“It’s An Aberration”: Stephen A Smith Has No Faith In Anthony Edwards’ Timberwolves Being Consistent

Anthony Edwards has had quite the stagnant season in terms of not taking the ‘top 5-7 player in the league’ leap that people expected him to. The Minnesota Timberwolves as a whole have dipped below stagnancy and are playing worse than they did in 2023-24. Despite tonight’s blowout win over the Nuggets, Stephen A Smith casts doubt over their consistency.

“We don’t believe they can do what they did today consistently. Because there’s nothing about them this year that told us they can do this consistently. So, it’s an aberration.”

Tonight’s game was most certainly very impressive for the Wolves. Ant became the all-time leader in 3s made in franchise history, dropped 34 points on 61% shooting from the field, and the Wolves incorporated fresh schemes on the offensive end to blowout one of the hottest teams in the association.

However, Stephen A is right when it comes to the lack of consistency in regards to this squad. They have not had a win streak longer than 4 this season and are merely 3 games above .500 at 24-21.

They sit at the middle of the pack when it comes to their offensive rating at 112.8 which is in line with Chris Finch’s team not being able to employ innovative offensive sets. Their turnover percentage ranks towards the bottom of the league at almost 16% as their inability to move the ball around efficiently has been on full display.

Rudy Gobert understands his importance

Gobert is far more important to the Timberwolves’ success than most give him credit for. Being their defensive anchor on the interior, he is the sole reason for why the Wolves do not get smoked in the paint night in and night out as he erases a handful of mistakes and lapses from the perimeter guards.

However, he’s always been seen as a liability of sorts on offense. He screens well and his subsequent rolls are done so with conviction but any ‘bag’ that he may have is non-existent. After tonight’s game, fans can see a glimpse of what a ‘locked in’ Rudy can look like on the offensive end of the floor.

“Today I got to realize how important it is for my teammates’ confidence. I realized when I’m decisive and confident they have more confidence in finding me,” said Gobert.

He dropped 14 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists all while being the primary defender on Nikola Jokic for a majority of the night. Mike Conley spoke on the importance of having Rudy make decisions off the short roll as well.

Many would assume this would be nullified due to his inability to knock down mid-range jumpers but the short roll was wreaking havoc tonight against the Nuggets. “He [Gobert] understands when we give it to you, you have to do the right thing with it every time,” said Conley.