Timberwolves offense

[FNG]

Other than some occasional individual brilliance by Ant and KAT, many of us here were frustrated by the Wolves offense last year. We had a very successful year because of a dominant defense, with an offense just good enough to win games. But with KAT and SloMo gone and the arrival of Randle, DiVo, Rob, Shannon and Ingles, how do we expect the offense to be different this year?

1) Early offense: I believe I heard the Wolves finished last in fast break points last season, and also had one of the slowest paces of play. Neither of our top rebounders (Rudy and KAT) are break starters...they both prefer to drop the ball off to a guard after a rebound. KAT in particular likes being a trailing 3-point shooter rather than running the court. Even gifted athletes like Ant and Jaden seemed to shy away from running the court. But the replacement of KAT with Randle should jump start our fast breaks. Randle loves to start the fast break after a rebound, either by finding a guard or wing streaking down the court, or starting the break himself. And knowing Julius is a willing passer will encourage Ant, Jaden and our rookies to run the floor knowing there may be a break opportunity. I expect a much faster paced offense this season.

2) Ball movement: I love motion and moving the ball, and it frustrated how little of this we saw last season in the half court. Too many times I would see nobody moving (other than Rudy moving to set screens) while our two main ballstoppers (Ant and KAT) looked to create their shot. If the first preseason game is any indication, we are going to see much less ballstopping this season and more cutting and ball movement. DiVo is in constant motion, and Randle is more comfortable in this type of offense than KAT. I also think Ant and Jaden will start moving more without the ball once they see the open looks they can get. Our offense is going to be a lot prettier this season I think.

3) More 3-point attempts: KAT is one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, so this might seem like an odd prediction. But a non-shooter in SloMo is gone, and DiVo has arrived, and he averaged an extraordinary 11.8 3-pointers per 36. Ingles and Randle put up almost as many 3-pointers per 36 as KAT (although not as successfully in Randle's case). I also expect Jaden to look more for corner threes, and even more volume from Ant. The Wolves ranked 23rd in 3-point attempts last season with 32.7 per game. I see them ranking somewhere in the top 10 this season with at least 4 more attempts per game.

These are all things that Finchie has stressed, and I think he has the personnel to execute on his plan. Offense could be a lot more fun this season!

[Wolvesfan21]

Randle and especially Ingles are better at shooting 3's then Slo Mo last year. DDV is a much higher volume better then KAT 3P shooter. Dilly is probably better then JMac and our other backup PG's. Jaden will probably rebound and have a better year shooting and scoring. Ant takes the next step. Naz is Naz and if Shannon helps we crushing clowns.

Overall, Our offense will be top 5, along with our defense. Both top 5.

[60WinTim]

You mean, Randle might not suck on the Wolves like we have been told he sucked on the Knicks, where in his 5 years he earned 3 All-Star appearances and 2 All-NBA teams with all that sucking?!?

Randle certainly needs to adjust his game to fit the Wolves offense, but he has already acknowledged ANT as the alpha dog, so hopefully the adjustment is a smooth one. While KAT is a better 3-point shooter, you already noted many areas where Randle has the upper hand. Basketball IQ, playmaking and gravity to the basket are all areas where I give Randle the nod. I am anxious to see how me meshes on the defensive end. Randle certainly has the potential to be a very nice fit on the Wolves. Add in DDV and a pick, and this trade could rank up there as one of Connelly's best...

[Q-is-here]

Randle and especially Ingles are better at shooting 3's then Slo Mo last year. DDV is a much higher volume better then KAT 3P shooter. Dilly is probably better then JMac and our other backup PG's. Jaden will probably rebound and have a better year shooting and scoring. Ant takes the next step. Naz is Naz and if Shannon helps we crushing clowns.

Overall, Our offense will be top 5, along with our defense. Both top 5.

I think this is a good way to look at it in terms of the 3-point shot. It should be better in the aggregate versus just trying to compare KAT vs. Julius for example.

KAT + SloMo + Monte Morris + JMac OUT

Randle + DDV + Ingles + Dillingham IN

[Monster]

Randle and especially Ingles are better at shooting 3's then Slo Mo last year. DDV is a much higher volume better then KAT 3P shooter. Dilly is probably better then JMac and our other backup PG's. Jaden will probably rebound and have a better year shooting and scoring. Ant takes the next step. Naz is Naz and if Shannon helps we crushing clowns.

Overall, Our offense will be top 5, along with our defense. Both top 5.

I think this is a good way to look at it in terms of the 3-point shot. It should be better in the aggregate versus just trying to compare KAT vs. Julius for example.

KAT + SloMo + Monte Morris + JMac OUT

Randle + DDV + Ingles + Dillingham IN

Thanks FNG for teeing up this thread.


One thing that’s gonna go up this season is volume of 3’s.

Losing a couple of guys like Morris and McLaughlin who when they played probably created some 3 point looks wise us a step back but Dillingham when he plays will probably hit 3’s and create some. Meanwhile Randle is simply better at creating 3’s for others so that helps too.

Even before the Towns trade the Wolves had traded off some defense for offense and 3 point shooting. The Randle and Donte trade actually added more shooting which does seem weird when they were moving the best 3 point shooter on the team in Towns. The only other for sure basically non shooter on the roster is Jesse Edward’s and if he is playing more than a handful of meaningful minutes we probably have bigger problems than his lack of being able to hit a 3 pointer. There are other unproven 3 point shooters born the roster but none of them are guys I would say are total non shooters. Poor 3 point shooters? Yeah my hats very possible but until I see otherwise not guys that have basically zero chance of making one. Most of those guys play or project to play defense.

I’ll also add that with the trade off of Anderson for Ingles (who can probably also slide down to play some PF) Ingles even if effective isn’t gonna play as many minutes as Anderson did. Those extra minutes will go to Naz who is a higher volume 3 point guy for his size and clearly and improvement over Kyle in percentage volume and willingness to let it fly.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Good thread.

I think maybe the biggest area where we'll see improvement this year is with on-the-ball shot creation in the half court.

The only guy who could reliably do that last year was Ant.

Conley brought the ball up and got us into sets, and he's got a nice go-to play with Rudy setting a pick for him to take the 3, but that's not really on-the-ball shot creation. KAT and Naz could put the ball on the deck and drive, but that wasn't really a go-to offense you'd want to count on. KAT was always so much better as a catch and shoot option, and Naz is so much better in transition or semi-transition. SloMo could pass, but he couldn't ever make things happen off the dribble.

Last year, our shot creation was basically Ant, and that's it. It's kind of remarkable we made it as deep as we did in that situation.

This year, I'd say Randle and Dillingham will certainly help us out with that. That will give us three guys who we can give the ball to when the offense is stuck in the half court and we can pretty well count on them to be able to manufacture a shot for themselves or others off the dribble. Compared to last year, it will be a luxury to have one or two of those guys on the floor at all times, plus the other offensive options we have, specifically Naz and Donte.

[thedoper]

2 areas I think have been overlooked after the trade:

1. The impact of DDV on Jaden. Jaden's offense needs to be hunting perimeter shots off of motion. I think DDV is the perfect model for where Jaden needs to take his game. He already has some nice stuff going to the hoop, if he can hunt and hit the three he's going to force more touches for himself.

2. The potential potency of Randle and Naz together. There has been way too much talk about how Rudy and Randle wont work for spacing. I get it. But there hasnt been enough talk about how perfectly Naz and Randle can fit together with Randle on the block or with the drive and kick game.

I suspect the offense will improve and the D will still be tough barring a Rudy injury.

[Q-is-here]

2 areas I think have been overlooked after the trade:

1. The impact of DDV on Jaden. Jaden's offense needs to be hunting perimeter shots off of motion. I think DDV is the perfect model for where Jaden needs to take his game. He already has some nice stuff going to the hoop, if he can hunt and hit the three he's going to force more touches for himself.

2. The potential potency of Randle and Naz together. There has been way too much talk about how Rudy and Randle wont work for spacing. I get it. But there hasnt been enough talk about how perfectly Naz and Randle can fit together with Randle on the block or with the drive and kick game.

I suspect the offense will improve and the D will still be tough barring a Rudy injury.

....and that is indeed a potential vulnerability. At least last year KAT could step in at Center and hold his own defensively, albeit not nearly as impactful as Rudy. Fortunately, Rudy was healthy last season, but there was some insurance with KAT. We really take a hit if Rudy goes down for an extended stretch this season. He's more important than ever.

[Lipoli390]

I think some folks are ignoring Randle’s ball-stopping, which Knicks fans can attest to. Yes, his assist stats are solid, but he’s not an “in the flow” ball-movement player in the half court. He’s more of a ball-stopper than KAT has been the past few seasons. Maybe Finch can change some of that, but we’ll see.

I also think it’s a mistake to view Slo Mo’s departure through the lens of Ingles’ arrival. Slo played stellar defense and although he was a poor shooter, he was a terrific playmaker and smart decision-maker on the offensive end. He could play the point and make players around him better as a de facto PG. Ingles certainly brings shooting we didn’t get from Slo Mo and he’s also a good passer, but his defense is so bad I don’t see him getting much playing time. Donte is the guy I see getting Slo Mo’s minutes and that’s a significant upgrade in my view because Donte is an offensive force who can also play pretty good defense. So I’m really excited about that trade off - Slo Mo to Donte. My main concern with Slo Mo’s departure is that we’re losing his rebounding and his ability to play the point. Donte won’t pick up that slack but the net plus of Donte seems significant to me.

I share Q’s concern about how dependent we are now on Rudy. KAT was more of a center than PF and his defense has been pretty good the past few seasons, especially last season. We don’t have anyone on this roster who can provide decent defense at the center position behind Rudy. If Rudy goes down for an extended period, we’ll have to depend on our offense.

[DNatagal]

KAT was never a rim protector, especially last year. NAZ had more weak side blocks than KAT and McDaniels has shown that his defense is still improving. The team defense concepts would change depending on who was on the floor last year. Everything from hedging, drop, wall, swarm, to zone was used. I think the improvements to team speed and "want to" with the new players will more than make up for losing KAT.

My wife pointed out the fact that I wanted to trade KAT 2 years ago, not to mention after every game that he did something stupid, which would have been most games.