Rudy Gobert wins DPOY + How the Minnesota Timberwolves are slowing down Nikola Jokic

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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome to another episode of Lockdown to Wolves WORK_OF_ART.

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Rudy Gobert is your four-time NBA defensive player of the year. Also, let's talk about the wolves coverage on Nicola Yokic PERSON. We spent a lot of time on the Murray conversation on Tuesday. Let's talk about the Yokic coverage and also what to look for in game through when the wolves coverage on Nicola Yokic. We spent a lot of time on the Murray conversation on Tuesday. Let's talk about the Yokic PERSON coverage and also what to look for in game through when the wolves are on offense. All that's up coming next. Welcome in.You are locked on wolves. You are locked on timber wolves.

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Your daily Minnesota Timberwolves ORG podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network ORG, your team every day.

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Hello and welcome to the Lockdown Wolves podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network ORG, your team every day. My name is Ben Beacon PERSON. I'm the host of Lockdown Wolves ORG. Today's episode is brought to by Fandual ORG, make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning$5 bet. That's $150 with any winning $5 bet. Visit fanduel.com slash locked on to get started. Happy Wednesday. Everybody, happy Hump Day. We are still two days away from game three of Wolves and Nuggets ORG. But hey, the tip wolves, so far, I think the rest has done them wonders in the playhouse. So it's a positive thing overall, even if we all have to wait, you know, an extra, extra day or two DATE here for another game. I want to get to a lot of stuff today. We obviously got to talk about Big Rudy Gobert winning a defensive player of the year here off the top.We'll do that. Then I want to get it to some Yokic PERSON defensive discussion, or I should say how the wolves have been guarding Nicola Yokic, and then I want to talk Wolves' offense toward the end of the show here today. So lots to get to a big thank you here off the top for making Lockdown Wolves your first listen every day. Of course, this show is free and available everywhere. That includes YouTube ORG as well as all of your favorite audio platforms. Wherever you like to listen to podcasts, you can find LockdownWolves. You can also watch on the Lockdown Sports Minnesota app on both Roku and Amazon Fire TV ORG. And you can follow on X at Lockdown T. Wolves and also at B. Beacon with 2B's 2 E's CK.E.N. I should note off the top, no doubt you've seen this news already recording this early on Wednesday. This was reported that was around the end of the business day on Tuesday. The NBA decided to find Jamal Murray $100,000 and not suspend him for tossing, well, let's see, tossing a towel on the floor, tossing a heat pack on the floor.And this was not mentioned in the fine, but he did, in fact, make the money gesture and point at Mark Davis PERSON. I understand why the NBA ORG did it, and I'm okay with it because, frankly, I mean, Jamal Murray PERSON has not been good in this series. He's obviously diminished version of Jamal Murray, and I get, like, you get what you ask for, and maybe I'm, I don't know, treading in waters, I shouldn't be wanting to tread in, but like, Jamal Murray PERSON hasn't been good anyway. So I just assume the wolves hopefully complete a series win over a, you know, a quote quote, quote, full strength. I know he's injured. But like, you know, the wolves don't needJamal Murray to be suspended to win game three, right? They've won games one and two fairly easily without him or with him on the floor. From a, like, if you just look at this in a vacuum, like if I told you a player through something on the floor from the bench that, you know, threw two things on the floor. One, that slid and hit the referee's foot, which is the towel, which then implies that the heating pack, which also came close to Mark Davis PERSON, was also thrown at him. So if I had told you that a player threw an object on the floor that was sittingon the bench that almost hit a referee and there's reason to believe he tried to hit a referee and was not suspended, if I told you that in a vacuum, or if you told me that, I would be absolutely floored. And I would say there's no way. So I was genuinely surprised when the NBA did not suspend Jamal Maria PERSON game. I'm okay with it. I get that he hasn't been in trouble before he's been a model NBAcitizen star or whatever, star citizen. And I also buy that playing into it, right? I buy that being part of the calculus. It's still surprising to me because the precedent is pretty crazy.And, you know, if it wasn't the playoffs, if this were the regular season, I would say, like, hey, you know, let's see what else, let's see what else players get away, right? Like players might just try and push the line here. The NBA ORG is probably betting on that not being the case because it's the playoffs, but otherwise, like, that's a fair precedent matters, right? And so if we're going to say that, you know, past transgressions or lack thereof in the cases of Jamal Murray PERSON matters, then I would say that precedent matters here, too.So a little bit surprising. I would say a lot surprising. But I get it. And, you know, the $100,000 fine. I know Rudy PERSON was fined the same amount for simply the money gesture. And then I guess also the comments after the game that, you know, made that worse. But it's a little bonkers. I'm okay with it just because I think beating a full strength against team will be more satisfied. So, Jamal Murray PERSON not playing or will play on Friday, I should say, but he is $100,000 lighter in the wallet, which of course for a guy making, what's he making, 30 million? It's not a whole lot of money for him, but that's all right.Okay, Rudy Gobert PERSON. Rudy wins defensive player of the year. That was announced prior to Tuesday night's playoff games, and it was not a surprise. The voting was, I think he had like 79 of 99 first place votes or something like that. Pretty easy selection for defensive player of the year, Wembe Gama getting second in the voting. And, you know, all that actually made sense.I thought other than some of the weird like De Manasabotis getting a third place vote, like what are we doing with that? There's some weird ones in there. Herb Jones was, I think, fifth. So, look, Rudy PERSON should have won it. That's pretty obvious.We've talked before on the show about his value to the defense. And, of course, the Wolves played a slightly different brand of defense without him in game two. But Rudy PERSON is the tone setter. And Chris Finch said as much after the game that Rudy PERSON is the one that cemented this culture. Like, the coaches could talk about it however they want. And while the wolves were a solid defensive team two years ago, pre-Rudy-Gobert,the Vando Patrick Beverly team, Malik Beasley, DeLoe PERSON on that team. Those are actually a good defensive team that year. They were above middle of the pack. They were like 12th or 13 in a league in defense. So credit to the coaching staff, obviously. But Rudy PERSON being the guy on the floor to really implement the strategy and to reinforce the strategy to also allow them to play differently, right? Because they weren't playing the same coverages two years ago. They weren't playing drop.They weren't. It was just different, right? They were blitzy and it was just a more active, higher variants, if you will, defense tried to generate more turnovers. That was kind of the goal because they didn't have the correct size to be able to protect the rim.But now with Rudy and an experienced Jane McDaniels and an improved Nas Reid and Kyle Anderson, like they've got the size to play drop. They've got the size to switch more often. And that's exactly what they're doing. So all that to say, well deserved. I'm going to cite a couple of stats quick that our buddy Jack Borman over at Cana Supis ORG had in his write-up just to kind of back this up.So Jack PERSON pulled these and has them all in one place. So I'm just going to read it back. Jack PERSON does a great job. Of course, by the way, quick plug for the postcast. He's on the postcast, certainly for the away games. He might be at the arena covering for Cana Supis Friday. So I'm not sure if he'll be on Friday's postcast with Luke Edmund or not. But Jack does a lot of the postcast. He's also in the Minnesota ORG basketball party. The Wednesday show, you'll find right here on this feed. It's actually the next episode in your feed.If it's not posted yet, it'll be posted around 4.430 Central this afternoon. I'll be on the basketball party today. It's myself. It's Jack Borman, hosted by Sam Ekstrom PERSON. And then it's also got Reggie Wilson from Care Levin and Ron Johnson PERSON for the Ron Johnson show. So anyway, our friend Jack, over at Canis Hoopus ORG.He has these stats listed. Rudy Gober PERSON. Opponent free throw rate drops by 5.8% with Rudy PERSON on the floor. Opponent's shooting percentage drops by 5.8%, which is 95th percentile with Rudy PERSON on the floor. The rate at which opponents attempt shots at the rim drops by 5.5%. That's 98th percentile.Minnesota's defensive rebound rate improves by 2.1% with him on the floor. Opponents score three and a half fewer points per 100 half court possessions, which is 79th percentile with Rudy PERSON on the floor. Opponent two point field goal percentage falls from 53 to 49 percent with him on the floor. The opponents also generate nearly three less putback attempts per 100 possessions and score 4.1 fewer points off putbacks perhundred possessions with him on the floor. He's just one of five players in the league to have at least 50 steals on 150 blocks and he's fourth in the league in defensive rebounds per game. No matter how you slice it, no matter how you dice it, Rudy PERSON is the best, most versatile defensive piece on the league's best by far defensive team. I talked about this on Tuesday show. on the league's best by far defensive team. I talked about this on Tuesday show.The Timberl ORG's defense has the second greatest points per 100 possession gap between number one and number two in the leagueof any team in the last 20 years. Only the spurs of 2015-16 have a greater margin there. And the only other teams above two, the wolf finished at, I think, 2.6 or 2.7. The only other teams with a gap above two are the Milwaukee bubble team, the COVID year 1920 DATE,and then Boston in 2007, 2008, with old friend Kevin Garnett PERSON on that team, just a generational defensive team, a generational defensive performance by KG that year. I'm almost positive to be won defensive player the year that year. So there you go. It makes sense for the anchor of the best defensive unit. And one of the league's premier help defenders, one of the league's premier shot blockers, one of the league's premier rebounders to win that award. Congrats to Rudy Gobert PERSON. All right, lots to get to here yet. I want to talk about theWolf's defensive coverages on Yokic PERSON. We spent a lot of time on the Murray conversation on Tuesday in the wake of the game and may get back to that here before Friday night. We've still got two shows before the game on Friday. But I want to talk about how the wolves got into Yokic PERSON, made things difficult for him in game two specifically without Rudy PERSON on the floor and how that was different thanhow they played him in game one. Then I want to talk about what to look out for in offense. I'm not concerned because the wolves have been awesome through two games. But what to watch based on like game one, game two is an anomaly, hopefully not. But it seems like to be an anomaly in some ways. But also there were some weird anomalies in game one that I want to get back to.And like what's real here, right? What do we look out for when it comes to game three? So all that is upcoming here next. Today's episode of Lockdown Wolves is brought to us by our friends over at DoorDash ORG. Moms are a gift, so give her the best this Mother's Day. Get gifts as thoughtful as she is with DoorDash ORG.Select from hundreds of expertly crafted bouquets to the best of tech to self-care essentials and more delivered right to her door. Mother's Day is this Sunday. So if you haven't, get on it. Does mom have a sweet tooth? Is she a tech enthusiast, a beauty connoisseur, or is she outdoorsy? No matter what she's into, you can make her smile with a fruit or flower bouquet, makeup, tech gear, workout wear, and more. Pair flowers with a gift card so she can celebrateany way she wants. If she's a bookworm, try a bookstore gift card. Does she love a good latte? Get a gift card to her favorite coffee shop. You can't go wrong. Get thoughtful gifts she deserves with the convenience you need. Choose same-day delivery or schedule a week ahead for when flowers and gifts should arrive to her door with DoorDash ORG. Shop with savings that would make her proud. 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Do you watch Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day?If you do, no doubt you have to turn down the volume because of all the shouting. Instead, make the switch to Lockdown Sports Today. A free 24-7 sports streaming channel program for you every day. If you do, no doubt, you have to turn down the volume because of all the shouting. Instead, make the switch to Lockdown Sports Today, a free 24-7 sports streaming channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming. Lockdown Sports Today ORG brings you can't miss analysis, opinions, and news streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network ORG, your team, every day.All right. Let's talk Yokic PERSON. And the way the Timberwolves have defended him, it changed, obviously, from game one to game two, by necessity, out of necessity, I should say, because of the absence of Rudy Gobert PERSON. Game one, the Timberwolves primarily guarded him straight up with Carl Thiti Towns PERSON. Occasionally, they got cross-matched to transition, and it ended up being, you know,ended up being Nas or it ended up being Rudy PERSON. But the goal was to have Kat guard him straight up, have Rudy PERSON provide help essentially on the backline, right? Essentially, as Yokic turns to make a move, Rudy PERSON could come from the weak side and block the shot. That's kind of the intention here, right? That's how the Timberwells ORG played himwhen Kat was healthy in the regular season. It's how they played him last year. And it worked to the extent that any defense usually works against Nicola Yokic PERSON. However, without Rudy in Game 2 EVENT,when everyone, rightfully, I thought, fully expected Yokish PERSON to have a big game without the security blanket of Rudy Gobert PERSON lurking near the rim. Yokic PERSON had a very pedestriangame to the point where, like, he wasn't bad, he was just actively quiet, which is an oxymoron. But like, he only had 16 points,which is a very unjoker-like performance. He did have eight assists, but he also turned it over four times. So through two games in this series, Joker has 17 assists, but he also has 11 turnovers.And he's shooting only 16 of 38 from the field, which is right around 40%. He's 2 of 10 on 3-pointers in this series so far. So, yeah, I said around 40%, 42%. It's right in front of me. 42% for the field, 20% from outside the arc in these two games for Yokic PERSON.What the 10 rules did differently is they really, they just showed him different coverages, which is exactly what you should do when your primary, like if option A isn't necessarily available. And I know Kat PERSON, Kat was still the primary defender, right? But option A is Kat plus Rudy PERSON. If that's not available, make them guess. Make Yokic PERSON guess what's going on. Make him try and speed him up, which very few teams, you know, a lot of people have said this. I know Kenny Smith said it on T&T. I think after game one, like he's never seen anybody speed Joker PERSON up. It's not just that, but it's also making him question like what coverage arethey playing, just that split second for a guy who sees the floor so well and could calculate, it's almost like, you know, remember when Ricky Rubio PERSON came, Ricky Rubio was drafted, everybody talked about how he could see the plays before they happened, right? Like the timing, the spacing, the angles. And Joker has that times a billion, really. And yet the wolves are making him stop for just a split second and think like, okay, what are they doing here?Sometimes they just played him straight up and cat didn't get any help. Occasionally they'd bring traps. They would bring a second guy. They would double him. Sometimes they just, they had a dig down from the perimeter.They had, you know, I think Alexander Walker PERSON, like they essentially just had, it's like a fake trap, right? A dig, so when a perimeter player comes down, kind of, it's almost like a stunt on a perimeter shooter, but it's a guy in the post, right?He digs at the ball, recovers to get back to the potential shooter on the perimeter, his primary offensive player he's guarding. So it was just not always doing the same thing. Sometimes the help would come from where you wouldn't expect it to. And in those cases, like, Yokich made a couple of nice passes because he always does, right? There was one where he was trapped on the baseline.The wolves brought a double. And he slung a pass like under the basket to the opposite corner. And I think it was KCP knocked on a three-pointer. And the wolf still got a decent contest on it. Like, that's going to happen. And it's the reason why you don't normally want to double Nicola Yokic PERSON because he can make those passes.You'd rather guard him straight up and just try and make him make a difficult shot, which is why the late doubles with Rudy PERSON coming over from the weak side ideally. But in the case of occasionally it was Nas PERSON, right? Like if you're doubling him with two six, ten guys with Nas and Kat PERSON, all of a sudden there's this length on him, he's going to have to make a choice. It's shoot a really difficult shot or pass where the wolves have length and athleticism and rotation as well. And that's generally what was happening, was he was trying to pass out of that.The wolves were doing a good job of clogging up passing lanes. Related to that, pick and roll coverage for Minnesota ORG, I thought this was genius. The Timberwolves ORG do all different sorts of things. And this is, we've talked about this before. I don't want to go too off on this tangent. But Rudy and Utah ORG played only drop coverage, right?The Timberwolves ORG almost exclusively pre-Rudy, post-Rion Saunders, Sonner Chris Finch PERSON, played almost exclusively like a high wall blitzing coverage on the perimeter. They were trying to put two on the ball almost all the time. And then it was reliant on defense on the back line and exing out on the perimeter to contest shots. And good eventually over the course of time in that, what was it, the 22, 23? No, 21-22 season.Good defenses could break that. Or excuse me, good offenses, well-coached teams could throw that skip past the quarter and get a wide open three or just crisp ball movement could beat that, right? It worked against bad teams in the regular season, but against good teams and in the playoffs and as the season wore on, the defense wasn't as effective because you can beat it with solid offense. What the wolves are doing now, if you're playing to this level, you can't beat it unless you make impossible shots. So what the wolves are doing now is they're briefly putting two on the ball and pick and roll. Instead of straight switching or instead of just playing straight drop, it's almost like a drop.But what they're doing is there's good examples of Nas PERSON doing this. I mean, really, whoever the big was that was being put in the action, would act as though he was dropping. Well, actually, no. He would play up initially, act as though they're putting two on the ball, and then it looks like he's dropping. But instead of just fully dropping, they're going right back to the roller.They're recovering and rotating right back to the roller. And so what you got a couple of times was there was one just straight steel knaws had on this particular play. There was another where they got a deflection. And it's a, it's like a hybrid pick and roll coverage that the nuggets have not figured out how to beat. Very impressive. And it takes activity. It takes, it takes, it takes, um, communication. Everybody's got to be on the same,the same page. It's basically a stay home, rotate back to the roller type of coverage. So you're faking, you're faking two on the ball, or you're putting two on the ball briefly so you can't come off the screen and shoot it. And then you're quick dropping back to the roller, not just into the space, but essentially not and not just tagging the roller, but dropping back and covering the roller and, you know, trying to take away that basket cut.And it's worked really well. And I would expect the wolves to keep doing that, although probably still mixing up coverage. And that's the beauty of this Timberl ORG's defense is they're so versatile and they have so much length and athleticism. They can play all these different coverages. One last thing real quick on the defense. Well, actually, no, we'll do that next and then I'll transition to a couple quick offensive things.I have less to say on that anyway. So we'll get to all that here next. Today's episode of Locktile Wills is brought to us by our friends at Monopoly Go PRODUCT. All right, game off. We got to pause here to talk more about Monopoly Go PRODUCT. I know what you're saying.Flag on the play. You already talked about that. But there's so much good stuff in this game. In Monopoly Go PRODUCT, you can team up with friends for time tournaments where you work together to build up each other's boards. The more you win together, the more awesome prizes you unlock. And there's so much to get. Unique stickers you can trade with friends to complete albums for big prizes, cool new playing pieces to travel the boards with hilarious emojis fortaunting friends when you smash their buildings or heist their vaults. Plus, Monopoly Go feels new and exciting every day with constantly changing tournaments and challenges. A ton include their own unique mini games like digging for treasure or robot Pachinko machine. And there's always new timed events that help you win big, like massive multipliers for everything you win or rent frenzies. There's always something fun to discover in Monopoly Go. So get off the bed to go download it. Now free on Google Play ORG or the app store.Game on.

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This is Jake from Lockdown.

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Locked on has teamed up with State Farm ORG to spotlight some of the greatest supporting players

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in NBA ORG history. You know Michael Jordan won six NBA titles and Kobe won five titles with Phil Jackson running the triangle offense, but did you know that Phil Jackson PERSON didn't invent that offense? There's one man behind the scenes that helped Michael Kobe and Phil win 11 championships in a supporting role. His name was Tex Winter PERSON. As a Navy veteran serving in the Second World War, Tex returned to college at USC ORG, where his coachSam Barry PERSON taught him the triangle offense. As a coach, he worked his way through the ranks in college starting at Kansas State and as assistant to Hall of Famer Jack Gardner. Tex PERSON would later become the head coach at Kansas State ORG and wrote a book about the triangle offense. In 1985, Tex joined the Chicago Bulls as an assistant and helped teach second year guard Michael Jordan PERSON how to run his triangle offense. Three years later, Phil Jackson PERSON became the head coach and the rest is history.Even legendary coach Phil Jackson needed someone like Tex Winter PERSON to support his team's success. Sometimes you and I need that kind of support too. Think of State Farm ORG like a pivotal team player. When you need help protecting the things that matter most, remember the jingle and just say, like a good neighbor, State Farm ORG is there.All right, one last thing about the Wolf ORG's defense.

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So we talked about mixing the coverages against Yokic without Rudy PERSON on the floor, keeping him guessing, occasional traps, occasional doubles, digging from the perimeter, etc., just making him stop for a split second. We talked about the pick and roll, helping recover, you know, two on the balland then rotating back to the roller quickly to try and shoot that gap and keep the pocket pass from happening there. The last thing would be the off-ball screen navigation. And I talk a lot, and generally, we talk a lot in wolves, I don't know, wolves coverage, wolves fandom. We talk a ton aboutthe wolves, you know, ball screen navigation, which is huge. And coming into the year, last off-season, I talked a ton about how the Timberwolves ORG had guys who were awesome at it. Jane McDaniels was the very best in the league last season, and I would imagine is right there this year, too. Nikol Alexander Walker, one of the best in the league last season, and I would imagine is right there this year too. Nikol Alexander Walker PERSON, one of the best in the league. They acquired guys in the offseason.Troy Brown Jr. PERSON was good at it. They had guys that were theoretically good at getting through screen. Not theoretically. They were factually good at getting through ball screens. But the off-ball screen navigation is something that gets lost very easily. And it's something that Mike Conley PERSON is really good at too.And this is one of the areas. There's a billion areas that Mike Conley is an upgrade over D. Angel Russell PERSON. But one of the areas that I knew immediately would be a massive advantage of Conley over D. Angel Russell a year plus ago is we talked about the want to on ball screens, but the off ball screen navigation. A guy like Conley, Nikol Alexander Walker PERSON's amazing at it, just getting skinny and getting through screens. Now, McDaniels PERSON occasionally would get called for a foultrying to get through screens. A lot of times those are ball screens. But if you watch, go back and watch anything from game two. And watch off the ball as the Nuggets ORG are trying to run because they run beautiful half-court sets. And that's what, side note,that's what's making this even more impressive. I know it's the Nuggets ORG and you can just say that. It's like, oh, they're the defending champs. This is really impressive. But just look at the offense is that Denver's running versus Phoenix ORG. Phoenix ORG basically runs just ISO ball and high pick and rolls.That's it. Not that hard to cover if you've got the personnel, which the wolves do. And as it turns out, it worked out great for Minnesota ORG. Denver ORG does a bunch of the offball stuff. It's not exactly like Golden State ORG in their heyday in terms of what they're trying to get out of it, but they're running all this stuff off ball to try and get to free guys up, right? To try and free up JamalMurray, to try and free up Michael Porter Jr. to a lesser extent, to try and get Yokich to where they want Yokich on the floor, where he's harder to double. And the Terrell ORG's perimeter guys primarily are just flying through these screens. Like they're just getting skinny and getting around them, getting between guys, not getting picked off in coverage. And like, I guess I am picking on it, but like DeAngel Russell PERSON would just give up and let himself be screened, right?Like they had guys in the past that that would happen to them. Malik Beasley PERSON. They had guys that just wouldn't be able to get through screens. This group, this personnel, this personnel group, none of these guys are going to let themselves get picked off by a screen. They're going to fight through it. And if they get called for a file, they get called for a foul.But they're going to be aggressive in getting around screens. And that's been extremely impressive, especially Alexander Walker, Jaden McDaniels PERSON, all the point guards, Conley, Monta Morris, Jordan McLaughlin PERSON's this way. Everybody has been incredible, Anthony Edwards, at getting through screens.Off the ball. Off the ball. That's big. When you're in a playoff series, every half-court possession matters, and these three-point shots, you know, Denver doesn't shoot a ton of them.They were last league in terms of volume in the regular season. But it matters. When you're talking about games that are generally lower scoring and there's less free-throw attempts in the playoffs, these half-court possessions really, really matter. And to be able to get a hand in the face of a three-point shooter versus just a soft contest or a weak close-out because you're not getting through a screen, that matters quite a bit. All right, I want to close quickly with some Wolves ORG' offense stuff. The Wolves in game two, I thought, did a really good job of taking what the defense was giving them.Ant and Cat each had 27, balanced attack. Nas had moments to kill Alexander Walker had moments. Nas was like the only guy that could make threes in this game from Minnesota ORG. One of my takeaways from this was the wolves did a good job of taking what the nuggets gave them. However, if they just made open shots, they would have won by even more points.And I said this in game one. They should have been up by more at halftime. They haven't shot the ball well from the perimeter in this series. Minnesota ORG hasn't. And in the first game, it was a volume. They didn't shoot enough just period.They only shot 27 threes. They were 11 at 27, which is fine. But the volume was too low. In game two, the volume was better. They shot 33, but they only made 13 low. In game two, the volume was better. They shot 33, but they only made 13.So I guess still, percentage-wise, they still got up to about 40%. But guys that you'd expect to make more threes aren't necessarily, and there's more shots there for the taking. Ultimately, Alexander Walker was 4 of 7, but game 1, he was 1 of 5. Like, he missed a couple of open shots early in that game. I felt the same way about game two. I know that the percentage is fine and the volume was better. But they left some open jumpers on the table, or I should say, well, yeah, I mean,open shots they should have made on the table. So continue to take what the defense gives them is really important. Remember, in game one, the Timberls were out free throwed and out three point shot. This is a team that is a good three point shooting team overall in Denver ORG, but doesn't shoot a ton of them. The wolves need to continually increase that three-point volume. Going for 27 attempts to 33 from game one to game two is great. I'd love to see it between35 and 40. They just need to shoot more threes. The volume needs to continue to increase. Remember, game one, they also, they outshot Denver on two-point shots by a ton. That was the biggest difference in a game that they ended up winning by, well, they win by seven. And Denver is one of the better two-point shooting teams in the entire league. And Minnesota usually doesn't shoot all that many twos, right? It's threes, it's free throws and I guess at the rim, but less mid-range. Minnesota ORG dominated the mid-ranging game one. I was concerned about that. And if they could replicate it in game two,thankfully they shot more threes. They did get to the line a little bit more, and the defense is what won them game two. I worry about some of the worries, maybe a strong word, because they've looked great so far, but if there's another, like, if there's something to be concerned about from the wolves offensively in game three, it's that I don't know that they've ever really found a rhythm in this series. They've just keyed off of how good their defense has been, and they ain't made a ton of tough shots in game one.So while the offense has been really efficient, I think has been the best offense in the playoffs so far, the best effective field goal percentage, I'm not trying to like rain on the parade here. I'm just saying that there is going to be a bit of variance coming back the other direction, a bit of a law of averages, if the wolves continue to shoot a lot of mid-range jumpers.Again, game two was a step in the right direction. I just still think they left some buckets on the table, got a little sloppy at times, especially late in the game when to shoot a lot of mid-range jumpers. Again, game two was a step in the right direction. I just still think they left some buckets on the table, got a little sloppy at times, especially late in the game when they had a lead. But that's something to keep an eye. I do think that the wolves have,I know it's weird saying this, when they're the number one offense through six playoff games, and in the regular season, they were middle of the pack offense. There is another gear for this offense that isn't so reliant on game one and hero ballor, you know, game ball or you know game two you know key the defense key and everything else the wolves are doing which obviously is huge for the league's best defensive team but i just all that to say shot selection is going to be important to watch and and again on the glass as well then read 18 offensive rebounds of the second game a lot of that was because of all the block shots they missed a ton of shots are. They're a lot available. The percentage wasn't that crazy. But Minnesota has to keep Aaron Gordon off the glass. That's going to hurt them at some point in this series. I'm a little bit worried about that.Anyway, all right. We'll be back tomorrow. Games not until Friday night. We've got two more shows before Wolves, Denver on Friday night. A reminder, the Minnesota basketball party is going to be your next episode in the Lockdown Wolves feed. You can watch it over at Lockdown Sports Minnesota on YouTube ORG. We're actually doing it live on Wednesday morning. And then you can, if you want to watch on YouTube ORG, you can get it there. Otherwise, the audio will be only in the Lockdown Wolf's feed, which you can, of course, find wherever you listen to podcasts that'll post there late afternoon here today. And then tomorrow morning, I'll be back with another regularepisode of Lockdown Wolves. A big thank you for making Lockdown Wolves are your first list in every day. Of course, this show is free and available everywhere. That includes YouTube ORG as well as all of your favorite audio platforms. Wherever you listen to podcasts, you can find Lockdown Wolves ORG.You can also watch on the Lockdown Sports Minnesota app on both Roku and Amazon Fire TV ORG. And you can follow on X at Lockdown T. Wolves and also at B-Beacon with 2Bs, 2-E PRODUCT's, C-K-E. And a reminder that lockdown has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. And it's now also available on Amazon Fire TV PRODUCT and the free Fire TV channels app. Lockdown Sports Today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of lockdown. Plus our national shows covering every league.Find Lockdown Sports Today now available on the free Fire TV PRODUCT channels app. The Lockdown Wolfs podcast is part of the Lockdown Podcast Network ORG. Remember, the Lockdown Network ORG is your local experts on all the biggest stories. Once again, I'm Ben Beacon PERSON. This is the Locked Out Wolves WORK_OF_ART podcast, and we'll catch you next time.

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