Anthony Edwards on what’s happening to the Wolves

The Timberwolves led by 12 points with just over seven minutes remaining in Wednesday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings at the Target Center in Minneapolis. But things quickly fell apart and the result was a Defeat 115-104.

It was the same story the night before against the Houston Rockets. Minnesota led by five points in that game with just over three minutes left before the Rockets came back and forced overtime, where the Wolves fell apart in a Defeat 117-111.

In total, the Wolves have lost four straight games and are now two games under .500 at 8-10. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch described the losing streak as “Groundhog Day,” digging a big hole and fighting back before collapsing down the stretch. Again and again. The same story has happened in every game during the losing streak.

Wednesday looked like a 12-0 Kings run that turned a seven-point lead into a five-point deficit. Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox scored at will. Last season, Minnesota was excellent closing with its defense. That was the identity of the team. Anthony Edwards received harsh criticism after the game and diagnosed the Wolves with an identity problem.

“Our identity right now, Mike (Conley) and I were talking about it, I think we’re very soft as a team, internally,” Edwards said. “Not with the other team, but internally we are soft, like we can’t talk to each other. Just a group of little kids, like we play with a group of little kids. Like everyone, like the whole team, we just can’t talk between us and we have to figure it out, man, because we can’t go down this path.

Edwards said one of the biggest problems is not listening to the coaches. “The shit everyone sees us doing on defense is not what the coaches tell us to do,” he said. He also said the team played like “edges” Wednesday night, quiet when things are falling apart but quick to speak when things are going well. And perhaps most damning, Edwards said he felt like the team was growing apart, a departure from the closeness of recent years. That is not a problem with the new additions, he said, it is a problem that affects all the players on the squad. He said it needs to be addressed.

“Sometimes it’s hard because looking at everyone, everyone has a different agenda,” Edwards said. “It’s like, what the fuck am I supposed to say? I’m trying to get better at that to figure out what the hell to say so everyone has the same agenda because right now everyone has different agendas. And I think that’s one of the main culprits.” about why we’re losing, like everyone has their own agenda, I guess their imagination about what’s supposed to be happening and what’s really happening.”

The Wolves will have to get on the same page and quickly. They’ll be back in action on Friday night when they host the Los Angeles Clippers in an NBA Cup pool game at Target Center at 6:30 p.m., hopefully with a friendlier home crowd. The Target Center faithful has been booing the team lately, something Edwards called “disrespectful.”