Ant out 2 months

[Lipoli390]

It’s so hard to be a Wolves fan. Just when our hopes reach their highest and things look fantastic something derails the train.

The Wolves were headed for championship contention as KG and his best friend Steph Marbury were gelling and suddenly Marbury got jealous of KG’s contract and wanted out. Chauncey Billups was looking like he’d be the contemporary elite PG KG needed but Flip and McHale blew it by letting him go in favor or the older frail Terrell Brandon. The Wolves were rolling with Ricky Rubio Kevin Love and company and then Rubio tore his ACL against the Lakers at Target Center in a collision with Kobe. I was there and it was one of the most deflating moments I’ve ever experienced in sports. Spree and Sam came here and combined with KG to get us to the Conference Finals but Sam pulled his groin dancing on the sideline and we lost a series against the Lakers we probably would have won if Sam hadn’t hurt himself. Then Sam and Spree started pouting and the whole thing fizzled out the next season.

That’s the heartbreak history of this franchise. And now Ant has a chronically sore right knee and is out for 2 months (maybe more) for a surgical procedure that may or may not fix the problem. All this 6 months after Donte tore his Achilles. At least Ant didn’t experience a severe injury like Donte, Haliburton, Tatum and others who have had Achilles or ACL tears over the past few years. But it’s still deflating to lose Ant for two months. I’d feel better if we could know for sure that the surgery would be effective but you never know.

The good news is that we have tremendous backcourt depth with LaMelo, Ayo, TSJ, Bones and Clark. At a moment like this I’m thankful we still have Pullin in our organization on a two-way deal which can convert to a regular roster spot if necessary. I’m also happy that TSJ seems to finally be playing consistently at the level expected of him when the Wolves drafted him. So I think we have enough to stay within reach of finishing in the top four if Ant gets back healthy in 8-12 weeks. And yes, I think we should prepare mentally to wait 3 months rather than two for Ant’s return.

[Q-is-here]

Ugh! Wish they figured this out in the offseason!

Yeah, this ^^^.

WTF were they thinking back when they had a FULL OFFSEASON to do this!?! (whoever "they" is in this case - did Ant and his team not take the medical staff's advice or did the medical staff agree that rest alone would do the trick?).

What a shame. The injury gods are striking early and often this season.

[60WinTim]

Who is back sooner? ANT or Donte?

[Q-is-here]

Who is back sooner? ANT or Donte?

That's a lot of shooting coming back on line around the same time! The problem is both will be rusty and it will take time to get their game legs back.

In the meantime, time for others to step up. The good news is that while Ant is a fairly heliocentric scorer, he's not a heliocentric player in the sense our entire offense depends on him in the same way Denver's does with Jokic or the Lakers with Doncic. Losing Rudy or may be even Ball may have been just as hard from a pure regular season wins and losses perspective.

[Lipoli390]

Who is back sooner? ANT or Donte?

That's a lot of shooting coming back on line around the same time! The problem is both will be rusty and it will take time to get their game legs back.

In the meantime, time for others to step up. The good news is that while Ant is a fairly heliocentric scorer, he's not a heliocentric player in the sense our entire offense depends on him in the same way Denver's does with Jokic or the Lakers with Doncic. Losing Rudy or may be even Ball may have been just as hard from a pure regular season wins and losses perspective.

Interesting take, Q. I think you’re probably right assuming we can continue to count on TSJ’s high level scoring that we’ve seen from him these first four games. I say that because we lose a LOT of scoring punch with Ant out for an extended period. LaMelo and Ayo can score, but they can only do so much. Think about the scorers we had the latter part of last season who we won’t have on the court for at least the next two months — Ant, Donte, Randle, and Naz. We have to count on LaMelo, TSJ and Kuminga to pick most of the slack and that’s a tall order. Our defense will also likely take a step back without Ant.

[BeenLurkin]

Comspiracy theory, they knew it was going to happen. But they also needed to see what it looked like and if Amt got surgery and was rehabbing all offseason how do we incorporate all the new pieces smoothly, do we even get Kuminga? If it was a pain tolerance thing they maybe time it to happen in the first half of the season after we get a look at how it all works before having to decide on extensions.

Or if not at least this happens early in the year and not in the first round of the playofffs again…

[Q-is-here]

Who is back sooner? ANT or Donte?

That's a lot of shooting coming back on line around the same time! The problem is both will be rusty and it will take time to get their game legs back.

In the meantime, time for others to step up. The good news is that while Ant is a fairly heliocentric scorer, he's not a heliocentric player in the sense our entire offense depends on him in the same way Denver's does with Jokic or the Lakers with Doncic. Losing Rudy or may be even Ball may have been just as hard from a pure regular season wins and losses perspective.

Interesting take, Q. I think you’re probably right assuming we can continue to count on TSJ’s high level scoring that we’ve seen from him these first four games. I say that because we lose a LOT of scoring punch with Ant out for an extended period. LaMelo and Ayo can score, but they can only do so much. Think about the scorers we had the latter part of last season who we won’t have on the court for at least the next two months — Ant, Donte, Randle, and Naz. We have to count on LaMelo, TSJ and Kuminga to pick most of the slack and that’s a tall order. Our defense will also likely take a step back without Ant.

I personally think the team needs to lean into defense even more now. We have the depth to do it with the likes of Clark and Cody on the bench. Bones will also move up the rotation ladder since he will help provide some additional shot creation.

BTW, given Beringer's ability to crash the offensive glass and keep possessions alive, I would not be surprised to see some Joan/Rudy pairings in limited situations. The tradeoff is horrible spacing, but we now need to think about winning the possession game, which rebounding is a big a part of.

[Lipoli390]

Ugh! Wish they figured this out in the offseason!

Good thing we are pretty damn deep in the backcourt. Ayo and Shannon will get more minutes. Bones and/or Clark might get something. Next man up.

And ball movement should be better!

I wonder if we’ll ever find out exactly what surgery Ant is getting. I read about runners knee, which is the condition attributed to Ant. Based on what I read, the only surgical interventions are far more complex and require 9-12 months of recover and rehab. Maybe it’s not really runners knee. I have a dark feeling that this surgery won’t address the problem and that eventually Ant will be out for a year to undergo more serious surgery. If it was just a simple two-month fix then why didn’t they do it in the offseason? Two months is fine if the surgery if effective. But if the pain is still there or returns shorter after his return then I’ll be very troubled.

[Lipoli390]

That's a lot of shooting coming back on line around the same time! The problem is both will be rusty and it will take time to get their game legs back.

In the meantime, time for others to step up. The good news is that while Ant is a fairly heliocentric scorer, he's not a heliocentric player in the sense our entire offense depends on him in the same way Denver's does with Jokic or the Lakers with Doncic. Losing Rudy or may be even Ball may have been just as hard from a pure regular season wins and losses perspective.

Interesting take, Q. I think you’re probably right assuming we can continue to count on TSJ’s high level scoring that we’ve seen from him these first four games. I say that because we lose a LOT of scoring punch with Ant out for an extended period. LaMelo and Ayo can score, but they can only do so much. Think about the scorers we had the latter part of last season who we won’t have on the court for at least the next two months — Ant, Donte, Randle, and Naz. We have to count on LaMelo, TSJ and Kuminga to pick most of the slack and that’s a tall order. Our defense will also likely take a step back without Ant.

I personally think the team needs to lean into defense even more now. We have the depth to do it with the likes of Clark and Cody on the bench. Bones will also move up the rotation ladder since he will help provide some additional shot creation.

BTW, given Beringer's ability to crash the offensive glass and keep possessions alive, I would not be surprised to see some Joan/Rudy pairings in limited situations. The tradeoff is horrible spacing, but we now need to think about winning the possession game, which rebounding is a big a part of.

That’s a great take, Q. I agree on leaning more into defense. I like having Clark and Cody in our arsenal to deploy for defense. If either one or both show something close to a reliable jump shot that would be a huge shot in the arm. I like Bones and understand his value offensive, but he’s a pretty poor defender and his shooting is erratic. I worry about relying a lot on him over time.

I’ll add that Beringer’s improvement game to game in just four games has been incredible.

[60WinTim]

I haven't seen any comment on this, but ANT took an awkward spill when he was tripped up by Quickley in the Toronto game. I wonder if that could have aggravated something?