The Minnesota Timberwolves, who are in a bitter cold, have been devastated for a long time since sending away the treasure of the town team, Garnett, and more than one leader has arrived but cannot save the team, and has changed to a savior for another.
The winners of the team are Wiggins and Downs (referred to as KAT), but the former is not positive in mentality and slow in development, and the latter is physically and mentally dragging down the performance on the field due to pneumonia; not to mention Rubio, Kevin Loew, Derrick Williams, Zach Lavin and other potential rookies are not developing smoothly, the best script is to become a chip to leave the team in exchange for the future, and the worst situation is to let the water flow away.
The Timberwolves may not have worshiped the landlords, and none of the New Hopes have really become instruments, so they can only continue to participate in the lottery draw. The only playoff in recent years has been the year Jimmy Butler crossed the water, a long-time West Side escort. Last season's winner Anthony Edwards was the latest hope, can he lead the Timberwolves to a piece of the sky?
When it comes to the rookies who improved the most last season, Edwards is definitely one of them. Edwards is a physical swingman who can shoot from beyond the jump and feel good, and the choice of attack is the biggest problem. At the beginning, the performance from the bench was extremely bad, and many people questioned whether the only sign was released again. Fortunately, he was promoted to the starting position and then changed for the first time, waited until the change of coach, Edwards took off again after the All-Star Game, and finally won the best rookie in the West End for three consecutive months. Even if the final best newcomer vote lost to Lamelo Ball, he was unanimously selected as the best rookie first team, which was affirmed by the outside world.
I don't know if there is a genetic difference, NBA players often have examples of continuing to grow taller after switching careers, and Edwards is the latest case. The official was 6'4 in height before the draft, but a September head coach interview confirmed that Edwards continued to grow tall and is now close to 6'6, but is unsure whether to go barefoot or wear shoes.
With a height of 6 feet 4 and an arm span of 6 feet 10 plus super athleticism, the first thing that comes to mind is the Heat Lightning Wade. What if you grow two inches tall and become a swing man with a standard height of 6 feet 6? According to Edwards himself, it would be Jordan the Trapeze Artist! Even if Edwards' confidence is not a matter of a day or two, it makes people imagine.
Given a height of 6 feet 6, with lean muscle and athleticism, Edwards has enough support to the flanks. Basketball is still one inch long and one inch strong, and the difference of two inches under other conditions is the difference between general stars and super stars.
In addition to the topic of growing tall, head coach Sanders said the following thing about the love general: Edwards is a very unique player, he has all the innate conditions for success. The most important thing is that he will accept all kinds of task assignments and will not make a bunch of excuses.
Sanders has been playing in the NBA long enough, and the conversation is more or less about his own children, more or less with scenes; but the attitude of this ethereal thing is sometimes the key to whether a player can fully transform potential into strength. People who disagree with Edwards think that he is young and crazy and does not know the sky's high, but Sanders' remarks confirm that edwards is actually quite talented in playing in addition to talking.
Last season was very difficult for rookies, because the offseason was shortened due to the epidemic, the summer league was suspended, and the training camp and preseason time shrank. Edwards spent a year in college to switch careers, and at first faced a huge chasm. The first 17 bench starts averaging just 13 points per game, shooting 35.5 percent from the field, but fortunately, at the end of January, he scored 25 points against the Warriors with five three-pointers, allowing then-coach Sanders to decide to correct Edwards, and then the performance got better and better.
The Timberwolves' record continued to be sluggish in late February, and the team finally couldn't stand to replace Saunders with Chris Thompson. Finch, further unshackled Edwards. In an interview in April, Edwards said that new coach Finch gave him more freedom to be himself on the court. He played under Finch more and played better when he could enjoy the game.
Former rookie season coach Edwards played 28.5 minutes and averaged just 37.5 percent from 14.3 points per game. After the coaching change, playing time soared to 34.9 minutes, scoring surged to 23.2 points, and shooting 44.1%. Not only has Edwards improved personally, but the Overall Situation of the Timberwolves has improved a lot. When Sanders was in charge, the Timberwolves attacked 28th in the league, and the overall efficiency improved to 17 after switching to Finch.
After changing coaches, Edwards' performance can be used as a watershed in The Star Game as a time as experience increases. The following table shows the differences in data before and after the Star Game, with an increase in the number of singles, an increase in the number of cuts, an increase in the number of touches, an increase in potential assists, and most importantly, an increase in scoring efficiency.
When He faced the Suns, who finally reached the championship in March, Edwards scored 42 points, only 19 years old and 225 days old, the third youngest in history, with only James and Durant in front of him. Age is Edwards' biggest advantage, just turned 20 years old only a little older than the 2021 champion Cunningham, but has been in the NBA for 2300 minutes.
He just formed a new iron triangle with the former Downs and Russell, one in charge of the box, one in charge of the backcourt, Edwards provided a flying all-round impact, and the positions just complemented each other. Towns' outside shooting ability is the leader of the long man, Russell's physical mediocre but projection ability is not bad, the two have established a projection reputation in the league for many years, just in line with the trend of the era of outside line.
In contrast, Edwards, although he has a good use of the wrist, his poor attack choice often leads to a low shooting rate due to hard pulling out, but it gets better and better as he accumulates experience. Last season's three-point shooting took the lead and then rose, reaching 34.4% in April, and reaching 40.6% in May to officially cross the shooter threshold, and the number of forced shots continued to decrease.
However, edwards seems to have gone back a bit at the beginning of the season, and may still be adapting to the referee's new blowing scale, Edwards' shooting percentage has dropped significantly, and the frequency of free throws has decreased. Lack of stability is a common problem for all young players, and it is difficult for him to escape this fate. However, from the perspective of the past learning curve, personal optimism can stop falling and rise sooner or later.
Due to a variety of factors, the new Timberwolves only played 24 games together last season; however, when they play together, the efficiency is quite good, and the run-in time will be better. But defense was the biggest problem for the three of them, especially the most inexperienced Edwards.
Edwards has all the conditions for a good defender, and the biggest problem is attitude. During the college years, I was in a defensive trance and lack of concentration, and I heard about it when I entered the NBA. The data shows that Edwards is in the presence of the Timberwolves defensively inefficient, and the swingman's defense is counted from behind. Edwards is too fond of gambling steals, not aggressive enough to defend, and is very easy to leak when there is no ball. Coincidentally, whether it is Towns or Russell's defensive problems, it is difficult for the Timberwolves to defend well.
This season, the Timberwolves played well in the opening season, especially the significant improvement in defensive ability is not Wuxia Amon. Edwards' defense has improved, but the attack has fallen into the problem of over-reliance on the outside, wasting the innate conditions of superhuman superiority. But time is on Edwards' side, and in his attempts to be new, progress is just around the corner as long as he doesn't get hurt. Towns and Russell still have more than one season of contracts, the core is complete, and whether the Timberwolves can return to the playoffs depends on whether the three can maintain their health.
Can Edwards touch his ceiling and get the Timberwolves back into the playoffs? We'll see.