Chris Finch calls out Wolves' defense — and Jaden McDaniels' reaction says everything

Minnesota's has had a yo-yo start to the season when it comes to wins and losses, but the defense has been consistently bad.

The Timberwolves' 119.8 defensive rating ranks 27th in the NBA. Jamal Murray and Tim Hardaway Jr. were hitting wide-open threes throughout the second half Monday night as Denver walked into Target Center and bullied their way to a 127-114. Yeah, it was Minnesota's first game without Anthony Edwards (hamstring), but the defensive identity has been a disaster, with or without Edwards.

"Very concerned about it right now, to be honest with you. We have been extremely inconsistent defensively," head coach Chris Finch said Monday night.

"We need more from all-defensive guys to set the tone there at the point of attack and at the rim," Finch said, specifically saying Jaden McDaniels has to "be better at the point of attack" and Rudy Gobert has to "challenge more stuff" at the rim.

When McDaniels, who had 25 points and four blocks, was informed that Finch, after being prompted, called him and Gobert out, he seemed confused.

"I'm not playing defense how I should, I guess," McDaniels said.

What's missing? "My aggressive, I guess," McDaniels answered. "I feel like I play the same defense all the time, but obviously it's not working."

Veteran guard Mike Conley echoed Finch's concerns.

"Too many breakdowns. We're trying, guys are playing hard, we're being aggressive," Conley said. "But that aggression has to have direction. We have to do things as a unit. All five guys gotta be in the same mindset and connected when we do things. We've got too many rogue situations going on."

Conley thinks the issues start with on-ball defense on the perimeter, where too many times on Monday the Nuggets were dominating with screens, leaving Wolves defenders out of position and chasing.

"I think our point of attack... we've gotta be more sticky. We're just not being as physical as we can be," Conley reasoned. "We've done it, so there's no excuse for it. As a group, we have to figure out how to get back to being more aggressive on the ball."