Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 Reasons Why Kevin Martin Has To Go
By Aaron Mah
Tayshaun Prince Means Too Much For The Team’s Defensive Identity
You can question his offensive schemes; you can question his rotations; but, one thing Sam Mitchell has proven he can unequivocally do is coach up the Wolves’ defense.
More explicitly, he has taken a team that was ranked dead last in defensive efficiency last season and transformed the mismatch bunch into the 12th-most efficient D thus far in 2015-16, allowing just 99.9 points per 100 possessions (a -9.7 point improvement when compared to last year), per NBA.com.
And while Mitchell’s incessant emphasis on that end of the floor has spearheaded their unprecedented improvement, it certainly helps the former Coach of the Year’s cause by having a healthy Ricky Rubio hounding the point of attack, Andrew Wiggins evolving into a staunch overall defender (and not just relying on his stifling man D), and Karl-Anthony Towns shoring up their interior defense better than any rookie big in recent memory.
In combination with their trio of young dobermans, Mitchell has effectively mixed their youth with a couple of old warhorses in Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince — two wily veterans who specialize in the art of communicating on D and playing the angles in accomplishing their defensive assignments.
Tayshaun Prince On/Off Impact
| Team | Opponent | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Split | MP | eFG% | TRB% | AST% | TOV% | ORtg | eFG% | TRB% | AST% | TOV% | ORtg |
| On Court | 184 | .460 | 54.4 | 65.2 | 14.5 | 102.7 | .419 | 45.6 | 54.7 | 16.0 | 91.8 |
| Off Court | 205 | .494 | 50.3 | 56.3 | 17.1 | 104.2 | .558 | 49.7 | 54.8 | 14.8 | 114.1 |
| On − Off | 47% | -.034 | +4.1 | +8.9 | -2.6 | -1.5 | -.139 | -4.1 | -0.1 | +1.2 | -22.3 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/13/2015.
In fact, in the seven lineups the Timberwolves have used this season in which the quintet have held their opponent to less than 90 points per 100 possessions, Prince and/or KG are involved in all of the mentioned combinations, save for one.
On the other hand, although Kevin Martin contributes heavily to Minnesota’s impressive free throw rate (currently ranked third in the association as a team) and is one of the Wolves’ few unabashed and competent 3-point shooters — especially crucial for a team sporting the second lowest 3-point rate in the league — he is an overall net negative when it comes to their chief reasons for success.
Kevin Martin On/Off Impact
| Difference | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Split | MP | eFG% | ORB% | DRB% | TRB% | AST% | STL% | BLK% | TOV% | ORtg |
| On Court | 204 | -.035 | +5.9 | +5.9 | +7.7 | +57.2 | +7.0 | +4.8 | +18.0 | -2.8 |
| Off Court | 185 | +.008 | -0.6 | -0.6 | +1.4 | +63.2 | +6.7 | +10.5 | +13.1 | +2.7 |
| On − Off | 52% | -.043 | +6.5 | +6.5 | +6.3 | -6.0 | +0.3 | -5.7 | +4.9 | -5.5 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/13/2015.
As such, the butterfly effect of playing Prince leaves K-Mart as the odd man out on the wings.
With Wiggins starting, and Shabazz Muhammad barely earning any playing time, cutting Martin loose would free Mitchell the implicit obligation of having to give the 32-year-old veteran nearly 30 minutes a contest.
Most importantly, it’ll also relieve Wolves fans everywhere the strain of experiencing the next point:
Next: The Zach LaVine Point Guard Experiment Must End