Straight Sets: Countering For Profit
Taking a look at two ways the Wolves have used actions and counteractions to get points of late.
For every action, there is a reaction. It’s Newton’s Third Law of Motion but it’s also applicable for basketball and especially when considering offensive play-calling. That’s almost certainly what Newton expected when he created it. The Minnesota Timberwolves don’t deploy the most scripted offense in the league, but they have certain sets that act as a toe in the water to test how a defense is going to react. When they see and understand the defensive game plan, then they can work out ways to crush it.
Since coming back from the All-Star break and winning three of four against tough opponents, we’ve seen two very distinct and very different versions of head coach Chris Finch putting the opposing defense in a tactical chokehold with these clever actions and counteractions.
The first came in the fourth quarter of the win over the Memphis Grizzlies. It was the night where D’Angelo Russell decided he would take the game by the scruff of the neck and stuff it in his back pocket, and it was Russell who partnered with Malik Beasley to play the Grizzlies like a fiddle with these ‘Ghost Screen’ actions.
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