Official Anthony Edwards Thread

[Domejandro]

Just shouting out all the haters from the past. You were told this was gonna happen, you didn’t wanna listen, you kept trashing a 19yo with no serious training camp in his 1st 2 months as a pro, and now this is happening. You know who you are.

Most of the "haters" are effectively just people likely myself who identified the obvious areas where Anthony Edwards had to grow as a player. For example, if his rebounding stayed anemic, his development would not have accelerated at the rate that it is currently. I have absolutely no problem with anything I have said on the topic of Anthony Edwards, and I am someone who has been openly critical of various aspects of his game.

[Dewey]

Just shouting out all the haters from the past. You were told this was gonna happen, you didn’t wanna listen, you kept trashing a 19yo with no serious training camp in his 1st 2 months as a pro, and now this is happening. You know who you are.

Haha ... as the world turns ...

We live in a world of the “willing and able”, and moving forward, it’s gonna be about his willingness to engage and contribute to winning basketball just like any other player. The part that bothers me most about this team is we do not have “that player/leader” who can direct the orchestra on a consistent basis. Ant needs that. DLo and KAT just aren’t the type to raise the bar under tough times - that’s the type of player I seek from the 2021 draft. That guy that’s never gonna lose - can be beaten - but will never lose ... Finch must get that guy.

[FinnTheHuman]

Just shouting out all the haters from the past. You were told this was gonna happen, you didn’t wanna listen, you kept trashing a 19yo with no serious training camp in his 1st 2 months as a pro, and now this is happening. You know who you are.

Most of the "haters" are effectively just people likely myself who identified the obvious areas where Anthony Edwards had to grow as a player. For example, if his rebounding stayed anemic, his development would not have accelerated at the rate that it is currently. I have absolutely no problem with anything I have said on the topic of Anthony Edwards, and I am someone who has been openly critical of various aspects of his game.

I think you just lacked the ability to realize how obvious it was that Ant was gonna overcome issues such as rebounding. A guy who oozed intelligence in much more complex aspects of basketball was hardly gonna have trouble realizing how to become a better rebounder, but that just flew over your head. A lot of people had these seemingly rational arguments shoving skepticism down everyone’s throat, but those posts just screamed ‘defensive mechanism’ because things didn’t work out at all with the majority of our high picks in the last decade or so. And it was pretty annoying to read all that, because it was obvious we nailed it with Ant the same way Pelicans nailed it with AD or Zion or smth.

Anyway, there were many guys who were not just wrong to be skeptical, but simply emotionally unstable haters who were trashing the kid and crying that we messed up by not drafting Ball or Wiseman, 2 to 8 weeks into the season.

Look at page 27 for example, read the 3 pages starting from there, it's freaking pathetic what takes people were having. Saying he was the worst player in the league because a couple of advanced metrics put him as worst. He was barely 19 at the time, playing on the worst bench unit in the league. A lot of these 'educated' posters are just prisoners of result-oriented thinking and not watching players actually play basketball and envisioning their future based on how they seem to think and how they decide to move on the court. A lot of people just have this reductionist approach to things not only in basketball in order to find some semblance of control, and that just plain sucks.

[Worm Guts]

I'm not a big fan of "I told you so", and I still think it's a little premature. Let's see Ant have an All-Star season on a playoff caliber team before we tell everyone how wrong they were about him.

[FinnTheHuman]

I'm not a big fan of "I told you so", and I still think it's a little premature. Let's see Ant have an All-Star season on a playoff caliber team before we tell everyone how wrong they were about him.

To me, this take you’re having is wrong too. It’s not premature. He’s bound to be an all-star, and only injuries, mental issues or monstars stealing his talent can stop him from getting there. He’s simply in the ‘can’t fail’ category because of a couple of elite qualities and being at least decent at every facet of the game, so it’s time to think how to most effectively build the team around him instead of wondering if he’ll pan out.

[TheZachAttack]

Slightly off topic - I find it interesting the posters who are still posting in this thread and on this board after this stretch post-all-star break and especially the last 10 games or so compared to prior to the all star break.

[Worm Guts]

I'm not a big fan of "I told you so", and I still think it's a little premature. Let's see Ant have an All-Star season on a playoff caliber team before we tell everyone how wrong they were about him.

To me, this take you’re having is wrong too. It’s not premature. He’s bound to be an all-star, and only injuries, mental issues or monstars stealing his talent can stop him from getting there. He’s simply in the ‘can’t fail’ category because of a couple of elite qualities and being at least decent at every facet of the game, so it’s time to think how to most effectively build the team around him instead of wondering if he’ll pan out.

Depending on what you mean by mental issues, I don't think that is an insignificant concern.

[TheZachAttack]

Edwards stats since the all-star-break (30 GP):

Line - 35 MPG - 23.7 PPG - 5.5 RBDs - 3.2 ASTs - 2.7 TOs - 2.0 STOCKs

Shooting splits - 51.5% 2 PT FG% - 35.2% 3 PT FG% (8.2 ATT/g) - 75.2% FT% (5.0 ATT/g)

Advanced - 28% usage - 55.7 TS% - 52.3% eFG% - 61% FG% inside 5 FT

[FinnTheHuman]

I'm not a big fan of "I told you so", and I still think it's a little premature. Let's see Ant have an All-Star season on a playoff caliber team before we tell everyone how wrong they were about him.

To me, this take you’re having is wrong too. It’s not premature. He’s bound to be an all-star, and only injuries, mental issues or monstars stealing his talent can stop him from getting there. He’s simply in the ‘can’t fail’ category because of a couple of elite qualities and being at least decent at every facet of the game, so it’s time to think how to most effectively build the team around him instead of wondering if he’ll pan out.

Depending on what you mean by mental issues, I don't think that is an insignificant concern.

What are the real concerns there? I don’t see it.

[Worm Guts]

To me, this take you’re having is wrong too. It’s not premature. He’s bound to be an all-star, and only injuries, mental issues or monstars stealing his talent can stop him from getting there. He’s simply in the ‘can’t fail’ category because of a couple of elite qualities and being at least decent at every facet of the game, so it’s time to think how to most effectively build the team around him instead of wondering if he’ll pan out.

Depending on what you mean by mental issues, I don't think that is an insignificant concern.

What are the real concerns there? I don’t see it.

Just having the right mindset towards winning and not getting caught up in your own hype. Ant doesn't exactly seem like a humble player.

[FinnTheHuman]

Depending on what you mean by mental issues, I don't think that is an insignificant concern.

What are the real concerns there? I don’t see it.

Just having the right mindset towards winning and not getting caught up in your own hype. Ant doesn't exactly seem like a humble player.

Out of all the top 20 players in this league, how many of them have ever seemed humble? Maybe three. Thinking that you’re the **** basically comes with the territory.

[Worm Guts]

What are the real concerns there? I don’t see it.

Just having the right mindset towards winning and not getting caught up in your own hype. Ant doesn't exactly seem like a humble player.

Out of all the top 20 players in this league, how many of them have ever seemed humble? Maybe three. Thinking that you’re the **** basically comes with the territory.

You don't have to be humble, but you do have to do the work and understand the game. Being arrogant doesn't always derail, but it can.

And really, I'm just putting emphasis on something actually happening before telling people how wrong they are. I've just seen it backfire too many times. That doesn't mean I want to sit here and debate what conceivable possibilities there are that Ant might fail. I want to see him succeed.

[life_saver]

For me, one thing which was noticeable in yesterday's game was Ant's willingness to pass to open shooter even when he was red hot..he didn't really force many shots/take tough shots yesterday except for 1 or 2 3's..a big difference when compared to early season where he was often forcing lot of bad shots instead of passing to open shooter

[Playmaker17]

I'm not a big fan of "I told you so", and I still think it's a little premature. Let's see Ant have an All-Star season on a playoff caliber team before we tell everyone how wrong they were about him.

No, it’s not too early. This site was grotesque. If anything was “too early”, it was too early for the Minn fanbase to absolutely crush the young man because he talks a bit different. I’ve never seen a forum destroy a 19 year old the way this one did. Ant is now and will continue to be and improve as a phenom.

[Klomp]

For me, one thing which was noticeable in yesterday's game was Ant's willingness to pass to open shooter even when he was red hot..he didn't really force many shots/take tough shots yesterday except for 1 or 2 3's..a big difference when compared to early season where he was often forcing lot of bad shots instead of passing to open shooter

I feel like he'll play better as we get better talent around him. Won't feel pressure to be the man.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Just shouting out all the haters from the past. You were told this was gonna happen, you didn’t wanna listen, you kept trashing a 19yo with no serious training camp in his 1st 2 months as a pro, and now this is happening. You know who you are.

Most of the "haters" are effectively just people likely myself who identified the obvious areas where Anthony Edwards had to grow as a player. For example, if his rebounding stayed anemic, his development would not have accelerated at the rate that it is currently. I have absolutely no problem with anything I have said on the topic of Anthony Edwards, and I am someone who has been openly critical of various aspects of his game.

I stand by everything I wrote, too.

I critiqued Edwards for parts of his game that were struggling... and praised him for other things. Don't know why one specific poster thought it was inflammatory at the time, nor do I know why it would be considered inflammatory today.

I chalked it up to disingenuous posting and moved on.

[Neeva]

For me, one thing which was noticeable in yesterday's game was Ant's willingness to pass to open shooter even when he was red hot..he didn't really force many shots/take tough shots yesterday except for 1 or 2 3's..a big difference when compared to early season where he was often forcing lot of bad shots instead of passing to open shooter

I feel like he'll play better as we get better talent around him. Won't feel pressure to be the man.

Seeing him get 6/7 assists I can see him
Being a harden like PG in the future tbh. Another reason I want Jalen Green. That would be an electric backcourt.

[FinnTheHuman]

Just shouting out all the haters from the past. You were told this was gonna happen, you didn’t wanna listen, you kept trashing a 19yo with no serious training camp in his 1st 2 months as a pro, and now this is happening. You know who you are.

Most of the "haters" are effectively just people likely myself who identified the obvious areas where Anthony Edwards had to grow as a player. For example, if his rebounding stayed anemic, his development would not have accelerated at the rate that it is currently. I have absolutely no problem with anything I have said on the topic of Anthony Edwards, and I am someone who has been openly critical of various aspects of his game.

I stand by everything I wrote, too.

I critiqued Edwards for parts of his game that were struggling... and praised him for other things. Don't know why one specific poster thought it was inflammatory at the time, nor do I know why it would be considered inflammatory today.

I chalked it up to disingenuous posting and moved on.

You said he was an unwilling passer, bringing up his asst/shots taken numbers in some span of 4-5 games where he had a lot of shots and zero assists, I kept telling you that he was hitting open guys with passes a lot, but that they were missing shots as there were no shooters in that lineup, because I actually watched those games. You refused to accept the context I was providing you with, and kept parroting your zero assists/lots of shots argument. Now you behave like Ant actually learned how to pass in a couple of months, while he actually knew how to pass all along, and it was evident to anybody who actually watched games instead of box score watching.

And I didn't attribute it to your disingenuousness but to your lack of ability to analyze properly and perhaps to your fear to get your hopes up about another rookie that could potentially bust on the Wolves. And I pointed that out, but you didn't try to consider it.

But sure, keep living in your dream world where your criticism was actually on point and where I was and still am disingenuous, and you'll learn nothing from all this.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Most of the "haters" are effectively just people likely myself who identified the obvious areas where Anthony Edwards had to grow as a player. For example, if his rebounding stayed anemic, his development would not have accelerated at the rate that it is currently. I have absolutely no problem with anything I have said on the topic of Anthony Edwards, and I am someone who has been openly critical of various aspects of his game.

I stand by everything I wrote, too.

I critiqued Edwards for parts of his game that were struggling... and praised him for other things. Don't know why one specific poster thought it was inflammatory at the time, nor do I know why it would be considered inflammatory today.

I chalked it up to disingenuous posting and moved on.

You said he was an unwilling passer, bringing up his asst/shots taken numbers in some span of 4-5 games where he had a lot of shots and zero assists, I kept telling you that he was hitting open guys with passes a lot, but that they were missing shots as there were no shooters in that lineup, because I actually watched those games. You refused to accept the context I was providing you with, and kept parroting your zero assists/lots of shots argument. Now you behave like Ant actually learned how to pass in a couple of months, while he actually knew how to pass all along, and it was evident to anybody who actually watched games instead of box score watching.

And I didn't attribute it to your disingenuousness but to your lack of ability to analyze properly and perhaps to your fear to get your hopes up about another rookie that could potentially bust on the Wolves. And I pointed that out, but you didn't try to consider it.

But sure, keep living in your dream world where your criticism was actually on point and where I was and still am disingenuous, and you'll learn nothing from all this.

Yikes.

[winforlose]

I stand by everything I wrote, too.

I critiqued Edwards for parts of his game that were struggling... and praised him for other things. Don't know why one specific poster thought it was inflammatory at the time, nor do I know why it would be considered inflammatory today.

I chalked it up to disingenuous posting and moved on.

You said he was an unwilling passer, bringing up his asst/shots taken numbers in some span of 4-5 games where he had a lot of shots and zero assists, I kept telling you that he was hitting open guys with passes a lot, but that they were missing shots as there were no shooters in that lineup, because I actually watched those games. You refused to accept the context I was providing you with, and kept parroting your zero assists/lots of shots argument. Now you behave like Ant actually learned how to pass in a couple of months, while he actually knew how to pass all along, and it was evident to anybody who actually watched games instead of box score watching.

And I didn't attribute it to your disingenuousness but to your lack of ability to analyze properly and perhaps to your fear to get your hopes up about another rookie that could potentially bust on the Wolves. And I pointed that out, but you didn't try to consider it.

But sure, keep living in your dream world where your criticism was actually on point and where I was and still am disingenuous, and you'll learn nothing from all this.

Yikes.

I imagine I am one of your so called haters given how critical I have been of Ant this season. Before I get to the meat of my response I would invite you to re-examine my early posts as I did mention all of the factors working against him including lack of proper offseason and funky schedule leading to less practice time.

The problem with Ant, (yes there is still a problem,) is that he is still too comfortable jump shooting. I love that his shot is falling a bit better now, but this is not where he will feast long term. Ant is still shy about physical contact and does not do as well when guarded by physical defenders. He needs to work on his handle as he sometimes loses it off his own foot or is easily stripped. Ant still needs to gamble less and do a better job on defense. I could continue, but there is no point. Ant is finding success which is a positive for the wolves. Ant will hopefully have a great offseason and improve his trouble areas.

I think it is important to address one final point. Hating a player and calling them out on the things they need to improve are too different things. I hate Kevin Durant for going to GSW and cementing the era of super teams. I am pleased when Durant has a bad game or injury for this reason. I don’t feel any positive emotions when Ant underperforms. I want Ant to grow and to be held accountable as well as to hold himself accountable for his mistakes and fix them.