Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 takeaways from Saric and Covington’s debut
By Ben Beecken
Will the Wolves begin to play more small-ball?
Wednesday night’s rotation was certainly not where Tom Thibodeau will land long-term, but it could give us a glimpse at where things might end up.
Notably, Derrick Rose missed the game due to a sore knee, and Anthony Tolliver received his first Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision (DNP-CD) on the season. Saric led the bench with 20 minutes played while rookie Josh Okogie logged 17 minutes — mostly in relief of Wiggins as newcomer Robert Covington played a team-high 41 minutes.
Gorgui Dieng played 13 minutes, but that was only because of Towns’ foul trouble. Tyus Jones only saw the floor for 11 minutes.
Here’s what Thibodeau said regarding the rotation possibilities after Wednesday’s victory:
Thibodeau said, given the new roster, that the 2, 3 and 4 positions are "very interchangable now."
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) November 15, 2018
Tom Thibodeau on options with the load of bigs on the new Wolves roster:
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) November 15, 2018
“Taj at the 5, that is something we’ll look at… It’s a good problem — it’s not an easy problem — but it’s a good problem to have."
And here’s what Jace Frederick of the St. Paul Pioneer Press had to say about rotations:
Anthony Tolliver was out of the rotation tonight. I could see that changing if Taj Gibson gets some minutes at the 5. We’ll see how it all plays out
— Jace frederick (@JaceFrederick) November 15, 2018
And we’ll find out which guard is the odd man out when Derrick Rose returns
Of course, rotation decisions should be affected somewhat by matchups, so here’s hoping that Thibodeau pays close attention to that. Some nights, Taj Gibson could probably use some minutes at the five with Saric and Tolliver at the forward spots and Dieng out of the rotation entirely.
Other nights, that could even include limited minutes at the five for Tolliver behind Towns; something like a Teague/Okogie/Covington/Saric/Tolliver lineup could be a lot of fun for short bursts.
There’s also the guard issue that Frederick brings up. The guess here is that if Rose is healthy on Friday, he sees backup minutes at both guard spots and Tyus Jones sees a DNP-CD. Jones had struggled early on this season, and while the last few years tell us that he’s a better player than Rose, the first 15 games of this season paint a very different picture.
Early in the season, it was Okogie who was out of the rotation, but his play over the last few weeks has been entirely inspiring and deserving of a spot in the lineup on a nightly basis.
If nothing else, it will be intriguing to see how this process is managed by Thibs and his staff.