It's crazy because two years ago people said he couldn't play PG at all, but I don't understand saying he's "infinitely better as a point guard". Just seems to be an anti-Dame narrative more than anything. Ant is one of the best catch-and-shoot shooters in the league (shot 48% last year on catch-and-shoot 3s). I don't understand the notion that he's not great playing off the ball. The team moves the ball a lot more anyway so even the "point" ends up working off the ball a lot of times. Ant got a dunk last game off a Nurkic dime by doing so, and had his easiest 20pt scoring game in a while. Ant got hot against Denver working off the ball. Ant plays PG every minute Dame is off the floor. They interchange while on the court together. The NBA is too skilled to pigeon-hole guys as a "PG" or "Not a PG". The best teams have stars that work well on and off the ball, because a single star can no longer carry a team. Your star(s) have to be able to play off of others because a team-based offense is always much harder to guard than an individually-based one. Teams need two elite defenders to deal with Dame and Ant. But then who do you put on Grant? The team is built really well at the top. Just need the right role players around them.
Luka's putting up insane numbers right now because his team sucks and he has to. If he had a better team, he wouldn't put up quite the same numbers and if you just focused on him individually, you could make his better supporting cast to be a bad thing for Luka the player.
Rephrase it as primary ball handler. It's not anti-Dame at all. You don't think the stats back up that Ant is significantly better as a primary ball handler?
Anfernee has played 816 minutes this season. 541 have come with Dame off the floor. In those 541 minutes, he has an ORTG of 116.1, USG% of 31.1, TS% of 58.6, eFG% of 54.1, FTR of .235, AST% of 24.9, and a ppp of 1.1. So in the 275 minutes he has played WITH Dame, ORTG of 115.5USG% of 21.7, TS% of 60.5, eFG% of 58.7, FTR of .113, AST% of 12.9, and PPP of 1.1 I don't think the numbers show he is SIGNIFICANTLY better with Dame off. I think he is a different player with or without Dame, which is a great skill, for him to be able to step in and replicate some of what Dame does for us. It shows he's a better shooter when he's got Dame on the floor alongside him, and takes on more of a PG and attacking role when Dame is off. Obviously his raw scoring numbers will go up with that big of a jump in USG%.
I don't know if on/off really does it. When he starts at point guard, anecdotally he seems to be in a different head space than when Dame is there.
As should anyone with or without the best player on the team on/off the court. I think when we get to the point where we're trying to determine "head space" through our TV, we're looking a little too hard for things.
Ok, then we've gone from the stats show a significant difference to now a head space. I think the stats show that too. He plays as a number 1 when dame is out. He shoots worse when he does that. But he attacks more and gets more points and assists, obviously.
then that's easily fixable. @RR7 showed hard facts that the team has synergy with both playing. that Ant's individual raw stats are lower with Dame is meaningless if the team is winning. This is true of any successful team with multiple stars on it.
I dunno who else caught this but one of Dame's agents set up a dinner celebration for Dame for his top 75 selection today. Dame's bro posted a bunch of stories with his speech at the dinner and Dame gave a special shoutout to Ant at the end. Said Simons came into the league right when he was getting success and provided Dame someone to pour into and guide, and how it helped Dame get better and not be complacent or bored. Was really introspective to hear that. Also ended the speech by saying "he's next." Think we need to listen to Dame. He knows.
wait..what? Is this up there with "Damian drinks like a fish" and that since Damian followed and then unfollowed Sharpe he must not like him in the pantheon of "made up bullshit"? Or is this poking fun at some nonsense that someone said?
Fine. If "head space" doesn't work for you, how about role? When Dame is out, he's the #1 and he plays different. With Dame (12 games) - 21 ppg, 4 rebounds, 3.41 assists, 7.58-17.66 FG (43%) and 3.66-9.75 threes (37.6%) Without Dame (10 games) - 28.5 ppg, 3 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 10.4-22 FG (47%) and 5-11.7 threes (42.7%)
So Dame is also freezing out Sharpe it looks like….didn’t even mention him in his speech last night. OH SHIT!
There is a simple answer here i bet. How many minutes on average is the ball in ants hand when playing with Dame vs playing without? You didn't include that stat when trying to compare and i think thats a huge relevant factor. Then combine that with the presumed fact that almost every #2 on a team will score more when the #1 is out and im at a loss as to your complaint. ive read through this and like many others, im confused by this and why you think this is a “problem”? its normal to me.
if you come into a discussion about Dame/Ant with a strong bias in favor of trading Dame because you're convinced Dame/Ant won't work, you'll look at these numbers and confirm the bias problem is that we heard this same distraction and angst about Dame/CJ for years and as it turns out, CJ may very well be worse without Dame than with him. He sure has been in last year's playoffs and this season. The issue here is that all of CJ's inflated numbers when Dame were out were due to usage and the ball in his hands a lot more. He really wasn't more efficient; he just dominated opportunities more because he didn't have to share with a better player that looks to be the case with Simons
Ant starting to get some national attention. https://www.blazersedge.com/2022/12...ta-hawks-bill-simmons-russillo-ringer-podcasy
They play the same position. That's the "problem." Ant is significantly better statistically when he plays point guard. Ant CAN play shooting guard, but as my stats show, he's not as effective. It's not a complaint. It's an observation.
