A season of potential and outright promise for the Timberwolves has given way to a string of losses and questions about the future.
If you searched the Star Tribune archives for a sentence similar to that one, you could probably find it from every season starting in 2004-05 through today. This is a franchise that rebuilds so often that it builds self-deprecating marketing campaigns around starting over.
The current incarnation of the Timberwolves remains the most promising long-term rebuilding attempt since the first Kevin Garnett era ended in 2007. That said, there are also some major cracks showing 36 games into this season.
The Wolves, who were 8-8 at one point this season, have gone 4-16 since then to fall to 12-24. Plenty of things have gone wrong at specific times during that stretch, but these three themes have emerged as the biggest reasons for the downturn:
1) A continued lack of three-pointers: Early in the season, the Timberwolves were getting good ball movement and dynamic play from multiple players attacking the basket. That was good, but it also helped hide a deficiency that plagues the Wolves: three-point shooting.
Part of this is a lack of shooters. Part of this is an antiquated offensive design/philosophy. The sum total is the Wolves are 25th in the NBA in three-point percentage and dead last in both three-pointers made and attempted per game. Minnesota makes 4.9 three-pointers per game; its opponents make almost four more per game, at 8.7. So the Wolves are losing a net of 11 points a game, roughly, from beyond the arc. When Minnesota is making shorter jump shots and attacking the basket efficiently, it's not as big of a deal.
But in close games when offense is at a premium, it's a big deal. Good example: last night's offensively challenged 78-74 loss to Denver. The Wolves were 3-for-11 from long-distance. The Nuggets were 8-for-20.
2) The inconsistency of youth: This one is more a growing pain than a thing that needs to be fixed. Young players are going to struggle at times to find consistency. Andrew Wiggins has been in a slump, as has Zach LaVine. Gorgui Dieng, a key contributor off the bench, did not score in 27 minutes last night. When you have a shooting-challenged point guard (Ricky Rubio) and other offensively limited players like Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince logging minutes, slumps from scorers are more pronounced.
