Timberwolves’ Season Grades
By Alex Swendig
Tom Thibodeau: C
There was a lot of hype with Thibs coming to Minnesota. There really was not much improvement. While the starters stepped up their game, the bench struggled all season long. Defense was supposed to be Thibs big thing and the Wolves had one of the worst defenses in the league.
Thibs does his thing where he plays the starters the entire game and gives no minutes to the guys on the bench. All this does is exhaust the starters to where they can’t compete anymore and then makes the bench cold when they do come in.
Playing starters too long can lead to injury, like Derrick Rose back when Thibs was on the Bulls. In an 82 game season, players can’t be expected to play 40 minutes a game all season long. That physically exhausts players.
Also, where is the defensive improvement? The T-Wolves defense was one of the worst defenses in the league. Specifically, in the paint. The Wolves have two true centers in the starting lineup but still allowed way too many points in the paint.
I’m not sure what Thibs’ plan for the defense is, but it needs to get together before next season. Too many leads were blown this season by the Wolves and it’s easy to point to coaching. If a team goes into the fourth quarter with a big lead and ends up losing, that reflects on the coach.
He still did a good job; the team improved a little bit from last season. He needed somewhat of a learning season to get comfortable with the roster.
He also did what everyone was worried about and played starters a lot of minutes. Hopefully, that isn’t the case with LaVine or anyone in the future.
Tom Thibodeau should be able to get the Timberwolves playoff ready for next season. He’s a good coach who needs to click with the personnel.