NBA Countdown | Anthony Edwards win it all – Stephen A. Smith: Timberwolves will make the NBA Finals

NBA Countdown | Anthony Edwards win it all – Stephen A. Smith: Timberwolves will make the NBA Finals

that the Thunder faced a series clinching situation. SGA had 38 points against the Grizzlies in the first draft. So, what do we think’s in store tonight? An encore perk. We’ll see. We’ll see. Well, two of the four spots in the conference finals. They’ve been decided so far. The Pacers took down the top seated Cavaliers in five games. It’s not so much the result, but the number of games. It’s still a little bit shocking to me. They advance to the conference finals for the second straight year. But they are not alone in their return to the Final Four. The Minnesota Timberwolves, they punched their ticket back to the West finals after rattling off four straight wins over the Golden State Warriors, punctuated by Anthony Edwards and Julius Randall, combining for 50, becoming the first Minnesota duo to average 25 a piece in a series. And one thing was clear afterwards, the job it’s not finished. The challenge we laid down to our guys from day one was quite simple. was uh one question, you know, were you a Western Conference Finals team or were you a team that just happened to make the Western Conference Finals? And there’s only one way to prove that. Go out and do it again. And that was our mission all year. Is there more satisfaction or anything just with all of the ups and downs that you guys went through that you stayed together and you’re right back where you were last year? There is no satisfaction. Yeah, we just got here. We not we haven’t did anything yet. So, no, he’s not satisfied. I love that. No, he’s not satisfied. We’re not satisfied. No one is satisfied. Stephen A and the Wolves aren’t satisfied. Just getting back to the Western Conference Finals. Is this team ready to take the next step this time around? Malikica, fellas, I believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves should be the favorite to win the championship at this point. I think they should be favored over the Knicks. I think they should be favored over the Indiana Pacers. I think they should be favored over OKC even and and definitely Denver, who they beat all four times they played this year. I think when you see the way that they play defense, obviously that rivals OKC, who they split their four games with this year. But I’m going to bring up the name Julius Randall because when I think about how he has played in these playoffs, particularly in the last four games of the series against Golden State where he averaged 27 and seven and a half on I believe is like 56% shooting. We know what Ant-Man brings to the table. I think that when you’re Oklahoma City and you’re thinking about a a team that you have to concern yourself with, certainly you need to be concerned with because you’re Oklahoma City and you’re gifted. The flip side to it is that Minnesota could stay close enough where it could very well come down to SGA versus Ant-Man. And I just think that even though SGA is about to win league MVP, Ant-Man is so special, particularly at this moment in his career. I I just find it hard to believe that I can look at anybody and say at this juncture that they should be favored over Minnesota. And guess what? You’re not wrong. What? You’re not wrong. And and here’s why. Because through these last through these past series, we watched growth. We watched confidence and we watched trust. We watched Anthony Elvis grow right in front of our eyes. People were saying, “Oh, well, why is he not having 30? Why is he not having 35?” You know what he did? The best thing he did was be able to be that point guard and and and make guys around him better and keep the defense honest. He saw two three zones. He saw 131s. He saw double teams. And he passed that ball with great energy to his teammates where they didn’t have no no choice but to make shots. Like it was passes that I trust you knock that down. It wasn’t passes like, “Dang, man, you double teaming me.” That’s the difference. So now, as you continue to move on in the series, guess what? People got to start respecting those other guys. They got the defense got to be honest. Oh, we can’t just trap Anthony Elvis cuz we can’t leave Julius. We can’t leave Mike Connley. Rudy finishing at the basket and all of a sudden it opens up and Anthony Elvis is now he could go one-on-one. I’m looking at what this where this team is at. How well coached they are responding to their coach uh calling them out. They mature and they ready. Yeah. Look, I like you guys. Um I like you, Perk, Stephen A. I don’t know. It’s up in the air. It’s not It’s a maybe. I would tell you that if you were here, too. No, but I look talentwise. Yes. Talent-wise, my concern with the Timberwolves is the last three games, 20 turnovers or more. And and and and this is what is going to be a hard lesson, I think, for this Timberwolves team. You cannot win and get to the finals, let alone win a championship when you’re not taking care of the basketball at that level. The opponent, whether it’s Denver or Oklahoma City, is going to be better than a non a Laker team trying to figure it out with no center, a Warriors team without Steph Curry. And by the way, congratulations to Minnesota because Julius Randle has been great. And that trade by Tim Connley, a lot of people thought, what are you doing, Towns? This isn’t looking good at the start of the year. Randle’s been fantastic. Chris Finch is a great coach. They have Dean Jenzo coming off the bench. Nas Reed was great. Love the team. When I watch them play though, they make some really poor decisions. And can you overcome that as the competition elevates? That’s my question. But it’s not a talent problem. It is a focus and discipline problem if they don’t reach their goal. It sounds like what you’re saying is they they could be the team that that Stephen A is talking about, but it’s the self-inflicted wounds. If they don’t live up to that, it’s because they beat themselves. You cannot beat yourself at this point in the season. Well, you can do it. Go ahead, Stephen. Go ahead. Well, the OKC tends to do that sometimes, too, Bob. I mean, in terms of not protecting the ball, in terms of their shot selection, in terms of their inability to make three-point shots at times where you would like them to do so, even though we’ve seen Alex Russo, Lou Dorton, others make some threes. There were times they were missing a lot as well. Remember how horrific uh I forgot whether it was game three or four where both teams, I mean, they couldn’t score. They could hit the back side of Broadway. They were standing on it. It was just ugly. But in the end, when we look at Minnesota, here’s what I want us to pay attention to. Yes, they can defend. Yes, they have a superstar and a closer. Yes, they have some individuals who can make shot the Naz Reed of the world, a defender like McDaniels, etc. But I’m thinking about a Julius Randle that held LeBron James to 40% shooting. I’m thinking about a Julius Randle that combined whether it’s Draymond Green with a Jimmy Butler holding them to 19% shooting, four of 21 from the field. And then you see teams departing from going up against Minnesota and they’re to they’re speaking about their physicality, how they’re young lions and they’re coming at you. We know that Julius Randall is a bull. We know that Ant-Man can be one anytime he wants to. Rudy Gobear is legit 71. McDaniels, Nas Reeves, these brothers are defenders. They’re long and they’re active. I take those things into consideration and it’s hard for me to just dismiss it. Of course, Oklahoma City can beat him, but I’m just saying it’s a matchup that if it happens, I think it will be epic because it can go either way because both are similar in certain regards and it’s special to watch. Absolutely. That but when when Minnesota turns over the ball, guess who takes advantage of it if this is in fact the team that moves on? The Oklahoma City Thunder. They’ve been one of the best at doing that all season long. But when one team moves on, it’s another team that sent home packing. Earlier today, Steph and the Warriors, they held their exit interviews. Plenty of questions surrounding their future. when we had our mind focused on a goal, like we we had enough to accomplish it and get to a point where, you know, we were playing pretty high level basketball. Does that mean we can win a championship? We hope so. And that’s really all you want is a is a is a fighter’s chance. If you can run that back, make some tweaks that can help our overall, you know, roster. I feel like we had enough that we showed, you know, we could be that team. That’s all you really want. So Bob, there are over eight billion eight billion people on this planet and I think that it would be hard to find someone better to answer this question than you. What’s next for the Golden State Warriors after all of that? Well, he he’s the best one to answer it. The guy that just answered Okay, so you’re okay. Well, in the top five maybe, but he said it, Malikica, um fast rewind, three months ago, this was a team that was 500 or below, right? Going nowhere. Talking about making the playin. They make a trade. Mike Don even makes a trade for Jimmy Butler and they go on a tear, right? They went on a tear. He was the sal they needed and especially for Curry. It it Steph’s numbers weren’t as good when they got Jimmy Butler, he took off, too. Steph has said it. He just said, “I want a fighter chance, right? I want to play in meaningful games.” But for the hamstring injury, he was doing that, right? They beat the Rockets. The Rockets were a very good team. They finished the season strong. They had a chance to be at one point a five seed, a four seed. They ended up where they ended up, which was the seven seed. But Steph is 37. He has accomplished probably more than he ever dreamed. He’s gonna go down as a top 10 player ever to play the game. He changed the game. Top five. Um top five. So, so if you’re him, you’re saying, Malikica, give me a chance to be competitive, right? Let me have a shot. He said it. Fighters chance. His words, they had a fighter chance against Minnesota. They beat the Rockets. Would they have had a fighter chance against Oklahoma City or Denver? Yeah, I think they would have if he’d stayed healthy. at this point in his career. I don’t think he’s saying I have to have a top two roster in the league. I have to be the favorite. He’s not He’s been there. He’s had that. You can’t have that for 15 years of your career. He’s just saying, Malikica, give me enough around me that I can play meaningful basketball. I believe the Warriors did that and got to do that. I feel awful for him because he was playing great and I think it would have been a much different series. Who knows who would have won. I’m I’m I’m proud of what the Warriors said after. They weren’t saying, “Well, we would have won without St. They said, “Look, credit to Minnesota.” Um, but I do think that will they try to improve? Sure, they’ll try to. How do they improve? We could talk for an hour about the rules, about the money they have, about the options they have. But I think Steph got what he wanted, which was a shot. Well, I’m going to tell you what is dead for them dead bird tall grass. That small ball lineup with Draymond Green at the five, that’s over with. They need a big man. They need a big man. Draymond got exposed, especially without Steph being on the floor. I don’t care if he goes out there and get 15 or 20 points. Steve Kerr called him the best defender that he’s ever seen, right? And I believe he lied because he played with Dennis Robin and he played with Tim Duncan, right? And Julius Randle shot over 50% when Draymond was guarding him. That’s a problem. You need a big man in there that’s going to get you a double double every single night. Look across the league. Look at the teams that we still have playing right now. Indiana, they have Miles Turner, Carl Anthony Towns for the New York Knicks, you got Jokic uh for uh Denver, you have Czech and Isaiah Hardenstein for Oklahoma City. You need a live threat. You need a guy that’s going to get you about 15 points and 12 rebounds a game and be able to anchor that defense. They need athleticism. That small ball lineup is dead. No offense to Draymond Green. It’s just past his time when it comes to anchoring the def. Stephen A was shaking his head while Bob was talking. Y’all are absolutely right. Okay, but I don’t want to hear that. Okay, that’s not the story today. S I’m serious, Bob. Stop. Let me tell you why. Jimmy Butler, we got love for Jimmy Buckets. We know who he is. We needed him to get one game. One game. That’s the story moving forward. Because when he was acquired, he wasn’t just acquired in a trade and okay, you’re under contract and okay, now you’re a member of the Warriors. No, he was given a two-year deal for over $113 million. And when Steph Curry went down early in game two, they said we need one game. What? He’s probably going to be back for game six. And I’m I’mma pull a first take one here and tell the producers I need to see myself on the screen talking to Perk and Bob Myers right now. I need to look at y’all right now. Okay. They said one game. Now, I’m gonna ask you right here in front of Malikica because I know she keeps you honest because she keeps us all honest. You’re an executive, Bob. One game. One I need one game from a dude that I gave. Now, we all believe we seen him do it. He took a team to the finals twice. We need one game just to get Steph Curry back and he couldn’t do it. And he attempted 11 shots last night and nine shots the game before that. He had 20 shot attempts in two games. 20 shots in two games. And you were the number one option. Come on now. Okay. We got Come on now. Listen, the game was game three. That was the one he That was the game. He didn’t get it done. Look, but I’m I will tell you, Stephen A, we can criticize Jimmy Butler, and it’s fair, but I’m going I I would go into any battle with that guy. I mean, I believe he’s a winner. So, and I agree. But but to your point, if he needed to get one game, I think game three was the game. He couldn’t do it by himself. Um and and look, he didn’t make an excuse, but you better believe he that tail that pelvic injury that that doesn’t just go away in three days. Okay? And and that that would be my but I still believe in Jimmy Butler. Next year when they try to run it back, they’re going to have Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green who will both be 36 years old at the time of the playoffs and Steph Curry will be 38. So this is the core, but that’s what they’re trying to do. And that’s an uphill climb against father time. Oh, I didn’t even mean that to rhyme. Uh, the Joker and the Joker apparently all in Denver ready for this win or go home game for the Mile High City. Why so serious? Well, because this is her season. Hello. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. [Music] Okay. Let’s try for vegetative. out.

NBA Countdown | Anthony Edwards win it all! – Stephen A. Smith: Timberwolves will make the NBA Finals
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