Hi,
Tim here. You might know me as Cranjis McBasketball on Twitter. I’ve done a full scouting report on Minnesota in advance of the Lakers-Timberwolves play-in matchup tomorrow, released a live stream breakdown that’s now [up as a Lakers Exceptionalism pod](https://twitter.com/Tim_NBA/status/1645242925293477888?s=20) about the matchup, and am curious what questions you have about the matchup.
Ask me anything Lakers-Timberwolves!
by T1m_NBA
28 Comments
Mike Conley absolutely cooked us in the PnR last time we played them.
Any ideas on what adjustments can be made?
Will the Lakers play as bad defense as the last game ?
Aye Tim! No question here but
Great work man. You are a great follow with some interesting insight and perspective.
With Gobert out, do you think AD will guard KAT who will pull him away from the hoop, or Slow mo? And LeBron on KAT?
What’s the worst case outcome that you fear is realistic?
Love the content Cranjis!
My question: Mike Conley (and broadly guard defense) has been an issue for the team. What strategies can be deployed to mitigate Conley floaters / mid range jumpers against the drop? Do you expect to see pinching off of guys like Kyle Anderson to deter those attacks against the drop?
How do you think we’ll guard Minnesota’s starting five assuming it’s Conley, Ant, Prince, Anderson, KAT. Definitely Vando on Ant but will be hard for AD to help and protect the paint if he has to guard KAT.
How many players do you think will be in the Lakers rotation now that Rudy isn’t going to play? Will this change what the Lakers wanna to do?
Hi Tim. The wolves are pretty shorthanded now with Gobert suspended, and McDaniels injured. Do you expect this game to be as easy as I believe it will be?
And who should be getting minutes between Bamba and Wenyen?
Tim, any insight on how the Wolves will scheme against us without Gobert playing? How does their offensive and defensive game plan change? And what will we concentrate on now that he’s ruled out?
Why has Reaves been struggling so much defensively so much since the all star break? Does the back court have any chance of stopping any of the playoff guards?
How different is this match up now that they are missing Naz Reid, Gobert, and McDaniels?
Hey, Tim.
Love the work and time you put into the coverage of the team. Those playbook breakdowns and tendencies are a nice look/peek into the other side of things.
You ever consider or been approached to work with a front office or coaching staff in the NBA? Would you do it? Would you still secretly have a piece of the Lakers in your heart?
Thanks! Keep up everything you’ve been doing!
What do you think will be the biggest differences in both teams’ offensive and defensive approaches without Gobert and Mcdaniels?
Hi Tim, love the podcasts! Regarding the last couple games against the Suns and Jazz, the Lakers offense struggled at times. Is it partly because of how they were defended and/or were the Lakers running organized offense less often than usual? I know they’ve been running on fumes a bit lately but I was just wondering if you noticed anything out of the ordinary.
do you know of any research done on the effectiveness of Dennis Schroeder’s “roll the ball inbounds when in the lead with a live clock” strategy?
seems the team as a whole as bought into it
What is our best Center rotation if the team still wants AD to put in some minutes at the 4?
Hey Tim,
Listening to your playback podcast now, love your work.
There’s a lot of talk about how the Lakers can take advantage of the Wolves with Gobert and McDaniels out.
Are there things schematicly the Wolves can to to hurt the Lakera with those guys out?
Just gotta say I love the name Cranjis Mcbasketball, I hope it’s a reference that everybody gets
What is your biggest worry heading into this Play-in game? Anything specific that they can do offensively/defensively that you could see being a major problem for us?
Also, thank you Tim, love catching up on the pod and following you on Twitter!
What do you make of this narrative that the Timberwolves are better with Rudy than with him?
what are the best positions we can put AD in for this game and moving forward to be able to thrive? he’s gonna receiver a ton of doubles this post season i assume so just wondering if there’s any schemes we can put him in for him to put the ball in the basket besides just sending him to the post and going to work
Thanks for making such great podcast!
Now that Gobert is officially out for tomorrow’s game do you see a scenario where both teams empty their bench in the 3rd quarter and allow our starters some rest?
Big fan Tim, honestly I was defending you from people going after you because of the Lonnie Walker signing lol. Now following the trend of Malik Monk last year, Lonnie this year, what player do you expect to maybe pop off that the lakers may sign next year? And which draft pick currently has your interest for the Lakers?
Hi Tim sorry if you already touched on this: Have we heard if Gobert is playing yet or did they send his ass home for a while?
Also thanks for all your insight! We appreciate you bro.
Do you expect they’ll put KAT on AD ? Or will they have Anderson on AD and KAT on Vando ready to cheat off him to help ? And if the latter, how much do you trust the coaching staff to counter that rather than just watch Vando shoot corner 3s over and over ?
What do you think the resolution is on offense when running Vando lineups? It seems that teams sag off him heavily and his finishing around the rim has been pretty suspect rendering cuts to be relatively weak.