Deep Dive: Minnesota's Identity Is Forced, Fragile And Fierce
Minnesota's roster construction is forcing them to win with their defense, but that's proving to be tough to maintain.
The NBA is a cruel temptress, and it has a funny way of smashing the best-laid plans into a billion tiny pieces. For the Minnesota Timberwolves, they planned to vault themselves into true contention with their big summer move for Rudy Gobert by adding a roving oak tree to their defensive backline. They planned to maintain last season’s top-10 offense with a dovetailing duo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards alongside the hulking Frenchman.
They planned several things, and almost immediately those plans were dashed. That temptress was back to playing the same sort of devilish tricks she’s often played with the Timberwolves franchise over the years. This was but another one they needed to overcome — oftentimes the league isn’t about who enters the season with the most bulletproof plan, it’s about who can pivot to the next one in the smoothest way.
Minnesota have had to pivot repeatedly during this tumultuous campaign.
There is blame to heap on the organizational powers that be for making the trade, to be sure, but even the biggest skeptics would have a hard time justifying how long it would take Gobert to weave his way into the team’s tapestry and how poor he would look while doing so.
On top of that, nobody could have reasonably predicted that Towns would be felled by a calf injury, stealing over 50 games (and counting) from him and sledgehammering arguably the biggest part of Minnesota’s wacky project in the process.
Factor in the trade deadline chaos that saw D’Angelo Russell shipped to Hollywood and Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker assume big roles in the team’s rotation and, all of a sudden, Minnesota are pivoting away from their pivot. Where maybe they would have doubled down on their big-man gamble, they have had to spin this thing a dozen different directions just to avoid fumbling the franchise completely.
And now, almost 70 games into the season, they are what they are. Without choice in the matter. Towns’ return date is still shrouded in a thick, murky cloud of mystery and Conley is a completely different floor general than Russell. They no longer have the funky versatility that a two-big lineup gives them and they no longer have a hot-and-cold gunner at point guard.
Most of all, they no longer have an offense that strikes any type of fear into any type of team. What the Timberwolves are left with is a legitimate All-Star version of Edwards and a gaggle of defenders flanking him.
So, at least until Towns comes back and demands more plans to be drawn up on the fly, the Wolves have their identity. A forced identity but an identity nonetheless. All season long it’s felt like they’ve been seeking out an elusive trait to rely on as their calling card and now their roster construction and injury woes have narrowed that search down to just one thing.
They have to play defense and they have to play it well.
They can’t rely on outlier offensive bursts to buoy them into the postseason (and beyond) with a roster devoid of legitimate scorers and creators. They’re a defensive-minded team whether they like it or not. Their preseason plans are dust in the wind and if they want to win enough games without Towns, they must lean into their forced identity.
It’s not like we haven’t seen that identity pop. The ferocity and fight that is sculpted and unleashed by a rotation containing Gobert, Alexander-Walker and Conley as well as Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, Taurean Prince and Jordan McLaughlin. In terms of points allowed per 100 possessions, their two recent wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers ranked as the 11th and 3rd best defensive games of the season, respectively.
They felt like a sustainable blueprint for the time being. Surround Edwards with the defensive dogs of hell and hope those hounds can provide just enough offensive bite to supplement their two-way stud.
It’s easy to romanticize the snarling last-minute stop against Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks a few weeks back or the shutdown job on Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in the win over the Clippers, but turning fleeting moments into fierce mantras is suddenly a prerequisite to consistent winning. It’s bold and it’s burly and it’s fucking brilliant to watch, but it can no longer come in lapping waves. Minnesota’s defense has to be a barreling flood if they want to drown out the rest of the close-knit sixth-seed hunters.
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