Minnesota Sports Forum

Brooks-NAW-Dort is one hell of a defensive trio to have on the floor together.

RJ Barrett fouls out. 7-0 Canada run. Canada up 2 with 42 seconds to go

Canada survived

FNG wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 9:47 am Actually 35. kek...and terrific defense. His on-ball defense looked spectacular to me. But you're right...this team can't rebound. When did JJJ forget how to reobund? It's amazing this game was so close with a 16 rebound differential and Lithuania making 14 of 25 three pointers.

USA getting beat on the boards. As a Wolves fan, that sounds familiar.. It would have been nice to see a better stat line for Ant in rebounding and assist categories. But I’m just quibbling. 35 points on 54% FG shooting and 38% from behind the arc is truly impressive. I also noticed he had 3 steals and a block. Combine all that with what you described as spectacular on-ball defense leaves me feeling really good about Anthony Edwards. Hopefully, Ant continues to perform at that level and stays healthy. And maybe the USA team can improve its rebounding and still come out on top.

Based on FIBA performance to date, only one Wolves player has provided any basis for being optimistic about his chances of being better next season. That player is Anthony Edwards who has been the USA’s best scorer and possibly their best player. He scored 35 highly efficient points and had 3 steals in the USA’s last game v. Lithuania.

In NAW’s most recent game he had 5 points, 0 assists, 0 steals, 2 rebounds and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. I didn’t watch the game so perhaps NAW’s on-ball defense was stellar. He’s also had some decent scoring FIBA games. But all in all, I don’t see any break through in the offing for NAW based on his FIBA play.

KAT’s been scoring. He had 25 points in his more recent game, but he also had 7 turnovers. I have no doubt that, if healthy, KAT will score at a high level consistently and efficiently all season for the Wolves. He’ll also probably average close to 10 rebounds and 4 assists. So he’ll be fine, but I don’t see him ascending to another level.

Spagnolo played 1 minute in Italy’s last game. Enough said about Spag. I wish him the best in his European career.

Rudy didn’t do anything in this summer’s FIBA games to suggest he’ll be any better than he was last season.

Bottom line is that this team will go as far as Edwards, McDaniels and KAT can take them. Based on what we saw from Edwards last season, combined with his age and FIBA play this summer, I’m confident he’ll be even better next season. KAT will be KAT. The wild card in my view will be McDaniels. I suspect he’ll be even better defensively after already putting himself among the League’s best defenders last season. Will his rebounding improve and/or will he take a leap offensively. I think he has a huge amount of untapped offensive potential and I have to believe he can improve his rebounding at least a little. It will be interesting to watch him. I get the sense that he’s hyper competitive and really driven to improve - someone MJ’s former trainer, Tim Grover, would call a cleaner. Will Jaden become Ant’s Scottie Pippen or Mikal Bridges?

So after defeating Team USA two days ago, Lithuania gets knocked out by Serbia in a 19-point loss. That certainly takes the air out of their tires! Lithuania shot nearly 60% on 3s against the U.S. but made a more pedestrian 32% of their attempts against Serbia.

I'm hoping that it was a healthy loss for the U.S. and they really come out determined against Italy today.

USA up by 22 at the half. Italy just shooting 24% from the field. Ant struggling on offense.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 8:32 am USA up by 22 at the half. Italy just shooting 24% from the field. Ant struggling on offense.

This is the first game I've watched.

He shot poorly (all three pointers?). But he moved the ball better than usual.

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 9:09 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 8:32 am USA up by 22 at the half. Italy just shooting 24% from the field. Ant struggling on offense.

This is the first game I've watched.

He shot poorly (all three pointers?). But he moved the ball better than usual.

Assuming his defense was good? They really put the clamps down in the first half based on the stats.

On offense, it seems like they get it to the hot hand, of which multiple guys can have since the team is filled with other scorers like Brunson, Ingram, Reaves and Mikal Bridges, who metamorphosized into a #1 offensive option with Brooklyn. Ant seems to be the safety valve, meaning he's the de facto #1 option if everyone else is struggling. He wasn't really needed in this game.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 9:30 am

AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 9:09 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Sep 05, 2023 8:32 am USA up by 22 at the half. Italy just shooting 24% from the field. Ant struggling on offense.

This is the first game I've watched.

He shot poorly (all three pointers?). But he moved the ball better than usual.

Assuming his defense was good? They really put the clamps down in the first half based on the stats.

On offense, it seems like they get it to the hot hand, of which multiple guys can have since the team is filled with other scorers like Brunson, Ingram, Reaves and Mikal Bridges, who metamorphosized into a #1 offensive option with Brooklyn. Ant seems to be the safety valve, meaning he's the de facto #1 option if everyone else is struggling. He wasn't really needed in this game.

Would also love to hear how he looked on defense, because obviously he had a poor offensive game with only 3 points on 1 for 6 shooting. I do note thought that he led the starters in +/- at +20, so maybe his contributions came on moving the ball and playing tough defense. An optimist might also say that Ant realized they didn't need his scoring in a blowout like this, but you can't ignore his horrible shooting game.