Austin Rivers could not believe what he was witnessing.
Dallas reserve guard Jaden Hardy had the ball at the top of the court in the final ten seconds of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. Kyle Anderson was protecting Hardy.
And Dallas used a ball screen to get Anthony Edwards switched on Hardy.
“They were looking for Ant on switches,” Rivers stated last week on The Ryen Russillo Podcast. “And I had to (sit) back in my seat, saying, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, there’s no way they’re calling Ant up for a pick-and-roll swap. “He’s one of the league’s best ball defenders.”
Hardy had only a few dribbles to get by Edwards and to the rim for a layup.
“They knew he was tired, gassed, and trying to hide, so they called him up,” said Rivers, Edwards’ teammate a year ago and now an NBA commentator. “There’s no way they should ever target Ant on defense. It should never happen. He is too good of a defender.
A day after Minnesota was knocked from the West finals by Dallas in five games, Anderson spoke with his father, who told him the Wolves appeared to have “hit a wall.” The forward concurred.
“Just felt like we didn’t have the same juice that we had in the Denver and Phoenix series, and sometimes you don’t even realize it,” Anderson stated. “You attempt to avoid that, thinking I have energy or am prepared to go. We just didn’t have the same spark on both sides of the ball as a team in the Dallas series, as we did in Denver and throughout the season, as we did in Phoenix. Tough.”
That begins with Edwards, Minnesota’s top player and a barometer of success. When he plays with enthusiasm, the Timberwolves are extremely difficult to stop. But he didn’t seem to have it in the West finals.
After igniting the NBA world with his first six postseason battles this spring, Edwards’ gas tank began to deplete. At times during the Dallas series, he appeared to be leaning toward “E.”
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch stated after the series that the importance of fitness was a lesson learned for Minnesota throughout their playoff journey.
“Mentally, bodily exhaustion becomes a reality as you go deeper. The amount of minutes you spend playing, the load, and the intensity. “Everything goes up,” Finch explained. “I think, over time, it probably took its toll on us a bit more.”
It’s definitely a difficulty. It’s not simple to outlast the defending champions in a seven-game series, four of which were played at altitude, and then return 72 hours later to face another top-tier team.
“That doesn’t mean that you can’t be in better shape or frame of mind for it,” Finch stated. “Yeah, every step you take gets harder. That’s what makes it so unique. Your degree of detail, execution, and all that stuff must continue to
On Thursday, Finch told Paul Allen on KFXN-FM 100.3 that Edwards now knows what deep postseason runs are going to look like.
“I think the physical and the mental fatigue that he needs to overcome as the series go on and on,” Finch told Allen. “The playoffs, in many ways, are kind of a war of attrition — whether it be injuries or stamina.”
Edwards is asked to carry a heavy load for Minnesota. He often has to take on a difficult defensive assignment while also supplying the bulk of the offense. That’s a lot, but it’s his reality. And if the Wolves are to push for a title, he has to be able to deliver night in and night out for two straight months.
Immediately after the Game 5 loss to Dallas, Edwards acknowledged exactly that.
“I’ve never played this deep into a basketball season. So now I know, like, OK, in order for me to be dominant in the third round and if we get past this and finally go to the Finals, I’ve got to train like I’m going to go to the playoffs,” he said. “So I can’t be missing training days, I can’t take days off, you know what I mean? I’ve got to be ready.”
Edwards stated that he did not train the prior offseason as if he expected to make a deep run with Minnesota. He intends to train this summer in the same way he did when he began his freshman year at Georgia, which he described as “the best shape of my life.” During that time, he underwent various forms of training, which made him uncomfortable.
That’s OK, but the work done in January and February may be more beneficial than the effort done in July to prepare for 11 months later. There is no better way to prepare your body to perform at a high level every other day during the playoffs than to do so during the regular season.