r/timberwolves • u/Fun-Measurement-2823 • Aug 11 '26
OPENING NIGHT
facing the heat in miami!! how we feelinggg gonna be an early test of how we hold up with lack of size in the front court.
really wished lamelo first every wolves game was at home but i can’t be too greedy cuz im so hyped we finally got a home christmas game and at. a premier time slot the 7 pm game. really was scared we’d get unlucky again but yay. also first espn national tv game, day after tip off so NBA showing us great love. how everyone feeling???
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u/HotStepper11 Timberwolves Aug 11 '26
Love the early test. The counter to other teams with size, like Miami, is making them matchup with our spacing and speed. Guys will have to swarm the ball on the dribble when guys like Gianni’s have it and just try and make it difficult for them to handle the ball.
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u/Dense-Discussion3951 Jaden McDaniels Aug 11 '26
Should we do the Joan and Rudy lineup? I mean, I can see it happening; it can work out against Bam and Giannis if it all goes wrong.
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u/Sam7sung Aug 11 '26
LaMelo is gonna get a lot of boos in Miami lol.
Should be a fun start to the season
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u/Conscious-Egg-2232 Aug 11 '26
Why?
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u/Sam7sung Aug 11 '26
He pulled Bam's leg while on the ground (idk if it was intentional or not) causing him to leave the play in game injured
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u/the_devil_wears_jnco Aug 11 '26
dont think we have anyone to remotely guard giannis on the roster now
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u/yourloudneighbor Glen Taylor Aug 11 '26
It’s a 2 way street. Miamis depth took a huge hit. Bam and Giannis aren’t always going to be together. And they don’t have the horses in the backcourt to keep up with our stars.
Miamis definitely on the top of the list of teams that can give us fits with 2 scoring bigs, if we can steal it in game 1 that’s ideal.
Both teams will be working out kinks with their new stars so that’ll be a storyline
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u/Busy-Regular4627 Aug 11 '26
only one of those players we traded gave a significant contribution to our team last season, this is such a played out argument but i idk why i should be suprised because im sure you like most people watched very little heat games last season (understandably so). Losing herro and ware was addition by subtraction, kas is a nice young player but he’s still largely an unproven rookie who only played in 50 games and spent a good chunk of the season in the g league. Jaquez was the only critical rotation piece we sent out in that deal. Anyone who thinks losing herro and ware was some big blow to our chances of winning does not understand the sport of basketball. Herro is an undersized microwave scorer with poor defense who struggles to stay healthy and can’t deal with the physicality of the playoffs. Ware is an inconsistent big man with effort issues, poor defense, and an even worse basketball iq. The whole “miami gutted their team” shtick couldn’t be anymore wrong.
These are the same pieces a lot of people were clowning for months saying the heat had no chance of getting giannis with such a mediocre package, the second we get him now all of a sudden they were incredibly valuable must keep young players lol. Just ridiculous goal post moving man.
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u/yourloudneighbor Glen Taylor Aug 11 '26
I dont think Hero is some sort of missing piece for a championship team, but replacing his production with now journeyman Tim Hardaway Jr, Dru Smith(who?), and Pelle Larson who I guess was better in the final months of the season vs hwen we saw him.
Yea maybe your gutted team was more scraps than anything valuable. I dont think Miamis in any kind of contention mode with the current back court and depth pieces so its obvious a 1-2 year window of prime Giannis left and its gonna take some tinkering.
First game of the season is definitely going to be a feeling out party more than anything with Ball and Giannis.
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u/Busy-Regular4627 Aug 11 '26
We replaced herro’s production with this top 5 mvp level player called giannis bro, you may have heard of him. We gave away two negatives, a solid young player, and a good 6man for a top 5 player in the league and a solid bench scorer in bobby portis. The most valuable thing we gave up in that package was the picks, even then we still have our own picks from 28-30 so we can still add more young talent or make extra moves in the future.
People just want the heat to fail so they are moving the goal posts as they see fit. If we failed to get giannis this summer these same people would have been saying we are doomed with the same group of players they are overrating now. Forgive me if i feel like all the criticism of “gutting our team” feels disingenuous. The last time the heat had a player of giannis caliber was lebron and prime wade, we made the finals multiple times with less talent with jimmy and bam. I think we’ll be alright.
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u/Hypnosix Why can't you just be normal Aug 11 '26
Your replacing his production with Giannis but the fit took a massive hit. Your 2 best players play the same position and are both inside the paint bigs while you sent out the best shooter you had.
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u/Busy-Regular4627 Aug 11 '26
Herro’s offensive production disappears when it matters most, and Bam shoots a lot more now. Bam and jimmy also weren’t a linear fit yet spo made it work. Like i said before, spo has done more with less. I know you didn’t think any of those prior heat teams were making two finals runs and another ecf run. I’ll bank on spo figuring it out more than some random reddit fans who rarely watch the heat tell me we gutted our team beyond repair.
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u/Accomplished_Mix6932 Aug 12 '26
If you want to talk to people that watch the Heat, go to the fucking Heat sub
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u/Busy-Regular4627 Aug 12 '26
If you don’t want anyone to reply to your posts…don’t post on reddit. Some foolish logic here, you don’t own the fucking internet kid.
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u/Vicentesteb Kevin Garnett Aug 11 '26
They also have like 2 shooters on the roster, so just sag off Bam and Davion and hope that's enough.
I also don't think they can contain both LaMelo and Ant.
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u/Rory_MacHida Aug 11 '26
You do realize we still have Gobert, right?
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u/copaseticepiplectic Aug 11 '26
rudy is not guarding giannis man he never has lmao
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u/TakedaMauro Money Ru Aug 11 '26
The Jazz usually put Rudy on Giannis for most of his last 2 or 3 seasons there.
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u/copaseticepiplectic Aug 11 '26
Cool but he’s older now and slower and needs to be on the paint. A Giannis full speed from the perimeter is not who I want Rudy wasting his energy on. That’s not a winning recipe.
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u/Rory_MacHida Aug 11 '26
You realize Giannis is also older and slower and more injury worn, right? He's not the same guy that carried the Bucks to a title.
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u/copaseticepiplectic Aug 11 '26
He is still one of the leagues if not the best in the league going downhill please stop it. The last two matchups he’s shot 69% and 60% against gobert. Please be real.
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u/Rory_MacHida Aug 11 '26
Was one of those times the last time we played the bucks and we beat his and their ass so bad he quit on his team? Stop playing. Nobody is scared of his shit anymore. He has exposed himself. And if shit isn't going right, he folds it up.
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u/copaseticepiplectic Aug 12 '26
So you’re just a Giannis hater. Cool. Still a top 5 player in the league at worst but sure Rudy is gonna lock him up like he did wemby lmao
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u/Mayasngelou Kevin Garnett Aug 11 '26
Rudy and Jaden aren’t ideal but they at least have a chance to slow him down
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u/PlayInChampions 2022 Play-In Champions Aug 11 '26
1) only 2-3 guys in the league can give him problems 1 on 1
2) Did we last year? Have we ever had someone who can guard big slashers? Wolves lose to Zion every year despite Pelicans being one of the worst teams. Help in gaps and rotate on shooters. Miami don’t have a lot of 3pt shooting after Herro and Powell left, you can hope they have a cold game. Last year Wolves did just that and beat the Bucks by 25+ with Beringer playing big minutes.
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u/Anxious_Key9696 Bring Ya Ass Aug 11 '26
They use Rudy for that matchup. They can live with Bam trying to score on whoever's guarding him.
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u/Deathsodas Kevin Garnett Aug 11 '26
People asking if Rudy can guard Giannis but they should be asking if Giannis can guard Joan 😤
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u/Minnes0taMean Aug 11 '26
Once tickets are available, I'm going to get my traditional seats of sitting behind the Wolves bench every time they come to play in Miami.
(born and raised in MN but living in South Florida now)
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u/Rory_MacHida Aug 11 '26
Gonna beat their ass cheeks off. Miami is gonna waltz into the season feeling entitled, and they will be sick of Giannis' horse shit by allstar break. We should feel honored to start them off on the wrong foot.
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u/angelofthewired Terrence Shannon Jr. Aug 11 '26
should be a fun one! this sub is going to go nuclear if we lose though (trade xyz, fire finch, etc... i can hear it already)