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The Day After: Reflections on Timberwolves opening night

By Ben Beecken

SAN ANTONIO,TX - OCTOBER 18: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves scores two against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center on October 18, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas. 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. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO,TX - OCTOBER 18: Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves scores two against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center on October 18, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas. 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. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) /
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What are the key takeaways for the Timberwolves from a disappointing, season-opening road loss to the San Antonio Spurs?

It’s all too easy to write off the 2017-18 Timberwolves as the latest edition of the 2005-17 Timberwolves. Casual fans could be forgiven for doing just that, I suppose. (The old crotchety sportswriters have already done just that, after all.)

Opening night was ugly. It was hard to watch. It was a game that the Timberwolves trailed by double-digits a couple of times, only to take a one-point lead with a few minutes remaining before succumbing and needing a garbage time dunk just to salvage a single-digit margin of defeat.

But here’s the thing: openers are rarely pretty. And yeah, the Spurs were missing Kawhi Leonard, — only one of the best three or four players in the league — but it’s still the Spurs, with vintage LaMarcus Aldridge suddenly showing up and more or less dominating his matchup with Karl-Anthony Towns.

Let’s hit on some quick takeaways.

The Good

  • Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson are fantastic defenders. We knew this, but seeing Taj, in a Wolves uniform, funnel a ball-handler to the baseline before walling-up and watching a wild shot bounce harmlessly off the rim, was awesome.
  • Wiggins appears to be ready and willing to shoot (and make) 3-pointers. Remember how hot he started from beyond the arc a year ago before the minutes wore on him and his jumper became flat? Here’s hoping he can stave off the fatigue/he doesn’t have to play as many minutes this year.
  • The Butler-Wiggins chemistry as cutters and in the drive-and-kick game will be deadly. They still don’t know how to play off of each other yet, but it looked awesome a handful of times on Wednesday night.
  • Nemanja Bjelica had an outstanding second half, and Tyus Jones had enough solid moments that he usurped Jeff Teague at the point guard spot down the stretch (more on that later). Bjelly hit a big three to keep the deficit to single digits as the third quarter ended, and had a nice and-one in the lane early in the final frame.

The Bad

  • Taj Gibson shot the ball 11 times, with many of those attempts coming early in the game. He needs to be willing to shoot, of course, and he’s always been a decent mid-range shooter, but he should not regularly be shooting 11 times per game.
  • Teague was up-and-down, but his horrible perimeter defense was his main contribution(?) in this one. The floater game is nice — that’s one thing Ricky Rubio never developed — but a couple of floaters and a heat-check jumper won’t atone for the series of defensive mishaps.
  • Towns had a tough opening night task in Aldridge, but his help defense was the biggest concern. There were multiple times that he either didn’t see a Spurs player cutting into the lane, or simply saw late and opted not to help in fear of committing a foul. Unacceptable, and Tom Thibodeau (and Butler) will surely be talking to him about that.

The Ugly

  • After the bench kept the Wolves in the game early in the fourth quarter and they finally got some stops on defense, the offense stagnated. Butler missed a couple of shots (a short one in the paint and a wide-open corner 3-point attempt) that he will normally make, but besides that, there was absolutely no flow to the offense.
  • Oddly, the Timberwolves could not hang onto the ball. From Bjelica to Wiggins to Towns, players were dropping passes, losing their dribbles, and not corralling rebounds. Hopefully that was a fluke. It has to be, right?
  • Paint defense continues to be an issue. It’s largely due to the above note regarding Towns’ help defense (or, more appropriately, lack thereof), but Gibson isn’t a rim-protector and Gorgui Dieng had a bad night. If Teague is going to continue to play matador defense on the perimeter, the interior defense has to get fixed. They can’t survive with both being issues.

All in all, this wasn’t the doomsday performance that some would have you believe. This will surely be one of Towns’ worst games, and Butler and Teague are both better than they performed as well.

A huge issue is simply that these guys haven’t played together much. Remember, they only played in three preseason games, the last of which was well over a week prior to the opener. it’s going to take some time.

Next: Will the mentor/mentee process work for the Timberwolves?

Friday night’s home opener against Rubio and the Utah Jazz will be tough sledding; they held Denver to just 13 fourth quarter points as the visiting Jazz overcame a deficit and won easily on the road. Here’s hoping that a few of the above items are corrected in the next 36 hours or so.

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