Key Individual Stats Tracker

[thedoper]

Ant is the only player on our team capable of playing like a superstar on both ends of the court. For a 22 year old that is very rare in the NBA. I think that is why most national people are jumping the gun and labelling him there. I think there is a strong case that he is our MVP this year without taking anything away from Rudy. Rudy has made us a top defense in the league and absolutely can be considered our MVP. Ant's raw and advanced stats are impressive in their own right and quite simply I think Ant's D is better than Rudy's offense. I think if we come out on top of the West somehow without KAT I would imagine that it would be because of further elevation from Ant as he has shown against Indiana and LAC. Still a lot of games to be played, what I like about this team at present is that Rudy and Ant are turning into excellent complimentary players as they continue to play together. I hope we get this level of Rudy for a few more years.

[Q-is-here]

Here is the latest through 75 games, my last update until the end of the regular season:

Player - PER/WS48/VORP/Net Rating
Ant - 19.6/.126/3.4/+8.2
Rudy - 18.9/.210/2.2/+8.7
Conley - 16.0/.186/2.8/+6.7
KAT - 19.2/.154/2.4/+8.0
Jaden - 9.5/.076/-0.2/+4.9
Naz - 16.1/.125/1.6/+7.0
NAW - 10.4/.101/.9/+7.0
SloMo - 13.3/.130/1.5/+5.6
McLaughlin - 15.2/.202/1.0/+8.7

- Pretty much every player is a plus-player across all these statistical categories except Jaden.

- Rudy continues to be this team's MVP.

- Ant's numbers versus other top tier NBA players are inferior. He's still in that second tier IMO. He makes superstar plays without actually being a superstar because the consistency is missing. But when you are part of the #1 NBA defense, you don't need an offensive superstar all the time.

- It feels like nearly every season for the past 10 years there is excitement about our depth as a team only to see gaping holes appear as the regular season progresses. Well, this year it's true. Once we realized the Shake Milton experiment wouldn't work, our bench has become a real strength for us.

[Carlos Danger]

Here is the latest through 75 games, my last update until the end of the regular season:

Player - PER/WS48/VORP/Net Rating
Ant - 19.6/.126/3.4/+8.2
Rudy - 18.9/.210/2.2/+8.7
Conley - 16.0/.186/2.8/+6.7
KAT - 19.2/.154/2.4/+8.0
Jaden - 9.5/.076/-0.2/+4.9
Naz - 16.1/.125/1.6/+7.0
NAW - 10.4/.101/.9/+7.0
SloMo - 13.3/.130/1.5/+5.6
McLaughlin - 15.2/.202/1.0/+8.7

- Pretty much every player is a plus-player across all these statistical categories except Jaden.

- Rudy continues to be this team's MVP.

- Ant's numbers versus other top tier NBA players are inferior. He's still in that second tier IMO. He makes superstar plays without actually being a superstar because the consistency is missing. But when you are part of the #1 NBA defense, you don't need an offensive superstar all the time.

- It feels like nearly every season for the past 10 years there is excitement about our depth as a team only to see gaping holes appear as the regular season progresses. Well, this year it's true. Once we realized the Shake Milton experiment wouldn't work, our bench has become a real strength for us.

Good stuff.

Jaden seems to be playing a little better since Towns went down. I don't know if he was just lost (on offense) before with both Edwards/Towns taking most of the offense? IDK. But while we all love and appreciate his defense, he has to factor some into the offense too. His TS% (.573) is about that same as NAW (.570). Are those guys interchangeable? Maybe this year. But long term, I hope Jaden just ups his game. All I want from him is 15 points and 4 rebounds a game. He can do that.

Rudy has been amazing. What a difference a year makes. Last year many were convinced we'd never be able to compete with Rudy's lobster hands clogging the lane for Edwards. TC is laughing out loud.

Edwards is definitely still a notch below elite. But damn he flashes. And he has improved year over year since we drafted him. I can't complain at all with what we have gotten from him.

The depth has held up as you mention. But I feel like it's a pair of socks that have thin/wear spot. How long will it hold out? We've done great without Towns. But with Naz filling in for Towns, our second unit really lacks scoring punch. I'm still miffed we couldn't have picked up some sniper or Big to help during the buyout phase... I now agree that we will likely need Towns to make any sort of deep run into the playoffs. I think we can get through round one without him...but it might be tough after that.

[FNG]

I posted yesterday how Ant is in the conversation for 1st team All-NBA. I call that more evidence that the NBA is mostly about entertainment, and flashy players will always get more recognition than effective players. Ant is an exciting player, but I also find him to be our most maddening player at times. I get a kick out of him being in the all-NBA conversation when he ranks behind Rudy, Conley, KAT, SloMo and JMac in WS/48!

[Carlos Danger]

I posted yesterday how Ant is in the conversation for 1st team All-NBA. I call that more evidence that the NBA is mostly about entertainment, and flashy players will always get more recognition than effective players. Ant is an exciting player, but I also find him to be our most maddening player at times. I get a kick out of him being in the all-NBA conversation when he ranks behind Rudy, Conley, KAT, SloMo and JMac in WS/48!

Speaking of Jmac...he's doing a little flashing of his own lately. We need that flash! Anyway, he's running at or over career highs with regard to his Advanced stats listed by Q.

[FNG]

I posted yesterday how Ant is in the conversation for 1st team All-NBA. I call that more evidence that the NBA is mostly about entertainment, and flashy players will always get more recognition than effective players. Ant is an exciting player, but I also find him to be our most maddening player at times. I get a kick out of him being in the all-NBA conversation when he ranks behind Rudy, Conley, KAT, SloMo and JMac in WS/48!

Speaking of Jmac...he's doing a little flashing of his own lately. We need that flash! Anyway, he's running at or over career highs with regard to his Advanced stats listed by Q.

I have JMac solidly in the effective camp rather than flashy, but his stats are approaching the absurd level. Here's where he ranks on the Wolves on some key stats at BasketballReference:

Offensive rating: 1st at 137
Defensive rating: 3rd at 109
TS%: 2nd at 64.3%
3-point shooting: 1st at 51.3%
A:TO: 1st at 6 to 1
Steals per 36: 1st at 2.1
Fouls per 36: 2nd at 1.8
WS/48: 2nd at .210
BPM: 1st at 5.4

The stats certainly match the eye test...this team is really fun to watch when he is out there!

[AbeVigodaLive]

I posted yesterday how Ant is in the conversation for 1st team All-NBA. I call that more evidence that the NBA is mostly about entertainment, and flashy players will always get more recognition than effective players. Ant is an exciting player, but I also find him to be our most maddening player at times. I get a kick out of him being in the all-NBA conversation when he ranks behind Rudy, Conley, KAT, SloMo and JMac in WS/48!

Speaking of Jmac...he's doing a little flashing of his own lately. We need that flash! Anyway, he's running at or over career highs with regard to his Advanced stats listed by Q.

I have JMac solidly in the effective camp rather than flashy, but his stats are approaching the absurd level. Here's where he ranks on the Wolves on some key stats at BasketballReference:

Offensive rating: 1st at 137
Defensive rating: 3rd at 109
TS%: 2nd at 64.3%
3-point shooting: 1st at 51.3%
A:TO: 1st at 6 to 1
Steals per 36: 1st at 2.1
Fouls per 36: 2nd at 1.8
WS/48: 2nd at .210
BPM: 1st at 5.4

The stats certainly match the eye test...this team is really fun to watch when he is out there!

But you conveniently omitted blocked shots and rebounds. Fail.

[FNG]

Speaking of Jmac...he's doing a little flashing of his own lately. We need that flash! Anyway, he's running at or over career highs with regard to his Advanced stats listed by Q.

I have JMac solidly in the effective camp rather than flashy, but his stats are approaching the absurd level. Here's where he ranks on the Wolves on some key stats at BasketballReference:

Offensive rating: 1st at 137
Defensive rating: 3rd at 109
TS%: 2nd at 64.3%
3-point shooting: 1st at 51.3%
A:TO: 1st at 6 to 1
Steals per 36: 1st at 2.1
Fouls per 36: 2nd at 1.8
WS/48: 2nd at .210
BPM: 1st at 5.4

The stats certainly match the eye test...this team is really fun to watch when he is out there!

But you conveniently omitted blocked shots and rebounds. Fail.

Ha, total fail! There's no excuse for him to lag so far behind Rudy in those stats.

All seriousness aside, the only true negative stats that I conveniently left out relate to free throws. Not only does he rank last in free throw attempts per 36 at a measly .8, he also doesn't shoot them well...only Rudy is worse than JMac's 66.7%. Small sample size of course.

[Q-is-here]

I posted yesterday how Ant is in the conversation for 1st team All-NBA. I call that more evidence that the NBA is mostly about entertainment, and flashy players will always get more recognition than effective players. Ant is an exciting player, but I also find him to be our most maddening player at times. I get a kick out of him being in the all-NBA conversation when he ranks behind Rudy, Conley, KAT, SloMo and JMac in WS/48!

Yeah, yet his value to the Wolves right now is probably greater than what the advanced stats say. He's the only one on the team that can consistently carry a high usage and bend the gravity of the defense. He's almost like a starting pitcher that can eat a lot of innings even if he doesn't have the best ERA. It really helps make the others around him more effective because then they can keep doing what they do best. I'd say the same thing about KAT if their roles were reversed and Ant was sidelined and KAT had to carry the scoring load.