With 31 wins and 28 losses, Wolves have never seemed so close to returning to the playoffs since the Thibodeau-Butler episode in 2018. At the heart of Minnesota’s renaissance is obviously Karl-Anthony Towns, and his pal D’ Angelo Russell to a lesser extent. But above all there is the confirmed emergence of the young fullback, Anthony Edwardsn°1 of the Draft 2020.
Interviewed in the podcast of HoopCollective on the occasion of All Star Weekend where he appeared (very briefly) in the new Friday evening formula between rookies and sophomores (and G-League players), Anthony Edwards returned to his duet with Karl-Anthony Towns. On which rests the future of Wolves.
“We are a dynamic duo because with his ability to shoot outside and my ability to go all the way to the circle, we have a combination that is very difficult to stop. “
A beautiful tribute to “Pat Bev”
A prolific dunker and licensed scorer, Anthony Edwards has also forged strong ties with Towns off the pitch. After all, the two men have been together for a season and a half now. And appreciate each other.
“We have a very good relationship because we can talk to each other. If something needs to be said, we say it frankly. We give each other advice all the time. I think you should do this or you should do this… We don’t talk to each other while attacking each other but we talk to each other to tell each other things as we see them. If we see that it doesn’t work, we keep looking and we change. But if it works, we continue like this. “
Too tender last season, with only 23 wins for 49 defeats, Wolves came back transformed this year, with new determination and collective strength. A positive contribution that Anthony Edwards attributes in particular to Patrick Beverlythe watchdog landed during the summer in Minnesota.
“It’s great to have a guy like him in the team because you know you have someone by your side who wants to win at least as much as you do. I don’t do much trashtalking but him, on the other hand, he does. Even before the game. It’s one of the best in the business. He’ll just stare at them and that can be enough, he’s crazy! “
Anthony Edwards had already had a taste of what “Pat Bev” was like during his rookie year. But Minnesota had won against the Clippers.
“My rookie moment was with Pat Bev, which is fun because we’re playing together now. We were playing the Clippers and I was talking to Rondo. And [Beverley] arrived and he said to Rondo: ‘Hey Rondo, I want a piece too!’ And I answered him: ‘Well yes, you may be playing every time we come, how are you?’ It was just this short interaction. It’s funny because now he plays with us and we talked about it together. In the end, he didn’t defend against me and we won. So I’m one point ahead of him, and if he says otherwise, he’s lying. “
The playoffs, and nothing else!
From this summer in fact, when he learned of the arrival of the veteran leader, Anthony Edwards understood that the Wolves would have a real chance of finding the Top 8 in the West. Patrick Beverley has given some teeth to the wolves of the Great Lakes, and he has just been rewarded with a contract extension.
“He’s made a huge difference across the franchise, from the decision makers in the offices to the players. I had a smile from ear to ear [quand j’ai appris qu’il avait signé chez nous, et il a depuis prolongé]. I called my physical trainer and told him: ‘I told you we were going to make the playoffs [rires]. We needed that, needed that type of voice. “
In the Top 20 NBA scorers for his second year, at 21.8 points per game, Anthony Edwards does not want to hear about the heavy past of “losers” of his franchise. For him as for all this team smoothly led by Chris Finch, it is a question of looking ahead. And aim for the playoffs next spring.
“I have nothing to do with this story. When people talk to me about it, I tell them it’s not my story. I don’t feel any of that. I just arrived. I didn’t make the playoffs for my first year there, that’s my story. I don’t want to know what happened before me but we just had a year with the franchise and that’s my story. My story now is that we are going to make the playoffs, for my second year. “
| Anthony Edwards | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2020-21 | MIN | 72 | 32 | 41.7 | 32.9 | 77.6 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 19.3 |
| 2021-22 | MIN | 53 | 35 | 43.5 | 35.5 | 77.6 | 0.9 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 21.9 |
| Total | 125 | 33 | 42.5 | 34.1 | 77.6 | 0.9 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 20.4 | |
