All Things 2024-25 Minnesota Timberwolves In-Season Thread

Donate To GopherHole
Ant has 26 at the half tonight.

The other 4 starters have a combined 7 points.....how is that even possible.....oh, that is right, no one can dribble or get by anyone.

Damn, that's just an unreal stat. 7 points from four starters in a half.
 


So is this it? Will someone be traded or a coach fired or a starting lineup change? Maybe I am just not a smart basketball person, but something appears to be broken inside the organization right now.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
So is this it? Will someone be traded or a coach fired or a starting lineup change? Maybe I am just not a smart basketball person, but something appears to be broken inside the organization right now.
Click to expand...
They started down this path when Finch couldn't figure out to stop Memphis from going on insurmountable runs and getting destroyed by Memphis on the boards during the playoffs, resulting in them overpaying massively overpaying for Gobert, who's just killing it tonight with an impressive 6 rebounds to go along with no points and no blocks.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
So is this it? Will someone be traded or a coach fired or a starting lineup change? Maybe I am just not a smart basketball person, but something appears to be broken inside the organization right now.
Click to expand...
Good question. Even if we could trade Rudy (we can't until after the season because of his recent extension), who plays C? It sure isn't Naz. And who wants a no-defense, chucker like Randle with his Player Option complicating things? Nobody.

I'm not sure this team even makes a WC Play-in tourney spot. Maybe we get lucky in the Lottery? Oh wait...

Somehow, the Knicks FO found a way to pay KAT even with big contracts for Brunson, Anunoby and Bridges. We've got $95M tied up in Randle, Rudy and Jaden this season who along with Conley, all combined for seven (7) points in the 1st Half tonight.
 



51points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, and 6 turnovers

Granted, you can't get assists when no others can score, but can you even say he had a good game?
 





fan of Ray Williams said:
Down by 18 in the 4th quarter with about 5 minutes left and Finch still can’t go more than 8 deep?
Click to expand...
Minot was ill or something but I get your point.

Had we not made the Towns trade, we'd be playing 7, with Rudy and Conley aging before our eyes and McDaniels sucking as always.

In some ways, I don't think the trade really matters. We'd be a few games better but not that much.
 

kg21 said:
Minot was ill or something but I get your point.

Had we not made the Towns trade, we'd be playing 7, with Rudy and Conley aging before our eyes and McDaniels sucking as always.

In some ways, I don't think the trade really matters. We'd be a few games better but not that much.
Click to expand...
I don't think it matters. KAT is having a great season, but I'm guessing that has a lot to do with him playing with an elite PG (who is averaging a career high 7.7 assists per game). Don't think broken and beaten down Mike Conley is the driver and disher that Brunson is.
 

kg21 said:
Minot was ill or something but I get your point.

Had we not made the Towns trade, we'd be playing 7, with Rudy and Conley aging before our eyes and McD
In some ways, I don't think the trade really matters. We'd be a few games better but not that much.
Click to expand...
You might be right but it's impossible to assign a tangible value to team chemistry and locker room cohesion. KAT was beloved by Ant and the rest of the guys.

Meanwhile, KAT is having a career year in stats and offensive efficiency for the Knicks who play a shorter bench than even we do.
 




A couple of stats:

* Ant scored 53 points tonight and still was a -3 for the game

* Including tonight, our starting PG (Conley) is -70 in his last 10 games

The KAT trade, Gobert extension, Jaden extension, Conley extension and trading an Unprotected FRP for a diminutive PG that can't even find the court despite our current dumpster fire of a season thus far.

All of this has been done by Connelly in the last six (6) months and rumors are he's walking away from the organization at the end if the season if he's not fired before then. And keep in mind...Randle, Naz and NAW can ALL walk at the end of the year without any compensation. Good stuff, Tim.

At least we don't have any of our own tradable FRP's in the next nine (9) years that he can piss away before his inevitable departure.

2005 is right, Tiki...after our great run in 2004, the Wolves didn't make the Playoffs again until 2018.
 

Slim Tubby said:
A couple of stats:

* Ant scored 53 points tonight and still was a -3 for the game

* Including tonight, our starting PG (Conley) is -70 in his last 10 games

The KAT trade, Gobert extension, Jaden extension, Conley extension and trading an Unprotected FRP for a diminutive PG that can't even find the court despite our current dumpster fire of a season thus far.

All of this has been done by Connelly in the last six (6) months and rumors are he's walking away from the organization at the end if the season if he's not fired before then. And keep in mind...Randle, Naz and NAW can ALL walk at the end of the year without any compensation. Good stuff, Tim.

At least we don't have any of our own tradable FRP's in the next nine (9) years that he can piss away before his inevitable departure.

2005 is right, Tiki...after our great run in 2004, the Wolves didn't make the Playoffs again until 2018.
Click to expand...
Sir, can I interest you in a trade KAT vs. McDaniels poll vote?

The first ones free😃
 
Last edited:

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Sir, can I interest you in a trade KAT vs. McDaniels poll vote?

The first ones free😃
Click to expand...
I voted for Jaden. Instead, we traded the best shooting, versatile big man in the league who actually wanted to play in MIN.

We kept the guy with no reliable offense but is a good defender except he can't stay out of foul trouble long enough to stay on the court to play defense.

Good stuff.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Then who closes out close games on this team both this year and last year?
Click to expand...
The defense(last year) this year? We mostly haven't. Its been bad.

Ant entered tonight shooting 39% and 25% from 3 in clutch time. More Tos than assists and a -1.9 +/- He has not been a good clutch player. He can be kid is special.

Tonight though. This was a killer Ant. This was closing out a game. It wasn't just one shot either. Hit 2 to make it close entering the final 4 minutes. Had a great dime. Then hit the 2 kill shots

We need more of THIS.
 

MUgopher32 said:
The defense(last year) this year? We mostly haven't. Its been bad.

Ant entered tonight shooting 39% and 25% from 3 in clutch time. More Tos than assists and a -1.9 +/- He has not been a good clutch player. He can be kid is special.

Tonight though. This was a killer Ant. This was closing out a game. It wasn't just one shot either. Hit 2 to make it close entering the final 4 minutes. Had a great dime. Then hit the 2 kill shots

We need more of THIS.
Click to expand...

Ant has closed out many games the last two years. For you to continue to say otherwise is complete nonsense.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Ant has closed out many games the last two years. For you to continue to say otherwise is complete nonsense.
Click to expand...

I am literally providing you stats.

He is not good in the clutch. He has said it himself

That does not mean he's never done it. But he is poor in the clutch statistically and from his own mouth no matter how many times you try and say otherwise
 


MUgopher32 said:
I am literally providing you stats.

He is not good in the clutch. He has said it himself

That does not mean he's never done it. But he is poor in the clutch statistically and from his own mouth no matter how many times you try and say otherwise
Click to expand...

Ant is always hard on himself, that means absolutely nothing. Ant is the only person on this team who can close, and he did it for a Western conference finals team last year. Your clutch stats are if Ant is playing 1 on 5, and sometimes he pretty much is. It doesn't tell the whole story.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Ant is always hard on himself, that means absolutely nothing. Ant is the only person on this team who can close, and he did it for a Western conference finals team last year. Your clutch stats are if Ant is playing 1 on 5, and sometimes he pretty much is. It doesn't tell the whole story.
Click to expand...
They do tho haha. Advanced stats take everything into account.

Hell even last year when the wolves were good. As a team they were one of the worst teams in the nba in crunch time.

It simply hasn’t been a strength of Ant. No matter how many times you try and say differently.
 

Apparently Bradley Beal is on the block now; he’s one of only two NBA Players to have a no trade clause, the other, of course, is LeBron.

He’s also making $l10M the next two years, joining Kirko Chainz’s agent in that HOF.
 
Last edited:

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Ant has closed out many games the last two years. For you to continue to say otherwise is complete nonsense.
Click to expand...
It's always high drama when Ant does successfully close a game because he's a super charismatic player. He knows how to engage the crowd, home or away. However, the numbers are accurate. I was at the game Sunday night and he was pulling those shots out of his ass. Vintage Ant. Crowd going wild. Statistically, it doesn't tend to go our way because he plays hero ball, particularly at the end.
 

MUgopher32 said:
They do tho haha. Advanced stats take everything into account.

Hell even last year when the wolves were good. As a team they were one of the worst teams in the nba in crunch time.

It simply hasn’t been a strength of Ant. No matter how many times you try and say differently.
Click to expand...

Again that's nonsense. It's not difficult to pull the clutch stats.

Ant was tied for 14th in points in the last 5 minutes of the game last season. Their record was 18-14, not even close to the worst.

Kevin Durant had one more point than he did, and the Suns were 18-21 in those games. I guess Durant is not clutch.

Ant is 2nd for most clutch points so far this season, and the record is a not so great 11-12. Jokic is 1, but their record is still only 9-7. Yet Denver also has Murray ranked 28. The Wolves next closest is Randle at 50. Other players matter too.

There aren't any players out there dominating clutch time and winning all of their games.
 

jamiche said:
It's always high drama when Ant does successfully close a game because he's a super charismatic player. He knows how to engage the crowd, home or away. However, the numbers are accurate. I was at the game Sunday night and he was pulling those shots out of his ass. Vintage Ant. Crowd going wild. Statistically, it doesn't tend to go our way because he plays hero ball, particularly at the end.
Click to expand...

Ant is far from perfect, and there's room for improvement, but statistically he's still a good clutch player.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom