The Minnesota Timberwolves had a much-needed get-right 125-115 win on Saturday against the Miami Heat. By all accounts, it was one of their best team wins of the season -- they were moving the ball well, playing with pace, and engaged on defense. However, what are the Timberwolves without a little drama as of late?
After the game, Anthony Edwards admitted that the Timberwolves often don't listen to the game plan.
"Most of the time, we don’t listen to the game plan. When we listen to it and execute, we’re pretty good," Edwards said. When asked why it's so hard to do this consistently, Edwards replied: "I don't know, we’re hard-headed, we want to make the game harder, but we listened tonight, and it worked.”
Whether you chalk this up to regular season malaise or believe this quote highlights a disconnect between the players and coaching, there's no denying this is a concerning comment despite the win.
Edwards' comments add up, and it's a clear concern
Anyone who has consistently watched the Timberwolves knows that Edwards' quote checks out. Sometimes (like on Saturday), the Wolves come out firing on all cylinders and show great attention to detail. However, other times the Wolves play down to their competition and display a poor understanding of their opponents' personnel.
These issues are most notable on defense when the Wolves don't account for shooters or play too aggressively against fast players. It's also worth noting that the Wolves have the 14th-best first-half net rating but the fourth-best second-half net rating.
While it's fair to have certain criticisms of Chris Finch and the coaching staff, it's foolish to believe that they don't come up with a detailed game plan ahead of each game.
This lack of discipline is something you'd expect from a young team, not a core that has made two straight conference finals runs, and it's something the Wolves must fix if they want to reach the next level.
After an embarrassing loss to the Brooklyn Nets, Finch hinted that this lack of discipline is a problem.
"Not if you listened to the scouting report," Finch said when asked if he thought the Wolves were caught off guard by the Nets.
Again, I think it's more than fair to suggest this issue might highlight a disconnect between the players and coaching staff. However, I'd like to point out that Micah Nori (the assistant some Wolves fans want to take over Finch's job) is on the coaching staff, so this could be a deeper issue.
The best-case scenario is that this team is simply bored with the regular season. After two straight deep playoff runs, this seems plausible, and the frequent problems against lesser opponents add evidence to this theory.
Despite Edwards' concerning comments, Saturday's win is an undeniable positive. Nevertheless, it will be on the Wolves to prove they can consistently stick to the game plan and take care of business.