KCP can't guard Ant

[TimberKat]

This is from the most important game these teams played in the regular season. Game 80 for both teams, that decided 1-3 positions in the west ( we all know Denver lost that 1st in the west losing to Spars, but that is another story)
Game was played in Denver, KAT didn't play so result is not important here, something else is reason I brought it here

https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401585792

Jamal Murray added 20 points in 27 minutes and Michael Porter Jr. scored 18 for the Nuggets, who pulled away by holding Anthony Edwards without a bucket in the fourth quarter. Edwards led Minnesota with 25 points but was a non-factor in the fourth as Denver's reserves put on a show featuring Peyton Watson's six blocks and Christian Braun's rim-rattling dunks.
Edwards said Jokic kept blocking his way to the basket, so he had no choice but to dish and his teammates' shots just weren't falling: “He’s just there, so there’s nowhere for me to go," Edwards said.
We knew what this game was going to determine,” Edwards said. “If we won it, we knew we were going to possibly be the No. 1 seed, and if we lost it, we knew they’d possibly be the No. 1 seed. I think we cared before but now that we lost we can’t do nothing about it.

Denver find a way to slow Edwards down. On the other end of the court

Scoring 41 points to go with 11 rebounds and seven assists, Jokic made 16 of 20 shots against the NBA's best defense while being guarded most of the night by the league's top defender, Rudy Gobert, along with Naz Reid.

Twolves played the night before and traveled to DEN (Granted DEN also play the night before away). They were out of gas by the 4th qtr. Also been without Towns for a while. I think you will see a much higher energy Twolves team this time around and won't see Jokic scoring 40 pts.

[Shaka_Zulu]

Yup. He’s too big for him. Watson and Braun might be a better cover against him.

Edwards 6' 4", 225 lbs
KCP 6' 5", 204 lbs

Ant is a great player and few if any can slow him down but lets drop this dumb narrative how Ant is some giant compared to KCP.

It's not height, when they face, Ant is just too strong and explosive for KCP in that match up. KCP better against actual guards, while Ants style is like a ferocious and relentless wing. In regular season and even last years playoffs Ant was going off vs KCP.



While also you can't really put Gordon on Ant because that means Gordon is not under the basket where he does his most damage offensively and defensively. He is big and athletic, and can hang with big wings/forwards, but Ants pretty fast and plays mostly on perimeter, waste for Gordon to be patrolling perimeter most of game.

[Tottery]

No one on that team can stop Ant, but no one stopped AD and James either. What should make this a good series is the Wolves role players. They've been a little more consistent than the Lakers.

[Alatan]

Yup. He’s too big for him. Watson and Braun might be a better cover against him.

Edwards 6' 4", 225 lbs
KCP 6' 5", 204 lbs

Ant is a great player and few if any can slow him down but lets drop this dumb narrative how Ant is some giant compared to KCP.

It's not height, when they face, Ant is just too strong and explosive for KCP in that match up. KCP better against actual guards, while Ants style is like a ferocious and relentless wing. In regular season and even last years playoffs Ant was going off vs KCP.



While also you can't really put Gordon on Ant because that means Gordon is not under the basket where he does his most damage offensively and defensively. He is big and athletic, and can hang with big wings/forwards, but Ants pretty fast and plays mostly on perimeter, waste for Gordon to be patrolling perimeter most of game.

KCP is a better option than AG. People have this crazy belief how AG is some kind of lockdown defender while in actuality is is pretty average against guards. His advantages come against bigger stronger wings. Ant would just blow by him every time.
A healthy KCP is actually pretty fast and great at guarding fast players. He is also a good screen navigator and a master when it comes to stealing the ball from relaxed ballhandlers. The only problem is that KCP tweaked his ankle pretty badly last game so he might not be a 100% for the rest of the playoffs.

[Frank Dux]

KCP isn’t a lock down dude, but his strength is his discipline and effort on the defensive end.

Over seven games he’s not someone I’d be quick to disrespect. He can absolutely make a difference against Ant.

[bubonicphoniks]

Let's see what happens with Anthony Edwards. He had a great series against PHX.

I really like him but it's VERY trendy to potentially over rate him right now. He's about to see doubles like he's never seen before.

[AlexanderRight]

KCP is maybe quick enough but not strong enough. Aaron Gordon is definitely strong enough but not quick enough. Mike Malone got his homework cut out for him.

I'd send consistent doubles with Porter and KCP. Put Gordan on KAT. Force McDaniels/Walker/Gobert to swing the series.

[thinktank]

Yup. He’s too big for him. Watson and Braun might be a better cover against him.

Edwards 6' 4", 225 lbs
KCP 6' 5", 204 lbs

Ant is a great player and few if any can slow him down but lets drop this dumb narrative how Ant is some giant compared to KCP.

Ant plays like a laser quick 6’ 8’m’ guy. His hops are incredible.

[Ugly Duckling]

KCP is maybe quick enough but not strong enough. Aaron Gordon is definitely strong enough but not quick enough. Mike Malone got his homework cut out for him.

I'd send consistent doubles with Porter and KCP. Put Gordan on KAT. Force McDaniels/Walker/Gobert to swing the series.

I don't think KCP is faster than Gordon. In fact, I'm guessing it's the other way around. Gordon is the most athletic player in the game aside from maybe Ant himself. KCP is also 31 to Gordon's 28 and Ant's 22. No way KCP can stay in front of Ant. Not in the playoffs. Not now

[PistolPeteJR]

If it helps you sleep, Mike Conley played Jamal Murray twice in the playoff, Utah against Denver in 2020 (31.6 on 68% TS), last year Wolves against Denver (Murray 27 on 60% TS). He’s probably looking at Conley like food.

There is no way they put Conley on Murray. It’s going to be Ant with Conley on KCP.

[PistolPeteJR]

Anthony Davis just averaged 28/16/4 on 67 TS% (which is probably more than you could ask from Ant) and the Lakers still lost in 5. Nuggets don't have to shut down Ant to win. That said, Minnesota is a better team than the Lakers so I imagine they will have a much better chance.

Apples and oranges. Outside of AD and LeBron what did the Lakers have in terms of quality and consistency at the same time? Not much.

The Wolves cast >>> Lakers cast.

[Ugly Duckling]

Yeah not sure if Denver needs to stop Ant, if anything I'd be trying to encourage him to score at his usual 56% TS.

I'd be more concerned with reducing KAT and Gobert impact for this particular series.

Well like I said, it looks like no one is going to stop him consistently. But Denver absolutely needs to do as good of a job as they can/make it as tough for him as they can. You can't just let him have his way out there, especially late. It looks like this is going to be a hard fought series and come crunch time, you need someone who's big and athletic enough to at least make it tough on Ant. Someone strong who can get in the air and contest

[Ugly Duckling]

I mean really, no one can guard Ant. Just like no one can guard Jokic.

Gordon shut down Towns last year. It would be foolish to move him off of that assignment.

You clearly didn't read my post. KAT was just coming off of injury. MPJ is a good defender and taller than Gordon. KAT likes to shoot

[Ugly Duckling]

Pls tell me Malone is just hiding his game plan, because I can't think of anyone in the league who could potentially do a better job guarding Ant than Aaron Gordon.

I know Gordon isn't considered an elite defender, but no one can stop Ant and Gordon is athletic enough to stay close to him and make it as difficult as possible. Defense on Ant is going to have to be played in the air and KCP doesn't live up there.

https://youtu.be/w_fqDBPZXlQ?si=i4bQAZRL_14G63XM

That's not how defense works. Defense is played before Ant is in the air. There's a certain baseline of athleticism that is needed to be able to compete with those kind of guys. As long as that is given, other skills are what are truly key. It's the same reason Bruce Bowen was the primary defender on prime Kobe, Tmac, LBJ or why the Grizzlies stifled Blake Griffin with Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. None of those defenders were worried about challenging guys in the air.

Danny Green would be another example. He did a lot of the heavy lifting defensively alongside Kawhi against the likes of prime Westbrook, KD, LBJ, Wade etc. JJ Barea on LBJ might be another one, but that might be too extreme.
I could go on and on. Anyway, being a great raw athlete really isn't essential when it comes to defense.

That's a pretty bold statement. Defense is absolutely played in the air, especially with a player like Ant who spends so much time up there. His hang time is insane. The teams you mentioned didn't have an athlete like Aaron Gordon. That's the whole point of my post. Super rare opportunity could be squandered. But Malone seems smart so either he's holding his cards tight or will hopefully adjust.

Also, Ant still has a lot to prove and this is speculation, but he could be better than all the guys you mentioned. Nonetheless, Gordon is significantly more athletic than KCP, which should make a difference when staying with Ant before/as he takes off. He's also longer

[Ugly Duckling]

if gordon takes on ant, i beleve mpj will rotate to kat, not kcp like most people think. also, why can't kcp guard ant?

yes which should be better given mpj's a good, longer defender and kat likes to shoot. like i said, it looks like no one can really guard ant, but kcp is significantly less athletic and almost a decade older

[Ugly Duckling]

No, but on the other hand, can anyone from the Wolves guard Jamal Murray (who is a killer in the playoffs) ?

Going to be an all time classic series I am sure of it.

Nuggets in 7.

Ant

[Shaka_Zulu]

Edwards 6' 4", 225 lbs
KCP 6' 5", 204 lbs

Ant is a great player and few if any can slow him down but lets drop this dumb narrative how Ant is some giant compared to KCP.

It's not height, when they face, Ant is just too strong and explosive for KCP in that match up. KCP better against actual guards, while Ants style is like a ferocious and relentless wing. In regular season and even last years playoffs Ant was going off vs KCP.



While also you can't really put Gordon on Ant because that means Gordon is not under the basket where he does his most damage offensively and defensively. He is big and athletic, and can hang with big wings/forwards, but Ants pretty fast and plays mostly on perimeter, waste for Gordon to be patrolling perimeter most of game.

KCP is a better option than AG. People have this crazy belief how AG is some kind of lockdown defender while in actuality is is pretty average against guards. His advantages come against bigger stronger wings. Ant would just blow by him every time.
A healthy KCP is actually pretty fast and great at guarding fast players. He is also a good screen navigator and a master when it comes to stealing the ball from relaxed ballhandlers. The only problem is that KCP tweaked his ankle pretty badly last game so he might not be a 100% for the rest of the playoffs.

On Ant poa defender I agree, Gordon is a bad choice , I was trying to be diplomatic by saying he is waste on the perimeter as a rim runner post entry wing defender. He is too slow for that task. Atleast KCP will put in the hustle nonstop chasing effort in perimeter.



But likes of Chuck who never seen a Wolves Nuggets game is saying on live tv Gordon will defend Ant this series lol.

[AleksandarN]

Anthony Davis just averaged 28/16/4 on 67 TS% (which is probably more than you could ask from Ant) and the Lakers still lost in 5. Nuggets don't have to shut down Ant to win. That said, Minnesota is a better team than the Lakers so I imagine they will have a much better chance.

I think Jokic can rest more on defense since he will be guarding Golbert than in the Lakers season. Watch him run more in transition. That will be key for the Nuggets. They will get a lot of miss matches in transition

[watpho71]

I'm not sure why we are calling out KCP here, who is an above-average defender. Denver knows how to play defense as a unit, you don't go back-to-back without playing playoff team defense. Edwards is a great player, this should be a very good series. Minnesota might have a slight advantage with their depth and bench play, but Denver is too clutch. You have three dudes with ice water in their veins that eventually are going to beat you.

[GoldenAntlers]

Just saw Ant cook Gordon while reading this.