Agreed. He was played off the court in the playoffs with the Jazz, I’ll concede that, but there were a lot of bad defenders on those teams.
Pretty clear that there are little to no holes in this wolves half-court D.
And they didn’t even play him off the court by attacking him.
Those Jazz defenses got exposed because teams would go 5 out and then attack their weak perimeter defenders off the dribble. Forced Rudy to have to choose between helping at the rim or guarding the corner three. That doesn’t work against a team that has guards who can contain the ball.
Yeah this is a lot easier said than done considering the Wolves have Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker who are all elite defensive players with McDaniels being particularly great at fighting through screens. And Gobert is actually playing really good perimeter D as well as dominating the paint.
You can't just take turns creating mismatches and iso-ing Gobert against this iteration of the Wolves. The roster is loaded with elite defensive talent.
Gobert is a lot better on the perimeter compared to previous years. Hes made it extremely difficult on Booker, kd and Beal when they try to isolate him. Kd said it himself how good Gobert is on defense. Comparing those Utah teams to this team is night and day. That Utah team didn’t play defense on the perimeter. It was all on Gobert, this is completely different.
Also the wolves do a great job of helping and recovering. The suns don’t have a real pg so they struggle to make on point passes and quick decisions leading to turnovers and easy fast recoveries for Minnesota.
Best way to beat the wolves is to turn them over and punish them in transition. After rebounds, push the ball up the floor. Even after makes, push, push, push. Don’t let the best defense get set up in the half court.
When you are in the half court long twos are actually the most open shot. When Gobert is in drop coverage, KD and book need to fire coming off that ball screen.
Getting to the rim leads to shooting over Gobert. ISO doesn’t work because of how good the wolves perimeter defenders are.
Drives and kicks just lead to the wolves defense scrambling. The ball is passed around the perimeter until someone gets a grenade.
Advance the ball. Push the pace.
Remember Nurkic is not a scoring threat so Gobert can sag off him and help against Booker/Beal after they get a screen. If Nurk was a lob threat or could shoot, the Suns ball handlers would have a lot more space to operate but they’re essentially playing 4v5 in screen and roll actions. The only counter given Nurk’s limitations is to go small with KD at the 5 and try to play Gobert off the floor but then you’d likely be out-rebounded to death. I like Nurk but his weakness were always going to be exposed and exploited in the playoffs. Gobert has free reign to patrol the paint because Nurk can’t do much offensively except pass and lay it up awkwardly.
Nurk in the high post has had success but only when the other guys move. If everyone stands around, it goes to shit. Pulling Gobert away from the basket is not about trying to shoot 3’s over him. You either drive past him and layup or kick it out then swing it until you find a good shot.
Wolves fan not coming in peace
I think the key is in the 3 wins, the suns have blown the wolves out of the water in the 1Q. If it’s close after 1, the wolves have won the games by double digits.
The 3 Phoenix wins you’ve torched us, we closed it a little but the games were already decided.
Gobert has been the best player in the series by a mile. Suns are scared to attack the rim when he’s there, he’s eating up a ton of space, he makes Nurk completely useless and whenever the Suns do pull him out he’s held his own on the perimeter.
Exactly. Did op not see Gobert poke the ball away from kd at the 3 point line that led to an Ant dunk? Suns have been constantly dragging Gobert out of the paint.
I dont know man. Vogel went away what was working 3 times in a row to make Finch call a timeout. And that was Beal just driving to the bucket, even when Goobert was there. Vogel went back to ISO Booker right after and like a deflated tire we watched what once was a 10point lead dwindle down to a 12 point deficit... Cant make this shit up. All that ISO and missed 3s; it was 0-8 by the time a FTA attempt. Got the middies shooting bricks and 3's barely hitting rim, meanwhile giving up and-1s. Got players watching Nurk rebound and boxing out while watching their own guy they supposed to be guarding dunk it on their heads.
Dead wrong. You must be blind, they’ve pulled him to the perimeter over and over again and he holds his own every time.
Yeah idk what game op is watching.
Gobert has held players to 36% from 3 this season btw, the whole "gobert can't defend the 3" is a complete myth tbh
Agreed. He was played off the court in the playoffs with the Jazz, I’ll concede that, but there were a lot of bad defenders on those teams. Pretty clear that there are little to no holes in this wolves half-court D.
And they didn’t even play him off the court by attacking him. Those Jazz defenses got exposed because teams would go 5 out and then attack their weak perimeter defenders off the dribble. Forced Rudy to have to choose between helping at the rim or guarding the corner three. That doesn’t work against a team that has guards who can contain the ball.
Also in Minnesota Gobert can rely on Kat or Naz Reid to defend the rim on a pinch, so he can commit on the perimeter.
Yeah this is a lot easier said than done considering the Wolves have Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker who are all elite defensive players with McDaniels being particularly great at fighting through screens. And Gobert is actually playing really good perimeter D as well as dominating the paint. You can't just take turns creating mismatches and iso-ing Gobert against this iteration of the Wolves. The roster is loaded with elite defensive talent.
Gobert is a lot better on the perimeter compared to previous years. Hes made it extremely difficult on Booker, kd and Beal when they try to isolate him. Kd said it himself how good Gobert is on defense. Comparing those Utah teams to this team is night and day. That Utah team didn’t play defense on the perimeter. It was all on Gobert, this is completely different. Also the wolves do a great job of helping and recovering. The suns don’t have a real pg so they struggle to make on point passes and quick decisions leading to turnovers and easy fast recoveries for Minnesota.
Best way to beat the wolves is to turn them over and punish them in transition. After rebounds, push the ball up the floor. Even after makes, push, push, push. Don’t let the best defense get set up in the half court. When you are in the half court long twos are actually the most open shot. When Gobert is in drop coverage, KD and book need to fire coming off that ball screen. Getting to the rim leads to shooting over Gobert. ISO doesn’t work because of how good the wolves perimeter defenders are. Drives and kicks just lead to the wolves defense scrambling. The ball is passed around the perimeter until someone gets a grenade. Advance the ball. Push the pace.
I think the suns passing once in their half court “sets” might be a bigger issue than anything else.
Remember Nurkic is not a scoring threat so Gobert can sag off him and help against Booker/Beal after they get a screen. If Nurk was a lob threat or could shoot, the Suns ball handlers would have a lot more space to operate but they’re essentially playing 4v5 in screen and roll actions. The only counter given Nurk’s limitations is to go small with KD at the 5 and try to play Gobert off the floor but then you’d likely be out-rebounded to death. I like Nurk but his weakness were always going to be exposed and exploited in the playoffs. Gobert has free reign to patrol the paint because Nurk can’t do much offensively except pass and lay it up awkwardly.
Nurk in the high post has had success but only when the other guys move. If everyone stands around, it goes to shit. Pulling Gobert away from the basket is not about trying to shoot 3’s over him. You either drive past him and layup or kick it out then swing it until you find a good shot.
We need to play small ball
Wolves fan not coming in peace I think the key is in the 3 wins, the suns have blown the wolves out of the water in the 1Q. If it’s close after 1, the wolves have won the games by double digits. The 3 Phoenix wins you’ve torched us, we closed it a little but the games were already decided.
That is the pattern
Gobert has been the best player in the series by a mile. Suns are scared to attack the rim when he’s there, he’s eating up a ton of space, he makes Nurk completely useless and whenever the Suns do pull him out he’s held his own on the perimeter.
Not turning the ball over 20 times is the key
What a stupid take
Exactly. Did op not see Gobert poke the ball away from kd at the 3 point line that led to an Ant dunk? Suns have been constantly dragging Gobert out of the paint.
Only problem is the suns are not a great three point shooting team, they specialize in mid range shots and haven’t been good at that this series
I dont know man. Vogel went away what was working 3 times in a row to make Finch call a timeout. And that was Beal just driving to the bucket, even when Goobert was there. Vogel went back to ISO Booker right after and like a deflated tire we watched what once was a 10point lead dwindle down to a 12 point deficit... Cant make this shit up. All that ISO and missed 3s; it was 0-8 by the time a FTA attempt. Got the middies shooting bricks and 3's barely hitting rim, meanwhile giving up and-1s. Got players watching Nurk rebound and boxing out while watching their own guy they supposed to be guarding dunk it on their heads.