The schedule release is always an exciting time of the year. Finding out who plays on Christmas always drums up a lot of controversy. Players returning to their former teams are always circled on the schedule. Most importantly, it allows teams to figure out their most important matchups in the season.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have an elite roster after the acquisition of Rudy Gobert, but like any other team, it’s not without its faults. Their two-big lineup isn’t exactly following league trends; it’s pretty much the opposite. But whether you think it’s a bad or a great idea, it’s the direction the Wolves went in. And in the past, big lineups like Minnesota’s have historically fallen to small-ball lineups like the Golden State Warriors.
That’s why it’s so essential that the Wolves handle business against smaller teams. If they can stay above .500 against the small ball lineups, the Wolves will be able to avoid them in the postseason. But it all starts in the regular season.
The Los Angeles Clippers are one of the teams that may give the Wolves trouble this year. The Clippers knocked off the Utah Jazz in the series, where the Gobert narrative started to take a turn for the worse. The series where all of the Jazz’s perimeter defenders acted as turnstiles who couldn’t rotate to an open shooter was somehow blamed on Gobert.
The blame that ended up being detrimental to the public opinion of him as a player originated versus that old Clippers roster. But now, they have retained the core players who made their small-ball so effective with players like Paul George, Terance Mann, and Nicholas Batum. They’ve also added elite-level talent in Kawhi Leonard and John Wall.
With the elite-level the roster possesses, they remain a threat to any team. But LA’s ability to execute the small-ball lineup while keeping their two best offensive players on the court is the greatest threat to the Wolves that any team can have.
After losing last year’s four-game series to the Clippers 3-1, they should look to get out to a better start against them this year. Their games versus the Clippers this year fall on Dec. 14th, Jan. 6th, and Feb. 28th.
The Dallas Mavericks are the other small-ball powerhouse in the Western Conference. Led by Luka Doncic, the Mavs could knock off Gobert’s Jazz in this year’s playoffs with a heavy dose of small ball. After adding Christian Wood in the offseason, I believe the Mavericks will be one of the more talented rosters in the league next season.
The Wolves tied the season series against Dallas 2-2. With another four-game series this year, the Wolves must continue on that track this year.
The trouble begins when the point-of-attack defenders break down against these teams, and people start leaving rotational shooters wide open. Gobert knows this story as well as any person on the planet. And if the Wolves have the chance to avoid it, they need to take it. Because besides the small-ball teams, the Wolves matchup relatively well compared to the rest of the Western Conference.
That’s why it’s so important that the Wolves avoid small-ball lineups early on. Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Blazers, and Sacramento Kings don’t have the personnel to punish any team with a small-ball lineup. Nor do these teams have the personnel to succeed against Towns and Gobert on the court together.
Fortunately for the Wolves, the Lakers, Portland, and Sacramento will likely be bubble teams, probably floating around the 8th to 10th seed at best, leaving them in the perfect position to end up playing the Wolves in the first round. And Minnesota shouldn’t be afraid to hunt those matchups either. As I’ve said before and will continue to say, when you gamble five first-round picks on one guy, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to win.
