Mining for Nuggets - Nuggets at Wolves GDT

[Lipoli390]

When Rudy is overmatched it shows glaringly. Last night it showed on the court and in the box s score with only 4 points, 6 rebounds and 4 turnovers. An absolutely horrible performance by Rudy.

I still put this loss mainly on Ant and Donte. Denver doesn’t have any elite perimeter defenders, yet Ant shot 34.6% from the field and was 0-8 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, our so-called sharp-shooter off the bench, Donte, hit only 1 of 6 three-point attempts. We lost by 11. If Ant had hit 3 of his 8 three attempts and Donte had hit 2 of his, that’s 12 points. I was a bit hyperbolic in another thread when I declared Cunningham a cut above Edwards but my point is that I still don’t see Ant in the came category as SGA today or other past and present superstar guards on championship teams like Magic, MJ, Kobe, Wade, Curry etc. Substitute Curry, Kobe or Dwayne Wade in their prime for Edwards last night and I think we would have won in spite of the terrible performances by Rudy and Donte. It’s not like Edwards doesn’t have a lot of talent around him on this team. He has a ton to talented teammates. I know most will think I’m not being fair to Ant and maybe that’s true. But true superstars that lead their teams to championships go off for 40 points on nights like last night and don’t let their teams lose.

I also thought Jaden’s defense was disappointing last night and his -22 tells us something.

My personal evaluation regards this as a bit harsh. I personally don't heavily penalize a player if there shot just isn't falling for a game or two. He was 36% from the field but 53% on his two's and was attacking the rim late

For most of the game Ant was making good decisions, and I thought he had number of good hustle plays and defense. My biggest gripe is that he obviously ran out of gas in the 4th.

I know it was a b2b, and from a macro view that's a passable excuse for evaluating the team at a global level. However, it's still a disappointing fact that this team has consistently not been well conditioned.

All fair points, Aussie. Sitting in the arena, Ant looked tired from the opening tip. Tired legs could explain his poor perimeter shooting. He had some nice hustle plays but overall I thought his defense was pretty poor. I expect more from him in a big game at home against a division/conference rival like Denver.

[Lipoli390]

Not to mention that 24 years old isn't even an individual's physical prime.
Ant has also has two games already in this young season where he simply decided the team wasn't going to lose

I probably defended Ant more based on his age than anyone else on this board last season. But I’m growing weary of citing his age for his failure to take the next step and carry this team consistently like the great ones I mentioned. Ant is in his 6th NBA season and at age 24 I don’t see him getting faster or jumping higher. At this point, I’d say his conditioning is a function of the work he puts in and his habits, not his age. We’ll see. Saturday’s game and the Knicks game will eventually fade in the rear view mirror. Ant is still writing his story and I’m by no means writing him off. I’m still waiting for him to take his game to the next level like MJ and others did before him - not by way of individual stats - but by team impact, especially in big games. We’ve seen him to that but we need to see it from him more consistently.

Ant’s our best player as we sit here with only 3 games over .500 at 8-5. Meanwhile, Cade Cunningham is the best player filling up the stat sheet (points, rebounds, assists) on a team that’s 11-2. I’ll add that Cade does not have as much talent around him as Ant has in my view. Is Cade better than Ant? Taking a step back, it was premature for me to make that declaration. But at the end of the day, the truly great ones are judged by their impact on their respective teams on a consistent basis and especially in big games. Ant’s story is still being written.

[rapsuperstar31]

Not to mention that 24 years old isn't even an individual's physical prime.
Ant has also has two games already in this young season where he simply decided the team wasn't going to lose

I probably defended Ant more based on his age than anyone else on this board last season. But I’m growing weary of citing his age for his failure to take the next step and carry this team consistently like the great ones I mentioned. Ant is in his 6th NBA season and at age 24 I don’t see him getting faster or jumping higher. At this point, I’d say his conditioning is a function of the work he puts in and his habits, not his age. We’ll see. Saturday’s game and the Knicks game will eventually fade in the rear view mirror. Ant is still writing his story and I’m by no means writing him off. I’m still waiting for him to take his game to the next level like MJ and others did before him - not by way of individual stats - but by team impact, especially in big games. We’ve seen him to that but we need to see it from him more consistently.

Ant’s our best player as we sit here with only 3 games over .500 at 8-5. Meanwhile, Cade Cunningham is the best player filling up the stat sheet (points, rebounds, assists) on a team that’s 11-2. I’ll add that Cade does not have as much talent around him as Ant has in my view. Is Cade better than Ant? Taking a step back, it was premature for me to make that declaration. But at the end of the day, the truly great ones are judged by their impact on their respective teams on a consistent basis and especially in big games. Ant’s story is still being written.

Age is the fact until he hits the coveted 26-28 age range where superstars usually win their first title. Until he hits that age range in two years, he has a pass. Cade hasn't played in the last two games hell they started 3 guys who weren't drafted and still beat Philly. The fact is if Ant got hurt and missed the whole season we would be lucky to win 25 games. If you want to ignore age and go with years of experience, hall of fame Kevin Garnett didn't get us out of the first round of the playoffs until his 9th season.