Edwards' honest comment is a major indictment on Timberwolves' starting five

One of the most-discussed aspects of the Minnesota Timberwolves' season has been the starting lineup. From day one, the starting unit was a question mark. Once Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo entered the equation, there were plenty of uncertainties to go around as the Wolves began to figure things out.

Now, halfway through the season, it is safe to say that there are still a lot of questions left unanswered. Mike Conley has moved to the bench in favor of a younger and more athletic DiVincenzo, but problems remain. Minnesota has several different lineup combinations they like to employ over the course of any given game, but they each come with their own advantages and disadvantages.

The current version of the starting five is clearly far from perfect, and there is certainly a world where we see a change made once again. The problems we are seeing from the first five on the floor are persistent, and those issues presented themselves once again in the first quarter of the Timberwolves' loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. After the starters gave up 34 points in the first frame, Minnesota had to claw their way back to have a chance at winning by the time the fourth quarter came around.

This development and the overall play of the starting unit did not go unnoticed by Anthony Edwards. He spoke about this at length after the game, and gave some honest criticism.

Edwards called out the Timberwolves' starting five

When asked by Dane Moore what he would change about this team if he could wave a magic wand, Edwards was blunt. "It would be two things: boxing out, and the start of games," he said. "Starting five. We are terrible. Every game, we come out just low energy. The second group comes in and gives us energy. So I would say the starting group got to come out with more energy, like we want to play the game of basketball ... And rebounding. We've got to rebound."

What Ant is speaking of here has certainly been a recurring trend, and he is 100% correct in his analysis. The eye test and the numbers tell us that the current Timberwolves starters struggle to score the ball, while other lineups involving some of the reserves provide a lift in that department.

According to Cleaning The Glass, when Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid sub in for Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota ranks in the 98th percentile in the NBA for points per possession, and 94th percentile in turnover percentage. When the current starters are on the floor instead, they drop to the 37th and 25th percentile, respectively.

So basically, Edwards is spot-on. Either another adjustment has to be made to the starting lineup, or the current starters are going to have to come out with more energy and life to begin games.