WCF's Preview - Ant vs. Algorithm: Why Thunder–Wolves Is the NBA’s Real Final

it's tuesday, you know what time it is. Front runner podcast collective is back on the air. I am your humble host, vince, and on today's show it's real simple, folks. We're here four teams, two series western conference, eastern conference finals. The winner of these two series will meet in the NBA finals. If you are wondering why I am so hyped about this, two reasons. This ain't about narratives, folks. This ain't about rigged lottery balls. This is not about west coast or east coast bias or anything like that. We got a bunch of teams from the heartland of america.

The great folks of the Oklahoma City area, rise up today, thunder up, because today is your day. You host game one of the Western Conference finals. People say it is a stepping stone to the NBA Finals. Not so quick. Not so quick Because Anthony Edwards is on the other line and he has a message for the Thunder. I have slayed dragons, I have slayed White Walkers and I will slay the Oklahoma City Thunder, no doubt. So we will be previewing both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals and also we will give you our picks for who is going to take these series.

I am so glad that the audience has joined us today. I am pumped. I am ready to go. It has been a phenomenal weekend of basketball, conversation and just ultimately getting to this place where we can have this podcast. So, without further ado, I would like to say, first and foremost, thank you to the audience. Numbers are bonkers. Again, I would like to thank the fine, fine folks of Florence, italy, of all places. Florence, italy of all places, dusseldorf, germany, of all places, and I hope I'm saying this right, I really do. I have practiced this, but I'm also American and we butcher everybody's language, so I'm going to apologize before I say this, but shout out. So I'm going to apologize Before I say this, but Shout out To Is it Barcelona, españa? The folks from Spain have Shown up In a big way. Listen, we're global. It's cool. I'm digging it. Soraya is digging it. She appreciates you. She appreciates you. She doesn't get on the pod, but, trust me, we will have notes from her All throughout this podcast. She will be hitting us up With a bunch of her thoughts and also maybe some key stats to fill in the blanks of what we're looking at here today.

This preview is just Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals. We have no draft, we have no news, we have nothing else. That will be feel good. Friday If you're looking for draft stuff, go back last Friday A whole bunch of draft stuff.

But on today's podcast we got to break these four teams down. They deserve our attention, they deserve our praise and we are going to give them All the hype. We are going to lead you into the team's hype videos for the western conference and eastern conference finals with our own basically hype podcast for them. Does that make sense? Is everybody on board? Well, damn, let's get. And we will start in the West, because tonight is the first night, the first night of glory.

You can blueprint a dynasty. You can stack assets like poker chips, pray to lottery gods and build a team that has 68 wins before anyone knows their names by heart. You can run the best net rating in the modern nba top tier defense, deep rotations, players who switch, stunt, recover, cut like they've been coded by synergy itself. Shout out to synergy we have lost you, my friend, but my journey to come get you back starts today. That's a whole nother podcast. We don't have time for that. We don't have time for that. That's a whole other podcast. We don't have time for that. We don't have time for that. But here's the truth the Thunder have to face. None of this matters when they face the apocalypse.

Has a jumper and goes by the name of Anthony Edwards. He did not survive. Lebron and Luka he sent them home, both of them not survive. Lebron and luca he sent them home, both of them two hall of fame processors in one locker room, paired mid-season like some marvel trying to reboot the multiverse. Then he walked through the golden state warriors like a man who's been here before Steph Curry or not, jimmy Butler, draymond Green, championship DNA all gone. He's not looking for respect, he's looking for something to bury.

Next, anthony Edwards is on a kill mission. Minnesota didn't just win. They defend structure, they ruin predictions, they erase certainty. And now they're up against the juggernaut, the team that we've all talked about throughout the whole season, the historic net rating, sga as the MVP. What is the limit of this team? They have so many first round picks that, even if they have an injury, it's almost like they can regenerate a limb, just like that. Sga Is a cold geometry and Ant Is a raw combustion. And now these two will meet.

This is a series, not celtics, not nicks, not 76ers with their process prayers and second apron blues. This is is where the NBA changes shape. It is Anthony Edwards versus the algorithm. Let's get started. Let's be clear From the jump, oklahoma City did everything right. There's nothing wrong with what they've done. They've run through people, they've beaten the shit out of people All year. They didn't trade for stardom, they curated it. They didn't chase headlines, they built habits. 68 wins, a plus 12.8 net rating, top 6 in pace and efficiency. No one in the west touched that number since the warriors pre kevin durant. It's not just about winning, it's it's about how they're winning the stretch. They stretch you horizontally, they switch on contact, they recover, they memorize your sets.

And now we talk about SGA, we talk about Shea Gildress Alexander and for my Oklahoma City Thunder fans who know me, tell your friends it's about to go down today, because this is a celebration, this is a coronation, if you will, of one of the slickest, one of the smoothest, one of the most balletic athletes we have in the sport today. Shea Gilgis Alexander is not just a basketball player, he's Mikhail Baryshnikov with some damn Nike zone. That's what he is. He's a surgeon. He doesn't blow by you, he dissolves you.

57% true shooting percentage leads all playoff guards in paint touches. Highest efficiency in the float game. You know what I'm saying. So the float game stays nice. You know we have a very physical playoff series. All the series has been very physical. Playoff series. All the series have been very physical.

We have talked about in ad nauseum how different playoff basketball is to regular season basketball, but that has not affected our guy, sga, shea, gilders, alexander has gone through the playoffs like, oh, these games they mean a little bit more now. Oh, okay, well, that's kind of cool. It's hardened with humility. Luka with less waste, dane without the baggage. And you surround him with the likes of Jalen. Jalen Williams, whose footwork is whispered, hardened, but intention scream Iguodala. Chet Holmgren, who plays like a 2k to click a 2k glitch, rendered in glass and in the wingspan department. This dude is seven foot two with a seven, seven, seven, eight wingspan. This dude is playing on the perimeter like, okay, yeah, the jumper was not as saucy as maybe the first round, but still, the confidence in the jumper, the confidence in the mid-range, to be exact, and also his ability to hit the boards and also be a weak side rim protector, is monumentally important. But I do want to get to the hero. I do want to get to the unsung hero of the oklahoma city thunder, and that is my guy, alex caruso, who guards like he's cosplaying bruce brown in a hoodie.

This isn't a rebuild, it's an absolute reveal. This is a mech gala yo, we are coming out party. A met gala yo, we are coming out party. And we about to show that thing. We about to show that thing.

But here's the catch for all the efficiency, they just barely escaped the second round because Jokic is a bad, bad man. Nikola Jokic is the greatest as far as right now. This dude is the baddest basketball player on the face of the planet. What he was able to do, how he was able to pull that team to a game seven gives. We got to give him some respect on this. Yes, shea Gildas Alexander is no doubt the NBA MVP, but Jokic didn't have MPJ really because he had one shoulder. Gordon's leg was cooked because he had a hamstring gray too. And the nuggets bench well, it's as shallow as a kiddie pool and still game seven happened. Why is that? We talked about it on the last part, but let's get into it now.

We have been saying all through the postseason the oklahoma city thunder are young and people didn't want to hear it. They didn't want to hear all that. They were like you are hating on our team. No, playoffs are hard, bro. Gotta understand it's repetition. They know your traits, they know your, they know your tendencies. They know which way you like to go. They know your counters. Do you have counters to the counter? And guess what, through the crucible of the playoffs so far this year, oklahoma City has passed every test. Now they go up against Minnesota and Anthony Edwards.

It's not numbers, it's a case study. He is a problem in the playoffs. Anthony Edwards, is that equation that you found out in math class? Whatever you want to talk about, if you want to talk about statistics, if you want to talk about trig or whatever, remember when we finally got a problem that was like, not solvable. I think it also happened in algebra too. We got a problem that wasn't solvable, was the answer. It wasn't solvable. Guess what people finding out that anthony edwards is is hard to solve.

He's taking out names again, like he's on a revenge tour from the future lebron lu, luka Steph, jimmy, dre Not when they were past their prime. Well, we can talk about Luka, I mean not Luka. We can talk about LeBron, but LeBron scoring 25 every game. So I don't know he got like extended prime Every game. So I don't know he got like extended prime In every series. The Timberwolves look less Like a, you know, like you can sit here and talk about they were a lower seed All you want. There was like one game separating Like the third seed From the seventh seed. You know these teams won close to 50 games or 50 games or whatever the case may be. These are good teams and with every series they look more and more confident.

Okc is perfect on paper, but Ant is just one of those forces of nature that writes his own script. This is what happens when the best system meets the loudest story. Let's get into the timberwolves for a second. This isn't A Cinderella run. Remember, anthony Edwards Was staring down Luka In a Western Conference Finals last year, right, and then Luka went to the finals. It's the same thing.

The first victim was the Los Angeles Lakers. You went, I went into it thinking, well, anthony, maybe is he ready, he's 23. We're asking a lot of a 23-year-old. Oh no, anthony Edwards was definitely up for that test. A team with LeBron James and Luka Doncic, you know, and one of the boldest mid-season acquisitions that we've ever seen. The wildest trade deadline coup in league history. It didn't matter. Two of the smartest basketball minds ever assembled in the same film room and Ant walked in like cool story, now watch me cook you. Cool story, bro, nice, nice, uh, nice, uh. Challenge old man, but I'm still gonna hit this 27 footer right in your face and then I'm gonna laugh at you. Lebron at 40 is still a playoff orchestrator. Luca, who obviously has come over and has joined the lake show. It's still lethal in ball screens and deep reads, but without a big, without a log threat that could really challenge the Timberwolves.

This was ABC. This was always going to be closing and those doors closed pretty easily. Instead, they broke the Lakers. Edwards made them look slow. He turned defense defensive coverages into opportunities. He matched lucas usage with smarter cuts. He beat lebron with physicality and energy. We will be talking about the others down the road, but we got to give our love to ant edwards right now and the wolves closed out this series. There was no celebration at all. There was no like. We in the locker room. We feel good. We're like, we're so happy to get to the next round. Now on to the next one. This was very bella, check-in in the way that aunt in the in the minnesota timberwolves moved after that series, walking back to the tunnel like man checking off, checking off a name. Boom, we out next up golden state. Let's see what's up. And this time the names were even heavier steph curry changed the game. Greatest shooter of all time.

Jimmy butler, self-made superstar also, he has been kind of like the boogeyman of the east for literally about five years now, pretty much since the 2020 started. He was a deadline mercenary move. They picked him up. A lot of people didn't know if it was going to work out because of kind of how he ended everything in miami. But jimmy butler was a revelation in the bay and they are happy to have him.

The warriors tried to reboot one more time and ant kicked, kicked in their operating system. And now let's not duck the context steph was injured 13 minutes into game. One that matters, okay, that matters. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you the ant ripped through a whole, a complete golden state warriors team, because that would be fraudulent of me, to your disservice as the listener of this podcast, and we appreciate you so dearly. Jimmy disappeared, dre got exposed and Edwards he leveled up, not with volume but with vision In game 5.

22 points, fine, but 12 assists. He bent the game without needing to dominate it. He hit 5 threes, dropped dimes on the move, he blocked 3 shots just to flex his 2-way credentials. Like yo, I do this on both ends, so you know I get into all the vip parties. I'm kind of a big deal. Let's be honest.

Nobody believed in minnesota back in january nobody. I'm sure the hell didn't. They were 22 and 21. I repeat, in january. The minnesota timberwolves were 22 and 21. Randall looked like a square, peg connelly was too old, devon chenzo was hurt and we kept on talking about man this, carl anthony towns trade does not go well. This looks like a gamble from the front office on life support.

But anthony edwards has something in his tool kit that we didn't know about or we were starting to know about. Let me take that back. We were starting to know about it because we have like two, almost three months of of evidence. We noticed that anthony edwards was taking a lot more threes and we were worried because we were worried about oh, is he being less aggressive now? What? What is this? No, no, no, no. He turned the three-point shot into a freaking weapon. Do you know that he led all of the nba in total three-pointers made anthony edwards, 23 year old? Anthony edwards, not steph curry. Who else is another guy who shoots a lot of threes? Not Jason Tatum. You know what I'm saying? Tyler Herro shoots a lot of threes, not him. No, no, no. Who's some of them itty bitty guys that shoot a lot of threes that I'm not remembering? Oh, jordan Poole shoots a lot of threes Nope, not him. Mm-mm. Zach Levine no, no, no, it was Anthony Edwards. Anthony Edwards led the NBA in three-point shooting.

I want to talk about how we always talk about development. We talk about how, you know people develop and you know we're always concerned with, like the guys, guys who are the rookies, and then you get through their first year, they get into the second year and then they get into the third year and then we kind of we kind of lose the development aspect of what goes on. But again, the great ones, they see something in their game and they go. You know what? I would like to fix that? I would like to be better at this, but when they get better at something it's such an impactful uh, part of their arsenal, then this segment isn't about trade grades or cap sheets. It's about what happens when A athlete Just gets tired and says I got to work harder. You understand that.

Anthony Edwards went to the Paris Olympic Games. He looked at Kevin Durant, he looked at LeBron James and he looked at Steph Curry and said these guys are great. What do they have that I don't have? What's the secret to their success? He looks like I got to go to work. These guys are working harder than I am. I cannot, I can't have this. This will not stand. He got defiant.

Then the Wolves made the trade. They turned Julius Randle Into a playoff menace. We'll talk about him a little bit later. Mike Conley didn't seem so old and jayden mcdaniels he was turned into a soul thief on defense. And then there's anthony edwards, who is just the complete belief system. So, yeah, the lakers are gone. Yeah, the warriors are gone, and espn and adam silver are probably really pissed off about that. I don't care, I'm a laker fan and I don't care. Anthony edwards is legit and if he's gonna rip through people like the hulk, beating up Loki yo and telling him that he is a puny god, basically I got no problem with this. Now let's talk about SGA and Ant, and then we'll get to the rest of the squads. Okay, I understand that you guys want to get to that, but we got to talk about the big time stars, right? This is Bradad pitt and george clooney together. This is um chris evans and like tom cruise doing something. What's the new cat? I know I'm gonna miss one. Uh oh hey, chris pratt is part of that situation. Benedict Cumberbatch is part of that situation. We talking about stars, baby Leo DiCaprio level Shay doesn't just manipulate games, he dictates time itself.

He doesn't force anything, he lulls, he paces, he processes. His drives aren't violent, they're surgical. Shea leads all remaining playoff guards in paint touches. He's converting floaters at a higher clip than anyone with a 25 usage rate, and he does it with an economy of movement that feels inevitable. It's like watching a great editor at work cut here, pause there, fake here. Suddenly your health defender is a frame too late. Those who edit know the real ones know I do my editing. I'm trying to tell you I'm a jack of all trades. Around here, the thunder are an orchestra and shea. And Shea is the conductor. He plays the same speed when he's up 12 or down 6. And now he's walking into the emotional matchup of his career Again against a man who brings an earthquake every time. He smiles, and that would be one Anthony Edwards.

Ant isn't a player, he's a feeling. The kid plays like the playoff gods owe him something. He talks all. He talks a lot of trash and he's already seen the last episode. He moves like gravity doesn't apply to him when he's downhill. This kid is bouncy. Shout out to our guy javon evans, of nxt wwe fame, when he says that boy is bouncy. We can also apply that to one, anthony Edwards, as well. You know what I'm saying? That boy is bouncy. Just like Javon Evans Shouts out to our guy I love wrestling. Wrestling is cool.

He just needed LeBron Lucas, steph Jimmy and Dre. He just ended them, not through attrition but through brute force. He averaged 27 a game, 56% true shooting percentage. He's doing it while defending the best perimeter scorer every night. By the way, he challenged lebron james in that first round. He was like I will, oh you want to go off. We're gonna cut your water off right now. Home boy. He gets 39 on self-created threes, top five drag screen scoring and when it's late he's hunting. This isn't a star playing well, this is a mythology building being written In real time. Because here's the thing, if Ant gets past SGA and he gets to the finals, this is one of the most impressive runs we've ever seen.

And we're going to start saying the name that we started to invoke last year again because and here's the thing we are creatures of habit and we we want to assimilate things right. So when we see something, we go that's that, that's that, that's that right. The name that you heard last year and it was early, it was too early was michael jordan. Now, I don't throw in that, I don't throw around that name lightly, and I'm not saying that Anthony Edwards is anything Like Michael Jordan, because, let's be honest, anthony Edwards is 23. With a beautiful jump shot, jordan did not have a beautiful jump shot at 23. Oh no, that came at 27. Think about that. We're talking about an all-time great right. Like LeBron and and Jordan are battling for the GOAT debate at this point, anthony Edwards is 23. He's just as bouncy as Michael Jordan, but his, his outside shot, is way more weaponized than Jordan could ever realize until basically his literally last year of being 20.

This isn't a star playing well. This is a tactical fork in the road for the OKC Thunder. For OK to win, shay needs to slow the game. Do not allow Anthony Edwards to feel comfortable. Get Minnesota rotating force go bear and read into decisions, not reactions. If he's playing, pick your poison On delay screens and pocket passes. Yes, sir, okc's model holds. For Minnesota to win, they gotta muck it up.

No-transcript, this idea home. Watch Shea Gildress, alexander, turn down the vault. Listen, I love Mike Breen, I love whoever is it who is doing it this year? It's ESPN, right. So, mike Breen, I love Mike Breen. He's a, he's a great, great commentator.

But turn down the volume and then put on either some classical music, put on some jazz, some, like you know, some jazz fusion, maybe, if you, if you feel a little tropical, put on some calypso, or put on some, um, some uh, afrocentric, uh, beats. You know what I'm saying. And then watch shea gilgis alexander move. He moves differently.

Um, and what I want to bring up now, my wrestling fans will know this there is a uh, there's a tag team that just got called up from NXT and it's uh, nathan Frazier and Axiom. They called them Fraxium. Now, uh, axiom is actually a kid. Now, if you know the Indies, like I know the Indies a kid is. You know he's dope, he's dope. But Axiom and Nathan Frazier have been brought up to the SmackDown audience.

But if you look at them when they come out they do some sort of like slow motion thing but kind of speed them up where it looks like they're blurring that movement, that flow movement is kind of what shea does and I'm so, I'm so, so sorry that it's a roundabout way to get there. So I wish I was a little more efficient with my words, but I had to explain it that way because I was trying to play it out in my dome piece to give it to you. So if you've ever seen like either, like like reeds flowing in the wind, just you know, gliding in the wind or whatever, but they feel like they're in control of what's going on. That's what Shea, gildress, alexander look like. Now here's stats for you.

Shea is shooting 71 at the rim in the postseason. I'm gonna say that again. And actually, before I say that again, shout out to uh, I won't, you know, I can't give them the love, can't give them love. You know who. You know who this is. You see the cup. If you see the cup, you know what this is is you see the cup? If you see the cup, you know what this is. Coffee is amazing and I love it so much.

Now, shea gilchrist alexander again shooting 71 at the rim in the postseason. That's stupid, that is absolutely obscene and it's actually probably very unmoral for what is happening in the NBA right now. And Edwards has generated more gravity assists, passes after drawing two defenders than anyone but Jalen Brunson in the playoffs. One, one star punishes bad angles, the other creates them with a look and a jab. Step Now, because of what really is not just who gets to the finals, but we, who comes the next face of the league's next era. Now, I have long said that victor, win by yama of the san antonio spurs is next. But these two, these two, these two guys Shea Gilgis Alexander and Anthony Edwards have a chance to rewrite history. They can rewrite the history books right now Because, as we have plainly laid out, oklahoma City, their cupboards are far from there.

This isn't one of those things where, like bill simmons was talking about the celtics over the weekend or, yeah, over the weekend he was talking about how they have to kind of tear it down. You know, because of the tatum injury, because of what has gone on. They have to tear it down. They're not. It's not economically feasible for them to keep everybody. They're already up in the second apron. They need to go ahead and start paring down payroll because they're not going to be able to compete this year, coming up due to the ruptured achilles of jason tatum. Oklahoma city does not have that damn problem. You know why? Because they still are sitting on 13 first round future picks. Also, they are sitting on another 26 second round picks, bro. These dudes got 39 picks in the next six years. Still, still, sam Cresty.

We are not worthy, my guy. We are not worthy of you, and I don't know what they're paying you in Oklahoma City. But this show is not enough and I'm going to cape up for Sam Cresty right now. I'm not your agent, my guy, but I would like to be. And if I can't be your agent, at least let me be your hype man for a second. Okay, and oklahoma city thunder fans. I told you this is a celebration of your team. I have been one of the biggest supporters of your squad since last year. I was the one telling you hey, you have a big three, don't worry, you're good.

Chet hungren is a guy. Jalen williams is a guy, by the way. Way, we even said that our guy, cason Wallace Is a dude and, by the way, has he shown up during the playoffs? He's 20 years old, by the way. He's 20. 20. Doing his thing, sam Cresty Finds him, he Identifies, finds him and and go gets them. That's what he does now.

Are there going to be some stinkers in that bunch? 100%, because the draft is a process of human beings. Human beings are flawed. We might have the best intentions, we might feel like we have a lot of intel on this person, but you know what we don't have, what we cannot calculate, what we cannot analyze. Yet we can't analyze want, we can't analyze the habits and we can't analyze. To really be great, you have to be born. I think a lot of people need to start really understanding this. Yes, jordan was brilliant and whatever, but I'm gonna tell you what he did during the day probably wasn't too glamorous. Kobe Bryant RIP our guy Laker, legend His habits as far as what he was doing to get these results.

I'm sure to the layman out there, absolutely boring, like why do I? This is tedious, I have to do all this to be great. Can I just go out and just dunk on somebody and then you know, fame hits me. Yeah, that's famous. We're talking about great and Sam Presti is great. He, sam Presti Is great, he is great at what he does, he's constructed this team and he told you, he told you last playoffs, when everybody, when Ron, was burning down, he was like we were going into this playoffs, we were going to assess what we needed and playoff run was going to give us a lot of information and then we will make the necessary moves. Afterwards. Boom, he goes out last offseason and goes, gets alex caruso, gave up Giddey and not a first round pick in a in a group. This dude got Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey, that's it. Then he got Isaiah Hartenstein free agent signing and he just kept drafting, kept drafting, continues to draft and this team is really, really good.

We love Oklahoma City. We love how they've been built, we love just the philosophy of it. Shots out to Mark Dagnall and his coaching and what he's been able to do. We love all of what goes on in Oklahoma City. If this comes down to tempo, the series. If it comes down to tempo spacing and control, okc wins Behind Shea Gilgis, alexander's Orchestration, but If Ant draws doubles, which he will by the second quarter, if McDaniels can stall Jalen and also if he can stop a little bit of the big situation as well, like the Chet Hungren situation. Now, randall will also be tag team on chat, so we will see how that works out. We will then get a answer to this question. Can there be somebody else? But remember, when we're talking about the face of the league, it's just like how highlander there can only be one.

So let's get into the matchups, the metrics, metrics and the mayhem of the Western Conference Finals. And, by the way, just so you know, what we're going to do is we're going to have two parts. We're going to have an Eastern Conference Final preview as well. We're going to break it up into two parts, but we're just going to. You know there's going to be some magic that happens in a second. Okay, so Tempo Tug of War. Going to be some magic that happens in a second. Okay so tempo, tug of war.

Sga right now he's striving in control aggression, number one in the playoffs. In defensive rating 107.5. Top five in nearly in early offense points. Sga 29.8% assist percentage. But does it all under 100 box plus minus? What makes them. Terrifying is they don't need to run, they can walk you to the gallows, then score before you realize the floor has shrank. Minnesota is the opposite script, 24th in tempo. But when Ant hits the gas it's warp speed and it's just obliteration for the other team. Other team they're eighth in the playoff playoff offensive rating because they're they're a strike early, especially off rebounds and broken coverages. Ant leads all remaining playoff players in points scored within nine seconds of the shot.

Clock reset translation. He sees space and then he takes your soul and then you're probably a poster or there's some sort of ig shot of him, like raising up on you on like a 26 foot three point jump shot and then basically saying, man, you ain't got no shot against me tonight, but good luck. Mark dagnall doesn't just coach coverages, he disguises them. Expect this is what you should expect from the oklahoma city thunder. So this is what I will be watching for and hopefully this is what you will be watching for.

Veer switching in drag action, sga hands. Veer switching in drag action, sga hands, hands. And off to jaylen williams mid drive. See how um aggressive their top locking is off, staggered sets forces naz or mcdaniels into back cuts they don't want. And then the high drop into contains check bluffs at the level, then recovers late with verticality. These are all things that were seen on the tape in game six versus denver. Okc pre-rotates from the strong side twice in one possession, then funnels the drive baseline into Caruso Chet Wall. It's not just athleticism again, it's orchestration. We will continue to bring up and beat that into the ground.

Now what does Minnesota do? Well, chris Finch is a very smart coach and he ain't scripting movement. He's manufacturing two-on-ones baby Watch for a double-drag action. Randall pops, rudy rolls, eagles check has to pick a poison. Good luck, chet. Empty corner delays noggs ghost catches chet in rotation delay. We'll see. Chet is long and he is fluid in motion. Horn twist looks.

This is the conley randall um combination that I'm talking about here. So they like to use this where conley randall um combination that I'm talking about here. So they like to use this where conley um can get the ball, then kind of go off like a horn set unit. Randall's usually involved with the initiation and sneaks into the second side slot and then boom, we got. We got lanes, we got people going downhill and now you're in the blender. When Minnesota uses delay sets with Reed as an initiator. They score 1.22 points per possession. That's better than the Warriors peak motion sets in 2017. Why do I say it that way? What do we think of the 2017 Warriors? Exactly, my point, exactly.

This is from Soraya OKC is closing five SGA Jalen, caruso, chet, hartenstein. Net rating check this out. Positive 18.4. That's crazy. Defensive rating 97.3. They shutting the water off on people and they can switch one through four and contain with double rim deterrence because you got chet and hartenstein in that also. By the way, caruso, sick, sick post-ups holding yokage was that ridiculous? Was that crazy for you to watch that? Yokage is literally 80 pounds heavier than alex caruso and a Alex Caruso in the playoffs is literally standing. Jokic up now listen, who didn't happen the whole entire time? Because Jokic is great, but somebody six foot four battling against somebody seven feet and having a success is ridiculous.

Now, minnesota, on the other hand, aunt Colleen McDaniels, randall Nas now keep in mind, I want to read that again aunt Edwards, mike Connelly, jaden McDaniels, julius Randles and Nas Reed. They have a positive net rating of 15.7. Without Gobert, equals full spacing. Reed plays the flop. The Reed plays as a floating five, dragging Chet into hell.

This is the pressure point that we've been talking about. Pick a poison, naz cooks and delay actions. Okc has to bring help. Re-turns, those swings into drive and pop rotation that cracks the shell. These are the things that we're looking for in game one. In game two, we want to see what it looks like when these two teams are bringing their best actions against one another, and how does either one of them defend it. But look for this tonight, look for it.

Adjustment watch list that I'm paying close attention to is this Will Chris Finch trap SGA at the level and Forrest Reeds from Chet? Will we make chet a decider? Will okc invert ball screens and pull randall into perimeter defense? Ha ha ha, you hope so. You hope so. Will we see a zone? Look from minnesota, because I'm gonna tell you right now, okc did not look comfortable through the uh denver zone. Okay, also, it slows okc's flow and then ant gets to rest. Hint, yes, 2-3 zone is coming, stunting to the corners For sure.

This series won't be won by stars alone. I told you we were getting to that. It's going to be six mini stretches where lineups shrink, matchups flip and rotations have to survive without help. Ok's system is immaculate, but Minnesota's found something dirtier and maybe even scarier. Stats say one thing the film it says this might be closer than what anybody is ready for.

We had a couple of questions come in and again I want to shout out people who actually have listened to the podcast and have decided to send us questions. We will go ahead and give you that email again. You go to frontrunnerpc at gmailcom and you send me an email and guess what? If it's a good question, it's going to get read on the air.

My guy NBA prophet Hit me up. You know what I'm saying. He hails From the great state, the great state Again Of Minnesota. He said Wolves Got the best wing defender and they got the best. Again of minnesota, he said wolves got the best wing defender and they got the best chaos engine left in the playoff. Stop talking about seeds. They're him coded.

Yo, that's that's. That's deep. I like this. Let's talk about this real quick. Um, I am big on jay mcdaniels. I I, I love him.

I think he is spectacular when he is able to activate his offense, his defense is really, really good. He fouls a little bit too much sometimes for me, but it's not like fouls, it's not like cat fouls a little bit too much sometimes for me, but it's not like fouls, it's not like cat fouls, it's more like he's super aggressive and sometimes the way the referees will call his game will dictate how aggressive Minnesota can be with their extended defense. So I'm with you on their wings. I'm with you on their wings. I'm with you on the defense. Also, we got to give a shout out to Julius Randle For giving a shit on defense in the playoffs and you can sit there and say, well, shouldn't he give a shit on defense In the playoffs?

These dudes make a lot of money, bro, and the one thing they don't like doing is getting embarrassed. And I don't care where we are in the year. We can be in literally the the final days. Literally the four horsemen could have come, the horns could have sounded. You know I'm saying like the apocalypse is, is is on. And if julius randall don't want to make a rotation because he feels like he is not gonna have the right angle and he doesn't want to get dunked on or look stupid, a lot of dudes give up in that situation. But we ain't seeing it right now. There's a lot, lot of effort being laid out right now.

This has come from my guy Trade Machine Fan. Sga's got Gobert in hell by game two. That drop coverage don't move me, ha ha. Spoken like someone who never rotated off chat pick and and flowing over verticality. Gobert is gonna need help, but that man still is a wall with elbows. That's why my girl, saraya she had that because she loved this question, because she was like this dude in oklahoma city is telling us that goberic's trash and she did not like that. She didn't. And here's the thing. Here's the thing that we need to talk about with Soraya. There's some French Canadian in her. Yeah, yeah, yes, sir, not saying that rudy is her favorite player, I'm just saying I've seen a canadian's jersey, I've seen a canadian's jersey and I wonder if there is a little, a little nod, a little lean to our, to our friends who brought us the Lady Liberty that sits at Ellis Island. You know what I'm saying? The Statue of Liberty. Viva la France, viva la Revolution, viva la. The people have spoken.

Cat Life. Can we admit that trading cat was actually a goat level vision? Randall about to average 25, 7, and 5. And still be mad about something? Now, I don't know about the goat level vision. That's crazy. But we're not calling it wrong.

Randall's playoff play and his aggression has found a use. Clearing out Draymond, switching onto wings and keeping ant clean late is being monumental his play. We have been waiting for the pouting julius randall. This is what we have seen over his tenure in the nba. When we got to the postseason, nuh-uh, not this year. Not gonna happen, not gonna happen. Haha.

Chill with stats. I love this one. Y'all stat nerds picking OKC by net rating, like Ant ain't knocking off half the Team USA alumni list. Good call, good call. I love this. Tell them net rating. Don't block shots or hit pull-ups off drags. You know, off of spain. Pick and rolls. You know what I'm saying? The thunder are a system and is a system breaker is a system breaker. You know what I'm saying? That's Soraya, see Ant's at that one. Sga is nice.

When Ant is playing like the NBA is a Netflix doc about him. Dude got the last dance edit mid-series. This might be the truest thing I've ever heard from somebody. Ant is kind of touching some Jordan stuff for me. You know he's writing mythology with a side of memes. I'm trying to tell you Alright, we loved All Of the numbers. We love All of the numbers, we love all of the structure. But playoff basketball it's personal and y'all clearly came with receipts, delusion and occasional w takes. Keep them coming. I'm telling you right now hit us up on x. It's at front runner pc. It's also the serea. Our producer is at rea.

Underscore fudge frpc. If you got something that you want and it's good enough, it will make the pod just like this. We got emails, we got things that came to us and it comes in just like this. It's pretty organic. We love to banter back and forth with our audience. I appreciate this because this is really our first like level of like people like checking in on us and we get to respond to the people. So shots out to all people who brought questions. Keep them coming. If they're good, you know they gonna hit the air and you're gonna get love and we're gonna say yo shots out to you, my guy or my girl. So again, go to the email frontrunnerpc at gmailcom or on twitter, right either way, and let us know and then we will go ahead. And if it's good, we got a friday pod right.

Something will make the friday pod guaranteed role player roulette. I love this. Sereo put this in for us. Superstars set the tone, but it's the side pieces that swing the game. Let's play role player roulette and to on today. Our today's contestant is none other than nas reed. Not the rapper, not the vibe, the bucket getting footwork sorcerer big off the bench, who's low-key torching playoff rotations?

yes, sir, 46.7 from three in the post season, I will say that again, 46.7 percent from three point land. He's also a plus 3.5 offensive box plus minus. That's stellar. Best wolves delay action initiator by a mile in minnesota's lineups with reed plus randall again 15.7 net rating outstanding. This is truly the dude if we are talking about bench dudes getting it in. This is the dude that we are looking at for the minnesota timberwolves, make no mistake about it. Here's the other thing. He's not just a shooter, he's a matchup problem. You can't drop against him, he'll fire from 25 feet. You can't blitz him. He, he'll fire from 25 feet, you can't blitz him. He slips into an open pocket like a ghost and if you switch Smalls he'll just Jab Step you into oblivion Off a ghost screen. Nas hits a hesitation Step Back 3, while Chet stuck deciding between helping on Ant and contesting. Welcome to the stretch five chess match. Oklahoma City definitely gets its equal time, but we can settle on one with Oklahoma City. No, no, they got dudes.

We talked about Caruso and his brilliance with his defense. Mark Dagnall's perimeter nightmare Dude, oh Caruso. 3.7 steals per 100 possessions, 42% from deep. Yes, sir, he's knocking down the trade bucket at a nice little sturdy level of 42%. By the way, alex Caruso had a box plus or minus. He had a box plus or minus. The other game it was like positive 38. His defensive box plus or minus. He had a box plus or minus. The other game it was like positive 38. His defensive box plus or minus.

For the playoffs, by the way, a ridiculous 5.8. He is plus, 5.8. Defensive box plus or minus. This is Like Early Days, alonzo Mourney right, this is Ben Wallace. Okay, like we talking about, like if they had defensive box plus minus when Bill Russell was playing and I know for the youngins out there, oh, he played against milkman and like accountants and like insurance brokers and da, da, da da. Listen, that dude was long in whatever case may be, but let's go into like, let's go into modern day, okay, let's just go into modern day.

But a positive 5.8 defensive box plus minus is absolutely shit, bad shit, crazy. Okay, that is dumb. There's nothing about that that you can sit there and go. Well, this is clearly some sort of made up stat. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, this dude is getting in. If you saw what he did against yogich in that game seven, that shit was criminal. And now we got this dude, this maniac running against minnesota in the western conference finals. But my guy, ac fresh, is not alone, because I told you that case and wallace, 21 years and already defends like a secret service agent on expresso three shots of expresso, mind you, combined with a net rating in the playoff lineups of a positive 11.6. So anytime that Alex Caruso and Kaysan Wallace are on the court together, they are a positive 11.6.

And we wonder why OKC won 68 games this year. We wonder they guard like their housing depends on it. Caruso stunts, rotates, tags low and still contests high corners. Wallace is everywhere. He's chasing over screens contesting on on pull-ups, bodying up in isos. You want to, you want to, uh, stat, you want something to kind of like keep your lookout for, like to see how this series might end up. When naz reves scores 10 plus points off the bench, the Wolves are 71.

In the postseason I will read that for you again when Nas Reeves scores more than 10 points off the bench, the Wolves are damn near unbeatable they are 71. Kicking everybody's ass, okay, and not 71. Kicking everybody's ass, okay, and not caring. Now, caruso plus Wallace, both Post defensive rating under 103. Okay, see, undefeated, undefeated. So I will say that again when Caruso and Wallaceace both defensive rating under 103, okay, see, undefeated. This ain't filler. This is matchup math. And now we get to what everybody came for how this shit gonna play out. You came for like predictions right, that's what you came for. I got those for you, don't worry, we set the stage and now we bring it home, because that's what we do here at front runner podcast collective naz read. He's gonna bring the chaos in the paint with range. Caruso and Wallace Will bring structure to the perimeter With violence. Trust me, if OKC contains Nas Reed, without scrambling, the machine keeps humming. But if Nas Reed Get clean looks In that second unit, it could crack the Thunder's help timing and the series. So Minnesota Timberwolves win If. Shots out To my incredible staff that put this together, shots out to Vance. I want to shout out my guy Cole, new, not new to me, new to y'all, new to y'all. I told you I got a team. It's coming.

Anthony Edwards has been a revelation in the postseason, averaging 26.5 points a game, 8 rebounds and 6 assists per game. His ability to take over games, especially in clutch moments, has been pivotal to the team's success and he maintains this level. The Wolves have a strong chance of winning Julius Randle If he's been instrumental, instrumental, in his playoff run. The much maligned power forward is averaging nearly 24 points per game in the playoffs. He's scoring frequently, but it's the physicality that can challenge OKC's front court, his bully ball, especially If he can draw fouls and get to the line. They're going to have an issue in OKC.

And then we talked about Najri. We talked about how good he is. He's going to have to bring the heat, the energy. What have you Now? Their defense, the minnesota timberwolves defense, needs to disrupt okc's offense. How does that work? Well, we're talking about one of the greatest defensive centers that this league has ever seen, in rudy gobert. We also talk about taking him out and then having just a lineup that's absolutely switchable at all levels If you have a determined Julius Randle, nas Reed, who is very light on his feet.

And then again, I cannot express enough how much I love McDaniels. I love McDaniels a lot because of the fact that this guy does not care about who he is guarding. He doesn't care about your credentials. He don't care about your, your impact or your impressions on social media. He don't care about when you go live, that you get over. You know 35 000 on your lives or whatever the hell. He don't care about that. You know what he care about stops getting rebounds, being physical and basically just shutting you down. So if they get the, if they get the locked in jayden mcdaniels, they get what we've been seeing from julius randall, naz reed. If he, like we said, if he scores more than 10 points, it's a wrap. They usually win. And anthony edwards is a superhero. Well, vince, that's nice.

What about oklahoma city? You've been telling us all year about the historic net rating. You've been telling us all year that this is a great team and that they are going to bring the ruckus when it comes to the playoffs. That's what you have been saying to us the whole year. It doesn't stop. Now we got reasons why Oklahoma City, if they win right, we got. We got that. Shea Gilgis, alexander, obviously, if he continues his MVP level play, sga has been outstanding, averaging 29 points, a little bit below his season average, but that's still phenomenal 6.4 assists and damn near 6 rebounds a game in the playoffs. His efficiency and leadership are crucial to okc's success.

Now what is really going to give okc a lot of success is their defense. Their defense is elite. Okay, this is the best defense, the scariest defense that we have seen in in a while. This defense. Now a lot of people want to talk about Detroit 2004, and that was a great defense. Do not get me wrong, that was a great defense. Do not get me wrong, that was a great defense. But I want to take you a little bit further back. Okay, I want to take you just a little bit further back and we're going to talk about 1996. And the reason why we want to talk about 1996. Is that Somebody who has a silhouette of his legs spread out dunking a basketball is coming to nbc in the fall.

Michael jeffrey, jordan, that team, the, the, just how pippen and jordan wouldn't let people get across half court. You had to be there to see it. It was two, six foot seven, six foot six dudes just saying hey, bro, you about to really be embarrassed Because we are going to go through a four minute stretch where we don't let you pass out court. We're going to take your cookies and we're going to dunk them in some milk and we're going to eat them right in front of your face and if you call your mama, we're going to slap the shit out of you. Call your mama, please, please call your mama. Please call your mama, because we love violence, trust and believe.

Now, why do I talk about that in such a romantic form? Guess what? What do I see from okc? Okc boasts the best defensive rating in the playoff 101.6. Their ability to force turnovers bulls like turnovers and convert them into points, as seen in game seven. Win over denver when they forced 23 turnovers 23. Okay. This is nic. This is Nikola Jokic. We talk about Nikola Jokic as he will get us a bucket Any damn time he wants. This is the greatest basketball player Right now Walking God's green earth. And they made him look mortal. They made him look human. You know how rare it is To make a god Look human. We talk about it In these movies, right, we talk about it. Well, okay, so you did it, they did it.

That dude went home and he gonna be playing with his horses and he is not playing in a Western Conference Finals because of their defense. We also saw Jalen Williams, who had a horrendous game 6, like the type of game 6 that would make you basically turtle and probably not show up for game 7. Right, jalen Williams came out and absolutely dominated in game 7. This dude said no, this will not be my story, and shout out to him because we love jalen williams, we love j dubb, we loved. We called chet and jalen williams part of a big three with shea gildas, alexander last year, 24 points in game 7. Now I want to tell you something. This man went 3 of 16 in game 6. He was the reason they lost, the reason. He said it himself. Showing his grit against Denver Was the literal key for them winning that game.

Now, does home court play an advantage or play a role in this series? As the top seed, oklahoma City has home court advantage. We all know that, their fans and their familiarity with their arena. But their fans, oklahoma City Thunder fans, thunder the fuck up. It's going to be loud, it's going to be raucous and people have been saying and we will get to the Eastern Conference finals preview momentarily or in the second, in the second, uh, we're gonna have a second um part to this. It's going to be part one, western conference, part two eastern conference, all dropped in one day. Magical podcasting is great, but paycom center has been like lit. It's been stupid. It's so loud like you can't hear yourself. Think in that place, and these fans are going to be rabid because they are close. They are close to the goal, baby, and we can't wait to see it. We can't wait to see the energy.

And for the okc thunder, who have been waiting for this for a while now, ever since the days of Russell Westbrook, kevin Durant and James Harden were roaming the court for the OKC Thunder, their time is now. The door has been cracked open and while okc enters as the favorite with a 63.2 percent in our model's probability, the timberwolves momentum and the star power make this a series that is highly competitive, because the brilliance of Anthony Edwards Continues his stellar play and I do not think he will be deterred by the Oklahoma City Thunder. But you want? You want a prediction. The Thunder Take this series in seven. I believe I called it a big three last year.

Shea Gildress, alexander has made the step. He's a modern day. I'm going to get a lot of shit for this. I don't care. I don't care what anybody says about me. I want to give this a little gravity right now. So just bear with me. Lay the cut real quick, okay, like I said. Okay, see, it's gonna win this in seven games. This is gonna be a highly competitive series but sga is going to give us. It won't be Steph, it won't be Steph Like you know what we know of Steph but it will give us that same type of feeling that Steph gave us. Because, remember, for us basketball sickos, we've been watching Shea Gildress Alexander Eurostep balletically for years, but the casuals haven't. They have not seen it, they have not experienced it. Welcome to the most beautiful brand of basketball that you have ever seen. Welcome to the most body controlled athlete that we have seen in probably 20 years.

Shea Gildress Alexander is the NBA's MVP and he will be OKC's MVP and he will lead them to a 7 game victory Over a very, very game, a very battle tested Minnesota Timberwolves team. So this is no disrespect to the Timberwolves team, so this is no disrespect to the Timberwolves At all. Baby, unfortunately, they got a bazooka and you just got a rifle. They got a lot. They got a armada OKC has a fucking armada and you got Two submarines. Homie know, I'm saying like we talking about big difference here. They are gonna come at you at waves. This is where we finally get to the point where depth matters in the nba and the okC Thunder have a lot of it. Shout out to Sam Presti again. Now, that will end the Western Conference Finals preview.

I'd like to thank Soraya. I would like to thank the FRPC crew for all of what they do and the numbers and what put this together. Okay, there is a part two coming. We got to do the east, we got to do the knicks and pacers, and we got to have the same damn energy for that that we did for the western conference finals preview. So, again, I'd like to thank my crew, serea, my producer, who was, who came in with notes, also helped us with stats. I'd like to thank the rest of the crew. Man, we cannot do this without the audience, though, so I hope you like this, be a friend and tell a friend about the podcast.

Okay, and now the best part of you is you Surround yourself with people who are going to support you, who are going to lift you up in times of need, who are going to carry you when you can't walk Right. You know what I'm talking about the real ones that are in your life. Now, if you got real ones in your life, if you got real G's in your life, you got to appreciate those people. You will tell them how much you appreciate them, show them too, like take them somewhere, do something with them, hug them, send them a text, facetime them if they like that. But if you're building something like that and you're spotting the people who are, who are exhibiting these behaviors, and then you're like spotlighting and showcasing it, that means you're a well-adjusted individual.

And if you're building a squad, I just want you to know there's always a seat for you here at front runner podcast collective, because when you are doing it and you are doing it with people who really support you and love you and you do it back to them, it just makes a whole hell of a world of difference and I hope that your crew brings as much energy as we did here for you today. So, without further ado, we gonna get up out of here. We have a part two that literally I'm about to record right now. But y'all be easy and we will see y'all ass down the road. Deuces.