It was obvious that Anthony Edwards felt his head coach was way off base immediately following Minnesota’s win Monday over Atlanta.
Chris Finch heavily criticized his team’s “totally unacceptable” second-half performance with public comments and the message delivered to the locker room in the immediate aftermath. It was no secret Finch felt the Wolves’ best player contributed to the cause.
When asked about Finch’s frustrations, Edwards responded, “I don’t know, y’all gotta ask him.”
“I don’t think it was like we wasn’t taking them serious. We just couldn’t make nothing,” Edwards added. “They started making shots and they went on a run. They’re an NBA team.”
Edwards, 23, seemed annoyed by it all, from Finch’s anger to the postgame questions. They couldn’t have been that bad if they still won the game. Good enough. Who cares?
That’s simply not how Minnesota’s coach operates.
Assistant coach Micah Nori referenced the Dick Bennett quote the Wolves staff abides by: “We cannot accept in victory what we would not accept in defeat.”
There has to be a standard set and adhered to if greatness is to be achieved. And when you fall short of that standard, you’ll be held accountable — even if you disagree with the sentiment in the moment.
Even if it annoys you.
Edwards is a winner at his core. That’s evident in his competitiveness and ability to rise to any occasion, regardless of the opponent or stage. He wants to do what it takes to emerge victorious. But he often forgets ,or misinterprets, exactly what “it” is, often confusing shooting more for trying harder. And there are certainly stretches where his defense — particularly away from the ball — can fall well short of what’s required for the Timberwolves to get to where they want to go.
But that is often difficult for Edwards to recognize in the moment. So, he stands behind his effort and approach immediately after a game, even if everyone else, player or observer, could tell the process was poor.
Without proper guardrails, it’s easy to envision a world where Edwards — who’s susceptible to reverting to bad habits — veers off his current path of ascension toward being one of the best players in the world.
As is the case with many young, highly-skilled players, his natural instinct is to dribble and shoot, even when the opponent’s defense demands the opposite. But what makes Edwards different than many other young, talented players is his willingness to listen.
Edwards always leaves onlookers speechless; 80 percent of the time, it’s because he just did something awe-inspiring. The other 20% is because he did something dumbfounding. The goal is to eliminate the latter part, and Step 1 of that process is identification. For Edwards, that often takes place in film study a day or two later. Tape is the ultimate tiebreaker in a dispute. When it reveals he’s in the wrong, Edwards wears it like few his age.
Edwards told reporters after Minnesota’s win Wednesday over Phoenix that Finch got on him particularly hard in the film session earlier that day.
“Everything he said was totally right. … He pretty much was just basically telling us, ‘How much do you care about the game?’ The clips that the coaches had for us, we can’t say we care about the game at all with the clips that we watched,” he told reporters. “After film today, I thought about it, I’m like, ‘Man, I would’ve been a fool in film to say something back.’ Like he ain’t trying my manhood, I really must not care about the game, because the clips on there, they look bad.”
The criticisms weighed on Edwards throughout the day.
“I really slept on it like, ‘Bruh, what am I doing? I’ve got to be better,’ ” Edwards said. “Like, I can’t be the leader and not be doing this.”
Edwards responded with 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists, four blocked shots and two steals in a dominant performance against Phoenix. That’s what makes him great. Show him that he erred, and he’ll aim to fix it.
What makes Finch great is his ability to show.
A different coach may allow Edwards to slide, particularly in victory. It can be both uncomfortable and tiresome to consistently challenge your best player. But any unchecked stinkers could snowball until it becomes difficult to differentiate losing habits from a losing player.
There’s a firm understanding in Minnesota that everything is a process with Edwards, who’s constantly learning what it takes to do different things, from winning at a high level, to leading, to attacking different defensive schemes. The evolution isn’t always linear.
Keeping Edwards moving forward is Finch’s most important duty as Minnesota’s head coach, and he’s good at it — as was evident again this week.
The Timberwolves – and, specifically, Edwards – are significantly better for it.
Related Articles
Timberwolves blow past Suns in Phoenix for fourth straight win
Rudy Gobert’s production proving to be large indicator of Timberwolves’ success
Timberwolves get beat up in ugly win over Hawks
Anthony Edwards dominates as Timberwolves explode to trounce Denver
Timberwolves receive positive injury news on Donte DiVincenzo
Leave a Reply