Dunking With Wolves
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The Minnesota Timberwolves can learn a lot from the Warriors

By Tyler Metcalf

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 02: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics on January 02, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 02: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics on January 02, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns
CHICAGO, IL – FEBRUARY 9: Karl-Anthony Towns. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Minnesota Timberwolves need to look at the Golden State Warriors tendencies in order to improve their offense. Using the post to initiate offense works well.

The NBA has always been a copycat league. Those that change the game are often at the forefront of taking advantage of newfound inefficiencies, while the rest of the league plays catchup. The Golden State Warriors are known as many things (some more flattering than others), but what they should be most admired for is their flexibility and ingenuity on offense.

As the Minnesota Timberwolves have watched these playoffs from home, there is a big aspect of the Warriors offense that they should be ready to copy. Some of the aspects of the Warriors offense are impossible to recreate – like having the two best shooters of all-time and an all-time great wing – but there is an aspect that the Minnesota Timberwolves should look to emulate.

The Warriors are known as a sharpshooting team that lives on the perimeter, but a lot of their offense runs through the post. The Warriors utilize the post, not as a scoring opportunity, but to initiate the offense and create for other players.

The Warriors take advantage of this area of the floor because of their high IQ players and active ball movement. This season the Warriors had numerous players that showed success when they passed out of the post. The Warriors scored 1.074 points per possession on passes from Kevin Durant out of the post, 1.25 from Shaun Livingston, 1.5 from Klay Thompson, 1.091 from Draymond Green, and 1.3 from DeMarcus Cousins, per Synergy. The commonalities in these players are that they can all see over the defense and are threats to score in the post.

I promise that this isn’t a Warriors love-fest, so how does this relate to the Timberwolves? Minnesota has one of the most dynamic offensive big-men in NBA history in Karl-Anthony Towns. On top of that, they were also one of the best cutting teams in the NBA last season as they scored 1.32 points per possession on cuts (6th in the NBA) according to Synergy.

Towns last season showed that he can be a high-level passer with an average of 3.4 assists per game (up from 2.4 the previous season).  He also proved that he is a dangerous low-post scorer as he scored 1.019 points per possession (74th percentile). The Timberwolves could create a more diversified and dangerous offense by letting Towns pass more out of the post to cutters and spot-up shooters.

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