It’s an age-old saying: Offense wins you games but defense wins you titles. After all, no matter how good the players can be at shooting the ball, it doesn’t matter if they face difficulties continuously to prevent the other team from doing so. Over two months after Anthony Edwards echoed similar sentiments following a win over the Suns, the Wolves find themselves with a 22-20 record, sitting 8 in the West. Ironically, Edwards himself has now come under the radar for his defensive skills.

HC Chris Finch was interviewed in the aftermath of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 117-124 loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers last night. A reporter asked Finch if he expects more from Anthony Edwards on the defensive front. The head coach answered in the affirmative, revealing that while he carries that expectation for all the players, Edwards is a special case.

“We’ve challenged him (Edwards) of late to be better defensively. I thought at times that he has been doing that. But yeah, we need him fully engaged defensively, because when he is that way, we’re in our best selves, because he can contain so well, and it activates the rest of the teammates.” For Finch, putting Edwards more on the defensive front did not mean that the offense would be affected through the division of roles and energy.

“I mean, I’ve never been a high-volume scorer in the NBA. So, I can’t tell you the amount of energy that goes into it, but I could tell you that there is a lot of kind of narratives that float around the NBA that you kind of buy into, which are not real,” Finch continued. “Like, I need to exert so much offensive energy that I need to rest on defense. And that’s not really…. I’m sure there is times for sure, but a lot of really good offensive players rest on offense too. And, we need all of our players fully and guarding and (at) eye level too.”

These remarks came despite the fact that Edwards created history on Saturday. The 2x All-Star now has 8,018 points after he scored 28 against the Cavs. At just 23 years of age, Edwards is now the 3 youngest NBA player to cross the 8K threshold, only behind LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Can he surpass the King if he keeps going this way? Doesn’t seem likely, especially if he starts focusing more on defense as per his coach’s instructions.

Anthony Edwards is someone who takes pride in defense. Last season, he tied Domantas Sabonis as the 21st-best defender in the NBA. Finch even admitted back in March 2024 that Edwards “for sure is our most physical on-ball defender”.

Unfortunately, the shooting guard currently has a defensive rating of 110.5 and a defensive win-share rating of 0.119. As a result, he currently ranks 45 on the defensive list. Therefore, an improvement is something that Chris Finch needs to see.

The head coach did not hesitate to speak his mind. So haven’t the others, as it turns out that the player may have another weakness of his that he may need to work on.

6x All-Defense Team member recently highlighted Anthony Edwards’ offensive weakness

2008 champion Tony Allen, widely regarded as one of the best defenders in NBA history, was interviewed during a segment of ‘Playback Livestream’ back in December 2024. As the conversation progressed, the former player was asked if he could guard Anthony Edwards. And if he could, then what strategy would he employ to do so?

Allen highlighted that his health and strength would certainly be a factor in how long could he defend against the youngster. However, when exploiting a particular weakness, Allen indicated that he could take advantage of the fact that the Timberwolves star plays well with his left-hand drives.

“I’m strong… I’m sending his a-s to the right the whole time,” said Allen. “My best defense is going to beat his little a-s.” No human being is perfect, and the same goes for NBA players too. If certain weaknesses can be noticed by head coaches and veteran stars, however, then they need to be worked upon.

Therefore, working on them may help Anthony Edwards grow, and take his team up along with his progress. After all, as Finch said, “when he is that way, we’re in our best selves, because he can contain so well, and it activates the rest of the teammates.”