Though the Minnesota Timberwolves were projected to be a major force in the Western Conference this season, the team has struggled early on.
In an interesting twist, one opposing head coach made a notable observation regarding stars Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns recently when his team played the Timberwolves.
“One opposing head coach told ESPN that he anticipates that while [Chris] Finch, who is considered an especially creative offensive mind, will find ways to make the two-bigs spacing work, he believes the Wolves’ biggest problems are ‘interpersonal,'” Tim MacMahon wrote.
“The coach cited Edwards sulking when his team employed a switching defense, resulting in the Wolves frequently going to Towns in an attempt to attack a mismatch against a guard. A clip went viral of Edwards standing with his hands on his hips for an entire possession while the Wolves ran a play that wasn’t called for him during their Nov. 5 win over the Houston Rockets.”
Obviously, it is Finch’s primary job to make sure that the game plan for the Wolves is working for both Towns and Edwards. There is no reason why Edwards, an incredibly talented shooting guard, and Towns, a top-tier big man, can’t coexist on the court.
In fact, the two should be able to complement one another on the offensive side of the court.
Still, it is Edwards’ job to recognize that not every play will result in him getting a chance to score.
Perhaps the good news for the Wolves is that while Finch continues to try to figure out how to best use his very talented roster, the Wolves are remaining competitive.
They have won their last two games and are now 7-8 on the season. If the season ended today, they’d be the final team into the play-in tournament in the Western Conference as the No. 10 seed.
Still, a team that mortgaged away its future to acquire Rudy Gobert in the 2022 NBA offseason has the goal of doing much more than just competing.
The Wolves clearly want to avoid the play-in tournament this season and advance to the playoffs outright. They’re currently two games back from the No. 6 seed in the West.
Their next chance to make up some ground on that front will come on Saturday when they take on the Philadelphia 76ers.
Surely, Wolves fans will watch that game very intently as they try to spy any other signs of discontent amongst the stars on the team.
