shangrila wrote:winforlose wrote:
Your point about sample size is always going to be an issue when comparing veterans to up and comers. If you want a more direct comparison check Wiggins year 3 and Ant this year. But you cannot ignore context of the seasons, team composition, ect… For example Wiggins first year has no KAT or equivalent player, we traded Love for Wiggins and he was the best we had. KAT year one with Wiggins year 2 still isn’t a complete rebuild, expectations were not high yet. Wolves year 3 with Wiggins, KAT and Lavine was the first time that the rebuild might actually be ending, but this is getting off topic.
So why use it? Because it helped your case?
Context only seems to matter so far as it proves whatever point you're trying to make, so I won't bother delving into the rest.
Substitute turn around long 2s for pull up 3s and their shots selection is kinda similar. Wiggins year 3 averaged 19 shot attempts per game same as Ant year 2 (so far.) Wiggins averaged 23.6 Ant averaged 22. Also before you start remember the coaching and schemes were different and we were a low volume 3 point shooting team compared to the more 3 happy wolves so of course you cannot compare apples to oranges. But then again I feel like that’s what you have been trying to do. Both are players who thrive when they drive yet settle too often for less efficient jump shots.
You're the one comparing them. Can't turn around and say "apples and oranges" now, genius.
You say Ant has a very different attitude, yet he goes entire quarters without shooting and is always smiling even when losing. The biggest off court complaint about Wiggins was his demeanor. You could point out that Wiggins was often more flat and expressionless giving off an air of indifference whereas Ant is vibrant and joking and more charismatic. But at the end of the day, if it doesn’t translate to being more engaged in game what does it matter? With KAT out Ant took 16 shots and scored 19 points. Of those shots 7 were 3s, he hit 1. That means he shot 5 of 9 from inside the arc. Your the advanced stat guy, what did Wiggins shoot at the rim vs Ant, I bet it was similar.
That's on the site you linked from. Are you seriously unwilling to do even that level of basic research yourself?
Yeah, no, that actually legitimately pissed me off. I'm done.
I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume I am not articulating my point well. Let me try it this way.
My hope is that Ant turns into an elite level slasher given his body control and hang time. My hope is that Ant eventually improves his 3 point shot and more importantly his judgment about when to use it. I have high hopes for Ant. But I also had them for Wiggins. The purpose of showing the comparison was not to say they are the same player, but to show my concern for what Ant might become. There was a day when Wiggins was the great hope of the Wolves, (so much so we kept him and shipped out Lavine for Butler.) Ant is that new hope, (so much so that people on here already say trade KAT because this is Ant’s team.)
Now, since you wanted a stat based comparison as close as is possible I suggested Ant season 2 and Wiggins season 3 because even though there is an experience gap, it was the first year the wolves were trying to win something with their Wiggins/KAT/Lavine core. Just like this is the first year of trying to win with KAT/Dlo/Ant core. The comparison is not perfect and stats will never fully mitigate the variables, but I will link to both for you.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wiggian01/gamelog/2017https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/e/edwaran01/gamelog/2022I am not trying to argue nor have I ever tried to argue that they are identical. Ant is shorter but more muscled and has a better handle. Wiggins is taller, lankier, and arguably more athletic (though Ant can still jump out of the gym and has great body control.) Ant is a better defender this year than Wiggins at any point, but if Wiggins had a coach Finch and a proper defensive scheme during his time here who knows what would have happened. As I mentioned above and have been saying it is hard to directly compare because of the variables, like Wiggins being a number 2 on offense behind KAT whereas Ant is number 3 behind KAT and Dlo. I could go on, but the point has been made. I showed you the numbers to help you understand that Ant and Wiggins have some of the same core problems. Those problems include high shot volume low efficiency shooting, settling for lower percentage shots at a high clip, and disappearing for quarters, halves, or whole games. Also again, that measured indifference of Wiggins and that Ant swagger both seem to persist no matter what is happening in the game or season, (but as you pointed out it is a small sample size as we cannot know how Ant will change with age and maturity.)
Again, I don’t want Ant to follow the Wiggins path, but I see enough of the same flaws to worry me. I don’t know why you guys don’t see it as well, but there is enough there to cause concern. I am going to leave it here because I feel like the point has been made enough times now over enough posts that either you follow or you don’t. If you do, then you hope Finch gets through to Ant and finally gets him more involved in the offense, more aggressive in initiating contact, and more determined to attack the basket. If not then let’s hope I was wrong and that when the time comes to max Ant (and we all know it is coming,) we don’t need an owner having a conversation asking for his word that we he will continue to work on his game.