Kekgeek player grades G1 vs Tor

[Coolbreeze44]

I'll tell you one thing that needs to change. Ant has to stop talking about what a team player he is, and how much he is there for the other guys, and start acting like it. By his own admission he was responsible for the lack of ball movement and taking "crazy shots". Well we've seen that many times before, particularly in the 4th quarter. I'm not going to believe all this talk until I see it. We have other great players who can score, move the damn ball and get everybody involved. No way this team should lose to the Raptors, and lack of ball movement was a huge reason.

[Lipoli390]

I'll tell you one thing that needs to change. Ant has to stop talking about what a team player he is, and how much he is there for the other guys, and start acting like it. By his own admission he was responsible for the lack of ball movement and taking "crazy shots". Well we've seen that many times before, particularly in the 4th quarter. I'm not going to believe all this talk until I see it. We have other great players who can score, move the damn ball and get everybody involved. No way this team should lose to the Raptors, and lack of ball movement was a huge reason.

You make a really important point, Cool. The ball has to move much better than it did Wednesday night and Ant’s actions need to match his rhetoric. I’ll also note that others on this team shared responsibility for the lack of ball movement. As you indicated, that needs to change.

[Coolbreeze44]

I'll tell you one thing that needs to change. Ant has to stop talking about what a team player he is, and how much he is there for the other guys, and start acting like it. By his own admission he was responsible for the lack of ball movement and taking "crazy shots". Well we've seen that many times before, particularly in the 4th quarter. I'm not going to believe all this talk until I see it. We have other great players who can score, move the damn ball and get everybody involved. No way this team should lose to the Raptors, and lack of ball movement was a huge reason.

You make a really important point, Cool. The ball has to move much better than it did Wednesday night and Ant’s actions need to match his rhetoric. I’ll also note that others on this team shared responsibility for the lack of ball movement. As you indicated, that needs to change.

Yeah, it's a team problem but Ant keeps talking about how he is going to make KAT better, how he is going to make Rudy better. And he's getting a lot of hype for being an unselfish teammate. Well, let's see it. Apparently the ball movement was a lot better in the preseason, but the real games start and he goes back to old habits. I'm more upset about the loss last night than most. If we really are going to take the next step, we have to win games in Toronto. I thought it was a sad way to start the season. Lip, you may be right again on your win projection.

[Lipoli390]

I'll tell you one thing that needs to change. Ant has to stop talking about what a team player he is, and how much he is there for the other guys, and start acting like it. By his own admission he was responsible for the lack of ball movement and taking "crazy shots". Well we've seen that many times before, particularly in the 4th quarter. I'm not going to believe all this talk until I see it. We have other great players who can score, move the damn ball and get everybody involved. No way this team should lose to the Raptors, and lack of ball movement was a huge reason.

You make a really important point, Cool. The ball has to move much better than it did Wednesday night and Ant’s actions need to match his rhetoric. I’ll also note that others on this team shared responsibility for the lack of ball movement. As you indicated, that needs to change.

Yeah, it's a team problem but Ant keeps talking about how he is going to make KAT better, how he is going to make Rudy better. And he's getting a lot of hype for being an unselfish teammate. Well, let's see it. Apparently the ball movement was a lot better in the preseason, but the real games start and he goes back to old habits. I'm more upset about the loss last night than most. If we really are going to take the next step, we have to win games in Toronto. I thought it was a sad way to start the season. Lip, you may be right again on your win projection.

Cool - I’m trying not to put too much stock in that first game. But there were some bad things in that first game that were all too familiar. One of them was lack of ball movement. The other was losing to a middling team like Toronto. Finch made it a point of emphasis before this season that the team lost way too many games to lower-tier teams last season. Another concern I have is this team’s difficulty handling physical opponents. Toronto might not be a particularly good team, but they’re pretty tough and physical - at least they played that way Wednesday night. Toronto’s toughness seemed to rattle the Wolves. One of the reasons for my 44 win total projection was what I consider a poor mix of talent. Another reason is what I view as a lack of physical or mental toughness on this team. I think we were way too soft last season and I don’t see any of the offseason changes making this team tougher.

All told, I think the Wolves current mix is less than the sum of its parts. You’d think that having two centers in the starting lineup would translate into more toughness and physicality. Unfortunately, both our bigs lack physical and mental toughness. Taking the ball out of Rudy’s hands is as easy as taking candy from a baby. Rattling KAT mentally is low hanging fruit for opposing teams. Ant is physically strong, but don’t yet think of him as tough. Conley is solid, but physically small and not someone who exudes toughness. Slo Mo is probably our toughest player and Jaden has the potential if he can control his emotions. Overall, I think our roster is filled with a lot of nice guys and quite a bit of individual talent. The the mix seems wrong and the toughness isn’t there. Hope I’m wrong!