Wolves vs Pelicans, 1/3, Game Thread

[gandlogo]

The last time these teams played the Wolves were missing Ant and the Pels were at full strength. This time the Wolves were at full strength and the Pels were missing a key bench player. The results were the same in both games - the Pels manhandled the Wolves. They have work to do. Hopefully that super negative view of the Wolves doesn't upset the post police.

[Calinks]

The way guys like Randle and Zion just tear through us is pretty alarming. We can complain about the refs all we want but at the end of the day if we can't defend bigs who are playing like that in the paint, it's our problem. I don't know why we are doing so poorly there.

If I am the Pelicans, I am probably praying to God I get the Wolves in a first-round match up. Seems like the best case scenario for Zion, he could average 40 in that series the way he gets to the line against us and the way we seemingly cannot do anything to stop him from laying up the ball in the paint.

[minimus]

The way guys like Randle and Zion just tear through us is pretty alarming. We can complain about the refs all we want but at the end of the day if we can't defend bigs who are playing like that in the paint, it's our problem. I don't know why we are doing so poorly there.

At some point in the game against NYK I thought whether a guy like Anunoby at PF can be the answer for us as well: one who can defend PF-SF-SG AND hit open threes.

[TimberKat]

The way guys like Randle and Zion just tear through us is pretty alarming. We can complain about the refs all we want but at the end of the day if we can't defend bigs who are playing like that in the paint, it's our problem. I don't know why we are doing so poorly there.

At some point in the game against NYK I thought whether a guy like Anunoby at PF can be the answer for us as well: one who can defend PF-SF-SG AND hit open threes.

That guy supposed to be JMcD

[moss_is_1]

The way guys like Randle and Zion just tear through us is pretty alarming. We can complain about the refs all we want but at the end of the day if we can't defend bigs who are playing like that in the paint, it's our problem. I don't know why we are doing so poorly there.

At some point in the game against NYK I thought whether a guy like Anunoby at PF can be the answer for us as well: one who can defend PF-SF-SG AND hit open threes.

That guy supposed to be JMcD

Jaden is too thin for guys like that. They can just bully him all night, especially with the whistle he gets.

[gandlogo]

At some point in the game against NYK I thought whether a guy like Anunoby at PF can be the answer for us as well: one who can defend PF-SF-SG AND hit open threes.

That guy supposed to be JMcD

Jaden is too thin for guys like that. They can just bully him all night, especially with the whistle he gets.

And KAT is too slow for those guys because they start a lot of their drives on the perimeter. Naz would seem to be a decent match with size and speed, but his defense has never improved (unlike his body and offense). Ant looked okay on Zion and doesn't give up too many inches.

[life_saver]

We need more consistent scoring from our guards/wings outside Ant

[winforlose]

The ninth defeat of the season arrives in 2024, and some want to blame Ant, others Towns, another McDaniels, Conley, and Naz... the curious thing is that no one wants to blame Finch.
It hasn't been two good games, but opponents play well too, and the Knicks and Pelicans have been at a high level.

Truth is there is more than enough blame to go around. Finch doesn’t adapt well and he has not been able to get guys to buy into the offense that he wants (lots of motion, ball movement, and unpredictability,) or to consistently box out. We see nights where guys buy in, and nights where they regress, but that lack of consistency needs to get ironed out before April. The first loss to the Pels was the refs, this one was a power outage game. They shot near 50% from 3 and were automatic when open in the corners. We couldn’t buy an open corner 3 to save our lives. Their stars midrange was falling, ours was not. The other thing people don’t appreciate enough is momentum. They had won 9 of their last 12 and were humming along. We had ugly won alongside some ugly losses in the past two weeks, and had dropped the NYK game in spectacular fashion.


As much as this loss sucks, we won the turnover battle, lost the offensive rebound battle by 1, and got some good looks. Sometimes power outage games happen, and when they do and the opponent has a supercharge game, the power outage team gets lit up.

[winforlose]

We need more consistent scoring from our guards/wings outside Ant

Correction, we need more consistent offense and play making to get the guards and wings going. Some of that from Ant.

[Klomp]

The ninth defeat of the season arrives in 2024, and some want to blame Ant, others Towns, another McDaniels, Conley, and Naz... the curious thing is that no one wants to blame Finch.
It hasn't been two good games, but opponents play well too, and the Knicks and Pelicans have been at a high level.

I was debating whether we needed to bring back the Fire Finch thread...

[Domejandro]

The 6 turnovers were bad tonight, but he also had absolutely no help whatsoever, from anyone he shared the court with.
Just guys clogging his driving lanes or standing there waiting for a pass.

11/22, 4/7, 9/10. 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

KAT and Gobert COMBINED for 11 rebounds and 2 assists.
Ant was also the only guy who had any success at all guarding Zion or Ingram.

I don't know how you can watch this game and blame Anthony Edwards for this loss.
He had a few very bad moments, but he was also the only guy who really did much of anything positive.

The problem is that his style of play sucks the offensive flow out of the entire team. Of course Anthony Edwards is going to put up points game-to-game, but he effectively nukes the entire flow of the offense with his over-dribbling, live-ball turnovers (which kill the defense), and foul-baiting (ditto). It's frustrating, because I keep seeing counting stats being cited on why he is a positive impact player, but it doesn't align with what I'm watching at all. The only person he seems to understand how to pass to (most of the time) is Mike Conley; outside of that, the offense is moving through sludge with him on the court.

Ant still has things he needs to work on, he has gotten better over the years, but he does regress back at times especially late in games. If you cant watch Ant's passion and his smiles as he just enjoys playing the game of basketball so much on the court and not enjoy watching him play, I'm not sure if basketball is the sport for you.

I don't like if it is trauma from watching a horrible franchise for decades, but some of you guys act like the ugly guy who finally gets his first girlfriend.

"Hey man, some of her spending habits seem kinda crazy."

"Are you saying I should break up with her?!?"

"No man, just something to keep an eye on long-term. Is she still yelling at you?"

"That doesn't matter, why even bring that up?"


Dumb scenario building aside, I don't watch basketball because I like a player's swagger. I enjoy watching good basketball, and I will continue to criticize play that is not conducive to winning. I largely like Anthony Edwards as a player, but his ball-hogging habits are bad for his development and negatively impact the ability for the rest of the team to contribute. My hope is that - given that he is twenty-two - he will continue to improve in the problematic areas.

[winforlose]

The problem is that his style of play sucks the offensive flow out of the entire team. Of course Anthony Edwards is going to put up points game-to-game, but he effectively nukes the entire flow of the offense with his over-dribbling, live-ball turnovers (which kill the defense), and foul-baiting (ditto). It's frustrating, because I keep seeing counting stats being cited on why he is a positive impact player, but it doesn't align with what I'm watching at all. The only person he seems to understand how to pass to (most of the time) is Mike Conley; outside of that, the offense is moving through sludge with him on the court.

Ant still has things he needs to work on, he has gotten better over the years, but he does regress back at times especially late in games. If you cant watch Ant's passion and his smiles as he just enjoys playing the game of basketball so much on the court and not enjoy watching him play, I'm not sure if basketball is the sport for you.

I don't like if it is trauma from watching a horrible franchise for decades, but some of you guys act like the ugly guy who finally gets his first girlfriend.

"Hey man, some of her spending habits seem kinda crazy."

"Are you saying I should break up with her?!?"

"No man, just something to keep an eye on long-term. Is she still yelling at you?"

"That doesn't matter, why even bring that up?"


Dumb scenario building aside, I don't watch basketball because I like a player's swagger. I enjoy watching good basketball, and I will continue to criticize play that is not conducive to winning. I largely like Anthony Edwards as a player, but his ball-hogging habits are bad for his development and negatively impact the ability for the rest of the team to contribute.

Thank you. I don’t know why more people can’t just admit that winning is great, but as a fan they enjoy watching good basketball. Everything else is second to this basic truth.

[thinktank]

Seems like we were winning when Ant was getting more assists.

A couple losses is all it took for him to abandon his distributing mindset.

How do guys like Luka and Trey average so many points yet still get a ton of assists? Ant’s gotta figure that out or it limits his ceiling.

[winforlose]

Seems like we were winning when Ant was getting more assists.

A couple losses is all it took for him to abandon his distributing mindset.

How do guys like Luka and Trey average so many points yet still get a ton of assists? Ant’s gotta figure that out or it limits his ceiling.

To be fair no one is saying Ant is even close to that level. Ant is 22, Luka is 24, Trae is 25, SGA is 25, ect… At this point in Ants career he is not a first or second tier all NBA player, and that is okay. What is not okay is for Ant to refuse to come out when Finch tries to sub him, or not following instructions when Finch tells him to cut the hero ball bull****. As long as Ant remains coachable he will get to his peak, but we are no where near that point yet.

[thinktank]

Seems like we were winning when Ant was getting more assists.

A couple losses is all it took for him to abandon his distributing mindset.

How do guys like Luka and Trey average so many points yet still get a ton of assists? Ant’s gotta figure that out or it limits his ceiling.

To be fair no one is saying Ant is even close to that level. Ant is 22, Luka is 24, Trae is 25, SGA is 25, ect… At this point in Ants career he is not a first or second tier all NBA player, and that is okay. What is not okay is for Ant to refuse to come out when Finch tries to sub him, or not following instructions when Finch tells him to cut the hero ball bull****. As long as Ant remains coachable he will get to his peak, but we are no where near that point yet.

Luka and Trey distributed a ton at 22.

[m2002brian]

I like how we are comparing a SG to Luka (pg), Trey (pg) and sga (pg)

[thinktank]

I like how we are comparing a SG to Luka (pg), Trey (pg) and sga (pg)

Conley is playing off ball a lot.

For Ant to reach his ceiling, he needs to get up to 8 or 9 assists a game. Shooting guard or not. He flirts with that style and then when the going gets tough he goes back to hunting hard for his shot. Well, the harder you hunt for your shot, the more passing lanes open.

Look at this game (rewatching it now). Ant is drawing plenty of defenders.

[Klomp]

For Ant to reach his ceiling, he needs to get up to 8 or 9 assists a game. Shooting guard or not.

Sure, he needs to average 8-9 assists in order to reach his ceiling of GOAT status. But it's also just fine if he doesn't become the GOAT.

[winforlose]

I like how we are comparing a SG to Luka (pg), Trey (pg) and sga (pg)

What is the difference? On ball guard is on ball guard.

[BlacJacMac]

I like how we are comparing a SG to Luka (pg), Trey (pg) and sga (pg)

What is the difference? On ball guard is on ball guard.

The difference is the other 3 grew up as passers. Its a new skill for Ant.