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Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 New Year’s Resolutions for 2021

By Phil Ford

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - DECEMBER 23: Josh Okogie #20 of the Minnesota Timberwolves is seen during player introductions before the season opening game at Target Center on December 23, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Timberwolves defeated the Pistons 111-101. 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 Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - DECEMBER 23: Josh Okogie #20 of the Minnesota Timberwolves is seen during player introductions before the season opening game at Target Center on December 23, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Timberwolves defeated the Pistons 111-101. 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 Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves tries to score at the rim. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

Minnesota Timberwolves New Year’s Resolution #1: Finish at the rim

The first resolution should hopefully prove to be the easiest to keep for the rest of the season.

Through four games, the Wolves rank third in the league in shot attempts at or around the rim with 35 per game. That’s great news, but the problem is that they only make 19.8 of those shot attempts, which comes out to just 56.4 percent. That’s the third-worst shooting percentage in the restricted area in the NBA.

The worst culprits are (surprise, surprise) Juan Hernangómez, who is shooting an anemic 28.6 percent at the rim, and Ed Davis who connects just one-third of the time from inside the restricted area, albeit on a small sample size. It’s not a good sign when two of your big men are the worst players on your team at finishing around the rim.

Culver and Malik Beasley are also having major performance issues close to the basket. The two young, athletic wings lead the team in shots attempted in the restricted area, Culver with five per game and Beasley right behind at 4.8 but only convert 45 and 52.6 percent of these attempts respectively.

Beasley made his money by shooting the three, and Culver’s value comes more on the defensive end, but both need to vastly improve their finishing around the hoop if this team wants 2021 to be any better than 2020.

The good news is that this resolution shouldn’t be impossible to keep, and for a few reasons.

The first is that things will improve once Towns returns from injury. KAT was a perfect 7-for-7 in the restricted area before his wrist injury and should provide some stability in the paint when he is in the line-up.

The same goes for the return of Josh Okogie. Of his 21 shot attempts this season, Okogie took 12 shots at the rim, making nine of them. The Wolves will need his aggressiveness and finishing ability around the basket if they want to improve in the coming year.

Rookie Anthony Edwards has also shown he can put the ball in the hoop from close range. The first overall pick has seen two-thirds of his shot attempts at the rim fall through the basket, a good sign of his finishing touch in just four NBA games.

The Wolves are getting shots at the hoop, but actually converting them will take Minnesota to another level as 2021 commences. Finishing at the rim isn’t the only thing that this team should work on in the new year.

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