Ant is an All Star right?

[rapsuperstar31]

I don't think he is going to make it this year unless there are some injury drop outs. Maybe if he goes on a 30 point 6/5/2 streak the rest of the way. I'm thinking next year will be his first all star game. If Lamelo makes the all star game and Ant doesn't hopefully that lights a fire the rest of the season getting us easily into the playoffs.

[Wolvesfan21]

NBA All-Star 2022 fan voting results (first fan returns)

Eastern Conference guards

Rank Player Votes
1. DeMar DeRozan, Bulls 1,487,598
2. James Harden, Nets 892,065
3. Trae Young, Hawks 862,878
4. Zach LaVine, Bulls 776,043
5. LaMelo Ball, Hornets 422,247
6. Kyrie Irving, Nets 267,929
7. Derrick Rose, Knicks 232,501
8. Tyler Herro, Heat 122,224
9. Darius Garland, Cavaliers 119,399
10. Fred VanVleet, Raptors 108,529

Eastern Conference frontcourt

Rank Player Votes
1. Kevin Durant, Nets 2,360,435
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks 2,145,835
3. Joel Embiid, 76ers 1,236,060
4. Jayson Tatum, Celtics 643,970
5. Jimmy Butler, Heat 522,513
6. Jarrett Allen, Cavaliers 168,019
7. Bam Adebayo, Heat 141,693
8. Miles Bridges, Hornets 122,554
9. LaMarcus Aldridge, Nets 111,318
10. Nikola Vucevic, Bulls 92,936

Western Conference guards

Rank Player Votes
1. Stephen Curry, Warriors 2,584,623
2. Luka Doncic, Mavericks 787,690
3. Ja Morant, Grizzlies 669,033
4. Klay Thompson, Warriors 367,743
5. Devin Booker, Suns 338,526
6. Chris Paul, Suns 315,912
7. Donovan Mitchell, Jazz 217,546
8. Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers 211,352
9. Russell Westbrook, Lakers 210,065
10. Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves 128,863

Western Conference frontcourt

Rank Player Votes
1. LeBron James, Lakers 2,018,725
2. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets 1,649,809
3. Paul George, Clippers 1,072,591
4. Andrew Wiggins, Warriors 933,355
5. Draymond Green, Warriors 691,423
6. Anthony Davis, Lakers 592,281
7. Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves 474,794
8. Carmelo Anthony, Lakers 319,128
9. Rudy Gobert, Jazz 218,819
10. Deandre Ayton, Suns 177,115

Fan voting is a joke at this point. Klay Thompson? Carmelo Anthony? Getting triple the votes of Ant?

[Lipoli390]

Yeah, as much as we all love Ant here, I tend to agree with kek that there are too many established stars ahead of him in the all-star race. I like KAT's chances much better. Nice to see Ant getting some vote recognition though, and his day will come.

Doper, I take issue with your statement that Ant has made significant strides in his second year though. While we all agree that he improved greatly during the second half of his rookie year, his offensive production this season is actually flat compared to last year. Here are the numbers not counting last night's game:

2020-21 post All-Star (36 games)
Points: 23.8
Rebounds: 5.3
Assists: 3.4
3P%: 34.9%
2P%: 53.6%
TS%: 57%

2021-22 so far (38 games)
Points: 22.3
Rebounds: 5.6
Assists: 3.5
3P%: 36%
2P%: 50.8%
TS%: 55%

I think it's typical for a rookie to make big strides in his second year and I think most of us were expecting that from Ant, so it's a little disappointing to me to see this comparison. I like that he has raised his 3-point percentage up to the league average, but I was not expecting a drop in his TS%. I do think he is rebounding much better this season, and the emergence of Vando as an elite rebounder may explain why Ant has only has a modest increase in his RPG.

I also think Ant has improved defensively this year, although defensive stats are notoriously messy. Finch has had to yank him out of games a few times because of defensive laxness, but he does seem to be taking a lot of pride in his steals...and that shows up in his stats.

Ant has an enormously high ceiling and a big future ahead of him, but I guess I would have liked to see him improve his offensive production and efficiency a little more this season than he has compared to the second half of last season.

I'll take issue with your take that Edwards hasn't made great strides this season. He has improved substantially on the defensive side of the ball as you noted in your post. I'd say he's made great strides on that basis alone before factoring in his improved three-point percentage on more 3-point attempts. I also suspect that you'd see far less 2nd-season improvement in any player if you compared their 2nd season stats only to their post-allstar rookie stats.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I'm not sure why we're comparing Anthony Edwards' second half of his rookie season to the start of his second season. That's not the comparison to make. Many of us noted the improvement he showed last year and wanted to see him replicate that second half over a full season. He's doing that so far with an uptick in three-point shooting and defensive activity. He's doing everything he should be doing as a 20-year old second-year player. Not to mention, Edwards could show more tangible improvements over the course of this season, as he did last year.

I'm quite pleased with his progression to this point although there are times where I'm irritated by his immaturity and inconsistency. He'll work through that as time goes on, I'd assume, so I'm not worried about it.

[thedoper]

I'm not sure why we're comparing Anthony Edwards' second half of his rookie season to the start of his second season. That's not the comparison to make. Many of us noted the improvement he showed last year and wanted to see him replicate that second half over a full season. He's doing that so far with an uptick in three-point shooting and defensive activity. He's doing everything he should be doing as a 20-year old second-year player. Not to mention, Edwards could show more tangible improvements over the course of this season, as he did last year.

I'm quite pleased with his progression to this point although there are times where I'm irritated by his immaturity and inconsistency. He'll work through that as time goes on, I'd assume, so I'm not worried about it.

I think the key is that he is a 2nd year player. We have all used the wait and see excuse for past young Wolves players, but hes shown a lot of maturity in the areas of his game that he has focused on D and the 3. If he can finally start getting some calls hes going to have a more efficient TS. The fact that 40% of his shots are within 10 feet and he gets 3.5 ftas is insane. Hes not Lebron but for a frame of reference LBJ was getting 8 ftas in his second year.

[Q-is-here]

I'm not sure why we're comparing Anthony Edwards' second half of his rookie season to the start of his second season. That's not the comparison to make. Many of us noted the improvement he showed last year and wanted to see him replicate that second half over a full season. He's doing that so far with an uptick in three-point shooting and defensive activity. He's doing everything he should be doing as a 20-year old second-year player. Not to mention, Edwards could show more tangible improvements over the course of this season, as he did last year.

I'm quite pleased with his progression to this point although there are times where I'm irritated by his immaturity and inconsistency. He'll work through that as time goes on, I'd assume, so I'm not worried about it.

I think the key is that he is a 2nd year player. We have all used the wait and see excuse for past young Wolves players, but hes shown a lot of maturity in the areas of his game that he has focused on D and the 3. If he can finally start getting some calls hes going to have a more efficient TS. The fact that 40% of his shots are within 10 feet and he gets 3.5 ftas is insane. Hes not Lebron but for a frame of reference LBJ was getting 8 ftas in his second year.

Yeah, the FTA thing is bothersome. I think he's so good at using his body to shield guys off and then use either hand to finish on the other side of the rim that he can largely avoid contact (at least with his arms/wrists). And he's so damn strong that when he's fouled on the body, you can hardly notice.

One thing that almost never happens with him is getting fouled on 3-pt attempts. I kind of wonder if that starts to change a little. He's the 5th most prolific 3-point shooter in the league in terms of volume and he's up to 37% accuracy now. I mean, at what point do teams start closing out harder? That's only going to set up more drives and kick out opportunities.

[Monster]

NBA All-Star 2022 fan voting results (first fan returns)

Eastern Conference guards

Rank Player Votes
1. DeMar DeRozan, Bulls 1,487,598
2. James Harden, Nets 892,065
3. Trae Young, Hawks 862,878
4. Zach LaVine, Bulls 776,043
5. LaMelo Ball, Hornets 422,247
6. Kyrie Irving, Nets 267,929
7. Derrick Rose, Knicks 232,501
8. Tyler Herro, Heat 122,224
9. Darius Garland, Cavaliers 119,399
10. Fred VanVleet, Raptors 108,529

Eastern Conference frontcourt

Rank Player Votes
1. Kevin Durant, Nets 2,360,435
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks 2,145,835
3. Joel Embiid, 76ers 1,236,060
4. Jayson Tatum, Celtics 643,970
5. Jimmy Butler, Heat 522,513
6. Jarrett Allen, Cavaliers 168,019
7. Bam Adebayo, Heat 141,693
8. Miles Bridges, Hornets 122,554
9. LaMarcus Aldridge, Nets 111,318
10. Nikola Vucevic, Bulls 92,936

Western Conference guards

Rank Player Votes
1. Stephen Curry, Warriors 2,584,623
2. Luka Doncic, Mavericks 787,690
3. Ja Morant, Grizzlies 669,033
4. Klay Thompson, Warriors 367,743
5. Devin Booker, Suns 338,526
6. Chris Paul, Suns 315,912
7. Donovan Mitchell, Jazz 217,546
8. Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers 211,352
9. Russell Westbrook, Lakers 210,065
10. Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves 128,863

Western Conference frontcourt

Rank Player Votes
1. LeBron James, Lakers 2,018,725
2. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets 1,649,809
3. Paul George, Clippers 1,072,591
4. Andrew Wiggins, Warriors 933,355
5. Draymond Green, Warriors 691,423
6. Anthony Davis, Lakers 592,281
7. Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves 474,794
8. Carmelo Anthony, Lakers 319,128
9. Rudy Gobert, Jazz 218,819
10. Deandre Ayton, Suns 177,115

Fan voting is a joke at this point. Klay Thompson? Carmelo Anthony? Getting triple the votes of Ant?

You know who probably should also be getting more votes than guys above him? Fred Vanvleet. It's just a fun stat but he is currently 4th in the NBA in 538's RAPTOR stat. His offense has taken off and he is a good defender too.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Andrew Wiggins has about 2x as many votes as Towns. And about 9x more than Fred VanVleet.