2024 Playoffs: Suns-Timberwolves Round 1 News Thread

[Mori Chu]

Pick swap is only a problem if ours is higher than the other team's, right?

Yes, but, that means if we have a truly awful season (major injury, etc.), we can't just rely on having our own pick be better because of it. It'll mean that we lose our pick in the swap. And the other team will have no incentive to let that be a good pick for us.

[Flagrant Fowl]

And I'd still rather have Kevin Durant.

[TOO]

And I'd still rather have Kevin Durant.

Yeah, Kal and those picks barring some miracle just aren't every gonna be anywhere near as good as Durant.

[Split T]

2026 pick is our next swap…Washington gets first dibs(They will still be bad), then Orlando, then Memphis. Both those teams could be better than us but we still have KD/Book/Beal signed through then. We likely won’t be giving up a good pick.

2028 we swap with Washington and Brooklyn…it’s far enough away that anything could happen, but neither of those teams worry me.

2030 is the last swap and its Washington or Memphis.

[Mori Chu]

Dan Devine series preview for Suns/Wolves:

Prediction: Suns in six. I’ve loved this Wolves team all season; I hate this matchup for them. The exact shots that Minnesota forces are the ones that Phoenix feasts on. As much as I trust Ant, and as sure as I am that Wolves coach Chris Finch will spend this week cooking up counters, I’m not sure I trust Minnesota’s shooters enough to short-circuit Phoenix’s defensive scheme. And for all the uncertainty over the Suns’ top guys getting and staying healthy, they’re healthy now. That gives Phoenix more pathways to points than Minnesota, and with them, a path to Round 2.

[Superbone]

[Mori Chu]

Ishbia is careful to include every Sun on the roster in his image there. Are all of those guys playoff-eligible? Azubuike? Wainwright? IT? Damion Lee (if he gets healthy enough)?

[Split T]

Ish, Saban Lee, and Azubuike are not playoff eligible because they are on 2-ways…everyone else is

[Cap]

Ish, Saban Lee, and Azubuike are not playoff eligible because they are on 2-ways…everyone else is

Doesn’t look like Damion will be available either, though he’s technically eligible.

[AmareIsGod]

Ish, Saban Lee, and Azubuike are not playoff eligible because they are on 2-ways…everyone else is

Doesn’t look like Damion will be available either, though he’s technically eligible.

Damn. There goes our shot.

[Mori Chu]

I actually wish we had Saben Lee available. He was a serviceable backup PG in some matchups. Wouldn't likely play much if any in the playoffs, but I'd rather have the option.

[pickle]

Dan Devine series preview for Suns/Wolves:

Prediction: Suns in six. I’ve loved this Wolves team all season; I hate this matchup for them. The exact shots that Minnesota forces are the ones that Phoenix feasts on. As much as I trust Ant, and as sure as I am that Wolves coach Chris Finch will spend this week cooking up counters, I’m not sure I trust Minnesota’s shooters enough to short-circuit Phoenix’s defensive scheme. And for all the uncertainty over the Suns’ top guys getting and staying healthy, they’re healthy now. That gives Phoenix more pathways to points than Minnesota, and with them, a path to Round 2.

Speaking of which, what is our defensive scheme? Somewhat serious question.

[BKinSJC]

Dan Devine series preview for Suns/Wolves:

Prediction: Suns in six. I’ve loved this Wolves team all season; I hate this matchup for them. The exact shots that Minnesota forces are the ones that Phoenix feasts on. As much as I trust Ant, and as sure as I am that Wolves coach Chris Finch will spend this week cooking up counters, I’m not sure I trust Minnesota’s shooters enough to short-circuit Phoenix’s defensive scheme. And for all the uncertainty over the Suns’ top guys getting and staying healthy, they’re healthy now. That gives Phoenix more pathways to points than Minnesota, and with them, a path to Round 2.

Speaking of which, what is our defensive scheme? Somewhat serious question.

"When in danger or in doubt,
Run in circles, scream and shout."

[Nodack]

Works for me.

[TOO]

Dan Devine series preview for Suns/Wolves:

Prediction: Suns in six. I’ve loved this Wolves team all season; I hate this matchup for them. The exact shots that Minnesota forces are the ones that Phoenix feasts on. As much as I trust Ant, and as sure as I am that Wolves coach Chris Finch will spend this week cooking up counters, I’m not sure I trust Minnesota’s shooters enough to short-circuit Phoenix’s defensive scheme. And for all the uncertainty over the Suns’ top guys getting and staying healthy, they’re healthy now. That gives Phoenix more pathways to points than Minnesota, and with them, a path to Round 2.

Speaking of which, what is our defensive scheme? Somewhat serious question.

Kevin Durant

[Flagrant Fowl]

Dan Devine series preview for Suns/Wolves:

Spoiler: show/hide

Prediction: Suns in six. I’ve loved this Wolves team all season; I hate this matchup for them. The exact shots that Minnesota forces are the ones that Phoenix feasts on. As much as I trust Ant, and as sure as I am that Wolves coach Chris Finch will spend this week cooking up counters, I’m not sure I trust Minnesota’s shooters enough to short-circuit Phoenix’s defensive scheme. And for all the uncertainty over the Suns’ top guys getting and staying healthy, they’re healthy now. That gives Phoenix more pathways to points than Minnesota, and with them, a path to Round 2.

Speaking of which, what is our defensive scheme? Somewhat serious question.

I'm sure it'll start with the tactic they've been using for a better part of the last month, build a wall to mitigate Edwards' dribble drives and keep at least two defenders with their attention on him. The Suns should make the Wolves other guys prove they can hit shots before deviating from that initial strategy.

[TOO]

Dan Devine series preview for Suns/Wolves:

Spoiler: show/hide

Prediction: Suns in six. I’ve loved this Wolves team all season; I hate this matchup for them. The exact shots that Minnesota forces are the ones that Phoenix feasts on. As much as I trust Ant, and as sure as I am that Wolves coach Chris Finch will spend this week cooking up counters, I’m not sure I trust Minnesota’s shooters enough to short-circuit Phoenix’s defensive scheme. And for all the uncertainty over the Suns’ top guys getting and staying healthy, they’re healthy now. That gives Phoenix more pathways to points than Minnesota, and with them, a path to Round 2.

Speaking of which, what is our defensive scheme? Somewhat serious question.

I'm sure it'll start with the tactic they've been using for a better part of the last month, build a wall to mitigate Edwards' dribble drives and keep at least two defenders with their attention on him. The Suns should make the Wolves other guys prove they can hit shots before deviating from that initial strategy.

This. If KAT isn't dropping bombs from 3 I'm not sure they can do much to stay in the game with this strategy.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm actually more concerned with the Conley/Gobert PnR if (when) Nurkic is out of the game. Even when Nurkic plays, he's not always great at defending it.

I think the best strategy is a hard hedge with a lot of attention on making the high pass as difficult as possible. Try to get Conley to pass it low to Gobert if he's going to make that play and that should leave enough time for the backside defender to come over and contest the catch or at least foul the shit out of Gobert.

[pickle]

They can and probably should focus on getting Nurk in foul trouble. In the last game I saw on several occasions that Beal was defending KAT, also not ideal. I do agree that this is the best matchup for us, but I’m still not super optimistic. The last two games we completely scrambled them and forced turnovers that blew things open. If they are a bit more disciplined it will be a tough and physical series.

Unless KAT goes ballistic and torpedoes their chances of course.

[Flagrant Fowl]

That’s right, Wolves turnovers were a huge detriment to their first half woes in both recent games. It’s entirely believable the Suns are the ones making errors if they revert to being lackadaisical against an opponent they’ve recently dominated.

I expect the Wolves to be much more careful with the ball, but shooting will need to eventually come through for them if they hope to keep up with the Suns offense.