Illini in the Pros (Basketball)

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#301      
Scoregasm
champaignchris said:
Illini Wolves - 31 points on 12 for 23 shooting (52%)

Rest of the team - 78 points, 28 for 83 (38%).

I don’t think I appreciated what a defensive force Wemby is prior to this series. He just absorbs dribblers from the free throw line and further in like some sort of movie monster blob. TSJ and Ayo were fast enough to attack the basket before Wemby could get set. No one else on the team could.
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The Blob Wtf GIF by Kino Lorber
 
#307      
HoopsterMan
jamarvelous31 said:
Julius Randle has had an awful series hasn't helped the Wolves stay close either.

Shooting %s are down while averaging less FTs and 3 less apg. Playing a lot of hero ball with poor results.
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Castle, a guard, has locked him up. That guy is doing the same things to Randle that he did to Shannon in the NCAA tournament.

I'm not sure how you beat SA.
 
#311      
OrangeBlue98
Illiniguy13 said:
Among modern players, Randle is on my Mt Rushmore of Least Favorite to watch/ Guaranteed to :poop: the bed in any important game. Harden is on that list, too.
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Never understood the trade that brought Randle to Minnesota in 2024 when it happened. Still don’t understand it.
 
#313      
HoopsterMan
jamarvelous31 said:
OKC vs SA is for the championship.

OKC are monsters too
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SA won 4/5 in regular season, but OKC favored.

SA will take rim away with Wemby and exhaust SGA with Castle. Someone is gonna have to step up. Iconic series.

Shannon has gotten a lot better. It's going to take a jump shooting team to be SA. How the refs call the series will be a big part of the outcome.
 
#314      
OrangeBlue98
HoopsterMan said:
SA won 4/5 in regular season, but OKC favored.

SA will take rim away with Wemby and exhaust SGA with Castle. Someone is gonna have to step up. Iconic series.

Shannon has gotten a lot better. It's going to take a jump shooting team to be SA. How the refs call the series will be a big part of the outcome.
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SGA vs Castle when OKC is on offense will be appointment television.
 
#316      
Mobi
derrick6 said:
Imagine if he had played during the season…Finch is a problem. Hope he corrects it
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Don't like the fact they kept him. He is a defense minded coach who was not very good at defending Spurs. Their offense kinda sucked, too.
 
#318      
Turn N’ Burn
Castle likes to use all of his fouls. Will be interesting to see how the refs call it with SGA and his embellishments. He has a privileged whistle and don’t think Castle has earned that treatment yet. Gotta be able to stay on the court.
 
#320      
From the cheap seats
An ESPN writer lists Ayo as the No. 5 free agent heading into next year. Story includes an interesting quote:

"Ayo's our most important free agent," president of basketball operations Tim Connelly told The Minnesota Star Tribune. "He's a guy we thought we knew pretty well, and we liked him from afar. Now seeing him day to day, we love him. I think he fits in not just on the court but off the court. I think his best basketball is in front of him."

Acquired at the deadline from Chicago, Dosunmu averaged 14.4 points and shot 52.1% from the field, including 41.4% from 3 in 24 games with Minnesota. He finished the playoffs with the two highest-scoring games off the bench in Timberwolves history.
 
#322      
ptgrd23
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TSJ is stuck 2 more years. $2.8M and $5.0M. Ayo was lucky in some way being a 2nd round pick (3 years of control vs 4).

Randle has 2 more years $33 and $36M. If Minnesota wants to get rid of Randle they might have to package TSJ
Minnesota has all its first round picks so they could include some of those.

MInnesota is not projected to pay luxury tax next year unless they sign Ayo to big contract.

JMO - need to figure out way to beat San Antonio and Oklahoma City in western conference. Gobert could not stop Wembayana. Can anybody?"
 
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