Defense

[Monster]

Ok we all know these last 2 games were against lower tier team that were more in our league but holding 2 teams to less than 40% shooting seems to be significant. When was the last time the Wolves did that back to back especially on the road? I am not expecting that to continue but I do see a difference in defensive intensity from this team. Part of that starts with Rubio he starts playing defense decode the guy crosses half court. Both he and KG and some other guys like Bjelica contest the inbounds on makes. Martin seems to be putting forth a lot of effort when he is in there. The rotations seem to be there more and make sense. Mitchell went bonkers at one point when someone got an open 3 and called a timeout. What more and you ask collectively from this team on that end so far? There has been more good than bad. Let's hope that trend continues and some of the younger players improve some on that end. Even is this team ended up being a little below average defensively that would be ok with me after what we saw last year. If we can stay reasonably healthy that should be possible especially with Rubio.

The biggest worry is we haven't faced any bigmen that strike fear in to anyone offensively. Randle looked good for the Lakers but let's see what happens when we play teams like the Spurs and Memphis.

[BloopOracle]

We have to accept the fact that we are now an upper echelon defensive team. Rubio, Wiggins, and Towns are all elite defenders and our start is a byproduct of that

[SameOldNudityDrew]

We have to accept the fact that we are now an upper echelon defensive team. Rubio, Wiggins, and Towns are all elite defenders and our start is a byproduct of that

Whoa there, tiger. Upper echelon? It's been two games. For context, here's our defensive ranking in terms of overall points allowed the last several seasons (opponent FG% is usually pretty closely aligned).

2014-15 30th
2013-14 25th
2012-13 15th/16th (though we were 25th in opponent FG%)
2011-12 25th
2010-11 30th
2009-10 29th
2008-09 22nd
2007-08 21st
2006-07 19th
2005-06 8th

Just let that history soak in a minute.

Soaking . . .

Ok, it's been two games. Compared to the past, these two games have been awesome defensively, but we have not reversed that history in two games.

In terms of individual players, Rubio has played with us for four of those years now (although last year only 20 games). And Wiggins was on this team last year. How elite was our defense then? They're both good defenders, but I wouldn't say elite, not yet. Wiggins could become a top defender, but he's not there yet. And Rubio gets a lot of steals off the ball, but he's not as great on the ball. He has never been selected for an all-defensive team, first or second. Towns' shot-blocking is definitely welcome, but he's blocked a total of 4 shots this year, an average of 2 blocks per game. You know who averaged 2 blocks per game over an entire season? Darko. In 2010-11. Team defensive rank? 30th.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with the hint of a brighter defensive future (it would be hard to be any worse defensively), and having good individual players defensively helps, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. We haven't really proven anything yet defensively. And it'll take a real team effort to do so in addition to a few individual talents--however . . .

. . . notice anything interesting about when our defense fell to crap? Anybody remember a particular trade we may have made that year that could explain the drop? And anybody know where that guy is these days? Of course, he's not who he used to be, but if we're handing out individual accolades, there's somebody we should probably mention whose impact defensively is felt on the whole team. If we turn things around this year, I suspect the old fella will have a role to play in that.

[BloopOracle]

Rubio was injured the majority of last season so it was mostly just Wiggins, now that we have all 3 we have become an excellent defensive team

[60WinTim]

Rubio was injured the majority of last season so it was mostly just Wiggins, now that we have all 3 we have become an excellent defensive team

Yeah, there are a number of factors for the improved defense, not the least of which is Sam's emphasis and change in defensive philosophy. Rubio, Wiggins at SG, defensive communication, and length in the front court are factors as well.

[Coolbreeze44]

Defense is where I think KG's presence really makes a difference. Both on and off the court. Again, defense is a lot about "want to". And if the guys see how much KG gets after it on D I think it can be infectious.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Drew, that's a painful history to see...over a decade of defensive ineptitude. But unless Glen Taylor is planning on suiting up this season, I don't see the relevance of past history to current performance since most of the key components have changed. Yes, we were one of the worst defensive clubs in the league last year, but the five guys who started the most games last year were LaVine, Martin, Wiggins, Young and Dieng. The only returning starter we have is Wiggins, and he is bigger and presumably smarter than he was his rookie season. The other four starters last year have been replaced by Rubio, Prince, KG and Towns...3 veterans with an established defensive reputation in the league and a rookie who shows great promise as a defender. Even the coach is different, as a defensive-minded Sam Mitchell has replaced an offensive-minded Flip Saunders, and Sam has made defense the focus of the year. It's not much of a surprise that our defense looks completely different in the last three games (including the final preseason game) than any Wolves defense I have seen in a long time.

We seem to have all the components a very good defense needs to have...length, smarts, quickness, intensity, and a coach who will allow nothing less than maximum effort on defense. Sam's message could not be any clearer, and the players know that starting roles have been handed out based on who can defend best. As a result we are seeing things we haven't seen in a long time...penetration prevention, proper rotation and perimeter defense, communication on the court, help defense, and rim protection.

Who knows if they can keep it up, but the early returns are good. We have a starting five which can be very good defensively if they can stay healthy, and a few pieces on the bench with some potential also.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Still too early to know how much our defense has improved. It's impossible to be as bad as last year.

[thedoper]

We were dead last in opponents eFG% last year. Through two games we are 1st. ;). We will not stay there but that is an early indicator of improvement I would say. I'm with q, we can only go up from last year.

[m4gor [enjin:6667447]]

We were dead last in opponents eFG% last year. Through two games we are 1st. ;). We will not stay there but that is an early indicator of improvement I would say. I'm with q, we can only go up from last year.

it is improvement, on the other hand i am pretty sure that LAL (hi Kobe) and DEN will be bottom 5 teams when it comes to eFG%, we need bigger sample