[Highlight] The Timberwolves’ new ball-handler
I swear he makes these types of 3s at a higher % than the easier, open 3s
He just like me fr
This says 40.6% on wide open threes, which on volume, is one of the best marks in the NBA. Do NOT try to ruin our buzz (get it - buzz), we need this.
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/shots-closest-defender-10?CF=FG3A*GE*4&CloseDefDistRange=6%20%20Feet%20-%20Wide%20Open&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&dir=D&sort=FG3_PCT
ps your boy Royce O’Neale is way up there too. ONeale, Kon, Miller, Naz, Coby White…stop it. Gonna be a hailstorm of threes.
Damn bruh imagine Lamelo facilitating that group 🥺
He needs to aura farm first to power up.
I’m sure u won’t miss this shit at all. U need a revamped Reddit handle brah, hornets are back
give it another season, that lamelo, miller, kon, diabate lineup was the dream according to the analytics committee
Back to the bottom of the league? Couldn’t have come at a better time.
I wonder who will have the higher usage % in Minnesota out of him or Ant
it’s gotta be Melo right? unless Ant is gonna daddy him and say “this is my team now give me the ball” type shit
Is this a joke, lol?
It’s ants team, he’s the offensive engine and gets the shots. Lamelo is the clear #2 here
this is what we’re all excited to see! Melo is a PG right? so naturally he should have the ball the most, but i am very curious to see how that works with ANT being him the whole time. i think this could potentially be the most exciting duo next year, or it just won’t work. but i bet those two will figure it out
Melo will have the ball a lot during the regular season and also feed ant by initiating the offense. In the playoffs ant will get more touches and initiate the offense but not nearly as much as he has in the past.
Always a sound strategy to play one way during the season, and then completely change what got you to the playoffs and mix it up.
We’ll be fine, they cover each others weaknesses quite well
Ant isn’t a reliable playmaker (guess what lamelo’s most important trait is)
Lamelo is too weak of a scorer to lead a contender (ant is the most talented scorer in the league right now)
Both can move off-ball, both can shoot the three ball at a high clip (especially ANT) while lamelo isn’t renowned as a defender, he’s proven to be good enough, he makes his rotations timely, he stays active off-ball, and is decent as help, and ANT will probably see his best defensive year yet given the lower offensive burden
Also Melo + Rudy P&R is gonna be deadly.
Ant is the most talented scorer in the league? Bias much? lol
Lmao probably the fastest first step in the league (definitely top 3), one the best 3-point jumpshooters in the league in all aspects of it (spot-up, pull-up, corner, off-the-catch), above the rim finishing, just crazy athlete in general who’s apparently one of the best shooters too, like who the fuck is more talented😭
Shai and Luka are both better scorers.
I don’t like Luka but Luka averaged 5 more ppg than Ant on .001 worse true shooting lol.
I also don’t like Shai but he averaged 3 more ppg than Ant on 5% higher true shooting. So he also clears.
And then Giannis, who was 1 fewer ppg on 5% higher true shooting also has to be in the argument.
Ant is solidly top 5 best scorers in the league right now though, with an argument for as high as third.
Well yeah lol I’m not saying he’s the best itl in scoring cuz that’s Shai by far
I’m saying in terms of how talented ant is as an individual scorer he’s top of the league, freak athletes like him don’t have the calibration or touch to become one of the best shooters in the league, let alone do they progress from a 35% shooter on Low volume to a 40% 3pt shooter on 8-10 attempts a game
Plus im not evaluating off pure box-score averages, im more so looking at the type of possession the player scored as (AKA playtypes: isolation, P&R, play-finisher, spacer, on-ball, etc..) on a per possession basis (per 75-100 poss)
[hopefully you understand what I’m saying cuz I’m not tryna look like a dork haha]
He’s at the top, like everyone is saying, despite only limited time playing with a real point guard.
I understand your point completely actually but I still disagree, i think it’s wiser to say his career arc regarding scoring is one of the most impressive. Or his inherent talent to expand his game is the best even when compared to Luka, SGA or even Giannis
the 2 time reigning mvp is better
I dislike sga as much as anyone but sga is a better scorer
Ant has been in top 5-10 convos the last couple years, people have him as the best American player in the league. No shot Lamelo Ball comes in and steals the spotlight from him on the team that drafted him first overall lol
Jalen Brunson is the best American player in this league
He’s the best American player on offense. When it comes to American guards, Ant and Donovan Mitchell are outright better defenders while having a similar output on offense. I don’t think he’s obviously better than either if you don’t tunnel vision on awards. Then you have Jayson Tatum who is the most well-rounded player in the league. I would’ve said he’s comfortably better than Brunson, but because of that injury, it’s up in the air. He’s still in that conversation.
I know he won a ring and yada yada, but if the best player always won in the Finals, Jalen would have never won himself. Lebron would be the undisputed goat and Jokic would have like 4 rings in that universe
donovan mitchell better defender lmao. he’s about the same height as brunson without any of the same motor even on defense. he still gets hunted (brunson has now beat him 3 times in a row in the playoffs and has hunted him throughout).
brunson is easily the best engine out of the three and holds up on defense. seems like you’re watching games in the background talking about “donovan mitchell”
Tatum pre-achilles has a great argument and Ant man has a solid one, but Donovan Mitchell has 0 argument over Jalen Brunson on either end of the floor in the postseason.
Donovan Mitchell still. How Mitchell avoids slander and still manages to be in convos with a guy who has outplayed him in three playoff series owning him each time is astonishing. Easily my pick for best PR in the league.
Edit: like I’m mind blown. Mitchell plays defense, since when? Should have said Tatum.
but lamelo is their main playmaker. isn’t that the whole point? if you wanted ant to run the offense, why have wolves fans wanted a PG for years? ant can be (and will be, obviously) the number 1 scoring option even if lamelo handles the ball more.
The chain specifically said usage
yea i gathered reading further down that usage is calculated differently than i assumed. i figured it was just how often the ball was in your possession. because hypothetically, if you dribble the ball for 20 seconds on a possession and do nothing with it, that intuitively seems like you used tf out of the ball and denied usage to your teammates. looks like that assumption was wrong. feel free to educate me if you feel like it
Y’all sleepin on playoff Rudy
Are you smart we literally got him because we couldn’t have ANT initiate actions or self-create on the ball (atleast down the stretch) because 1. He gets doubled instantly past the HC or see some absolute ludicrous coverage (a problem that gets highlighted very much in high leverage situations) 2. He isn’t a reliable playmaker on the ball (yet) he still struggles to make simple reads consistently let alone the more complex ones and that hurts our offense A LOT.
Hopefully Ants growth follows SGAs. It took SGA some time to really see things before the action starts. Started off with making the simple pass during the action to now seeing the options preaction and responding accordingly while keeping the same score first pass second mentality.
Usage % is different though
Ant is not and has never been an offensive engine. LaMelo will have the ball
I swear some of these comments are from bots.
I thought the joke was him daddying anyone
Ant is #2
Absolutely fucking not lmfao.
Usage rate is a function of FGA & FTA. LaMelo & Ant are both volume shooters, but LaMelo is much less efficient. Ant should be taking more shots and thus have a higher usage rate.
If LaMelo has a higher usage rate than Ant, it could only mean three things: 1) Chris Finch is stupid; 2) LaMelo is too stupid to be coached; 3) LaMelo is turning the ball over way too fucking much, bc the only stat other than FGA & FTA that’s factored into usage rate is turnovers.
Yeah I think people are misunderstanding you, USG% is kind of a misnomer for a specific metric, not just how much the player is involved.
USG% doesn’t account for assists which Lamelo basically doubles Ant in. I think they’re gonna be the most entertaining backcourt in the league and Ant’s 3p% is probably going to be even more insane with Lamelo feeding him.
Y’all gonna be in for a rude awakening if LaMelo is taking fewer shots. There were times this past season when he tried to take a backseat to Kon or Miller, and his efficiency would plummet. Melo needs to get shots up to be effective.
very interesting! see this is exactly what i’m so curious about how this pairing is going to work together next season. like, it’s either gonna be epic as hell or it’s going to be horrible as shit! i can’t wait to see how the ball handling dynamic works out between those two
It should be melo
for sure
people underestimate how much of a playmaker Lamelo is, he likes to push the ball forward, always looks in transition . He gets wild in the half court, but he has never played with a player as good as Ant.
Really? Not even a question. Ant by a mile
I think people see how flashy and charismatic Ant is and think he cares about how many touches he gets. He’s flat out said many times about how amazing his teammates are and how effective they are. He plays ISO ball because he’s not a PG, and is always talked about like he’s a PG. lol.
He’s a shooting guard. Melo will probably get more usage for most of the season as long as he’s on the court.
But Ant will still be the primary option and will have more catch and shoot 3s vs before. Plus the main thing is that it’ll be hard af to double ant with melo at the top of the key/one pass away.
I think Melo will have higher overall usage rate but will be less in the fourth quarter.
Carries the possessions until ant gets going.
last i checked carmelo anthony isn’t on the timberwolves
Lamelo was 17 last year. Ant isnt in the top 100. In fact Randle was over Ant.
LaMelo just does pure bullshit on the court and it somehow works out for him. He played the same way since middle school, it’s crazy this playstyle still works for him in the NBA
Best line about LaMelo is that he plays like he’s got airpods in
Jordan Poole Evolution
Brainrot Magic Johnson
Lol yea I remember coming across his highlights and some game play in high school and was like wtf they project him to be in nba?? With that kind of shot selection??? But he’s got game. Just need to… be more conscious 😅
Makes sense when i remember he grew up going against his brothers and dad on the family court.
Streetball Hero (8-bit)
didnt in the play ins
Might’ve shot like shit but he still had 30-10 against the Heat with a +15. He was not good enough against Orlando sure so I guess the takeaway from that one game is that he sucks
Man I remember when they called carries
He didn’t do anything in this clip that Allen Iverson didn’t used to not get called for.
Carrying being allowed is an epidemic in the league but this clip isn’t a good example of it.
LOL
Iverson should’ve been called too
I can respect that
lol
Lol
lo⅃
In the NBA??
I hope they don’t start calling this year
Where’s the carry in this clip
Both of the left handed dribbles before he pulled up to shoot.
Before the final dribble he clearly carries it. And badly. By rule if your hand is under the ball like that and you dribble again it’s a carry
By definition you’re literally wrong. Your hand can be under the ball. It has to pause or carry from one point to another. Hand under the ball does not mean carry.
“A player who is dribbling may not put any part of his hand under the ball and (1) carry it from one point to another”
Which is exactly what I said. He said putting your hand under the ball is a carry?
Article D
“A player who is dribbling may not put any part of his hand under the ball and (1) carry it from one point to another or (2) bring it to a pause and then continue to dribble again.”
that’s the rule, verbatim from the rulebook. Everyone else can have fun interpreting this I’m just pulling up the official text
Yes putting your hand under the ball itself is not a carry. You have to do one of the 2 other things as well. Which is exactly what I said.
I’m assuming he’s talking about 5 seconds in
It’s not a carry if you’re picking up the ball to shoot
Prior
Not a carry at all on the behind the back.
When he picks it up going to his left that pause when he picks it up and dribbles again is the part I think the original is saying .. seems like that’s the one part of the play you left out
If this works out Ant has his running mate for the next 10 years. Both the same age too like a week apart
If this works it will be awesome, and the CBA will split them up early
THE CBA IS ALWAYS THERE TO MAKE SURE THE JUGGERNAUT WOLVES CAN’T WIN MORE TITLES
I mean, snarky reply and all, MN would be very lucky to get there in the first place, and Wolves fans would obviously take it.
The pain good teams will feel is pretty unbiased and requires some crazy good team building to keep it together. Windows of opportunity have changed and require more shuffling deck chairs. That is simply it.
CBA Brad Stevens
lamelo and ant to the 76ers for joel embiid
It won’t work out. Ant is pretty dumb, and Lamelo is REALLY dumb. Ant is a selfish player, and Lamelo has such terrible BBall (and real life) IQ, he can’t or won’t put Ant in enough positions to succeed. They also both like to have the ball, and both won’t sacrifice that for the betterment of the team. This won’t work out at best, and is a disaster at worst.
I think it will be interesting, and a worthwhile trade gamble from both teams. But I see both sides of the argument. It will be fun watching regardless
In the modern NBA there’s not a chance they are together for a decade. I’d be shocked if they were even half of that
So we’re thinking same zodiac sign? Analytics room must have ate that shit up
I’m watching every Twolves game if Ant & LaMelo both playing
Ya know, I’m excited, but this is a perfect example of a really bad shot that if he takes these is a really bad use of a possession
So, we’ll see
you should be, when okc faced the spurs we couldve used someone just jacking up shots…mccain filled that role and was inefficient, spurs defence is quite suffocating, it would be interesting how your two guards match up
Is it actually a bad shot? They run a pick and LaMelo got the switch. He then go to work on a mismatch, got good separation, and took the shot as the clock was winding down. This is not to say that LaMelo shouldn’t work on his shot diet but you can do a lot worse than this.
That’s what great players do though
But he’s not, really, a great player. Too many bad shots and certainly needs to take a back seat to ant who is much better, more efficient, and in the vast majority of cases is the one who should be taking the hard late clock shots (note: this wasn’t really late clock he started the pnr at 10 seconds and sucked around until he went into a one legged step back — admittedly cool but an insanely low percentage shot)
All said, lamelo can work here and I’m excited. But it’s without risk and he does need to tighten up his game.
He’s definitely a great player, but that’s because he’s one of the best playmakers in the league. No doubt he’s gotta reel in his shot selection if he wants to truly be elite
He’s a 37% 3P shooter and 48% on long 2s, crazy shot selection or not he’s shooting at excellent rates.
It’s at the rim where he has problems so it might be better for him to just keep shooting long jumpers.
if this fails….Chris Finch is getting fired
Ant will ask out as well, I seriously don’t know what the Wolves are doing.
Good trolling
Ant is the one who wanted him. He’s wanted him for 2 years and Charlotte finally put him up to trade. I’m pretty sure Lamelo can be tamed to play for a serious team for once. He fits what they need perfectly, and as much as he seems like a complete douche, Ant just needs a confident ball handler who can pass and make shots when Ant is on the bench. Lamelo does both those things easily. Ant isn’t going anywhere either. He’s knows it’s his team and they’ll give him what he wants for a long time
Remember when Derek White was trying to recreate this shot lol
The move is really awkward to try to recreate. Melo is just different
Okay now show all the times he does this and misses or has dumb plays.
Lamelo is quietly one of the most turnover-averse high-volume ball handlers in the league. His style of play looks aesthetically crazy, but he takes care of the ball
Yeah his turnover rate was actually a career low percentage (good thing) this season, if I’m not mistaken.
I mean this was basically the first season he’s had in Charlotte where his team was actually serious right? Bodes well for us
Was talking about all these crazy off balance shots and moves he makes that leads to bricks for his awful shooting nights that he frequently has. He has shot chucking habits.
Sure, Here’s the full game highlights.
44/9/7 against a team that finished as the #2 defense in the league
cook
Lol got em
Not really. One of the worst shooting percentages in the league for his points per game and shot attempts. Actually for all the players who average 20 ppg or more over the last 4 seasons lamelo ball ranks dead last in fg % and true shooting %.
I agree with your point but most of the clips showcase bad defense and it’s regular season November.
One of the worst in the league for shooting percentage for his points per game and shot attempts. One game though huh? Bet you think his 30 points vs Miami in the play in was good too. Ignoring his 12-31 and 2-16 from 3. (Yikes) he was a whopping 5-24 from downtown in two play in games.
We could do this for any ball handler from Chris Paul to Steve Nash and they would all look like dumb middle schoolers.
He barely shoots in the 40%s my guy. He had 3 straight months of 40, 38, and 40. But yet he takes like 18-20’shots a game. He’s a shot chucker with shit like this. Looks cool when it works for him though.
The worst part about this trade is that there will be fewer highlights for Eric Collins to get hype over.
These are terrible shots if you look at the history of the league.
But also, if you didn’t know Steph Curry, his shots would look awful a lot of times too.
No, not comparing the players. But the eye test isn’t always the answer.
I’m going to miss the CHA announcers calling all of his home games
I’m a simple Hawks fan, I see Goga Bitadze getting embarrassed on the court and I upvote.
Dirty scum.
He is such a bone head but geez I like watching him, gonna tune in to a lot of t wolves next season
U better pray NOW cause he going to play 50 games this year
He’s like JR Smith on roids. Makes the hard shots more than the wide open ones.
Lamelo just plays ball like it’s the 2000s and I have no clue if it’s enough to win meaningful games in today’s League. But damn do I appreciate this. NBA doesn’t have nearly the same amount of personality as before.
He plays like he drives
Is this good?
He’s the best worst player you know
Watching him crush us in a regular season game was infuriating. When he’s not playing us I love it.
I’m not ready to be on the other side of this bullshit bro lmfao, thank god he’s on the West
Prince Naseem Hamed of the NBA.
Literally a walking highlight reel
I mean, he definitely handles balls
Thr thing about lamelo he is a highlight reel… and a lowlight reel
He carried it like 6 times
Hope he stays healthy, he’s so fun to watch. Need more entertaining basketball these days, has gotten too uptight.
why he look like a baby horse just out the womb
He plays streetball. Fun to watch, but he’s wasting his talent on circus shots.
Ant isn’t gonna get any touches lol
Bro be cooking
Step back fruitier than fruit bowl
Iso on a big into a one leg fade away 3? Yea wolves are fcked
Acting like that isn’t straight out of Luka/Hali’s playbook
Hali isn’t an iso scorer, so no
Neither is melo? But if either of them have a big on an island they will attack the mismatch like intelligent basketball players do
I can see it now, this will fail and be a first round exit. Ant asks out and is traded to the Clippers.
And Melo is traded to some dumpster fire… like the Charlotte Hornets, though I just can’t picture him playing in a small market like that
I’m sorry but I’d rather be the worst team in the league than the Wolves, I’m gonna get cooked for this take, but they are in basketball purgatory rn, good enough to not be tanking, bad enough to win a title, I think their ceiling is losing in round 2 to the Spurs or Thunder, and soon enough Ant will ask out, imo the Lamelo trade closed whatever window they had.
I agree, you should get cooked for this take.
We’ve been the worst team in the league, I’d rather be here
This is the best stretch in their franchise’s history and they have made it to a Western Conference Finals.
Even if Ant asked out, which I doubt he would, they would hold on to this era as long as they can.
Making it to the playoffs is like a title for that franchise and city. Let them have some fun after decades of misery.
As a hornets fan if we made the conference finals I’d be content for like the next six seasons
I vividly remember KG’s run to the WCF and the lingering doom I felt as a kid knowing Cassell’s back injury was going to keep the wolves from being full strength.
Even if it hasn’t been ideal the past few seasons for wolves have been as good as it’s ever been. Even if TC gave a swing and a miss with LaMelo, it seemed pretty clear Randle and as much as it hurts me to say it - Naz weren’t what we’re going to bring us to the next level.
I’ve witnessed countless high (top 5 picks) selected and be bullshit. Melo at this point is a relatively proven offensive star with his obvious injury faults.
Just wanted to call out your take because it does encapsulate my anecdotal experience. Even if this experiment fails, from my view there’s some genuine potential ball could improve the collective offense immensely (especially Rudy and Jaden).
ngl i disagree but this is the kind of take that gets posted years later with people being like “this was so obvious”
how many full regular season wolves or hornets games have you watched in the past 3 years?
Rather entitled take to prefer being one of the perennial basement teams.
Kings, Wizards, Brooklyn.