The Timberwolves defense has undergone a complete and total transformation over the past year.
With Kevin Garnett teaching, Karl-Anthony Towns dominating, and Ricky Rubio mostly healthy, the Wolves have improved from having the worst defense in the league in 2014-15 (and by a good margin) to having a defense that is league-average. The Wolves’ defensive rating, which measures the number of points given up per 100 possessions, has dropped from 109.6 to 100.7: the biggest improvement in the league to this point.
The defensive turnaround has been led by Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Although both are still very young, their defensive performance has been extremely impressive.
Towns has had a number of memorable blocks already, such as the one that sent the game against the Orlando Magic into overtime, while Wiggins was recently described by Zach Lowe as having “balletic footwork on defense.” Players that are this good at defense so early in their careers simply don’t come along very often, and now the Wolves have two of them.
It’s hard to pick the most impressive part of Towns’ game so far; he’s showing great judgement on offense, his vision and passing is incredible, and he’s displayed a real nose for the ball while rebounding. However, his defense may rise above all of those things.
When opponents shoot with KAT as their primary defender, they make only 38.0% of their shots. Across all other games while being guarded by other defenders, those same players make 46.7% of their shot attempts. That -8.7% difference is fourth in the league among players who see an average of 10 attempts against them per game, just behind the top two players in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green.
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That number is extraordinary on its own, but the Towns’ defensive abilities near the rim may be even more impressive. When players test Towns around the basket, he causes a drop of 13.1% compared to their average against other defenders. His ability to get blocks and not foul has been the most surprising thing for some people, as he was fairly foul-prone in college.
Whether it’s just Towns working extremely hard on his game, Garnett and the coaching staff teaching him tricks and positioning, or a likely combination of both, Towns has been nothing less than a beast on defense so far.
Wiggins, on the other hand, has carried over his excellent defense from last season. He is holding his offensive counterparts to 40.9% shooting. That is “only” 2.3% below their average, but among small forwards, that difference is good for eighth, behind elite defensive players such as Leonard, Paul George, and Jimmy Butler.
Wiggins and Towns are both only 20 years old; Wiggins has one year of NBA experience under his belt, while Towns is dominating defensively as a rookie, something that doesn’t happen all that often. Towns is also very vocal on the defensive end, which is rare for a rookie. I didn’t watch much of him at Kentucky, so I don’t know if that has always been the case, but more communication almost always leads to more cohesive defensive play. When the anchor of the defense is directing everyone and yelling out rotations and help assignments (think KG or Tim Duncan), the defense tends to not lose opposing players for wide open threes or layups.
Nov 10, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker (15) shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the third quarter at Target Center. The Hornets defeated the Timberwolves 104-95. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
The other important part of the Timberwolves’ defense so far has been Ricky Rubio. He’s been an above-average defender for most of his career, which includes leading the league in total steals in his third year in the NBA.
He’s quicker than people give him credit for, but his basketball IQ is what really helps him be a great defender. He’s always in the right place in the right time, knowing when to jump passing lanes and how to slide into position to take charges.
As an on-ball defender, Rubio holds opposing shooters to a 39.1% average, down 2.6% from their average against all other defenders. Both the raw opponent field goal percentage and the percent difference are better than Wiggins’ numbers, showing how destructive Rubio can be on defense. His shooting understandably overshadows a lot of his game (he’s fallen back to around his career average in shooting percentage after an exciting start to the season), but his defense ranks right up there with the best defensive point guards.
In terms of raw defensive field goal percentage, the Wolves place three players in the top-22, which is more than any other team (criteria is eight or more games played while defending against 10 or more attempts per game).
The Wolves will soon have 3 elite defensive players, if they aren’t considered that already. KAT has come along faster than anyone expected, and Rubio and Wiggins can lock down opposing perimeter players. They will be free to hound those players a little closer than they otherwise might, knowing that they have Towns to deter their man if he gets past them and into the paint.
Next: How Can The Timberwolves Fix Their Offense?
The Timberwolves have the personnel needed to become a top-five defensive unit in the next few years. If the younger players can keep improving and some defensive sieves are replaced by able defenders, the Timberwolves can become scary on that end of the floor. Not only will Towns and Wiggins be the star pieces on offense for the foreseeable future, but they also seem like they will be two of the best defenders in the entire league.