The very first possession of the Timberwolves’ Wednesday evening matchup against the San Antonio Spurs ended in a made corner 3 by Taj Gibson. Karl-Anthony Towns prodded the defense, scanned the floor, and kicked to Gibson in the corner where he was waiting to fire. And he did.
That made corner 3-pointer marked Gibson’s 44th first quarter field goal attempt of the season; and by the end of that quarter, the total grew to 48. Compare those 48 total first quarter field goal attempts with his 10 total fourth quarter attempts and you have the first indication that Gibson is an odd player.
In November, small sample size theatrics are abundant in the NBA. But with Gibson, that theory doesn’t work. The trend of first quarter chucker and fourth quarter indifference precedes Gibson’s time in Minnesota. In his two prior seasons — playing for Chicago and Oklahoma City — Gibson shot 419 times in the first quarter and only tallied 145 attempts in the fourth quarter.
Why is this happening? Does Gibson not play in the fourth?
Nope. Gibson’s minute total dips in the fourth but only slightly compared to the first. He just shoots a lot in the first quarter and then all but forgets he has a jumper in the fourth.
This Gibson-ian trend was most stark in 2016-17, when he split the season with the Bulls and the Thunder, totaling 258 first quarter shots and 74 in the fourth. A disparity this broad is schematic, or at the very least strategic.
A specific example of this strategy came in last season’s first round playoff matchup between the Houston Rockets and Gibson’s Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder attempted to feed Gibson in the post on the first possession of every game of the series and often succeeded as they do here with a post-up on Ryan Anderson.
That bucket is forced. Four dribbles, one pump fake, and an eventual layup on Anderson marks intention. An intention that lasted all twelve minutes of the first quarter. That bucket was Gibson’s first of six makes in that quarter alone. But fast forward to the fourth quarter and Gibson can be found off the ball — screening or attacking offensive rebounds — doing approximately nothing that shows up on the stat sheet, except for one layup he made with five minutes left in the game. That layup would be Gibson’s only fourth quarter field goal attempt of the entire playoff series, despite playing heavy minutes in all five games.
This volatile volume would make no sense if it didn’t work. A statement that almost serves as a motto for Gibson’s game.
The Role of a Role Player
Taj Gibson is a role player, serving as a band-aid of sorts for every team he has played for. He covers up the warts of other players but does little to stick out himself. This was the precise rationale in why Oklahoma City traded for him at last season’s trade deadline.
“I just want to see the next guy succeed,” said Gibson after joining the Thunder last winter. “That’s the kind of player I am.”
And it was for these same reasons that Minnesota ponied up $28 million for the, now, 32 year-old big man.
“The toughness he brings to the team we thought that was also a critical element that we needed to improve. That was a major factor in bringing Taj here,” described Tom Thibodeau, Minnesota’s President of Basketball Operations. “Toughness is the major thing, and then the fact that he has been in a lot of big playoff games, I think he knows what it takes to win.”
Thibodeau will talk endlessly about the intangible elements Gibson brings to a team, and may site quick feet and defensive wherewithal, but nowhere will he quote a Gibson stat line or metric. That is because Gibson’s value is a difficult calculus as the quintessential role player who derives value in the intangibles column.
The price tag of Gibson’s deal was questioned, but it was no question for Thibodeau, who coached the 27th best defense in 2016-17, and saw Gibson as the best available defender on the market to band-aid over at least some of the team’s warts.
Gibson in Action on Defense
Thus far, Minnesota’s chief decision maker seems well-pleased with the signing.
“Taj, of course, is a terrific defender. He can defend both big spots and you can switch him onto guards,” said Tom Thibodeau after Wednesday’s shootaround.
This season, without Gibson, Minnesota would be in even more trouble defensively than they already are. The defense has not improved — 27th in defensive rating, per basketball-reference.com — but the biggest defensive issues present themselves around or in place of Gibson. Every Minnesota starter other than Gibson has a negative Defensive Real Plus-Minus, for example.
And though Nemanja Bjelica, Gibson’s backup, has sparkled on offense, he also profiles as a lead-footed perimeter defender when he comes in for Gibson.
“Bjelly fits with a lot of different groups because of the shot and it opens up the floor but he has to continue to work on his overall defense,” said Thibodeau when assessing the play of the backup power forward.
Conversely, Gibson has the ability to scat on the perimeter if switched onto a ball handler. Often times, opponents don’t even view a Gibson-versus-guard matchup as a mismatch as they keep the ball moving. It’s the opposite when Gibson is off the floor, opposing teams hone in on Bjelica. It’s a key reason Bjelica is only averaging 16.0 minutes per game.
Here are two straight possessions after Gibson has subbed out of the game where the entire Oklahoma City team goes out of their way – more than normal – to isolate Carmelo Anthony on Bjelica.
Isolations can be compensated for elsewhere, and therefore are not Minnesota’s biggest defensive wart. That infection is, of course, saved for the still problematic pick-and-roll defense. If the band-aid of Gibson was needed most in one area it is here.
Bjelica, Towns, and Dieng continue to struggle in this area (particularly Towns) but when Gibson is the big in the action he has consistently laid down tape of how this defense is supposed to be technically run.
Since the preseason, he has read, ICE-ed, and reacted to opponents ball screen action.
Generally, Gibson is supposed to function defensively as a help-side defender and drop man (the big in the pick and roll who ‘drops’ into the paint), but frequently and effectively plugs other defensive breakdowns through a clear assertion to be as close to the action as possible. No one helps off their man more than he does.
You can see him here focused on the heart of the action but never ignorant of his man in the corner, always ready to retreat if a closeout is necessary.
Blending In On Offense
There are, of course, two sides of the floor. And this is where the preseason concerns lied. Gibson is old, and through that truth entered the NBA when a power forward could be starting-caliber while spending their time running hard on offense, sliding from dunker spot to dunker spot, and flying after offensive rebounds. He still does these things but has added more, including a corner 3-point shot.
After making four total 3s in his career entering this season, Gibson has already made as many this season. Here is that 3-pointer to start the Wednesday game against the Spurs.
On offense, when he’s not shooting (quarters two through four) Gibson attacks abnormal places on the floor but does so without hindering the offense. Gibson is supposed to live at the elbow or in the dunker spot but frequently (and effectively) joins Karl-Anthony Towns in the post.
Dieng was also a paint dweller last season, but when Dieng wasn’t setting a screen or hitting a midrange jumper, he was often in the way. Gibson lives in and or around the post but effectively stays out of Towns’ way.
Gibson just fits better with the starting group than Dieng did. Being the fifth option doesn’t feel like minimalization with Gibson, it feels effective. Dieng could get there, but he has been classically conditioned through playing with awful teammates to embrace a bigger role. Thus, he is a far inferior option to Gibson.
On Thibodeau-led Chicago teams, Gibson was often fifth or sixth in usage rate and never higher than fourth in any season. Without ever needing to shoulder an offensive burden, Gibson has been conditioned in a different kind of way — free to perform those sneaky winning plays that don’t show up in the box score.
This sneak tangentially benefits no player more than Towns, who is most effective when sharing the floor with Gibson. Towns’ best net-rating is found in lineups that also include Gibson, per basketball-reference. Great plays by Towns often have a hidden piece of Gibson influence. While that influence can go unnoticed, if Gibson weren’t there, some of Towns’ offensive bursts would be muted.
Subtract Gibson plays like this offensive rebound, and Towns simply leaves the possession with another missed three. The board leads not only to two points but also plays as a psychological benefit for Towns.
Prior to that dunk, Towns had missed four of his previous five field goal attempts. These types of plays get a player going. Probably not coincidentally, that first quarter dunk spurred an 8-10 shooting streak for Towns, who went on to score 31 points and grab 12 boards in that game.
Taj Gibson matters.
His way is one of the absurd — erratic in volume and hidden beneath the veil of a role player, but it works. Which is all to say, thus far the expensive price tag of the 32 year-old band-aid passes the sniff test.
Minnesota has the third-best record in the Western Conference, in spite of their warts. The often unheralded Gibson warrants acclaim for this, as no other Minnesota offseason acquisition has blended in as effectively.
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