Anthony Edwards: Minnesota Timberwolves want to put the world on notice heading into NBA Playoffs | NBA News

Anthony Edwards has said the Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to show the world what they are all about as the race builds up towards the NBA Playoffs.

The Timberwolves are closing in on their best league record in two decades and have already topped 40 wins for just the third time in the last 17 seasons. They sit seventh in the Western Conference, just one game behind the Denver Nuggets in the final automatic slot for the NBA Playoffs.

Minnesota have two No 1 picks in Edwards and NBA 3-Point Contest champion Karl-Anthony Towns as well as a No 2 pick in D’Angelo Russell and, finally, it looks like the pieces fit together in a way which can make the team competitive.

Towns recently set a new franchise record by scoring 60 points in one game but it is arguably Edwards, the youngest and rawest of the team’s talents at just 20 years old, who is the most potentially explosive and exciting.

He certainly believes the Timberwolves have the chops to compete with the very best the league has to offer.

“We’re trying to put the world on notice,” he told Sky Sports Heatcheck. “With that being said, going as far as we can in the playoffs [is the main aim]. We’ve got to get there first but once we get there, we’re going to do our job.”

Head coach Chris Finch, also speaking exclusively to Sky Sports, certainly thinks Edwards has all the tools to go to the very top but still believes he has a lot of development to go before he reaches his ceiling.

“We think Anthony can be a franchise-level player, for sure. He has a lot of, and he’s been doing a lot of, things that are only boxes that are checked by these types of MVP-calibre players.

“It’s not always consistent, as young players are, he needs to continue to develop both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, a lot of it will be feel. The NBA is all about pattern recognition. The more you’re in it, the more you play it, the more it’ll seem normal to you, and you’ll be able to anticipate what is coming – that’s all just stuff he has to do.

“He’s just a really young player, he’s very raw, so he has to also form all the habits that help support it: how you take care of your body, or how you eat, how you sleep, and all those things, like, we talked a lot about developing players on the floor, but the work that they do to become professionals off the floor, is just as important more often than not. That’s what allows these guys to play at such a high level into their mid-thirties, developing the right habits.”

What has been the secret to the turnaround this season, though, for a team which had 23 wins last year and just 19 the season before that? What has changed?

“I think just us overall,” Edwards said. “Just changing our mindset, when to come out and compete every game. I think we’ve got the talent so if we compete and play hard, we can come out on top the majority of the time because the guys that we’ve got from one to 15 are just very skilled.”

He also believes veteran leadership has been key, with Towns and Russell just 26 years old themselves.

“Patrick Beverley and Taurean Prince, I’ve got to give them all the credit,” Edwards said. “They do a great job of making sure we’re ready every night. They give us confidence. They tell us like, ‘Hey, take over the game’ and get honest if we mess up.

“They also tell you when you’re doing well but, most importantly, they just stay even-keeled. They’re never too high, never too low – sometimes you can go on a run, they can go on a run – and they just show us how to like, stay in the game within the game. I feel like they do a great job of keeping our head right above water.”

Finch’s arrival has clearly impacted things as well. The team went 7-24 prior to his arrival before he guided them to a 16-25 record across the remainder of the season. This year, he has the team 10 games above .500 and is a coach with three decades of experience of developing players.

He believes the players’ own improvement has been the springboard for the Timberwolves’ success this season and they are just on the beginning of the upward curve.

“Our young players have to still keep learning and building and developing,” Finch said. “In a team like ours, and in a market like ours, internal growth, player development is the number one thing that’s going to take us anywhere – more than any other individual acquisition or signing or move that we could make.

“Nobody has everything they want on their roster – but we do have good young talent. If we can maximise our internal opportunities, then I think we can [become a contender], particularly as some of these teams in the West get older. In four or five years, [the superstars will be retired or on] downsides of their careers, and these teams will look very different. So that’s our window of opportunity.”

Finch, 52, who was the London 2012 Team GB coach, has excelled in his first NBA job and is surely a candidate for the NBA Coach of the Year award in his first full season.

He has an offensively-focused philosophy and believes the roster of players he has is ideally suited to his particulars as a coach.

“I really do [believe they match my philosophy],” said Finch. “They’re offensive players and the NBA is an offensive league. We give them a lot of freedom, they have great skillsets and they all have complementary skillsets, which is important. So I do believe that they are ideally suited for the way that we want to play.”

Edwards describes Finch as having “confidence through the roof” and clearly it is infectious. Sky Sports Heatcheck pundit BJ Armstrong thinks Edwards can be the cornerstone to deliver future success.

“I think hope is back in Minnesota,” said Armstrong. “Anthony Edwards has been playing terrific basketball. He’s a young upcoming star. And it’s just a matter of time when he’s going to be named to the All Star game.

“You can see this team heading in the right direction and now you’re beginning to see what they’re going to need to get to that ultimate level. I like what they’re doing.

“I like the fact they’re allowing their young players to continue to develop, grow into their roles, what they’re going to be, how they’re going to be. I think the next step is beginning to learn how to defend on a consistent basis but, overall, I liked what this team is doing, I like where the organisation is headed. I think it’s very positive up there in Minnesota.”

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