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Minnesota Timberwolves: It’s time for Tom Thibodeau to make changes

By Luke Askew

DENVER, CO - APRIL 5: Tom Thibodeau and Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves look on during the game against the Denver Nuggets on April 5, 2018 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 5: Tom Thibodeau and Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves look on during the game against the Denver Nuggets on April 5, 2018 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau has had a lot of success in the NBA, but it’s time for him to make some changes.

During the 2017-18 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves finally ended the longest playoff drought in the NBA, only to lose to the Houston Rockets in five games in the first round.

The Wolves should be in line to have another successful season this year. Tom Thibodeau, in my opinion, is responsible for a lot of their success. However, it’s also starting to become more evident that his coaching style could end up being the demise of the Wolves.

Thibodeau rarely looks happy on the basketball court. He’s the opposite of a guy like Brad Stevens or Fred Hoiberg — he’s always yelling. Along with his no-nonsense style of coaching comes a tendency to not trust young guys or bench players. I mean, why should he play Gorgui Dieng when Karl-Anthony Towns is clearly a better player? Why should he have given Shabazz Muhammad more minutes when that could be Jimmy Butler on the floor?

It’s simple — but it’s not.

Sure, playing your starters an absurd amount and not giving any minutes to young guys is probably the best way to win a random Tuesday night game in Milwaukee, but as we’ve seen time and time again in this league, running players into the ground just doesn’t work long-term.

Besides one off year, Tom Thibodeau has been a head coach in the league since the 2010-11 NBA season. In his seven years as a head coach, he hasn’t coached a single season where he didn’t have at least one player in the top five for minutes per game.

Some seasons have been even more extreme. For example, he had one of his players lead the league in minutes per game for four straight years (Luol Deng twice, Jimmy Butler twice). Then, after being fired by the Chicago Bulls and hired by the Wolves, he had three players (three!) in the top five for minutes per game (Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns).

Listen, I’m not a doctor, nor will I pretend to be one, but it just seems like the proof is in the pudding with this stuff.

Before Zach LaVine tore his ACL, he was averaging 37.2 minutes per game. Even Jimmy Butler this last season was tied for second in minutes per game and ended up suffering a meniscus injury that nearly derailed the entire season for the Wolves.

I get that Thibs wants his best guys to be on the court, but that means they have to stay healthy.

Maybe that means Tyus Jones plays more. Maybe Thibs gives a large role to the incoming rookies Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop. I don’t have the exact answer for what the rotation should look like, but I know it should at least resemble some sort of a rotation — not just the five best guys on the court at all times.

The Wolves are in a prime position to make some noise during the 2018-19 NBA season. Jimmy Butler is healthy, KAT and Wiggins are a year older and they have some new faces on the roster that should help with depth. But all it takes is one injury for the entire season to go down the tubes.

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They say old habits die hard, but if Thibs doesn’t change his coaching philosophy this season, it’s time for the Wolves to move forward with a different head coach in order to protect their young core.

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