u/JaderMcDanersStan

This was a fantastic interview. I loved how he said his focus this year was less on individual points/stats and moreso on winning games and doing the little winning plays.

He also mentioned focusing on being the right complement for Ant - both basketball wise and personally. He is learning what makes Ant tick and wants to learn how to push his buttons to bring out the best in Ant.

Also talked about ball movement and ways the role players can get the flow of offense moving without solely relying on Ant to save them.

I hope we keep him. He has a great mindset and attitude on and off the court, need more Donte in this team.

In the playoffs, teams must adjust their gameplan for specific opponents and players may need to adjust their roles.

The best part about KAT is he can shapeshift his role because he's so efficient. He doesn't need a lot of touches to score or make an impact. He can scale up or down his volume while maintaining efficiency and affect the game in different ways - rebounding, defense, playmaking, scoring, spacing/gravity.

Many star players can only score if they get a lot of touches and their game becomes less impactful if they have to change roles or reduce volume. But KAT can shapeshift his role easily.

The fact that he can still get a triple double with only 4 attempted shots leaves lots of shot attempts for his teammates, which explodes the offense. He can score 30+ by going 11/12 or can scale up the volume while still maintaining efficiency and score 60 (he’s already done both before). His efficiency is super valuable for himself and the team and he'll buy in on the dirty work of rebounding and defense if needed, too. He is WILLING to reduce shot attempts to make others better too.

It's rare to find stars like this.

In the playoffs, you have to adjust your game to the specific opponent which makes KAT's efficiency, positional versatility and ability (and *willingness*) to shapeshift so valuable. It’s not a coincidence that he’s been a part of 3 straight conference finals runs.

As a Wolves fan (Knicks are my East team), I noticed this even with the Wolves. For example, he had a different role in Suns vs Nuggets series and was impactful in both series in different ways. He’s changed his role multiple times over the years and could still be impactful. KAT is a willing and able shapeshifter, which I’d argue is one of the most valuable skills needed for the playoffs.

*14 (!) rebounds

That Wemby vs Ant duel was incredible to watch. Crazy how Ant did that with 2 bad knees. Amidst all the flopfests in some other series, we got to watch something special tonight. One of the BEST games in playoffs so far.

We’re watching greatness out there, enjoy it. The stars showed out, the defense played by both teams was amazing. Enjoy the basketball, you won’t see this all the time...

And what happened to "this series is house money after all the injuries"? We’re not realistically winning a championship given our circumstances. Spurs start 3 great guards. Donte is out with an Achilles, our star guard is at 60% maybe and Ayo is hobbled also. What do you guys realistically expect here? Our guys tried and there was spectacular defense played by both teams tonight, especially the Spurs. Give them credit.

I loved seeing the Wolves turn that game around and watching Ant do Ant things! Rudy played some great defense as well. Sometimes your team tries but you just gotta tip your cap to greatness and enjoy the basketball. We'll get Game 4. I'm loving this series, don't take the greatness we watched tonight for granted.

Best case scenario game 6?

For me,

Rudy locks up Jokic *again* for the legacy, Jaden 25/10 and postering all the bad defenders, our guys stay out of foul trouble, we hit our open threes, Ayo and Randle 9+ assist games, lot of ball movement, Bones celly and TJ dunks galore. Hold Denver to under 100

Oh and a RUDY 3

She’s a gift y’all! She posted that she couldn’t make the game on Twitter and was giving out tickets to a Jaden fan who will cheer hard.

Jon K vouched for me too 🥹 I can’t believe it. The universe is awesome.

Anyone have Jaden related sign ideas??

Ant has a super motivating, uplifting presence and his leadership gets guys going. He challenged Naz Reid so much in Game 2 that Naz started making shots and got incensed enough to yell back "this is what I fucking do!" at Ant 😂 Ant is in the ear of our role players boosting them up or challenging them into turning a game around.

It's why even if Ant doesn't have the best game, his presence and leadership can spur momentum and change the energy of a team.

He wasn't there in Game 5 since they had to travel but Game 6 is at home. But with knee issues maybe it's not possible for him to be on the bench as he needs to elevate his leg?

Do you think we'll see him? It could make a difference if Wolves are down in the game.

On that vein, I hope the crowd prioritizes cheering for the Wolves over expressing ire to the refs (which takes away attention from the players and doesn't help them). Need to give the role players all the positive energy we can.