Timberwolves ditch zone defenses for their ‘fastball,’ aggressive man to man

Jalen Williams tried to toss a soft pass to Isaiah Hartenstein only to have Rudy Gobert swat it away to create an Anthony Edwards transition opportunity the other way early in Tournament on Saturday at Target Center What a sign that was of things to come Three minutes later Lu Dort came off a ball screen from Jalen Williams Anthony Edwards who was guarding Williams at the play s outset shot off Williams and knocked the ball away from Dort The Thunder guard went flying to the floor and Edwards went coasting the other way for an easy slam With three minutes to play in the opening quarter Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came off a ball screen from Chet Holmgren Rather than retreating backwards on the play as he d done for much of the first two games of the series Rudy Gobert moved up the floor to apply pressure to the league MVP As Gilgeous-Alexander picked up the ball to attempt a pass Gobert knocked it away picked it up and went down the floor in transition Minnesota s high-pressure defense made Oklahoma City s life hell in the Wolves dominant win on Saturday It was eerily reminiscent of the way the Wolves defended against Phoenix and Denver in last year s playoffs which had to at least briefly make Devin Booker and Jamal Murray consider retirement and a stark contrast to how Minnesota played on that end through the first two games of this series We wished to be the aggressor in everything absolutely Wolves coach Chris Finch mentioned Guys knew what type of defense we could play We don t feel we ve been playing it We felt bulk of the series we ve been on our heels defensively Indeed Oklahoma City got to go wherever it sought offensively over the first two games It piled up paint points and never appeared to experience an ounce of stress while doing so There was nothing to fear about the Timberwolves suddenly tame defense Various correlated the lack of tenacity to foul trouble but the majority of Minnesota s fouls in Oklahoma City came when the Wolves were in retreat mode Minnesota was downright tentative while repeatedly getting punched in the face by the conference s top seed That needed to change if Minnesota was to correct class and challenge Oklahoma City in this series The tables turned occurred in Competition Yes the Timberwolves just brought a better resource level and enthusiasm to the defensive side of the ball But a scheme shift aided in the efforts Minnesota started to switch pick and rolls and extended its defense much further up the floor No longer were the Wolves surrendering so much prime real estate to the Thunder offense The end for Minnesota was a reversion to its harassing hit-first defense Be more assertive and just let our physicality dictate who we are Wolves guard Mike Conley declared They re a physical band and we ve got to be just as physical if we want to have a chance to win We understood that and kind of proved that tonight Solicited about the change of strategy with the defensive schemes Finch revealed sometimes you just got to throw your fastball We were trying to do too much other junk out there at times Finch noted Specifically a pair of zone defenses that were dead on deployment Conley noted the Wolves watched Denver s defense give Oklahoma City consistent issues in the Western Conference semifinals The Nuggets did so often with zone looks In response Minnesota attempted to add in a pair of zone looks But Conley commented Minnesota hadn t used either in a match all season and it exhibited The Wolves looked hesitant and unsure of themselves when deploying the looks That s a great way to get beat We re not the same unit Denver is so sometimes it s not just apples to apples in a sense Conley explained Indeed Denver is anchored by Nikola Jokic an incredibly cerebral yet somewhat slow-footer center The strength of the Wolves is the depth of hounding perimeter defenders in the pack By turning defense a thinking man s tournament Minnesota negated much of its natural physical advantages that stem from its speed and length Guys were kind of slow in rotations in the zone as we were trying to do it right Conley reported But we re more of a man to man club a physical association If you re going to go down do so with your best foot firmly planted forward Being physical aggressive and in your face is Minnesota s fast ball and was also what the Wolves had success with against the Thunder during the regular season Any defensive plan that allows the Wolves to use their speed and size gives them a great chance to win games as proven in Saturday s performance Oklahoma City turned the ball over times while shooting just from the field and scoring just points in the paint Shai Gilgeous-Alexander never looked content at any point in the evening With its aggression Minnesota kept the Thunder out of their comfort zones and was able to dictate the terms under which the contest was played I thought we did a really good job of setting that line of scrimmage in our favor Conley explained Switching and playing up in coverage effectively serve as challenges for guys to defend the man in front of them Minnesota s defenders love to rise to the occasion The aggressive defensive scheme seemed to get the best out of the Wolves as has often been the matter in latest years Our competitiveness was at an all-time high Finch explained The Wolves were big fast and strong That s a combination that s long proven complicated to down Don t think just guard and wish the opponent Good luck This band tonight is who we want to be going forward Nobody on this group is afraid nobody backs down nobody is bigger than the group That s kind of who we ve been defensively Conley commented I think we ve just got to continue that mindset going forward and understand that we re going to stay confident going through it