kekgeek wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:43 am
I hate being simplistic on this take but the wolves go how Ant shoots the ball.
Since Feb 1 he is shooting 34% from 3
In losses he is shooting 6% worse from 3 this year and 7% from the floor worse.
Hate to be super simplistic but wolves go how Ant shoots the ball.
I think that Jaden is a strong barometer also. I don't have any data on this, but I suspect there is a pretty strong correlation to his shot attempts/rebounds and our chances of winning. And last night his numbers in both were too low. Combine that with what I thought was horribly ineffective defense on Halliburton, and Jaden's game was almost as bad as Ant's. I'm a huge fan of Jaden, but we need more effort from him than he showed last night.
Yeah. Last night was rough for him.
The biggest difference for McDaniels in wins/losses appears to be shooting efficiency.
He shoots 51.2% in wins and 45.2% in losses.
It's even more pronounced with three pointers... 39.3% in wins and 29.5% in losses.
Jim Pete mentioned on the telecast last night that the Wolves are working on players who let their offensive woes impact their defense. For whatever reason, I thought of McDaniels immediately. I know Q and others point out the limitations of the basketballreference ratings systems, but...
Wins: 123 Off rating. 105 Def rating.
Losses: 108 Off rating. 117 Def rating.
kekgeek wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:43 am
I hate being simplistic on this take but the wolves go how Ant shoots the ball.
Since Feb 1 he is shooting 34% from 3
In losses he is shooting 6% worse from 3 this year and 7% from the floor worse.
Hate to be super simplistic but wolves go how Ant shoots the ball.
I think that's true, Kek. Ant is absolutely critical to our success, but he needs to play much smarter. Last night despite the shot-blocking presence of Myles Turner, Ant was having little problem getting to his basket...and since he prefers going to his left, his right thumb laceration didn't impact his shooting at the rim... he was a very efficient 6 for 8 inside the arc. But despite his efficiency inside and his lack thereof outside, he continued to jack up ill-advised treys. Most of us here have played some hoops at some level. And even though nobody here has anywhere near the skill level Ant has, I would guess that almost all of us have had days (or nights) where we knew our shot was off and we had to put the gun back in the holster. Ant doesn't seem to understand this, and that is holding him (and the team) back.
But while I agree that Ant is the key to how we are playing, I think that Jaden is a strong barometer also. I don't have any data on this, but I suspect there is a pretty strong correlation to his shot attempts/rebounds and our chances of winning. And last night his numbers in both were too low. Combine that with what I thought was horribly ineffective defense on Halliburton, and Jaden's game was almost as bad as Ant's. I'm a huge fan of Jaden, but we need more effort from him than he showed last night.
I'd like to know what our record is when Jaden's usage rate is above his average vs below.
20-17 when he is at or above his season average for usage
21-15 when he is lower than his season average in usage
A couple other miscellaneous stats that either frustrate the hell out of you, or give you hope there might be something special remaining. Or maybe both!
On basketball-reference, our expected W-L record is 46-27. That's 5 games better than where we currently stand, and would put us in the #3 seed, right on the heels of #2. Our crunch time failures fall pretty squarely on Finch and ANT's shoulders. One could argue that ANT has to experience those failures in order to figure out how to succeed. But gee-whiz, that is bad!!
The Wolves were 17-17 after their loss at Detroit, which included 7 double-digit losses and 2 losses by 2 points or less. DDV started the next game and up through our recent 8-game win streak, the Wolves were 23-12 with just 1 double-digit loss! AND of those 12 losses, 7 of them were by 2 points or less! Damn! That was pretty great considering our crunch time failures were still omni-present...
So, now we have lost 3 of 4. Another 2-point loss in OT to the Pacers. A domination by Zion for a 4 point loss. And a butt whipping by a healthy Pacer team sitting at #4 in the East. The locker room complaints were heard pretty loud in my book. I sure hope Finch does something (e.g. start DDV) to try and create a spark for these last 9 games like he was able to create after that Detroit loss.
On another note, as mentioned earlier, we will only go as far as "Playoff-ANT" takes us. Last year had a lot of doom and gloom heading into the first round series with the Suns. But Playoff-ANT was phenomenal. And KAT was VERY good, too -- on both ends of the court. ANT and KAT were both good against Denver as well. But both got dinged up pretty good at the end of that series, and both were bad against the Mavs.
It sure would be nice to finish these last 9 games strong to avoid the play-in and give us another chance at a Playoff-ANT run.
I think that's true, Kek. Ant is absolutely critical to our success, but he needs to play much smarter. Last night despite the shot-blocking presence of Myles Turner, Ant was having little problem getting to his basket...and since he prefers going to his left, his right thumb laceration didn't impact his shooting at the rim... he was a very efficient 6 for 8 inside the arc. But despite his efficiency inside and his lack thereof outside, he continued to jack up ill-advised treys. Most of us here have played some hoops at some level. And even though nobody here has anywhere near the skill level Ant has, I would guess that almost all of us have had days (or nights) where we knew our shot was off and we had to put the gun back in the holster. Ant doesn't seem to understand this, and that is holding him (and the team) back.
But while I agree that Ant is the key to how we are playing, I think that Jaden is a strong barometer also. I don't have any data on this, but I suspect there is a pretty strong correlation to his shot attempts/rebounds and our chances of winning. And last night his numbers in both were too low. Combine that with what I thought was horribly ineffective defense on Halliburton, and Jaden's game was almost as bad as Ant's. I'm a huge fan of Jaden, but we need more effort from him than he showed last night.
I'd like to know what our record is when Jaden's usage rate is above his average vs below.
20-17 when he is at or above his season average for usage
21-15 when he is lower than his season average in usage
Thanks - What about when he is above vs at or lower?
I think that's true, Kek. Ant is absolutely critical to our success, but he needs to play much smarter. Last night despite the shot-blocking presence of Myles Turner, Ant was having little problem getting to his basket...and since he prefers going to his left, his right thumb laceration didn't impact his shooting at the rim... he was a very efficient 6 for 8 inside the arc. But despite his efficiency inside and his lack thereof outside, he continued to jack up ill-advised treys. Most of us here have played some hoops at some level. And even though nobody here has anywhere near the skill level Ant has, I would guess that almost all of us have had days (or nights) where we knew our shot was off and we had to put the gun back in the holster. Ant doesn't seem to understand this, and that is holding him (and the team) back.
But while I agree that Ant is the key to how we are playing, I think that Jaden is a strong barometer also. I don't have any data on this, but I suspect there is a pretty strong correlation to his shot attempts/rebounds and our chances of winning. And last night his numbers in both were too low. Combine that with what I thought was horribly ineffective defense on Halliburton, and Jaden's game was almost as bad as Ant's. I'm a huge fan of Jaden, but we need more effort from him than he showed last night.
I'd like to know what our record is when Jaden's usage rate is above his average vs below.
20-17 when he is at or above his season average for usage
21-15 when he is lower than his season average in usage
Interesting...not what I would have guessed. I think the key to success for the Wolves is when Jaden is locked in on defense and rebounding, and last night he was neither.
kekgeek wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:43 am
I hate being simplistic on this take but the wolves go how Ant shoots the ball.
Since Feb 1 he is shooting 34% from 3
In losses he is shooting 6% worse from 3 this year and 7% from the floor worse.
Hate to be super simplistic but wolves go how Ant shoots the ball.
I think that's true, Kek. Ant is absolutely critical to our success, but he needs to play much smarter. Last night despite the shot-blocking presence of Myles Turner, Ant was having little problem getting to his basket...and since he prefers going to his left, his right thumb laceration didn't impact his shooting at the rim... he was a very efficient 6 for 8 inside the arc. But despite his efficiency inside and his lack thereof outside, he continued to jack up ill-advised treys. Most of us here have played some hoops at some level. And even though nobody here has anywhere near the skill level Ant has, I would guess that almost all of us have had days (or nights) where we knew our shot was off and we had to put the gun back in the holster. Ant doesn't seem to understand this, and that is holding him (and the team) back.
But while I agree that Ant is the key to how we are playing, I think that Jaden is a strong barometer also. I don't have any data on this, but I suspect there is a pretty strong correlation to his shot attempts/rebounds and our chances of winning. And last night his numbers in both were too low. Combine that with what I thought was horribly ineffective defense on Halliburton, and Jaden's game was almost as bad as Ant's. I'm a huge fan of Jaden, but we need more effort from him than he showed last night.
That was probably Jadens worst game of his life. He couldn't defend or rebound leading to his benching. Wacthing Hali just fly by him was just sad. He might have been sick or something. Guys just also have those once in a life stinkers at some point.
I'd like to know what our record is when Jaden's usage rate is above his average vs below.
20-17 when he is at or above his season average for usage
21-15 when he is lower than his season average in usage
Thanks - What about when he is above vs at or lower?
It’s only a 1 game flip in the direction to the losing path
So 19-17 when higher and 22-15 when lower.
I was a little shocked by this also but Abe is right when it comes to Jaden efficiency. When he shoots over his season average the wolves are 25-13 in those games. When he shoots under that they are 16-19.
It honestly does not matter about Jaden usage it matters how effective he is putting the ball in the hoop
