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How Will Tom Thibodeau Help The Minnesota Timberwolves?

By Vijay Vemu

May 6, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the third quarter in game two of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs won 106-91. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
May 6, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the third quarter in game two of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs won 106-91. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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How can Tom Thibodeau help take the Minnesota Timberwolves to the next level?

It is safe to say that the Minnesota Timberwolves are one of the teams — if not the team — with the brightest future in the NBA. With Rookie of the Year Karl Anthony-Towns and former No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins, the T-Wolves have found themselves a great duo to build around.

They also have found great role players such as Zach LaVine, Gorgui Dieng, Ricky Rubio and their draft pick this year in Kris Dunn. Although the T-Wolves were a lottery team last season and have been for a couple of years, things may change this year.

The team will get more mature and gain valuable experience with every game that they play. They have the potential to knock off some of the best teams in basketball, as we saw with their OT victory against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland last year.

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    • Minnesota also will be coached by one of their better coaches in basketball in Tom Thibodeau. That hiring will make a big impact on the T-Wolves, especially on the defensive end of the court.

    Thibodeau’s strength as a coach is defense. He is a defense first guy and his teams usually express the same attitude. In his time with Chicago, Thibodeau built a team that was a nightmare for offenses.

    During his time with the Chicago Bulls, he had defenders like Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler, and was able to use their talents to build what was a top-5 defensive team. In his five years coaching with the Bulls, only one year did Thibodeau’s team not make the top-5 in terms of points allowed.

    He had a system in place and made sure that his teams were solid defensively, whether they had the players for that system or not.

    The ability to hide bad defenders in his system will certainly help the likes of Wiggins, whose defensive game needs work. But there are still some good defenders on the T-Wolves, like Dieng who can protect the rim with his size and Dunn whose wingspan allows him to guard both point and shooting guards.

    The youth of Minnesota gives them enough time to improve on their game and if they can be an average defensive team, that will help them so much this season. Minnesota finished 23rd last season in points allowed per game but expect that ranking to go up this season.

    A lot also depends on the retirement of Kevin Garnett. He and Thibs worked together in Boston, where Thibodeau was an assistant coach. Even if he can’t contribute on the court, Garnett can be a great mentor to the young guys in the locker room. He can help them develop that defensive mindset that Garnett prided himself on for his NBA career.

    Minnesota still has a lot to work on. They still have to develop a solid bench including fixing things with their starting lineup like Wiggins’ defense. In a very talented Western Conference, they are still a long shot to make the playoffs. Thibodeau has also been careful about overplaying his guys to avoid the problems he had in Chicago.

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    But all of those problems can be fixed and the sky is the limit for the T-Wolves. Towns is proving to be the star of this team with Wiggins as his sidekick. If some guys like Dunn can step up and have a good season, they have a shot at making the playoffs. With Thibodeau at the helm, the Minnesota Timberwolves will be a very interesting team to watch.

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