The Mavericks are AWESOME! – Zach Lowe to have a pie for the Western Conference Finals | NBA Today

The Mavericks are AWESOME! – Zach Lowe to have a pie for the Western Conference Finals | NBA Today

all right game four the Western Conference Finals tip off in just a couple of hours Anthony Edwards and Company they’re trying to avoid a series sweep after dropping the first three games while Luca and Kyrie they’re trying to advance to the finals tonight with a win the Mavs would clinch their first NBA Finals birth since 2011 and remember that’s when Dallas beat Miami in six games all right let’s talk a little bit about the Minnesota Timberwolves because Carl Anthony towns is shooting just below 28% this series that is tied for the fourth worst through the first three games of a conference or division finals in the shot clock era the second worst since the start of the 60s you can see the list here not a great one to be on but cat’s confidence has not been deterred here he was just a few moments ago my confidence is very high uh it’s not going to like I said uh my confidence is not going to be uh deterred because I’m not making some threes that I’m usually always making you know I put the work in I the work I put and I have belief in the work I put in so I’m now my confidence is extremely high and uh our team I think that you know we’ve been through adversity before so just uh a chance for us to again go through adversity show our Unity show our cohesiveness and go out there and play to the best of our ability to be able to finish the game out and get a w would uh definitely help that’s a prediction right there that’ll be a lovely one it would be a lovely one it would be a huge boost for the uh Timberwolves right now but perk what is the biggest reason in your mind why the Timberwolves are in an 03 hole biggest reason or reasons cuz it’s plural and since it’s two of them I’m talking to both of them number one call Anthony towns who we just saw need you to go to CVS need you to go to Walgreens and I need Zach to go to Walmart Pharmacy because car Anthony towns got an allergic reaction to the paint okay he won’t go in the paint listen he has the mismatch that is a problem quo knows damn threes number two man Zach and I had a live back and forth just last week about the overrated plus minus that oh Rudy when when he’s on the floor Minnesota is just a plus and this and that well my eyes tell me different okay Rudy Goldberg the four time Defensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year this year has three blocks three blocks in this series at 73 that means he’s averaging one block per game just one just one block per game last time I checked my eyes tell me that Dallas is not just shooting threes they’re actually getting to the paint they actually laying the ball up they actually have floaters he is not being impactful when it comes down to that defense no one is afraid of Rudy his peer is not afraid of him they’re going at him they’re targeting him out in the pick and roll they want the mismatch or they want the drop coverage again I’m looking at Rudy and when you are a defensive player of the year I played against a few of them like Ben Wallace and Dwight Howard okay those guys had you looking over their shoulder they had a certain type of intimidation about them that you didn’t not want want to go in the paint that’s not what I see out of Ru if we’re slicing up a pie how big is Rudy slice how big is cat’s slice huh how big is Rudy slice how big is cat slice if you’re slicing up bla pie I mean how you I mean it’s listen it’s 25% okay okay 25% Rudy 25% cat Okay equal 25% Anthony Edward and 25% coach fch because he haven’t did a damn thing on the sideline that’s a huge slice of pie yeah I thought he was going to get I thought 100% I thought you were going to I thought you were going to get distracted by pie but you pulled through for me Fam so my thing is I’m right there with you okay be careful why I’m right there with I’m right with you but I do think that defense involves everyone around and the tone for how they approach defense the t- Wolves were was messed up from game one because they did not come in as Anthony Edwards said with the requisite amount of effort the reason I put it more on I guess the biggest reason for me is their lack of adjustments over the course of the series it takes them a game to figure out what they need to do and by that time they have lost you can have adjustments in game to be like hey get yourself on the Block use our advantages that we have there especially considering that Lively was a little questionable in the last game but instead they have options too Nas Reed has been playing phenomenally he’s shooting 56% from the field and 55% from three why not utilize him more scoring more points on a better percentage than sort of watch cat continue to shoot the way he’s done they’ve shot themselves in the foot by not adjusting in real time and that’s why the Mavericks look like Savant but but didn’t didn’t in game in game three Malika right in game three then we see the Wolves try to go small right part of that is on the coach now I mean part of that is on call Anthony towns as a guy you got to be dominant didn’t Anthony Edward say cuz you you told us you said Anthony Edward said you before you te us up before game three you said that Anthony Edwards have told the world that he’s about to come out aggressive right call Anthony towns ain’t said that yet Zach where do you fall in all this you guys can have your Minnesota Timberwolves blame pie I don’t know what it tastes like doesn’t sound wolf pie doesn’t seem like it would taste very good I’m going to have my delicious the Dallas Mavericks are awesome pie which tastes fantastic the Dallas Mavericks are winning this series because they are awesome on both ends of the floor and they have two crazy good shot makers who are making crazy good shots Minnesota’s offense has been a train wreck in crunch time no identity no Co cesion and Carl Anthony towns is dead right the threes they come they go that’s not the problem the problem it is a problem but it’s not the problem the problem is that he’s 12 of 32 on twos 12 of 32 on twos that is so far from being good enough it’s not even in the same universe he’s rushing shots he’s taken bad shots PJ Washington and Derek Lively have been all up in his business and he just has not been comfortable on you cannot have a big man Elite scorer shoot that low percentage on twos they got to find something on offense and something on defense too Dallas is just outplaying them on both ends of the floor and it’s a complete team effort and to me it’s more about the Mavericks than anything else it’s anytime it’s 3 0 it’s about both teams duh Zach we get that part we understand that Dallas deserve a lot of flowers but we didn’t expect Minnesota to be on the verge of getting swept that’s why we got the blame pie whether it’s you know sweet potato pie apple pie damn it it’s a pie and we have to point it out there here’s here’s another here here’s another thing right I don’t understand why the Minesota Timberwolves just won’t go small like it we we because they can’t stop a nose bed off the floor but they can’t stop a nose bleed with them on the floor they’re not he I mean what what are they doing they’re not winning the games they put them back in I did see some numbers that we go with the numb what are you talking about I did see some numbers that did support your point of view that in isol come on now go ahead go ahead that he is getting scored on more than most in isolation yes but he is a part of a lineup That is better for the t-wolves and that’s largely a product of cat not being efficient and Aunt finally figuring things out last game so I hear what you’re saying look at these numbers perk with Rudy goar on the floor plus three with them off 135 for context that’s closer to the Utah Jazz who are at the bottom of the NBA in the regular season in defensive official you know what I wish I would have had this for this graphic because I went ask 10 players former players current players about how they feel about the plus minus that and all of them said the same exact what do they say about Pi we they don’t talk P they M fact they want me to stay away from the pie okay all right well Kyrie they’re the first backcourt Duo to score 30 points each in multiple games the single Conference Finals in the last 50 years you got ktie and Russ sha and Kobe they’re the only other Duos to do it at any position Jason kid Kyrie they were both asked about where this back court ranks in terms of the all-time great take a listen there’s a debate out there is it’s the best back court in NBA history it’s kind of cool doesn’t happen all the time so it works and the trust that they have in one another is really cool to watch I mean it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t win a ring together you know you know and I and I I say that um very responsibly too there are other back courts that are more deserving right now for that recognition you know you’re seeing some special basketball from me and Luca but we wouldn’t be here without our teammates all right so I I agree with with Kyrie on that let’s just put the alltime great backcourts on the back burner until we see if they win a championship but the fact that they’re even in this conversation Kendrick what does that say about the duo in Dallas that is real and look I don’t want to go against J kid because the last time Jay kid made a bold about you know putting him in the Luca in the conversation with Jordan magic and Brun we thought he was crazy look look where we at so at the end of the day this is the most talented back court we’ve ever seen far as guys being able to go get Buckets and isolations I mean this is just the start for Luca I mean damn what does this mean if he could complete the mission which I believe he can I just don’t uh I’m speechless what that never happened Kendrick Perkins I am speechless what I’m not your girl is never speechless I’mma always tell you something I’m always give you a number what I love about this too in this series it just reminded you who they are at their best whether it is in clutch time I think they outscored the Wolves themselves 21 to 20 them being able to score the ball you know what the Wolves did they said all right we’re going to take that away from you next game and then they started blitzing them and then they were able to be Playmakers their duality of being great players and making great plays to me is what separates so if Luca is able and again they’re one-1 away from even getting to the finals but if the Dallas Mavericks win it all does Luca take the the mantle as the best player in the NBA yeah I mean we’ve done it for every other player when Giannis won it all we said he was the best player jic wins it all we say he’s the best player Luca is what he led the league and scoring probably finish what third in the MVP voting maybe second I don’t know don’t have the paper in front of me but at the end of the day when it comes down to a guy dominating the game the way he’s been dominating I mean I call him LeBron James minus the athleticism take it a step further with a better three-point shot so let’s go from the the best player or one of the best players depending on if he’s able to complete the mission I love that there never gets old to who we were all talking about as as the face of the league and I still believe that in Anthony Edwards is one of the next faces of the the NBA but you you picked the Timberwolves tonight what do they need from him they’ll need everything they’ll need that fire that got them to this point and to me there was this idea that they were not playing perfectly but they played so hard and they competed in every aspect it seems like the Dallas Mavericks has taken a page out of their book because that’s what they’re doing with their undersized post that’s what they’re doing and making shots and having the momentum just continually being stolen and so they need to reclaim that in this matchup and they also have to show people that they can adjust in real time because there are some big gaping holes whether it’s cat shooting maybe at times Rudy being left on an island because they believe he’s you you know defensive player he should be able to hold it down but at the end of the day it’s a team effort it’s team defense and it came from unconventional ways that got them here not just saying oh we outs score you we out defend you I’m glad you bought a Rudy we have time dear we have time to make a graic what we got a minute and seconds take us off shout out shout out to Schwartz and chenet all right with this stat the Mavericks are shooting 71% when Rudy is guard as the primary Defender right Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively are 18 for 23 combined against him hold up America let me read the second half of that stat because with that uh the the majority of those shots are happening in and around the rim perk so it’s going to be hard to be a great defender when all you’re defending against primarily in your circumstance are these lob dunks that we are seeing so what are you advocating for here perk I I mean I I want the Minnesota Timberwolves to go small I think they should start Nas Reed tonight with call Anthony toes at the 5 and you bring your defensive player of the year off the bench you got to stagger those minutes between Rudy and call Anthony to crazy if not you going to get swep you’re crazy that’s like a hard turn that’s going to do it for us why we make hard turn you got it CH you got it you got it yeah it is you gone [Music] m

Zach Lowe, Kendrick Perkins, Chiney Ogwumike and Malika Andrews discuss the Western Conference Finals match between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves and ponder why the Wolves are in danger of getting swept.

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