The Minnesota Timberwolves are a weapon that will soon be fully operational. What can the Memphis Grizzlies do to slow them down?
After an underachieving season last year, the Minnesota Timberwolves have made the moves to become a contender sooner rather than later. On draft night, they traded Zach Lavine and Kris Dunn for All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler. They also added veterans in Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford.
In a league that’s dominated by “superteams,” Minnesota seems sure to become the next one. Karl-Anthony Towns is a real superstar who’ll take the next step in his third season. Andrew Wiggins is already an elite scorer and will likely become an All-Star over the next few seasons. Jimmy Butler and Wiggins will wreak havoc on both ends of the floor. All things considered, the Wolves likely have a core of three All-Stars as well as a talented supporting cast.
Tom Thibodeau has done a great job of building this team. They’re ready to contend in both now and the future. However, they’re a team that has flaws and may not live up to the hype.
What can the Memphis Grizzlies do to tame the Timberwolves?
Projected Timberwolves Starting Lineup
PG-Jeff Teague
SG-Jimmy Butler
SF-Andrew Wiggins
PF-Taj Gibson
C-Karl-Anthony Towns
Advantages for the Grizzlies
- Experience
Despite all of their talent, the Timberwolves are still young and lack experience. This is one of the reasons why they greatly underachieved last season, only going 31-51 when many thought they could win fifty games. Mike Conley and Marc Gasol give Memphis the edge in dealing with adversity when times get tough. They’ve been through the wars and have been forged by fire. The young stars of Minnesota simply haven’t reached that point yet.
- Shooting
Yes, the Memphis Grizzlies are a better shooting team than another good team in the NBA (what a time to be alive). Teague, Butler and Wiggins are all guys who can score but struggle as spot-up shooters. They do have some shooters of the bench (Jamal Crawford and Brandon Rush), but spacing is always going to be an issue for them. Memphis, on the other hand, can put out lineups that have five shooters on the court. Memphis is going to always generally have better spacing on offense.
- Mike Conley
Mike Conley can now be legitimately considered a top five point guard in the NBA. Jeff Teague is a solid starting point guard in the NBA, but he’s not close to Mike’s level anymore. If Conley can dominate this matchup, the T-Wolves will have a tough time slowing down the Grizzlies’ offense.
Advantages for the Timberwolves
- Karl-Anthony Towns
This one of the few match ups for Memphis where Marc Gasol may not be a huge advantage. Words cannot properly describe just how good Towns is. You name it, and the guy is pretty amazing at it. He averaged 25.1 points and 12.3 rebounds last season. He’s still learning to to defend at the NBA level, but he’ll soon be elite on that end as well. JaMychal Green had some success against him last season, but it’ll be extremely difficult to slow him down again.
- Isolation Scoring
Under David Fizdale, the Grizzlies’ offense has more shooting and spacing than it ever has. However, Mike Conley, Tyreke Evans and Marc Gasol are the only guys on the roster who can consistently score in isolation.
The Wolves’ roster is full of players who can do just that. Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins are elite players on the wing who can score on anybody one on one. Towns can dominate in isolation from both the perimeter and the post. Jamal Crawford’s entire game is based off his ability to score in isolation. Jeff Teague also excels at getting to the rim. When the offense breaks down at the end of games, a team needs guys who can just go get them a basket. The Wolves have more players that can do this than the Grizzlies.
Taming Thibodeau’s Timberwolves
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The Memphis Grizzlies are going to have their hands full with the Wolves next season. They’re a rising team led by a generational superstar in Karl-Anthony Towns and will contend in both the present and the future. The addition of Jimmy Butler only makes them scarier.
However, the Grizzlies are prepared to meet the challenge. They’re the more experienced and proven team. Marc Gasol and Mike Conley alone will allow this team to compete with anyone on a night-to-night basis. They’ve carried this team in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
The Grizzlies have done a good job of taming the T-Wolves over the last few seasons. It’ll definitely be a tough challenge to do so once again.