Anthony Edwards criticizes the Timberwolves, calling them ‘soft’ and ‘frontrunners’

After the Minnesota Timberwolves blew a 12-point lead in the final seven minutes of the game against Sacramento to suffer their fourth straight loss, star guard Anthony Edwards was consistent in his assessment of what the Wolves are missing this season. not back.

In a candid and adamant post-game interview, Edwards described his team as “soft”, said they were “frontrunners” who seemed unable to withstand any adversity, and complained that fans booed them in their home stadium. The 115-104 loss dropped the Wolves to a disappointing 8-10 record this season. They have lost seven of the last nine games and most of them followed a similar script. They fall behind by double digits, fight back for the lead and then fade away down the stretch.

This time the Wolves led 98:86 with 7:17 to play. The Kings outscored them 29-6 the rest of the game and won handily.

“We certainly seem to be on top tonight,” Edwards said. “We were devastated, nobody wanted to say anything. We stood up and everyone was cheering and f—–g hype. We’ll go back downstairs and say nothing to anyone. That is the definition of a front runner. We as a team, myself included, were all top performers tonight.”

Edwards led the way with 29 points, five rebounds and five assists. But after starting the game 5-for-5, he was just 4-for-19 for the rest of the game. One of the mistakes was an ill-advised 3-pointer that left the Wolves up 10 points in the fourth period. This led to an easy runout for Keon Ellis and kicked off the Kings’ comeback.

As always, Edwards made sure that the criticism he leveled at the team began with his own play.

“I’ll wear this,” Edwards said. “We made the right plays. If I’m that guy, I gotta make those shots down the stretch. I missed a few shots and they fired shots. So I’ll take this one.”

The Wolves entered the season with high expectations after reaching the Western Conference finals last season. But a big trade just before training camp that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to New York for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo robbed them of the chemistry and cohesion they had last season. Edwards was one of many players frustrated by the rocky start.

“Internally, we’re incredibly soft as a team,” Edwards said. “Not towards the other team, but internally we are soft. We can’t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Just like we play with a few small children. Everyone, the whole team. We just can’t talk to each other. And we have to figure it out because we can’t go down that path.”

The Wolves started a four-game home series with two losses to the Rockets and Kings that included poor defense and stark fourth-quarter collapses. They have Thanksgiving off and then host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

““I’m trying to get better at that and figure out what the hell to say to get everyone on the same agenda because right now everyone has a different agenda,” Edwards said. “I think that’s one of the main reasons we lose because everyone out there has their own plans. I guess their idea of ​​what’s supposed to be going on and what’s really happening.”

Fans are venting their frustration on a team that has played with poor body language and low energy for most of the season. In the last two home games, the Wolves were loudly booed because they lost the ball in large numbers and the defense couldn’t stop at the backline.

“However many of us there are, all 15 of us, we retreat into our own shells and just distance ourselves from each other,” he said. “It’s obvious. We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it. The fans boo us. This is crazy, man. We get booed in our home arena. This is so fucking disrespectful, it’s crazy.”

As the players left the locker room after the game, they talked about rediscovering a connection that never really formed this season. Edwards almost always had a positive attitude, rain or shine, but his words Wednesday night were filled with frustration over his inability to find answers yet this season.

“We’re just so negative right now. “It’s been like that for us the last few years,” Edwards said, folding his hands. “And I just feel like we’ve gradually grown apart, which is the craziest thing because most of us have been together before. We have two new players, that’s all. Everyone else was together.”

Required reading

(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)