Hoops Tonight - SPURS-WOLVES GAME 5 REACTION: Wemby DOMINATES in return vs. Anthony Edwards & Rudy Gobert

Alright, let’s bring Jackson up and dive into your questions.

Jaden asks if an Ant-led team has a ceiling because he’s not consistently elite on defense and isn’t a steady offensive engine like Shai or Wemby.

I wouldn’t stamp big conclusions on this run; development zigzags, and Ant’s been grinding through a knee that’s clearly sapped his burst. He’s seeing heavy doubles without the same payoff bigs get elsewhere, and with the injury context it’s just not the moment to say he can’t get there.

We rush to label guys too early; he’s twenty‑four, and even stars like Shai had double‑team issues at that age, while Ant’s already been deep in the playoffs.

Why aren’t fouls on Wemby’s alley‑oops ruled shooting fouls, even when contact is obvious?

I don’t know the exact cut in the rulebook, but it likely hinges on possession and upward motion, which gets weird with Wemby’s insane catch radius. It’s a rare case that tests how refs split catch versus shot.

If he’s hit before he controls it, it’s not a shot, though he probably deserved a few more; it’s a discount‑Shaq situation where calling every bump would foul out the opponent.

He even deep‑sealed, got shoved, drew the whistle, and clapped like, keep hacking—I’ll rack up fouls on all of you.

With that Clippers pick, should they take the best player who overlaps with Garland, chase fit, or trade back for value?

It depends on your board; if your target big will be there later, trade down and add assets. If you view A‑Cuff as a franchise lead guard, take him and shop Garland for the frontcourt piece you actually need—I’d lean that route since Garland should return positive value.

Reggie Miller floated starting Naz Reid over Gobert; small looks have juiced the offense in spots, and outside of game one Rudy hasn’t swung this matchup.

If you’re cornered, stagger them—try Naz to open and use Rudy in tighter windows; at this point you experiment.

Rudy’s long‑standing problem against elite interiors is cleanly catching and finishing, not defense; when he converts, he’s terrific.

Have you noticed more Thunder guards using the bump‑to‑midrange move, and is that Shai’s influence?

The bump creates balance and space, turning a run‑up into a stable jumper, so it’s one of the cleanest ways to get to the midrange. I’m fine with a light chicken‑wing if it’s consistently officiated, and you see copycats everywhere from Fox to Harper using that lower‑center‑of‑gravity bump to win the spot.

How should the Spurs handle minutes between Fox and Harper next year after Harper’s postseason surge?

I see four guards sharing the one‑through‑three since Wemby lets you defend with three‑guard groups. They all rebound and scrap, catch‑and‑shoot growth is the next step, and the minutes math easily fits all of them.

One argues Wemby’s two‑way impact makes him MVP beyond the box score; why do you still have Shai as the clear pick?

Per‑minute, Wemby’s case is massive, but lighter minutes hurt him; Shai was the best player on the best record while carrying heavy load and availability, which tipped it. If the Spurs had finished atop the standings, I could have leaned Wemby.

MVP isn’t a best‑player title; it’s a regular‑season award with its own lane.

The voting’s a mashup of criteria and narratives; my lens is best player, best player on the best team, and most valuable, but plenty lean on catch‑alls or market biases, which is why I don’t get too wrapped up in awards discourse.

With a brief layoff before their next series, what should the Knicks emphasize as they lean into that point‑center look?

Keep a rhythm with light scrimmages since the restart likely comes quickly, and don’t drift from what’s working. Their offense is humming—Brunson’s mixing on‑ and off‑ball, Bridges is in a groove, the bench is reliable—so it’s close to a no‑notes stretch.

Looking ahead, which will be the better draft, twenty‑five or twenty‑six, given how strong last year’s rookies were?

Twenty‑five looks stacked with true ceiling swings; I’m lower on Boozer than most, high on Darren Peterson, AJ Dybansa, and A‑Cuff, and see Caleb Wilson as high‑ceiling, low‑floor. The top group likely carries more star upside than last year’s headliners.

Cooper Flagg’s already blown past my expectations with those monster nights.

He could end up the best player from either class, and his rookie year was a ten‑out‑of‑ten. Appreciate you all for rocking with us—video drops tomorrow on LeBron’s Lakers run, and we’re back live after Pistons‑Cavs game five.