I'm not Kekgeek's grades G15 Wiz@Wolves

[Q-is-here]

Ant - F
Randle - A-
DDV - A-
Rudy - B+
Conley - B-
Naz - A-
Clark - B+
Bones - B-
Dillingham - B

[Lipoli390]

Ant - F
Randle - A-
DDV - A-
Rudy - B+
Conley - B-
Naz - A-
Clark - B+
Bones - B-
Dillingham - B

Just got home from the game. I haven’t looked at the box score yet. Based on what I saw live, I think Q’s grades are spot on except I’d give Rudy a C. There were so many possessions where he failed to make a second effort defensively. He was overwhelmed at times physically and made at least two terrible passes. The F grade for Ant is absolutely accurate. I don’t know if you could see on TV just how terrible and disinterested he was on the defensive end. His performance tonight on both ends was shameful. He now has a streak of poor games. Ant continues to look like he isn’t and never will be at the MJ/Kobe/Wade/Curry/SGA level. Yes, he’s still 24 and his story is still far from written. But the warning signs are there in my view.

We needed both Randle and Naz to step up tonight and they clearly did. Naz was actually pretty good defensively.

[Coolbreeze44]

Is revenue up at Ant's favorite clubs this week? How about the registration sheets at birthing centers?

To Lip's point, when a player comes out and says he doesn't want to be the face of the league, we should probably all believe him.

[AussieWolf3]

Ant - F
Randle - A-
DDV - A-
Rudy - B+
Conley - B-
Naz - A-
Clark - B+
Bones - B-
Dillingham - B

Just got home from the game. I haven’t looked at the box score yet. Based on what I saw live, I think Q’s grades are spot on except I’d give Rudy a C. There were so many possessions where he failed to make a second effort defensively. He was overwhelmed at times physically and made at least two terrible passes. The F grade for Ant is absolutely accurate. I don’t know if you could see on TV just how terrible and disinterested he was on the defensive end. His performance tonight on both ends was shameful. He now has a streak of poor games. Ant continues to look like he isn’t and never will be at the MJ/Kobe/Wade/Curry/SGA level. Yes, he’s still 24 and his story is still far from written. But the warning signs are there in my view.

We needed both Randle and Naz to step up tonight and they clearly did. Naz was actually pretty good defensively.

I really like the perspective that "his story is still being written" I don't think there is a lot of use in grandiose predictions, so it's worthwhile to remember that he still has a lot of pages left to fill.
But you're right, last night was absolutely shameful. Your shot being off happens to everybody, and that's clearly affecting his rhythm on offense. Again, as a still young player that's understandable, but it's just absolutely un-fucking-acceptable to have only 2 rebounds, play low intensity defense, and just continuously park yourself in the corner on offense when you're the leader of the team and keep telling the league to watch out cause you're coming. Having one of these games isnt great, but there in a row is just a complete problem.

The reality is that Ant is statically on a historically great path, and his accomplishments to this point are on par. Ant has proven that he gets up for big challenges, and his best games have come against the best opponents, but eventually he's gonna have to realize that games against the 1 win wizards are the games where you sharpen your habits for games against the 1 loss Thunder. These are also the games where you can drop 50, boost your statical averages and then in April when everyone is evaluating your MVP case, no one is gonna remember that these monster games games against the worst teams- what they see is your ridiculous net rating and scoring averages.
But Ant clearly doesn't realize that and maybe he doesn't care

[60WinTim]

I blame Tom Crean! Maybe there is an "adjustment period" we need to wade thru. Isn't that usually 20 games or so?!?

[FNG]

Ant - F
Randle - A-
DDV - A-
Rudy - B+
Conley - B-
Naz - A-
Clark - B+
Bones - B-
Dillingham - B

Just got home from the game. I haven’t looked at the box score yet. Based on what I saw live, I think Q’s grades are spot on except I’d give Rudy a C. There were so many possessions where he failed to make a second effort defensively. He was overwhelmed at times physically and made at least two terrible passes. The F grade for Ant is absolutely accurate. I don’t know if you could see on TV just how terrible and disinterested he was on the defensive end. His performance tonight on both ends was shameful. He now has a streak of poor games. Ant continues to look like he isn’t and never will be at the MJ/Kobe/Wade/Curry/SGA level. Yes, he’s still 24 and his story is still far from written. But the warning signs are there in my view.

We needed both Randle and Naz to step up tonight and they clearly did. Naz was actually pretty good defensively.

I agree with your downgrade for Rudy, Lip...I thought his effort on defense was lackluster. And yes, I noticed Ant's body language was not good, and I saw little effort on the defensive end. I never thought at any time during the game that we had any chance of losing this one, but it might have been a disaster without great games from Ju, Naz and Donte.

[Q-is-here]

Just a comment on Dillingham's grade (B).....At first I was going to give him a D for all those missed shots, many of which were right in his "Kentucky version of Rob" wheelhouse. But he was fantastic otherwise. 2 assists, 4 rebounds, 0 turnovers, 2 steals, and a +10.

If one wants to be a Dillingham optimist, you can look at his defensive effort level and pace that he injects into a game while believing that his shot will eventually come around. I happen to not be optimistic about him, but also trying my hardest to look for rays of hope.

[FNG]

Just a comment on Dillingham's grade (B).....At first I was going to give him a D for all those missed shots, many of which were right in his "Kentucky version of Rob" wheelhouse. But he was fantastic otherwise. 2 assists, 4 rebounds, 0 turnovers, 2 steals, and a +10.

If one wants to be a Dillingham optimist, you can look at his defensive effort level and pace that he injects into a game while believing that his shot will eventually come around. I happen to not be optimistic about him, but also trying my hardest to look for rays of hope.

I'm right where you are, Q, with respect to Rob, and also agree with your grade. He looked more comfortable out there tonight although his shooting was poor again. I watched a lot of video of Rob at Kentucky, and I have to say his performance in the pros has been the opposite of what I was expecting...much worse shooting, but surprisingly disruptive on defense. Despite their offensive struggles, it's fun to watch our defense when Rob and Clark are paired at guards. Their 2-man DRtg of 97.9 is the best 2-man rating not involving Rudy for pairings with more than 40 minutes. But I never think his shot is going to go in when he puts one up. I focused on him at halftime when I went to the Kings game, and he was by far the worst 3-point shooter...made fewer than half of them. Something is clearly wrong with his shot.

[kekgeek]

Just a comment on Dillingham's grade (B).....At first I was going to give him a D for all those missed shots, many of which were right in his "Kentucky version of Rob" wheelhouse. But he was fantastic otherwise. 2 assists, 4 rebounds, 0 turnovers, 2 steals, and a +10.

If one wants to be a Dillingham optimist, you can look at his defensive effort level and pace that he injects into a game while believing that his shot will eventually come around. I happen to not be optimistic about him, but also trying my hardest to look for rays of hope.

I'm right where you are, Q, with respect to Rob, and also agree with your grade. He looked more comfortable out there tonight although his shooting was poor again. I watched a lot of video of Rob at Kentucky, and I have to say his performance in the pros has been the opposite of what I was expecting...much worse shooting, but surprisingly disruptive on defense. Despite their offensive struggles, it's fun to watch our defense when Rob and Clark are paired at guards. Their 2-man DRtg of 97.9 is the best 2-man rating not involving Rudy for pairings with more than 40 minutes. But I never think his shot is going to go in when he puts one up. I focused on him at halftime when I went to the Kings game, and he was by far the worst 3-point shooter...made fewer than half of them. Something is clearly wrong with his shot.

Since Dilly really good game against Houston last year when he said “The NBA is easy” in 52 games he is shooting 28.7% from 3 on 77 attempts. That if that % holds that would have been tied for dead last of qualified shooters last year. (Castle).

He needs to put the ball in the hoop. I wouldn’t be as hard on him if we didn’t give up a pick swap and an unproductive first for him.

It’s huge for the wolves long term that he becomes good or the asset of Dilly gets us something good.

[Lipoli390]

Just a comment on Dillingham's grade (B).....At first I was going to give him a D for all those missed shots, many of which were right in his "Kentucky version of Rob" wheelhouse. But he was fantastic otherwise. 2 assists, 4 rebounds, 0 turnovers, 2 steals, and a +10.

If one wants to be a Dillingham optimist, you can look at his defensive effort level and pace that he injects into a game while believing that his shot will eventually come around. I happen to not be optimistic about him, but also trying my hardest to look for rays of hope.

I'm right where you are, Q, with respect to Rob, and also agree with your grade. He looked more comfortable out there tonight although his shooting was poor again. I watched a lot of video of Rob at Kentucky, and I have to say his performance in the pros has been the opposite of what I was expecting...much worse shooting, but surprisingly disruptive on defense. Despite their offensive struggles, it's fun to watch our defense when Rob and Clark are paired at guards. Their 2-man DRtg of 97.9 is the best 2-man rating not involving Rudy for pairings with more than 40 minutes. But I never think his shot is going to go in when he puts one up. I focused on him at halftime when I went to the Kings game, and he was by far the worst 3-point shooter...made fewer than half of them. Something is clearly wrong with his shot.

I agree with Q’s take on Rob’s game last night. You can see his feel for the game improving at this level each time he’s out there. And his pesky defense is fun to watch. There really is something special defensively in the Dilly/Clark pairing. Dilly’s shot looks terrible but I think a lot of that is confidence. He was nailing threes consistently in pregame warm-ups last night and Saturday night. And he’s always shot well. I’m confident the shot will come. He needs to continue his solid, pesky defense and continue to facilitate the way he’s been facilitating on the offensive end. Obviously, he’ll continue to get stronger and smarter. He works hard and looks very focused and serious. You’ll never see him laughing or joking on the bench. He’s always dialed into the game and is extremely attentive when Finch is talking. It’s just a matter of time and opportunity for him.

Meanwhile, I can’t get enough of Clark. So fun to watch him on the defensive end. I’m still hoping his shot will develop. He’s made some threes recently, but when you watch his terrible free-throw shooting and remember he’s always been a poor shooter, you realize the odds are probably against his shot ever becoming good enough to command more minutes than he’s been getting. However, I’m definitely not giving up on his shot. In addition to his defense, his hustle on the offensive end is tremendous. Loved his two put-backs last night — pure effort and on-court awareness.