“ He can become one of the best two-way players in the league », predicted Chris Finch a year ago. Since this statement from the Wolves coach, there has been more talk of offensive cardsAnthony Edwards than his defensive progress. The subject comes back to the table today as the Minnesota team has the best NBA defense at the start of the season.
For example, we saw him perform very high-level defensive sequences against the Celtics a few days ago. The kind of performance that makes your teammate say Rudy Gobert, of Shams Charania’s microphone, “that he has all the tools to become an ‘All-Defensive’ player “.
“ He has this thing that cannot be taught: the inner fire, the fact of wanting to take each possession personally. He takes every defense on the ball carrier personally », Develops the three-time best defender of the year, modeling his speech on that already given by their coach. But as the Frenchman points out, just defending the ball carrier is not everything.
Be constantly involved
“ Where I challenge him is on defense away from the ball. You sometimes tend to rest in these situations. He doesn’t take it as personally as when he’s on the ball. And I tell him that basketball is played five-on-five. So if you want to become this type of defender, you have to be able to impact every possession », Continues the former Jazz pivot, accustomed for years to making up for the defensive errors of his outside teammates.
This one, who is amused to see Wolves fans angry with him a year after his transfer to Minnesota (“ Like, ‘It’s your fault!’ ), believes that such a level of involvement is not innate.
“ This is why few players are able to do this consistently. Few players want to do it because it’s not pretty. You’re going to do a lot of things that won’t show on the stat sheet. You’re going to take a beating, expend more energy. But in the end, I think that’s the price you pay to win », Judges the native of Saint-Quentin, whose team is in the Top 4 in the West (4 wins – 2 losses).
The latter, a year after his arrival at Wolves, believes that the progress of his teammate “ is incredible to see “. It is undoubtedly no coincidence that Anthony Edwards received his first votes last year – as much as Matisse Thybulle for example, a specialist in the genre – in the race for the best defensive five in the league.
| Anthony Edwards | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 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 | 72 | 34 | 44.1 | 35.7 | 78.6 | 0.9 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 21.3 |
| 2022-23 | MIN | 79 | 36 | 45.9 | 36.9 | 75.6 | 0.6 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 24.6 |
| 2023-24 | MIN | 6 | 36 | 52.0 | 47.2 | 82.8 | 0.8 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 4.8 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 0.0 | 28.2 |
| Total | 229 | 34 | 44.3 | 35.5 | 77.2 | 0.8 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 22.0 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
