Minnesota Sports Forum

True Shooting Percentage from last year for projected rotation players:

Gobert 67.5% (64.8% in playoffs)
Conley 63.1% (Wolves regular season data only, 64.0% in playoffs)
KAT 61.8% (in 2022, it was 64.0%, but in playoffs dropped to 55.3%)
NAZ 61.7%
Jaden 61.1%
SloMo 58.3% (55.1% in playoffs)
Shake 57.5% (68% in playoffs on minimal minutes)
Ant 56.4% (60.2% in playoffs)
Troy Brown 56.1% (39.3% in playoffs)
NAW 50.3% (Wolves regular season data only, 57.8% in playoffs)

Ant needs to work on that lob pass to Rudy or pass to Mike who can lob it to Rudy. That said I don' t expect Rudy's touches to increase significantly given his lack of range, but hopefully they don't go down as he is most efficient player. KAT lost a lot of touches last year to Ant, yet he's historically been very efficient (at least in the regular season )and so hopefully KAT can keep or increase his touches this year from a year ago. Jaden's efficiency is trending up and I want him to keep or increase his touches. The good news is that Nowell and Forbes are gone and JMAC looks to be out of the rotation, all of whom were among the bottom in TS%. Hopefully Jaden and Ant can continue to improve their TS% and I'll be happy if the rest of the guys can maintain their TS%.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 4:10 pm I wish I could not watch the games yet offer an opinion on who the best player was. That's a special kind of genius. Bus as far as drawing conclusions go, I watched as much as I could and can offer these thoughts for Wolves fans. KAT is who he always was. Don't expect a sudden maturation from him. He will continue to score and put up numbers. He will have less of an impact on winning than he should. And he will continue to let his emotions bring both himself and the team down, while he remains a constant injury risk. What you've seen is what you'll get. As for Ant, he is an all star caliber player who is being put on a very high pedestal right now. I don't think he's a top 5 player in the league, and I'm not sure if he ever will be. He can talk all he wants about making his teammates better, but he's a chucker first and foremost.

The key to Wolves improvement centers on overall health, and the improvement of Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels. If NAZ keeps coming he will make KAT a likely trade candidate (finally). And Jaden becoming a legitimate all star is the best thing we can hope for. He more than anybody else will determine how high we can climb.

The players, coaches and reporters who have watched the FIBA games have raved about Ant and Bridges and seem to align around one or the other as the best player for the U.S. this summer.

I agree with you that Jaden’s improvement is a big key to next season. If he can become our Mikal Bridges that will be huge for this team. If Naz takes a leap forward then perhaps that opens to door to trading KAT as you suggested.

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 9:01 am

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 4:10 pm I wish I could not watch the games yet offer an opinion on who the best player was. That's a special kind of genius. Bus as far as drawing conclusions go, I watched as much as I could and can offer these thoughts for Wolves fans. KAT is who he always was. Don't expect a sudden maturation from him. He will continue to score and put up numbers. He will have less of an impact on winning than he should. And he will continue to let his emotions bring both himself and the team down, while he remains a constant injury risk. What you've seen is what you'll get. As for Ant, he is an all star caliber player who is being put on a very high pedestal right now. I don't think he's a top 5 player in the league, and I'm not sure if he ever will be. He can talk all he wants about making his teammates better, but he's a chucker first and foremost.

The key to Wolves improvement centers on overall health, and the improvement of Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels. If NAZ keeps coming he will make KAT a likely trade candidate (finally). And Jaden becoming a legitimate all star is the best thing we can hope for. He more than anybody else will determine how high we can climb.

The players, coaches and reporters who have watched the FIBA games have raved about Ant and Bridges and seem to align around one or the other as the best player for the U.S. this summer.

I agree with you that Jaden’s improvement is a big key to next season. If he can become our Mikal Bridges that will be huge for this team. If Naz takes a leap forward then perhaps that opens to door to trading KAT as you suggested.

Yep, Ant is going to be a perennial all star in this league, and we are fortunate to have him. But he isn't yet at the level of superstar.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 10:16 am

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 9:01 am

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 4:10 pm I wish I could not watch the games yet offer an opinion on who the best player was. That's a special kind of genius. Bus as far as drawing conclusions go, I watched as much as I could and can offer these thoughts for Wolves fans. KAT is who he always was. Don't expect a sudden maturation from him. He will continue to score and put up numbers. He will have less of an impact on winning than he should. And he will continue to let his emotions bring both himself and the team down, while he remains a constant injury risk. What you've seen is what you'll get. As for Ant, he is an all star caliber player who is being put on a very high pedestal right now. I don't think he's a top 5 player in the league, and I'm not sure if he ever will be. He can talk all he wants about making his teammates better, but he's a chucker first and foremost.

The key to Wolves improvement centers on overall health, and the improvement of Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels. If NAZ keeps coming he will make KAT a likely trade candidate (finally). And Jaden becoming a legitimate all star is the best thing we can hope for. He more than anybody else will determine how high we can climb.

The players, coaches and reporters who have watched the FIBA games have raved about Ant and Bridges and seem to align around one or the other as the best player for the U.S. this summer.

I agree with you that Jaden’s improvement is a big key to next season. If he can become our Mikal Bridges that will be huge for this team. If Naz takes a leap forward then perhaps that opens to door to trading KAT as you suggested.

Yep, Ant is going to be a perennial all star in this league, and we are fortunate to have him. But he isn't yet at the level of superstar.

Absolutely right, Cool. We all hope Ant takes it to the next level on par with MJ, Kobe, Wade, etc. But he’s not there yet and a lot of supremely talented all-star players never get to that level.