The Timberwolves NEVER had a chance! – Udonis Haslem points to Minnesota’s body language | NBA Today

The Timberwolves NEVER had a chance! – Udonis Haslem points to Minnesota’s body language | NBA Today

buckle up and get ready because the Thunder are going back to the NBA finals for the first time since 2012 when Kendrick Perkins was on this team this Thunder team though Perk is elite in so many ways well they’ve been elite in so many ways what makes them so special well I tell you what if you you invest in real estate you might want to come and invest in these open properties around here around this arena because this team going to be relevant for a long time at least the next decade and it started with last night i knew they was going to win but after the game I wanted to see how what type of emotions they were going to have of course they was going to be smiling in the moment but every single one of those guys from Chad SGA their leaders they got on the mic and they talked about how the mission was not complete and that’s what I wanted to hear it was nice for them to get there but it’s another step that they’re trying to take and they will take to go complete the mission of winning the championship and this is just the start yeah and I’m going to talk about how they broke Minnesota mentally i think the question that we all had about OKC is was they savage enough were they tough enough have they had enough sleepless nights well they proved how savage they were last night because I’m looking at the body language of Minnesota and from the jump i don’t think they ever had a chance heads down not getting back on defense you got to act like a champion before you become a champion that’s what great teams do for you they don’t only wear on you mentally but they break you mentally and they broke Minnesota you know how they broke them mentally it was through their defense it has been years since we seen a defense this good i mean their defense is in a different stratosphere compared to the rest of the NBA and you heard Anthony Edwards what he said they operate they move like they’re on a string i’ll tell you what he means right here alex Cruso had four steals he’s right here guarding Rudy Goar the five he’s smart with the hedge comes out gets his hand gets a deflection gets a full steal and this is why we say this team is unselfish that’s how you get your star player going and Shay’s like “Hey I got you bro.” Another possession caruso playing quarterback or safety on defense he’s porting to Hartenstein saying “Hey you’re the guy that’s going to cleanse strong side to make sure when Nas Reed makes his signature spin move I’m right there.” Forces a turnover and he’s ready to close out on the weak side as well gets the outlet and then this was a play that sort of had me laughing because it was family on family crime here he’s guarding Anthony Edwards but look at the how they load up to the basketball this is why 100% of his drives typically were defended because it does not matter if you have a corner shooter everyone’s playing the ball and that’s why it’s great and then they take it and score the other way that was cousin on cousin cry again we have not seen a defense like this in so many years you you know when your defense is great in in its own point you have people convinced on the outside world that’s watching that you’re in the zone stephen A said on Countdown yesterday they somewhat in the man matchup zone i’m like no the hell they not they just get into you and they have a great shell and this team is disciplined we saw that Alex Caruso on the fly he’s pointing when you tied together on the string that’s what you see the first step of defense is communication right you see those guys communicating switches they switching aggressive on the perimeter this is a great defensive team one of the greatest I’ve seen in in the NBA history and it takes trust defensively because when I showed you in that breakdown you know a lot of people say “Oh don’t come off of quarter shooters.” You saw Shay Gilus Alexander almost on the elbow what does he do it means he’s staying there long enough knowing that I can trust that I can get back there and make close out time and time again these guys are committed to each other not just offensively but defensively and it’s a beautiful sight and multiple efforts you never know how many efforts you’re going to have to give in a defensive possession you just got to give enough just to get the ball back we keep watching that clip where Caruso gets that steal julius Randle doesn’t get back there was a later clip in that game where Caruso actually chases down Nas Reed does nothing but Nas Reed dribbles it off his foot and it goes out of bounds just because Alex Caruso gave an effort they gave multiple efforts all night they deserve the win but let’s not pretend they don’t bring the thunder on offense too like this team has been a wagon all season long they’ve won 68 games they’ve been a wagon they’ve won 68 games i like that look at this they have the highest point differential in a season all time here as well on the other side of things though Anthony Edwards he he didn’t seem that concerned with losing in the conference finals for the second straight season knowing Ant a little bit this is this he deals with joy this is how he copes but take a listen i’m curious your thoughts on this it’s exciting um I don’t know i don’t know why people would think it would hurt i mean it’s exciting for me i’m 23 i get to do it a whole bunch of times i’m hurt more so for myself for Mike i came up short for Mike um like I said we tried last year we couldn’t get it we tried again this year um we’re going to try again next year but hurting is a terrible word to use i’m I’m I’m good i mean I got to get I got to give this is for you Young King ant man do not take it for granted as a OG i appreciate you doing this for the for the OG Mike Connley but do not take this opportunity for granted you’ve been to two Western Conference finals early in your career you’re only 23 year old 23 years old you have so much basketball to go but I went in 2006 and me and Dwayne Wade were naive enough to think that we were going to go back and we didn’t go back for six years the longest six years ever then I was blessed with the big three we went four straight times perky was part of that sorry about that you you ain’t but you can speak on it because you never went back after that for a while until you you know what I’m saying so you know how it is but you don’t get those opportunities as much as you might think as a young basketball player so Antman I appreciate you shouting out the OG and you doing that for the OG but do not take this for granted young fella it goes fast and you look back and you don’t have an opportunity to do it again and and that’s that’s part of it right you get comfortable when you have a lot of success early right but you supposed to feel pain it’s supposed to hurt right like I think about cuz we have these so many comparison of you know he’s Jordets right because of the highlights and his his his persona and all this but when you think about what Jordan went through I think about the series when the Bad Boys Pistons broke the Bulls they broke Jordan beat the hell out of him they broke Jordan like they made Jordan get in the weight room you remember what uh Coach Finch said last night did you hear his comments he said Anthony has to do a better job of playing through physicality or being physical so that your coach calling you out again to go punch in the clock this offseason well but Anthony Edwards did say we didn’t play this part but he did say there’s no one that’s going to be working harder than me this summer and I think that’s important context for us to include as well i don’t think that he’s passing this off necessarily as I just expect to be here every year but at the same time there’s an intensity maybe that Anthony Edwards didn’t bring to that postgame comment in particular uh the Wolves though they might not look the same next year they held exit interviews this morning let’s take a listen to Julius Randle here on his looming free agency yeah I haven’t even really thought about it but I will say I mean you know having the ability to compete for a championship is um everything I can ask for at this point in my career so we’ll see what exactly the Timberwolves are facing this off season yeah Malik I think there’s four things to to keep an eye on this off seasonason certainly the Julius Randall free agency him and Nas Reed have a player option in their contract they have until June 29th to opt in or out of their contract nquille Alexander Walker is another player to keep an eye on did the development of Terrence Shannon potentially squeeze him out as as far as uh coming back next year i I think the second thing is it’s probably the most most important is player development 101 terrence Shannon Rob Dillingham Jaylen Clark those three players have to develop into rotational players mike Connley is going into the last year of his contract next year they’ve got two picks in a draft 17 and 31 they don’t control their first in six out of the next seven years and then the fourth one which is which is important also do they have enough left to go out and make a big deal if one of these marquee players become available and that’s something certainly they’re going to have to um analyze within that Timberwolves front office so Chris Finch said today it’s our intention to keep everybody here but I was just checking my notes because they made a couple of of big moves here carlanthony Towns for Julius Randall could another big trade be in their future here Bobby well I think it’s it’s it’s two ways to look at it here if you’re looking at trying to trade draft equity and getting in that mix they don’t have enough to get involved when you look at the only pick they can trade is that Pistons pick which is the 17th pick in the draft however if you look at it from contractually from contract standpoint certainly Jade McDaniels um the young players in Dillingham and Shannon Jr certainly Jaylen Clark Dante Dvenenzo Mike Connley’s on expire you can peacemail enough contracts to get certainly the Randall free agency potential free agency and also the uh the player option of Nas Reed plays a role but as you guys have watched depth matters in these playoffs here and what does a roster potentially look at if you go out and try to acquire Kevin Durant or even Giannis if he becomes available you’re basically trading away four or five players for one player there and that’s what I was going to ask uh Bobby because you said depth matters but having a bonafide number two option matters as well and I know the the rambles the rumbles of KD but I’m looking at Giannis what would it take for them to get Giannis here with Anthony Edwards yeah you’d basically would have to get certainly I I think perk for that is probably not a one a two team trade i think you’d have to get three or four uh you know two other other teams involved here because as I said the draft picks don’t work when you only have one so it’s basically can you parlay some of maybe your younger players into draft picks here but remember Giannis is a player making 50 million plus you’re basically looking at players like Jade McDaniels certainly Dante Danchenzo do you want to get rid of one of your young players like Rob Dillingham perhaps that’s where it becomes a lot complicated where the pairing of Anthony Edwards and Giannis looks great it’s just a matter of what else is left around them there are some reports that there were some calls made by the Timberwolves for Kevin Durant around the around the trade deadline that didn’t come to fruition but obviously it is Ant’s favorite player chen how should the Timberwolves be looking to build around Ant look I think you know I know a lot of people are critical of what Anthony Edwards said and how he said it to me I follow what he does and not what he says because you know how he moves but I do think that this you know seeing Julius Randle become the best version of himself prior to the last few games of the playoffs it showed you some potential like they got a step closer you know going into the postseason we’re saying who actually won this trade between Carl Towns and Julius Randol it seemed like he was a fit until it until they ran into the best defense we’ve seen in the NBA in a long time now they are in the West and that is the measuring stick but moving forward I do think you need to find a way you know particularly on the perimeter to help Anthony Edwards because you need him to be able to feel good about getting to you know downhill and getting to you know these lanes and getting to the rim that’s where he’s his best how many times do we see Ant have one of those spectacular dunks that gets us out of our seats rare you know you need a player that brings that out of him and I think that can operate on the fringes not necessarily going for someone huge where you have to shuffle everything else up and now the Minnesota Timberwolves they face a couple of decisions they’re going to have to make this summer bobby Marsh will be with us every step of the way bobby we always appreciate the time [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Kendrick Perkins, Chiney Ogwumike and Udonis Haslem join Malika Andrews on NBA Today to react to the Oklahoma City Thunder defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in 5 games in the Western Conference Finals and advancing to the 2025 NBA Finals.

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