The best thing about these Timberwolves is that they are not Minnesota Nice.
Timberwolves must get this one thing right — and they're doing it, so far
Their record isn't a wow, at 3-2, but hidden underneath the unsteady start: unselfishness. That's vital for this team.
October 28, 2022 at 11:48AM
Minnesota Nice, if you just moved here from anywhere else, is the practice of smiling politely at an acquaintance while looking over their shoulder for someone with whom you went to high school.
Five games into a pressurized season, these Wolves have displayed flaws all over the court while learning to play with a new center, a revised bench and an altered pecking order.
While their play hasn't been brilliant, what they have displayed is an unselfishness that could lead to offensive excellence.
They're not Minnesota Nice. They've proven to be munificently nice, in terms of ball-sharing and team-building.
After sheer talent, unselfishness might be the most important attribute an NBA team can possess. That's probably why Wolves coach Chris Finch has made this point numerous times:
Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the best-shooting big men in NBA history, and he has made it a point to feed the ball to new center Rudy Gobert. "I'll say it again,'' Finch said Wednesday night. "We're asking an all-NBA player to move over and share the floor.''
Thursday, Gobert was asked if he was surprised by that. "I wouldn't say 'surprised,' but it's been great,'' he said. "Every day he was telling me that he knew I could go and finish, and he would look for me.
"I think this is where we can really punish teams. It's really important that we keep working on it. The fact that he can pass and he's willing to pass has made him even more of a threat.''
Wednesday, in the Wolves' 134-122 victory over San Antonio that improved their record to 3-2, they scored 50 points before Towns earned his first.
His unselfishness is an indication that the Wolves' record may not be as important early in the season as the methodology of developing an offense that will be difficult to stop in the postseason.
Towns and Anthony Edwards are the Wolves' two primary offensive stars on a team that has a wealth of options.
Wednesday night, Edwards took 21 shots and scored 34 points. He also managed nine assists.
Edwards is 21. The most common path for players of Edwards' age and talent is to establish the ability to score, then become more willing as a passer with maturity and the financial security of their first major contract.
Edwards is far ahead of that curve. In the first game of the season, following an offseason in which he was routinely praised for improving his strength and offensive arsenal, he had seven assists and just 11 points.
Wednesday, D'Angelo Russell tied Edwards for the team high with nine assists. Many of Russell's assists were simple passes that set up three-point shots. They were also the kind of passes that are required in Finch's free-flowing offense.
Russell might be in the most delicate situation of any Wolf. He is looking for a new contract as a shooting point guard on a team with plenty of other offensive options.
He's an excellent passer, but he played poorly in the playoffs last season, is a suspect on-the-ball defender, and too often in the past has produced high-volume, low-production shooting nights.
Through five games this season, he's averaging 17.2 points and a team-best 6.2 assists per game.
Jaden McDaniels has thrived offensively without the benefit of plays being run for him, and without ever demanding the ball. Wednesday, Finch praised his willingness and ability to make effective cuts, which sometimes lead to baskets and other times stress defensive schemes.
What has come across in virtually every player interview since the beginning of training camp is that there is none of the tension, linked to shots, money and ego, that can plague talented NBA teams.
Tonight, the Wolves will play the Lakers, who feature three superstar talents: LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.
The Lakers are 0-4 and averaging a league-low 102.3 points per game. You can see tension on their faces on the court and in interviews. For once, the Lakers must be looking at the Timberwolves in envy.
After trailing from the first basket to the final 69 ticks, the Timberwolves defeated a Phoenix team that lacked key players but had Devin Booker, who scored 44 points.
