3 ways Tim Connelly built Minnesota Timberwolves roster to beat Nuggets

Method II: High Wall defense

There is a distinct difference in the style of basketball played over the course of an 82-game regular season and the style of basketball played in the NBA Playoffs. That difference is more easily understood if you consider the various styles of running. An 82-game regular season is very much like long-distance running. However, the NBA Playoffs are like a series of 400-meter sprints.

Both are running. But a long-distance runner is often ill-equipped to win a series of sprints.

I have stood on the hill that Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly has built the Timberwolves roster to excel in the NBA Playoffs. So why hasn’t it worked effectively until now?

Another Brick in the Wall

Before the Minnesota Timberwolves entered the NBA Play-In Tournament, this team was simply trying to win that long-distance marathon. Now, in the postseason, the rotations become tighter and the Timberwolves get to bare their teeth a bit.

The Timberwolves’ high wall defense can be brutally effective, as their effort against the Oklahoma City Thunder proved.

But the Timberwolves’ defense is not simply big guys standing around. With Jaden McDaniels (when healthy), Anthony Edwards, Kyle Anderson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Wendell Moore Jr. on the Timberwolves roster, the Wolves dictate their opponent’s offensive strategy. With both Gobert and Towns on the basketball court, teams must redirect their offense out of the paint and to the perimeter.

That allows the other players on the Timberwolves’ roster to contest those shots.