Stephen A. says Ant-Man is to blame for Wolves’ Game 4 LOSS 😳 ‘He DIDN’T do enough’ | First Take

Stephen A. says Ant-Man is to blame for Wolves’ Game 4 LOSS 😳 ‘He DIDN’T do enough’ | First Take

I don’t look at it like I struggled or he struggled. They just they had a good game plan making us get off the ball. Um especially for me, man. They was super in the gaps. I made the right play all night. So, I don’t really look at it like I struggled. I didn’t get enough shots to say I struggled. So, that’s my that might be how you guys look at it, but yeah, I didn’t struggle at all. It just I made the right play. Here’s my deal. Are you the superstar player you’ve proclaimed to be or not? The fact of the matter is that Ant-Man is special. We all know this. And you saw how special Sheay Gilis Alexander was. That individual pride is what I was looking for. I don’t want to hear something like I made the right play. The wind man joining us now. Brian Winhorse. Great to have you with us. And Wendy, I’ll start with you. What’s your response to what Stephen A had to say about Ant’s performance in game four? I’ve got PTSD from the LeBron James his first conference finals back in 2007. when he got double teamed at the in the paint frequently by the by a great Detroit Pistons defense and he would kick the ball to open teammates who were not as good as the teammates that Ann Edwards now has on the Timberwolves and him getting roasted for that and I just it’s I’ve I’m scarred I’m scarred from that because I watched a game where the the Timberwolves really had a terrific offensive game. They had 126 points. They shot over 50%. In the fourth quarter of this game, they scored 41 points against one of the best defenses of the last decade, if not more. They double teamed him 100% of the time. He penetrated and drove the ball. Their entire apparatus was designed at forcing him to give it up. He gave it up and their offense thrived. Now, if you want to say Stephen A or Mad Dog that you think that he could have had a bigger impact on the game, that he could have done some things to put more of his stamp on it, I won’t disagree with that. But I can’t get frustrated with a player who helped his team play brilliant offense by making smart basketball decisions. I will point out that Julius Randall was one of seven in this game with five turnovers and that Randall is averaging three assists in this series. And one of the big things they got to do tonight is get the ball out of Ant’s hands so he can operate with more space. But I cannot criticize Ant for leading to great offensive basketball by his team. Well, Anthony Edwards had five turnovers, too. So, he had six assists, five turnovers. Um, I I know making the right play um is the the right thing to do most of the time. Um, I often say, and I’ve had this happen, and I’ve seen great players talk about it. There’s one thing, especially for a guy like Anthony Edwards, right? It it was one of the earlier games where he had 13 points and he barely took any shots in the game and we talked about being more active. So, like I am going to say that whenever you’re a great player, when you’re on the verge of becoming a great player, every time that you don’t impact winning, your game is going to struggle. I mean, I just want you to think about it for a second. the the the visual and you could say keeping it real whatever it is of me after a loss saying well I don’t think I really had a a bad game or I don’t think I really struggled I I made the right play how does that come across Wendy yeah he didn’t take how did that come from how does that come across when you are the star player everybody’s quotes what do you mean that’s what we’re talking about that’s the whole point of the conversation when your lead player your star your dog who is talking and and built into everything then after a game. That’s the bigger point to me. Says, “Well, I don’t think I struggled.” Why did they lose the game? Excuse me, Jay. Why did they lose the game? Why did they lose the game? I’m not saying he’s the But I’m not saying he’s the main point on the main reason why they lost the game, Brian. I’m just saying when you’re the lead dog, when you say I you got to think about how that sounds. You got to think about where where you are from a leadership perspective, you can’t say that you are him. If you’re going to be him, him is inclusive of everything. You know what I mean? Stephen, what should he have said in that moment? like how should he have handled that as the leader? We all need to be better. I need to be better. Like it’s just little things like that. You don’t say I didn’t struggle. You know, that’s not how I determined struggle. They were in gaps. It it didn’t sounds like you’re being passive. That’s not what you want from your league guy. Stephen A. Did that bother you? Yeah, it did. I need y’all can leave us up on the screen, but figuratively speaking, I need everybody to move aside as I lock in on Wendy because I I want Wendy up on the screen. I want to see him when I say this because I love this man. I’m I’m proud to have him on first take, but there are moments where Wendy absolutely drives me crazy because for the life of me, I get your point. You know, you know, you remind me of Wendy. You you you you’re you’re the Larry Brown of the media. You understand? The Larry Brown. Everything’s about playing the right way. Everything’s about playing the right way. Damn it. Sometimes it don’t matter. Now, if Shay Gillis Alexander was not on the opposition dropping 40 40 10 and nine, I’d feel you. And I understand that their offense was effective. I get it. You’re looking at things in totality. I’m looking at things in a moment. I’m looking at when Oklahoma City went on a spurt and they kept every time you inch closer, all of a sudden they peel it back and they put you down seven. They put you down nine. They put you down 11 and wouldn’t let you get closer. At some point in time, it’s about you. It’s about you. When you go to a negotiating table and you say, “Yo, I’m worth 50 mil.” It ain’t to play the right way. It’s when things are going wrong. I’m the dude that’s going to make it right. That’s why LeBron is who he is. That’s why Steph is who he is. That’s why Kobe is who he was. That’s why MJ is who he was. That’s why the superstars are the superstars. Because when things ain’t right, ain’t neatly packaged. And everything is kosher. Everything is straight up. And when it ain’t that way, somehow someway you got the ability to make amends. We’re not saying that Ant-Man had an awful game. What we’re seeing is 13 shot attempts, 16 points on your home turf with you on the verge of falling to an insurmountable 3-1 deficit with the dude that got league MVP in front of your face dropping 40 with Jaylen Williams his sidekick dropping 34 13 shot attempts. What do we complain about with James Harden? the money maker, the all, you know, the one of the most prolific scorers the game has ever seen. You wait until game six and sevens to attempt nine and 10 shots. We ain’t get on him for the amount of points he scored. We got on him because where’s the attempts? Ant-Man attempts 20 shots a game. 20. He averaged nearly 28 a game. He hit 320 three-pointers. Led the NBA in three-pointers made this season. in that game on your home court with a 3-1 deficit staring you dead in the face. You attempt 13 shots and you say, “I made the right play.” I understand that it it’s accurate to some degree. I’m just simply saying when you’re that dude, that ain’t enough. Clearly, it wasn’t enough cuz they lost. At some point in time, it’s about move the hell out the way. I’m gonna do whatever I got to do defensively, offensively, whatever it takes. I’m gonna do what I got to do. That’s all I’m saying. That’s all I’m saying. Brian, you are completely right. These two have lost. They I mean, if there was a scenario at the end of that game, and remember, Minnesota never had the ball with the chance to take the lead. If there was a situation in game four where he passed up the game-winning shot that thenenzo, you’d be they’d be right. They scored whatever they scored. They shot the ball well. Do I love the comments after the game? He’s 23 years old. The and ESPN more than anybody else has put him on a pedestal, the face of the league, which is the biggest bunch of garbage I’ve ever heard in my life. And I think that hurts. That’s not garbage. Oh, yes, it is. The brother. Yes, it is. I don’t want to hear about the brother. Nonsense. I agree with you on that. Nonsense. I agree with you. guy’s never played in a final was out and was outshined badly by Luca and all we ever do is say he’s the next. No, he’s not the face of the league. He’s plays in Minnesota and they’ve never been in a final and they almost got swept in a conference final last year. Let’s take it easy. Will you please take it easy? Face of the league. That’s LeBron. That’s Bird. That’s Jordan. No, that’s a high that level. We didn’t We didn’t say he was We didn’t say he was We said that when you when you The next The next win something. Win something. If you said If you said if you win something Oh, please. Oh, please. Or whatever. Be quiet. This is who he sent. This is who he sent home. This is who he sent home. He sent home on Kevin Durant. He sent on Devin Booker, Bradley Bill, Joic, Jamal Murray, and now LeBron and Luca. I mean, dang. We can’t say next. We can’t say next. Hold. We can’t say next. No, you can’t. We can’t say next. Well, LeBron is second team all NBA. LeBron second team all superstar in this league. He’s still a superstar. LeBron didn’t play like a superstar in this league. But you’ll be quiet. I agree. And thank you very much. We’re not talking about face of the league. We’re talking about the game. Not face of the league. The game. The game. Why did they lose the game? We’re not talking about perception. We’re not talking about riding down the court on a stallion. You got to win the game. The reason they lost the game was because they couldn’t get stops because they couldn’t because they kept turning the ball over and because they couldn’t rebound. That’s why they lost the game. They had 126 points and shot 51%. He has like six or seven playoff games in his career where he scored 40 points. We know he can score. You need him to win. It doesn’t If he had scored 45 and they lost. Okay. Let me just ask you this. So what you’re saying by your logic, if he had not taken 13 shots and he had taken 30, okay, because by the way, Sheay was 13 of 30 in this game. He got to the foul line a lot. It was a great game, don’t get me wrong. Let’s say he takes 30 shots and he goes 13 to 30 and instead of scoring 126 points, they score 110. And so instead of losing 128 to 126, they lose 128 to 110, but he scores 35. You’re telling me by your logic that’s the better performance? That’s what you want? No. No. That’s not what people want. What I’m saying what I’m saying? No. No. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. I’m not saying see. That’s slick. That’s slick on your part. You’re talking to a basketball mind as well. You ain’t getting away with that nonsense. That’s not what I’m saying. What I No, you’re not right because you’re interpreting what I’m saying. And that is not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is if this dude does what we’re accustomed to seeing him do, guess what? You don’t see as many turnovers. Guess what? You don’t see as many miss shots. You’d actually see him be more effective. What if you’re making those three-point shots? Guess what? That they could sit up there and push the ball. Wait a minute. I understand, but the point Hold up, hold up, hold up. Okay. Go. Go ahead. Is he facing something that he didn’t face at some other point in the playoffs or the regular season? Yeah, better team. No, but he faced him in the regular season. No. And that’s a issue with the team and that’s the issue with Julius Randall. But that’s that’s the challenge when you play a great team. Stephen, I just to add to your point because I’m on your side here. Have all of a sudden now like now getting doubleteamed is the reason why guys are being stopped. We’ve seen a lot of superstars get double teamed. By the way, you can give the ball up and give it back and force the defense to rotate. You can do that multiple times throughout the course of a game. Do they have a second grade player in our team, Minnesota? They do not. They do not. If you can figure out a way to win game second 64 points from their bench. It’s not they don’t if you can figure out a way to win game three by 40 plus you can figure out a way to win a game on your home turf to avoid a 3-1 deficit. You can do that. You’re right. Nonsense. Nonsense. Nonsense. Wendy. Good job. I’m trying to inhibit the conversation of the league right now. Ant Timber. The NBA Western Conference Finals is tonight back in OKC. SGA and the Thunder host Ant-Man and the Timberwolves. 8:30 Eastern on ESPN. OKC have three games to one. The Countdown crew tipping off our coverage at 7:30. I feel triggered by the word superstar. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Brian Windhorst, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo and Jay Williams join Molly Qerim to discuss why the Minnesota Timberwolves lost Game 4 to the Oklahoma City Thunder and debate what impact Anthony Edwards had on the playoff loss.

0:00 The Timberwolves losing Game 4
2:09 Is Anthony Edwards an all-time NBA great?
5:10 Stephen A. and Mad Dog debate

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