Ant in the clutch

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Phenom
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Ant in the clutch

Post by Phenom »

I was scrolling hoopshype and saw this from Stat Muse:

Clutch scoring: Ant #1 in the league
Clutch threes: Ant #1 in the league
Clutch defensive rebounds: Ant #1 in the league

He may have missed many of the very last shots but is still producing in crunch time.
The rebounds stat definitely does not surprise me. He seems to always get the late ones.
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Coolbreeze44
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Re: Ant in the clutch

Post by Coolbreeze44 »

Phenom wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 11:27 am I was scrolling hoopshype and saw this from Stat Muse:

Clutch scoring: Ant #1 in the league
Clutch threes: Ant #1 in the league
Clutch defensive rebounds: Ant #1 in the league

He may have missed many of the very last shots but is still producing in crunch time.
The rebounds stat definitely does not surprise me. He seems to always get the late ones.
The rebounds notwithstanding, I think this is more a reflection of him taking so many clutch time shots.
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Phenom
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Re: Ant in the clutch

Post by Phenom »

Coolbreeze44 wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 11:44 am
Phenom wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 11:27 am I was scrolling hoopshype and saw this from Stat Muse:

Clutch scoring: Ant #1 in the league
Clutch threes: Ant #1 in the league
Clutch defensive rebounds: Ant #1 in the league

He may have missed many of the very last shots but is still producing in crunch time.
The rebounds stat definitely does not surprise me. He seems to always get the late ones.
The rebounds notwithstanding, I think this is more a reflection of him taking so many clutch time shots.
So he takes a lot and is the best statistically. That's good, right?
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FNG
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Re: Ant in the clutch

Post by FNG »

I find the Wolves situation unique in the Association in that our star player is both our biggest opportunity for success and one of our biggest problems. I was stunned to hear Britt Robson say on Dane's pod last week that Ant's net rating since the all-star break is a negative 16.8...that's unbelievable! (closed circuit to kekgeek...can you audit that? It's probably changed a little since the Grizzlies game). Most of the stars on contending teams (guys like SGA, Jokic, etc.) also have very good net ratings. In contrast, the Wolves' two highest scorers both have terrible net ratings since the break. A lot of that is that both have them have been very bad on defense this year...inconsistent offense and lazy defense is the prescription for a bad net rating.

The silver lining is that "Playoff Ant" might be a real thing. The Grizzlies game felt a lot like a playoff game, and Ant stepped up just like he did in the playoffs last year. If we can get that from him, and maybe a surprising performance from Ju, we could be dangerous in the playoffs.
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Coolbreeze44
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Re: Ant in the clutch

Post by Coolbreeze44 »

Phenom wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 12:01 pm
Coolbreeze44 wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 11:44 am
Phenom wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 11:27 am I was scrolling hoopshype and saw this from Stat Muse:

Clutch scoring: Ant #1 in the league
Clutch threes: Ant #1 in the league
Clutch defensive rebounds: Ant #1 in the league

He may have missed many of the very last shots but is still producing in crunch time.
The rebounds stat definitely does not surprise me. He seems to always get the late ones.
The rebounds notwithstanding, I think this is more a reflection of him taking so many clutch time shots.
So he takes a lot and is the best statistically. That's good, right?
I'm not sure, do we win those games?
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kekgeek
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Re: Ant in the clutch

Post by kekgeek »

Coolbreeze44 wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 12:06 pm
Phenom wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 12:01 pm
Coolbreeze44 wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 11:44 am

The rebounds notwithstanding, I think this is more a reflection of him taking so many clutch time shots.
So he takes a lot and is the best statistically. That's good, right?
I'm not sure, do we win those games?
Wolves have played in 45 clutch games the next closes is 40. Some of it is because of volume.
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Phenom
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Re: Ant in the clutch

Post by Phenom »

Coolbreeze44 wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 12:06 pm
Phenom wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 12:01 pm
Coolbreeze44 wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 11:44 am

The rebounds notwithstanding, I think this is more a reflection of him taking so many clutch time shots.
So he takes a lot and is the best statistically. That's good, right?
I'm not sure, do we win those games?
20 times so far :mrgreen:
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Q-is-here
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Re: Ant in the clutch

Post by Q-is-here »

Part of the issue is how to define "clutch". In the most narrow definition of clutch we've talked about - a shot to tie or win the game in the closing seconds - he's been awful throughout his career, as Kek has documented here.

But if you use the NBA definition of clutch time, which is any game within 5 points with five minutes or less to go, Ant does more favorably as indicated by the stats Phenom posted. If you look at last season, the Timberwolves were 21-15 in clutch games, and Ant was just as important to the Wolves then as he is now. This season has not been as good unfortunately.

And finally, he has won a handful of very tight games for us with clutch defense, which doesn't get the same recognition as a game-winning shot does. He's literally made multiple game-winning defensive plays in the waning seconds, something you'll never see from Jokic, Doncic, Curry, or Harden.

Overall, I think Ant is a mixed bag when it comes to clutch time. I wouldn't characterize him as great or terrible. The problem is being just OK isn't good enough for your alpha player. He needs to get better.
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ItsJustSoSab
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Re: Ant in the clutch

Post by ItsJustSoSab »

Q-is-here wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 1:02 pm Part of the issue is how to define "clutch". In the most narrow definition of clutch we've talked about - a shot to tie or win the game in the closing seconds - he's been awful throughout his career, as Kek has documented here.

But if you use the NBA definition of clutch time, which is any game within 5 points with five minutes or less to go, Ant does more favorably as indicated by the stats Phenom posted. If you look at last season, the Timberwolves were 21-15 in clutch games, and Ant was just as important to the Wolves then as he is now. This season has not been as good unfortunately.

And finally, he has won a handful of very tight games for us with clutch defense, which doesn't get the same recognition as a game-winning shot does. He's literally made multiple game-winning defensive plays in the waning seconds, something you'll never see from Jokic, Doncic, Curry, or Harden.

Overall, I think Ant is a mixed bag when it comes to clutch time. I wouldn't characterize him as great or terrible. The problem is being just OK isn't good enough for your alpha player. He needs to get better.
I concur. You live or die by the Ant at this point. Sometimes it's glorious. Sometimes it's JJ Barea.
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Wolvesfan21
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Re: Ant in the clutch

Post by Wolvesfan21 »

Q-is-here wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 1:02 pm Part of the issue is how to define "clutch". In the most narrow definition of clutch we've talked about - a shot to tie or win the game in the closing seconds - he's been awful throughout his career, as Kek has documented here.

But if you use the NBA definition of clutch time, which is any game within 5 points with five minutes or less to go, Ant does more favorably as indicated by the stats Phenom posted. If you look at last season, the Timberwolves were 21-15 in clutch games, and Ant was just as important to the Wolves then as he is now. This season has not been as good unfortunately.

And finally, he has won a handful of very tight games for us with clutch defense, which doesn't get the same recognition as a game-winning shot does. He's literally made multiple game-winning defensive plays in the waning seconds, something you'll never see from Jokic, Doncic, Curry, or Harden.

Overall, I think Ant is a mixed bag when it comes to clutch time. I wouldn't characterize him as great or terrible. The problem is being just OK isn't good enough for your alpha player. He needs to get better.
I agree. His defense in "clutch time" isn't brought up and when he needs to defend at the highest level no one is better at his position IMO. Was it against Indiana when he had that insane game winning block last year? No one else in the world can make that play like he did. His last second shot taking needs work, he forces it too often. He still probably needs to pass more and rely on his teammates to hit the open jumpers.
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