Latest news with #TheKevinO'ConnorShow
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Marcus Morris Slams The Timberwolves' Defense Against SGA
Marcus Morris Slams The Timberwolves' Defense Against SGA originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Any team would struggle to play against a star like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He rightfully earned the 2024-25 regular season MVP on the back of a 68-win season as the Oklahoma City Thunder's best player. Advertisement He has a unique style on offense with his excellent control of his pace, which is a problem for most defenders. The Minnesota Timberwolves tried multiple defenders on him, but they were unable to crack the code. Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images For most of the Western Conference Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander's primary matchups were his cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaden McDaniels, and Donte DiVincenzo. Sometimes, Anthony Edwards would defend him, but that was less often than expected. That was criticized by people like Marcus Morris, who wanted him to step up. Most of the time, Edwards had limited defensive responsibilities because he needed to spearhead the Timberwolves' offense. Advertisement Related: Chris Finch Reacts To Anthony Edwards Embracing All The Pressure As The Star Morris Disliked Alexander-Walker Defending Gilgeous-Alexander For Morris, he did not like the Timberwolves' defensive scheme of putting Alexander-Walker on the 2024-25 MVP. He felt Alexander-Walker did not have the same oomph as other defenders like Edwards and McDaniels. "Let me say this, his cousin guarding Shai might be the worst decision I've ever seen. Why would you put his cousin on him? That doesn't make sense to me because there's not gonna be any bad blood," Morris said on The Kevin O'Connor Show. McDaniels showed potential because, in Game 1, McDaniels held Gilgeous-Alexander to 2-of-13 shooting from the field in the first half. The MVP would bounce back and lead his team to the win, but McDaniels proved he could hang with OKC's superstar guard. Advertisement That did not remain consistent throughout the series because Gilgeous-Alexander kept facing different coverages. While it was difficult to score against them, he still found ways to get his rhythm. The Timberwolves Have More Room To Grow On Defense Despite being one of the league's best defensive teams, the Thunder were above the rest. Coach Chris Finch has the tools to be a top-tier defense, he needs to maximize everyone's talent. Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert make for a strong defensive foundation. At the same time, the rest of the team can improve, especially with Julius Randle and Mike Conley Jr. Advertisement Edwards, Alexander-Walker, and DiVincenzo are all solid defenders, but if they want to compete, they must be gritty like the Thunder. It will be a challenging level to reach, but the Timberwolves can do it. After two Western Conference Final exits, the Timberwolves know they are close to the top. They need to keep pushing and improving on aspects of their team that could be elevated. Related: Rudy Gobert Gets Honest About Playing Against "Relentless" OKC Thunder Defense This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Chris Paul reportedly to leave Spurs - should he retire?
Chris Paul reportedly to leave Spurs - should he retire? | The Kevin O'Connor Show Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by Andrew Sharp to discuss the 12-time All-Star's future in the league as he reportedly will not return to San Antonio next season. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript Chris Paul, according to Mark Stein on his sub stack, is not expected back with the San Antonio Spurs. Advertisement Do you have a favorite fit out there in the NBA for uh retirement home, Chris Paul? Um, retirement would be my favorite fit for Chris Paul. I don't know. Do you, where do you have, do you have any home for him, a retirement home? I mean, it depends Is Chris Paul willing to come off the bench? Probably not. He continued to want to start for the Spurs last year, even after the Fox acquisition, which made no sense for that roster construction, but that's what happened anyway. So this year I cannot imagine he would continue to start. Castle just won rookie of the Year. The Spurs at #2, unless they trade the pick are probably gonna take Dylan Harper out of Rutgers, another guard. Advertisement CP3 would be coming off the bench and probably not playing a lot. So with him, I understand. And wanting to leave, but if he's willing to start, willing to come off the bench, that would increase the amount of teams I'd like to see him go to. Dallas would be interesting. Kyrie out until later in the season with his torn ACL. He could start to begin the year and high pick a roll with Anthony Davis, like it could be a, you know, help Cooper flag out as a as a rookie. I think the Dallas Mavericks, that's not a hard move for him either from San Antonio to Dallas. That's the Texas. That's the number one team on my list, like Lakers with LeBron. Advertisement I don't know. I mean, yeah, Lakers have been thrown out as a potential Chris Paul destination for literally 10 years, and I hope it never happens. Uh, his game doesn't really mesh well with what LeBron wants to do offensively. They also have Luca and Austin Reeves who also need the ball. Lakers completely out, um, but As we talk it through and I think back to our conversation about Minnesota at the top of the show and how badly they need a ball handler. Andrew Mike Conley and Chris Paul and is making it work with retirement home Mike Conley. Why not give it a try with Chris Paul if he's willing to take a role where he's playing like 15 minutes a game. Advertisement 20 minutes tops. I could see that being a fit that isn't horrible, but I'm sticking with my original plea. Chris Paul, please just retire and go get paid a ton of money to announce games on Amazon or something. It would be awesome, dude. He might actually get paid close to as much. That's true. The money's getting good in that area as well. I know exactly.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Could Shai Gilgeous-Alexander surpass Kevin Durant as Thunder's best ever?
Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by Andrew Sharp to discuss this year's MVP, his rise with Oklahoma City and how he could surpass another former MVP as the franchise's top player ever. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript If the Thunder win the NBA finals, the shake Gilous Alexander to become the greatest Thunder player ever. Advertisement Ah. That's tough, because are we talking about who's the best player you ever saw wear a Thunder jersey. For me, I still give the edge to KD because I don't think prime SGA is better than pri KD from 10 to 12 years ago. His game was a little bit more thrilling and I think by the numbers, like he can match Shay uh in basically every category. That being said, Shay, the success that he's had the past two years is really, really hard to argue with and like in the playoffs, he's giving you everything you would want from a superstar and um if I'm a Thunder fan in Oklahoma City. Yeah, Shay Rockets to #1 the second he gets a title. Advertisement So do you think Shay is the best Thunder player ever, uh, if they win a title this year? Yeah, I do. Wow, I do. I think, I think he's gonna have a good case. The ring puts him over the top and the fact he also has an MVP. He has had two amazing playoff runs. I mean, yeah, I, I think he becomes the greatest, greatest Thunder player ever, it with a ring without the ring, no, it's still Kevin KD there was like literally nothing he couldn't do on the court. Yeah, everything as a scorer. Yeah, that's fair. It's just in terms of comparing Shay and KD, um, I, I, what I worry about is that my bias is toward how much I love watching Kevin Durant play and, and that overlooks some flaws in terms of the, the Disappointments that happened on KD's watch in Oklahoma City, like in the finals against LeBron, he got kind of punked. Advertisement They lost the 3-1 lead against the Warriors a couple of years later, and Shay, it's getting harder and harder to argue with the production. And so as much as I want to choose KD, uh, I think Shay might be the right answer for best Thunder player ever.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Should Mavs consider trading No. 1 pick for Giannis?
Should Mavs consider trading No. 1 pick for Giannis? | The Kevin O'Connor Show Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor and Tate Fraizer discuss whether or not the Dallas Mavericks should consider trading their number 1 pick in the draft for Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript The Bucks, they call up the Mavericks on draft night, and they offer Giannis for Cooper flag. Advertisement And salaries needed to meet the requirements to get Giannis. Giannis for flag. Are you saying yes if you're the Mavericks? If I am the Mavericks, I am definitely not even entertaining the phone call because of what is already like they just got given, they got response. You're not answering. No, I'm not even there are no phone call like I, if I am the ownership group, yeah, if I'm, what's his name, Pat, whatever, Dumont, I am making. Sure that the lines are cut. No one can call Nico. Uh, we're changing his phone number. We don't want him talking to the Boston Celtics, especially. I feel like that's the team that I would be circling the most to make sure that Brad Stevens does not get Nico Harrison's phone number and call him with some sort of tantalizing idea, put in his mind that Cooper Flag's gonna leave anyway after his rookie deal and come to the Boston Celtics. Advertisement So you might as well rip the band-aid. Now, like, that would be the terrifying phone call. But yeah, the Mavericks don't answer the phone, do the right thing. You got literally the greatest second chance of all time to kind of right the wrong of what you did with Luca. You get a generational superstar who just happens to kind of be a power forward that fits into a similar vein as Dirk. If his career can play out in a similar way, that would be amazing. So as a franchise, the Mavericks should not, uh, pick up the phone. And honestly, if I Giannis, and I do think that the Bucks are working with Giannis, or at least in communication with Giannis. Advertisement I think that Giannis has told them that it's either send me somewhere in the east, elsewhere in the east, where I can go and dominate or like tell Chris Middleton to sign here for the minimum and you know, we, we try to figure out some way to get this machine going in Milwaukee for one more run. I don't know what it ends up looking like, but To me, Kevin, the, the Spurs are much more inclined to trade for Durant at #2 than they would for Giannis. And I feel like the Mavericks, they can't, even though the Mavericks kid definitely would take the phone call, I think internally that staff would be like, of course. We want to have Giannis in this building. Advertisement They just can't for PR reasons. So I feel like as much as the Giannis talk is very interesting and fascinating, and Europe loves the Spurs, right, as a, as a continent, like that's the team over there. But yeah, you can't do it. Nico, don't do it. Leave Cooper flag in Dallas.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Is the Thunder's defense really elite?
Is the Thunder's defense really elite? | The Kevin O'Connor Show Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by 13-year NBA veteran Marcus Morris Sr. to discuss Oklahoma City's defensive effort in the Western Conference Finals against Minnesota and if it was really as dominant as some suggest. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript Is that because of OKC's defense though? Advertisement OKC's defense looks like an all-time level defense. They befuddled Jokic, they shut down ants. It's definitely was partially due to that, but if you watch the game, OKC only won that game. By 2 points. They uh they had 20 offensive rebounds and Minnesota had 19 turnovers. She almost had a 40 point triple-double. Jay Lee Williams had 30 points. Chad Hongren had 20 something points, Anthony Edward had 16 points, and Julius Render had 2 points, and they only won the game by 2 points. And you know why they won the game by 2 points? It's because Anthony Edwards didn't try to find a rhythm to the second half. Advertisement Do you know how hard that possibly can be when you're the best player and you know down the stretch, we're gonna need you to make shots and make plays and you don't have a rhythm. There's no way. There's no way. So, even when it looks like that game was in control, I'm sitting there watching like, it's gonna come down to the reason why Anthony Edwards didn't have his rhythm in the start of the game and that was the series. If he got going early, they had a better chance. The game they beat by 40 points, he started off the game with 12 points in the first quarter. They beat him by 40. They dismantled them. Advertisement 143. They dismantled them and they scored 260 points in two games. So, is that great defense? Like, is that like the greatest defense, 260 points in two games? Uh, I'm not really sure about that, right? Like, because if I, if I found something in that first game, there's no way that I go away from it in the second game. But OKC did a really good job of making adjustments. They, they start like switching up top and they just was pushing them out and, you know, they did, they did a hell of a job and I don't wanna take away from what I've seen from OKC because they are a really good team and make sure you clip this and, and, and when you put this out, make sure you put this out because a lot of people think I hate OKC. Advertisement I don't. I think. I don't hate them. I just, I feel like you're, you're, you don't respect like, uh, I respect OKC and I respect what they done. What I, what I don't respect is the way the other younger teams approach series with OKC because if you, if I gotta keep talking about this, if you look at how how how Minnesota Timberwolves approached the series with Golden State and the Lakers, the energy was not the same.
