The Ringer’s Howard Beck Breaks Down Timberwolves vs Mavericks West Finals | The Rich Eisen Show
I mean we’ve had a great time watching the comedic stylings of Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony towns after their win but as we look ahead at this series how competitive can they be against Dallas how do you like this one it’s a really fascinating Series right because the Timberwolves haven’t been this far in in 20 years and the current stars were you know probably in the proverbial Diapers at the time or not very far beyond that if anything and the Mavericks you know they made a Conference Finals a couple years ago against the Warriors I don’t think anybody thought were really ready to break through then they might be ready to break through now um but this is one of those Series where you look at it and you could talk yourself you know in circles as to who should be the favorite or how long this is going to go um this is this is an opportunity for Luca in particular right he finished third in the MVP voting he’s been a perennial MVP candidate for the last several years and he’s got a phenomenal co-star now in Kyrie Irving who a lot of us certainly I was skeptic that that pairing was going to work and it’s worked fabulously um that’s an incredible and very lethal onew punch they’ve got some great role players and Defenders around them uh so that all said the Mavericks are more they’re a little younger in their process right like Kyrie just got there you know 14 months ago or whatever it was this is their first full season together Derek Lively their starting center is a rookie Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington who we’ve all raved about how great a contribution they’ve made since the trade deadline got there at the trade deadline so they’re still a little new the wolves on the other hand this is two full seasons now with Rudy goar this is multiple Seasons with uh towns and Anthony Edwards that core has been together for a bit their coach has been there everybody’s been in place they if I if I have to pick and I hate picking um I lean toward the wolves in this series only because I think there’s a little more continuity and uh just time together the chemistry is established but also they’ve got size right like that Town’s gobear front court is a beast just ask Nicola yic who just uh had to wave goodbye a couple days ago and I I do think it’s going to be really interesting to see Lively and Gafford who have just feasted at The Rim off of of Luca lobs in in in particular are they going to get those same opportunities when you’ve got two seven-footers you know standing around the paint yeah and Jaden McDaniels and Carl Anthony towns and Reed I mean you’re seeing that when Anthony Edwards talked about that when he had a slow game offensively he could trust his players around him to pick up where he left off I mean we saw that happen effectively so if we take that into consideration how do you like their game versus the Dallas game I think the first thing I’m I’m really interested to see is I assume it’s gonna be Jaden McDaniels on Luca but it’s probably gonna have to be a lot of people on Luka Anthony Edwards uh in the wake of that game seven win was already talking about and I love hearing this from a young Star right who’s like here’s this guy he’s got all this game all these skills Anthony Edwards is you know GNA throw 20 25 30 points on the board and in a in creative ways he’s explosive he’s skilled he’s got great footwork but the first thing he’s telling the uh I think it was the TNT crew on Sunday in the wake of that win was and Kyrie’s my assignment that’s it I can’t wait to to go check Kyrie and he and he boasted about uh you know locking down Jamal Murray in the second half of of game seven that’s just awesome when you hear a young player just really enthused about the defensive assignment and I think Anthony Edwards He’s a great defender um if he can lock up Kyrie and the Mavericks can muster excuse me the Wolves can muster enough defense to throw at Luca you know it’s going to be a really tough uphill battle for the Mavericks right because all of their scoring is generated by those two stars and the Timberwolves uh were I think number one or number two in defense all year and they have the Personnel to sty just about anybody again Ask the Denver Nuggets at defending champs and so uh this is going to be a really tough test for the Mavericks but I don’t rule them out catch the rich eyes and show every single day on the Roku Channel 12 to3 Eastern for free
The Ringer’s Howard Beck and Rich Eisen Show guest host Suzy Shuster discuss how the Mavericks and Timberwolves match up in the Western Conference Finals.
Tune in to the Emmy-nominated Rich Eisen Show live for FREE on The Roku Channel at https://go.roku.com/thericheisenshow and also streaming on Audacy, Sirius channel 161 and XM channel 206 (Online channel 998) weekdays from 12–3 PM ET!
Showcasing insightful sports expertise with an offbeat mix of humor and pop culture, The Rich Eisen Show attracts the most recognizable names in sports and entertainment.
Subscribe here to keep up with the internet’s best sports and pop culture commentary, interviews, and much more!
—— SUBSCRIBE HERE:
https://bit.ly/2VjWSBC
FOLLOW US HERE:
https://www.instagram.com/richeisenshow/
Tweets by RichEisenShow
https://www.facebook.com/RichEisenShow
@thericheisenshow
https://www.audacy.com/richeisen/listen
#richeisenshow #mavericks #timberwolves
5 Comments
The Rich Eisen Show, I loved this video so much, I had to hit the like button!
Everyone keeps counting the Mavs out. But the Mavs ain't afraid of a big bad wolf!!! And everyone keeps talking about Minnesota's size. Uhhh, the Mavs are JUST as big. It's kinda surprising to see how similar these teams are too.
Gobert 7'0 vs Gafford 6'11 and Lively 7'1. And all of them have the same style game. They wanna bully you around the paint. But give the edge to Dallas because of 2 big reasons….1) The Mavs can go for 48 minutes with their center position, Rudy is only good for like 35-40. 2) The Mavs have 12 fouls to give with their center position.
KAT 7'0 vs Maxi 6'10. Again, 2 very similar players. And while this time KAT gets the advantage with minutes & the 3 point shot, Maxi gets a big advantage defensively. So it's like a push.
6'9 McDaniels & Naz vs 6'7 PJ Washington. Again, very similar. All of them are capable of dropping in a 20 point night. Very good defenders. But I would give the edge to Dallas because PJ has a higher ceiling on offense having several 40 point games to his name including 1 this year with the Hornets.
6'4 AntMan vs 6'2 Kyrie. Again, very similar players just different ways of doing it. Both are great finishers one just does it above the rim and the other below it. One gets to the rim with straight athleticism and another does it with skill and mastery of the handles. But give me Kyrie because he's a better shooter…AntMan is a LOOOOOOOOOONG way from becoming a 90/90 guy.
6'0 Conley vs 6'7 Luka. And here's the problem for Minnesota. One of these things are not like the others. And Luka is gonna come hunting for this 36 year old with a bad foot. And if Luka can play CP3 off the court in a series what makes you think Conley won't be any different? Maybe like the Suns did with CP3, they try to get some Conley minutes whenever Luka is resting. But still…that's your coach on the court, your floor general being reduced to 8 minutes a game. And Minnesota better hope Luka doesn't go hunting for Rudy too…he's played him off the court too. And Luka will be hunting KAT and try to get him into foul trouble.
And yes, I realize that there are gonna be cross matchups and some of these aren't gonna be the initial one-on-ones. I just matched them up this way to illustrate how similar these teams are built.
I realize the Wolves have a really good defense. #1 all year long. DPOY. Best 2-way player. All of that. But what I think a lot of these experts are doing is sleeping on the Mavs defense and not seeing what an advantage they got right now.
The Wolves offense ain't the Clippers or Thunder. The Wolves had a middle of the pack offense during the year. They are near the bottom with 3 points attempted. Granted, they are near the top in 3 point percentage. But still, the Wolves offense isn't nearly as frightening as the Clippers or Thunder.
I'm not even worried about the refs giving Ant a red carpet to the free throw line. Because Dallas has gone against Harden & Shai who are much better at drawing fouls & making the free throws. I mean, Harden got an MVP because of his ability to do that.
wolves in 4 (sweep) – no objections?
The Wolves are about to smack them. Wolves are on a mission to be up next