On the continuing overreaction to Timberwolves’ defense
By Ben Beecken
There really isn’t any question about it: the Timberwolves’ defense has been bad so far this season. But is much of the wringing of hands about it a simple overreaction?
The Timberwolves entered Friday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks 27th in the NBA in team defensive rating and 19th in opponent points allowed per game, according to Basketball-Reference.com. It’s not exactly what we all expected out of a Tom Thibodeau-coached team, even if that was only through the first 32 games of his tenure in Minnesota.
There’s been some concern regarding the lack of urgency from some of the Wolves’ players — especially their young, budding stars. At times, Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Zach LaVine fail to get into legitimate defensive stances and don’t guard their own assignments one-on-one with great success.
More recently, a lack of desire on first and second rotations — especially helping the helper — has been apparent. ESPN’s Zach Lowe broke this down as #3 of his “10 things I like and don’t like” article this week and included a perfect video example of the above.
Check out the video, and below is an excerpt of what I think is a great way of looking at where the Wolves defense stands as of today.
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"Minnesota just cannot help and recover in a coherent way. The NBA moves fast. If a threat demands extra attention, everyone has to move on a string: one help defender slides into position, a second teammate sidles over to patrol the abandoned area, and everyone else tries to cover as much territory as possible without overlapping.And then the ball moves, and you have to do it all again. There is no time for questions, false steps, or confusion. You have to internalize a lot of information about scheme and personnel, and act immediately.The Wolves can’t manage, and that’s OK. They’re young. They’re learning each other, Thibodeau’s system, and how different opponents attack it. The three cornerstones — Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, and Andrew Wiggins — are also learning how hard and unforgiving the NBA is. They are scoring stars who could get away at other levels with standing straight up and down, or admiring their shots while opponents leaked out.Not anymore. The season has been discouraging, but in a predictable way."
It’s pretty similar to the laments of interim head coach Sam Mitchell a year ago, especially in regards to Wiggins and LaVine: those two were athletic enough that at other levels, even in Division I college ball, they didn’t need to try all that hard to stay in front of their man.
But now, add in the relative complexity of Tom Thibodeau defensive system and the ultra-athletic opponents that you’re facing every night, and well, things have changed quite a bit.
By no means is this excusing just how bad the defense has been, but rather it’s being realistic about what the issues really are and cautioning against a 32-game overreaction.
Next: Revisiting The Timberwolves' Point Guard Situation
December has been much better than November. What will January, February, and March hold?