A couple of days after Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards accused the team of being “a bunch of little kids,” they bounced back against the Clippers, beating the LA side 93-92. Despite the narrow margin of victory, it was a dominant performance, with the Wolves only losing the lead once.
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Edwards’ comments came after the T-Wolves lost to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. Ant claimed that the team had lost all semblance of chemistry, he insinuated that the players were too complacent to steer the team toward some hard-fought success.
“That’s the definition of a frontrunner. We as a team, including myself, we all was frontrunners tonight. It was some bullsh*t, for sure.”
He spoke about the team’s lack of communication and claimed that players only talk after wins, but not to discuss what went wrong after losses. “Nobody say nothing,” he added.
Anthony Edwards to the media. “Y’all wanna talk to me? (Yes.) What you wanna know, why we’re trash?”
Proceeded to say the Wolves, including himself, look like a bunch of “front runners” right now.
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) November 28, 2024
However, after their NBA Cup win over the Clippers, locker room interviews showed a transformed squad. There were jokes flying around while Nickeil Alexander-Walker was speaking to reporters. Mike Conley was heard rapping along to Kendrick Lamar’s hit song ‘tv off’, while Anthony Edwards was audibly discussing playing Call of Duty Black Ops 6 with his teammates.
“The Team Chemistry is ELITE in the Timberwolves locker room…I’m disappointed Ant Man’s an Xbox guy though lol,” a T-Wolves beat reported.
The Team Chemistry is ELITE in the Timberwolves locker room. Mike Conley rapping Kendrick Lamar’s new album in the background and Anthony Edwards was hyped to play Call of Duty with his teammates 😂😂😂.
I’m disappointed Ant Man’s an Xbox guy though lol. pic.twitter.com/gve7MsH0z7
— SneakerReporter (@SneakerReporter) November 30, 2024
Given that just 2 days ago, the locker room was supposedly in disarray, this is a welcome sight for Wolves fans. However, as Edwards said before, spirits are always high after a win. It’s the losses that test the character of the team, and so far, the team hasn’t shown a lot of it.
The Wolves’ main issues stem from their defense
At the end of last season, the Wolves were the best defense in the league. Their rating was 106, meaning that on average, they gave up 106 points per 100 possessions. Right now, the T-Wolves have a rating of 111.4, which is a serious fall-off compared to last season.
Karl-Anthony Towns’ departure dealt the Timberwolves’ defence a severe hit, his defensive rating of 108.7 was the seventh-best in the league last season. The four-time All-Star even helped out DPOY Rudy Gobert by his presence on the court.
Towns used his 7-foot-4 wingspan to contest shots at the perimeter and force players to settle for tough attempts or try to score on Gobert, who stifled anything they put up.
Similarly, in order to prevent the Timberwolves from giving up simple scoring opportunities, Towns would move into his teammate’s spot if the four-time Defensive Player of the Year was pulled out of the paint. The 29-year-old’s willingness to put in that extra work helped them restrict teams, and it was believed that his replacement could do the same, or even slightly better.
Simply put, Julius Randle hasn’t been able to match Towns’ efficiency defensively. This creates a lot of open looks for opposition players inside the paint, and they’ve taken full advantage of that. The Timberwolves are ranked 24th in the league for opposition points in the paint, at 51.1.
Whether or not the Timberwolves’ coaching staff can come up with a solution is still up in the air, but one thing is certain. Until they can compensate for Towns’ absence, the Wolves will struggle defensively, and their season will not takeoff like it did last year.
