Life without Jimmy: Playing big and scoring big
By Josh Bungum
Big scoring
Another aspect of the team that is worth monitoring without the assistance of Butler is how precipitous the drop off will be with the Wolves defense. Let’s be clear, Minnesota has been painfully horrendous on that end of the floor all year and it will be difficult to get noticeably worse. But taking an All-NBA defender off of any roster, no matter how bad they already are at that end, is bound to negatively impact the defensive quality of that team.
With season-long defensive struggles potentially downgrading into the category of complete point stopping incompetence, possibly the only way for the Wolves to stay afloat is by maintaining, and perhaps exceeding, the offensive excellence they’ve displayed all year (currently 3rd in the NBA) This is no small feat when taking away a player who was averaging 22.2 points with a high usage rate of 24.9%. However, the eye test shows that the Wolves have plenty of other players who excel with the ball in their hands, and might turn this unfortunate drop-off in talent into a more aesthetically pleasing and free-flowing brand of offensive basketball.
This year’s Wolves team is (over?)loaded with dudes who can do stuff with the ball. Whether it be Teague or Jimmy, when an injury removes one of em, sometimes makes the offensive flow seem to come easier. (This tweet could look dumb at any moment.)
— Punch-Drunk Wolves (@PDWolves) February 27, 2018
They amassed a bunch of talent and overall it’s been very good. But it’s been pretty clear they were getting less than full Teague & Wiggins. Kinda cool to see them both unshackled like this. (Now: Can they keep the Sacto Kings from scoring 110+?)
— Punch-Drunk Wolves (@PDWolves) February 27, 2018
The people behind the Punch-Drunk Wolves twitter account, who are current writers over at the excellent A Wolf Among Wolves blog, make some very valid points above. Losing Jimmy Butler, although it is a serious knock on the overall offensive firepower the Timberwolves employ, allows more space for other players to dominate the ball and gives more opportunities for the wealth to be spread around. This also might be a reason why Tyus Jones fit in so well during the time Teague was out, as his ability to allow more space for touches with Towns, Butler, and Wiggins led to a much smoother offensive flow, and in turn, high-level winning basketball.
This has been partially responsible (along with the inferiority of the Bulls and Kings) for the offensive outbursts in each of the two games Butler has missed. Minnesota was able to put up point totals of 122 and 118 so far with their leader sidelined, showing some promise that the team can stay afloat on that end of the floor for the foreseeable future.