Very interesting read. "Inside the Timberwolves Bland Offense"

[Dewey]

Take lemons and make lemonade ...

As we go through some dark days and see players struggle, some have seized the opportunity. Can only hope this has created a more competitive environment come playing time.

JV, McD, and McL (few examples) have never been “given” playing time ... they have inched their way to more and more minutes through performance. These are mistakes we have made in the past by handing young players playing time without them earning it. I give Ryan some credit for this, but at the same time, we didn’t force Culver and Ant to perform to play...

DLo/Beasley/McD/JV/KAT need some run ... McL and Reid right there.

Rubio/Okogie/Culver/Layman/Hermangomez got their work cut out for them IMO.

[Heimdal]

JMac worked much better with the bench (Edwards and Culver mostly), so the only option I see which doesn't involve trades is starting Russell and Rubio. I've said this many times, but they should have started both since Day 1. Probably by now they would have some chemistry and the record wouldn't be much worse.

If they don't, either JMac doesn't get enought minutes (unfair) or Rubio has to be traded.

[Jedzz]

JMac worked much better with the bench (Edwards and Culver mostly), so the only option I see which doesn't involve trades is starting Russell and Rubio. .

That's not true. Edwards in fact keeps initiating offense whenever he gets chance. Culver and others at least let JMac do his thing. JMac can play with anyone.

The take on playing Dlo with Rubio having gelled by now if they started them together all season so far is an unknown. Might have worked. Probably better than what we've gotten playing musical chairs each game and still having players out of position. But the Two PG rotations have always been the weakest on this team at producing. It was a mistake to add Rubio if they weren't moving others out immediately. That much I think is true.

[Calinks]

I think JMAc is the best system PG on this team. Not the best PG but he fits the system best. He can penetrate, attack the rim and score, failing that he can hit the open man for good looks. DLO can score/shoot but he can't put pressure on the rim well, not his game. Rubio can penetrate some but he cant finish or shoot to save his life.

This is made worse by the fact that we once again lack outside shooters, if you had 3 options available who could knock down shots on any given drive play, it would open things up.

This is the new area where Edwards could have been fantastic for our team, if his handle was a bit better (it's still good enough to get to the rim most o the time) and most importantly if Edwards could finish at the rim or get to the line, his value would skyrocket for this system.

We need high-level penetration and pressure on the rim to make this offense really flow.

[wolves_89]

One thing that has been a major drag on the Wolves offense is Edwards shooting off the dribble. So far he's shooting 23.3% on all pullup jump shots (17.5% on 3s off the dribble). These account for 35% of his shots, so if he could reduce the attempts it would make a big difference. He desperately needs to drive to the rim or drive and kick it out more frequently.

[Klomp]

This is the new area where Edwards could have been fantastic for our team, if his handle was a bit better (it's still good enough to get to the rim most o the time) and most importantly if Edwards could finish at the rim or get to the line, his value would skyrocket for this system.

We need high-level penetration and pressure on the rim to make this offense really flow.

I've thought about this too

[Jedzz]

I think JMAc is the best system PG on this team. Not the best PG but he fits the system best. He can penetrate, attack the rim and score, failing that he can hit the open man for good looks. DLO can score/shoot but he can't put pressure on the rim well, not his game. Rubio can penetrate some but he cant finish or shoot to save his life.

I don't think this is accurate. JMac is the most well round PG this team has. There isn't another basketball player on the team that can do everything he can do consistently. Not even close. It would be scary if he had 6-6 size with all this refined skill, because he would be drawing 15 foul shots a game as well. But because of his small size he is forced to not allow players to touch him, and he does that pretty well. He's not just performing here well because of the system in my opinion. You would have to first prove there is something he can't do before claiming he wouldn't work in other systems.

He can defend pretty well. Getting switched onto much larger players obviously will be his biggest issue. I would like to see him try to use his hops a little to take advantage of unsuspecting opponents for swatting a few balls now and then.

[Jedzz]

This is the new area where Edwards could have been fantastic for our team, if his handle was a bit better (it's still good enough to get to the rim most o the time) and most importantly if Edwards could finish at the rim or get to the line, his value would skyrocket for this system.

We need high-level penetration and pressure on the rim to make this offense really flow.

I've thought about this too

This is why JMac looks effective or why the team is when he's driving.

Edwards gets there in a flash and when no trouble when he really attacks it. Most in the league will just open the door when he goes that strong. He's just got to refine things yet and get comfortable. The good thing is he has shown an ability to see player left and right of him for kickouts already. But I think keeping aware of those players and the defenders infront of him is still something that causes a hesitation. He's a rookie.