TNT crew actually gives a thoughtful critique of our current situation

[Calinks]

Watch on YouTube

;t=294s

What do you guys think? Ant has to be better for sure.

[Baseline81]

Edwards deserves the criticism. But this video says more about Finch, IMO.

[winforlose]

Ant talked last year about wanting to kill those in front of him. This year he complains that things are too hard, or he isn’t having enough handed to him. Ant is the guy this season who everyone is talking about but not in a good way. He needs to grow, evolve, and lead. So far he cannot do any of the above.

[m2002brian]

Edwards deserves the criticism. But this video says more about Finch, IMO.

It does.

Micheal and Kobe and Larry and Magic were able to make the “right reads” and the “right play” was because they had a system that the knew and understood and had built in reads and counters to different situations.
Finch’s “read and react” system is too highly dependent on court vision and timing. Not all great players have court vision. Not all great QBs see the whole field. They have a system and built in reads and the great ones master that system.

[Klomp]

Finch’s “read and react” system is too highly dependent on court vision and timing. Not all great players have court vision. Not all great QBs see the whole field. They have a system and built in reads and the great ones master that system.

There is some truth to this. The bigger point though is that it depends on a good amount of roster consistency from your core players. The more you play with your teammates, the more you can know the spots where your teammates will be.

Right now, Randle is a fish out of water. I'm not saying he's a perfect fit, because he's not. But that's compounded by the fact that he doesn't know his teammates well and his teammates don't know him well. Confusion blows up a read and react offense, because that's when you start to really see the ball getting sticky and errors happening. Denver is a great example of this. While I'm not saying we have the team IQ of Denver, I think it's a similar story of making a big trade and seeing the players take a while to adjust. Jokic talked about the cultivation of the read and react after Game 3 of the Lakers series last year.

[Guest84]

Point blank, Ant needs to be better and play smarter. Most younger players especially the more recent generations tend to think scoring is the only way to affect or "kill" the other team. Not the case. He talked about learning from Curry, KD, and LBJ...what exactly was it that he learned??

Secondly, if he truly likes and respects Finch, he better be careful what he says. What he's voicing after games could be the death nail regardless of what Finch might be telling him. If Finch is telling them things and they're not listening, he's lost the team from a coaching perspective.

Finch is also involved in a double-edged sword position too though. You can't take Julius and Jaden out of the starting lineup because it damages their trade value. However, he has to realize you can't play Ant with that starting lineup often. He's going to have to stagger those minutes until Ant learns.

Idk, tough roller coaster season this year fellas and nothing we can do about it.

[Note30]

He's getting doubles then score on the doubles. MJ and Kobe did it.

That being said it's not just doubles. The lane is still clogged in the middle.

Run 5 out let him go to work. It's better than this terrible offense Finch is running right now.

[Guest84]

He's getting doubles then score on the doubles. MJ and Kobe did it.

That being said it's not just doubles. The lane is still clogged in the middle.

Run 5 out let him go to work. It's better than this terrible offense Finch is running right now.

To be fair, MJ and Kobe were masters of the midrange as well, Ant is not. However, they also operated within the triangle offense. A system where the players know exactly where and how the defenses will be and react to certain sets (mostly). That is not Finch's offense. I also don't think Ant pays attention to detail like those two either (most prob don't).

You also need the proper personnel to run 5 out...doesn't seem like Finch wants to or isn't able to with Ant. The paint is def clogged but they've got to switch up the looks.

[Klomp]

I give Finch credit for putting Randle with our Bench DNA plus Josh (saw that nickname for the bench trio...didn't hate it). I think that's given Randle opportunities to get out and run more, and has increased his confidence. Now, he might need to run the bench group with Ant and Jaden a few times to help them get out of their funks.

[winforlose]

He's getting doubles then score on the doubles. MJ and Kobe did it.

That being said it's not just doubles. The lane is still clogged in the middle.

Run 5 out let him go to work. It's better than this terrible offense Finch is running right now.

You just saw Jaden shoot 50% from deep on 4/8 and Randle shoot 5/7 for 71% from deep, it didn’t change how they guard Ant. Teams know how good he is, how he wants to attack, and what works to stop it. Until Ant improves his handle and BBIQ he could play with as many shooters as you want, and the will still say beat us from behind the line, because you won’t in the paint. We hit 21 3s last night, the paint was still crowded.

[Klomp]

He's getting doubles then score on the doubles. MJ and Kobe did it.

That being said it's not just doubles. The lane is still clogged in the middle.

Run 5 out let him go to work. It's better than this terrible offense Finch is running right now.

You just saw Jaden shoot 50% from deep on 4/8 and Randle shoot 5/7 for 71% from deep, it didn’t change how they guard Ant. Teams know how good he is, how he wants to attack, and what works to stop it. Until Ant improves his handle and BBIQ he could play with as many shooters as you want, and the will still say beat us from behind the line, because you won’t in the paint. We hit 21 3s last night, the paint was still crowded.

1 game. Teams aren't going to change the entire scouting report mid-game because Jaden made 4 3s in one game. It has to become a regular occurence for things to loosen up.

[winforlose]

He's getting doubles then score on the doubles. MJ and Kobe did it.

That being said it's not just doubles. The lane is still clogged in the middle.

Run 5 out let him go to work. It's better than this terrible offense Finch is running right now.

You just saw Jaden shoot 50% from deep on 4/8 and Randle shoot 5/7 for 71% from deep, it didn’t change how they guard Ant. Teams know how good he is, how he wants to attack, and what works to stop it. Until Ant improves his handle and BBIQ he could play with as many shooters as you want, and the will still say beat us from behind the line, because you won’t in the paint. We hit 21 3s last night, the paint was still crowded.

1 game. Teams aren't going to change the entire scouting report mid-game because Jaden made 4 3s in one game. It has to become a regular occurence for things to loosen up.

Disagree. Teams will have variations on the scouting report for when certain players go off. The coach will absolutely make adjustments to deal with hot hand Randle or Jaden. You have seen us make adjustments to deal with hot players in the last few games.

[Klomp]

Disagree. Teams will have variations on the scouting report for when certain players go off. The coach will absolutely make adjustments to deal with hot hand Randle or Jaden. You have seen us make adjustments to deal with hot players in the last few games.

Not a 31% 3-point shooter.

A guy like Donte who has been an elite shotmaker but was in a funk, sure. But if Rudy Gobert made two 3s, you aren't going to chase him off the line as if he is Steph Curry.

[winforlose]

Disagree. Teams will have variations on the scouting report for when certain players go off. The coach will absolutely make adjustments to deal with hot hand Randle or Jaden. You have seen us make adjustments to deal with hot players in the last few games.

Not a 31% 3-point shooter.

A guy like Donte who has been an elite shotmaker but was in a funk, sure. But if Rudy Gobert made two 3s, you aren't going to chase him off the line as if he is Steph Curry.

If Rudy Gobert made one three everyone would duck and cover. In case it wasn’t obvious, Rudy making a 3 is a sign of the apocalypse and everyone better adjust accordingly

To your point. Jaden is someone who can heat up. Randle is someone who can heat up. DDV is someone who can heat up, NAW, Naz, Mike and Ant can all heat up. I promise you these contingencies are addressed in the scouting report as well as a plan to handle 1 or 2 of them happening at once.

[Calinks]

Read on Twitter

[TimberKat]

Ant's short coming has been there since day one. He hasn't improved much other than 3pt spot up. He still has trouble reading defense on double team. His mid range may regressed this year. All his weakness are more exposed after the Towns trade because he has responsibilities that he can't handle on a nightly basis. The simplest thing to do is pass out of the double team when your teammates has an advantage, like someone is making a cut. He only pass to spot up 3 or bailout.

[guest81]

Ant's short coming has been there since day one. He hasn't improved much other than 3pt spot up. He still has trouble reading defense on double team. His mid range may regressed this year. All his weakness are more exposed after the Towns trade because he has responsibilities that he can't handle on a nightly basis. The simplest thing to do is pass out of the double team when your teammates has an advantage, like someone is making a cut. He only pass to spot up 3 or bailout.

He hasn't improved much? What are we doing here?

[younggunsmn]

Shaq was spot on about Ant whining about the double teams. "I don't want to hear it"
"Great players find a way"

Chuck also had a good point about Rudy Gobert not helping us at all offensively and us playing 4 on 5 because of it.
3 on 5 if Jaden is having a bad game, which is about half the time.

We also need to make things easier for Ant and get him some reliable playsets with a couple of reads that he can go to.
One of the biggest problems for Ant is he doesn't know where his shots are coming from.
His shot chart is all over the place and it torpedos his efficiency.

[Loaf_of_bread]

I'll say it once more.. Ant needs to keep his fat mouth shut. Freaking guy needs to let his game talk. When we were winning, his jovial personality is fun, but we aren't now, and he is a major component of our ineptness.

STFU, be humble, stop having kids with multiple women, and play ball. He's lost a good portion of his own worth. Time to put your head down, and get it back. Everyone faces diversity in life.

He needed this. Wake up young man.

[shrink]

Shaq was spot on about Ant whining about the double teams. "I don't want to hear it"
"Great players find a way"

Chuck also had a good point about Rudy Gobert not helping us at all offensively and us playing 4 on 5 because of it.
3 on 5 if Jaden is having a bad game, which is about half the time.

Yes, and fair. I would add that part of that is on Ant, for either never learning (or wanting) to learn how to use Rudy Gobert’s screens and the pick-and-roll. I understand that it takes time to learn it - even Mike Conley said it took him a year once he reached Utah, and he came to Utah with a lot of NBA experience while Ant had virtually none. But if Conley has the physical skills to make that a very effective play (and one of Finch’s favorites), a better scoring, more explosive Ant should be able to run that play better, once he starts doing it.

I recently saw a graphic measuring on-ball and off-ball gravity. Gobert (and Jaden) are both negatives in both categories, so Ant is right - the defenders on Rudy and Jaden are getting a head start to double team them. But the way to beat that is to make the pass that both players can score on, and punish defenses for cheating up on you. That’s the pathway to get better looks, and stop being double-teamed.