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Minnesota Timberwolves: Who’s prowling and who’s panting

By James Grieco

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 19: Taj Gibson #67, Karl-Anthony Towns #32, Derrick Rose #25 and head coach Tom Tibodeau of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts as Rose is called for a technical foul during the third quarter of the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 19, 2018 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Timberwolves defeated the Cavaliers 131-123. 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. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 19: Taj Gibson #67, Karl-Anthony Towns #32, Derrick Rose #25 and head coach Tom Tibodeau of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts as Rose is called for a technical foul during the third quarter of the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 19, 2018 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Timberwolves defeated the Cavaliers 131-123. 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. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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(Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
(Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /

The Minnesota Timberwolves have not started the 2018-19 season off terribly well, sitting at 2-3 through five games. What are the good and bad things to examine from the early slate?

After losing Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors, the Minnesota Timberwolves are now 2-3 overall and 0-3 on the road. While those five games came in only eight days and included the team ping-ponging from Texas to Minnesota and back to Texas again within four nights, the Wolves had a lead to start the fourth quarter against both the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks. And yet, they lost both of those games.

Things certainly aren’t at DEFCON 1 in October, but there have been some troubling patterns so far, with many of them carrying over from last season.

We’re going to take a look at several of those factors here. This is a Timberwolves-themed version of the “Risers and Fallers” concept; “Prowling,” a main trait of wolves’ hunting tactics, is good, while “Panting” is bad.

Each factor isn’t necessarily going to be an individual player, but could be an aspect of the team’s performance or any other flotsam needing to be pointed out. These are in no particular order, and the positivity or negativity of any of these articles depends on the weeks of play being analyzed.

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