Deep Dive: Patience Is Required To Maximize Pick-And-Roll Success
Rudy Gobert is a screening presence, but the Wolves need to find their rhythm with him.
It kind of just seems simple. Rudy Gobert is the best pick-and-roll presence in the league. He’s enormous, he’s unusually athletic in both north-south and east-west directions for someone of that enormity, and his lob-catch radius feels like it encircles the entire painted area. Drop him into any offense worth its salt and he can instantaneously make hay with those traits.
It’s not always so simple. While his skillset is certainly malleable, it’s not something that can be perfected by a new group of pick-and-roll partners immediately. Gobert, on the whole, has had a magnificent start to his Minnesota Timberwolves career, recording 23 points and 16 rebounds in his debut and backing that up with a 9-point, 23-rebound night in game two. But, even throughout those big nights, the signs of pick-and-roll schism has been evident at times.
We, as fans, need patience. Ironing out creases takes longer than a handful of practice sessions and a couple of early-season games. However, in a different sense, the players handling the rock while Gobert sets his trademark screens need patience as well. The big man’s forte doesn’t slot seamlessly into Minnesota’s previous mantra of run-and-gun and while they can’t turn their back on a style that yielded some great results, they need to deploy patience to accommodate their shiny new toy.
When things get rushed, when Gobert isn’t used as the huge roaming brick wall that he is, his effectiveness wanes significantly. As a result, Minnesota’s offense suffers.
Anthony Edwards has probably been the biggest culprit in these scenarios. A young guard, a talent who thrives in sixth gear, a talent who has spent his NBA upbringing alongside a pick-and-pop big in Karl-Anthony Towns. It’s only natural that he is the one experiencing the most growing pains.
Still, you can see how impatience blows up this drag screen possession. He doesn’t have to slow the semi-transition pace to a halt or let the Oklahoma City Thunder defense form its shell, but by simply allowing Gobert to get set — even for a millisecond — he will spring open the lane that he desires. Ideally, he will even have Gobert trailing for a dump-off pass or an offensive putback. Instead, Kenrich Williams is able to forget about the threat Gobert poses and shimmy into position to take a charge in the paint.
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