Is it Time to Panic About the Timberwolves?
An exasperating Timberwolves home loss to the Spurs? Feels like home.
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Have you ever wondered how I decide which logo to use for a post? No? Well, I will tell you anyway. The answer is, whichever one I feel like in the moment. The blue and green is my favorite but sometimes want to mix it up.
Tonight? Tonight’s choice wasn’t just one of those things. No, after watching the Timberwolves embarrass themselves at home, the white on black felt appropriate. Playing the Spurs doesn’t hurt either.
Anyway, the vibes surrounding the Timberwolves are poor right now. Even for the most reasonable of observers with modest expectations, this start is disappointing. The Timberwolves are 2-2 to begin the season despite a supposedly soft opening schedule. They have beaten the Thunder twice, but lost to the Jazz and Spurs at home.
The problem is not that they have lost any of these games. No reasonable observer would have expected them to jump out to a 4-0 start considering the significant roster changes the team made last summer. Sure, an undefeated start was possible but was just unlikely.
No, the problem is how this team has looked, even in its victories. There have been many times where the team has looked lost on both ends of the floor. Without a surplus of strong defenders on the roster, it is unsurprising the defense has had its lapses. However, it is almost a little surprising this team has even struggled offensively with all its weapons.
Glaring Problems Are Glaring
The bad news for the Timberwolves is that their main weapons are the problem. There should be enough talent at the top of this roster to offset, say, a bad bench. What we have seen so far from this team’s best players has been concerning, even if the numbers look good.
Karl-Anthony Towns entered Monday’s contest shooting just 36.4 percent from the field and went 9-for-17 in that game. Towns has legitimate reasons for some of these early struggles, including rebounding from a serious illness that kept him out of much of preseason to teams throwing doubles at him every time he catches the ball.
Rudy Gobert looked awesome on opening night and has picked up the rebounding slack, but looked worn out on Monday. Gobert’s teammates looked like they were waiting for him to clean up there mistakes all over the floor instead sticking to their assignment. Yet, there were other times when opponents were able to just run in front of him to beat him for a rebound. Gobert, like Towns, played sparingly in preseason as he rested after Eurobasket. Not to make excuses for the guy, but is this some residual fatigue from a busy summer and ramp up to the season?
The D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards dynamic also appears troubling. On Sunday night in Oklahoma City, Russell began the game going 4:30 without a shot attempt while Edwards was the primary ball handler. Russell got the ball back first chance he could and fired up a contested shot. Edwards shifting to a primary ball handling role is probably best for the team long term, but that means Russell having to accept more of a supporting role. If he can’t and both continue to have their struggles on the other end, the Wolves probably should re-evaluate that fit.
Edwards proclaiming his preference for playing in smaller lineups is not a great sign, but probably speaks to the difficulty of the adjustment period.
(This is my acknowledgement of Towns and Russell combining for 52 points on Monday.)
As for the other starter, Jaden McDaniels, the team needs more from him, too. After 19 points on opening night, McDaniels has just 25 points. Winning with that production from your starting small forward is difficult, even if McDaniels isn’t a guy you would typically go to for buckets.
There is not just one player who is the problem right now. A lot of that is likely the growing pains and should improve. Individually, it feels like too many key pieces are still figuring out how they fit. The result has been these, at times, awkward and uncomfortable performances we've seen to start the season.
A Team Problem
The Timberwolves’ third quarters have been a problem in every game. If that was the only problem on Monday, that would be one thing. But it wasn’t. The Spurs outran the Wolves, beating them in both fast break points (24-14) and points in the paint (60-46). Even when the Timberwolves managed to get back in transition and got their defense set, the Spurs often found a way.
Jakob Poeltl had 14 points and 14 rebounds. Sochan out hustled the Wolves for an efficient 14 points on nine shots in 23 minutes. The Spurs received several other strong performances, including Devin Vassell ( 23-9-7) and Keldon Johnson (18 points).
The Spurs’ bench also outscored the Wolves’ 38-30 and Jaylen Nowell had nearly half of those (13 points).
I’m not trying veer into recap territory here, but this really reinforces to just how badly the Timberwolves were outplayed.
You could argue that I’m making too much of a nine-point loss, but this is not about the result. It’s the process. The Timberwolves trailed by as many as 35 points, surrendered 50 points in the first 15 minutes of the game and came out of halftime with a 12-point third quarter.
Just to get this game back to nine points, the Timberwolves needed a 35-12 fourth quarter. By then, it was too little and too late. You cannot play well for just 12 minutes and expect to win in the NBA.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The reality is, that this is probably as bad the team looks all season. Maybe not this particular game, but the first quarter of the season. I fully expect this team to look better in 15 more games, but with nights like Monday, that will feel like 150 games.
There is no slump buster on the schedule either because their next three are against San Antonio (x2) and Los Angeles (L). No one is coming to save the Timberwolves. They will have to pull this out of themselves. We have seen this team get blown out by the Spurs at home, lose to the Jazz at home and struggle to rein in the Thunder in their victories. Given the strength of the rest of the league, the schedule can’t be any more forgiving.
This rough start is not the end of the world for the Timberwolves but is why some of the seventh seed projections for them were realistic. A slow start in a conference like the West could make it too difficult to make up enough ground, causing them to land in seventh place.
You hope to see a stronger and more consistent performance on Wednesday in San Antonio. It does not need to be perfect, but seeing this team show signs of improvement from game-to-game will be huge in reinforcing confidence in this team carrying the burden of heightened expectations.
The “soft” schedule was greatly overblown by the media! This is not a top 5 team in the league, seriously the unctuous derps that have bought into this fairytale deserve to panic! Good read and observations Derek!