Minnesota Timberwolves: Breaking down Gersson Rosas’ early impact

Improved results

While the Timberwolves record since the All-Star break isn’t very inspiring, statistics show indicators that there’s a real internal change in progress. The most evident sign is the Wolves’ 3-point shooting numbers.

Before the break, Minnesota shot the third-most 3-pointers in the league but hit them at a 33.2 percent rate, the second-worst in the NBA. Since the break, the Wolves have attempted roughly the same amount of threes per game, 39.8, yet have made them at a 35.6 percent clip, up to 20th amongst other teams.

The improved 3-point shooting has had positive ripple effects on the team’s entire offense. In the 11 games since the break, the Wolves are scoring 117.4 points per game, the sixth-best mark in the league. Before the break, they were 14th in the league with 112.4 points per game.

The Wolves have also played much faster, transitioning from a pace of 103.37 before the break, the 7th best in the league, to the fastest team in the NBA post break, holding a pace of 106.77. The reason for these numbers has largely been in part to the team’s new backcourt of D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley.

Beasley, a career 38.8 percent 3-point shooter, has been on a tear during his time in Minnesota. In 14 games, Beasley is averaging 20.7 points per game and shooting around eight threes a game at 42.6 percent. He’s been a great partner to Russell as a wing who can space the floor, drain catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, and put the ball on the ground when needed.

Russell, who has been on the move a few times in the past 12 months, now seems to have found a permanent home. In his 12 games for the Wolves, he’s averaging 21.7 points per game, and 6.6 assists, all without star center Karl-Anthony Towns.

While the sample size post-All-Star break isn’t enormous, the numbers do suggest that Rosas’s vision for the team’s future will both modernize and improve their offensive attack.