Game 36: Timberwolves at Lakers, 8:30 pm CST

[kidfozzy]

Edwards showing his age today. Ughh.

[shrink]

Pretty disappointing game.

It felt like the Lakers were willing to lose this one, but all the Wolves mistakes added up in the fourth. I liked the defense, but the team seemed out of synch. Could Russell and KAT fix this problem?

[_AIJ_]

Edwards showing his age today. Ughh.

Not really. In the first half, he was trying to hard to facilitate but it resulted to a lot of turnovers. He was just too passive tonight

[winforlose]

Edwards showing his age today. Ughh.

Not really. In the first half, he was trying to hard to facilitate but it resulted to a lot of turnovers. He was just too passive tonight

Too passive, he took 19 shots and had 18 points. That isn’t passive. Ant was sloppy, selfish, and a liability in the fourth. Without KAT we lack star power.

[Calinks]

The team cohesion isn't where it needs to be. Need more vets on the floor, Ant was sloppy, KAT and DLO will help a lot. We have to sting together a lot of games this month. We lost a bunch here since the covid situation.

[Calinks]

30/117 from 3 in last 3 games. 25.6%. This is brutal, especially for such a high volume.

[Wolveswin]

Edwards showing his age today. Ughh.

Not really. In the first half, he was trying to hard to facilitate but it resulted to a lot of turnovers. He was just too passive tonight

Too passive, he took 19 shots and had 18 points. That isn’t passive. Ant was sloppy, selfish, and a liability in the fourth. Without KAT we lack star power.

I am sure this will be sig worthy for someone, but every time I watch Edwards - good and bad games and everything in between - I see a player that needs a VERY specific team built around him.

Sounds like Towns to me. Not sure Wolves can have two players that need a VERY specific team built around them to be anything close to successful.

[winforlose]

Not really. In the first half, he was trying to hard to facilitate but it resulted to a lot of turnovers. He was just too passive tonight

Too passive, he took 19 shots and had 18 points. That isn’t passive. Ant was sloppy, selfish, and a liability in the fourth. Without KAT we lack star power.

I am sure this will be sig worthy for someone, but every time I watch Edwards - good and bad games and everything in between - I see a player that needs a VERY specific team built around him.

Sounds like Towns to me. Not sure Wolves can have two players that need a VERY specific team built around them to be anything close to successful.

I am sorry but this is a game where Ant should and must feast. No proper center for the Lakers in either rotation. No KAT or Dlo to defer to. Finally, plenty of opportunities to get the ball going down hill. Ant wasn’t playing like a star, and to be honest he usually doesn’t because he isn’t a star. Ant might have huge upside, but he has been slumping hard this season. It’s not that he needs a specific build around him, it’s that he needs to be a role player and have little to no pressure to perform on a given night. At what point does everyone else here take a good, hard look at his flaws?

[thinktank]

Too passive, he took 19 shots and had 18 points. That isn’t passive. Ant was sloppy, selfish, and a liability in the fourth. Without KAT we lack star power.

I am sure this will be sig worthy for someone, but every time I watch Edwards - good and bad games and everything in between - I see a player that needs a VERY specific team built around him.

Sounds like Towns to me. Not sure Wolves can have two players that need a VERY specific team built around them to be anything close to successful.

I am sorry but this is a game where Ant should and must feast. No proper center for the Lakers in either rotation. No KAT or Dlo to defer to. Finally, plenty of opportunities to get the ball going down hill. Ant wasn’t playing like a star, and to be honest he usually doesn’t because he isn’t a star. Ant might have huge upside, but he has been slumping hard this season. It’s not that he needs a specific build around him, it’s that he needs to be a role player and have little to no pressure to perform on a given night. At what point does everyone else here take a good, hard look at his flaws?

Ant is not slumping this year.

Cmon man.

TS% up 2%. Even with usage up 1%. Show me a stat, advanced or otherwise, where he hasn’t improved.

[Battletrigger]

Lol, a role player he says. Man, if prime Bron would be in our team and had a 3 o 4 games bad strech some people here would trade him for expirings and cash lol

[shrink]

The team cohesion isn't where it needs to be. Need more vets on the floor, Ant was sloppy, KAT and DLO will help a lot. We have to sting together a lot of games this month. We lost a bunch here since the covid situation.

Good post.

I will say that this game disappointed me. MIN had way more energy, and even a ridiculous rebound advantage, but still managed to lose the game through horrible shooting and turnovers. I was pretty confident we would at least make the playoffs games after our win against BOS, and even with some losses due to COVID on the books, I was fairly certain we’d win most of the five games after LAC. Now though, I see we can be inept enough to lose those games.

I sure hope we go 5-0, and get back to .500.

[winforlose]

I am sure this will be sig worthy for someone, but every time I watch Edwards - good and bad games and everything in between - I see a player that needs a VERY specific team built around him.

Sounds like Towns to me. Not sure Wolves can have two players that need a VERY specific team built around them to be anything close to successful.

I am sorry but this is a game where Ant should and must feast. No proper center for the Lakers in either rotation. No KAT or Dlo to defer to. Finally, plenty of opportunities to get the ball going down hill. Ant wasn’t playing like a star, and to be honest he usually doesn’t because he isn’t a star. Ant might have huge upside, but he has been slumping hard this season. It’s not that he needs a specific build around him, it’s that he needs to be a role player and have little to no pressure to perform on a given night. At what point does everyone else here take a good, hard look at his flaws?

Ant is not slumping this year.

Cmon man.

TS% up 2%. Even with usage up 1%. Show me a stat, advanced or otherwise, where he hasn’t improved.

Are you comparing him post Finch or total? Ant is a high volume low efficiency scorer. His defense has improved, but his at the rim finishing has gotten worse. His turnover rate is up, but to be fair so is his usage. Overall, he disappears for quarters or halves, goes through as many as 9 game shooting slumps (9 of the first 10,) does poorly without KAT drawing the defensive focus, and is slow to move the ball.

The Ant from the Ryan era is different from the Ant from
The Finch era. If you compare him to the Ryan era he will look better overall. But, it is telling that in games with Ant but without Dlo we have yet to win. Also have we won a game with Ant and without KAT this season? I am honestly asking as I cannot remember off hand.

[Calinks]

The team cohesion isn't where it needs to be. Need more vets on the floor, Ant was sloppy, KAT and DLO will help a lot. We have to sting together a lot of games this month. We lost a bunch here since the covid situation.

Good post.

I will say that this game disappointed me. MIN had way more energy, and even a ridiculous rebound advantage, but still managed to lose the game through horrible shooting and turnovers. I was pretty confident we would at least make the playoffs games after our win against BOS, and even with some losses due to COVID on the books, I was fairly certain we’d win most of the five games after LAC. Now though, I see we can be inept enough to lose those games.

I sure hope we go 5-0, and get back to .500.

My goal was to be at or close to .500 by the new year. Covid messed that up, I think we would be there without it. That said, it's imperative we get there ASAP. If we are .500 sooner than later and then if we can maintain that level or get better, we have a really good chance at the playoffs. GEtting under .500 is the danger zone. We still got time but we are going to have to turn it up pretty fast.

[thinktank]

I am sorry but this is a game where Ant should and must feast. No proper center for the Lakers in either rotation. No KAT or Dlo to defer to. Finally, plenty of opportunities to get the ball going down hill. Ant wasn’t playing like a star, and to be honest he usually doesn’t because he isn’t a star. Ant might have huge upside, but he has been slumping hard this season. It’s not that he needs a specific build around him, it’s that he needs to be a role player and have little to no pressure to perform on a given night. At what point does everyone else here take a good, hard look at his flaws?

Ant is not slumping this year.

Cmon man.

TS% up 2%. Even with usage up 1%. Show me a stat, advanced or otherwise, where he hasn’t improved.

Are you comparing him post Finch or total? Ant is a high volume low efficiency scorer. His defense has improved, but his at the rim finishing has gotten worse. His turnover rate is up, but to be fair so is his usage. Overall, he disappears for quarters or halves, goes through as many as 9 game shooting slumps (9 of the first 10,) does poorly without KAT drawing the defensive focus, and is slow to move the ball.

The Ant from the Ryan era is different from the Ant from
The Finch era. If you compare him to the Ryan era he will look better overall. But, it is telling that in games with Ant but without Dlo we have yet to win. Also have we won a game with Ant and without KAT this season? I am honestly asking as I cannot remember off hand.

I’m not hearing a great argument from you that Ant has regressed.

1.) You admit he looks better overall.
2.) Re no DLo games, he’s still a second year player. KAT hasn’t won us any no DLo games either. But you’re not saying KAT has regressed.
3.) Winning games without DLo or Ant or KAT is not a good metric for judging Ant’s play.
4.) A better metric is to look at the overall season. And we’re back to point #1, where you admit Ant looks better overall—and he does.
5,) Therefore, you disagree with yourself that Ant has regressed.

[winforlose]

Ant is not slumping this year.

Cmon man.

TS% up 2%. Even with usage up 1%. Show me a stat, advanced or otherwise, where he hasn’t improved.

Are you comparing him post Finch or total? Ant is a high volume low efficiency scorer. His defense has improved, but his at the rim finishing has gotten worse. His turnover rate is up, but to be fair so is his usage. Overall, he disappears for quarters or halves, goes through as many as 9 game shooting slumps (9 of the first 10,) does poorly without KAT drawing the defensive focus, and is slow to move the ball.

The Ant from the Ryan era is different from the Ant from
The Finch era. If you compare him to the Ryan era he will look better overall. But, it is telling that in games with Ant but without Dlo we have yet to win. Also have we won a game with Ant and without KAT this season? I am honestly asking as I cannot remember off hand.

I’m not hearing a great argument from you that Ant has regressed.

1.) You admit he looks better overall.
2.) Re no DLo games, he’s still a second year player. KAT hasn’t won us any no DLo games either. But you’re not saying KAT has regressed.
3.) Winning games without DLo or Ant or KAT is not a good metric for judging Ant’s play.
4.) A better metric is to look at the overall season. And we’re back to point #1, where you admit Ant looks better overall—and he does.
5,) Therefore, you disagree with yourself that Ant has regressed.

1. Ant is missing a higher percentage of shots at the rim, and is showing tremendous inconsistency at 3 point shooting. For 9 of 10 games to start the season he was in the 20%s. He shot 0/6 against the lakers and 5/10 against the clippers.

2. Your point #4 was never conceded and I flat out reject it. When a player emerges you don’t ignore it and look back to his days of being awful to balance the stats. The Ant we saw post all star break of year 1 is the Ant everyone was expecting in year 2. In fact as I pointed out (and you misquoted,) the Ant from before the All-star break was pretty bad. No one would classify him as a star or part of a big 3. Regressing to that Ant who scores in single figures and doesn’t positively impact games is a massive regression worthy of the term slump.

3. Stars win games, role players support stars. KAT is playing the best defense of his career, his shooting percentage is near the top of the league and his 3 point percentage is by far the best on the team. Our winning percentage when Dlo shoots above a specific percentage (I believe it is 40%) is much higher then when it is below that percentage. These kinds of swings indicate a player is a star (when winning or losing depends on their performance.) When you remove Dlo from the equation you would expect your 3rd player of the big 3 to shoot more and step up. It is telling that Ant cannot.

4. Quick asterisks to this conversation as Ant had a great game on Monday and finally won something without KAT or Dlo.

TLDR you misquoted me to get your concession and then established a premise I never agreed to in order to establish my assent to premise. The Ant from post all star break is the Ant that is relevant, the Ant from before Finch and before the ASB was at best a role player, at worst a guy you play simply to give him minutes.