are seeing in Phoenix is far different than what he was running in Philadelphia.

But what you will see in this playoff series is the attempt at exploitation of Rudy Gobert. Rudy doesn't like to move his feet and prefers drop coverage on pick and rolls. He is certainly not the worst, big perimeter defender in the league but it isn't his strength and it takes him away from the basket which is his strength.

So KY will devise a plan to run him off the pick and roll with Booker and Durant and if he doesn't come out they will kill Minnesota with 15 footers. While those are not the most efficient shots, when you have Booker and Durant shooting them they are high quality shots, especially in a playoff game.

So Minnesota's counter (assuming those guys are hitting shots) is to either blitz or switch. Switching Gobert on to Booker or Durant does not seem like it will work, but perhaps Gobert rises to the challenge and plays enough good defense on those guys to make it work. If they blitz the ball then the play will be to space the floor and get the open shot, preferably a 3-pointer by Allen, Booker, Durant, or Beal or a layup by Nurkic. Essentially that opens it up to 4 on 3 basketball for a moment (help will be running back as soon as the ball is tossed).

Certainly Phoenix will have other options as well searching out mismatches against Conley (who is an OK defender, but short and lacking the footspeed he once had) and McLaughlin. Also against whomever KAT starts out against (it will be interesting to see who that is, I don't think he can stay with Durant who would be the most logical).

Phoenix will also want to get out in transition whenever possible so that Minnesota can't set their league leading defense. Phoenix is a tougher matchup for Minnesota than some. According to their GM, they are built to beat the Denver Nuggets. So they have elite defenders at the C, and guard positions (McDaniels, Nickeil-Alexander are both premier defenders against a guy like Murray with size and quickness). The problem is that the best scorers on Phoenix are their PF and SG. The T-Wolves don't really have a good PF defender. I am guessing McDaniels will start there? But then who does KAT guard? Allen? That is dangerous with Allen's range.


Anyway, probably not what you were hoping for. Mike described the offense in theory well. In practice with the stars they have getting mismatches will be the name of the game.