Anthony Edwards - Greatest Timberwolf

[FNG]

Yep, the intelligence of a duck.

Ducks are smart enough to go south once the weather starts turning cold...Ant the Duck might go north...

[AbeVigodaLive]

Some wild quotes from Ant

"They not going to like what I say, so I'm just going to keep it to myself."

"We don’t have no identity. We know I’mma shoot a bunch of shots. We know Ju gonna shoot a bunch of shots. That’s all we know. We don’t really know anything else. It’s not on the coaches at all. It’s on us."

Plus the moronic quote I mentioned above that there's nothing he can do if he draws 4 defenders to him. Really, Ant...nothing? Maybe I should cut him some slack because nobody is feeling very good after last night's disaster, and maybe he'll clarify some of his comments today. But it sure makes him sound like the dumbest guy in the NBA...and that's a very high bar! It's interesting to me that he defines the offense as Julius and he taking a bunch of shots. It's like he doesn't understand that taking shots is only part of an offense. I won't have much confidence in Ant until his postgame comments embrace other parts of offense...screening, moving without the ball, offensive rebounding, passing, etc. Such an enormous talent, but the dumbshit demonstrates over and over that he just doesn't understand the game.

I'd never suggest Edwards is a super smart man. But he's SUPPOSED to take a lot of the shots. He's an elite scorer paid the max. And he's one of the best in the world at scoring.

He's shooting about the same number of times as last season (20.1 vs. 19.7). He's shooting 42.4% on three pointers. Here are some other percentages:

- Randle 35.8%
- McDaniels 32.7%
- Conley 36.5% (an astounding 29.4% on two pointers)
- Divincenzo 32.5%
- Reid 34.6%
- NAW 43.4% (7th on team in attempts)
-----
League average: 36.0%

Edwards' two-point attempts are down 4+ per game. His percentage once there is down. His FTA are down.

Is his change in shooting zones a byproduct of a clogged lane? Personal preference? Good for the team? It's an important issue to figure out because the Timberwolves have a subpar to bad offense with him having an ELITE three-point shooting season. If that slips, and we should expect it to slip in efficiency... just how bad is the offense going to look if nothing else changes?

Without Randle or Edwards on the floor, who else is an "above average" scorer? Who is "below average?"

[Coolbreeze44]

It's a mistake to try to build your franchise around Ant. That's becoming really obvious.

[AbeVigodaLive]

It's a mistake to try to build your franchise around Ant. That's becoming really obvious.

Maybe.

It was also a mistake to build it around Towns.

And Wiggins.
And Jefferson.
And Love.
And even Pooh Richardson.

At least Edwards theoretically has a chance to be a franchise savior. They made it to the WCF with him as the team's best or most dynamic player. And even though he seems to have plateaued this season for the first time... he's still showing pretty incredible signs of growth (three-point shooting).

I don't know if changing a WCF team on the fly right before the start of the season and subsequently starting off slower than expected... should all be heaped on one guy's shoulders for his entire career.

[FNG]

It's a mistake to try to build your franchise around Ant. That's becoming really obvious.

Maybe.

It was also a mistake to build it around Towns.

And Wiggins.
And Jefferson.
And Love.
And even Pooh Richardson.

At least Edwards theoretically has a chance to be a franchise savior. They made it to the WCF with him as the team's best or most dynamic player. And even though he seems to have plateaued this season for the first time... he's still showing pretty incredible signs of growth (three-point shooting).

I don't know if changing a WCF team on the fly right before the start of the season and subsequently starting off slower than expected... should all be heaped on one guy's shoulders for his entire career.

Yeah, I agree with the "maybe"...but only because he is still young and uber talented. But I do find myself questioning if he is ever going to have the head a superstar needs to have. Maybe he'll mature, but I have my doubts. The Golden State game was another indicator of his immaturity. After NAW hit some three pointers to give us the late lead, all the momentum was going our way. But then Ant tried to take over, and his 5 missed shots and a turnover cost us the game. And afterward, rather than hanging his head, he was joyfully hugging Draymond and Steph. A couple of the local podcasters said it was obvious that he wanted to "win the game" in front of two players he idolizes. I saw the same thing in the opening loss to the Lakers...he seemed more interested in interacting with AD and LeBron than winning the game. And I see those moments more than I would like. He may be one of those guys who loves the NBA life more than doing what it takes to be a consistent NBA winner. And if that turns out to be the case, I'm in Cool's camp...and we will regret down the line that we didn't move on from him.

But the nice thing is (and stay with me here, boys) Ant's star around the league is shining bright. Most NBA fans don't seem to see the flaws that are so clear to many of us, and you can't watch a half hour of TV without seeing at least one Ant commercial. And that means TC has the opportunity to do something that creates championships...sell high. So does he decide to continue to bet on Ant and ride this out, or does he consider a Rudy-type deal that builds for the future. I would probably be with most of the local rubes and whine if TC traded him, but I can't say for sure that it would be the wrong decision.

And Abe, thanks for the list of #2's or even #3's that we have rolled the dice on to see if they could become a #1. I suspect we're rolling the dice again...let's hope it turns out better this time.

[AbeVigodaLive]

It's a mistake to try to build your franchise around Ant. That's becoming really obvious.

Maybe.

It was also a mistake to build it around Towns.

And Wiggins.
And Jefferson.
And Love.
And even Pooh Richardson.

At least Edwards theoretically has a chance to be a franchise savior. They made it to the WCF with him as the team's best or most dynamic player. And even though he seems to have plateaued this season for the first time... he's still showing pretty incredible signs of growth (three-point shooting).

I don't know if changing a WCF team on the fly right before the start of the season and subsequently starting off slower than expected... should all be heaped on one guy's shoulders for his entire career.

Yeah, I agree with the "maybe"...but only because he is still young and uber talented. But I do find myself questioning if he is ever going to have the head a superstar needs to have. Maybe he'll mature, but I have my doubts. The Golden State game was another indicator of his immaturity. After NAW hit some three pointers to give us the late lead, all the momentum was going our way. But then Ant tried to take over, and his 5 missed shots and a turnover cost us the game. And afterward, rather than hanging his head, he was joyfully hugging Draymond and Steph. A couple of the local podcasters said it was obvious that he wanted to "win the game" in front of two players he idolizes. I saw the same thing in the opening loss to the Lakers...he seemed more interested in interacting with AD and LeBron than winning the game. And I see those moments more than I would like. He may be one of those guys who loves the NBA life more than doing what it takes to be a consistent NBA winner. And if that turns out to be the case, I'm in Cool's camp...and we will regret down the line that we didn't move on from him.

But the nice thing is (and stay with me here, boys) Ant's star around the league is shining bright. Most NBA fans don't seem to see the flaws that are so clear to many of us, and you can't watch a half hour of TV without seeing at least one Ant commercial. And that means TC has the opportunity to do something that creates championships...sell high. So does he decide to continue to bet on Ant and ride this out, or does he consider a Rudy-type deal that builds for the future. I would probably be with most of the local rubes and whine if TC traded him, but I can't say for sure that it would be the wrong decision.

And Abe, thanks for the list of #2's or even #3's that we have rolled the dice on to see if they could become a #1. I suspect we're rolling the dice again...let's hope it turns out better this time.

It's already turned out better than all of them except Garnett.





[Note: Doesn't Connelly still have his opt-out option if things sour this season? He'd be hired pretty quickly by another organization even if things get bad.]

[guest81]

It's a mistake to try to build your franchise around Ant. That's becoming really obvious.

What is this based on?

[kekgeek]

It's a mistake to try to build your franchise around Ant. That's becoming really obvious.

What is this based on?

He does not like he has had sex and has impregnated multiple woman

[guest81]

It's a mistake to try to build your franchise around Ant. That's becoming really obvious.

What is this based on?

He does not like he has had sex and has impregnated multiple woman

Probably doesn't have wilt high on his all time rankings

[FNG]

It's a mistake to try to build your franchise around Ant. That's becoming really obvious.

What is this based on?

He does not like he has had sex and has impregnated multiple woman

Ha, that could be part of it! I don’t want to speak for Cool, but I think there’s much more to his concerns…and mine. He’s admittedly still young, but there are troubling signs that he is more about the NBA lifestyle than winning. There are dozens of ultra talented guys who never reached their potential because of their heads. Someday we will look back and know who Ant is…will it be Steph Curry, or will it be Ja Morant? It could go either way, but I know which I would prefer.