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Timberwolves need Anthony Edwards to show patience against switching defenses

jace frederick, pioneer press
·4 min read

Anthony Edwards has displayed the ability to adapt and react as defenses flash various looks in attempts to befuddle, or at least slow, him all season. Now, the Timberwolves guard has the next scheme he must master — switching.

Minnesota’s past two opponents, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, have switched nearly every ball screen. Previously, opponents were often blitzing Edwards off of screens, sending two bodies at him. Edwards adjusted nicely, getting off the ball the moment the second defender came.

That allowed his teammates to play offense essentially in a 4-on-3 situation and led to quality possessions.

But with the switching, there is no easy key that triggers an automatic pass. Edwards is instead usually lined up against a slightly-lesser but still capable defender standing in front of him after the switch. The third-year guard seems to be interpreting that look as a signal to attack.

He’s doing so early in shot clocks off Minnesota’s initial action, usually against loaded-up defenses. To his credit, he’s still knocking down shots and scoring at a decent clip, but the possessions involve little ball or player movement and do not get his teammates involved.

Edwards has a grand total of three assists over Minnesota’s past two games.

“The two assists is not enough. I think he’s got to create more ball movement, particularly (with) the gravity he has. I think it’s two games in a row where he doesn’t have enough assists for my liking,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “We’re at our best when he’s drawing attention, scoring and finding easy shots for his teammates.”

That type of isolation well generally dries up, and is not considered the best way to attack switching defenses.

That type of defense, Mike Conley noted, pushes offenses into a drive-and-kick game. But the key to success is to get the ball moving, causing the defense to create gaps into which players can drive. That’s what creates those kick-out opportunities.

“But when we do that, when we drive, you have to look the pass, we have to look to make an extra play,” Conley said. “We just had too many opportunities or too many times (against Brooklyn) where we, you know, went 1-on-1 or isolation where it took us out of a rhythm. And it’s tough to score against a defensive team that’s long like that and can switch.”

There are other ways to attack, as well. Conley said guard-to-guard screens can be effective. You can then slip those screens and dive to the bucket. The key is to run enough actions within a possession that the opponent messes up its communication and someone is left open.

The Wolves did that to perfection in the fourth quarter of their play-in win over the Clippers last season.

“But if we sit there and, you know, dribble for too long,” Conley said, “(it) sets up for them to load up and be long and athletic like they are.”

The general outside consensus since Minnesota moved D’Angelo Russell is that Edwards doesn’t have enough of a supporting cast on offense. But more often than not, the Wolves simply aren’t running good enough offense for anyone to score. Players have acknowledged they need more movement within possessions, regardless of the opposing defensive scheme.

“What do teams do when they practice? They just do shell and just guard the first pick-and-roll. But when you have multiple actions, when you go side to side, that’s when usually teams just break down after one, two, three actions,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “… We should be OK with having teams play defense sometimes for more than 5 seconds and have them have to chase us for 16, 18, 20 seconds.

“At the same time, we don’t want to pass up open shots, right? (It’s) just finding that balance, staying aggressive, but being OK with being patient.”

It’s the next step in Edwards’ continued progression.

“Just learning to play on the move a little bit more,” Finch said. “Cutting, sharing the floor with some better spacing and that kind of stuff. They’re switching to a load and (he’s) just taking too long.”

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