The positive was I thought the willingness to share the ball.
— Tom Thibodeau after Thursday’s 109-103 loss to Indiana
Minnesota Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau rattled off a laundry list of critiques after the Wolves’ 109-103 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. “I thought we were low-energy,” he said. “I thought we started the game slowly, we were slow to react to the ball. The rebounding was a problem the whole game, then the times which we did play pretty good defense, we didn’t finish it. And they hit timely threes at the end of the clock, many of which off of loose balls that were just rolling around.”
They were fair criticisms, especially for a team that had a three-game winning streak going into the game. It also would have been their fifth home win in a row. But Minnesota came out flat, missed open shots, had trouble getting to 50/50 balls and didn’t rebound well, and the loss felt inevitable at halftime even with a last-second surge at the end of the game. “It’s too late to turn on the gas, five minutes left in the game,” Towns said. “It makes it very hard to win a game. We almost pulled it off, but almost isn’t good enough.”
“I don’t know if it wasn’t moving as much as we were slow reacting”
A day later, with time to cool off and look at film, Thibodeau still feels like his team moved the ball well throughout the game, but that they were sluggish early on and it looked like there was less passing. “I don’t know if it wasn’t moving as much as we were slow reacting,” he said at Friday’s practice. “We looked at the film today, and I think there was an unselfishness, we had 27 assists, but we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well.
“A lot of the threes were open threes that we missed, but sometimes I thought our reads probably weren’t great. They did a good job of packing the lane, and the guys that were open, sometimes it’s just hit the first open man in front of you, and that guy was open.”
Thibodeau stated that he wants 25 assists a night. The best teams in the league — the San Antonio Spurs, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, etc. — have high assist numbers every night, and it’s no coincidence. With three young superstars, as well as complimentary players like Nemanja Bjelica and Shabazz Muhammad, there are plenty of threats on the team assuming that the ball is distributed effectively. At best, it can create mind-boggling plays like we saw last night.
“We looked at the film and we saw that, and I think once you do that, then you hit a couple threes, now they have to react out, now the paint is open,” he said. “I thought it was a game, the third quarter, we got down 10, came right back. Then at the end of the game we did the same thing, but our reaction to the ball wasn’t great. There were a lot of loose balls we didn’t get to, the rebounding, like watching it again today, when the ball was on the rim, we were slow reacting. And usually we were really quick to the ball and we didn’t have that.”
Unfortunately for the Wolves, there’s games like last night when Bjelica is off. Or players will go into slumps like Zach LaVine did recently and Muhammad was in early in the season.
“He’ll be fine,” Thibodeau said after the Indiana loss, addressing Bjelica specifically. “He’s open, we want him to shoot; don’t hesitate. He opens up the floor. He can put it down too, he’s a very good driver, so as long as they’re the right shots I always say, ‘If it’s your shot, and you’re open, shoot it.’”
If Bjelica can get going, and rookie point guard Kris Dunn takes (and makes) good shots, the second unit can play to their potential, the offense won’t stall as often and Thibodeau won’t have to play his starters as long as he has in the first half of the season in order to win games.
“As long as we keep moving the ball, the second pass will usually get you a real high-percentage shot”
“To get the balance, Bazz gives you off the dribble and the post-up, and the ball movement, I think that’s important, where we can get penetration. Kris can put pressure on the rim with his penetration,” Thibodeau said, breaking down the second unit. “As long as we get the ball into the paint, whether it’s the post-up or dribble penetration, I think the utilization of the pick-and-roll, particularly with Bjelly, because with Bjelly can shoot and put it on the floor and make a play.
“We want to be balanced, the second unit Zach gets in there, that gives us a good catch and shoot game. With Bazz, he’s our post-up guy with that group.”
That all may seem complicated, especially for people that haven’t followed the Wolves closely this season, but the gist of this is that if the players take good shots, the ball goes in. And they’ll get good shots if they pass the ball to the open man.
“I think we’re making more shots now, so I think that’s the big thing,” Thibodeau said with a smirk. “The two guys that are getting double-teamed quite a bit (Towns and Wiggins), they’re making better plays, they’re reading the defense better, and that’s creating more opportunities as well. And oftentimes it’s the second pass out of the trap, so that guy’s making a good decision as well.
“As long as we keep moving the ball, particularly against any low post double-team or the blitz to the pick-and-roll, the second pass will usually get you a real high-percentage shot. So if we continue to do that, the assists will be high.”
Notes
- Thibodeau is still emphasizing connectedness: “To share the ball, and that shows connection. We talk about that all the time, to be connected both offensively and defensively. And I think the assists show you that.”
- But he won’t comment on Jeff Teague stepping out of bounds late in the game: “I look at everything,” he said. “I prefer not to comment. But what did you think?” He had that patented smirk and chuckle while asking.
- On Muhammad’s go-to dribble spin: “The good players know exactly what they’re trying to get to. And then it’s just your footwork, really, it’s your go-to and then your counter, and then it’s a compilation of your pivots and shot-fakes.”
- On stopping Paul George: “He’s a great player. But we could have done a better job. There were some game plan mistakes that we have to clean up,” he said. “Those guys, he can score so many different ways, and sometimes, same thing, the pick-and-roll, catch-and-shoot, we gotta be up on the screener. We weren’t and he got clean looks, and sometimes the ball pressure wasn’t what it needed to be, and we can’t play like that.”
- On Larry Sanders potentially rejoining the league: “With all the players, you don’t like to see anyone go through a hard time, so I’m glad that he’s doing well, and hopefully he’ll be back soon.”
Two players spoke to the media today. Zach LaVine talked about breaking out of his slump. It’s safe to say the guy does not lack confidence:
And Rubio discussed the team’s ability to create more assists, and why the best teams in the league have strong ball movement:
