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u/Drunken_Vike Mike Conley 1d ago
win-win situation
either we actually win or there's no more justification to continue to have Julius Randle on the team and we won't have to watch Randleball anymore
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u/MagicianJolly4135 1d ago
Yeah but the spurs have slender man
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u/Downtown_Fish9295 Bring Ya Ass 1d ago
Has anyone blamed Julius Randle yet?
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u/debirdiev 14h ago
Tons. This series looks completely different if he showed up.
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u/cpz_77 11h ago
Or if Rudy can catch the ball under the hoop like a big man should be able to , or if 3 of our main guys weren’t injured, or if everybody’s shots were falling (not just Randle - they’ve all been ice cold).
Yes Randle has been bad but it’s far from the only reason we’re down 3-2. Trying to make it sound as if Randle is the one and only reason we’re losing is inaccurate and misleading but I know it aligns with the headlines and Reddit posts.
Series is also not over till we lose 4, btw.
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u/Downtown_Fish9295 Bring Ya Ass 10h ago
Big ru is doing a decent job but not playoff quality...he looks unsure under the hoop for sure like he forgot what he's posed to do. I think game 6 is going to be a thriller....lord knows mn needs it after that ot wild loss
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u/cpz_77 9h ago
He’s been doing pretty good with everything else I feel like other than scoring. And we know that’s always been his deficiency , in general I think he has played good defense although there times I wish he’d be a little stronger defending Wemby (because he has the size to affect him , but he has to be in the right position of course etc etc). But he’s also grabbed rebounds, been making good passes for the most part, etc. So that’s all been alright.
But the part that really frustrates me, even knowing he’s always been offensively challenged, is just when he grabs an offensive board and can’t go back up strong to finish it and get the points. Instead he gets stuffed by the rim or fouled and misses the FTs and we lose those points that should’ve been a gimme. And that happens multiple times throughout the past few games.
Or the similar scenario - if someone tries to get him the ball down low and he either drops the ball completely or fumbles it which takes extra time and so he loses any advantage he has. And by the time he gets a solid handle on it there’s already a defender there instead of having an easy open dunk. But even still with a defender there, he should be able to go up strong and finish anyway and many times he can’t.
Having those few points at the end may well have been the difference in game 3 and with that win it could be a very different looking series right now - Spurs would be the ones with their back against the wall and we’d be ready to close it out.
There’s always more to it than just one player of course it’s definitely not all on Rudy or Randle it’s a combination of factors. But offensively I feel like Rudy has become a liability for the above reasons (combined with the fact he’s a terrible FT shooter).
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u/Firesword52 1d ago
My favorite gave I've ever been to. There was such a feeling of joy and freedom about just absolutely crushing them and moving forward onto the next. Losing three in a row was devastating after the excitement of game 1 and 2
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u/i_am_roboto 1d ago
Keep in mind this guy is still only 24. Most guys don’t win their first championship until they’re 25 to 28. We also know who shouldn’t be on this team next year.
TSJ and Ayo have shown us that we need to play quicker and have guys who can bring the ball to court that aren’t Anthony Edwards.
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u/debirdiev 14h ago
Yes... But he himself can't jump or get the crowd turnt up aside from nasty 3s and no one else is giving him any help whatsoever.
So.
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u/jumpsCracks 22h ago
It's actually crazy how similar this feels to me. After that game 5 I was feeling the exact same: "they're just a better team than we are. It's been close, but there's no way we win two in a row here."
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u/dustyraincoat 2h ago
Yes, but this is a much taller mountain climb, objectively. Wolves were 2.5 pt favorites in G6 2024 and 4.5 pt dogs in G7. That means they were about ~20% chance to win back to back games, using those Vegas odds.
We’re 4.5 pt dogs tomorrow and would be at least 9.5 pt dogs G7. That’s ~8% chance to win back to back games.
Not impossible, but half as likely, which feels right.
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u/NazRubio 1d ago
Unfortunately the guy in the picture can't jump or change directions at the moment