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00:00You know, I give credit to Minnesota because they seemingly have been giant killers.
00:04I don't think the season is over for them.
00:07I do think they're going to win a game in Minnesota.
00:10But I guess my concern here is that so few adjustments are being made from game one to game two.
00:19It felt like the same game.
00:21And aren't they going to have to just throw caution to the wind in game three and say, hey, look, what we're doing is simply not working?
00:29Yeah, it's been tough.
00:31It's been tough.
00:31And I will say they tried to make adjustments, but just the Thunder were so good that it felt like none were made.
00:37Like they tried to get Anthony Edwards easier looks at the basket in game two than he had in game one.
00:43He took a lot of shots from the perimeter in game one.
00:45They obviously didn't fall.
00:46They get blown out.
00:48Game two, back to the basket for Anthony Edwards.
00:50So it's a little harder for teams to double team that way.
00:52He could see that clearly make the open pass.
00:55His teammates just weren't making shots.
00:57Julius in the first quarter of game number one.
01:01And it feels like he can't make a basket in the last six quarters.
01:05So, you know, they just have to make some shots and also get some easier looks for both of their stars in Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards.
01:12And that's easier said than done because the Thunder are the best defensive team in the league.
01:16They have a couple of guys on the all-defensive team that just came out yesterday.
01:19They probably could have had more guys on the all-defensive team, to be honest with you.
01:22You probably could have five of the Thunder players on the all-defensive team in the league.
01:26And their best defensive player didn't even make that team, Alex Caruso.
01:30So it is like a torture chamber, you know, offensively for the Minnesota Timberwolves right now.
01:36The Thunder have just been phenomenal, and they're playing their style of game.
01:39Now, I will say, though, for Minnesota, you know, the series doesn't start until you lose a home game, right?
01:45Like, that's the old adage.
01:46So they haven't lost a home game yet, and we get one in game three.
01:49They get to go back, refresh, get their own rims, and maybe they could start making some shots because they're going to need to do so.
01:55Yeah, and there'll be dogs in the next game.
01:58Not a lot, but there'll be dogs.
01:59So let me ask you this, Carlin, because you've been watching the NBA a long time.
02:03I have, too.
02:04The average fan, I think, knows who Shea Gilgis-Alexander is, but he is not one of the more popular players in the league.
02:12I mean, let's just call it what it is.
02:13Now they're going to get to learn a lot about him when they see him play in the West Finals and then probably, I would say, in the finals.
02:19So he had 38 points yesterday.
02:20Now, you and I know in watching the league that this guy takes more free throws, and by the way, makes more free throws than anybody else in the league.
02:30I don't know.
02:30Something tells me, Carlin, I have a feeling that people are going to feel like he's a boring watch in the finals, and we're going to start hearing about, hey, is this great basketball to watch?
02:41Just a guy at the free throw line constantly.
02:44And I think it's an unfair criticism.
02:46You've got to score in the ways that you're just being given to score, and he attacks the rim constantly.
02:52But I feel like that's coming in the finals.
02:54I feel like everyone is going to go, oh, they're boring, and this guy just takes a million free throws.
02:59Oh, maybe I'm wrong here.
03:00That's the sense that I'm starting to get a little bit watching these games.
03:04Yeah, I mean, I think those same people that are going to be complaining about Shea and the style of play probably complain about the Boston Celtics and the style of play that they had when they won the championship last year.
03:14They're shooting too many threes.
03:15This is boring to watch.
03:16I want to see something else.
03:17Well, guess what?
03:18What is it way that Shea Gilson-Alexander plays?
03:21He took two threes last night, made one of them, and had 38 points.
03:25Everything he did was inside the arc.
03:27So for all those people who say, hey, take it to the basket, let's see a mid-range game that's supposedly dead, Shea Gilson-Alexander is keeping that alive, oh, by the way, while he's getting to the free throw line.
03:37And the reason why he's getting to the free throw line is because he drives more than anyone else in the game.
03:41If you are going to constantly put pressure on the rim, it's likely that you're going to get hit, and it's likely that the whistle is going to get blown.
03:48He's just playing the game the way that he should and the way that he can, and he's dominating it in the way he's doing it.
03:53So, you know, deserving MVP, in my opinion, I think it could have went either way, honestly.
03:57Jokic had an incredible year, but at some point, if I had to vote, I would have voted for Shea because at some point you have to reward winning.
04:05And the Thunder were by far the best team in the NBA, and they're proving that right now in the postseason, and Shea is the best player on that team, so he was deserving of MVP.
04:13And to come off an MVP trophy lift with 38 points, pretty impressive.
04:19Yeah, reminds me a lot of Dwayne Wade early on in his career, constantly at the free throw line.
04:24But no one was complaining because he played with Shaq, and then he played with LeBron, so no one's sitting there.
04:29But he's like a guy – I mean, look, they have other good players, but, you know, really, he is the focal point of that team.
04:34Real quick, the odds for the series, I'm not even going to ask you about them, Carlin, but we made a nice graphic, so we're going to show it.
04:39There really isn't anything available here unless you love Minnesota, let's just be honest.
04:43Nothing on this board here looks good unless you can make some sort of conviction for the Timberwolves.
04:48Over five and a half games, maybe at plus 184, but a lot would have to happen for that as well.