Minnesota Timberwolves perimeter shooting derailing team’s success

The secret sauce to make the Minnesota Timberwolves succeed this season is no secret at all. It all comes down to pace, space, and pass. The pace is the ability to play an up-tempo game, particularly the fast break and transition games. Space is the ability to create spacing on the offensive side of the basketball court, setting perimeter shooters who can sink shots, a big set in the paint who can rebound and score from the low post, and a ball handler(s) who can drive to the basket and score or draw defenders well enough to distribute the ball.

Pass is distributing the ball out of double teams, or away from defenders, quickly and accurately enough to land the ball into the hands of an open shooter who can make the shot. That shot is often from the perimeter and can be a strategy that means the difference between winning and losing.

Right now, the Timberwolves are nowhere close to shooting threes with any degree of accuracy or consistency. Just how bad is their three-point shooting? After seven games, the Timberwolves are shooting three-pointers with a 31.8 percent accuracy. That brings them in as the 26th of 30 NBA teams in that all-too-important NBA category.  But they are taking the shots, mind you. Their average of 34.1 three-point shots per game is good enough for the 16th-ranked team in the NBA.

So the Timberwolves are shooting themselves in the foot right now.

Wolves would be wise to improve perimeter shooting

Do the Timberwolves have any long-range marksmen on the roster? Of course. Forward Taurean Prince is scoring 57.1 percent of his perimeter shooting. Center Naz Reid comes in second place with 37.1 percent of his treys. But the two power-houses from the perimeter, guard Anthony Edwards and center/power forward Karl-Anthony Towns are only hitting 34.5 percent and 34.1 percent of their perimeter shots respectively. And it goes downhill from there pretty quickly.

If you want to know how the Utah Jazz is winning, their perimeter shooting as a team is at 40.9 percent. The San Antonio Spurs, a team that already has beaten these Timberwolves twice this season, is averaging 36.3 percent shooting from three-point range. That is a better average as a team than all but two players on the Timberwolves roster.

Is there a lot to figure out on the Timberwolves roster? You bet there is. The defense needs tweaking. The rotation needs tweaking. And right now, the Timberwolves need some of the team’s starters to step up, and in a big way. Against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, the starters shot a dismal two of 20 from three-point range and just 10 of 16 from the free-throw line.

There is time to get things right. But November brings a much tough chapter to the Timberwolves’ schedule. The team’s next tip-off is scheduled at 9:00 pm CT at the Phoenix Suns. They are a tough match, as the team is already 5-1.