Minnesota Timberwolves: Mid-season report card

Tom Thibodeau (Head Coach): C

As many positives as Thibodeau the POBO has had, Thibodeau the coach hasn’t yet had that same experience.He’s been under the microscope ever since arriving in Minnesota and not seeing immediate results.

I’ll admit, I’ve been one of the biggest Thibs’ critics, as I believe he’s been very inflexible during his time as coach. He routinely overplays his players, even when there are quality players on his bench to help supplement the high minutes.

A perfect example is the point guard position. When Teague was healthy he was playing close to 35 minutes a night with Jones only seeing the floor for 13ish. Jones was playing good basketball even back then, but that didn’t prompt Thibs to play him more often.

For players, this can be extremely frustrating, as there’s no incentive to play better. Even if you get in the game and are playing well, you know you are going to come out in a short amount of time.

He also hasn’t shown the willingness to experiment with different lineups. Minnesota has a lot of different types of players that could mesh well together. However, Thibodeau never gives them the chance, as he sticks with what he knows. It’s a long NBA season with plenty of minutes, why not play around for a little bit? If it doesn’t work, don’t go back to it.

Next: Staples of the Timberwolves offense: L-Corner 3

Overall, he’s done an adequate job as the team is leading the division as I previously mentioned. However, I feel there’s a lot of room for him to grow, but I’m unsure if that will ever happen.