Minnesota Timberwolves’ rival’s perspective: Thunder’s spacing much improved
Brady Trantham, of the Thunder Digest, was kind enough to answer three questions about the Minnesota Timberwolves game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Brady Trantham was cordial enough to answer three questions about the Minnesota Timberwolves first meeting with the new-look Oklahoma City Thunder.
1. What has been different about the Thunder’s offense so far this year? How has their Big Three altered their approach?
Brady Tranthram (@BradyDoesSports): Spacing was scarce last season. With Russell Westbrook leading the one-man show, defenses were able to shut down the lane and let Oklahoma City’s lack of shooting force their offense into a one-dimensional attack. The Thunder were the worst three-point shooting team in the league last year.
With the addition of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, all that goes out the window. Defenses can no longer rely on shutting down the paint. The Thunder now possess capable long-distance shooters to keep the floor spread, which makes Steven Adams a more viable threat on offense. With more balance and firepower, the Thunder’s offense -while not an intricate passing offense like the Spurs or Warriors -will be tough to stop by most of the league.
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Brian Sampson (@BrianSampsonNBA): Even though Russell Westbrook is still putting up insane numbers, the whole offense no longer relies solely on him. Last season, an off-game by Westbrook meant a sure-fire loss for the Thunder. That’s not so much the case this year as former All-Stars George and Anthony are able to carry the load on those rare occasions.Even if it’s not an off-night, the three have shown better chemistry so far despite their loss to the Utah Jazz last night.
2. What will be Oklahoma City’s gameplan against the Timberwolves? What weakness of the Wolves will they exploit?
Brady: The Thunder will look to force Minnesota to beat them from deep. The Timberwolves still have to figure out how they will play with the new guys. Karl-Anthony Towns is, at times, unguardable, but if you’re going to have any big go at him, Adams is on the short list of names.
Offensively they will continue to push the pace. By putting pressure on the Timberwolves offensively, OKC should have the ability to get Minnesota in awkward positions and find some open lanes or open shots frequently.
Brian: Oklahoma City should look to exploit the pick-and-roll defense of the Timberwolves, especially with George and Anthony as the screeners. Minnesota is going to have a difficult time matching up their power forward with one of those guys at the 4. Their athletic ability is likely too much for Taj Gibson or Nemanja Bjelica to overcome, which might force Minnesota to also go small.
3. If you were the head coach of the Timberwolves, how would you attack and exploit the Thunder?
Brady: To attack OKC you would have to accept some open jumpers by taking away the lane. You can take Adams out and hopefully clog the paint enough that Westbrook won’t have a free run at the basket. This will cause havoc for spacing and this early in the year, could have a bad effect on George or Melo who are still trying to learn to play off each other.
Offensively, I would stretch the floor with KAT as much as possible and try and get Adams in foul trouble. Without Adams, the Thunder are forced to play small with Patrick Patterson or Jerami grant at the five. That’s a mismatch Minnesota can exploit.
Next: Timberwolves game preview: Oct 22 at Thunder
Brian: I would attack Westbrook and Anthony and make them each play defense. Both players are known for their offensive ability and their lack of effort on the defensive end of the court. Minnesota must exploit that have the right point guard in Jeff Teague to do that against Westbrook. The power fforwardposition is a different story as Gibson isn’t a player who can create his own offense. Expect Minnesota to play Nemanja Bjelica extended minutes in tonight’s game or a lot of small-ball from the Wolves.