World Cup Wonderings: Game Four

Another enthralling round of world cup games are behind us.

FIBA

Our pack of Wolves remains on the world stage, with their paws on the ground and their noses sniffing out international blood.

In a confusing competition, Li Kaier (Kyle Anderson) and his Chinese squad and Rudy Gobert with his French remain in the tournament in classification games, despite failing to qualify from their group. While, on a different side of the bracket, Karl-Anthony Towns’ Dominican Republic, Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s Canada and, of course, Anthony Edwards’ United States are all fighting for the ultimate prize.

It’s a strange labyrinth, but there is nothing strange about watching the games. They quench our thirst for basketball and they taste delicious. They’re fierce and competitive and, ultimately, extremely important to every player with a foot on the hardwood. Including our Worldwide Wolves.

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A Little Frustration, A Lot Of Buckets

None of Karl-Anthony Towns’ latest performance against Puerto Rico felt unrecognizable. As someone who has toiled through the years of inept management who failed to surround him with enough talent to truly compete, this was more a blast from the past than a fresh hell he was dropped into.

After struggling early on — including another technical foul for Towns, one more wholly recognizable feeling — the Dominican Republic gained their footing in the game, and soon after felt like they were tap dancing on the skull of Puerto Rico. All of that dominance was heaped on the seemingly very healthy shoulders of KAT.

Whether he was launching deep triples or using his shooting gravity to draw defenders at him and then scooting around them nimbly, Towns was an unstoppable juggernaut.

In earnest, there was little more the big man could do to propel his team into winning territory. He finished with 39 points, the equal most in a World Cup game since Dirk Nowitzki back in 2005, to go along with 10 boards and a pair of blocked shots.

And, while his shooting light is as neon green as a shooting light can possibly get, shooting 56.2 percent (9-16) from two-point range, 36.4 percent (4-11) from deep and perfect at the charity stripe on nine attempts is uber-efficient considering the attention heaped on him defensively.

Yet, in a very Treveon Graham, Jarrett Culver and Shabazz Napier kind of way, Towns wasn’t able to drag his team over the line. Puerto Rico completed a late smash-and-grab win, forcing Towns and his squad to beat a tough Serbian national team on Saturday to secure progression.

Towns heads into what could be his final game for the summer sitting second behind Luka Doncic on the tournament’s points per game leaderboard, averaging 24.3 with 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and a block.

There are still some worries over his dummy-spits and it’ll be disappointing for him if the Dominican Republic are eliminated this weekend, but there is no denying Towns has had himself an enormous individual competition. If nothing else, that confidence in his game and his body should bode well for the Wolves.

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The Second Half Superstar

There wasn’t a Timberwolves fan on the planet who was fretting when Anthony Edwards’ points column was a blank slate during the first half of USA’s gritty win over Montenegro. We’ve seen every angle of Antman’s game. We’ve seen the sleepy beginnings, the foibles that can creep into his game at times, the embers struggling to ignite.

That’s why it was no surprise when, without warning, those embers turned into a fucking inferno. He is a moments player, one that rises with the tide and creates a wave for his teammates to crest, and when the Americans needed him he emerged from the fog with a scowl and a fistful of buckets.

Even with a goose egg in the first half, Edwards still led Team USA in scoring when the final whistle blew, dropping 17 points and finishing a +12 in 27 minutes. He seemed to struggle with Montenegro’s physicality and smart defensive scheme in the first half, but he figured things out after the break and rammed his authority down the throats of his hapless opponents in the second half.

He had a number of tough finishes around the rim and a pair of silky jumpers, but it was this calculated floating middy that might be the most important for his game going forward.

Edwards only made 37.6 percent of his shots from 3-to-10 feet last season, choosing to live on the analytically-friendly diet of shots at the rim, free throw line and beyond the arc. While that’s the smart approach, a true superstar needs to have infinite avenues to scoring. Having this shot in his locker allows him to avoid some contact at the rim and force defenses to cover him in all quadrants of the floor.

That’s the beauty of being the head honcho for his national team. Edwards has time to experiment and tinker and master his game, all while playing in a competitive environment alongside some of the league’s most exciting young stars. While all those good things are simmering, he gets to dominate the world stage, too. Seems … good.

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