But here's the problem, Lip. I do believe in our front office's ability to evaluate draft talent based on what they say in college. But I also know that they have a lot more relevant data points in the last 2 years that have led them to believe he's not ready for the NBA. If he's showing them every day in practice that he needs more seasoning, then I understand why he's not in the rotation. We either believe in our talent evaluators or we don't, and while I'm not a big Hyland supporter, it's quite telling that he saw the court last night before Rob.
I think that's where I'm getting the feeling he's possibly just a 6th man type in a couple years, maybe lower end starter. Right now he should have every chance to play some being two years in and a high draft pick, and yet he didn't break into the lineup. You have to be concerned. He is very young though. So things could change. Who knows. Not calling him a bust yet. My hopes are dwindling though for him. I got more hope for TJ and Clark to be good/great NBA players.
My hope for Rob HERE is gone. Finch would rather try to teach you how to shoot than teach you how to defend. That's why he prefers Clark. Unless Rob becomes 6'4-6'5'' in 2 years, Finch is just gonna look at him at the end of the bench and suck his teeth. Whatever made Connelly like Rob, Finch just doesn't agree with. Now, from a talent perspective, I trust John Calipari over ANYONE in the Wolves' front office, but this is just a situation where TC when Acapulco with the trade up and selection without really consulting with Finch when in hindsight, staying at 27 and 37 and selecting Shannon and Ajay Mitchell and just going with what Finch wanted since he was gonna be too stubborn to make drastic changes anyway.
I get it. Connelly thought this offseason to give Rob every chance to take over the PG job, you got a guy on AARP and a bunch of SG's who, all are a bit sus handling the ball. (Ant might be the best)
Maybe Ant is our defacto PG going forward? It's not ideal but maybe it works? I just hate putting more stuff on his plate.
There have been plenty of teams that use a non PG to bring the ball up. I actually liked when Jaden brought the ball, he gets involved early and has been moving without the ball better, instead of just standing in the corner. Of course that did lead to the late turnover on Ant's pass to Hyland on the bench, but otherwise the offense looks better.
DNatagal wrote: ↑Fri Oct 24, 2025 10:04 am
There have been plenty of teams that use a non PG to bring the ball up. I actually liked when Jaden brought the ball, he gets involved early and has been moving without the ball better, instead of just standing in the corner. Of course that did lead to the late turnover on Ant's pass to Hyland on the bench, but otherwise the offense looks better.
Sure it depends on the team you're playing, we're seeing more and more teams go full court now I think because teams don't have PG's. It makes sense to exploit the weakness of the other team, try and get some easy steals and buckets. No PG, OK we're guarding you 90 feet now.
DNatagal wrote: ↑Fri Oct 24, 2025 10:04 am
There have been plenty of teams that use a non PG to bring the ball up. I actually liked when Jaden brought the ball, he gets involved early and has been moving without the ball better, instead of just standing in the corner. Of course that did lead to the late turnover on Ant's pass to Hyland on the bench, but otherwise the offense looks better.
Jaden bringing the ball up does mess with defending teams plans to put a center on Jaden to half guard him but really protect the paint.
DNatagal wrote: ↑Fri Oct 24, 2025 10:04 am
There have been plenty of teams that use a non PG to bring the ball up. I actually liked when Jaden brought the ball, he gets involved early and has been moving without the ball better, instead of just standing in the corner. Of course that did lead to the late turnover on Ant's pass to Hyland on the bench, but otherwise the offense looks better.
Jaden bringing the ball up does mess with defending teams plans to put a center on Jaden to half guard him but really protect the paint.
Yeah, I think Finch's workaround is to have the guy that is being guarded by a big get the ball up. So Jaden and Julius are often guarded by guys that don't press.
Of course the opposing defense can also do their own adjustment by going to more of a zone press, so it doesn't completely eliminate the need to have players that can handle the press and get us into the offense without having the entry-pass stolen every time!
It's an interesting development and we can no longer assume that once the post-season comes everyone hunkers down into a halfcourt game with really tight rotations. The Indiana vs. OKC Finals matchup is reverberating across the league.
The first two games and especially the Lakers game were VERY concerning regarding the PG position which is big bummer because there are also a lot of positives from both games.
I haven't given up on Dilly yet but it would be completely unreasonable at this point to expect that he can become a starting caliber player on a championship team.
Additionally, I'm already completely over the idea of DDV being the starting PG. I love Mike Conley but I also think that his time as a starting caliber PG on a championship team is past.
So that leads to my question and I'm genuinely very confused about this.... Why can't Ant be the starting PG, not the "de facto" point guard, but the actual genuine article point guard?
I know he doesn't play or isn't built like a traditional point guard but who is anymore? Of the guards on the roster he's the best point player (Julius is probably the best point all around).
I just don't see another option outside of a big trade, I really don't. Is Ant really ready to do this? I'm not sure but i really think that if he want to leap into "the conversation" he needs to
Just how I'm seeing things but I really want to hear thoughts on this cause I'm just not an experienced basketball observer
AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 26, 2025 10:52 am
The first two games and especially the Lakers game were VERY concerning regarding the PG position which is big bummer because there are also a lot of positives from both games.
I haven't given up on Dilly yet but it would be completely unreasonable at this point to expect that he can become a starting caliber player on a championship team.
Additionally, I'm already completely over the idea of DDV being the starting PG. I love Mike Conley but I also think that his time as a starting caliber PG on a championship team is past.
So that leads to my question and I'm genuinely very confused about this.... Why can't Ant be the starting PG, not the "de facto" point guard, but the actual genuine article point guard?
I know he doesn't play or isn't built like a traditional point guard but who is anymore? Of the guards on the roster he's the best point player (Julius is probably the best point all around).
I just don't see another option outside of a big trade, I really don't. Is Ant really ready to do this? I'm not sure but i really think that if he want to leap into "the conversation" he needs to
Just how I'm seeing things but I really want to hear thoughts on this cause I'm just not an experienced basketball observer
It's not that Finch can't make him the "official" starting PG, it's that he really doesn't have great PG skills. He's an OK passer, an OK ball handler, and an OK-at-best strategist. For example, in multiple seasons now with Rudy, he still struggles running the pick and roll with Gobert and getting the ball to an often wide open Rudy near the rim. He doesn't have the precision passing chops to do it and he also doesn't have the passing instinct. James Harden, another high scorer who made the transition from SG to PG, actually can make that pass.
Meanwhile, the more put on Ant's plate offensively the less he can impact the game defensively. I just think it's suboptimal. However, it may be the least bad option.....
I think we also have to realize that when Donte starts in place of Conley, it doesn't mean that he is the PG...he may be on defense, but he's not playing that role on offense. Finchy has made it clear that he wants him off ball. Most of the time Julius, Ant or Jaden brought the ball up, usually depending on who had the poorer defender on him. This thread perhaps might have been better titled "Conley, Dilly or someone else", because that's how I think the coach looks at it. And it seems he has chosen option three.
Although I would prefer Mike starting at PG (he obviously has struggled coming off the bench), I don't have a problem with Finchy's decision. Despite the turnovers, we put up 118 points in game 1. And I thought the offense the starters generated in Game 2 was also good...we lost because of our defense and poor games from Mike, Naz and TJS.
I think we have a good chance to blow out Indy tonight, and if Rob is ready to go, we'll get another chance to see how ready he is.
Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Oct 26, 2025 11:57 am
Meanwhile, the more put on Ant's plate offensively the less he can impact the game defensively. I just think it's suboptimal. However, it may be the least bad option.....
The bolded is really where I land I guess. To me the starting 5 make so much more sense if I just think of Ant as the starting point.
When it comes to how well suited he is for it- as far as I'm concerned, he needs to figure it out if he's going to close the gap between him and the elite tier of players. Every one of them can manipulate a defense and create for others. Ant can too and they all just need accept that if this team us really trying to make a championship leap then he has grow into that role cause I really think it's this only way you unlock this roster.
To that end I think they all need to be more intentional about that reality. Yes Ant is the primary ball handler and is essentially running point most possessions, but he doesn't want to be a point guard and everyone just keeps talking around it, but he needs to be the adult on the court and they need to be more intentional about it imo. Maybe that's just me being pedantic but I believe that there is value in deliberate with things. Instead of "well Ant is basically the primary playmaker, so it doesn't matter who the point guard is" it should be "yeah Ant is the point guard." Idk I hope that makes sense.
I’m still leaning towards starting Mike. Yes he’s pretty much washed, but if there is a role for him on this team it’s probably starting and playing the first 5 or 6 minutes of the 1st and 3rd quarters. Help get us into some half court sets. As we’ve seen he offers no impact off the bench.
I still like Dilly and would like to see him get 12 - 16 minutes a night off the bench. We need his scoring and pace off the bench and think it compliments Naz and TSJs style.
