How The Timberwolves Defense Suffocates NBA Teams

How The Timberwolves Defense Suffocates NBA Teams

The Minnesota timber is the leading defense in the NBA what makes them unique the terminology kind of sounds weird but their fan lineup is distinctive because they play two big man Carl Anthony towns and rodigo BT at the same time and why is it so peculiar is simply because that’s how NBA teams

Used to play in the past the root problem of having two big traditional centers in the same lineup offensively it’s spacing and defensively you have a question how well can two centers defend on multiple pan actions whiches and navigate around the perimeter but the thing is both Carl and towns and Rudy

Gber are incredibly mobile bigs yes even Rudy gber a player that is heavily disliked by other NBA players simply because he doesn’t have an offensive game but defensively Rudy’s length and size combined with great basketball IQ on defense is the backbone of Minnesota’s great performance and containing opposition teams but there’s

Also a lot of nuance details that I want to show you that makes the Minnesota Timberville a defensive Fortress in the NBA the game against the Los Angeles Lakers is a great example of how crucial spacing is on offense and how good defensive teams like the Timberwolves will exploit your lack of outside

Shooting presence so while lady and LeBron is getting ready to play a P&R action the situation in the weak side area is hella worrying for the Lakers cat is in a situation where he can easily sag off of maner Build by positioning himself in the dunker spot

And redish is also battery point shooter meaning that the whole weakside zone for the Lakers doesn’t provide the required spacing for ad and LeBron to have any kind of success in fulfilling that P play so pay attention how cat slides over to the painted area completely forgetting about jiren acting as a

Second can help Defender if Rudy gets beat into the rim also notice that Vanderbuilt has an open Lane to cut towards the basket because towns is ball watching and ignoring Vanderbilt but as the play continues a third H Defender Jen McDaniel slides to snatch the ball

From Ed and this is such a simple defensive concept where help off of four Shooters but essentially the offensive Wing player should be active in making constant cuts and moving whenever your direct match up is showing his back to you on defense and the ls that NBA team team

Will go to put their best defensive player against not Shooters is impressive against the Orlando Magic Rudy goer who 7-1 was defending Marquel FZ who 64 marel this season attempted eight longrange shots may just once you’ll already see the logic behind this defensive move you put your Center on a

Player that doesn’t have any confidence in his jump shot so Rudy can s off and freely roam around the boxed area thus preventing a player like banero from attacking the rim and this move jeopardizes your whole offensive game plan just pay attention how Rudy defends Marquel when he’s with the ball and when

F is gets through of the ball and moves to the corner area Rudy gobert comfortably slides to the dunker spot anticipating the play from the weak side Zone and when the old man goes downhill receives the ball Rudy gobert is already in position to help on vendel Carter Jr

Once again emphasis on offensive spacing obvious counter would be former kill FS to be aggressive on attacking Ober but as I mentioned before no trust in his own jump shot makes this match up so effective marquel’s game is close range inside outside the box area looks and good luck in attempting those shots

Against a player like Rudy Minnesota are so good at dictating at whom the opposition offenses should be going to they set up their positioning so that the only option that the best offensive player has is to kick out the Bolton open man and Minnesota is more than happy seeing LBG getting rid

Of the ball and Vanderbuilt using that open look playing any kind of actions against Minnesota’s main lineup is tricky theend helps aggressively they have the length and size combined with great positioning and most crucially great communication basically Minnesota chooses what kind of looks do they allow

This is a midy jump shot by Trey man in the last Seconds Of The Possession you can live with that this defens play is a good example of Minnesota’s length so PG anticipates the Trap really well gets rid of the ball before getting double team which results in a short roll

Situation for the Clippers zubot stops near the free throw line trayman will be cutting towards the rim but cat size and aggressiveness means that IIT is not able to make that pass if you put anyone who’s not 7 ft tall Zubat is lasering the ball to The Cutting player also once

Again the defensive game plan town is on vzro who’s not a great three-point shooter so he can easily go aggressive and helps and even if zubot is able to make that pass Cat close out buy some time for call to realize that there’s a cut happening and you can even see Rudy

Recovering from the previous play Everything is perfectly synchronized for Minnesota on defense one internet commentator described Minnesota’s defense perfectly length communication and versatility the sheer size that timber wolves can simply throw at their opponents straight up mesmerizing and when you take this lineup with crazy length and individually strong Defenders

And mold them into playing disciplined team defense you get a roster that allows the fewest points has the best defensive rating and numerous other defensive stat lines for olls lead the whole league disciplined players translates to actually processing scouting report in action Brook lopus is going to set a drag screen in semi-

Transition offense in the process J McDaniels is bumping the screener while K and Rudy is setting up a wall to prevent Janis from driving to the rim but differently from the Lakers the Bucks have a great three-point shooter on the perimeter who’s wide open but pay attention how jayen McDaniel’s

Aggressive ly closes out Malik simply because yeah he’s a good at shooting but bad at facilitating and car anony towns doesn’t even Flinch on helping because you would maybe think that leaving yanis on the three-point line is logical but then again you don’t want to give any

Extra space for it to the kumu specifically in a situation like this so the timber simply put pick and choose the risk they challenge Malik to score in a way that he’s not used to and put full trust in their best on ball Defender J McDaniels to make a recovery

In which he does before moving to him an assorted defend at LCA donic let me show you this plan comparison so obviously Washington doesn’t have the size that Minnesota has but right here the Wizards do a great job in helping Onis they rot eat and Chase Milwaukee’s players off

The three-point line and this is where the mental lapse happens so Denny AIA has to realize that Malik is a driveing kick player most likely he will look for a pass if he gets inside the painted area he doesn’t need overh help also Denny needs to notice that shamet is

Already stepping up to help on Malik so AIA is caught ball watching instead of Denny correctly processing the situation and picking up a player to Mark AIA fails to do that as Washington gives up a wide open Corner look and you can only ask yourself a question is it better to

Allow Malik Beasley to attempt that Clos range jump shot or instead to give up an easiest three-point look in basketball the analytics checks out finally let’s talk about how the timber wolves defended LCA donic now there’s no culmination here luuka was a single point shy from dropping 40 points

Luuka had 16 points in the first period alone but I enjoyed Minnesota’s different defensive approaches in containing Luca which helped to secure the win to start off the game Minnesota puts their best on Paul Defender Jaden McDaniels and Luca and doesn’t send any helps pretty much a game plan that they

Use throughout the season letting their best defender handle things on defense anyways it didn’t work Jayden gets in early foul trouble and Alexander Walker comes in just four minutes into the ball game Let’s analyze how Minnesota defended Lucas PNR action donic is leading scorer in the whole league when

It comes to points from different pick and roll plays when he’s the ball handler so Lely setting up a high screen for Luca and this is Spanish pick and roll action as there’s also Tim hardw junr involved who’s a great outside shooter and is going to pop to the

Three-point line in the process Rudy Gober is playing drop coverage as he’s dropping all the way to the free throw line and notice how Luca is putting Alexander Walker on his back the basketball term is putting your defender in jail it gives the rolling man Lively

Time to get to the rim while Walker is behind Luca’s back to create that two-on-one Advantage but what I liked here is the Silent Communication or basketball read between Rudy and Walkers what Walker does is he quickly moves to Luca’s left and takes away that left angle while at the same time Rudy

Slightly shifts to the right side tagging Lively but derck Lively then seals off Rudy giving Luca just enough space to maneuver to the right side of the rim luuka then kicks out the ball to an open Grant Williams and this is where we have our first choose your poison

Moment Grant Williams is a pretty good shooter but Minnesota challenged other players who’s not named Luka donic to make a play in this situation both NZ re and Walker double team Luca in the second period it became pretty clear that Minnesota’s defensive game plan and pick and roll actions

Against donic completely changed they began trapping Luca and forcing him to pass the ball essentially putting pressure on Dallas’s rookie big man Derk Lively to make a correct play right here you can see both Kat and tro bran Jr going deep in the pain to help on Derek

He makes a well 10 pass and once again Grant Willams fails to capitalize on an open look in this play you can see Nai leaving Grant as he will step up to high pressure to Derek clely but what I like in this defensive play is how both cat

And Walker rotates back to the action donic is out of displ he’s not participating at all so cat recovers on re direct match up Williams it takes away the only passing Lane as Derek lvy walks with the ball can’t really express enough how much communication is key on defense

Especially when you’re playing against players like Lucas so right here Nas re is pointing to cat because towns has to be involved in this action instead of Nas so is lik miscommunication between Reed and Cat do nasri is already late to position himself correctly in defending

The PNR action you can see him trying to tag Lively but then closing out LCA but he closes out Luka too much as Lively is a l threat and this is an easy pass for donic there’s really not one magical method of stopping players like luk you have to throw five six different

Defensive schemes in hopes to somewhat contain Luca majority of his buckets were well defended by Janie McDaniels but Luca was still able to score remember when I mentioned that Minnesota has so much length and size to throw at different ball handers three different players were guarding donic J McDaniel

Niki Alexander Walker and kle Anderson whose defense in the last period was spot on it’s not just L that’s so impressive about my mentioned players but how they don’t budge and buy into Luca’s hesitation moves Minnesota’s whole defense is incredibly smart and basketball is all about runs if you

Manage to contain luuka for a single minute three or four possessions you can easily pull the winning odds to your side and slowmo did an excellent job with defending donic and the whole Minnesota’s defense didn’t allow the Mavericks to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter stretch I don’t want to

Single out any players Minnesota’s defense primarily is credited to every individual who buys into the idea of playing disciplined basketball on the defensive end but Rudy goer a player that do dislike by other NBA players and fans simply because he doesn’t have any skills but just analyzing the film and

It’s not just his size sure thing his wingspan if you’re not the on Fox it Alters her shots and decision making Rudy will force opposing players to turn the ball over and he will not even get a steel credited in his box car but the way he positions himself in numerous

Pick and roll coverages how he navigates and slides on the perimeter how he recovers from applying double teams or pressure that kind of Mobility combined with that kind of length it makes Rudy Gober the backbone of Minnesota’s defensive success Rudy is especially efficient in playing drop coverage

Mainly because he covers so space and at the same time takes away that space from the opposition players the concept of drop coverage is pretty simple Rudy drops to the free throw line thus inviting the attacking player to attempt a mid-range Jem shot or floater and if

Kaai is going for a pullup three-point shot it’s up to jayen to aggressively recover from the screen and contest the shot from behind and Rudy is great at anticipating what will players do next as cheap attempts at their him will get denied and what I love the most about

Hoger defense PNR actions is that he makes good reads when to fully switch on the ball hander and when to recover on his direct matchup right here Rudy understands that D Ros is getting deeper to the basket so Rudy fully switches and gets glued to DK by doing that it takes

Away any room for Rose to attempt a pass to the r man and when D Rose doesn’t go anywhere Rudy calmly switches back on bismack now this plays defensive basketball science so mik only receives a hard screen by C Williams and he doesn’t recover in time exim is already

Looking forward to attack the basket meanwhile Gober is placing himself in between the ball handler and the rollman so Rudy already has in mind that he needs to account for lively because he’s a lot threat so gber will tag Lively and then make an insane recovery on Dante

Exom also noticed how gber will use his huge wingspan and wave his hands while he’s in drop coverage and sometimes he will straight up fake a jump or just lean and step forwards to kind of throw off the ball handler in this situation I’m pretty sure the sunu carries the

Ball but it doesn’t get called most pigs well first of all they don’t have the physical abilities that Rudy has but most bigs have troubles in calculating their positioning also deciding when to switch or help and recover Rudy has both the physical abilities and defensive basketball AQ to

Defend these different pick and roll plays and speaking about cat and don’t quote me on this it’s just my opinion but I think he feels comfortable playing in the weak side on defense because he doesn’t spend that much time banging with other bigs in the boxed area people

Used to call Carl Anthony Town soft in the past when he used to play as a five it’s clear that everyone both the team and Cat benefits from him playing as a free roaming Wing Defender and Rudy doing all the Dirty Work under the basket so combining Rudy’s presence with

A whole Squad of aliens that buy into the concept that they’re going to win games through good defense and you have a team that is leading the league in most if not all defensive analytical stat lines

The Minnesota Timberwolves are leading the NBA in defensive rating with a two-big-man lineup featuring Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. Let’s analyze how this seemingly “outdated” approach wreaks havoc on the defensive end for this year’s Timberwolves team.