a surprise. That was the most used word at the start of the 2023-2024 NBA season when talking about the Minnesota Timberwolves. Led by Chris Finch from the bench, the team started to win far more games than analysts expected and to some extent their season was expected to go from strength to strength. So much so that after the All-Star Game, quite a few ruled the team out of contention for first place in the Western Conference against the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder. Well, there are only five games left to finish the season. Regular semester They are in second place, half a game behind the boys led by Nikola Jokic…

The Minneapolis organization's performance can't be described as anything less than amazing. If they finished 42-40 last season, this time they are 53-24, and all without making any major changes to a team that is essentially the same. So what happened for them to take such a leap forward? Anthony Edwards talks about exactly this, and he's not afraid to give his name to the “perpetrator.”

“I think the main reason for the growth is the confidence in Rudy. I think this is the main thing. No matter how many guys play on the team (me, Nickeal (Alexander-Walker), Mike (Conley), Slomo (Kyle Anderson), Jaden (McDaniels), Naz (Reid), Karl (Karl-Anthony Towns)… the truth is “We all have confidence in Rudy, all of us as a team. I think at this point everyone has 100 percent confidence in him. He always plays it right,” John Krawczynski said. The athlete.

The aforementioned journalist points out that in addition to the personal improvement achieved by Rudy Gobert between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, the turning point came with the acquisition of Mike Conley at the 2023 transfer deadline. Veteran point guard, who shared many years with the Frenchman in the Utah Jazz He showed his new teammates the best way to take advantage of the position's qualities on the field. From there, steps were taken forward to the present.