Remember that he was a chucker at Georgia and averaged 2.8 assists per game. He was a very imperfect prospect that didn't show preternatural floor vision in the same way Doncic did as a young player. His play making development is going to be on a longer trajectory than his other skills, but the fact he's averaging 4.5 APG is pretty damn impressive all things considered.
I think the hardest, most nuanced thing to perfect are lobs and pocket passes in pick and rolls since it involves making very precise passes in very tight windows. Thus he struggles getting the ball to Rudy to an almost comical degree. The fact a lifelong PG like Conley struggled with it as well shows how difficult it can be to play with a guy that is an elite screener, but not necessarily an elite target (see Clint Capela with Houston or DeAndre Jordan with the Clippers...just toss it up and they will flush it down).
Is this supposed to make me happy... or sad?
Re: Is this supposed to make me happy... or sad?
lipoli390 wrote:thedoper wrote:I don't see how you can't be happy about Ant's progress this year. We could be "more happy", but he has shown huge strides with more usage and has created a new foundation to build on.
I agree, Doper! He's averaging 24.5 points, 6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals on 46% FG shooting and nearly 37% three-point shooting. He's averaging 5.6 free throws per game even though he's not getting the calls he should be getting. He's played in all 50 games so far, averaging 36.5 minutes per game - iron man reliability. His 3rd season numbers so far are better than Kobe's 4th season numbers. Of course he makes mistakes and has more untapped upside. That's to be expected for ANY 3rd-year player who just turned 21 at the beginning of the season.
There are lots of things to be unhappy or at least concerned about with this Wolves team, including KAT's recent lack of resiliency, Taurean's career-long lack of resiliency, Gobert's fit, DLO's consistency and salary expectations. Thankfully, the one thing we don't have to worry about is Edwards - other than the worry that this franchise will wear him out physically or just drive him away with incompetent management.
I'll add to what you say here that McDaniels even though he hasn't arrived yet at what he could become has made a jump this year. Those 2 guys are pretty good young players.
Re: Is this supposed to make me happy... or sad?
monsterpile wrote:lipoli390 wrote:thedoper wrote:I don't see how you can't be happy about Ant's progress this year. We could be "more happy", but he has shown huge strides with more usage and has created a new foundation to build on.
I agree, Doper! He's averaging 24.5 points, 6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals on 46% FG shooting and nearly 37% three-point shooting. He's averaging 5.6 free throws per game even though he's not getting the calls he should be getting. He's played in all 50 games so far, averaging 36.5 minutes per game - iron man reliability. His 3rd season numbers so far are better than Kobe's 4th season numbers. Of course he makes mistakes and has more untapped upside. That's to be expected for ANY 3rd-year player who just turned 21 at the beginning of the season.
There are lots of things to be unhappy or at least concerned about with this Wolves team, including KAT's recent lack of resiliency, Taurean's career-long lack of resiliency, Gobert's fit, DLO's consistency and salary expectations. Thankfully, the one thing we don't have to worry about is Edwards - other than the worry that this franchise will wear him out physically or just drive him away with incompetent management.
I'll add to what you say here that McDaniels even though he hasn't arrived yet at what he could become has made a jump this year. Those 2 guys are pretty good young players.
Glad you mentioned Jaden. As you mentioned, he hasn't made the jump yet that Edwards has made this season. But he's definitely improved and is still oozing with upside. He hasn't missed many games, which is another plus. When you compare the Wolves with Jaden to those few games without him, his defensive impact is huge. I believe our defensive rating is 124 without him and 113.5 with him. In contrast, as of about a week ago when I looked, our rating with and without Gobert and without him was the same at 114.2. I'm very comfortable building around Edwards and McDaniels.
Re: Is this supposed to make me happy... or sad?
lipoli390 wrote:monsterpile wrote:lipoli390 wrote:thedoper wrote:I don't see how you can't be happy about Ant's progress this year. We could be "more happy", but he has shown huge strides with more usage and has created a new foundation to build on.
I agree, Doper! He's averaging 24.5 points, 6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals on 46% FG shooting and nearly 37% three-point shooting. He's averaging 5.6 free throws per game even though he's not getting the calls he should be getting. He's played in all 50 games so far, averaging 36.5 minutes per game - iron man reliability. His 3rd season numbers so far are better than Kobe's 4th season numbers. Of course he makes mistakes and has more untapped upside. That's to be expected for ANY 3rd-year player who just turned 21 at the beginning of the season.
There are lots of things to be unhappy or at least concerned about with this Wolves team, including KAT's recent lack of resiliency, Taurean's career-long lack of resiliency, Gobert's fit, DLO's consistency and salary expectations. Thankfully, the one thing we don't have to worry about is Edwards - other than the worry that this franchise will wear him out physically or just drive him away with incompetent management.
I'll add to what you say here that McDaniels even though he hasn't arrived yet at what he could become has made a jump this year. Those 2 guys are pretty good young players.
Glad you mentioned Jaden. As you mentioned, he hasn't made the jump yet that Edwards has made this season. But he's definitely improved and is still oozing with upside. He hasn't missed many games, which is another plus. When you compare the Wolves with Jaden to those few games without him, his defensive impact is huge. I believe our defensive rating is 124 without him and 113.5 with him. In contrast, as of about a week ago when I looked, our rating with and without Gobert and without him was the same at 114.2. I'm very comfortable building around Edwards and McDaniels.
According to cleaningtheglass.com wolves have a Def rating of 111.7 when Mcdaniels is on the floor (77th percentile), 109.2 when it's Mcdaniels and Gobert (92nd percentile), 114.9 with Mcdaniels and no gobert (43rd percentile), wolves are 4.8 pts per 100 possessions better on D with mcdaniels on the floor than off it and 121.6 (5th percentile) when mcdaniels and gobert are off the floor
Mcdaniels and gobert are really good on defense.
Re: Is this supposed to make me happy... or sad?
kekgeek1 wrote:lipoli390 wrote:monsterpile wrote:lipoli390 wrote:thedoper wrote:I don't see how you can't be happy about Ant's progress this year. We could be "more happy", but he has shown huge strides with more usage and has created a new foundation to build on.
I agree, Doper! He's averaging 24.5 points, 6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals on 46% FG shooting and nearly 37% three-point shooting. He's averaging 5.6 free throws per game even though he's not getting the calls he should be getting. He's played in all 50 games so far, averaging 36.5 minutes per game - iron man reliability. His 3rd season numbers so far are better than Kobe's 4th season numbers. Of course he makes mistakes and has more untapped upside. That's to be expected for ANY 3rd-year player who just turned 21 at the beginning of the season.
There are lots of things to be unhappy or at least concerned about with this Wolves team, including KAT's recent lack of resiliency, Taurean's career-long lack of resiliency, Gobert's fit, DLO's consistency and salary expectations. Thankfully, the one thing we don't have to worry about is Edwards - other than the worry that this franchise will wear him out physically or just drive him away with incompetent management.
I'll add to what you say here that McDaniels even though he hasn't arrived yet at what he could become has made a jump this year. Those 2 guys are pretty good young players.
Glad you mentioned Jaden. As you mentioned, he hasn't made the jump yet that Edwards has made this season. But he's definitely improved and is still oozing with upside. He hasn't missed many games, which is another plus. When you compare the Wolves with Jaden to those few games without him, his defensive impact is huge. I believe our defensive rating is 124 without him and 113.5 with him. In contrast, as of about a week ago when I looked, our rating with and without Gobert and without him was the same at 114.2. I'm very comfortable building around Edwards and McDaniels.
According to cleaningtheglass.com wolves have a Def rating of 111.7 when Mcdaniels is on the floor (77th percentile), 109.2 when it's Mcdaniels and Gobert (92nd percentile), 114.9 with Mcdaniels and no gobert (43rd percentile), wolves are 4.8 pts per 100 possessions better on D with mcdaniels on the floor than off it and 121.6 (5th percentile) when mcdaniels and gobert are off the floor
Mcdaniels and gobert are really good on defense.
Indeed they are....what's problematic though - and you point this out with regularity - is how awful we are when both of them sit down. We aren't going to win a title some day if we don't shore things up with Gobert sitting. And KAT isn't going to help with that, which is why DLO ends up being sort of the sacrificial lamb in all of this. Replace him with a more defensive-oriented guard in the rotation (a better version of Rivers) and that may balance things out better.