BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR! - Stephen A. WARNS Ant-Man for CALLING OUT Kyrie Irving | First Take

was it a bad move for Aunt to call out Kyrie of course it was without question I mean that's s that's something that I have been alluding to coming into this series for the last few days Wendy legs is what I was saying I was like Kyrie like I we love Ant-Man I think he's the new face of the NBA I think he's a superstar blossoming before our very eyes and I and I think he's going to deliver a championship to Minnesota one day if not this year I just think that highly of him but I was like yo you be careful what you wish for I on Countdown the other day be careful what you wish for I was on first take that be careful what you wish for I was on my pockets be careful what you wish for this is not the dude that you want to do that to this Magician on the offensive side of the ball who by the way came into the game game one last night averaging 1.6 points per game in the first quarter 19 points in 12 playoff games in the fourth in the first quarter I like this ain't the dude you want you don't want to do that not not not him not not Kyrie this brother that can dance on anybody the nastiest handle in the game with a three-point shot I mean you had like 22 players averaging 20 or better in the postseason and Kyrie is the leading three-point shooter amongst them at 44% we know the handle's nasty we know his ability to finish at the basket we know his creativity as an offensive magician by the way if he really really wants to mess with you we know about his movement without the basketball whatever needs to be done on the offensive side of the ball is something this brother is capable of doing and I just looked at Anthony Edwards and I'm like I believe in you bro you're gonna be a champion one day I know how great you are but you're sure this was the right thing to do and then Kyrie comes out there with the aggression which is obviously why he was only averaging 1.6 points in the first quarter because he hadn't been aggressive he was willing to defer to Luca defer to H Derek Jones getting him involved defer to a PJ Washington bringing those young fellas along and letting everybody know when it's time trust me I'll handle it for you but when Anthony Edwards did that I said look out and sure enough within the first few minutes when you saw him with his aggression I said ah a damn that's what happened we saw it coming anybody that knows basketball knew what was coming and Kyrie delivered 24 points in the first qu this is what we love this is what we love this is what we love about the playoffs we love this back and forth we love this interplay among star players but I think this is it kind of undersells the fact that Kyrie was going at an I think it undersells just what he did in this game last night because Kyrie is a veteran player now he is a completely different guy than he was seven years ago when I last covered him in the Conference Finals Stephen A this this guy is different in mind body and spirit I almost can't believe it I'm almost you know a little bit is this really real and I'm watching it up close here in Minneapolis and I'm saying I think it might be and what I'm talking about is when this game started the Mavericks were a little bit jittery so were the Wolves okay it's a Conference Finals game I know that some of their guys have experience but it's jittery Everything feels bigger okay and also Minnesota came out and there a great defensive team and they and nobody knows what game plans are going to be to start series it's always like a guessing game and so they came out and they were hugging the three-point line they were like we are going to not allow the Mavericks to get going on the perimeter and so Kyrie read the game yes I do think he wanted to come out and try to send a little message to Aunt but he read the game he read that his teammates and the strategy was open for him to go to the basket and get those paint attacks and get those floaters in his game and that was so important and one thing I'll say about ant it was Kobe Bryant's like fourth third or fourth title when he made the famous thing the job's not done okay you know when they were ahead in the in the series and he goes the job's not done Kobe didn't feel that way when he was 22 an is 22 so Ann is learning that when you win a second round game even if it's game seven even if it's the biggest win your franchise has had in decades the job is not done and I think Stephen A and legs aunt was stunned at the energy that it took to play in this game last night he was exhausted at the end of the game he admitted it he didn't understand the the intensity from series to series a great learning experience for him but a reminder the job was not done yeah look Stephen A Wendy I don't think it's ever a good idea so Stephen A to your point I thought the same thing when I heard it I'm sitting there I saw that live when it happened and I said wow that's interesting and that's different to use another player's name like you say his name it's not even like hey I'm going to be ready for the next team you said a specific player's name and Kyrie Irving I thought the funniest thing in that exchange with Charles and those guys was he said I'm just sitting to hold my family minding my business and all a sudden I hear my name and his ears picked up and he has been less aggressive early in games than he was last night certainly and I think here's what it comes down to Kyrie Irving is a guy that this is one of the greatest finishers for to guard his size at The Rim that this league has ever seen and man was it on full display last night early cuz he wasn't settling for for tough step back jumpers over length he was downhill in the paint with his creativity shifting hands getting his body into the shop blocker chest getting an ones he did so much offensively I think to settle Dallas down to Wendy's point if Kyrie Irving is even 10% less aggressive in the first half they might go in down 10 down 12 the whole game may have felt different to the Dallas Mavericks when they come come out of the locker room for the second half instead what was it I think a three-point game maybe at halftime that was all because of Kyrie and now you put it in the hands of the best closer maybe in the league period but certainly that's left in the postseason in Luca donic and he was the guy that settled matters in the fourth quarter with 15 points so now Minnesota's lost home court do you feel like Wendy the wolves are in trouble after game one loss no because first off I never ever ever overreact to game one uh something you learn over years being around playoff series um I also think that Minnesota their game plan is going to need some tweaks they they were not ready for what they got from Dallas and there was a there's a bunch of x's and those I could go over with big with the big men pick and roll actions I'm not going to focus on that what I'm going to focus on is the Trap that Dallas set and that was to pack that paint and dare the Wolves to shoot threes they shot 49 three-pointers they had not shot that many in any game this year Aunt Edwards took four shots inside the paint four this is one of the best finishers and drivers in the league they totally baited him in to shooting those threes his average shot distance was almost 23 feet that is a huge victory for the Mavericks and it was very basic they just put all these guys standing elbows in boxes it's old school legs Stephen A you guys know this from the 90s you don't have the guys leave the lane and if that means you give up some three-pointers like early in that game Jaden McDaniels was hitting some threes and Kyle Anderson was hitting some threes okay they'll give up some of those threes to keep that lane tight for to to to to make Aunt Edwards see two bodies or three bodies he has to beat so that's the big adjustment this is a historic thing that star players have to deal with they try to keep them out of the lane keep them away from their strong suit so now let's see how ant responds to me it's all about the ant response and also there'll be some you know ex's and no adjustments but ant cannot take for shots inside the paint he's got to take 13 15 18 shots inside the paint in game two well I I I'm not disagreeing with that part Wendy I just don't think it's limited to that it's not just about Anthony Edwards how about call Anthony towns not shooting nine threes Charles Barkley and sha were absolutely right last night when they were talking about how you know what you let the defense off the hook when you shoot that many threes because there's a mismatch at every turn where it comes to him he's a legit 611 7 feet tall you know you got mismatches that you can take advantage of you need to do that and the fact is Carl Anthony towns who by the way deserves a lot of props from the standpoint he walked into the game with the Malik cely Jersey the late Malik sely that used to play for the Timberwolves was a friend of of mine but a bigger friend of a lot of people uh that I know personally Malik Cy was one of those dudes we love him and we miss him dearly but car Anthony towns honoring him was a very very touching thing but I will tell you when you show up in that game and you launching threes nah you can shoot threes from now every now and then because we know you can make them but in the same breath your your success doesn't need to be predicated completely on that when you got a mismatch that you can exploit I think that's another thing to bring up Jaden McDaniels played a good game key turnover with nearly two minutes left that I thought cost him the game but for the most part he really really played well um I give him credit for that here's what I would throw in your direction legs because I think it's something that needs to be said Luca is phenomenal as we all know the thing about Luca and if anybody could alter his game you would think it would be Minnesota because of their length nobody rushes him he plays at his pace and there is nothing you could do about it he's going to go as fast as he wants or as slow as he wants I have never it's rare in the day that I have seen somebody in all my years covering the NBA that dictates their own pace as successfully as Luca donic does so I'll give him mad credit for that Minnesota has to figure that out because they had no answer for KY in the first half they had no answer for Luca in the second half and guess what it wouldn't have even been that competitive if Dallas had knocked down more of those open threes that they had available to them so you're finching the crew you got to figure out what to do defensively there is no question about that and Tim legler I'mma throw it to you by saying this Kyrie Irving against Minnesota this year averaging 35 points just one game 35 points 52% shooting six or eight from three point Point range with the five assist shot nine five or seven yet last night when guarded by Anthony Edwards but only shot three or seven it's 43% against Jaden McDaniels your thoughts about this this this what I want to throw out because lucer doesn't move to the degree that a Kyrie Irvin might move is it possible that it might be better for McDaniels to chase around Kyrie and for Anthony Edwards to be on on Luca although I know he would be he would be smaller and not as long as McDaniels I'm wondering how you feel about that only because lucer isn't that fast and he isn't running around that much plus he's hobbled he's not 100% that might take a little bit of the exhaustion away from Anthony Edwards and add and Elevate his level of energy Tim leg I wondering what you think about that I love this question Stephen A because I was thinking about it last night during the game I absolutely agree with you from a Personnel standpoint that makes more sense there's one big risk with that Luca donic is incredible at drawing fouls he's got this little that little up fake he does on the step back gets you to lean and he draws fouls obviously Anthony Edwards significantly more important to keep out of foul trouble than it is Jaden McDaniels you're right you're going to expend less energy chasing and and having to guard guys with that kind of quickness off the dribble as Anthony Edwards is expending guarding Kyrie Irving and maybe that's why he was so tired late in the game you'll use less of that type of energy against Luca it's more of a physical strength wrestling match with Luca so it's a different way in which it wears you down I think the foul trouble is what Chris Fitz would be concerned about with Anthony Edwards getting that many minutes on Luca because he is so Adept at drawing that type of contact look Molly asked the question were they in trouble now I listen I obviously thought they were in a little bit of trouble before the series CU I picked Dallas to win this series now it's gone up a notch there's no doubt cuz Dallas has home court now but I'm going to give you the reason and Stephen hey your question leads me into this why did I pick him in the first place LCA donic is not affected by length and quickness he's not those guys that are catching those shoulders in their chest jadeen McDaniels nikelle Alexander Walker Anthony Edwards watch last night when Luca's hitting them with that shoulder like he loves to do those guys are giving ground and now Luca can separate for that little lean back jumper even in the mid-range when Lou Dort was on him and Luca was hitting him L Dort was not moving backwards he's too strong he was staying up in him as a result Luca was getting gassed and now Luca shooting shots fading away with a hand on hand different level of contest look at the shots Luca made in the fourth quarter last night he got separation against guys that are significantly lighter [Music]

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Id: cUVbTOSLLNo

Length: 13min 29sec (809 seconds)

Published: Thu May 23 2024