Team USA will not take home the 2023 FIBA World Cup, despite the constant heroics of Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards. That is not to say that Edwards led the team in scoring in each game. But it does mean that Anthony Edwards made a direct and measurable impact on the outcome of each game throughout the tournament.
This was a mishmash of challenges that thwarted Team USA’s ability to match up against international teams. In the double-elimination tournament, Team USA lost two games. The first loss came at the hands of Team Lithuania by a score of 110 to 104. The second loss came in the semifinal round at the hands of Team Germany by a score of 113 to 111.
The first loss for Team USA happened despite the incredible effort of Anthony Edwards and his 35-point scoring outburst.
Team USA’s frontcourt was particularly ineffective, as the combined impact of Team USA power forwards and centers translated into the stat line of Timberwolves’ average state line while playing for Team Dominican Republic:
TEAM USA vs. Team Lithuania
Player Pts Rebs FG% 3P% Asts Stls Blks
Jaren Jackson Jr. 3 1 33% 0% 3 1 0
Bobby Portis Jr. 7 5 75% 0% 2 0 0
Paolo Banchero 6 2 75% 0% 2 1 0
Walker Kessler 2 1 100% 0% 0 0 1
Totals 21 9 63.6% 0% 7 2 1
And then again, when facing Team Germany, the entire cast of centers and power forwards fell silent once more:
TEAM USA
Player Pts Rebs FG% 3P% Asts Stls Blks
Jaren Jackson Jr. 8 3 50% 0% 0 1 0
Bobby Portis Jr. 5 2 100% 100% 0 1 0
Paolo Banchero 6 2 25% 0% 3 0 1
Walker Kessler Did not play
Totals 19 7 50% 100% 3 2 1
The loss pushed the two-loss Team USA into the consolation round to face Team Canada for third place.
But that opens the door to some speculative comparisons, does it not? After all, if Anthony Edwards is the common denominator between both rosters, how much better or worse would the Minnesota Timberwolves compete against international teams?
While we may never truly ‘know,’ that answer, we can theorize what the answer should be. Let’s take a look at what I mean:
Timberwolves roster is loaded with international competitors
If you compare the roster of Team USA to a roster made up of players on the Minnesota Timberwolves roster, you will quickly see that the Minnesota Timberwolves roster has just as much star power but is constructed with far more cohesion and complementary role players.
The Minnesota Timberwolves may have had a difficult time of things last season, but players on the Timberwolves roster were forged into a cohesive and comprehensive team as a result. In many ways, it was the shared adversity and
- Anthony Edwards, Team USA 🇺🇸
- Naz Reid, Select Team USA 🇺🇸
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Team Canada 🇨🇦
- Rudy Gobert, Team France 🇫🇷
- Kyle Anderson, Team China 🇨🇳
- Karl-Anthony Towns, Team DR 🇩🇴
- Luka Garza, Team Bosnia 🇧🇦
- Matteo Spagnolo, Team Italy 🇮🇹
- Coach Pablo Prigioni, Team Argentina 🇦🇷
With so many players openly competing internationally, and many of those players performing exceptionally well, the Minnesota Timberwolves roster holds a strong advantage over Team USA in the fact that they are complementary and familiar with one another.
Team USA had plenty of prep time to ensure everyone knew their roles. Unfortunately, the roster was a collection of shooters, a group of players whose primary role was taking shots and piling up the points. All successful teams need to find a solid blend of scorers and defenders, ball-handlers and rebounders.
Team USA struggled to get the frontcourt involved in this tournament. Now let’s look at some details as to who has been struggling.
Timberwolves bigs outplayed Team USA bigs
Despite the underwhelming performance of Team France center Rudy Gobert, it’s pretty obvious that the combined performances of Rudy Gobert and teammate Karl-Anthony Towns outclassed the four bigs on Team USA. In fact, Karl-Anthony Towns’s performance for Team Dominican Republic was better than the four-player performance of Team USA alone.
That should not come as much of a surprise, as Team USA’s head coach Steve Kerr is also the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, a team that has ridden the small ball roster to multiple NBA championships. But it does come as a surprise that even without a big-centric head coach, the rotations of Team USA’s centers and power forwards seem to evaporate quickly against stiff competition.
Team USA bigs depend on team schemes
In terms of the NBA performances, it’s clear that the players who were drafted to compete for Team USA were deserving of the honors. But their underwhelming performance serves to remind NBA analysts that many players in the NBA benefit greatly from the scheme and strategies run by their respective teams. Rookie center Walker Kessler is the most obvious example. His debut in the NBA was marked with a better-than-expected season for the Utah Jazz.
But when given the opportunity to compete for Team USA in the 2023 FIBA World Cup tournament, Kessler was practically invisible throughout the event. While that may or may not be connected to his ability for one game, that has been a consistent theme for Team USA throughout the 2023 FIBA World Cup tournament.
Compare that underwhelming performance to that of Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, and it’s clear that Kessler’s rookie success is entirely dependent on the scheme deployed by the Utah Jazz.
Team USA led by Timberwolves Anthony Edwards
There have been plenty of stories about the star power of Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards throughout the 2023 FIBA World Cup tournament. So far, Edwards has been living up to the hype and may even be exceeding even the current lofty expectations.
Edwards may be shining brightly on the international circuit, but his star rose in the north. From the moment that he was drafted with the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Anthony Edwards has never suffered a shortage of confidence. Rather, he arrived on the Timberwolves roster and immediately went to work at scoring points and defending opposing players.
In just three seasons, he has improved his average points per game by 5.3 points per game, his rebounding by 1.13 rebounds per game, and his assists by 1.5 assists per game. That did not just occur in a vacuum. Edwards has been able to make dramatic improvements in his game because he has refined his raw skills, and adapted his game to better fit the needs of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Even while he has remained one of the bright spots on the mixed results from Team USA, Edwards has been forced to assert himself in those areas where his Team USA teammates seem to struggle. When his teammates cannot score, he puts up 30+ points. When his teammates find themselves in a shootout, Edwards gears down to bolster the defense.
All of those things have already been addressed by the Minnesota Timberwolves. That is why I believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves would be a stronger competitor in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Tournament. It’s not that the Timberwolves necessarily have better players. But assembled together, the Minnesota Timberwolves are simply a better team.