Minnesota Sports Forum

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 8:06 am Some may not get very excited about beating the Pelicans twice, but it's not easy to beat anyone twice in a row on their court, and we took care of business. Our club is showing some resilience too. So soon after our late game collapses in three consecutive games, we've turned the tables and are now winning games in which we trail in the second half...sometimes by double digits. Good to see.

-Odd game for Ant. He led the team with a +10 despite scoring only 11 points and having 8 turnovers. But he did have 4 assists, and many more hockey assists. He needs to take better care of the ball though, as does Ju with his 4 TOs. Fortunately the rest of the team only had 7 turnovers.
-Really nice box score for Naz tonight- is this the first time he's ever led the team in assists?
-Mike provided stability in his 17 minutes, but he needs to make his open treys...0 for 5 last night and only 26% in his last 10 games.
-I liked the effort to get Rudy more involved, and it paid off with a double double. We're now 12-3 when he gets 6 shots, and 2-5 when he doesn't.
-Donte is playing really well right now...always active on defense and continuing to hit 40% of his treys on high volume

We're still sitting in 6th place at 14-8, but we're only a game and a half out of third place and only 2 1/2 behind the second place Lakers. And 2 winnable home games coming up. Being 100% healthy has really helped.

Phenom wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 9:57 am

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 8:06 am Some may not get very excited about beating the Pelicans twice, but it's not easy to beat anyone twice in a row on their court, and we took care of business. Our club is showing some resilience too. So soon after our late game collapses in three consecutive games, we've turned the tables and are now winning games in which we trail in the second half...sometimes by double digits. Good to see.

-Odd game for Ant. He led the team with a +10 despite scoring only 11 points and having 8 turnovers. But he did have 4 assists, and many more hockey assists. He needs to take better care of the ball though, as does Ju with his 4 TOs. Fortunately the rest of the team only had 7 turnovers.
-Really nice box score for Naz tonight- is this the first time he's ever led the team in assists?
-Mike provided stability in his 17 minutes, but he needs to make his open treys...0 for 5 last night and only 26% in his last 10 games.
-I liked the effort to get Rudy more involved, and it paid off with a double double. We're now 12-3 when he gets 6 shots, and 2-5 when he doesn't.
-Donte is playing really well right now...always active on defense and continuing to hit 40% of his treys on high volume

We're still sitting in 6th place at 14-8, but we're only a game and a half out of third place and only 2 1/2 behind the second place Lakers. And 2 winnable home games coming up. Being 100% healthy has really helped.

I think the biggest reason Ant was a plus 10 is how wide open the traps left his teammates, especially late. It seemed that the Pelicans wore down enough to make their recoveries too slow.
If the team can weaponize the opponent's traps against them, it will be a game changer.

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 9:51 am Wasn't able to watch live. Weird game weird team, not sure what else to say.

Obviously not a good game from Ant but also not as bad as the box score looks honestly he was consistently either making the good reads to set the offense up, especially in the 4th or.... Turning the ball over. I was surprised he only had 4 assist cause it felt closer to 8 or 9, that's how well we moving the ball.

It was still really weird how frustrated and even confused he seems by the traps this game because he killed them on Tuesday night. Total flip from him against the same strategy from NO- they were a lot more aggressive tho.

Great to see that 5 man lineup without Rudy work so well again with Jaden playing in the middle on defense. I really really think that there is something there to build on that isn't just a zone defense to answer bad shooting teams.

You still need Rudy on this team but you also need that lineup to work cause it just zooms on offense.

Randle ended up with a good line and a good game but I was pretty frustrated with him most of the night. Not great energy really and some mind numbing turnovers

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 10:07 am

Phenom wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 9:57 am

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 8:06 am Some may not get very excited about beating the Pelicans twice, but it's not easy to beat anyone twice in a row on their court, and we took care of business. Our club is showing some resilience too. So soon after our late game collapses in three consecutive games, we've turned the tables and are now winning games in which we trail in the second half...sometimes by double digits. Good to see.

-Odd game for Ant. He led the team with a +10 despite scoring only 11 points and having 8 turnovers. But he did have 4 assists, and many more hockey assists. He needs to take better care of the ball though, as does Ju with his 4 TOs. Fortunately the rest of the team only had 7 turnovers.
-Really nice box score for Naz tonight- is this the first time he's ever led the team in assists?
-Mike provided stability in his 17 minutes, but he needs to make his open treys...0 for 5 last night and only 26% in his last 10 games.
-I liked the effort to get Rudy more involved, and it paid off with a double double. We're now 12-3 when he gets 6 shots, and 2-5 when he doesn't.
-Donte is playing really well right now...always active on defense and continuing to hit 40% of his treys on high volume

We're still sitting in 6th place at 14-8, but we're only a game and a half out of third place and only 2 1/2 behind the second place Lakers. And 2 winnable home games coming up. Being 100% healthy has really helped.

I think the biggest reason Ant was a plus 10 is how wide open the traps left his teammates, especially late. It seemed that the Pelicans wore down enough to make their recoveries too slow.
If the team can weaponize the opponent's traps against them, it will be a game changer.

We talk about a lot of the weaknesses this team has, but one of its strengths is shooting. We are currently 7th in the NBA in made 3s and 4th in accuracy. That's a killer combo of high volume/high accuracy that can really punish traps, gap help, zones, blitzes, and other stuff thrown at Ant. He needs to get more precise with his timing and accuracy of passing out of those situations (FNG's criticisms are very valid), but man, does he have the shooters in place now to really help break these coverages.

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 10:25 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 10:07 am

Phenom wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 9:57 am

I think the biggest reason Ant was a plus 10 is how wide open the traps left his teammates, especially late. It seemed that the Pelicans wore down enough to make their recoveries too slow.
If the team can weaponize the opponent's traps against them, it will be a game changer.

We talk about a lot of the weaknesses this team has, but one of its strengths is shooting. We are currently 7th in the NBA in made 3s and 4th in accuracy. That's a killer combo of high volume/high accuracy that can really punish traps, gap help, zones, blitzes, and other stuff thrown at Ant. He needs to get more precise with his timing and accuracy of passing out of those situations (FNG's criticisms are very valid), but man, does he have the shooters in place now to really help break these coverages.

\

Yes, shooting is a major strength. And it's really beneficial that our good shooting is so widespread...7 of our main 10 guys are shooting better than the league average (with three still over 40% and Donte close) and Ju is close to average. Obviously Rudy and Rob are the exceptions on the team. Ant has so many good shooting targets he can get the ball to when he's doubled.

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 11:30 am

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 10:25 am

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 10:07 am

We talk about a lot of the weaknesses this team has, but one of its strengths is shooting. We are currently 7th in the NBA in made 3s and 4th in accuracy. That's a killer combo of high volume/high accuracy that can really punish traps, gap help, zones, blitzes, and other stuff thrown at Ant. He needs to get more precise with his timing and accuracy of passing out of those situations (FNG's criticisms are very valid), but man, does he have the shooters in place now to really help break these coverages.

\

Yes, shooting is a major strength. And it's really beneficial that our good shooting is so widespread...7 of our main 10 guys are shooting better than the league average (with three still over 40% and Donte close) and Ju is close to average. Obviously Rudy and Rob are the exceptions on the team. Ant has so many good shooting targets he can get the ball to when he's doubled.

It's worth saying, he does do this, but it's often the 2nd pass after his that gets the shot.

Really want to see him get tighter with his passes and hesitate less. I think sometimes he's trying to size up if he should split the double, run around it or pass out of it.
Which he can do all of those things and it good that he can attack these coverages in multiple ways but he's still hesitant to pass out until he's sure he can't do the other things

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 1:35 pm

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 11:30 am

FNG wrote: ↑Fri Dec 05, 2025 10:25 am \

Yes, shooting is a major strength. And it's really beneficial that our good shooting is so widespread...7 of our main 10 guys are shooting better than the league average (with three still over 40% and Donte close) and Ju is close to average. Obviously Rudy and Rob are the exceptions on the team. Ant has so many good shooting targets he can get the ball to when he's doubled.

It's worth saying, he does do this, but it's often the 2nd pass after his that gets the shot.

Really want to see him get tighter with his passes and hesitate less. I think sometimes he's trying to size up if he should split the double, run around it or pass out of it.
Which he can do all of those things and it good that he can attack these coverages in multiple ways but he's still hesitant to pass out until he's sure he can't do the other things

Aussie, I've always admired players who take pride in the quality of their passes...you know, putting the ball exactly in the right place at the right time so the recipient can shoot in rhythm. Rubio was a master at this, Mike is good too. But it's not a strength for Ant. His passes are often not on the mark and don't leave the guy in a position to shoot. Frankly i think that might be a reason Ant gets so many hockey assists...he knows enough to get the ball to an open man, but because the pass doesn't arrive in the right way, it takes another pass to create shot. Ant sometimes looks to me like he is passing mostly because he can't get off a shot, not to help the other guy. I know this is harsh, but I think it's an area for improvement for Ant. If he starts taking the lead guard role more seriously, his assist totals will start to go up.