Minnesota Sports Forum

KiwiMatt wrote: ↑Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:37 pm Home court disadvantage for this team which is completely inexcusable.

It starts with Ant. His head wasn’t in the game tonight or last game. Too much baggage off the court.

60WinTim wrote: ↑Wed Mar 19, 2025 6:26 pm I am ready for someone to step in and start the GDTs. Especially since you will be hitting the ground with a win! Two straight "gimmies" coming up against the Pelicans.

I don't know how many saw this, but Trey Murphy suffered a torn labrum on Monday and is out for the season. They still have Zion and CJ McCollum...

Finch in his pre-game presser was asked about the Wolves struggles in crunch time. He talked about too much hero ball and carelessness with the ball. We'll see if anything changes going forward, but it shouldn't be in these next two games!

kekgeek wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 12:32 am Ant has been one of the elite 3 pt shooters this year

Everywhere else has not been great

In restricted area: 61% -- 47th out of 51 players w 230+ att

In paint, non-RA: 40.1% -- 39th out of 41 players with 200+ att

In mid-range: 36.2%, 52nd out of 52 of players with 100+ att

-per Jace Frederick

kekgeek wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 12:32 am Ant has been one of the elite 3 pt shooters this year

Everywhere else has not been great

In restricted area: 61% -- 47th out of 51 players w 230+ att

In paint, non-RA: 40.1% -- 39th out of 41 players with 200+ att

In mid-range: 36.2%, 52nd out of 52 of players with 100+ att

-per Jace Frederick

FNG wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:48 am

kekgeek wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 12:32 am Ant has been one of the elite 3 pt shooters this year

Everywhere else has not been great

In restricted area: 61% -- 47th out of 51 players w 230+ att

In paint, non-RA: 40.1% -- 39th out of 41 players with 200+ att

In mid-range: 36.2%, 52nd out of 52 of players with 100+ att

-per Jace Frederick

Brilliant long range shooter, but there was more post-game evidence last night that Ant is the dumbest mind in the Association. He was asked what the problem was with our crunch time offense, and he said (paraphrasing): "there's no problem with our offense at end of games, we just need to get stops". Really? Just moments after he and his team failed to score even one basket in the final three minutes of the game????

Let's review what happened. Down 3 with 3:20 left in the game, Finchie wisely called a timeout. And he designed a brilliant play that had Ant not touching the ball until he moved without the ball around a screen to get an open trey from the right side...which he drained to tie the game. I foolishly said "great, they're finally getting it...when Ant doesn't lead the offense but instead lets his teammates set him up, our offense clicks. We're going to win this game". Which only proves that I might be as dumb as Ant. For the final 3:08 of the game, either Ant or Ju reverted to hero ball one-on-one offense, and the results were what we have seen all year as we continue to execute one of the worst crunch time offenses in the league...3 measly free throws, and NO baskets! Not ONE basket in the final three minutes against the 30th ranked defense in the league!!!
Contrary to Ant's dumb analysis, our defense was not the problem at crunch time...the Pelicans only scored 3 buckets in the final 3 minutes. That's adequate defense to win the game if we had only employed a ball movement offense that might have allowed us to score at least one basket in the final three minutes.

Okay, Ant is dumb...we all know this. But how is Finchie responsible here? He needs to change his coaching philosophy to get more involved at the end of games...otherwise we're going to continue to flail away and lose. Here's what he needs to do:

1) Recognize that he needs to call plays down the stretch, and save enough time outs to be able to do this. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the luxury of using any of his time outs early in the second half, because his players are too stupid to perform without his help.

2) If he sees Ant taking the ball up the court at crunch time and originating the offense, he needs to scream "get the ball to Mike, and start moving without the ball".

3) And if Ant doesn't comply, he simply can't be in the game at crunch time. He is our most effective and prolific scorer when the game is on the line, but how much more evidence does Finchie need that Ant originating the offense at crunch time is a bad strategy.

Come on Finchie, do your job...because we have plenty of evidence that Ant cannot be trusted to run the offense with the game on the line.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:53 am

FNG wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:48 am

kekgeek wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 12:32 am Ant has been one of the elite 3 pt shooters this year

Everywhere else has not been great

In restricted area: 61% -- 47th out of 51 players w 230+ att

In paint, non-RA: 40.1% -- 39th out of 41 players with 200+ att

In mid-range: 36.2%, 52nd out of 52 of players with 100+ att

-per Jace Frederick

Brilliant long range shooter, but there was more post-game evidence last night that Ant is the dumbest mind in the Association. He was asked what the problem was with our crunch time offense, and he said (paraphrasing): "there's no problem with our offense at end of games, we just need to get stops". Really? Just moments after he and his team failed to score even one basket in the final three minutes of the game????

Let's review what happened. Down 3 with 3:20 left in the game, Finchie wisely called a timeout. And he designed a brilliant play that had Ant not touching the ball until he moved without the ball around a screen to get an open trey from the right side...which he drained to tie the game. I foolishly said "great, they're finally getting it...when Ant doesn't lead the offense but instead lets his teammates set him up, our offense clicks. We're going to win this game". Which only proves that I might be as dumb as Ant. For the final 3:08 of the game, either Ant or Ju reverted to hero ball one-on-one offense, and the results were what we have seen all year as we continue to execute one of the worst crunch time offenses in the league...3 measly free throws, and NO baskets! Not ONE basket in the final three minutes against the 30th ranked defense in the league!!!
Contrary to Ant's dumb analysis, our defense was not the problem at crunch time...the Pelicans only scored 3 buckets in the final 3 minutes. That's adequate defense to win the game if we had only employed a ball movement offense that might have allowed us to score at least one basket in the final three minutes.

Okay, Ant is dumb...we all know this. But how is Finchie responsible here? He needs to change his coaching philosophy to get more involved at the end of games...otherwise we're going to continue to flail away and lose. Here's what he needs to do:

1) Recognize that he needs to call plays down the stretch, and save enough time outs to be able to do this. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the luxury of using any of his time outs early in the second half, because his players are too stupid to perform without his help.

2) If he sees Ant taking the ball up the court at crunch time and originating the offense, he needs to scream "get the ball to Mike, and start moving without the ball".

3) And if Ant doesn't comply, he simply can't be in the game at crunch time. He is our most effective and prolific scorer when the game is on the line, but how much more evidence does Finchie need that Ant originating the offense at crunch time is a bad strategy.

Come on Finchie, do your job...because we have plenty of evidence that Ant cannot be trusted to run the offense with the game on the line.

They got some good looks but didn't hit them is basically what Finch said during the postgame presser.

You're right that Ant initiating the action is too easy for the defense. Ant wants to shoot it, the other team knows that. Get him coming off a screen so they can't set up and double him. He can attack without a set defense on him.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 10:05 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:53 am

FNG wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:48 am

Brilliant long range shooter, but there was more post-game evidence last night that Ant is the dumbest mind in the Association. He was asked what the problem was with our crunch time offense, and he said (paraphrasing): "there's no problem with our offense at end of games, we just need to get stops". Really? Just moments after he and his team failed to score even one basket in the final three minutes of the game????

Let's review what happened. Down 3 with 3:20 left in the game, Finchie wisely called a timeout. And he designed a brilliant play that had Ant not touching the ball until he moved without the ball around a screen to get an open trey from the right side...which he drained to tie the game. I foolishly said "great, they're finally getting it...when Ant doesn't lead the offense but instead lets his teammates set him up, our offense clicks. We're going to win this game". Which only proves that I might be as dumb as Ant. For the final 3:08 of the game, either Ant or Ju reverted to hero ball one-on-one offense, and the results were what we have seen all year as we continue to execute one of the worst crunch time offenses in the league...3 measly free throws, and NO baskets! Not ONE basket in the final three minutes against the 30th ranked defense in the league!!!
Contrary to Ant's dumb analysis, our defense was not the problem at crunch time...the Pelicans only scored 3 buckets in the final 3 minutes. That's adequate defense to win the game if we had only employed a ball movement offense that might have allowed us to score at least one basket in the final three minutes.

Okay, Ant is dumb...we all know this. But how is Finchie responsible here? He needs to change his coaching philosophy to get more involved at the end of games...otherwise we're going to continue to flail away and lose. Here's what he needs to do:

1) Recognize that he needs to call plays down the stretch, and save enough time outs to be able to do this. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the luxury of using any of his time outs early in the second half, because his players are too stupid to perform without his help.

2) If he sees Ant taking the ball up the court at crunch time and originating the offense, he needs to scream "get the ball to Mike, and start moving without the ball".

3) And if Ant doesn't comply, he simply can't be in the game at crunch time. He is our most effective and prolific scorer when the game is on the line, but how much more evidence does Finchie need that Ant originating the offense at crunch time is a bad strategy.

Come on Finchie, do your job...because we have plenty of evidence that Ant cannot be trusted to run the offense with the game on the line.

They got some good looks but didn't hit them is basically what Finch said during the postgame presser.

You're right that Ant initiating the action is too easy for the defense. Ant wants to shoot it, the other team knows that. Get him coming off a screen so they can't set up and double him. He can attack without a set defense on him.

I think one of the problems is that the flow offense empowers players to make decisions. Well, if you are the star of the team and #1 scorer, it's a lot easier to make that extra pass in the second quarter than with three minutes left. There is almost an assumed "it's my time!" mentality at crunch time for singular players like Ant, which has been the case for NBA stars for as long as I can remember. They want the ball and they want to take the big shots.

The problem is unlike Jordan or Bird or Lillard or [insert name], Ant has a terrible track record at making big shots. He just misses too many of them. Even if they are difficult, going 2-25 or whatever it is to tie or win a game is a TERRIBLE percentage. I mean, even 10-25 would be tons better!

And that's basically a long way of saying I agree with FNG. It's now Finch's problem to own and he has to start getting Ant off the ball and set up structured plays where he is either a weak side floor spacer or comes curling off pindowns to get the ball while on the move. No more isolation B.S. above the 3-point arc. It Does. Not. Work.