Preseason thread

[Norseman79]

Am I crazy to think we’d be in worse shape if Gobert goes down, more than even Ant?

I don't know if the drop from Ant to DD would be as devastating as going from Rudy to small ball. DD can score, and competes on D. Who shuts down the paint and rebounds like Rudy does on our team? Another reason why I'm hoping they're looking for a third big.

DDV is much easier to contain than Ant, and without Ant’s downhill play I think we will struggle to get anyone to the rim consistently. But I do agree small ball is less than ideal and a real problem if forced to play it long term.

100% agree. However, at that point I believe you changed the offense and run a lot more motion sets with a lot less isolation and maximize DD. We won games without Ant playing and far worse options than DD in his place.

[wolves_89]

EVERY team that loses one of it best players will be worse if he gets hurt, I don't know why this is so difficult to grasp around here.

We made the playoffs in 2022/23 with KAT out most of the season. We made the playoffs in 23/24 one game out of first place with KAT out more than a month. KAT was our 2nd or 3rd best player. If Ant goes down for a long stretch we might be screwed. Just like if Brunson, Tatum, Embiid, Joker, or SGA go down their team might be screwed. But teams can win while missing key players. Boston missed KP and still won a title. The key is real depth. We have it at 4 positions, but not at C.

Am I crazy to think we’d be in worse shape if Gobert goes down, more than even Ant?

I'd rate losing Gobert as having about the same impact as losing Ant. If Ant is out the offense has to drastically change, and if Rudy is out the defense would be completely different. Ant is a better player than Rudy, but the bench options to fill his minutes are significantly better than the options to replace Rudy's minutes.

[younggunsmn]

We made the playoffs in 2022/23 with KAT out most of the season. We made the playoffs in 23/24 one game out of first place with KAT out more than a month. KAT was our 2nd or 3rd best player. If Ant goes down for a long stretch we might be screwed. Just like if Brunson, Tatum, Embiid, Joker, or SGA go down their team might be screwed. But teams can win while missing key players. Boston missed KP and still won a title. The key is real depth. We have it at 4 positions, but not at C.

Am I crazy to think we’d be in worse shape if Gobert goes down, more than even Ant?

I'd rate losing Gobert as having about the same impact as losing Ant. If Ant is out the offense has to drastically change, and if Rudy is out the defense would be completely different. Ant is a better player than Rudy, but the bench options to fill his minutes are significantly better than the options to replace Rudy's minutes.

I'd make the argument Rudy is now harder to replace than Ant.
We have enough talent to shift pieces around now that we can replace maybe 90% of what Ant brings.
Rudy is key to the defense, not only defending the rim but making calls, and we don't have a replacement on the roster right now IMHO that can even bring 60% of his defensive impact when it comes to rim protection and rebounding.
KAT could bring maybe 75-80% of Rudy on that end. Now he's gone and next man up is Naz, Julius, or Luka.

[wolves_89]

Am I crazy to think we’d be in worse shape if Gobert goes down, more than even Ant?

I'd rate losing Gobert as having about the same impact as losing Ant. If Ant is out the offense has to drastically change, and if Rudy is out the defense would be completely different. Ant is a better player than Rudy, but the bench options to fill his minutes are significantly better than the options to replace Rudy's minutes.

I'd make the argument Rudy is now harder to replace than Ant.
We have enough talent to shift pieces around now that we can replace maybe 90% of what Ant brings.
Rudy is key to the defense, not only defending the rim but making calls, and we don't have a replacement on the roster right now IMHO that can even bring 60% of his defensive impact when it comes to rim protection and rebounding.
KAT could bring maybe 75-80% of Rudy on that end. Now he's gone and next man up is Naz, Julius, or Luka.

I agree about replacing Rudy, but I think you are seriously underestimating how much we would lose if Ant is out for an extended stretch. The Wolves have few players (maybe only Ant and Randle) who can create their own shot consistently and break down a defense. I just don't see where we make up for Ant's shot creation if he misses time. I do wonder if Ant missing so few games over the last couple of years has made it hard to really appreciate how much he actually does (since we have almost no perspective on how the team would look without him).

[younggunsmn]

I'd rate losing Gobert as having about the same impact as losing Ant. If Ant is out the offense has to drastically change, and if Rudy is out the defense would be completely different. Ant is a better player than Rudy, but the bench options to fill his minutes are significantly better than the options to replace Rudy's minutes.

I'd make the argument Rudy is now harder to replace than Ant.
We have enough talent to shift pieces around now that we can replace maybe 90% of what Ant brings.
Rudy is key to the defense, not only defending the rim but making calls, and we don't have a replacement on the roster right now IMHO that can even bring 60% of his defensive impact when it comes to rim protection and rebounding.
KAT could bring maybe 75-80% of Rudy on that end. Now he's gone and next man up is Naz, Julius, or Luka.

I agree about replacing Rudy, but I think you are seriously underestimating how much we would lose if Ant is out for an extended stretch. The Wolves have few players (maybe only Ant and Randle) who can create their own shot consistently and break down a defense. I just don't see where we make up for Ant's shot creation if he misses time. I do wonder if Ant missing so few games over the last couple of years has made it hard to really appreciate how much he actually does (since we have almost no perspective on how the team would look without him).

I guess I look at as efficiency.
I feel like our offensive efficiency will take a much smaller dip if Ant is out than our defensive efficiency will if Rudy is out.
DDV, Naz, Randle Conley, even Dililngham, Ingles and Shannon capable of doing a little bit more with a slightly expanded role.

Our 3rd unit just put up 126 pts on 49.5% shooting against Denver's A-team (granted, not their best effort).
But our defense let Denver shoot 55% and shoot 49 FT's (pretty much as bad as you can get).

If Ant and Randle are both out, yeah that hurts a LOT.
And if Ant is out for an extended period, we are going to have trouble beating the good teams in those games.

I'd feel more comfortable if the front office could find a backup for Rudy that can bring 80%+ of his defensive impact.
Like an Andre Drummond type.

You can't really replace an Ant with an 80% version of Ant. He's too unique.

[Norseman79]

I'd make the argument Rudy is now harder to replace than Ant.
We have enough talent to shift pieces around now that we can replace maybe 90% of what Ant brings.
Rudy is key to the defense, not only defending the rim but making calls, and we don't have a replacement on the roster right now IMHO that can even bring 60% of his defensive impact when it comes to rim protection and rebounding.
KAT could bring maybe 75-80% of Rudy on that end. Now he's gone and next man up is Naz, Julius, or Luka.

I agree about replacing Rudy, but I think you are seriously underestimating how much we would lose if Ant is out for an extended stretch. The Wolves have few players (maybe only Ant and Randle) who can create their own shot consistently and break down a defense. I just don't see where we make up for Ant's shot creation if he misses time. I do wonder if Ant missing so few games over the last couple of years has made it hard to really appreciate how much he actually does (since we have almost no perspective on how the team would look without him).

I guess I look at as efficiency.
I feel like our offensive efficiency will take a much smaller dip if Ant is out than our defensive efficiency will if Rudy is out.
DDV, Naz, Randle Conley, even Dililngham, Ingles and Shannon capable of doing a little bit more with a slightly expanded role.

Our 3rd unit just put up 126 pts on 49.5% shooting against Denver's A-team (granted, not their best effort).
But our defense let Denver shoot 55% and shoot 49 FT's (pretty much as bad as you can get).

If Ant and Randle are both out, yeah that hurts a LOT.
And if Ant is out for an extended period, we are going to have trouble beating the good teams in those games.

I'd feel more comfortable if the front office could find a backup for Rudy that can bring 80%+ of his defensive impact.
Like an Andre Drummond type.

You can't really replace an Ant with an 80% version of Ant. He's too unique.

You aren't wrong about Ant, but I think you underestimate the ability of Finch to change the offense. I love Edwards, I think he's absolutely one of the best players in the league. There is no replacing him. However, different sets and different play designs can lead to other players getting opportunities to score. The difference is we wouldn't have somebody who could just take the game over one-on-one. I get that, but I don't think we would try to do that anymore. Unless we played through Randall. On the other hand things are shaky. Without Rudy, there's really no way to change the defense. We have nothing else to protect the middle.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

I think both will be hard to replace of go down. If ANT goes down, JR, DDV, NAZ...can score more but i think the impact will much more on defense. This is something we don't talk much about but when ANT decide to go for it, he is for me a top 10 defender in the league.
If Rudy i down we can go small ball for a while. IT will work for one month or two, but not more. Finger cross to have players healthy all season. Go Wolves!