Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 reasons their season is over

3. The defense didn’t improve

When the Minnesota Timberwolves brought in Jimmy Butler, hopes were high that he would bring veteran experience and leadership. There was also hope for defensive improvement under Tom Thibodeau.

While Butler flashed his attributes often, the team’s defense didn’t improve much. For the third straight year, the T-Wolves finished in the bottom ranks in defensive rating.

It’s hard to place that all on one man’s shoulders. Defense is often about chemistry and communication, and Minnesota wasn’t able to show much consistently throughout the season.

When taking a look at the struggles of the Timberwolves defensively, you often are left befuddled. Jimmy Butler is a proven defender, and while Andrew Wiggins doesn’t apply himself every play he’s more than capable athletically. What about the Chicago Bulls teams that Thibodeau spearheaded? They all were solid defensively. What’s going wrong here?

Unfortunately, it starts and finishes with Karl-Anthony Towns.

Towns is a rare specimen who is built like an anchor and moves like a wave. Just watch these two examples. No man his size should be able to do things like this:

And here AGAIN!

But often enough, we see plays like this:

Coming out of Kentucky, Towns’ defensive potential (2.3 blocks per game) outweighed the havoc he could wreck offensively. He was pegged as a defensive anchor the minute he stepped on an NBA floor.

Unfortunately, for all he may be as an individual matchup, Towns struggles with team defense. From overly aggressive attempts at blocks to shaky pick-and-roll coverage, KAT is often lost in space.

His attention to detail, focus and instincts often lead him wrong and lead defenders right to easy buckets.

These lapses of poor communication and reaction were a big reason Minnesota struggled to gain a consistent rhythm on the defensive side of the ball.

It’s difficult to put it all on Towns’ shoulders, but as a player with superstar talent, it comes with the territory. A full offseason together should help the Wolves and KAT out in the future. Being just average defensively would have made Minnesota an extremely dangerous team, but for now, that lack of defense is a huge reason they’re not continuing with the current playoff field of eight.