Should Ant be benched in crunch time when he plays hero ball?

[winforlose]

Topic

[shangrila]

Depends on the situation more than the opponent

[winforlose]

Depends on the situation more than the opponent

Added

[MN7725]

he's the only player that can get a decent shot off in half court a playoff type clutch situation (game slowed down, opponent locked in on D, high intensity)

which to me is the Wolves biggest weakness, lack of "bucket getters" that can create in those scenarios

think the better option is to lose games, and he is the reason they lose, probably the only way to change bad habits, having that humiliation, as long as the player is self aware

getting benched probably just pisses a player off more than it teaches them a lesson

[winforlose]

he's the only player that can get a decent shot off in half court a playoff type clutch situation (game slowed down, opponent locked in on D, high intensity)

which to me is the Wolves biggest weakness, lack of "bucket getters" that can create in those scenarios

think the better option is to lose games, and he is the reason they lose, probably the only way to change bad habits, having that humiliation, as long as the player is self aware

getting benched probably just pisses a player off more than it teaches them a lesson

His clutch numbers are bad, the offense grinds to halt when he refuses to move the ball. The offensive rhythm dying makes guys less aggressive on the defensive end, and Finch has noted repeatedly that Mike should be on ball in crunch time. It might piss Ant off to be benched, but it is the difference between winning and losing tonight and several other games. It might well be the difference between winning and losing a playoff series.

[Loaf_of_bread]

A coach should always have control. If he is benching a player to prove a point, he already lost.

[MN7725]

he's the only player that can get a decent shot off in half court a playoff type clutch situation (game slowed down, opponent locked in on D, high intensity)

which to me is the Wolves biggest weakness, lack of "bucket getters" that can create in those scenarios

think the better option is to lose games, and he is the reason they lose, probably the only way to change bad habits, having that humiliation, as long as the player is self aware

getting benched probably just pisses a player off more than it teaches them a lesson

His clutch numbers are bad, the offense grinds to halt when he refuses to move the ball. The offensive rhythm dying makes guys less aggressive on the defensive end, and Finch has noted repeatedly that Mike should be on ball in crunch time. It might piss Ant off to be benched, but it is the difference between winning and losing tonight and several other games. It might well be the difference between winning and losing a playoff series.

benching might work, might get a message across, I'm not saying it won't, there is a history of that in the NBA

I do know what works in the playoffs, and if the Wolves find some offensive rhythm that is successful that doesn't involve ANT being the main decision maker, ball handler, its pretty likely it won't translate to the playoffs

its just a different game, and ANT is the only player that has the skillset for what works in the playoffs

its not great "basketball" in clutch games in competitive playoff series, its whose hero ball player is better

but again, I totally concede that bench could be a way of getting that message across, but isn't what I would choose

I would choose ANT failing repeatedly during the regular season, and calling him out that his decision making is what is going wrong (like Finch did explicitly post-game), rather than try to remove him from the process

[shrink]

No. If we’re to become anything, Ant needs to figure these situations out.

I hate that he refuses to pass, but he has to learn when to pass and when to score, and it’s best that he’s getting reps in February.

[TwolvesFanRome]

He seems to me can't control those situation yet.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

For me depend on the situation. Sometimes you need a wake up call. I'm also very worry about the connection KAT-ANT wich is not good at all. KAT improve a lot his connection with Rudy, with Mike but it seems they are not complementary to each others. Considering how much effort KAT make to change his game, i think ANT attitude will be a problem soon. KAT will get annoyed soon and i know Mike is already.

[shrink]

For me depend on the situation. Sometimes you need a wake up call. I'm also very worry about the connection KAT-ANT wich is not good at all. KAT improve a lot his connection with Rudy, with Mike but it seems they are not complementary to each others. Considering how much effort KAT make to change his game, i think ANT attitude will be a problem soon. KAT will get annoyed soon and i know Mike is already.

Yes, and I think Rudy could get annoyed soon too. I only caught the final five minutes of last night’s game, and there were several times where Rudy set a great pick, rolled to the basket and got open, and Ant didn’t find him. Worse, opponents know this, and Rudy’s defender stays on Ant so he’s trying to shoot with 2-3 defenders on him. There wasn’t any bad body language from Rudy, but I had plenty of it myself at home watching.

Ant has the great ability to make difficult shots sometime, but his inability to use Gobert and Towns to his advantage makes the game so much harder for himself. Right now, it seems like at the beginning of the play he decides whether he is going to shoot or pass, rather than react to what the defense does.

But, we need to keep reminding ourselves that he’s very young, and he knows this is the part of his game that needs to grow. I trust Ant’s willingness to improve, and I think this will come - I just hope it’s come by the time we reach the playoffs.

[TimberKat]

The first step to break the bad habit is not to chew up the entire clock. Don't bring the ball up casually. Get moving quick swing the ball if you can't find anything with 10+ seconds on the clock. That way Towns or Conley maybe still can do something or swing back to him for a pull up 3. We also need another quick trigger on the outside or someone else who can drive to the basket. So they double Ant, the other side will have driving room

[Dewey]

This is dumb … if he’s playing hero ball and it’s costing the team losses, then you fire the coach who’s enabling it to happen. Not rocket science.

[Note30]

he's the only player that can get a decent shot off in half court a playoff type clutch situation (game slowed down, opponent locked in on D, high intensity)

which to me is the Wolves biggest weakness, lack of "bucket getters" that can create in those scenarios

think the better option is to lose games, and he is the reason they lose, probably the only way to change bad habits, having that humiliation, as long as the player is self aware

getting benched probably just pisses a player off more than it teaches them a lesson

His clutch numbers are bad, the offense grinds to halt when he refuses to move the ball. The offensive rhythm dying makes guys less aggressive on the defensive end, and Finch has noted repeatedly that Mike should be on ball in crunch time. It might piss Ant off to be benched, but it is the difference between winning and losing tonight and several other games. It might well be the difference between winning and losing a playoff series.

You ever think it might be because Ant is the only real option on offense in crunchtime?

Gobert and McDaniels are dead weight. Mike could handle it if he isn't super gassed and it's never been his strong suit.

KAT could theoretically hang but he doesn't have the ball handling skills to pull this off.

The issue is that hero ball is happening because our offense has no true constant. There isn't one play ort set we could run to get bucket every time.

[winforlose]

he's the only player that can get a decent shot off in half court a playoff type clutch situation (game slowed down, opponent locked in on D, high intensity)

which to me is the Wolves biggest weakness, lack of "bucket getters" that can create in those scenarios

think the better option is to lose games, and he is the reason they lose, probably the only way to change bad habits, having that humiliation, as long as the player is self aware

getting benched probably just pisses a player off more than it teaches them a lesson

His clutch numbers are bad, the offense grinds to halt when he refuses to move the ball. The offensive rhythm dying makes guys less aggressive on the defensive end, and Finch has noted repeatedly that Mike should be on ball in crunch time. It might piss Ant off to be benched, but it is the difference between winning and losing tonight and several other games. It might well be the difference between winning and losing a playoff series.

You ever think it might be because Ant is the only real option on offense in crunchtime?

Gobert and McDaniels are dead weight. Mike could handle it if he isn't super gassed and it's never been his strong suit.

KAT could theoretically hang but he doesn't have the ball handling skills to pull this off.

The issue is that hero ball is happening because our offense has no true constant. There isn't one play ort set we could run to get bucket every time.

My simple answer to that is no. No I don’t think it, no I don’t believe it, no it isn’t true, and for good measure and just to be clear NO. If you truly believe that then we should lose every game Ant doesn’t play or plays badly. Yet we won plenty of both. Ant doesn’t just ball hog and make bad decisions, he cools down the other offensive players by denying them touches and shots. Moreover, when guys know they don’t get to play offense, they tend to get sloppy on defense. If Ant played his 4th quarter style in quarters 1-3 we would be a play in team at best.

[Clav]

No, optically it's bad, and he does generate pretty good offense, can take over games. A couple of bad performances don't define Edwards recent poor clutch performances. He needs to trust his teammates a bit more, but we cannot bench him because then the opposition will be focused on KAT and Conley like glue, forcing NAW or JMac to shoot. We need Ant to shoot at times, just a little more clarity with his decisions in-game

[Domejandro]

It doesn't need to be a humiliating "benching", just take him out from the eight minute mark to the four minute mark to reset the offense and give him some rest for the final few minutes.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

It doesn't need to be a humiliating "benching", just take him out from the eight minute mark to the four minute mark to reset the offense and give him some rest for the final few minutes.

I totally agree. Sit him 4 or 5 min , talk to him in a positive way. And let him come back strong. He is smart, just sometimes loose focus and need to re oriented. But the issue has to be fixed soon or it make break the group harmony.

[Dalvin]

It doesn't need to be a humiliating "benching", just take him out from the eight minute mark to the four minute mark to reset the offense and give him some rest for the final few minutes.

There was a game earlier when Finch did this to Ant. I didn't know why he didn't do it this game

[minimus]

Please name another young star, who was benched because of his mistakes