The Potential Pros And Cons Of The Wolves Hiring Tom Thibodeau
By Ryan Mayer
The Timberwolves made big news today with reports that they are close to finalizing a deal with former Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau to become the team's President of Basketball Operations and head coach. Thibodeau is known for qualities both good and bad from his tenure with the Bulls, so here's some of the things to watch for as he takes over in Minnesota.
Pros
Defensive Savant
His teams routinely were in the top 5-10 in the league in terms of defensive efficiency. That will certainly help a Wolves team that last season ranked 26th in defensive rating allowing 107.1 points per 100 possessions. With young, impressionable players like Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach Lavine, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, etc. the Wolves are the perfect group for Thibs to be able to mold into a top ranked unit. Considering how long and athletic each of those guys is, it's easy to see them becoming a top 10 unit in the next 2-3 seasons.
Very Good With Young, Mobile Big Men
Thibs defensive scheme relies heavily on his bigs to be mobile and athletic. Being able to hedge out hard on screens then recover quickly to their men will be crucial to the defense's effectiveness. That meshes perfectly with young bigs like Towns and Dieng who both have very good mobility. Towns in particular showed the lateral quickness to stay with almost anyone this year on the defensive end.
Cons
Will he play these young players too many minutes?
While the T'Wolves are a young team in need of development at all positions, with a grueling NBA season you have to worry about these young players being taxed by Thibodeau's penchant for playing starters long minutes.
In Chicago, under his watch, Butler, Gasol, Deng and Noah all averaged over 35 minutes per night and were consistently injured. Along with pretty intense practices, there was a lot of criticism about Thibs' push on players throughout the long regular season.
Again, while the core of Towns, Lavine and Wiggins need to continue growing as players, you have to wonder if Thibs will listen to the criticism of his past and change his approach with this young, explosive core.
Practice and offseason workouts?
There were reports from Bulls beat writers during Thibs' stay that detailed how many players would avoid the coach during the offseason. There were also reports stating that many of the players grew increasingly frustrated and tired with the grueling practices Thibodeau held. So much so, that they began to believe that the practices and their length began affecting their play on the court. This was with a veteran group of players. We wonder how things may change with a different generation of players who are younger and may not be used to the heavy hand of a coach like Thibs.
This is a good move by the franchise that will be applauded by many. What will be interesting is what Thibs learned from his first go-round in terms of the necessity of rest and keeping the star players minutes in check. Definitely things to keep an eye on as the Timberwolves look to build a team to contend with the likes of the Warriors and Spurs at the top of the West.