A familiar destination, on a new path, Tall Ball
So the Minnesota Timberwolves’ decision to pivot the roster enhancements to shore up the team’s defense now makes complete sense. The team knows that the path to the NBA Championship leans toward the best defensive teams in the NBA. But the team also knows that the small ball route employed by teams like the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics were already firmly entrenched in so many teams.
The Timberwolves are simply too late to the small ball movement to leapfrog anyone. So the Minnesota Timberwolves are taking a different route. The Minnesota Timberwolves are dusting off the long-ago abandoned Tall Ball roster design. And this time it just may work.
We know that the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch is solidly in the seat of a strong defense in the paint, and gives only secondary priority to the perimeter defense. That focus has led many to conclude that the Tall Ball principles are due to Finch’s intentions of making the Timberwolves a stronger team by getting bigger.
But Tim Connelly has shown the willingness to construct a Tall Ball roster with the Denver Nuggets, so it should be no coincidence to discover those same principles in play with his new assignment with the Timberwolves:
The Timberwolves know that they cannot succeed simply by putting two of the tallest players near the basket, as the highways have constructed concrete safety barriers and guard rails to aid vehicles from leaving the safety of the side of the road.
The Timberwolves have the best rim protector in the NBA today in Rudy Gobert. And that allows the team to reconfigure their roster to amplify his effect and optimize his skill sets.
Can this team win in the NBA Playoffs? This roster is loaded for Grizzlies, . . . er, . . . bear. If the two teams meet in the playoffs this year, I expect that the outcome would indeed be different. In fact, I expect if the teams met, it would be the Timberwolves that would possess the higher seeding.