Minnesota Timberwolves boast “Best rim protector(s) walking around on the planet”

The Minnesota Timberwolves were undeniably shopping for an upgrade on defense this offseason. But if you look at the Timberwolves roster as is, October 1, 2022, there is more to this defense than just plopping All-Star center Rudy Gobert into it.  The Timberwolves already had a young and promising defensive-centric center named Naz Reid.

But 6-foot-9, 250-pound Nazreon Reid was playing in his third NBA season for the Minnesota Timberwolves and just his first NBA Playoffs series. The outcome from that debut in high-pressure NBA competition did not work out as well as Naz Reid had hoped.

Grizzlies got the best of an inexperienced Timberwolves team

It was always going to be a tough series for the Timberwolves, as the team was forced to rely too heavily on both the offense and defense of starting center Karl-Anthony Towns. The Grizzlies focused their attention on him, and KAT struggled with foul trouble at key stretches in the series.

That meant more playing time from Naz Reid, playing time that he was not yet prepared for.  But let’s take care not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Reid has significant defensive potential. Now that the Timberwolves have the best defensive center in the NBA on the roster, Reid’s development should turn more in a positive direction.

There is a lot to be said about getting defense from the bench. Timed correctly, the fresh player can change the momentum of the game. If the player is offensive oriented, the change can come from quick scores. If the player is defensive oriented, the change can come in slowing down the  opponent, creating turnover and fast breaks, and getting the team into a more comfortable pace for the game.

“Best rim protector(s) walking around on the planet”

So what is it about protecting the rim that is so crucial for the Minnesota Timberwolves? It becomes a valuable asset for a team as it forces shots to originate away from the basket, and the greater the distance means the less accurate that shot will be. It’s also the start of fast break offense, and that can be terrifically powerful to possess in the NBA.

So who are the best shot blockers in the NBA today?

The Timberwolves Rudy Gobert blocked 5.7 percent of the shots, which was good enough for the fifth-ranked shot blocker in the NBA. That was a significant down year for Gobert, who had blocked 7.0 percent of the shots in the 2020-21 NBA season. But the NBA statistics for blocked shots have a minimum playing time of 1500 minutes played. Gobert played 2120 minutes last year.

Reid can block shots

While there is plenty to improve in Naz Reid’s game, he does a pretty good job of blocking shots. Naz Reid only played 1215 minutes during the 2021-22 NBA season, which is why his 5.6 percent of blocked shots was not listed among the NBA’s top shot blockers.

Of course, there is much more to NBA defensive play than blocking shots. There is the task of boxing out opponents, and coming down with rebounds. Right now, Gobert’s 2021-22 season rate of 25 percent of rebounds is nearly twice the rate of Naz Reid’s 13.3 percent. That is one of several areas Reid can improve by being mentored by Rudy Gobert

Defensive designs

Assistant coach Micah Nori is taking a good and consistent approach with the Minnesota Timberwolves  right now. It’s early, and the Timberwolves have a lot of new faces, significant changes in the type of defense that the team wants to run this year. The Timberwolves struggled on defense a year ago, simply because the team sought too much from too few.

The Timberwolves installed a number of defenses during the 2021-22 season, but the team’s personnel were not always readily equipped to run them.  The Timberwolves experimented with a complete arsenal of defenses, but with mixed results.

Adapting to Gobert’s presence

The Timberwolves are adapting to the presence of Rudy Gobert by flexing their pace and aggressiveness on the defensive side of the basketball court.  But the design of the rotations are as much a part of the offensive fits among players as well as the defensive fits and complementary skillsets.

The Timberwolves are working at running at drop coverages, which are designed to take away the the three-point shots, and then to flex the defense to ensure that the defense minimizes any numeric offenses that the opponent may gain by feeding the basketball to the open player who can then drive to the basket.

The Timberwolves are more than just defense, and we’ll be coming up with articles focused upon the offensive innovations as the opportunity presents itself. Right now, the Minnesota Timberwolves are becoming familiar with one another, with the coaching staff, and with what the team wants to do on the offensive and defensive sides of the basketball court.

Rudy Gobert will do the heavy lifting for the Timberwolves this season. But Naz Reid will gain a better pespective, more confidence, an expanded set of skills, and as a result, likely more playing time.

There is a lot of talk about defense among Minnesota Timberwolves players. But Naz Reid is most certainly one who I expect to deliver this season.