Key Highlights:
- The Timberwolves have been the best defense in the league to start the season
- Rudy Gobert is back to being the best rim protector on the planet
- Jaden McDaniels and company make this defense different than the ones Gobert played with in Utah
Through three weeks, the Minnesota Timberwolves have the number one defense in the NBA. With a relative defensive rating of -12.3, if the Timberwolves keep up their current pace, they will have (at least statistically speaking) the greatest unit of fortification we’ve ever seen. But how are they so dominant?
The Man In The Middle
To build a great defense, you generally need at least one of two things: 1) great perimeter defense or 2) great interior defense. And after a less-than-stellar 2022-23 campaign (he picked up steam toward the end), three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert is back to provide the latter.
Gobert has spent the last decade being basketball’s greatest custodian. Whenever his teammates slip up and allow a penetrator to blow by them, Gobert is there to keep the paint nice and tidy.
In his book, “Basketball Analytics: Spatial Tracking,” Stephen Shea concluded that rim protection was the most important contributing variable in a team’s defensive rating. And with Gobert, the Timberwolves have the best in the business.
A couple of great statistics for measuring a player’s rim protection prowess are block percentage and opponent on/off rim frequency. According to Cleaning the Glass, Gobert is in the 84th percentile in block rate among centers. And as for his on/off opponent rim frequency, he’s in the 100th percentile, decreasing the opponent’s rim frequency by 10.1% when he’s on the court compared to when he’s off of it (this means he’s a great rim deterrent). Simply put, Gobert is the ultimate mistake eraser. It’s like having an unlimited supply of white out.
Overall, the Timberwolves allow the fifth-lowest opponent rim frequency and fifth-lowest opponent rim accuracy. So, they are deterring shots at the rim and altering the ones that do slip through the cracks.
But we’ve seen this movie before. Gobert was the captain of multiple great defenses when he was throwing block parties with the Utah Jazz. However, in the playoffs, teams would “expose” them by luring Gobert out on the perimeter and turning the paint into a station for a layup line. And that’s exactly what’s going to happen to Minnesota this year, right? Not necessarily…
Not Alone This Time
Who remembers the CW television show about the Green Arrow (creatively titled “Arrow”)? Well, I do, and I used to absolutely binge that (admittedly) mediocre series. I mention this because there is one scene near the end of the Season One Finale that illustrates the situation in Minnesota perfectly.
Oliver Queen, the show’s main protagonist, is pessimistic about his chances of beating Malcolm Merlyn, the main antagonist, in a fight. John Diggle, Queen’s bodyguard and secret partner in crime, pleads with him that things will be different this time. Here is how the scene plays out:
Queen: He’s beaten me twice, and I don’t know how to stop him.
Diggle: Okay. Well, how about this time you bring along something you didn’t have the last time you two fought? Me.
Queen: I can’t let you.
Diggle: And I can’t let you do this by yourself, man. Oliver, you are not alone, not since you brought me into this – us into this. Besides, army regulations a soldier never lets a brother go into battle alone.
This scene illustrates what is going on with the Timberwolves perfectly. You don’t follow?
Meet The Rest Of The Team
In Utah, Gobert was surrounded by lackluster defensive personnel. They were only formidable on that end because of Gobert’s cataclysmic impact. And whenever teams would bring him out to the perimeter, it was a death sentence because his teammates weren’t good enough defenders to keep the ball from entering the paint.
That isn’t the case in Minnesota. If Gobert is Queen in this Arrowverse analogy, his right-hand man is Jaden McDaniels. Despite not making an All-Defensive team last year, McDaniels burst onto the scene as one of the premier non-center defenders in the association. And this year, he’s come back eager to make the people who didn’t vote for him look silly.
McDaniels’ combination of length, agility, and footwork makes him a monster on-ball stopper. Each night, he’s regularly assigned to the opposing team’s best perimeter scorer – a duty that proves fatal…to the opposition.
So far, McDaniels has garnered matchups against the likes of Jayson Tatum, Brandon Ingram, Trae Young, Jamal Murray, and Jrue Holiday. And between the five of them, McDaniels has held them to a combined 10 of 31 shooting (32.2%) from the floor (per NBA.com).
McDaniels is the perfect second fiddle to pair next to Gobert, as he can keep the ball from getting in the paint when Gobert isn’t there to protect it. He’s the Diggle to his Oliver Queen. But if you watched the show, you would know that Team Arrow has more than two members. And this Timberwolves defense is no different.
Along with McDaniels, Team Gobert has Anthony Edwards – an on-ball pitbull with all the athleticism in the world. They have Mike Conley – the savvy veteran who compensates for diminished speed with institutional knowledge and guile. Kyle Anderson – the proud owner of a 7’2 wingspan and some of the best fundamentals in the sport. And Nickeil Alexander-Walker – the lite version of McDaniels. Oh, and Shake Milton is pretty good too!
Putting It All Together
Now, back to the original statement we made about the two ways to build a great defense. When you really think about it, the Timberwolves have both. Gobert gives them elite interior defense. And the rest of the crew takes care of the perimeter.
Two ways to have great perimeter defense are to keep the ball in front of you and/or force a high volume of turnovers. The Timberwolves do both of those things very well. They are tied for the fifth-fewest opponent assists per 100 possessions in the NBA (most assisted baskets are the result of breakdowns on the perimeter). And they are ninth in opponent turnover percentage.
So, unlike Gobert’s old Jazz teams, Minnesota makes it hard to break into their interior shell. And even if you do, you still have to deal with one of the best rim protectors ever.
Gobert isn’t alone anymore. He’s got pieces now. And when you put those pieces together, you have the recipe for the ultimate barrier. You have the very best defense in the entire NBA.
