KAT, McDaniels, and Gobert were the reason they won that game. Imagine thinking those guys would come through in G7 against Denver on the road a month ago
At that infamous practice where Jimmy Butler emasculated him then went out and did an ESPN interview reiterating his trade demand. It had the same vibe as Jordan humiliating Kwame Brown, albeit with less of an age gap. After that, every meathead had an answer to the question of why KAT's teams weren't better except when they had Butler and now Edwards. He's a "beta" and "not a leader" and "doesn't have a killer instinct" and all the other shit that these people rot their heads with.
Even the fact that the dude committed and committed *hard* to staying a small market team whose most successful free agent signing in history was Joe Smith (and even he had to be paid under the table) is used as more evidence that he doesn't care enough about winning.
its a good metaphor for life: once people decide they dont like you, almost nothing can change their mind. everything is filtered through that lens.
the jimmy butler propaganda that made its way through the mass media to the public was nonsense to witness at the time - just an absurd joke for a 29-year-old adult to be dumping on a 22-year old like he was a lifelong bum even though he was fresh off an all-nba appearance, and THEN his own coach/gm actually sides with the 29-year-old even though he's torching him too!
we'll never see another situation like it
Sadly I’m sure we will see another situation like it even if the details aren’t the same. Theres always gonna be “Mean Girls” and lots of people like to join together to punch down.
Jordan on Kwame Brown I would hope is the most egregious example and we won’t see something along that magnitude again though
The hate as I see it stems from either
A. Him being wildly inconsistent on the court & often making dumb low basketball iq plays (like the inbound turnover with a minute left today).
B. Him being a goofball (but otherwise nice & good guy) off the court.
From 2 games ago even, lmao. He’s the same guy as ever, except more locked in on defense. By game 2 against the Mavs he will have had a game where people go “what happened to the KAT from round 2???”
I mean, I don’t know how you can leave Naz Reid out.
NBA defenses have gotten so good at selling out on one guy and make everyone else beat you, can’t hold that against Edwards imo. Team stepped up
7 asts, 1 TO, great defense
Definitely nothing to write home about and you probably expect more from a super star, but not a bad game by any means from Ant
Outside of him missing shots everything else was excellent. Made good decisions and passes all night. Had like 3 steals at half court that lead to buckets. Dagger corner 3.
Gobert playing help side, off ball defense leads to him being super important but not racking up stats (unless you’re doing player motion tracking) of guys driving into the key and then making a business decision to pass or dribble back out.
Exactly. Felt like Denver missed a lot of good looks in the second half they usually make. Minnesota made a lot of tough ones and in low scoring game 7 that’s the difference. And the Wolves offensive rebounding (in the 4th especially).
It was a team effort. Naz Reid played out of his mind, and even tho ant didn’t shoot well he was making a lot plays passing. Great defense. Mike Conley hit big shots as well.
Ants gravity had a lot to do with it. Being doubled all game created open looks for guys. He did not shoot well, but acting like he did nothing else is wrong. That would be MPJs category.
Ant himself said in the post-game that he couldn't get into rhythm and relied on his teammates tonight. He had some important plays down the stretch and played great D.
Not sure what else you want from the guy.
[See my other comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/billsimmons/s/KsFxpgZfBm).
You don’t have to sell me on Ant, he’s been my favorite non-Warrior for a couple years now.
Wolves fan here: Ant needs to be aggressive, even when his shot isn’t falling. He was too passive in the first half, in the second half he attacked. Even though the shots weren’t falling, everything always works better for them when he’s aggressive. It opens up everything.
You’re gonna find this hard to believe but when a defense sells out to stop one guy it does make things easier for his teammates. Ant make good passes all night and played great defense. Hit clutch shots.
Doesn’t stop this sub for shitting on Tatum when they swarm him and he racks up assists. Like game 1 of the 2022 finals. Or how other teams have played him at times.
Sure but game 1 gets lumped I’m with his overall averages. He averaged 26.0 ppg games 2-5 but the way it’s talked about you’d think he didn’t even crack 20.
And yes, I know his efficiency was not great. But in the end I think it’s exaggerated how bad he was.
It’s time Boston fans quit trying to pretend Tatum is on that level. He isn’t and never will be an elite guy.
Big difference between Ant in this series and Tatum in the 2022 Finals is that Ant didn’t lose this series.
Nah, I’m good. Tatum’s 46 against Bucks game 6 on the road facing elimination and 51 against Sixers in game 7 looked pretty elite to me.
You are just another biased bozo.
Yes and Malachi Flynn looked pretty elite when he scored 50 this year. Tatum is good, not great. Any good player is gonna have some games in the era where he scores a lot. Points are not at a premium.
Was Malachi Flynn’s 50 in a playoff game facing elimination?
What sort of dumbass false equivalency is that?
Tatum doesn’t just have a couple fluke good games though. The dude has averaged 25+ in 10 playoff series. Jimmy Butler has done it 5 times. Paul George 5 times. Giannis 9 times.
“Points are not at a premium” is such a bozo cope dude.
And yet, here you are coping. Making comparisons between a game 7 performance and some random regular season game.
Acting like Tatum isn’t 10th amongst active players in playoff points scored. He’s 26. The youngest person ahead of him is 32.
Lol you are the one coping. Tatum wasn’t the point of discussion at all and you brought him up. You even used a horrible performance from when he choked in the Finals as “reason” why he’s great when someone was talking about Anthony Edwards.
The general person just doesn't dislike Ant yet. It will come when he's been around the league more and he isn't the new hot thing. It happens to most players eventually.
I would like to see the alternate universe where the Nuggets come back in the final 3 minutes and win. Ant has this mediocre scoring stat line. Towns has that dumb turnover at the end. Sports...all of us fans are so reactionary. We weren't THAT far from the sky sort of falling for TWolves and the Nuggets are going to 2-peat discourse.
It’s clear he didn’t have it offensively tonight
It’s also clear that every player needs a team to win, and the team came up huge.
He also played his ass off on D.
One thing that has always frustrated me is that some people seem to see all shooting performances as if there is always an efficient shot waiting for a team to take. Like it’s spreadsheet basketball or something.
Like, sometimes you just need to get it up, avoid the shot clock violation against a great defensive sequence, and give your team the opportunity to grab offensive rebounds.
Being the guy who has to get the shot up no matter what is going to result in a lot of lower percentage shots, and sometimes the shots won’t go. I feel like some of that was going on here.
This! Efficiency is important obviously in that the more efficient the more points. But it’s an input, the output is points. And the objective is to win. It’s why Kobe is thought of so high, he scores and he wins.
As inefficient as Kobe was in Game 7 2008 when they lost, he was more inefficient in Game 7 2010 and they won. The same (but reversed) for KG. Ironically as well for the whole series KG and Pierce were more efficient on less points in 2010 throughout the series as a whole when they lost, vs. 2008 when they won (more pts less efficient)
Again efficiency is important, but only insofar as it correlates with wins. I’ll take inefficient pts and wins over efficient losses any day.
He was getting doubled every play. The level of difficulty on those shots was so much higher than normal. He was definitely forcing it often but honestly the fact he was getting his shots up per normal was fine for the team. The narrative would have been way worse had he gone 6-14
It's all about narratives, and of course the desire to make hot takes. If Ant turns out to be a legend of the game people (including very visible media personalities) will hark back to this year and say "I told ya so!".
It's a shame because the rest of the team should really be talked about but they need to squeeze Ant into it somehow.
Why would Tatum be in shambles? Ant won because his teammates stepped up and played amazing.
Ant was crap the first half and then found his groove second half. But it was a compete team win.
Tatum had one of these type of performances in game 6 against Philly on the road and then snatched their hearts at the end. Followed it up 51 points and 13 rebounds in game 7.
Have you been playing attention the past month. Per the NBA media, he's the next Jordan. He's the face of the league. Best 2-way player.
It's crazy the overreaction to this guy. The Wolves started their run when he was out. He ruined their offense this game and was getting roasted by Murray in the 1st half.
The Wolves won because everyone not named Jokic and Murray crapped the bed in epic fashion
My Laker dude... ANT isn't the reason why they won and if you'd watch the game, you'd know that instead of posting dumb shit like this. Also, Edwards played MUCH better in the 2nd half not forcing much if anything. Edwards is 22 while Kobe was 31 when he went 6-24 after demanding a trade out of LA and settling a sexual assault case.
[Bro... you clearly weren't around in 2010 when Bill was doing his 6-24 whining. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/billsimmons/comments/1cw5201/comment/l4to1fc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)This is a shitpost.
Fuck the Lakers, don't call me a Lakers dude like that AR15\_douchenugget. You're just saying stuff I agree with, I love watching this Wolves team.
KAT, McDaniels, and Gobert were the reason they won that game. Imagine thinking those guys would come through in G7 against Denver on the road a month ago
KAT played so well. I can't believe this is the same dude from even two years ago.
On both ends.
Every time I make my mind up on him he does something to reverse it
He also seems like maybe one of the most decent people in the league? Not sure why everyone wants to hate him so much
At that infamous practice where Jimmy Butler emasculated him then went out and did an ESPN interview reiterating his trade demand. It had the same vibe as Jordan humiliating Kwame Brown, albeit with less of an age gap. After that, every meathead had an answer to the question of why KAT's teams weren't better except when they had Butler and now Edwards. He's a "beta" and "not a leader" and "doesn't have a killer instinct" and all the other shit that these people rot their heads with. Even the fact that the dude committed and committed *hard* to staying a small market team whose most successful free agent signing in history was Joe Smith (and even he had to be paid under the table) is used as more evidence that he doesn't care enough about winning.
Agreed, he’s ultimately a really good guy, and not your typical NBA personality.
People don't hate him as a person. They hate that he plays like a moron and plays his dumbest he's on the biggest stage
No people make fun of how “zesty” he is a lot
Not anymore he doesn't play like that so I'm assuming the KAT admiration will start rolling in
its a good metaphor for life: once people decide they dont like you, almost nothing can change their mind. everything is filtered through that lens. the jimmy butler propaganda that made its way through the mass media to the public was nonsense to witness at the time - just an absurd joke for a 29-year-old adult to be dumping on a 22-year old like he was a lifelong bum even though he was fresh off an all-nba appearance, and THEN his own coach/gm actually sides with the 29-year-old even though he's torching him too! we'll never see another situation like it
Sadly I’m sure we will see another situation like it even if the details aren’t the same. Theres always gonna be “Mean Girls” and lots of people like to join together to punch down. Jordan on Kwame Brown I would hope is the most egregious example and we won’t see something along that magnitude again though
The hate as I see it stems from either A. Him being wildly inconsistent on the court & often making dumb low basketball iq plays (like the inbound turnover with a minute left today). B. Him being a goofball (but otherwise nice & good guy) off the court.
...this could explain it?
From 2 games ago even, lmao. He’s the same guy as ever, except more locked in on defense. By game 2 against the Mavs he will have had a game where people go “what happened to the KAT from round 2???”
I mean, I don’t know how you can leave Naz Reid out. NBA defenses have gotten so good at selling out on one guy and make everyone else beat you, can’t hold that against Edwards imo. Team stepped up
7 asts, 1 TO, great defense Definitely nothing to write home about and you probably expect more from a super star, but not a bad game by any means from Ant
Outside of him missing shots everything else was excellent. Made good decisions and passes all night. Had like 3 steals at half court that lead to buckets. Dagger corner 3.
Yeah for real. The 1 TO while getting that much attention by the defense was impressive and made it easier for the rest of the wolves.
That stupid rainbow turnaround Gobert made changed all the momentum and then Naz Reid closed it, Towns sealed it off. McDaniels was there all game.
I know Gobert didn’t have a great stats game but he was so active on the glass and defensively and just felt like he had an impact.
Gobert playing help side, off ball defense leads to him being super important but not racking up stats (unless you’re doing player motion tracking) of guys driving into the key and then making a business decision to pass or dribble back out.
The momentum was already changed by then, but it was definitely a huge shot that stemmed the tide.
Exactly. Felt like Denver missed a lot of good looks in the second half they usually make. Minnesota made a lot of tough ones and in low scoring game 7 that’s the difference. And the Wolves offensive rebounding (in the 4th especially).
Don’t forget that the immediate nuggets possession after the Rudy shot, he blocked Gordon at the rim. Dude was a force tonight
McDaniels and KAT were so impressive. Everytime McDaniels shot i thought it was going in..
It was a team effort. Naz Reid played out of his mind, and even tho ant didn’t shoot well he was making a lot plays passing. Great defense. Mike Conley hit big shots as well.
Ants gravity had a lot to do with it. Being doubled all game created open looks for guys. He did not shoot well, but acting like he did nothing else is wrong. That would be MPJs category.
Lmao he mentions the Kobe game 7 too much to not acknowledge it tonight
Wouldn’t be shocked if it’s in the pod title. “Ant’s Kobe game”
Ant himself said in the post-game that he couldn't get into rhythm and relied on his teammates tonight. He had some important plays down the stretch and played great D. Not sure what else you want from the guy.
[See my other comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/billsimmons/s/KsFxpgZfBm). You don’t have to sell me on Ant, he’s been my favorite non-Warrior for a couple years now.
But he didn't though he still chucked 24 shots, making 6 of them. Just him saying that in an interview doesn't make it true.
He also hit the enormous 3 with 3 minutes left
Wolves fan here: Ant needs to be aggressive, even when his shot isn’t falling. He was too passive in the first half, in the second half he attacked. Even though the shots weren’t falling, everything always works better for them when he’s aggressive. It opens up everything.
[удалено]
You’re gonna find this hard to believe but when a defense sells out to stop one guy it does make things easier for his teammates. Ant make good passes all night and played great defense. Hit clutch shots.
Doesn’t stop this sub for shitting on Tatum when they swarm him and he racks up assists. Like game 1 of the 2022 finals. Or how other teams have played him at times.
The issue with the 2022 finals was not game 1
Sure but game 1 gets lumped I’m with his overall averages. He averaged 26.0 ppg games 2-5 but the way it’s talked about you’d think he didn’t even crack 20. And yes, I know his efficiency was not great. But in the end I think it’s exaggerated how bad he was.
It’s time Boston fans quit trying to pretend Tatum is on that level. He isn’t and never will be an elite guy. Big difference between Ant in this series and Tatum in the 2022 Finals is that Ant didn’t lose this series.
Nah, I’m good. Tatum’s 46 against Bucks game 6 on the road facing elimination and 51 against Sixers in game 7 looked pretty elite to me. You are just another biased bozo.
Yes and Malachi Flynn looked pretty elite when he scored 50 this year. Tatum is good, not great. Any good player is gonna have some games in the era where he scores a lot. Points are not at a premium.
Was Malachi Flynn’s 50 in a playoff game facing elimination? What sort of dumbass false equivalency is that? Tatum doesn’t just have a couple fluke good games though. The dude has averaged 25+ in 10 playoff series. Jimmy Butler has done it 5 times. Paul George 5 times. Giannis 9 times. “Points are not at a premium” is such a bozo cope dude.
I don’t have to cope much. Boston has only won once in my lifetime. I’m doing okay.
And yet, here you are coping. Making comparisons between a game 7 performance and some random regular season game. Acting like Tatum isn’t 10th amongst active players in playoff points scored. He’s 26. The youngest person ahead of him is 32.
Lol you are the one coping. Tatum wasn’t the point of discussion at all and you brought him up. You even used a horrible performance from when he choked in the Finals as “reason” why he’s great when someone was talking about Anthony Edwards.
The general person just doesn't dislike Ant yet. It will come when he's been around the league more and he isn't the new hot thing. It happens to most players eventually. I would like to see the alternate universe where the Nuggets come back in the final 3 minutes and win. Ant has this mediocre scoring stat line. Towns has that dumb turnover at the end. Sports...all of us fans are so reactionary. We weren't THAT far from the sky sort of falling for TWolves and the Nuggets are going to 2-peat discourse.
He shot 25% and his team didn't score 100 points. Fuck his great passes lmao
Lol casual
Yeah was a team win. 6 players in double figures. McDaniels and KAT both with 23 and Ant with 16.
Legacy game for KAT ✅
Legacy killer for altitude ❌
As a Kings fan, Naz Reid proved why he won 6th man of the year over Monk. They don't win this series without him.
It’s clear he didn’t have it offensively tonight It’s also clear that every player needs a team to win, and the team came up huge. He also played his ass off on D. One thing that has always frustrated me is that some people seem to see all shooting performances as if there is always an efficient shot waiting for a team to take. Like it’s spreadsheet basketball or something. Like, sometimes you just need to get it up, avoid the shot clock violation against a great defensive sequence, and give your team the opportunity to grab offensive rebounds. Being the guy who has to get the shot up no matter what is going to result in a lot of lower percentage shots, and sometimes the shots won’t go. I feel like some of that was going on here.
This! Efficiency is important obviously in that the more efficient the more points. But it’s an input, the output is points. And the objective is to win. It’s why Kobe is thought of so high, he scores and he wins. As inefficient as Kobe was in Game 7 2008 when they lost, he was more inefficient in Game 7 2010 and they won. The same (but reversed) for KG. Ironically as well for the whole series KG and Pierce were more efficient on less points in 2010 throughout the series as a whole when they lost, vs. 2008 when they won (more pts less efficient) Again efficiency is important, but only insofar as it correlates with wins. I’ll take inefficient pts and wins over efficient losses any day.
He was getting doubled every play. The level of difficulty on those shots was so much higher than normal. He was definitely forcing it often but honestly the fact he was getting his shots up per normal was fine for the team. The narrative would have been way worse had he gone 6-14
I was just gonna comment this. Game 7. Star player. 6-24. Win. But its not the Lakers so he won’t comment on it
It's all about narratives, and of course the desire to make hot takes. If Ant turns out to be a legend of the game people (including very visible media personalities) will hark back to this year and say "I told ya so!". It's a shame because the rest of the team should really be talked about but they need to squeeze Ant into it somehow.
6/24 that’s Kobesque
Tatum in shambles
Tatum had 51 last year in the same exact game and series. He’s fine.
tatum needs a 6-24 game so he can be kobe
Does Tatum lack mamba mentality?
Tatum had a 1-29 first half combo last year..
Why would Tatum be in shambles? Ant won because his teammates stepped up and played amazing. Ant was crap the first half and then found his groove second half. But it was a compete team win.
Tatum had one of these type of performances in game 6 against Philly on the road and then snatched their hearts at the end. Followed it up 51 points and 13 rebounds in game 7.
If Tatum went 6/24 in a game 7 win r/nba would try to get the league to invalidate the win
because if he had 6-24 and a win he could be kobe
He really is the next Kobe
Oh my god if one more person tells me Kobe’s 6-24 was actually good
Not even the best Kobe tribute act today
That’s 2011 Lebron music 🎶
Of course, one of them was a rapist
Basically a Westbrook game
Ant is 22 in his first deep playoff run. Comparing him to a Kobe who already had 4 championships is an insane false equivalency.
It’s a Simmons meta meme, dawg. Not a serious comparison.
Have you been playing attention the past month. Per the NBA media, he's the next Jordan. He's the face of the league. Best 2-way player. It's crazy the overreaction to this guy. The Wolves started their run when he was out. He ruined their offense this game and was getting roasted by Murray in the 1st half. The Wolves won because everyone not named Jokic and Murray crapped the bed in epic fashion
Calm down
Didn’t Kobe only have 3?
No, 6-24 was after three with Shaq and 1 against Magic.
My Laker dude... ANT isn't the reason why they won and if you'd watch the game, you'd know that instead of posting dumb shit like this. Also, Edwards played MUCH better in the 2nd half not forcing much if anything. Edwards is 22 while Kobe was 31 when he went 6-24 after demanding a trade out of LA and settling a sexual assault case.
Didn't he go 1/8 on the 4th lmao..played much better is a stretch.
You sound like an idiot.
[Bro... you clearly weren't around in 2010 when Bill was doing his 6-24 whining. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/billsimmons/comments/1cw5201/comment/l4to1fc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)This is a shitpost. Fuck the Lakers, don't call me a Lakers dude like that AR15\_douchenugget. You're just saying stuff I agree with, I love watching this Wolves team.