New Timberwolves coach Chris Finch wants Anthony Edwards to go to hoop more

Chris Finch has only coached Anthony Edwards for less than a week, but in seeing Edwards play over that time Finch has some ideas for how the rookie can become a more efficient player.

The No. 1 overall pick in last year's NBA draft entered Sunday shooting only 37% on the season and a true-shooting percentage of just 46.8%.

True-shooting percentage takes twos, threes and free throws into its metric and Edwards' mark is one of the lowest on the Timberwolves. By comparison, Karl-Anthony Towns leads the team at 61.9%.

Finch would like to see Edwards take the ball to the basket with more regularity. The new Wolves coach said after Wednesday's loss at Chicago that Edwards should strive to have a mix that is two-thirds drives to the basket, one-third jumpers. Entering Sunday, Edwards had taken 42% of his shot attempts from three-point range.

"He has that ability," Finch said of Edwards' driving. "And one of the hardest things for guys when they first come into the league is to play these bigs that are down the floor because they think there's a lot of space so they often settle, but that's exactly what they want you to do."

After Saturday's loss at Washington, Finch said Edwards has "to continue to understand what the game is giving him."

"Every time he went downhill and went to the rim they really couldn't stop him," Finch said. "He made threes late, but he didn't make threes in the early part of the game. He's kind of just out there playing right now. He doesn't have a plan of attack if you will, and that's normal. I think that's something that will happen for him."

Edwards is shooting 31% from three-point range this season.

Sunday marked the first game the Wolves allowed anybody besides players, staff and media into Target Center, as family and friends of players were allowed to attend.

For now, Target Center is allowing up to 250 people to attend, with the goal being to ramp up attendance incrementally as the season goes along and as state and health guidelines allow.

Finch has said seeing fans in arenas across the league "feels weird." Finch was hired from the Raptors, who aren't even playing in Toronto right now because of coronavirus restrictions in Canada; the team has been making Tampa, Fla., its home this season.

"It's become a little bit numbing to be in these arenas with the fake crowd, and there will be times when the game starts and you'll think to yourself, this feels pretty shallow," Finch said.

But he said it can make a difference for some players to at least have their families in attendance to see them play.

"It'll bring back somewhat of a sense of normalcy to us," Wolves guard Jordan McLaughlin said. "Being able to look up there and see your close friends and your family at your games, it always sits a certain way in your heart."

Jarrett Culver played his first game Saturday after sitting out since Jan. 25 because of a left ankle sprain.

The Wolves' 2019 first-round draft pick said he would rehab the ankle "two, three times a day."

"Just building from that, from barely being able to walk to starting to get into the pool, to getting back on the court and doing workouts," Culver said. "So it was a long process, I felt like. But it was a healthy one. And we took our time with it to make sure I was fully recovered before I came back."

Culver played 14 minutes and had three points against the Wizards.