Anthony Edwards has emerged as the breakout star for Team USA, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The Timberwolves guard had a 34-point performance Sunday as the Americans rallied past Germany to post a 5-0 record in exhibition play heading into the FIBA World Cup. Edwards displayed his full offensive arsenal, including four three-pointers and an emphatic slam early in the game, and took over with 12 points in the fourth quarter.
“He’s unquestionably ‘the guy,’” coach Steve Kerr said. “I mean … he knows it, but now the team knows it and I think the fans see it. But we see it in practice every day. He genuinely believes he’s the best player in the gym every single night. And he’s such a dynamic young player, but I think he’s taking a leap.”
The 22-year-old already appeared on the path toward stardom, making his first All-Star appearance last season while averaging 24.6 points per game. He led the U.S. in scoring at 19.2 PPG in exhibition play and appears to have established himself as the team’s No. 1 option as the tournament starts this weekend.
“If you think about USA basketball over the years, a lot of young players have taken a leap in these World Cup (and) Olympic competitions and it feels to me like Anthony is taking that leap,” Kerr said.
There’s more from the World Cup:
- The Germans provided the first major scare for Team USA, holding a 16-point lead in the third quarter before wilting down the stretch, Vardon adds. The U.S. staged a late 18-0 run to pull the game out, but the players understand they will likely face similar challenges in the future. “We talk about it all the time — that fear factor (for other teams) is gone,” Tyrese Haliburton said. “There’s certain battles that you have to control to win basketball games, especially at this level. We know we gotta control the glass, we gotta run teams off the 3-point line, can’t send ’em to the free-throw line. That’s what really affects USA basketball, losing games. We didn’t do a good job of those things, but we figured out a way to win.”
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who’s serving as an assistant on Kerr’s staff, calls the Team USA roster “the future of the NBA” in an interview with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (video link). He also discusses the challenge of trying to mold a team in a few weeks to compete with opponents that have played together for years.
- Five African teams are viewing the World Cup as a chance to show the rest of the world how much progress they’ve made, Leonard Solms writes for ESPN. Nigeria, the traditional power on the continent, won’t be in the tournament, but Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, South Sudan, Egypt and Cape Verde all qualified. The African team with the best World Cup finish will qualify for next year’s Olympics.
If only Minnesota had realized that the “guy” was Anthony Edwards, and not KAT any longer. Rather than trade for Gobert to erect a Twin Towers, they should have traded KAT, and focused on building a team around Edwards. Still not too late!
It kinda is, though. They’re never going to recoup the value of the assets they gave up for Gobert, even if they trade both him and KAT. Maybe they can finangle something, but it won’t be anywhere near as good as if they’d started out that way.
I agree, the haul will not be nearly what it could have been, and won’t come close to what they gave up for Rudy. However, Edwards is the guy to build around. KAT and Gobert are valuable, but their trade value decreases every day with their age.
Build a team completely catered to him. They are gonna have to ultimately put the ball in hands anyway, and let him start making most of the decisions on the floor.
Edwards did not have the shot he had today when he was drafted. Coming out of college he had the talent but not the drive. He took the criticism for a poor work out during the draft to motivate him and improve. On team USA he looks dominate but on the Twolves he has 2 other players that want to be the guy. They need to let him be the guy that carries the team
Ummm, am I missing something here? What’s wrong with having two versatile offensive threats and an elite rim protector?
We’ll see but I think they’ve done a good job building around BOTH of their stars. Gobert gives them an elite defense and takes pressure off Towns at that end and McDaniels and Conley can make up for Edwards shortcomings while he hopefully gets better on off ball defense.
On the offensive end if/when Edwards gets past his tunnel vision he’ll have great shooters to kick out to in Towns, McDaniels and Conley as well a premier lob threat in Gobert.
Knicks will take Rudy. I agree it’s Edwards team now. KAT needs to show humility and learn to play with him. To me. I have always believed a Center and a Guard. Can be your two best players. Then it’s easy to build a team around that.
Spoelstra already recruiting the future Stars for Miami.
The light has come on for the US. The things I was afraid of that they did not know about, they now get.
There is a healthy disrespect and meaness against the US overseas. Everything is personal.
The growing up into it will pay off huge in the future.
Spoelstra says a group of talented young players is the future of the NBA? Wow he really is a genius coach lol
That Germany game was a serious gm. USA is going to have to play and play their bench. When it gets to depth. Then USA shows its strength. Would have like to seen Wemby play. Bigs could be an issue for this team. Real Centers ……. I like that they are a young team. Makes it more fun.
For all the clowns here and totally inept basketball talk. I hope you watched Fournier drop 29 on Australia. Watch him and France. Learn something ……