Finalists in the West last season despite a correct attack without being transcendent, the Wolves have not corrected their shortcomings after a third of the 2024/25 season. Worse, they seem more and more glaring, as Thursday's match against New York confirmed, once again. Minnesota is struggling offensively, failing to find easy points and free up its star players Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle. While their former star Karl-Anthony Towns sang to them all evening, the Wolves lacked bite.
This was certainly not the only problem of the evening, with a defense lacking subscribers (133 points conceded, 27 more than their season average). But if this permissiveness on Thursday was more of an anomaly, the sluggish attack proposed by Chris Finch's team becomes recurrent. And it ends up annoying the ranks of the Wolves, who only scored 41 points combined in the second and third quarters.
“ We have nothing in attack. We don't have an offensive identity » Anthony Edwards told the media after the match. “ We know I'm going to take a lot of shots. We know that Julius is going to take a lot of shots. That's all we know. We don't really know anything else. And it's not at all the coaches' fault. It's ours. When we play, we have to make life easier for each other. The coaches put us in good positions. We simply don't apply it. »
Takeoff runway to circle closed for Anthony Edwards
Obviously very careful not to put his paw in the anthill, the leader of the Wolves nevertheless pointed out one of his main personal difficulties. If Anthony Edwards uses, and sometimes abuses, the outside shot this season, it is because he no longer has opportunities to rely on his qualities towards the basket.
“ When you watch the matches, I can't do anything when I attack the circle » specifies Anthony Edwards. “ Everyone wants me to do it, I know it's my strength to go for the layup or the dunk. But I can't do it if I don't have access to the circle. All of our opponents do a good job of locking down spaces when I go to the hoop, putting four people near the rim. I'm sorry people, I can't do anything when I go to the circle right now. »
The numbers bear this out, since the Minnesota All-Star went from 42% of his attempts within three meters of the basket last season to 31.5% since the restart. “ Do I have an idea for an attack solution? No, what did the coach say? » Anthony Edwards asked reporters. “ Whatever he says about the attack, I stand by it. No matter what he says, stick to it too. »
Lack of rhythm and space
As for knowing what he would have to say to his teammates, the back is barely more talkative. “ On offense, they're not going to like what I'm going to say, so I'm going to keep my answer to myself. »
Mike Conley, for his part, called for more “spacing”. “ There are too many situations where we have two or three guys stepping on each other's toes in the corner or at the head of the racket, three guys on the right of the floor, no one on the left on counter-attacks » he described. “ We have to be able to spread the play correctly all the time to be a really good offense. »
Much better than the 21st “offensive rating” or the 24th “pace”. “ When we move the ball early in the possession, when we involve other players, the shooting positions open up » summed up Chris Finch. To think that his Wolves lost by 26 points, despite being skillful from afar (17/42, 40.5%)…
