Surprise. That was the most used word at the beginning of the 2023-24 NBA season when talking about the Minnesota Timberwolves. The team led by Chris Finch from the bench began winning many more games than expected by analysts and to a certain extent it was expected that its season would go from strength to strength; So much so that after the All-Star game, not a few ruled out the team to fight for first place in the Western Conference against the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder. Well, there are only five games left to finish the season. regular season and they are second, half a game behind the boys led by Nikola Jokic…
The performance of the Minneapolis organization cannot be defined as anything less than spectacular. If last season they finished with 42-40, this time they are at 53-24, and all of this without having made any major changes to a squad that is basically the same. What has happened then for them to take such a leap forward? Anthony Edwards speaks precisely about this, who is not afraid to give his own name to the ‘culprit’.
«I think the main reason for the growth has been trusting Rudy. I think that’s the main thing. No matter how many players on the team are playing (me, Nickeil (Alexander-Walker), Mike (Conley), SloMo (Kyle Anderson), Jaden (McDaniels), Naz (Reid), Karl (Karl-Anthony Towns)… the reality is that “We all trust Rudy, all of us as a team. I think at this point everyone has practically 100 percent confidence in him. He always makes the right play,” he tells Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
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The aforementioned journalist points out that beyond Rudy Gobert’s personal improvement between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns, the turning point came with the acquisition of Mike Conley on the 2023 transfer deadline. Veteran point guard, who had shared many years with the Frenchman in the Utah Jazz, showed his new teammates the best way to take advantage of the center’s qualities on the court. From there, steps were taken forward until the present.
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
2024-04-07 10:00:00
#Anthony #Edwards #names #culprit #Minnesota
