"It feels good to come in here expecting to win" - Anthony Edwards on the biggest difference with the Minnesota Timberwolves this season
The Minnesota Timberwolves are quietly having the best start to the NBA season. They’re currently on top of the Western Conference standings (11-3) and are tied with the Boston Celtics, who they beat early in November at home, for the league’s best record. It’s been a special start for the Timberwolves as their superstar Anthony Edwards believes that there’s finally a winning culture around the team.
"It feels good to come in here expecting to win. I’ve been here, this is my fourth year, all three years I never came in and was, like, ‘Oh, we (fixin' to) win tonight,” Edwards said after Timberwolves’ victory against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
The Wolves’ biggest weapon
What has made the Timberwolves a top two team in the league is their suffocating defense. Their size and length has bothered their opponents every single night. Their defense is currently ranked as the best in the league and they also have the third highest net rating.
Their three losses this season were against the Phoenix Suns (on the second night of a back-to-back), the Toronto Raptors on opening night and the Atlanta Hawks. Outside of loses, most of their wins have been against quality Playoff teams and what’s encouraging about this particular Wolves team is that they’re looking more dangerous each game.
According to Edwards, that’s what happens when the team is solely just focused on winning every single game.
“We ain’t coming out here to play around,” Edwards said. “Let’s come out here, 48 minutes, play hard — hard as we can — and do what the coaches say. And if we come up short, we come up short. But I think we’ve been doing pretty good.”
The Wolves’ vision is panning out
The Wolves have gotten off to an impressive start thanks to their defense and Edwards’ continued rise to superstardom. The reason why they’re a nightmare to go up against is because they’re the tallest and biggest team in the league, which not everyone can adjust to playing against. That was the vision that the Wolves brain trust foreshadowed when they acquired Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz last season.
Unfortunately, the Gobert trade didn’t look good for the Wolves at the start because the team was dealing with injuries and they were figuring out how to fit their pieces together.
Now in year two together along with Ant-Man taking the leap, the Timberwolves are starting to figure it out. This team has the case to be the best Timberwolves team in the last 20 years and fortunately for them, they’re just getting started.
