Xiao challenged Luka to at least make the play-in. Now Toody headed home to France.

[FultzNationRISE]

Xiao, does Doncic still have anything to prove?

Does Rudy?

[Proctor]

Tough night for the trolls

[SouBeachTalents]

Xiao's actually been proven right several times during these playoffs.

He said Gobert was elite offensively with his roll gravity, and even if the stats don't show it, the eye test certainly does, especially tonight.

He said the Wolves should put Gobert on Luka which they did to great effect at the end of Game 2. Luka just hit a fluky ass shot over a Gobert who was in perfect position defensively throughout the possession.

And while I concede you could make an argument Luka is top 5, I don't think he's proven it decisively, at least not yet imo.

[Axe]

Luka seems to have cured that cancer known as kyrie irving. He's such a great chemotherapist.

[Xiao Yao You]

Xiao's actually been proven right several times during these playoffs.

He said Gobert was elite offensively with his roll gravity, and even if the stats don't show it, the eye test certainly does, especially tonight.

He said the Wolves should put Gobert on Luka which they did to great effect at the end of Game 2. Luka just hit a fluky ass shot over a Gobert who was in perfect position defensively throughout the possession.

And while I concede you could make an argument Luka is top 5, I don't think he's proven it decisively, at least not yet imo.

Just like i called it.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/5/30/24167795/rudy-gobert-minnesota-timberwolves-defense-luka-doncic

[FultzNationRISE]

Just like i called it.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/5/30/24167795/rudy-gobert-minnesota-timberwolves-defense-luka-doncic

Damn, so Toody is playing with two other all stars AND a sixth man of the year, plus Mike Conley… and he still got bounced by Luka for the second time with two different teams!?

It must be everyone’s fault but Rudy…

[Xiao Yao You]

Damn, so Toody is playing with two other all stars AND a sixth man of the year, plus Mike Conley… and he still got bounced by Luka for the second time with two different teams!?

It must be everyone’s fault but Rudy…


Sounds like Lebron

[warriorfan]

Sounds like Lebron

oh shit…

[Kblaze8855]

There is a little to be gained talking seriously to obsessive types. It’s initially tempting, but after a while, you’re talking to a brick wall. Better to walk around a brick wall and talk to normal people on the other side of it . That’s what the ignore list is for.

Rudy is one of those guys who will always be dependent on somebody else stepping up because he doesn’t have a skill set that allows him to do it. He’s gonna play good defense pretty much all the time, unless he has to switch on the wrong kind of person. Obviously, that’s an issue in a league that tries to switch everything, but that subject has been beaten to death.

He’s going to do his job, but his job isn’t one where he is capable of making a team do anything in the playoffs.

He will Provide a baseline of defensive competence, and from there, it comes down to if the people who have to carry guys like him step up above their normal level.

he obviously is not never was and never will be the guy. If you are normal person, not too emotionally attached to accept that it’s hard to take much issue with what he does.

You don’t expect to Mutombo to bail you out when your offense starts sputtering unless he’s gonna grab a bunch of offensive rebounds and kick it back out. You don’t switch him onto Tracy McGrady at 30 feet.

He does his job. His job is simply exploitable on one end you cant depend on on the other for more than basic (Has played basketball before” finishes.

As long as you aren’t expecting him to transform, you can’t be that disappointed. The world at large and players in particular just seemed to find it funny you can name somebody the best defender who can be selected for the easiest exploitation. But that’s more an issue of the league we have at the moment.

He’s a guy who can win while complementing an unbelievable team. He’s not a guy who makes a team unbelievable. And that’s OK. Doesn’t bode well for the future, that he’s already been on multiple incredibly talented teams like this one but even players who do have the skill set to dominate in the playoffs are going to mostly lose Even on good teams.

If ant grows even a fraction, he could drag all his other guys to the finish line. The story isn’t all told. But anyone not being ridiculous knows Rudy is never going to be the one who drags you to the finish line himself. He could easily just be on a team that gets it done off sheer talent And a lot of really good defenders.

Long as you leave him in that supporting player lane, there’s no reason to assume his teams can’t win. Anybody can win as an other guy. Just depends on what the main guy has to do to make it happen. Hes on a team that can win.

[hold this L]

Sounds like Lebron

https://media.tenor.com/e6pkxOYgepUAAAAM/coming-to-america-arseniohall.gif

[coin24]

Sounds like Lebron

:lol:lol:cheers:

[tontoz]

Ant wants to get to the rim and Gobert's suckage on offense hurts their spacing. I am not sure how they solve that problem.

[ArbitraryWater]

Xiao's actually been proven right several times during these playoffs.

He said Gobert was elite offensively with his roll gravity, and even if the stats don't show it, the eye test certainly does, especially tonight.

He said the Wolves should put Gobert on Luka which they did to great effect at the end of Game 2. Luka just hit a fluky ass shot over a Gobert who was in perfect position defensively throughout the possession.

And while I concede you could make an argument Luka is top 5, I don't think he's proven it decisively, at least not yet imo.


This trolling is a little too real, Xiao is even believing it.

[Xiao Yao You]

Ant wants to get to the rim and Gobert's suckage on offense hurts their spacing. I am not sure how they solve that problem.

Ant scoed one less point more efficintly with Gobert on the floor vs off the floor. Again the facts dont match the narrative. Need a new 2nd option. Towns has to go

[tontoz]

Ant scoed one less point more efficintly with Gobert on the floor vs off the floor. Again the facts dont match the narrative. Need a new 2nd option. Towns has to go

What is the sample size? On/off numbers aren't reliable in small samples.

Also we need to take into account who else was on the floor. Slo Mo doesn't help spacing either.

[Xiao Yao You]

What is the sample size? On/off numbers aren't reliable in small samples.

Also we need to take into account who else was on the floor. Slo Mo doesn't help spacing either.

We have almost a decade of gobert to know whats up

[ImKobe]

We have almost a decade of gobert to know whats up

We certainly know what's up with Toody :oldlol:

[tpols]

Gobert for how unskilled he is... has actually done a lot. He's been at least an All Star DPOY player on multiple teams that have made deep playoff runs.

Look at a guy like Tmac. Infinitely better at basketball and he never even made it out of the 1st round. Started his career off on a super talented raptor team with Vince Carter. Had a 3-1 lead in 2003 in a moderately weaker east and choked it away. Went to Houston on pretty ****ing good team... never did anything.

For Rudy's lack of ability to actually play offensive basketball... he's done well. If Gobert was 6'5 he wouldn't even make a D3 college team.

[tontoz]

We have almost a decade of gobert to know whats up


So either you don't know what the sample is or don't want to say it. I wonder why.

[Xiao Yao You]

So either you don't know what the sample is or don't want to say it. I wonder why.
But Edwards has produced at a similar clip this postseason regardless of Gobert’s presence. He has scored 35 points per 100 possessions on 59 percent true shooting with Gobert in the playoffs, versus 36 points per 100 on 57 percent true shooting without him.

[FultzNationRISE]

Gobert for how unskilled he is... has actually done a lot. He's been at least an All Star DPOY player on multiple teams that have made deep playoff runs.

Look at a guy like Tmac. Infinitely better at basketball and he never even made it out of the 1st round. Started his career off on a super talented raptor team with Vince Carter. Had a 3-1 lead in 2003 in a moderately weaker east and choked it away. Went to Houston on pretty ****ing good team... never did anything.

For Rudy's lack of ability to actually play offensive basketball... he's done well. If Gobert was 6'5 he wouldn't even make a D3 college team.

I agree he's more valuable than many give him credit for on here. Obviously a big part of the backlash is just Xaio going overboard claiming he's a great offensive player, or blasting Luka for the Mavs having one down year but then refusing to acknowledge he owned Toody in the playoffs twice now. Classic case of delusional fans creating haters for their favorite player the player otherwise wouldnt have.

[tontoz]

But Edwards has produced at a similar clip this postseason regardless of Gobert’s presence. He has scored 35 points per 100 possessions on 59 percent true shooting with Gobert in the playoffs, versus 36 points per 100 on 57 percent true shooting without him.

So 16 games. Gobert played 34 minutes per game in the playoffs so that means a max of 14 minutes per game where Ant played but Gobert didn't. Of course Ant didn't play 48 minutes each game so the actual number is lower.

So we are looking at a very small sample of minutes with Ant playing and Gobert on the bench, and of course we don't know who else was on the floor in these minutes. Slo mo also hurts the spacing.

So in summary my response to your stats is ***yawn***

[SouBeachTalents]

Gobert for how unskilled he is... has actually done a lot. He's been at least an All Star DPOY player on multiple teams that have made deep playoff runs.

Look at a guy like Tmac. Infinitely better at basketball and he never even made it out of the 1st round. Started his career off on a super talented raptor team with Vince Carter. Had a 3-1 lead in 2003 in a moderately weaker east and choked it away. Went to Houston on pretty ****ing good team... never did anything.

For Rudy's lack of ability to actually play offensive basketball... he's done well. If Gobert was 6'5 he wouldn't even make a D3 college team.
Don't insult McGrady like that bro, Gobert on those Magic teams would legitimately be some of the worst in league history. From '01-'08 he averaged 30/7/7 (albeit not on great efficiency) in the playoffs. He was frankly just extremely unlucky in his career from playing on a shit Magic team to Yao always being hurt in Houston.

[tpols]

Nobodies saying Gobert is better than Tmac. But he's done WAY more in the playoffs. It's just that he looks very goofy doing it and tmac had one of the most aesthetic games ever while losing way more.