5 Goals for Nemanja Bjelica in Timberwolves 2017-18 season

4. Be a Defensive Mastermind

No, he is not Hassan Whiteside.

He is not Andre Drummond.

He is not DeAndre Jordan or even the closer-to-home Karl-Anthony Towns, but developing his defensive game could be of great importance to the growth of Bjelica.

In 2016-17, the power forward increased his rebounding by 0.2, bringing about a grand total of 2.9 defensive rebounds per game.

In comparison to those aforementioned names – Whiteside, Drummond, Jordan and Towns – all of these players have triple the amount of rebounds Bjelica has.

Before we hear cries of “He’s not a center”, or even “He plays fewer minutes”, remember that Nemanja racked up 18.3 MPG.

All of these players have triple the amount of rebounds Bjelica has.

Doubling this to 36.6 MPG – around the average of a starting center – his defensive rebounding would still not go above six a game.

Comparing his plays to a power forward instead – Anthony Davis – the New Orleans Pelicans big man manages 9.5 defensive rebounds on an average of 36 minutes.

Realistically, as a bench player Bjelica should be trying

to secure six defensive rebounds per match as the bare minimum.

The fact of the matter is he barely touched above 10-a-game, doing so just three times during his surge in quality (vs Kings, Jazz and Golden State Warriors).

These boards could save the Timberwolves anywhere between 12-18 points every game.

Considering how many matches the Wolves failed to close out and ended up just a few points short, an improvement simply on rebounds could really go a long way.

Yes, defense is not simply rebounding – it is also about positioning, basketball IQ, blocking, switching, etc. – but little steps could showcase more of that European MVP the Serbian is capable of.