Dunking With Wolves
Fansided

Timberwolves Roundup: Training camp update and more

By Ben Beecken

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 22: Gorgui Dieng #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves pose for portraits during 2017 Media Day on September 22, 2017 at the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx Courts at Mayo Clinic Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 22: Gorgui Dieng #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves pose for portraits during 2017 Media Day on September 22, 2017 at the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx Courts at Mayo Clinic Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Now only a couple of days away from the preseason opener, the Timberwolves continued training camp in San Diego.

Day Five of training camp is in the books.

As noted earlier this week, Timberwolves.com’s Kyle Ratke is doing an outstanding job of keeping Wolves fans fed with all of the training camp news and non-news. On Wednesday, his Twitter question-and-answer session touched on the question of who will start at power forward, Taj Gibson or Gorgui Dieng, and whether Andrew Wiggins and Jimmy Butler will be interchangeable at the wing positions.

Ratke doesn’t think that the starting power forward will be hashed out any time soon, and that makes sense. My opinion: it wouldn’t be a shock for Tom Thibodeau to simply play the match-ups and select the starter at the ‘four’ based on the opponent. The question of whether Wiggins primarily plays shooting guard with Butler at small forward will likely depend on match-ups as well.

We’ve talked a bit here at Dunking With Wolves about the importance of Gibson and Butler (and now, to a lesser extent, Aaron Brooks) to help with translating Thibodeau to the young players. Nick Friedell, who covered the Bulls for ESPN during the Thibodeau era, published a lengthy article focusing on just this subject.

"“I have to be,” Butler said of being a Thibs interpreter. “I think everybody including myself is going to get tired of Thibs’ voice a lot of the times so I’m going to have to be the guy to get his message and point across probably at a 90 percent tone of what he’s doing, so yeah I’ll be there for that.”…The craziest thing about that preparation is that Gibson, who has enjoyed a tight relationship with Thibodeau for years, now sees a different side of the coach with the gruff exterior. Since coming back into Thibodeau’s system, he can see some changes.“It was like I never left. I just jumped right back into things,” Gibson says. “[Thibs has] changed in a lot of ways. I try to tell the young guys, when he first came in he was green. He didn’t really know how to communicate. The way he communicates now and how he draws things up on the board, it amazes me, because he was not that outspoken at first. Now, he’s explaining things in detail, but giving you a good story along with it. And he’s real passionate now.”"

Gibson admits that Thibodeau was not a great communicator as a young, first-time head coach, but makes it clear that he’s improved and is able to translate his philosophy to his players heading into what will be his seventh full season running a team.

A lot has been said about the need to have veteran players help along younger players and while it can seem exaggerated at times, the lack of significant veteran presence certainly seemed to affect last year’s version of the Wolves. And now, they don’t just have veterans but they have Thibs’ veterans.

One last note: Nemanja Bjelica, who reportedly has been participating in much of training camp as he’s a bit ahead of schedule in his recovery from the foot injury that ended his 2016-17 season in March, left the team earlier this week to attend the birth of his child in Minnesota. Congrats to Bjelly!

Next: How do the Timberwolves match-up with the Thunder?

We’ll be back with plenty of training camp and preseason coverage as we head ever closer to Saturday night’s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Lakers in Anaheim.

Home/Timberwolves News