Let's talk briefly about the Timberwolves vs Nuggets

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2024-05-17 13:03Posted in Beijing Basketball Commentator, Tencent NBA Writer

Timberwolves VS Nuggets G6

Let's talk briefly about the Timberwolves vs Nuggets

This game is so abstract. At the beginning of the second quarter, Jokic didn't rest and chased a little point. After he got off the court, the Timberwolves once again opened up the point difference, and then it was purely the Timberwolves' unilateral pursuit of victory, and everyone worked bravely, so that the players' full-court data had no value to interpret. The important content is basically in the first section and a half.

G6 blowing penalty scale relaxed again, but my feeling is that most of the Timberwolves' low-post confrontation to Jokic in the first quarter is acceptable, and it may not be blown in the first three games, Jokic did not score or the ups and downs of their respective states on both sides of the offense and defense. In the second quarter, Jokic's layup that broke through Gobert was interfered with, which was more controversial, and this miss led to a counterattack, allowing Jokic to fail to narrow the gap to 10 points before going off the court. But that's only a small part of the game. As for Murray's crotch pulling, it is already difficult to reduce the problem to scale, which is pure non-existence.

What I felt the most when I watched the video was not the Timberwolves' defense, but the offense made some adjustments. Questions to ask after a few consecutive games:

Huazi should not be obsessed with finding Gobert to block and catch Jokic, as long as he can get rid of the line, and there is a chance to protect the basket under the basket - Huazi did this at least in the first quarter, and he has more singles;

The Timberwolves have to take advantage of the big and small misalignment, punish the Nuggets for defending the big man with a guard. This time, Downs and Reed were more resolute in eating alone.

As for Jayden's response to this kind of thing, it belongs to the X factor and is difficult to analyze.

The Wolves made some suspicious adjustments on the defensive end. For example, in response to the Nuggets guard's back screen, the Wolves' guard will do some strong delays to avoid Jokic accelerating (Conley full score). Downs also walks off the line when he is covered, so as not to get hung up.

The reason why it is said to be a suspicious adjustment is because of the fluctuating defensive wisdom of some of the Wolves' players, and it is difficult to decipher which of their actions are deliberate.

The Wolves pinched Jokic in the low post to restore G2's very effective strong side pinch shot, and the weak side rotated early, not fighting with Jokic, but letting Jokic play the ball and transferring decision-making power to others. In the three games of G3G4G5, Malone pressed Porter in the bottom corner, unless he could form a direct opportunity, Porter hardly played a role at the top of the arc. G6 discipline was a little relaxed, and the Nuggets suddenly started chasing three-pointers in the middle of the first quarter, without the patience of the previous three games, although some shots were indeed opportunities, but the Nuggets have not been able to shoot.

To put it simply, compared with Tianwang Mountain, the Nuggets can't do these three things:

There is no way to use screens, off-ball, pick-and-rolls, low-post bulldozers, and transition positions to allow Jokic to easily get to the near-basket domination zone. There are factors in the improvement of the Timberwolves' strategy and execution, as well as the factors that the Nuggets play inexplicably;

Jokic's individual performance in the near-basket area has also declined, and there are cases where Towns and Gobert have successfully defended it alone. Although not every confrontation has a suspicion of fouling, the relaxed scale and home atmosphere may have encouraged the courage of the Timberwolves to fight on the inside;

Some of the Nuggets' shot options are debatable, and the rationality and patience of handling the ball have declined, and they can't hit the chance ball. Big Holiday's dumb fire was an important variable, and this point was the key to pulling away the score in the previous matches.

In addition, this round of the series really depends on the "potential", and the "potential" is determined by many factors that are not easy to control. For example, foul numbers, matchup randomness, court atmosphere, rebounding spots, three-point randomness, and so on. In the first and second quarters, both teams had consecutive failures, but long rebounds jumped into their hands, and there was no way to explain this kind of round. The most typical thing is that in the first quarter, the Wolves came back from a 2-9 down call for a timeout, and played the Nuggets with a wave of 20-0, and the first few balls of the 20-0 have the nature of the momentum, which are:

Jayden singled Jokic to the bottom corner and made a three-pointer;

Murray Jokic hit the hand and lost the ball inexplicably, and Huazi counterattacked and dunked;

Jaden makes a long rebound layup;

Towns makes a half-fast-break breakaway layup;

Hanako counters and lays up.

Corresponding to this, the Nuggets missed consecutive three-point shots.

Malone should have called a timeout when the Timberwolves were tied 9-9, and he was at least two rounds late. After the atmosphere at the Wolves' home court was ignited, the team entered fearless mode, while the Nuggets have been struggling to catch up in difficult self-adjustment, the more anxious and unsmooth, the more unbalanced the mentality, resulting in continued snowballing.

The high-end game we imagine should be a tight score, alternate leads, and the last ball in the game. The Nuggets and Timberwolves could be another kind of high-end game, and the Wolves need conditions like "full moon night" to activate the bloodline, and randomness, blow scale, and confidence in the downwind game will make them smooth out. In turn, to resist the wild nature of the wolf, the Nuggets must be in full formation, and they must not slacken. The maximum power of wolves may be 150, but sometimes they can only play 80, you can't let wolves find their 150 power form, you have to suppress it early, and the wolves will mess up. On the other hand, the Nuggets have Jokic to support the bottom, and the guaranteed combat power may be 120, but in the face of the wolf who activates the bloodline, this 120 is not enough, and someone other than Jokic needs to stand up.

Finally, I made an appointment with G7.

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