Sports Illustrated’s Chris Ballard has a feature on the Minnesota Timberwolves today that focuses on head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau and star players Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.
“Heading into Tuesday, the Wolves were a disappointing 1–4. It’s not that difficult to imagine them yet evolving into a playoff team in the months to come,” Ballard writes. “More likely, this will be a season of peaks, valleys, and flashes of brilliance. Which is fine. For a team this young and talented, success will be measured years from now, not in the present.”
Ballard explores the personalities of Thibodeau, Towns and Wiggins while also outlining the challenges that they face. He writes about Thibodeau’s coaching techniques, Towns’ maturity and Wiggins’ quiet and charming personality.
“The challenge in Minnesota is different,” he writes, comparing Thibodeau’s situation in the Twin Cities to his previous stop in Chicago. Mentor. Teach. Mold this group into the next Thunder or, better yet, the next Warriors.
“Here, Thibs’s leash is long but the stakes high. It’s one thing to MacGyver a team to the top seed in the East. Another to be staked a potential dynasty and, in Towns, a generational player.”
It’s a solid, short read, one that is a companion to an upcoming short video that will be posted on SI.com on Tuesday.
[Sports Illustrated]
