Minnesota Sports Forum

FNG wrote:Really fun to watch the replay of a wire to wire win over a division rival. Our starting five (most effective in the association right now) was stellar again, and it was nice to see Jaden hit some threes off the bench. It's amazing to me that Vando can have such a positive impact only taking 3 shots, but that's what he does! Russell continues to be our most important player...it's absolutely extraordinary that a player who has generally been a negative contributor his entire career is now indispensable to an improving team. His ankle looks fine right now, and we need to hold our breath that he can stay healthy.

It'd be extraordinarily if that was actually true, but when you view the game through the lens of just a couple statistics this is the conclusion you arrive at, I suppose.

In any event, there's no denying the guy's value to this team, which is something we can finally agree on. They'll need him and Karl-Anthony Towns to stay healthy because as soon as one of them misses time, the Wolves are very much a different (worse) team.

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In one game Ant became our 2nd best 3 pt shooter. He is taking an insane volume but trending in the right direction. His splits after the first month are interesting 39% in Nov/Dec. We need to find a way to get KAT taking 8 or 9 a game. But Ant is doing everything better this year. Very exciting.

thedoper wrote:In one game Ant became our 2nd best 3 pt shooter. He is taking an insane volume but trending in the right direction. His splits after the first month are interesting 39% in Nov/Dec. We need to find a way to get KAT taking 8 or 9 a game. But Ant is doing everything better this year. Very exciting.

That says more about our poor shooting and inability to get guys open corner looks than it does about Ant. 36% isn't a big deal in today's NBA. However, he is unique in how easily he can get them off, which means on any given night he could take over a game with his shooting alone.

The one thing that is just shocking to me is his poor free throw rate. How a guy with his size, strength and athleticism doesn't get fouled more is incredible. Either he's getting screwed by the refs or he just isn't figuring out ways to make the contact he does receive more overt (i.e. you can still get away with a little bit of chicanery despite the rules crackdown).

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:In one game Ant became our 2nd best 3 pt shooter. He is taking an insane volume but trending in the right direction. His splits after the first month are interesting 39% in Nov/Dec. We need to find a way to get KAT taking 8 or 9 a game. But Ant is doing everything better this year. Very exciting.

That says more about our poor shooting and inability to get guys open corner looks than it does about Ant. 36% isn't a big deal in today's NBA. However, he is unique in how easily he can get them off, which means on any given night he could take over a game with his shooting alone.

The one thing that is just shocking to me is his poor free throw rate. How a guy with his size, strength and athleticism doesn't get fouled more is incredible. Either he's getting screwed by the refs or he just isn't figuring out ways to make the contact he does receive more overt (i.e. you can still get away with a little bit of chicanery despite the rules crackdown).

I thought that we'd see less fouls per game, but then I looked at the stats and they are very close to last years. So the refs are definitely still calling fouls just not in our favor when it come to Ant. I think he can draw more contact driving into the body then hanging and trying to Ant1.

WolvesFan21 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:In one game Ant became our 2nd best 3 pt shooter. He is taking an insane volume but trending in the right direction. His splits after the first month are interesting 39% in Nov/Dec. We need to find a way to get KAT taking 8 or 9 a game. But Ant is doing everything better this year. Very exciting.

That says more about our poor shooting and inability to get guys open corner looks than it does about Ant. 36% isn't a big deal in today's NBA. However, he is unique in how easily he can get them off, which means on any given night he could take over a game with his shooting alone.

The one thing that is just shocking to me is his poor free throw rate. How a guy with his size, strength and athleticism doesn't get fouled more is incredible. Either he's getting screwed by the refs or he just isn't figuring out ways to make the contact he does receive more overt (i.e. you can still get away with a little bit of chicanery despite the rules crackdown).

I thought that we'd see less fouls per game, but then I looked at the stats and they are very close to last years. So the refs are definitely still calling fouls just not in our favor when it come to Ant. I think he can draw more contact driving into the body then hanging and trying to Ant1.

WF, I actually think Ant's extraordinary physical gifts work against him in drawing fouls. There are very few players in the association who have the ability to both suspend gravity and contort their bodies mid-air to get a shot off at the rim, and in doing so, he often avoids contact that lesser athletes would not. It's fun to watch. But I here what you're saying. As he develops, perhaps he can use those physical gifts to both get the shot off and draw contact...Dwayne Wade was masterful at this and took over 7 free throws per game. Now Ant will never be Wade, because he is a better 3-point shooter and doesn't need to rely solely on getting to the rim and mid-range. But he can and probably will get better at it.