At times, they have. Like opening night in Portland, when they held the Trail Blazers to 19 points in the fourth quarter of a win. They finally buckled down on defense in the fourth quarter Wednesday against the shorthanded Lakers and came all the way back from a 20-point deficit before Austin Reaves hit the game winner at the buzzer.
About the only areas the benefits of continuity are showing are on offense for Julius Randle, who’s off to an All-Star level start on offense (26.6 points, 5.4 assists per game) and Jaden McDaniels, who has picked up the slack well in Edwards’ absence. McDaniels continues to show, as he did last season when the Wolves had many injuries, he has an expanded offensive game that can thrive when he has the ball in his hands.
Other than that? The Wolves are disorganized on the defensive side of the ball, with a rating of 25th.
“Two years ago was a different team, different personnel,” Conley said. “Obviously, you’re going to miss different guy’s skillsets. But we have the guys here that can do the same things those guys are doing. A lot of them are just younger. We’re trying to get guys adjusted to that and adjusted to the speed of how we play. And they’ll get there.”
That’s where continuity hasn’t helped. Players like Kyle Anderson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker were integral to the Wolves’ defensive identity. The Wolves are asking young players like Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham to step into larger roles while trying to maintain that same defensive standard. Maybe this is one byproduct of Edwards’ absence — the team and he can see just how much they need him to buckle down on the defensive end this season.
This is not to say the younger players are solely to blame for how the Wolves have played defense. Everyone has some responsibility to take. But the process of getting everyone on the same page might be a little harder than initially thought. After Monday’s loss to Denver, coach Chris Finch called out his top two defenders, Rudy Gobert and McDaniels, to live up to their reputations. Conley also said Wednesday this isn’t on the young guys, but those who have been there, who have the continuity.