Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves lost 115-104 to the Sacramento Kings last night. This marks their fourth consecutive loss, and their 10th overall loss this season. Edwards was furious after the game, calling out the entire team, including himself, for the way they had been playing. He called the players soft and mocked them for playing like children.
“We’ve been trying to figure this out for the whole year man. We thought defense was our identity and it’s not looking like it at all. Identity, me and Mike [Conley] were talking about this – I think it’s we soft as hell as a team, internally.”
“Not to the other team, but internally, we soft. We can’t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Just like playing with a bunch of little kids who can’t talk to each other. We gotta figure it out man, because we can’t go down this road.”
Edwards also accused the team of being frontrunners during his post-game press interaction. He did also address a host of different topics related to the Timberwolves, which you can read below.
How the team is handling this tough losing streak mentally: “It’s hard for me to speak for the team as far as everybody mentally, because I don’t know. I’m not in everybody’s head. For myself, I know I’m good.”
“We just losing, so people expect us to be down on ourselves. If you know me, you know that I’m always up. I’m definitely pissed off that we losing a lot. But it can’t get no worse. Just trying to figure it out. I just want to get a win.”
What the Timberwolves need to do to improve: “Just listening to the coach. I think that’s the main thing. We gotta start doing what the coaches say. We always got something to say back.”
“Even if we have something to say back, we just go out there and do our own sh*t. We’re supposed to be doing this, and we’re doing something else… Little stuff like that, that we’re just not doing. It comes from not following the game plan and listening to the coaches.”
The Timberwolves not handling pressure well: “That’s just us going into our own shells… When everything goes bad, everybody just compacts… That’s what we gotta fix.”
How he handles this situation as a leader: “It’s tough. As the person who’s supposed to help figure things out, sometimes it’s tough. Looking at everybody, and everybody has a different agenda.”
“What the f**k am I supposed to say to get everybody? I’m trying to get better in that aspect; what the hell to say and get everybody on the same agenda? Everybody right now is on different agendas. That’s one of the main reasons why we’re losing…”
On chemistry issues as a squad: “As a team, we’re just negative. Last couple of years, we were like this [close]. Now it just feels like we’re like growing away from each other. Craziness, because most of us have been together. Got two new players, that’s about it. Everybody else has been together.”
Edwards was clearly frustrated but wasn’t just accusing his teammates of performing poorly, but also holding himself accountable for his mistakes on the court. Edwards may have come across as harsh, but he showed great leadership with his comments.
On the court, Edwards didn’t deliver last night. He put up 29 (9-24 FG) points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. He shot poorly from the field, making just 37.5% of his shot attempts. Mike Conley also had an inefficient night from the field, scoring just 16 points (4-11 FG), four assists, and one rebound.
For the season, Edwards is currently averaging 28.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game, while shooting 45.9% from the field, 42.7% from deep, and 81.4% from the free-throw line. Despite these strong numbers, the Timberwolves are 8-10 for the season, and rank 12th in the Western Conference.
The Timberwolves need to fix things soon, as they have started to enter a bad slump. This wasn’t expected from them given how successful they were last season, reaching the Western Conference Finals and defeating the reigning NBA champions Denver Nuggets in the playoffs.
The squad has the talent to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference but hasn’t been able to put things together yet. The addition of Julius Randle to the team has taken longer than most expected to click. And if Chris Finch isn’t able to figure things out soon enough, his job security might be at risk.
The Timberwolves will play the L.A Clippers at home this Friday, at 7:30 PM EST. This is their final NBA Cup game, but they are mathematically eliminated from the tournament. But a win against the Clippers could help them find their mojo back.
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