Game Thread Playoffs Round 2, Game 1: Spurs vs Timberwolves (0-0) (Mon 05/04/2026) [8:30 CDT]

[benefactor]

Spurs will be fine.

 

[spurs2112]

Good. Fuck these guys.

 

[Hoopdreams11]

From t he last 2 minute report Randle would have fouled out.

Q4	01:13.7	Foul: Loose Ball	Julius Randle	Julian Champagnie	INC	Video
Randle (MIN) extends his forearm into Champagnie's (SAS) upper body and delivers contact that dislodges him as he secures the rebound. This contact is what causes Champagnies' elbow to touch the baseline out of bounds, which is a violation.

[td]Comment:[/td]

 

[OU812]

Just throw it Wemby near the basket.

That would require VW to be near the basket.

 

[OU812]

Spurs can win in Minny but dang this game would have been nice to have. Need to bounce back with Wemby looking for his shot inside. waited too long to come off that fox rub and beeline to the basket. Wemby is smart guys, he hates losing, and will clean up his effort on offense. dont know what say about fox other than hes gotta play better. Series seems like it will go 6-7 games.

Wemby was 0-8 from three, had 3 turnovers and only 2 offensive rebounds. His disdain for playing inside (on offense) is starting to become an issue.

 

[OU812]

I have to ask; why did Mitch not employ a hack a Rudy strategy? Late in the 4th it would have ground the MINN offense to a halt. They would have had to sit Gobert. Oh…. That would entail our coaching staff having a clue

 

[frenchfred]

I have to ask; why did Mitch not employ a hack a Rudy strategy? Late in the 4th it would have ground the MINN offense to a halt. They would have had to sit Gobert. Oh…. That would entail our coaching staff having a clue

they actually didn't play Gobert all that much in the 4th (he entered with only 1:44 left), they had a bunch of shooters forcing Wemby out of the paint and in offense for whatever reason the Spurs didn't take advantage of the situation

 

[frenchfred]

Wemby was 0-8 from three, had 3 turnovers and only 2 offensive rebounds. His disdain for playing inside (on offense) is starting to become an issue.

I think that he just doesn't the frame to get position so the coach needs to put screens in place for him to get position and/or use picks and rolls for alley hoops they have done all year long

 

[DTW]

An incredibly dumb performance from the Spurs . . .

- Having Castle repeatedly bring the ball up vs McDaniels
- Conversely, not pressuring full court until they had to on a team with limited ball handling
- Not putting Conley, Edwards and Hyland repeatedly into the action
- Switching and leaving Vassell on an island at the nail vs Randle in crunch time
- Constantly taking "chuck" threes (early in clock, before putting defense in rotation, with limited space and shooting pocket impacted)
- Seemingly not having a counter to turn Wembanyama into more finisher when weakside wide pin down action was taken away and playing him final 16 minutes
- Fox's haywire decision making and nonchalance throughout

 

[Uriel]

Talk about overreacting to one game. That Champ 3 goes in and everybody is singing a different tune.

The Spurs will still win this series. It will take longer now, but the ultimate outcome will still be the same.

 

[Millennial_Messiah]

they actually didn't play Gobert all that much in the 4th (he entered with only 1:44 left), they had a bunch of shooters forcing Wemby out of the paint and in offense for whatever reason the Spurs didn't take advantage of the situation

Not to mention the fact that you aren't allowed to intentional foul off the ball (it's a one shot technical and the offense chooses the free throw shooter) with under 2 minutes left in a half or overtime. So yeah it was perfect coaching by Minnesota there.

If other teams dare to go all small... Wemby needs to punish them in the paint. I know he's skinnier than Duncan or Wilt or Yao Ming, but still. He has to go up strong and play to his height.