Revisiting completely wrong preseason Timberwolves predictions

Timberwolves Playing At A Rapid Pace

Many expected the Timberwolves to outrun their opponents on a game to game basis and it’s easy to understand why: they’re the youngest team in the NBA with tremendous athletes such as Zach Lavine and Wiggins on the roster and a point guard in Ricky Rubio who’s great at finding teammates in the open floor. Include, an extremely talented big who can run the floor in Karl-Anthony Towns and you have all the recipes for a great up tempo young team. And while it is true that Tom Thibodeau led teams do tend to play at a grind it out pace, he’s never had a team who can thrive playing an uptempo style.

That hasn’t been the case at all this year, as the Timberwolves play at 5^th slowest pace in the league, scoring an average 12.9 fast break points per game. This shouldn’t come as a complete surprise as the Timberwolves have played below league average  pace since Rick Adelman left, despite the team getting much younger since. Who knows? Maybe it’s actually for the better as the team has owned a top ten offensive efficiency for the season playing this style.

However, when your team is composed of passing genius in Ricky Rubio, a 2-time dunk champion in Zach LaVine and two former rookies of the year, one can’t help but think of how deadly the team can be on the open court. With Tom Thibodeau here to stay, we might never know as they’l likely keep playing well above their age, for better or worse.