It's still relatively early in the regular season, but Anthony Edwards knows the underachieving Minnesota Timberwolves need to right the ship—and fast.
In the minutes following the Timberwolves' fourth straight loss and seventh in their last nine games, a 115–104 defeat at the hands of the Sacramento Kings, Edwards didn't hold back criticizing his team's struggles.
"We're soft as hell as a team," Edwards said. "Internally. Not to the other teams, but internally, we're soft. We can't talk to each other. It's just like we're playing with a bunch of little kids, the whole team. We've got to figure it out, man, because we can't go down this road."
"We soft as hell as a team ... just a bunch of little kids." 😳
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 28, 2024
Anthony Edwards on the current state of the T'Wolves after their 4th straight loss
(via @SneakerReporter) pic.twitter.com/YiFe70sftE
The Timberwolves cruised through last season and earned the No. 3 playoff seed in the Western Conference with a 56–26 record on their way to a Western Conference finals appearance. That playoff run, combined with the 23-year-old Edwards budding into a superstar, set expectations sky high for the 2024-25 campaign.
However, just few weeks before opening night, the Timberwolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. Minnesota has had a hard time finding a consistent rhythm on both sides of the ball with its new-look roster.
The Timberwolves' calling card last season was their top-ranked defense, which logged a league-best 108.4 defensive rating across 82 games. This year, that number sits at 112.1 through 18 games, slipping to 12th in the NBA.
The defensive issues continued Wednesday night when the Wolves were outscored by the Kings 29–6 over the game's final seven minutes.
"We was down, nobody wanted to say nothing," Edwards said [via the Star Tribune]. "We got up and everybody cheering. ... We get down again and don’t nobody say nothing. That’s the definition of a front-runner. We as a team, including myself, we all was frontrunners tonight.
"... However many of us it is, all 15, we go into our own shell and we’re just growing away from each other. It’s obvious. We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it. The fans … booing us. That ... is crazy, man. We’re getting booed in our home arena."
Edwards and the slumping Timberwolves will rest on Thanksgiving day before getting back to the floor Friday night for a matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Anthony Edwards Blasts 'Soft' Timberwolves in Scathing Rant After Fourth Straight Loss.
