You've watched hundred of games, yet you cannot articulate the specific differences between MJ and Ant - you think they play similarly

You barely know what a jab step is (see the post below for the best ever)

Show me a better jab step:










Show me a better hop step:
















Show me a better drop-step:


























Show me a better first step:














Waiting



Best upfake?







FUNDAMENTALS - the goat drop-step, hop-step, first-step, jab-step and upfake, .

Where's Ant's drop-step, hop-step, jab-step or first step like Jordan shown above?... How about an update? Fundamentals?... lol.. we done w/ Ant

.
3-POINT EFFICIENCY FOR REGULAR SEASON GAMES WHERE MJ HAD 3+ ATTEMPTS:

1985...... 4-18
1986...... 3-6
1987...... 5-22
1988...... 1-3
1989...... 16-49
1990...... 75-187
1991...... 11-30
1992...... 13-39
1993...... 68-185
__________________________
total....... 196-539 (36.4%)




3-POINT EFFICIENCY FOR PLAYOFF SERIES WITH 3+ ATTEMPTS - regular line only (HIGHLIGHTED BELOW):




53-135 (39.2%)




TLDR: From 85-93', Jordan shot 36.4% on threes in games that he had 3+ attempts (539 attempts), and 39% in series with 3+ attempts (regular line only) - aka there's no record of MJ shooting poorly at today's volumes and whenever he had above "bailout" volume (extremely low volume - only bailouts taken)... Since MJ always shot well at today's volumes despite no practice (36-39%), he would be elite in today's game WITH practice (40% or more).

It's statistical fact that at today's volumes of 3+ attempts, MJ was a better 3-point shooter than Ant and simply took bailout volume most seasons, which deflated his efficiency.. See the stats in previous post

Literally none of these are drop steps - was 90's basketball so bad that anyone could play D1 without literally having any understanding of the fundamentals or were you uniquely unskilled? Do you not know what a drop step is?

Also, this is all basic stuff that is mastered by all kinds of youth players that won't sniff NBA and none of this is particularly advanced from an execution standpoint (in fact, you can see that his footwork is often a bit sloppy, especially when he was younger). Like how behind are you to think that these are amazing from a skill standpoint? What stands out here is athleticism compared to other NBA players at the time, not skill.

Twog's rambling ironically reveals a massive gap between 90's basketball and today's basketball - how can a person whose identity revolves around basketball and went as far as D1 basketball think that super basic stuff that can be flawlessly executed by all kinds of 13 year olds is some pinnacle of basketball skill?

Well that's 90's basketball for you.

Show me where Ant finishes on that level off a 1-step vertical (drop-step)?

It doesn't exist.

And you'll claim that a 1-step vertical isn't a drop-step (it is) but regardless you're missing the point - Ant lacks the goat skill and power off a one-step vertical that MJ had,... Look at all those crazy finishes that MJ had with zero ball-dominance or setup time required - THAT'S how you elevate teammates - you don't dominate the ball like a jackass... And of course we're talking about perimeter players - surely there are bigs with more powerful and dominant drop-steps.

So again, show me where Ant demonstrates a drop-step, hop-step, jab-step or first-step on the level of what I showed for MJ?.. These are fundamentals that Ant mostly lacks.. His first step is good but it requires set-up time - he doesn't know how to explode from a triple-threat position (pre-dribble, stationary position) or post-up position, so his first-step is unpolished, in addition to being slower.

Ultimately, Ant is just like all the other modern lebron-bots - they dominate the ball at the expense of teammates, so that when the team loses, it's blamed on teammates instead of his weak brand of ball and inability to elevate teammates.. It's exactly like the 09' or 10' Playoffs with Lebron getting upset massively, or Giannis, Embiid, and Luka losing with good rosters - all these losers - none of them have good fundamentals and understand how to play the game like low time of possessions players (Curry, Jokic, MJ), who knew how to elevate teammates..

Tbh, I know KAT was hurt a couple years ago, but he's basically stunk and declined since Ant has taken over the team, so once again we don't see the teammate development for Ant that we saw with MJ - MJ's teammates grew by leaps and bounds alongside him, while today's ball-dominators and fancy dribblers see teammates crater...

Ant, Lebron, Luka, Embiid, Giannis - all these perennial losers - they all have ball-dominance and high set-up times, which produces weaker chemistry that hurts teammate performance .. None of them have low hold-time like the winners do (Curry, Jokic, MJ), so their casts don't perform as well.. It's ball101 that casts need great chemistry to play great, but unfortunately, guys that need a lot of set-up time prevent this chemistry, so they can't elevate teammates.. This inability by Ant, Lebron and Luka to elevate teammates is misperceived as them not having enough "help" or on-paper talent.. So when their 5th or 7th year organic juggernauts and league favorites fail, it's mistakenly blamed on lack of talented cast instead of weak brand of ball and fundamentals by the 1st option.

Today's players need a ton of set-up time and ball-dominance specifically because they lack the fundamentals shown above that allow scoring with less ball-dominance, aka first-step, jab step, and drop-step - all these things allow players to finish with less ball-dominance... A great drop-step allows zero ball-dominance and super-quick, "big-man" finishing from the guard position - by turning a normally ball-dominant position into a quick-finishing position, it increases the ball movement and chemistry capacity of the team.

.
Casts need great chemistry to play great but modern guys have high set-up times


Ant, Luka, Lebron, Giannis, Embiid - all these perennial losers have high set-up times at the expense of teammates and chemistry.

So when they lose with top seeds, it's mistakenly blamed on needing more help/talent instead of needing better chemistry and brand of ball that elevates teammates

In contrast to the aforementioned ball-dominators, players that achieved perennial winning for various stretches had low set up times and didn't dominate the ball (Curry, Jokic, MJ), so they have better chemistry and better-performing casts.

It's amazing that Jordan was blamed for losing with rookie teams that won 30 games, but when the league favorites of modern stars lose, it's blamed on needing more on-paper talent - this includes on-paper favorites (preseason favorites).

So the modern media are DUMB FRAUDS - both things - they're both dumb and frauds, specifically because they've started this horrible trend of never blaming the top guy and his ability to have great chemistry and elevate teammates - instead, the cast is always blamed.

MJ was required to "elevate teammates", so he developed great chemistry to win with a "normal" cast, but today's stars aren't being held to the same standard - their losses are excused due to lack of help, regardless of how stacked the team was or how long they've been together, or how bad the star's brand of ball and chemistry is and failure to elevate teammates.. It's horseshit

Wait a minute - you guys aren't going to claim that Ant "just lost to a better team" when he loses right?... After saying his team was far superior when they were up 2-0?.. See how that doesn't make sense?.. And that's where the chemistry part comes so it makes sense - Ant, Luka, Lebron, and Embiid ar perennial losers because of high set up times that prevents great chemistry and therefore prevents the best teammate performance.. Massive deficits in team assists support my claim of inferior brand of ball for Ant, Lebron and Luka.. Heck, the common thread in all of Lebron's playoff losses for the last 10 years is massive deficits in team assists

Anyone can go re-watch Ant's 44 points on the highlights - they're all "down-hill" transition 3's or at-rim - he had 1 catch-and-go in the half court I think in the 2nd quarter and another mid-range shot later - that's about it... Otherwise, his game is extremely predictable - the Wolves will give it to him to bring the ball up court in transition and he will go for a 3 or layup.. .Rinse repeat... it's a higher set-up time and more predictable than the styles of Curry, MJ or Jokic, who hold the ball far less and generate goat ball movement - they have goat sophistication with their team offense and their non-ball-dominant style allows this higher strategic capacity... Otoh, Ant is vastly inferior compared to Jordan at the non-ball-dominant skills posted in gifs above (jab step, drop-step, first-step, off-ball), so his team's chemistry isn't good enough to elevate teammates and the team to championship level.. He still has to learn how to elevate teammates, but unfortunately, today's ball-dominators like Lebron, Luka, Embiid, etc never do and need to start teaming up together, and still mostly lose... it's sad.. then the media blames lack of help for the loss, instead of the player's inability to elevate teammates via great chemistry... Again, massive deficits in team assists support my claim of inferior brand of ball for Ant, Lebron and Luka.. Heck, the common thread in all of Lebron's playoff losses for the last 10 years is massive deficits in team assists

Ant needs to keep both hands on the ball until the last instant on layups, so he can't have the sweeping one-arm extension layups that wrap around 7-footers the way Dr. J or MJ used to finish on guys... That's a specific shot type that Ant can't do, so all his hang-time shots are the same kind - both hands on the ball until the last instant and then a very short jumper type shot from 2 feet away - he actually doesn't remove his hand from the ball on hang-time shots.. So his shot-making diversity is a JOKE compared to mj.. Of course, we already know that his efficiency on paint shots outside of the restricted area is bad because it requires touch and shot-making diversity that he doesn't have.. And he's bad at mid-range, ball movement, chemistry, passing, rebounding and an inferior FT shooter.. Basically everything.. MJ even shoots better from three at today's volumes (3+ attempts).

After 2 games, everyone said "the Wolves are too much for the Nuggets".. but now it's "wolves need more help".,.. smh.... this is the type of analysis that happens when chemistry is left out of the analysis.. ultimately, the modern American player simply lacks great fundamentals and chemistry to elevate teammates like Jokic, MJ and Curry did.. everyone like lebron, luka and ant are just "down-hill" players that lack the offensive sophistication, expert jumpshoting skill and great instinct to score in more diverse ways and play off teammates better, so they can't have the advanced team offenses and chemistry that Jokic, MJ and Curry had.

the "down-hill" skillset is extremely predictable - it lacks diversity and prevents a team from offensive sophistication... it's also run in the halfcourt, which does require set-up time.. we're talking about high screen rolls or iso's where Ant has the ball 25 feet from the hoop - he's just holding or dribbling the ball before he going downhill.

it's a narrow brand of ball that gets destroyed - Ant and SGA are finding that out - neither will win another game in these playoffs.. This is similar to Lebron losing the last 3 games to lose nearly every series that he lost - teams figure out his weak brand and can't lose thereafter...

Meanwhile, in contrast to Ant and SGA, Luka is currently finding success by not dominating the ball as much because he's hurt or something

Luka had 14 playoff wins in his first 3 seasons.

MJ had 1.

Guess MJ is a perennial loser.

That's sad

Ant, Embiid and Giannis all have much, much lower ball dominance (time of possession) than Curry and similar or lower than Jokic - even Lebron's TOP has often been only a little higher than Curry's over their careers; Luka is the only one who consistently has much higher TOP. These stats aren't available for MJ's career but it would amaze me if the numbers for him weren't in the same ballpark as Curry's and hence higher than at least 3 of the "perennial losers" you mentioned. This whole ball dominance concept as a predictor of good team performance is just complete nonsense.

Luka entered the league with great teammates like Porzingas and Brunson, but he couldn't win, while MJ was unbeatable with one other star.

Compare their records with a decent teammate and we see that only MJ was unbeatable, while everyone else needed many star teammates a yet still mostly loses.

Luka lost with Brunson and it was a bad fit - let that sink in... MJ would've fit like a glove and made the best backcourt ever.

In the playoffs, Ant's time of possession (hold-time) is 7.6 minutes, so that's higher than SGA (7.4), and obviously Jokic (5.6).. stats here.

So you're dead wrong.

Did you even look up the numbers?

A point guard hold-time for Ant creates the same 2 point guard lineups that Lebron has (2 guys on the floor with a point guard hold-time, aka Ant & Conley), which gives teammates less hold-time and assists than they get in normal 1 point guard lineups... Lower teammate assists equals low TEAM assists and a brand that struggles against Finals teams..

The common thread in Lebron's playoff losses for the last 10 years is massive deficits im team assists.. Similarly, the Wolves are getting out-assisted by the Nugs.

Look Ant's buckets - they're all downhill to get a three or layup - he's just another simpleton down-hill player - it's a style that accumulates personal stats but can't develop great chemistry that elevates teammates.. Casts play great when the chemistry is great, but Ant's skillset prevents this chemistry, so he'll need to team-up like Lebron to win, and yet his brand will still mostly lose.. That's the historical record of down-hill players - they're perennial losers even with other stars and they get beat by teams with better chemistry.

Anthony Edwards and SGA clearly need another star teammate each - who would be best for them?

Should we team them up with Luka? How about teaming them up with Giannis? Would that be enough help?

All these simpleton, downhill players don't know how to play off teammates and foster bad chemistry, so their casts don't play great - they don't know how to elevate teammates and chemistry, so they need more help - they're bad at chemistry, so they must become talent-based winners (colluders, all-star team strategy).

Today's players lack fundamentals such as playing off teammates (off-ball) and 5-man basketball, which opens up the strategic capacity and chemistry of the team

I did in fact look up the stats but I used more than just the 8 game sample of this playoffs. But if you want to get super specific, Ant's time of possession in the 6 games they've won these playoffs has been 33% higher than in the games they've lost (8.1 vs 6). Him being super ball dominant has resulted in wins and him being less ball dominant has resulted in losses. So whether you use a large sample size (i.e include regular season) that shows his average TOP to be only marginally higher than Jokic or you use a super specific sample of just this playoffs it still shows your point to be nonsense.

Fun fact. Luka did not enter the league with Porzingas and Bruson was a rookie.

MJ did great things with Pippen as a rookie?

Brunson dominated the 2022 Playoffs, yet Luka lost to Curry/Wiggins/Poole.. That doesn't compare to MJ.

And Luka was a joke with Porzingis, who averaged 20 ppg and provided elite rim protection

Now Luka has Kyrie and won't win anything.

Why do these guys need so much help?... The answer is easy - casts need great chemistry to play great, but the simpleton "down-hill" skillset prevents this chemistry that is needed to "elevate teammates".. These "down-hill" players can't elevate teammates, whereas that was specifically what MJ did to win.. No one cared that MJ's cast was trash compared to Magic and Bird - everyone said he simply needed to "elevate teammates".. .So he did by fostering great chemistry.. He didn't dominate the ball like a jackass or have high turnover rate

Neither Ant nor SGA will win another game in these playoffs - their simpleton brand has been solved.. Luka will advance simply because he's the most experienced of the remaining ball-dominators and has Kyrie.

Weak brands of ball like ball-domination work against lesser teams, while the top teams eventually adjust... So your numbers about Ant beating lesser teams and taking the Nuggets by surprise mean nothing.. Lebron beat a lot lesser teams too but he had a lottery record on the championship level and horrific record vs Finals teams overall (upset losses to Finals teams in 09' and 10', plus the worst-ever Finals record).

Ultimately, despite the Wolves being "too much" for the Nuggets after 2 games, Ant cannot achieve great chemistry with his superior cast because his brand of ball is vastly inferior to Jokic - ball-domination is the culprit but it's also the weak scoring diversity of down-hill players - Ant gets mostly down-hill layups and threes, with very little in between - go back and re-watch the highlights - he's just a down-hill player.. Defenses adjust to this simpleton shot allocation, while there's no adjustment for Jokic or MJ's wildly diverse shot allocation - they weren't just simpleton, "down-hill" players like Ant, SGA, Luka and Lebron (perennial losers that can't foster great chemistry, so their casts can't play great, which means they can't have great teams or great Finals records).

FFS Ant wasn't the problem last night