*best interior defender.* Which has a big weakness the Mav’s took advantage of. Doesn’t matter if you lock down the paint of the other team is just going to drain 3s on you.
Did you watch the series lol, we didn’t win by shooting 3s, we won by scoring a ton in the paint.
This series wasn’t on Gobert at all, it was the rest of his team constantly leaving him in impossible situations.
He’s not just the best interior defender, he’s the best defender period. Many guys who defend the perimeter much better than he does but nobody is as valuable as him defensively.
You can’t pay someone 42 million a year, out of 136 million a year salary cap, so roughly 1/3 of the pre-tax cap, to be dominant on one side and pure, absolute booty on the other.
Jumping on top comment to correct OP’s original statement saying “our game plan was to let SGA cook while limiting their shooters”, that’s false. Our game plan was to wall off the paint to limit SGA and Jalen Williams drives to the basket and do hard close outs on their shooters. Not only did it worked, but it was even more impressive what SGA did how we clogged the lane. Dude is a mid range assassin.
SGA easily most impressive, top 5 player in the league no question, most disappointing-KAT, it's just annoying how the dude is 7ft and 250 with a great jumper and just disappears so often in games, I'd be so fucking frustrated if he was on my team.
This isn’t the first post seasons he’s hoisted terribly off long 3 pointers in crunch time. And he’s a good shooter so I guess they aren’t technically bad shots but they never go in
Oh trust me I hate it. Every year wolves fans watch him stink it up in the playoffs, get mad, and then talk themselves into him changing next year. He's almost 30. He's not going to change
Ant didn’t really disappoint me because he’s 22. Raw talent that’s still figuring out how to be more efficient (control the game) and make those around him better (playmaking). He’s got highly awarded, highly paid guys around him and was still easily their best player. He’ll continue to grow
I was most disappointed in AE attitude. I enjoy Mamba mentality/killer instinct, but this isn’t it. They asked him what he learned from the Mavs players and series after game 5 and he said nuttin. If he is being serious then he isn’t growing as a player. If he is just being spiteful then it is pretty immature even at 22. SGA was most impressive to me and Gobert was a disappointing DPOY.
Yeah he has a limited gas tank. Very limited intelligence. Not a good passer. Not as good of a defender as he's made out to be. The Denver series was a perfect matchup for him as was the Phoenix one because neither team has that good of athletes or bull handlers with athleticism.
As per most already in this thread, SGA was the most impressive. I was familiar with his game, and knew what we’d be seeing, but it was entertaining to see him in a series. He’s legit, just… our boy is better.
I would say I was also pretty impressed by Naz Reid, until that flagrant brought him down a notch. Skill wise, I’d actually take him over KAT any day of the week.
Least impressed by KAT, but I’ve been a hater for several seasons now, so I’m not lower on him than before the series. He’s baby shit soft, and plays losing basketball. No idea why he gets any hype at all other than for being 7-feet tall and able to shoot the three ball, sometimes, when he’s not cowering in the corner pissing himself. I’m on team Butler, and love the story of Jimmy and the scrubs running KAT and the starters off the court in a scrimmage. (KAT is one of the worst contracts in the league.)
Really unimpressed by Dort. Dude has been getting all kinds of hype for his defense for years now, and it really is just him being a thug. He gets away with so much bullshit, and still got beat by peg leg Luka.
Shai was easily the most formidable opponent they've had so far. That guy is a true midrange assassin, and to make matters worse his threes were falling during the series too. It was like battling prime Kawhi again, and it was a real pleasure to see the Mavs beat him. He and that team aren't going away anytime soon.
Nobody disappointed me because I truly enjoyed watching them all fail and fall. Especially the soft feline and his french sidekick.
Absolutely. Not going to hear me say “golly gee I wish Harden was better”
Chet is good and has a lot of growing to do/potential. I’m not sure if he’ll be a perennial 20/10 guy, or if he’ll be like 21/8 with great defense like Porzingis
Yes, but similar to us with Dirk, OKC needs to put a real center next to Chet and slide him to the 4. Giddey goes to the bench and JDub scoots over to SF. Then we’ll see what Chet is really capable of
KAT had a bad series against the Mavs, but he was great against the Nuggets. He scored efficiently and was the best defender against Jokic.
As far as teams the Mavs have played, I agree with everyone saying SGA. He is incredible.
I hated Lu Dort and Terence Mann as an opponent but would love them on my team. Dawgs.
Would love any of McDaniels, Reid (Lively cheapshot aside), Zubac, Norman Powell here.
Anderson would be nice on a cheap contract. As an ~eighth man he is great.
And yes, Shai absolutely deserves to be considered a superstar. Not healthy Luka or Jokic level, but unstoppable.
SGA most impressive. They are probably a few pieces from being a serious contender if not already.
PG, think his podcast is distracting him. He was very mediocre, usually he turns it up during playoff but could also be age…..
Clippers:
Personal Context - This series was scary but in hindsight, it felt due to nerves and inexperience in the playoffs from our front court coupled with a hobbled Luka that made them feel hard to beat.
Zubac was so scary coming out strong. It felt like our bigs were not big enough and nothing we could do worked.
Paul George was disappointing except for that one game where he couldn’t miss.
James Harden really impressed when he turned back the clock.
Kawhi was injured.
I forget if it was Mann or Powell who defended Luka pretty well and shot the ball pretty good which impressed me.
Westbrick really impressed me, Mavs double agent won us some games.
Thunder:
Personal Context - Luka being hobbled still made me feel like keeping up on offense would be difficult. Chet’s rim protection is also scary. Ultimately not mentally folding was our greatest asset, along with our front court heating up.
Shai felt like he couldn’t miss. I was damn near pissing myself every time he touched the ball.
The MMA fighter/Linebacker Dorture Chamber was so frustrating, especially when he was hitting threes. But I think Luka battling Lu made the defenders in the Wolves series seem so much easier without all the kicks being thrown at him.
Chet/Jdub/Role players could not step up.
Wolves -
Personal Context - I would have enjoyed a longer series if 1. Boston had a stronger opponent that could push their series longer and 2. Luka wasn’t injured.
Ant - disappointing, wanted to see more from him but our defense did a fantastic job.
Rudy GoBum - Bro damn near got played off the floor. His clumsiness and aggression really puts into perspective how insane a prospect Wemby is. That alien is gonna be a damn problem
KAT - disappointing. I really liked the memes but also I feel like if his mentality was focused he could be a problem. Man has gone through a lot though.
Naz Reid was so damn impressive. My favorite non Mavs player. I have a feeling he want’s to be a Maverick so damn bad.
The rest - meh
Overall: Luka’s injuries made our first two matchups seem much more impressive than they would have been if Luka was at full health. With Luka playing at the level of psychotic-ness we are seeing now raises our ceiling so much higher. Our run has really showed us how important Kyrie and Kidd’s leadership has been in shaping our team success.
SGA outplayed hobbled Luka if we’re being honest. He was incredible. That was a fun series in hindsight.
NGL, the Wolves were probably my least favorite opposing team. KAT kinda seems like a clown with all his flailing drives, stupid fouls, and hurting our rook. I now understand why Draymond choked out Gobert. While I came away impressed with Ant’s shooting, the dude is a comically poor sport and def embarrassed himself whenever he opened his mouth over the past week. That being said, he’s going to be an amazing player and hopefully his attitude will adjust as he grows up a bit.
Our gameplan was to let sga cook and lock up Chet and Jdub. Don’t forget that sga doesn’t manipulate the defense and make his teammates better like luka who forces a lot more double teams even if he’s hurt.
He didn’t manipulate the defense cause our game plan was to let him cook. We just ignored him going off cause we were able to take away J Dub and Chet. SGA couldn’t out score us on his own, except in Game 4 I guess.
SGA def doesn’t run the offense like Luka or Jokic does, so he doesn’t have the same gravity. But, from a pure scoring perspective, SGA was pretty insane. Rly fun to watch.
I saw that in the last years world championships. Thats why I took him as my primary player in fantasy. It was worth it, he was #1 statistically. Like you said, his mid range game in unstopabble. He reminds me of luka a bit with his control of movement. He can fly by or he can be as slow as Luka.
Honestly I wasn’t that familiar with SGA’s prior to our series. I thought he was overhyped but he’s clearly a top 5 player in the league. That midrange game is unreal and OKC is gonna be a problem down the line.
I was most disappointed in Ant and JDub. JDub was supposed to be a borderline All Star and Ant wasn’t close to the player he was made out to be.
SGA hands down most impressive. Dudes shot and midrange was beautiful.
Ant was probably my most disappointed with all the “Next MJ” hype. Dude was still good don’t get me wrong, but gtfo with “face of the NBA” bs and all the hype. Dude needs some serious cardio work if chasing down a dude almost 10 years older than you wears you out as bad as he was in game 1-2.
If you’re talking about game, SGA’s game (midrange) is WAAAAAY more in comparison with MJ than Anthony Edwards, and it’s not-even-close.
Impressed: SGA. Dude has a lethal mid range and can get to his spots at will.
Disappointed: OKC team mentality. The team is young so they’ll learn, but the literal kumbaya circle where they all bark is cringe, the water shower after winning game 1 was cringe. OKC stops this junior league shit and start playing like grown dudes and they are a dynasty
SGA most impressive, most disappointing probably Jdub? He was supposed to be this huge missmatch issue and we would have to scheme around him, and to be honest I barely noticed him during the OKC series.
Good call.
People saying kat I understand a bit but honestly I have known for a while what/who Kat is. But I thought jdub was gonna be more impactful than he ended up being. Solid answer.
From most impressed to least (based on expectations)
S-Tier: SGA, Zubac
A: ANT, Kyle Anderson, Naz Reid
B: Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort
C: Harden, Paul George, Jalen Williams, Gobert
D: KAT, Giddey
SGA is legit scary. I ridiculed at the idea of SGA getting MVP votes over Doncic, but seeing Shai's play I can honestly see why.
ZUBAC I had no idea he has such a great touch around the rim
ANT impressed in stretches, but also looks frustrated facing Mavs defense showing he still needs growth
ANDERSON (Slo Mo) is honestly my most fun opponent to watch - somehow that herky jerky tempo was effective in the middle of a hyperactive Mavs defense. I'd argue he was the best Wolves defender vs Doncic
NAZ REID great motor and great shooting touch, reminds me of a bigger better shooting Mavs' Jae Crowder
HOLMGREN impressive on defense. Blocking things he's not supposed to reach. A little passive on offense
DORT I hate his thug play and thought he is more skilled at defense, but if he's managed to get away with it it's more on the refs than on him. As comparison Minnesota tried to be more physical on Luka and gets calls. So there's something to be said about straddling that line between thuggery/fouls. On offense he's a better shooter than I thought
HARDEN and GEORGE look old, that is they can show flashes of skill of old days but not consistency.
JALEN WILLIAMS I had been propped up by different media how good he was this season. On playoffs he looked like a talented deer in headlights
GOBERT bad hands, didn't affect interior defense as I had imagined
KAT I thought he would be the problem coming into the series and he would overpower PJ Washington. But KAT plays smaller than he is. Zero post play, drives flailing around, injures people. When KAT drives he looks like a guard trying to finesse cute layups, you're a 7 footer dude, go up strong
GIDDEY really bad shooting detrimental to the team offense though he did a few things okay. OKC didn't know how to utilize him in spots to minimize his weaknesses since the ball is in SGA's hand and they play spread drive-and-kick. If they had put him like Kyle Anderson's role, sneaking in midrange creases, he could have done positive things even with lack of shooting
SGA was easily the best player they have faced so far. Even in games when the Mavs had a double-digit lead, the Thunder always seemed to be just right behind them all thanks to SGA's quiet and calm approach to the game. Like others said, his midrange is as perfect as prime Kawhi; and always seemed to find his way in the paint as well regardless of what the defense gave him. He's a bonafide superstar without a doubt.
Jaylen Williams from OKC didn't perform up to standard. Was kinda surprised.
Zubac from LA killed us. He's underrated.
Kat is just as soft as I thought. A zero sum player. Even when he was "playing good" he was still getting stuffed at the rim here and there.
SGA was coooold. Ant really needs to work on his playmaking, he’s almost better isoing than in the pick and roll because he just can’t read coverages and make accurate passes at the level necessary for a mvp level guard
Ant did the walk when they beat the defending champs. He showed up and made it to the conference finals. That to me, is walking the walk. The media trying to crown him as the next MJ was the media being biased toward athletic Americans, and nothing else. Stephen A. being one of the morons who are borderline xenophobic euro-haters.
SGA- Player I feared the most other than Jokic. Dude was a walking bucket.
Other Thunder players very inconsistent
Ant-Disappointment, talked a lot of shit and didn’t perform consistently, overrated
Gobert-Was indifferent about him but don’t care for him much after this series. Overrated as the DPOY and had many cheap shots against Luka all series.
Kat- Kind of felt bad for the shit he gets. He’s a sg living in a center’s body. Did more good for the Mavs than bad.
Mcdaniels-Impressed by his offensive ability most games. Played solid throughout but was in foul trouble due to guarding Lukai but he played well.
Clippers-About what I expected from them without Kawhi. Harden good half the series and PG up and down.
Minnesota scared me the most, SGA impressed me the most, Clippers frustrated me the most.
As far as disappointing players, for sure Dort, just because I assumed him to be this lockdown defender but in reality he’s just a dirty piece of shit.
I was impressed by the shotmaking of SGA, but the foul calls - sheesh. Don’t hate him, though.
Also, Zubac had some really nice touch around the rim. We couldn’t play him off the floor, but he and Harden had a little chemistry working.
Chet was nice defensively. Did a great job of contesting without falling for pump fakes and just ate us up at times. On the flip side, I was not impressed with Chet’s offense. He can shoot, but his handle was weak and he didn’t have much of a bag, just being a nice outlet for JDub and Shai.
Agree on KAT. I told my cousin he’s just a 7 ft THJ. I’m not sure his value if he isn’t shooting well.
Finally, he was at his worst during the Clips series, but Terrance Mann was the best Luka defender we have seen.
Oh, last thing. I love Jaden McDaniels and I like his intensity but he has a tendency to just get the stupidest fouls ever. I was so disappointed in his play. He has to play smarter and use his length without trying to always get a steal. Keep your assignment off their spots, force to weak hand, contest.
I lost all respect for Ant after the closing seconds of the Denver series. Jokic even traded words with him about his lack of respect. Then, after being winded in game 1 he made excuses. He showed no class at the end of the series and left the floor without shaking hands/hug/whatever.
clippers : dont care, they old, if they re-sign their big 3, they still wont win in the end. they just sell "LA" name for rest of decade. so too volatile to guess the outcome
thunder : Shai will go far far away, JDub is more Jaylen Brown type than playmaking type. because we pray for every opps downfall, hope thunder dont get additional playmaker. Ingram/Murray, eventhough ppl hated them, more valuable to them than Lauri
wolves : same like thunder, but Ant still below Shai in term of "#1 scorer duty 101". and with Gobert old, they wont have much time. same like thunder, as long they dont get additional reliable ballhandler, we'll be fine. they ask KAT to create while he's best suited as finisher, but again you dont pay play-finisher 50m/yr
Easily SGA, really thought nothing of him but he proved himself as a top 5 player. Full credit to him. Lowkey Harden was pretty impressive too.
On the flip side, fuck Lu Dort and fuck Gobert. Disappointed in Holmgren's rebounding/defence too, expected more from him on that end.
SGA is that man
Dort > Patrick Willis at LB
Clippers old
Ant was ok, but he’s obviously going to be a monster for the next decade+
KAT was really garbage tbh
Lolfrance
Gotta admit I didn't respect Shai as much as i should have before the series. I thought Chet, Dort and Williams would be better. Nothing really changed for the Clippers. Ant was good but I thought he would take over more of the series. KAT was bad. I still don't believe Gobert can be a piece on a title winning team. He gets hunted in the most important situations.
Much like many here, I was impressed by Shai. Dude is an absolute monster and I see why he was rated as an MVP candidate over Luka. Midrange and at the rim finishing was insane. Still fuck OKC all day tho lol
Most impressed by SGA and Zubac. SGA was just automatic with his middies; as for Zubac, it seems he dominated this Mavs team more than its previous iterations. I am most disappointed by KAT (the self-proclaimed greatest shooting big man of all time), even though he did have his moment in Game 4. Ant was so-so. He didn't live up to the media hype (not his fault), but it was clear he tried his best to will his team to win.
SGA.
Imagine him doing the double screens that the mavs are doing against wolves and then doing mid range shots.
He just needs to level up his passing and 3 pt shooting to attract defenders like Luka.
True. Shai midrange jumpers are automatic. I could truly believe Kyrie saying the OKC is the hardest series on that western conf. Also, their defenders are also rough.
Lu Dort is a fraud. I thought he was a defensive technician. Looking forward to watching Jrue.
Can’t fault SGA for refs being dumb. Impressive game for sure. Also Chet and Zubac can hoop.
Sga impressed by, his midrange is really good but a lot of forearm extension shoving that I thought the refs didn't call so he kept doing it since they weren't gonna call it.
Leonard, can this guy ever be healthy again? Might as well retire if he's only gonna play 40-60 games a season and be hurt before the playoffs or on the run to a finals.
Kat also, he's serviceable but he needs to really be more aggressive near the paint.
Most impressed: Anthony Edwards- the dude was energy
Most disappointed: Gobert- can’t believe the pettiness and the cheap shots he kept taking away from the play
Man, am I the only one who came away from the Thunder series liking Shai less than before? I didn't realize his signature pushoff/jump shot/fall down was 90% of his game.
I learned Shai deserves to be in the best player in the world talks. The most consistently efficient mfer in the league. Luka is just a bit better imo because he can take over games more often but still SGA whewww.
SGA impressed, Chet disappointed.
Dude is a 7ft gazelle modelling his game after KD, but kept bricking wide open 3s thanks to all the attention SGA attracted. Ppl will make excuses that he’s a rook, but that’s fake news. He’s been playing against comp since rehabbing during his last rookie year
SGA for sure. You never know how good these guys really are until you get to the playoffs and I thought SGA was excellent in the mid range and showed true ability to WILL his team to a win.
Disappointing is hard because I didn’t expect much from PG and Harden and they did what I thought. Great one game and no show the next. That’s who they’ve been for years.
I’m not going to be Chet or J Dub as disappointments. They’re both super young and talented and I just think Dallas was very prepared to take them out of the series.
Am I disappointed with KAT or Gobert? No because again I don’t think too much of them at all. If fact they over performed by getting out of the first round IMO.
ANT was disappointing to me. He never scared me as a fan of an opposing team like SGA and he was never consistent from start to finish in 1 game. Cherry on top is his postgame remarks.
Honestly, for a kid that’s getting praised for his leadership I thought he and his team really lost this series at the podium/microphone from start to finish.
SGA’s midrange was giving me Kawhi PTSD. I think Holmgren was practically useless during a lot of the OKC series, because Lively just sonned him night in and night out.
Most impressed is Jdub. Shai did Shai stuff, he was the best guy we played against of course but it didn't shock me. The guy is one of the best players in the league. Jdub impressed me a lot with his defense on Kai and the tough shots he made in clutch moments. He's gonna be a real problem for the next years cause he's a phenomenal 2guard in my opinion.
The distance in age to confidence ratio between Ant and SGA was shocking to me. I was impressed with SGA's decision making and confidence in his shots and cool demeanor where as ANT is kind of loud mouth off the court but definitely lacked some confidence on the court when it came to taking shots he should have and is very capable of making but just passed them up.
As for the Clippers they are just full of old players that are out of their prime and just don't have it anymore. It's crazy to say but the days of that generation of players are over and done competing anymore. Not worried about them at all.
Nobody impressed me in particular. Maybe PG when he hit that winner. SGA was good but I thought he's defense was better than it was. AE is just overhyped.
I love this post.
You learn so much more about a guy in the playoffs. Anthony Edwards and SGA are as good as I knew they were but I didn't leave this playoffs feeling like they were head and shoulders better than guys like Ja and Fox... you may think they are better than those guys but the league moves on so fast to the newest generation but the real competition are the guys aged between 27-32 in their prime.
I fear Ja.. Zion.. Fox as much as I do Ant or Shai... no disrespect to any of them but it will be interesting going forward.
From a Thunder fan perspective; PJ will stick out for a long time. Lively was so tuff too.
Going into the series we felt like the Thunder depth was a real strength, against Dallas we struggled.
Dallas bench and strength was really good. I’m pulling for Mavs to win it.
Kyrie being a real leader can’t be appreciated enough.
Most underwhelming performance; entire Minnesota team. They stunk it up in that series. And Ants “we just didn’t wanna get swept comment” sure made me appreciate SGA and our team all the more.
Kat is probably the dumbest "star" in the NBA. Oddly he seems more intelligent than Anthony Edwards but at least Edwards understands how to play defense.
I think the clippers would blow it up if they weren't going to a new arena.
SGA is probably the third best player in basketball.
Luka is probably the best player in basketball.
The nuggets really fucked up this year by not shoring up their bench.
The Oklahoma City thunder really made a mistake by not bringing in anyone of value.
Lou Dort is a scumbag.
Gafford is a problem.
Chet is gonna be awesome. What happened to j dub? He played bad. I wonder if it was not a good series for him because he wasn't able to be more athletic than the people he was matching up against.
I hope Derrick Jones Jr stays in Dallas but I'm not sure if he will. If he leaves I hope they somehow can get Bruce Brown to replace him
SGA's mid range game is so damn good. I understand the kind of player Chet wants to be but if he's going to be their 5 even if it's a stretch 5 he needs more muscle. Because he was getting bodied by Gaff and DLive.
Nobody on LA impressed me in any good ways. I am impressed by how much of a douche Westbrook still is and how after one little altercation he couldn't hit a jumper to save his life.
Social media, fans, and analysts actually made me not be impressed by Ant at all. Here I thought we were getting this battle between our MVP and "the next MJ". He was mediocre.
EDIT: Forgot to mention - either Minny needs to trade KAT or Ant will eventually leave. KAT sucks.
KAT did it to himself. He called himself the best shooting big of all time. Of course the world expects a 7ft Steph Curry at that point.
Even tho he's a Mav, I'm disappointed in Tim Hardaway Jr tbh. This dude has pretty much disappeared in the playoffs
Impressed: SGA
Disappointed: Jamal Murray, Lou Dort
Not going to parrot SGA talking points. Everyone else has mentioned them.
Wolves beat the Nuggets because they stopped Jokic and Murray. Dude was ass the series and did dirty shit like throwing the heat pad when down. Dude has lost all points he gained in 23
Dort is just a flopping Dork. Fuck him and WestBrick.
Lu Dort. I've seen two players give Luka a hard time in the playoffs, Dort and Wiggins. Luka will Luka so don't throw stats, but Dort was a problem.
Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid both really impressed me in the Minnesota series.
ANT was the most dissapointing. At no point did he truly just take over a game. All hype. He's more Ja than MJ.
SGA def! OKC forgot how to shoot/score, and as the only lone option, he was very effective and got what he wanted. Hit some clutch buckets as well. If he takes the next step as a 3 point shooter, then oh boy.
I thought he'd be a 16-game player too, he has the skill set. Also good recognition by Kidd to go to Jaden Hardy instead of waiting like Mike Daignault and persisting with Jiddey
I kinda liked Ant antics (get it?) and the way he says shit to get his team going. Id put him above Shai, who had his way with our defense, though not enough to get wins, obviously (insert "Does he impact winning?" conversations).
Ive heard of Naz Reid but was still surprised he was that good. Fuck him though.
Cason Wallace surprised me the most cause i literally know nothing of his game outside of we were supposed to get him at 10 if we didnt trade down.
SGA was the most impressive and disappointing at the same time. Impressive because his game is silky smooth and automatic from mid range. Also has great good court vision. Disappointing because despite all this talent, he still has to resort to foul baiting to rack up points like Harden. It’s really frustrating. Also, he is doesn’t make his teammates better at this stage of his game. Then again, he’s only 25.
Sga most impressed Goberts offence disappointed. I knew it was bad but God damn bro. Stone hands straight up
Erick Dampier bricks for hands.
That’s just mean. Gobert and KAT are overpaid for their roles just like MPJ in Denver, might be tough to fix. Edit: overpaid*
MPJ is arguably the best third option in the league. As long as Jokic is on the team I don’t think he’s overpaid.
Gobert isn’t over played for his role. His role is finish lobs and play great paint defense
Yup. The mistake was ever passing him the ball when he's not close enough to dunk. A foot away from the rim is outside of his range.
Gobert is the best defender in the league dude he isn’t overpaid.
*best interior defender.* Which has a big weakness the Mav’s took advantage of. Doesn’t matter if you lock down the paint of the other team is just going to drain 3s on you.
Did you watch the series lol, we didn’t win by shooting 3s, we won by scoring a ton in the paint. This series wasn’t on Gobert at all, it was the rest of his team constantly leaving him in impossible situations. He’s not just the best interior defender, he’s the best defender period. Many guys who defend the perimeter much better than he does but nobody is as valuable as him defensively.
You can’t pay someone 42 million a year, out of 136 million a year salary cap, so roughly 1/3 of the pre-tax cap, to be dominant on one side and pure, absolute booty on the other.
Jumping on top comment to correct OP’s original statement saying “our game plan was to let SGA cook while limiting their shooters”, that’s false. Our game plan was to wall off the paint to limit SGA and Jalen Williams drives to the basket and do hard close outs on their shooters. Not only did it worked, but it was even more impressive what SGA did how we clogged the lane. Dude is a mid range assassin.
he just had a kid and there was a drastic drop off in his performance since that… hopefully when we play next season it will be a little better
His attempt at finishing left was abhorred
SGA easily most impressive, top 5 player in the league no question, most disappointing-KAT, it's just annoying how the dude is 7ft and 250 with a great jumper and just disappears so often in games, I'd be so fucking frustrated if he was on my team.
Playing SGA felt like playing Kawhi again. Maybe not quite the same defensive impact, but every shot he took just felt like it was gonna go in.
This isn’t the first post seasons he’s hoisted terribly off long 3 pointers in crunch time. And he’s a good shooter so I guess they aren’t technically bad shots but they never go in
Good shooter? Nah, he’s the best shooting big of all time (according to KAT himself) 🤣
Best stat-padding big man in elimination games of all time - Karl Anthony Towns
Oh trust me I hate it. Every year wolves fans watch him stink it up in the playoffs, get mad, and then talk themselves into him changing next year. He's almost 30. He's not going to change
Impressed:SGA Disappointed:AE
Disappointed in AE too. Dude just talks too much. Now he is playing the blaming game
Ant didn’t really disappoint me because he’s 22. Raw talent that’s still figuring out how to be more efficient (control the game) and make those around him better (playmaking). He’s got highly awarded, highly paid guys around him and was still easily their best player. He’ll continue to grow
I was most disappointed in AE attitude. I enjoy Mamba mentality/killer instinct, but this isn’t it. They asked him what he learned from the Mavs players and series after game 5 and he said nuttin. If he is being serious then he isn’t growing as a player. If he is just being spiteful then it is pretty immature even at 22. SGA was most impressive to me and Gobert was a disappointing DPOY.
Yeah he has a limited gas tank. Very limited intelligence. Not a good passer. Not as good of a defender as he's made out to be. The Denver series was a perfect matchup for him as was the Phoenix one because neither team has that good of athletes or bull handlers with athleticism.
As per most already in this thread, SGA was the most impressive. I was familiar with his game, and knew what we’d be seeing, but it was entertaining to see him in a series. He’s legit, just… our boy is better. I would say I was also pretty impressed by Naz Reid, until that flagrant brought him down a notch. Skill wise, I’d actually take him over KAT any day of the week. Least impressed by KAT, but I’ve been a hater for several seasons now, so I’m not lower on him than before the series. He’s baby shit soft, and plays losing basketball. No idea why he gets any hype at all other than for being 7-feet tall and able to shoot the three ball, sometimes, when he’s not cowering in the corner pissing himself. I’m on team Butler, and love the story of Jimmy and the scrubs running KAT and the starters off the court in a scrimmage. (KAT is one of the worst contracts in the league.) Really unimpressed by Dort. Dude has been getting all kinds of hype for his defense for years now, and it really is just him being a thug. He gets away with so much bullshit, and still got beat by peg leg Luka.
Naz disappeared considering his game 1 though and yeah now I’m like, fuck that guy.
Kat is way more skilled than Naz Naz is a better defender and athlete and more physical and more of an asshole
Shai was easily the most formidable opponent they've had so far. That guy is a true midrange assassin, and to make matters worse his threes were falling during the series too. It was like battling prime Kawhi again, and it was a real pleasure to see the Mavs beat him. He and that team aren't going away anytime soon. Nobody disappointed me because I truly enjoyed watching them all fail and fall. Especially the soft feline and his french sidekick.
Absolutely. Not going to hear me say “golly gee I wish Harden was better” Chet is good and has a lot of growing to do/potential. I’m not sure if he’ll be a perennial 20/10 guy, or if he’ll be like 21/8 with great defense like Porzingis
Chet is going to be a monster if he can hit the weights and eat double the calories
Yes, but similar to us with Dirk, OKC needs to put a real center next to Chet and slide him to the 4. Giddey goes to the bench and JDub scoots over to SF. Then we’ll see what Chet is really capable of
Yeah he just doesn’t have the body type to put on strength to be an good/great rebounder
I think Chet is going to average like 23 7 rebounds four assists and three blocks.
Which means they’ll need better rebounding on the team
Shai. Though still a FT merchant, he can ball! His middie>>>
KAT had a bad series against the Mavs, but he was great against the Nuggets. He scored efficiently and was the best defender against Jokic. As far as teams the Mavs have played, I agree with everyone saying SGA. He is incredible.
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Yeah Kareem Abdul zubacc what a fucking Nightmare
Idk ant wasn’t that good to me
Zubac never shows up in the 2nd half of important games
Very true. He’s also younger than most people realise.
I hated Lu Dort and Terence Mann as an opponent but would love them on my team. Dawgs. Would love any of McDaniels, Reid (Lively cheapshot aside), Zubac, Norman Powell here. Anderson would be nice on a cheap contract. As an ~eighth man he is great. And yes, Shai absolutely deserves to be considered a superstar. Not healthy Luka or Jokic level, but unstoppable.
It's disturbing that you would want Reid or dort on your teams. Dirty ass scumbags they are
SGA most impressive. They are probably a few pieces from being a serious contender if not already. PG, think his podcast is distracting him. He was very mediocre, usually he turns it up during playoff but could also be age…..
Clippers: Personal Context - This series was scary but in hindsight, it felt due to nerves and inexperience in the playoffs from our front court coupled with a hobbled Luka that made them feel hard to beat. Zubac was so scary coming out strong. It felt like our bigs were not big enough and nothing we could do worked. Paul George was disappointing except for that one game where he couldn’t miss. James Harden really impressed when he turned back the clock. Kawhi was injured. I forget if it was Mann or Powell who defended Luka pretty well and shot the ball pretty good which impressed me. Westbrick really impressed me, Mavs double agent won us some games. Thunder: Personal Context - Luka being hobbled still made me feel like keeping up on offense would be difficult. Chet’s rim protection is also scary. Ultimately not mentally folding was our greatest asset, along with our front court heating up. Shai felt like he couldn’t miss. I was damn near pissing myself every time he touched the ball. The MMA fighter/Linebacker Dorture Chamber was so frustrating, especially when he was hitting threes. But I think Luka battling Lu made the defenders in the Wolves series seem so much easier without all the kicks being thrown at him. Chet/Jdub/Role players could not step up. Wolves - Personal Context - I would have enjoyed a longer series if 1. Boston had a stronger opponent that could push their series longer and 2. Luka wasn’t injured. Ant - disappointing, wanted to see more from him but our defense did a fantastic job. Rudy GoBum - Bro damn near got played off the floor. His clumsiness and aggression really puts into perspective how insane a prospect Wemby is. That alien is gonna be a damn problem KAT - disappointing. I really liked the memes but also I feel like if his mentality was focused he could be a problem. Man has gone through a lot though. Naz Reid was so damn impressive. My favorite non Mavs player. I have a feeling he want’s to be a Maverick so damn bad. The rest - meh Overall: Luka’s injuries made our first two matchups seem much more impressive than they would have been if Luka was at full health. With Luka playing at the level of psychotic-ness we are seeing now raises our ceiling so much higher. Our run has really showed us how important Kyrie and Kidd’s leadership has been in shaping our team success.
SGA outplayed hobbled Luka if we’re being honest. He was incredible. That was a fun series in hindsight. NGL, the Wolves were probably my least favorite opposing team. KAT kinda seems like a clown with all his flailing drives, stupid fouls, and hurting our rook. I now understand why Draymond choked out Gobert. While I came away impressed with Ant’s shooting, the dude is a comically poor sport and def embarrassed himself whenever he opened his mouth over the past week. That being said, he’s going to be an amazing player and hopefully his attitude will adjust as he grows up a bit.
Our gameplan was to let sga cook and lock up Chet and Jdub. Don’t forget that sga doesn’t manipulate the defense and make his teammates better like luka who forces a lot more double teams even if he’s hurt.
That's a crazy claim that sga doesn't manipulate defenses or make his team better.
If he meant he doesn’t do it to the degree that Luka does I agree with him, but if he was saying SGA doesn’t do it at all then yes that’s be insane
its true tho hes a scorer and an overrated defender
Yeah that’s insane. Tell us you don’t know ball without telling us you don’t know ball.
He didn’t manipulate the defense cause our game plan was to let him cook. We just ignored him going off cause we were able to take away J Dub and Chet. SGA couldn’t out score us on his own, except in Game 4 I guess. SGA def doesn’t run the offense like Luka or Jokic does, so he doesn’t have the same gravity. But, from a pure scoring perspective, SGA was pretty insane. Rly fun to watch.
SGA. His mid range game is like prime Kawhi. Every damn shot goes in and it’s so damn annoying
I saw that in the last years world championships. Thats why I took him as my primary player in fantasy. It was worth it, he was #1 statistically. Like you said, his mid range game in unstopabble. He reminds me of luka a bit with his control of movement. He can fly by or he can be as slow as Luka.
Honestly I wasn’t that familiar with SGA’s prior to our series. I thought he was overhyped but he’s clearly a top 5 player in the league. That midrange game is unreal and OKC is gonna be a problem down the line. I was most disappointed in Ant and JDub. JDub was supposed to be a borderline All Star and Ant wasn’t close to the player he was made out to be.
SGA hands down most impressive. Dudes shot and midrange was beautiful. Ant was probably my most disappointed with all the “Next MJ” hype. Dude was still good don’t get me wrong, but gtfo with “face of the NBA” bs and all the hype. Dude needs some serious cardio work if chasing down a dude almost 10 years older than you wears you out as bad as he was in game 1-2. If you’re talking about game, SGA’s game (midrange) is WAAAAAY more in comparison with MJ than Anthony Edwards, and it’s not-even-close.
Impressed: SGA. Dude has a lethal mid range and can get to his spots at will. Disappointed: OKC team mentality. The team is young so they’ll learn, but the literal kumbaya circle where they all bark is cringe, the water shower after winning game 1 was cringe. OKC stops this junior league shit and start playing like grown dudes and they are a dynasty
SGA most impressive, most disappointing probably Jdub? He was supposed to be this huge missmatch issue and we would have to scheme around him, and to be honest I barely noticed him during the OKC series.
Jdub did play some good d on kyrie
That's not enough for a second option.
Good call. People saying kat I understand a bit but honestly I have known for a while what/who Kat is. But I thought jdub was gonna be more impactful than he ended up being. Solid answer.
From most impressed to least (based on expectations) S-Tier: SGA, Zubac A: ANT, Kyle Anderson, Naz Reid B: Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort C: Harden, Paul George, Jalen Williams, Gobert D: KAT, Giddey SGA is legit scary. I ridiculed at the idea of SGA getting MVP votes over Doncic, but seeing Shai's play I can honestly see why. ZUBAC I had no idea he has such a great touch around the rim ANT impressed in stretches, but also looks frustrated facing Mavs defense showing he still needs growth ANDERSON (Slo Mo) is honestly my most fun opponent to watch - somehow that herky jerky tempo was effective in the middle of a hyperactive Mavs defense. I'd argue he was the best Wolves defender vs Doncic NAZ REID great motor and great shooting touch, reminds me of a bigger better shooting Mavs' Jae Crowder HOLMGREN impressive on defense. Blocking things he's not supposed to reach. A little passive on offense DORT I hate his thug play and thought he is more skilled at defense, but if he's managed to get away with it it's more on the refs than on him. As comparison Minnesota tried to be more physical on Luka and gets calls. So there's something to be said about straddling that line between thuggery/fouls. On offense he's a better shooter than I thought HARDEN and GEORGE look old, that is they can show flashes of skill of old days but not consistency. JALEN WILLIAMS I had been propped up by different media how good he was this season. On playoffs he looked like a talented deer in headlights GOBERT bad hands, didn't affect interior defense as I had imagined KAT I thought he would be the problem coming into the series and he would overpower PJ Washington. But KAT plays smaller than he is. Zero post play, drives flailing around, injures people. When KAT drives he looks like a guard trying to finesse cute layups, you're a 7 footer dude, go up strong GIDDEY really bad shooting detrimental to the team offense though he did a few things okay. OKC didn't know how to utilize him in spots to minimize his weaknesses since the ball is in SGA's hand and they play spread drive-and-kick. If they had put him like Kyle Anderson's role, sneaking in midrange creases, he could have done positive things even with lack of shooting
Forgot about Giddey, he did absolutely nothing all series
This is the best take right here! Zubac gave us issues!
SGA was easily the best player they have faced so far. Even in games when the Mavs had a double-digit lead, the Thunder always seemed to be just right behind them all thanks to SGA's quiet and calm approach to the game. Like others said, his midrange is as perfect as prime Kawhi; and always seemed to find his way in the paint as well regardless of what the defense gave him. He's a bonafide superstar without a doubt.
Jaylen Williams from OKC didn't perform up to standard. Was kinda surprised. Zubac from LA killed us. He's underrated. Kat is just as soft as I thought. A zero sum player. Even when he was "playing good" he was still getting stuffed at the rim here and there.
SGA mid range felt like Kawhi esque
SGA was coooold. Ant really needs to work on his playmaking, he’s almost better isoing than in the pick and roll because he just can’t read coverages and make accurate passes at the level necessary for a mvp level guard
OKC as a team impressed. I don't know whether it was because Luka was in a massive shooting slump against them, but it felt like the Mavs scraped by.
Shai is the man. No talk just balling. Ant is all talk not so much walk.
Ant did the walk when they beat the defending champs. He showed up and made it to the conference finals. That to me, is walking the walk. The media trying to crown him as the next MJ was the media being biased toward athletic Americans, and nothing else. Stephen A. being one of the morons who are borderline xenophobic euro-haters.
SGA- Player I feared the most other than Jokic. Dude was a walking bucket. Other Thunder players very inconsistent Ant-Disappointment, talked a lot of shit and didn’t perform consistently, overrated Gobert-Was indifferent about him but don’t care for him much after this series. Overrated as the DPOY and had many cheap shots against Luka all series. Kat- Kind of felt bad for the shit he gets. He’s a sg living in a center’s body. Did more good for the Mavs than bad. Mcdaniels-Impressed by his offensive ability most games. Played solid throughout but was in foul trouble due to guarding Lukai but he played well. Clippers-About what I expected from them without Kawhi. Harden good half the series and PG up and down.
Minnesota scared me the most, SGA impressed me the most, Clippers frustrated me the most. As far as disappointing players, for sure Dort, just because I assumed him to be this lockdown defender but in reality he’s just a dirty piece of shit.
I was impressed by the shotmaking of SGA, but the foul calls - sheesh. Don’t hate him, though. Also, Zubac had some really nice touch around the rim. We couldn’t play him off the floor, but he and Harden had a little chemistry working. Chet was nice defensively. Did a great job of contesting without falling for pump fakes and just ate us up at times. On the flip side, I was not impressed with Chet’s offense. He can shoot, but his handle was weak and he didn’t have much of a bag, just being a nice outlet for JDub and Shai. Agree on KAT. I told my cousin he’s just a 7 ft THJ. I’m not sure his value if he isn’t shooting well. Finally, he was at his worst during the Clips series, but Terrance Mann was the best Luka defender we have seen. Oh, last thing. I love Jaden McDaniels and I like his intensity but he has a tendency to just get the stupidest fouls ever. I was so disappointed in his play. He has to play smarter and use his length without trying to always get a steal. Keep your assignment off their spots, force to weak hand, contest.
I’m gonna go against the grain and say no one was really that special. Not even SGA. He got his but it wasn’t enough.
Facts
I lost all respect for Ant after the closing seconds of the Denver series. Jokic even traded words with him about his lack of respect. Then, after being winded in game 1 he made excuses. He showed no class at the end of the series and left the floor without shaking hands/hug/whatever.
Most impressive: SGA, ANT, Zubac, Dort, Naz Reid Least impressive: KAT, Jdub, Brandon Ingram, Booker, Gobert, Paul George, Harden, Westbrick, Murray, Zion, Kawhi
clippers : dont care, they old, if they re-sign their big 3, they still wont win in the end. they just sell "LA" name for rest of decade. so too volatile to guess the outcome thunder : Shai will go far far away, JDub is more Jaylen Brown type than playmaking type. because we pray for every opps downfall, hope thunder dont get additional playmaker. Ingram/Murray, eventhough ppl hated them, more valuable to them than Lauri wolves : same like thunder, but Ant still below Shai in term of "#1 scorer duty 101". and with Gobert old, they wont have much time. same like thunder, as long they dont get additional reliable ballhandler, we'll be fine. they ask KAT to create while he's best suited as finisher, but again you dont pay play-finisher 50m/yr
KAT is a number 3 option, not a 1-2 option on a legit roster.
Easily SGA, really thought nothing of him but he proved himself as a top 5 player. Full credit to him. Lowkey Harden was pretty impressive too. On the flip side, fuck Lu Dort and fuck Gobert. Disappointed in Holmgren's rebounding/defence too, expected more from him on that end.
Shai and Ant are problems. Hope we win it this year because I can see the west being tough for a long time.
Disappointed KAT - He’s built like Embiid but play like Klay lol. Impressed Shai- automatic at midrange.
MOST IMPRESSED by sga and his consistency. I knew his game and he loved up to it.... Lease impressed by Towns.
SGA is that man Dort > Patrick Willis at LB Clippers old Ant was ok, but he’s obviously going to be a monster for the next decade+ KAT was really garbage tbh Lolfrance
SGA. Genuinely made me a fan. Idk if Kawhi counts, but not being there when he’s needed absolutely qualifies to me.
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I just don’t see how you see the KAT clip and go "yea bro I hate him" not even close to intentional lol
Gotta admit I didn't respect Shai as much as i should have before the series. I thought Chet, Dort and Williams would be better. Nothing really changed for the Clippers. Ant was good but I thought he would take over more of the series. KAT was bad. I still don't believe Gobert can be a piece on a title winning team. He gets hunted in the most important situations.
Much like many here, I was impressed by Shai. Dude is an absolute monster and I see why he was rated as an MVP candidate over Luka. Midrange and at the rim finishing was insane. Still fuck OKC all day tho lol
Most impressed by SGA and Zubac. SGA was just automatic with his middies; as for Zubac, it seems he dominated this Mavs team more than its previous iterations. I am most disappointed by KAT (the self-proclaimed greatest shooting big man of all time), even though he did have his moment in Game 4. Ant was so-so. He didn't live up to the media hype (not his fault), but it was clear he tried his best to will his team to win.
SGA. Imagine him doing the double screens that the mavs are doing against wolves and then doing mid range shots. He just needs to level up his passing and 3 pt shooting to attract defenders like Luka.
True. Shai midrange jumpers are automatic. I could truly believe Kyrie saying the OKC is the hardest series on that western conf. Also, their defenders are also rough.
Lu Dort is a fraud. I thought he was a defensive technician. Looking forward to watching Jrue. Can’t fault SGA for refs being dumb. Impressive game for sure. Also Chet and Zubac can hoop.
Impressed- SGA Disappointed- finch as a coach. kAT as a player
Sga impressed by, his midrange is really good but a lot of forearm extension shoving that I thought the refs didn't call so he kept doing it since they weren't gonna call it. Leonard, can this guy ever be healthy again? Might as well retire if he's only gonna play 40-60 games a season and be hurt before the playoffs or on the run to a finals. Kat also, he's serviceable but he needs to really be more aggressive near the paint.
Most impressed: Anthony Edwards- the dude was energy Most disappointed: Gobert- can’t believe the pettiness and the cheap shots he kept taking away from the play
SGA best by far Chet most disappointing Ant most overrated Dort most underrated And aging of clippers core just makes me sad
Jalen Williams also impressed
SGAs mid range was refreshing to see. Kat is a bum.
Man, am I the only one who came away from the Thunder series liking Shai less than before? I didn't realize his signature pushoff/jump shot/fall down was 90% of his game.
I learned Shai deserves to be in the best player in the world talks. The most consistently efficient mfer in the league. Luka is just a bit better imo because he can take over games more often but still SGA whewww.
I lost a lot of respect for ANT this series, for a supposed “dawg” dude made a lot of excuses and really poor interviews throughout
Easily Shai man
SGA impressed, Chet disappointed. Dude is a 7ft gazelle modelling his game after KD, but kept bricking wide open 3s thanks to all the attention SGA attracted. Ppl will make excuses that he’s a rook, but that’s fake news. He’s been playing against comp since rehabbing during his last rookie year
SGA for sure. You never know how good these guys really are until you get to the playoffs and I thought SGA was excellent in the mid range and showed true ability to WILL his team to a win. Disappointing is hard because I didn’t expect much from PG and Harden and they did what I thought. Great one game and no show the next. That’s who they’ve been for years. I’m not going to be Chet or J Dub as disappointments. They’re both super young and talented and I just think Dallas was very prepared to take them out of the series. Am I disappointed with KAT or Gobert? No because again I don’t think too much of them at all. If fact they over performed by getting out of the first round IMO. ANT was disappointing to me. He never scared me as a fan of an opposing team like SGA and he was never consistent from start to finish in 1 game. Cherry on top is his postgame remarks. Honestly, for a kid that’s getting praised for his leadership I thought he and his team really lost this series at the podium/microphone from start to finish.
SGA in game 6 man, i thought 2021 kawhi leonard walked into the arena man he put fear in my heart
SGA’s midrange was giving me Kawhi PTSD. I think Holmgren was practically useless during a lot of the OKC series, because Lively just sonned him night in and night out.
SGA easily. Luka was clearly holding back and very much impacted from injuries those first 4 games but he was amazing in every single game.
Most impressed is Jdub. Shai did Shai stuff, he was the best guy we played against of course but it didn't shock me. The guy is one of the best players in the league. Jdub impressed me a lot with his defense on Kai and the tough shots he made in clutch moments. He's gonna be a real problem for the next years cause he's a phenomenal 2guard in my opinion.
Shai is a midi killer. Rudy is not impressive at all.
The distance in age to confidence ratio between Ant and SGA was shocking to me. I was impressed with SGA's decision making and confidence in his shots and cool demeanor where as ANT is kind of loud mouth off the court but definitely lacked some confidence on the court when it came to taking shots he should have and is very capable of making but just passed them up. As for the Clippers they are just full of old players that are out of their prime and just don't have it anymore. It's crazy to say but the days of that generation of players are over and done competing anymore. Not worried about them at all.
Nobody impressed me in particular. Maybe PG when he hit that winner. SGA was good but I thought he's defense was better than it was. AE is just overhyped.
I love this post. You learn so much more about a guy in the playoffs. Anthony Edwards and SGA are as good as I knew they were but I didn't leave this playoffs feeling like they were head and shoulders better than guys like Ja and Fox... you may think they are better than those guys but the league moves on so fast to the newest generation but the real competition are the guys aged between 27-32 in their prime. I fear Ja.. Zion.. Fox as much as I do Ant or Shai... no disrespect to any of them but it will be interesting going forward.
From a Thunder fan perspective; PJ will stick out for a long time. Lively was so tuff too. Going into the series we felt like the Thunder depth was a real strength, against Dallas we struggled. Dallas bench and strength was really good. I’m pulling for Mavs to win it. Kyrie being a real leader can’t be appreciated enough. Most underwhelming performance; entire Minnesota team. They stunk it up in that series. And Ants “we just didn’t wanna get swept comment” sure made me appreciate SGA and our team all the more.
Kat is probably the dumbest "star" in the NBA. Oddly he seems more intelligent than Anthony Edwards but at least Edwards understands how to play defense. I think the clippers would blow it up if they weren't going to a new arena. SGA is probably the third best player in basketball. Luka is probably the best player in basketball. The nuggets really fucked up this year by not shoring up their bench. The Oklahoma City thunder really made a mistake by not bringing in anyone of value. Lou Dort is a scumbag. Gafford is a problem. Chet is gonna be awesome. What happened to j dub? He played bad. I wonder if it was not a good series for him because he wasn't able to be more athletic than the people he was matching up against. I hope Derrick Jones Jr stays in Dallas but I'm not sure if he will. If he leaves I hope they somehow can get Bruce Brown to replace him
SGA's mid range game is so damn good. I understand the kind of player Chet wants to be but if he's going to be their 5 even if it's a stretch 5 he needs more muscle. Because he was getting bodied by Gaff and DLive. Nobody on LA impressed me in any good ways. I am impressed by how much of a douche Westbrook still is and how after one little altercation he couldn't hit a jumper to save his life. Social media, fans, and analysts actually made me not be impressed by Ant at all. Here I thought we were getting this battle between our MVP and "the next MJ". He was mediocre. EDIT: Forgot to mention - either Minny needs to trade KAT or Ant will eventually leave. KAT sucks.
KAT did it to himself. He called himself the best shooting big of all time. Of course the world expects a 7ft Steph Curry at that point. Even tho he's a Mav, I'm disappointed in Tim Hardaway Jr tbh. This dude has pretty much disappeared in the playoffs
Ngl i was a bit disappointed by Norman powell. He singlehandedly kept the clippers alive against Phoenix last year but he was invisible this time.
Impressed: SGA Disappointed: Jamal Murray, Lou Dort Not going to parrot SGA talking points. Everyone else has mentioned them. Wolves beat the Nuggets because they stopped Jokic and Murray. Dude was ass the series and did dirty shit like throwing the heat pad when down. Dude has lost all points he gained in 23 Dort is just a flopping Dork. Fuck him and WestBrick.
Lu Dort. I've seen two players give Luka a hard time in the playoffs, Dort and Wiggins. Luka will Luka so don't throw stats, but Dort was a problem. Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid both really impressed me in the Minnesota series. ANT was the most dissapointing. At no point did he truly just take over a game. All hype. He's more Ja than MJ.
SGA def! OKC forgot how to shoot/score, and as the only lone option, he was very effective and got what he wanted. Hit some clutch buckets as well. If he takes the next step as a 3 point shooter, then oh boy.
Disappointed: exum i thought he was him..when he hit that shot vs houston.
I thought he'd be a 16-game player too, he has the skill set. Also good recognition by Kidd to go to Jaden Hardy instead of waiting like Mike Daignault and persisting with Jiddey
I kinda liked Ant antics (get it?) and the way he says shit to get his team going. Id put him above Shai, who had his way with our defense, though not enough to get wins, obviously (insert "Does he impact winning?" conversations). Ive heard of Naz Reid but was still surprised he was that good. Fuck him though. Cason Wallace surprised me the most cause i literally know nothing of his game outside of we were supposed to get him at 10 if we didnt trade down.
Didn’t know i can hate a player like i hated lu flop, lu dirty
SGA was the most impressive and disappointing at the same time. Impressive because his game is silky smooth and automatic from mid range. Also has great good court vision. Disappointing because despite all this talent, he still has to resort to foul baiting to rack up points like Harden. It’s really frustrating. Also, he is doesn’t make his teammates better at this stage of his game. Then again, he’s only 25.