Is Anthony Edwards going to be the Russell Westbrook of Shooting Guards

ropjhk · Post #21 » by **ropjhk** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 2:41 pm

Westbrook career eFG% .469
ANT career eFG% .517
SGA career eFG% .532

ANT will have to crater his eFG% for this comparison with Westbrook to be valid. SGA is having a MVP worthy season and has one of the highest eFG% in the league amongst high volume guards and shouldn't be used as a benchmark.

Pelly24 · Post #22 » by **Pelly24** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 2:41 pm

like did y'all forget that the thunder went to the finals and conference finals multiple times? lol man this thread is disrespectful.

CS707 · Post #23 » by **CS707** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 2:43 pm

This is the problem with this era. Everyone is a GOAT or doomed to fail by their first couple of seasons on the league.

Effigy · Post #24 » by **Effigy** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 2:56 pm

Pelly24 wrote:like did y'all forget that the thunder went to the finals and conference finals multiple times? lol man this thread is disrespectful.

The team that went to the finals had THREE future league MVPs on it. Let's not give all the credit to just one of them, lol.

SashimiLover · Post #25 » by **SashimiLover** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:02 pm

Roseability wrote:It seems like Anthony Edwards is the most athletic player in the league and has talent in all areas where athleticism and aggressive play are involved. Yet for all his talent, his inefficiency at making shots (only 52.2% EFG) doesn’t bode well for surmounting future opponents such as The Nuggets or SGA’s Thunder (Shai’s 56.7% EFG). Will Antman avoid the Westbrook inefficiency curse? Can he become a legitimate top 5 player or will his inefficiency doom the effort?

I think Anthony Edwards is a more sneaky slasher and a more gifted shooter than Russell Westbrook. Westbrook might outperform Ant in other areas. But scoring-wise, Ant seems to have an edge.

LaLover11 · Post #26 » by **LaLover11** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:09 pm

SashimiLover wrote:
Roseability wrote:It seems like Anthony Edwards is the most athletic player in the league and has talent in all areas where athleticism and aggressive play are involved. Yet for all his talent, his inefficiency at making shots (only 52.2% EFG) doesn’t bode well for surmounting future opponents such as The Nuggets or SGA’s Thunder (Shai’s 56.7% EFG). Will Antman avoid the Westbrook inefficiency curse? Can he become a legitimate top 5 player or will his inefficiency doom the effort?

I think Anthony Edwards is a more sneaky slasher and a more gifted shooter than Russell Westbrook. Westbrook might outperform Ant in other areas. But scoring-wise, Ant seems to have an edge.

Let's be honest... Westbrook was giving you 50pt triple doubles lol

shrink · Post #27 » by **shrink** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:17 pm

Pelly24 wrote:lol man this thread is disrespectful.

The initial post is meant to be disrespectful. Look at the language.

Roseability wrote:Will Antman avoid the Westbrook inefficiency curse? Can he become a legitimate top 5 player or will his inefficiency doom the effort?

I think this thread just shows Ant has reached a new tier of success! You ain’t anybody until you get RealGM trolling!

Quentin · Post #28 » by **Quentin** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:24 pm

22 years old. Being double and triple teamed. I think he's doing pretty damn good. RW? :lol:

MrBigShot · Post #29 » by **MrBigShot** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 3:32 pm

Did you watch game 1?

Edwards has always been incredible in the playoffs since the first year the wolves made it. If his regular season was on par with how good he is in the playoffs, he would start getting serious MVP discussion.

phanman · Post #30 » by **phanman** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:03 pm

bake51 wrote:When you watch Anthony Edwards, you see Russell Westbrook?

Man... the don't even dunk the same :lol:

Just because they are two uber athletic guards, doesn't mean they have the same play style. Even his comps to guys someone like Wade rings hollow because Ant is just a much better shooter than Wade was.

xxSnEaKyPxx · Post #31 » by **xxSnEaKyPxx** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:17 pm

Westbrook is one of the biggest disappointments for me.

Coming out of college I had him as my #2 prospect, really thought he was going to be amazing, and I think he could have been, and I’m sure some argue that he was. But he wasn’t.

He wasn’t near as good as he should have been.

Once he and the Thunder realized he was capable of putting up amazing stats, that’s all they cared about. Designed their entire game plan around getting him triple doubles, but it was often to the detriment of the team. Was really weird seeing OKCs bigs box out and be in position for a rebound, but the goal was for Westbrook to get it, so they’d stand there and let him swoop in.

Also he always had wayyyyy more confidence in his 3 point shot than he should have.

As much talent as he had, he never learned to play a winning brand of basketball. He could have been a much, much better player with better coaching.

I think he has a good mentality too, at least in terms of motor, but his basketball IQ has just been awful his whole career.

scrabbarista · Post #32 » by **scrabbarista** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:20 pm

Godymas wrote:i could see Ant having a DWade career where he’s clearly the guy early on but declines by the time he’s 30 because of how much athleticism his game has

Having a lot of athleticism makes you able to play effectively for longer, all else being equal. See: Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, LeBron James, others.

Athletic guys who fall off fast may do so for any of three reasons:

1. the size/skill/athleticism/IQ ratio in their game is tilted heavily to athleticism, so when it disappears, so does much of their game.

2. They don't take care of their body like they should.

3. They have injuries.

Wade's decline was probably due to #3 and #1. (He was very skilled, but never learned to shoot threes. Also, he was 6'4". But I think mostly it was injuries.)

If ANT continues building skill, learning the game, and taking care of his body, he could be great well past 30.

Eagle4 · Post #33 » by **Eagle4** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:31 pm

Godymas wrote:i could see Ant having a DWade career where he’s clearly the guy early on but declines by the time he’s 30 because of how much athleticism his game has

Then Ant has some catching up to do as Wade went to the ECF his 2nd year and won a title by his 3rd year.

Fundamentals21 · Post #34 » by **Fundamentals21** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:33 pm

ANT has it in him to be successful in the playoffs unlike Westbrook who brought a ton of problems with him IMO. ANT is a bit more of a promised land guy, kind of like a Kobe or Wade than a Westbrook (though he hasn't caught up to their level).

Chokic · Post #35 » by **Chokic** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:37 pm

Anthony Edwards playstyle is more similar to uber atheltic James harden or pre injury eric gordon. Way more skilled than wade. That being said he's getting overrated.

ItsDanger · Post #36 » by **ItsDanger** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:47 pm

Only 22, he often mentions getting more efficient, so he's aware of what needs to be improved.

Howard Cosell · Post #37 » by **Howard Cosell** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:48 pm

Can we now start talking about what a good defensive player Edwards is at age 22?

Overrated?

Some people spend more time on this board than actually watching NBA basketball.

AbeVigodaLive · Post #38 » by **AbeVigodaLive** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:51 pm

xxSnEaKyPxx wrote:Westbrook is one of the biggest disappointments for me.

Once he and the Thunder realized he was capable of putting up amazing stats, that’s all they cared about. Designed their entire game plan around getting him triple doubles, but it was often to the detriment of the team. Was really weird seeing OKCs bigs box out and be in position for a rebound, but the goal was for Westbrook to get it, so they’d stand there and let him swoop in.

Also he always had wayyyyy more confidence in his 3 point shot than he should have.

As much talent as he had, he never learned to play a winning brand of basketball. He could have been a much, much better player with better coaching.

I think he has a good mentality too, at least in terms of motor, but his basketball IQ has just been awful his whole career.

For what it's worth... Westbrook's teams made the playoffs in 13 of the past 15 seasons.

thinktank · Post #39 » by **thinktank** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:55 pm

Godymas wrote:i could see Ant having a DWade career where he’s clearly the guy early on but declines by the time he’s 30 because of how much athleticism his game has

He actually uses his power and footwork a lot more than his athleticism.

He’s not drawing many fouls by crashing into people near the rim.

kingr · Post #40 » by **kingr** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 5:56 pm

Richard4444 wrote:Westbrook was one of the best players in NBA in his prime. Shooting efficiency is not everything in a basketball game.

Comparing someone to him should not sound like an offense.

This is a great take. We often just think about the later years of a person's career. Westbrook was undoubtedly one of the best players in the NBA for several several years in his prime.