As much as I wanted Jokic to win, I'm beyond happy for the Wolves. 8th seed last season. ALL players bought into defense this season. Trusted their coach. Ant became this frightening version of Ant in the process (& he still has more levels to unlock). They beat the champs because they bought in.

[@tomeewwolffart8058]

Really good video, but does not explain that how come after the 20-point lead and with Jokic struggling from downtown, they did not adjust to running the offense through Gordon or MPJ. And the very fact not even mentioned either that Denver's starters and bench players stayed in one-digit point score, but Jokic and Murray. That leads to a question of how comes that Denver's offense can only be run through the Murray-Jokic pick-and-roll despite having other quality players too.

[@matthewvaughan8192]

I know it's slowed down in parts, but if anything this video shows that the key to the Wolves defence was the refs not calling anyone for a 3-second violation (goes both ways, though.) Gobert in particular is literally just roaming in the paint for however long he likes. You see him step his foot out once to avoid it, but generally he's spending a good 4-5 consecutive seconds in the paint per possession -- but fair play, that's what playoff ball is all about. If the refs aren't gonna call it, *exploit it.* That's what good teams do.

[@FlexSZN23]

You can say the same thing about Jokic’s moving screens. I counted over 10 in game 7 alone.

[@matthewvaughan8192]

@@FlexSZN23 Absolutely true. Like I said, goes both ways. Timberwolves just did a much better job of recognising it and taking advantage to shut down any easy Nuggets buckets

[@Edd_LShore]

@@matthewvaughan8192 if it goes both ways, its not relevant. Keep crying though. Its not like having a bench would make a difference

[@sylthfarn3187]

This rule is never strictly applied. It's more of a guideline to force the defender to step out from the paint to let more opportunities. Also as long as you actively defend on someone (arm length), you can stay on the paint for more than 3 seconds (even if he's outside the paint)

[@JayThunder35Fan]

Honestly, I think 3 point shooting is what Jok will work on (if he’s not horse riding lol) for the off season. Jok is a great roll man but if pick and pop becomes a staple in his game, that’ll create a defensive problem for a lot of teams. Maybe it’s just me but if my big can pop threes and against the Minnesota defense, 5 out would be hard for them to defend. Either you’re giving up an open lay or an open 3.

[@ryanmanoo2988]

the impact of gobert is the most overlooked

[@Internet_Gangsta]

T-Wolves had Gordon and MPJ on their side as well in that game 7.

[@weksauce]

The thing I hate is if/when a team that wins by 1 game goes on to win the championship. Like 2019. The Raptors won against the 76ers by a single bounce of the ball. They're not (known to be) the better team. The rockets v warriors in whichever year. If the wolves win the championship this year, it's stupid, because we don't know that they're better than the nuggets, but the nba is proclaiming them "best". Dumb.

[@AlphaBet4]

As much as this might hurt, trading MPJ is the best way for Nuggets to improve their roster. You can’t pay max contract money for one dimensional guy, while also having Jokic, Murray and Gordon on that team. Yeah Minnesota have Gobert but if they want to keep that core (McDaniels, Naz Reid, KAT, NAW) while having Ant Super Max, it will not be possible.

[@ZephyrSolo]

Who would they even get for him?

[@sylthfarn3187]

Yeah Minnesota will have to find a way until Gobert's contract expire in 2026. Maybe other teams will want Gobert next year to start a new defensive dynamic but will Minnesota let go of their DPOY and defensive anchor ? Maybe on his last year of contract.

[@smittywerbenjagermanjensen320]

MPJ deserves at least one more chance, in my opinion. He’s improved his game every season, is only 25, and his shooting compliments Jokic’s game. The weak link in the starting 5 is KCP tbh. What I think they should do, is replace DeAndre Jordan and Zeke Nnaji with a couple bigs that are actually playable in the postseason to counter Minnesota’s size, and so Jokic can get some rest. Give the bench players like P Wat, Strawther, and CB more minutes to let them gain confidence in their shot. Finally, play the bench more and don’t worry about seeding as much, so that the starters like Jamal can be at 100% for the postseason. I’m a Nuggets fan, but coach Malone’s rotations can be abysmal at times, regardless of who’s on the roster

[@dacap10]

@@sylthfarn3187trade him back to Utah to pair with Lauri Markannen and we’ll give back Kessler + 2 picks. Kessler is way cheaper and is a solid young defender that matches the rest of the teams timeline.

[@pergamX]

true. In order to win multiple times in modern NBA you basically need to consistently draft guys who will overachieve on their rookie contracts. And as soon as you win these guys will want to get paid and you have to let them go and get new guys so you can at least keep your stars...

[@weksauce]

11:45 it's all just noise, normal statistical variation, not signal, not statistically-significant DIFFERENCES.

[@HoopEnthusiasts]

Jokic looked Like food on defense, one of the main reason the nuggets lost this series.

[@tdsm99]

MPJ averaged like 8 points the last 5 games

[@joshualee9540]

​@@tdsm99He said “one of”

[@forthe3136]

It was free lanes to the hoop every time because no one could stay in front of ant and Jokic offers no resistance at the rim. And Jokic was getting cooked on the perimeter by Reid his defensive flaws were on full display this series.

[@HoopEnthusiasts]

@@tdsm99reading comprehension isn’t ur strong suit. MPJ played bad but Gordon played great from game 3 to 5. MPJ struggled a lot but he also carried against the lakers.

[@FlexSZN23]

Better than Hakeem and Shaq though… purportedly

[@Islandkid679]

Murray and MPJ have shot terribly this playoffs, even the Lakers series Murray was shooting poorly.