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

Was it a bad move for the aunt to call Kyrie? Of course, it was without a doubt. I mean, that's something I've been alluding to in this series for the last few days. Wendy legs, is

what

she was saying. I was like Kyrie. I love Ant-Man. I think he is the new face of the NBA. I think he is a superstar blossoming before our eyes. And I believe that someday he will deliver a championship to Minnesota, if not this year. I just think about it very well. him, but I was like, be

careful

what

you

wish

for.

Me on Countdown the other day, be

careful

what you

wish

for. I was at the

first

take

, be careful what you wish for. He was in my pockets, be careful what you wish for. this is Not the guy you want to do that to this Wizard on the offensive side of the ball who, by the way, came into 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 is not the guy you want you don't want to do that no no no him no no Kyrie this brother who can dance with anyone the nastiest handle in the game with a three point shot I mean you I had like 22 players with an average of 20 or more in the postseason and Kyrie is the leading three-point shooter among them at 44%.

We know that handling it is unpleasant. We know his ability to finish at the basket. By the way, we know his creativity as an offensive magician. If he really wants to mess with you, we know about his movement without the basketball, anything that needs to be done on the offensive side of the ball is something that this brother is capable of doing and I just looked at Anthony Edwards and thought: I believe in you brother , someday you will be a champion. I know how great you are, but you're sure this was the right thing to do and then Kyrie comes out 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 give in to Luca give in to H Derek Jones involve him give in to PJ Washington bring in those young men and let everyone know when it's time, believe me, I'll

take

care of it. for you, but when Anthony Edwards did that, I said be careful and sure enough, in the first few minutes when you saw him with his aggression, I said ah, damn, that's what happened, we saw it coming, anyone who knows about 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 interaction between star players but I think this underestimates the fact that Kyrie I think it underestimates what he did in this game last night because Kyrie is a veteran player now he's a completely different guy than he was seven years ago when I last covered him in the Conference Finals Stephen A, this guy is different in mind, body and spirit.

I almost can't believe it. I'm almost knowing a little bit if this is actually real and I'm seeing it up close here in Minneapolis and I'm saying I think it could be and what I'm talking about when this game started, the Mavericks were a little nervous, so were the guys okay? Wolves? It's a Conference Finals game. I know some of his guys have experience, but he's nervous. Everything feels bigger, okay and also Minnesota came out and there. a great defensive team and they and no one knows what the game plans will be to start the series.

It's always like a guessing game, so they came out and were hugging the three-point line and said, "We're not going to let the Mavericks." to get going on the perimeter and then Kyrie read the game. Yeah, I think he wanted to go out and try to send a little message to the aunt, but he read the game and read that his teammates and strategy were open for him to go. the basket and getting those paint attacks and getting those floaters in his game and that was very important and one thing I will say about the ant was Kobe Bryant's fourth third or fourth title when he did the famous thing, the job is not done, OK? know when they were ahead in the series and he says the job isn't done.

Kobe didn't feel like that when he was 22 and he's 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 it's not finished and I think Stephen A and his leg aunt were stunned by the energy it took to play this game last night, he was exhausted at the end of the game, he admitted it. he didn't understand the intensity from set to set, a great learning experience for him, but a reminder that the job wasn't done.

Yes, look at Stephen A. Wendy. I don't think it's ever a good idea. So Stephen A, to your point, I thought Same thing when I heard it, I was sitting there, I saw it live when it happened and I was like, wow, that's interesting and it's different using another player's name as if you were saying their name, It's not even like I'm ready. on the next team you said the name of a specific player and Kyrie Irving. I thought the funniest thing in that exchange with Charles and those guys was that he said, "I'm sitting around supporting my family by minding my business" and suddenly I heard my name and his name.

Ears perked up and he's certainly been less aggressive early in games than he was last night and I think what it comes down to is that Kyrie Irving is a guy who is one of the best finishers to protect his size on The Rim. The league has never seen and the man was on full display early last night because he wasn't settling for hard back jumps on long jumps, he was downhill in the paint with his creativity moving his hands getting his body into the chest of the blocker of the store getting some. did a lot offensively, I think to calm down Dallas to Wendy's point, if Kyrie Irving is even 10% less aggressive in the first half, they could go down 10 down 12, the whole game may have felt different for the Dallas Mavericks when They came. out of the locker room for the second half instead, what was it?

I think a three-point game maybe at halftime was all thanks to Kyrie and now you put it in the hands of the best closer maybe in the period in the league, but certainly that remains in the postseason in Luca Donic and he was the guy who settled things in the fourth quarter with 15 points, so now that Minnesota lost on home court, do you feel like Wendy, the Wolves are in trouble after the first game loss? No, because, first of all, I never overreact. for the first game, something you learn over the years in playoff series. I also think Minnesota, their game plan, is going to need some adjustments.

They weren't prepared for what they got from Dallas and there were a lot of x's and those. I could go over the great pick and roll actions of the greats. 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 challenge the Wolves to shoot. triples, they shot 49 triples, they had not shot that many in any game this year. Aunt Edwards took four shots into the paint. The shooting distance was almost 23 feet which is a big win for the Mavericks and it was very basic.

They just put all these guys with their elbows in boxes. They are old school legs. Stephen A, you know this from the 90s, you don't have to leave. the lane and if that means you give up some threes like at the beginning of that game, Jaden McDaniels was hitting some threes and Kyle Anderson was hitting some threes, okay, they're going to give up some of those threes to keep that lane closed to a to to make the Aunt Edwards see two or three lengths you have to beat, 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 point, so now Watch how The ant answers me, it's all about the ant's response and there will also be some exes that you know and there will be no adjustments, but the ant can't take shots inside the paint, he has to take 13, 15, 18 shots inside the paint. painting in the second game, well, me.

I don't disagree with that part Wendy, I just don't think it's limited to that, it's not just about Anthony Edwards, how about you call up Anthony Towns and not shoot nine threes? Charles Barkley and Sha were absolutely right last night when they were talking about how you know what you leave the defense free when you shoot so many threes because there's a mismatch around every corner when it comes to him, he's a legit 611 7 foot tall, you know that you have mismatches that you can exploit, you need to do that and the fact is that Carl Anthony Towns, who by the way deserves a lot of praise from the point of view that he came into the game wearing Malik Cely's jersey, the late Malik Sely who used to play for the Timberwolves was a friend of mine, but a bigger friend. from a lot of people, uh, that I know personally, Malik Cy was one of those guys that we loved him and we miss him dearly, but the fact that Anthony Towns honored him was very, very touching, but I'll tell you when you show up at that game and You shoot threes, no, you can shoot threes every once in a while because we know you can do them, but at the same time your success doesn't need to be based entirely on that when you have a mismatch that you can exploit, I think.

That's another thing to mention. Jaden McDaniels played a nice key turnover of the game with almost two minutes left that I thought cost him the game, but for the most part he really played well. I give him credit for that. This is what I would throw your legs in your direction because I think it's something that needs to be said. Luca is phenomenal as we all know what's up with Luca and if anyone could alter his game you would think it would be Minnesota because of his length, no one rushes him he plays at his pace and there is nothing you can do about it he will go as fast as you want or as slow as you want.

It's never unusual that I've seen someone in all my years covering the NBA dictate his own pace so successfully. While Luca Donic does it, I'll give him a lot of credit for the fact 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 they wouldn't have even had. It would have been just as competitive if Dallas had knocked down more of those open threes they had available, so you're pinning the team down, you've got to figure out what to do defensively, there's no doubt about that and Tim Legler, I'll throw it to you says this Kyrie Irving against Minnesota this year averages 35 points just one game 35 points 52% shooting six or eight from three points Point range with the five assists shot nine five or seven even last night when he was guarded by Anthony Edwards but only shot three or seven is 43 % vs.

Jaden McDaniels What do you think about this? This is what I want to rule out because Lucer doesn't move to the extent that Kyrie Irvin could move. Is it possible that it would be better for McDaniels to chase Kyrie and if Anthony Edwards was on Luca, although I know it would be, he would be smaller and not as long as McDaniels. I wonder how you feel about that just because Lucer isn't that fast and he doesn't run that much. Plus he's limping, he's not at 100%, that could take some of Anthony Edwards' fatigue away and add and raise Tim Leg's energy level.

I wonder what you think about that. I love this question Stephen A because I was thinking about it last time. night during the game I absolutely agree with you from a staff standpoint, that makes more sense. There is a big risk with that. Luca Donic is incredible at committing fouls. He has this little feint that he does on the step back. He makes you bend over and he. Obviously, Anthony Edwards fouls and is much more important to stay out of foul trouble than Jaden McDaniels. You're right, you're going to spend less energy chasing and having to protect guys with that kind of quickness off the dribble like Anthony Edwards does.

Spending defense on Kyrie Irving and maybe that's why he was so tired at the end of the game, you'll use less of that kind of energy against Luca, it's more of a physical strength fight with Luca so it's a different way he wears you down. . I think foul trouble is what Chris Fitz would be worried about if Anthony Edwards got that many minutes against Luca because he is so adept at generating that type of contact. Mira Molly asked if they were in trouble. Now I listen. Obviously I thought they were in trouble. a little trouble before the CU series I picked Dallas to win this series now it's gone up a notch, there's no doubt because Dallas has home court now, but I'm going to agree with you and Stephen, hey, your question leads me to this .

Why did I choose it in the first place? LCA donic is not affected by length and quickness. He's not those guys who trap those shoulders in his chest. Jadeen McDaniels Nikelle Alexander Walker Anthony Edwards watched last night as Luca hits them with that shoulder like he loves. To do those guys are giving up ground and now Luca can separate for that little jump back even in the mid range when Lou Dort was on him and Luca was hitting him. L Dort didn't move back, he's too strong, he stayed on top of him. as a result, Luca was becoming exhausted and now Luca was firing fadeaway shots with a one-on-one, different level of competition.

Look at the shots Luca made in the fourth quarter last night, he separated himself against guys who are significantly lighter.