Minnesota had great expectations for last season: they were coming from a nice 46-36 season and had signed Rudy Gobert who would play alongside Towns and make Minnesota a good defensive team. In fact, the Wolves became a top 10 team on defense but their offense fell apart: after being #7 in the previous year on offense, they were just #23 last season. The Wolves weren’t simply worthy of any trust last year as they had the #2 best mark in the West vs winning teams (25-22 record, only beaten by Denver), but went 17-18 in games against losing teams. They even “managed” to lose against the tanking Blazers late in the season while being favored by 19 points! Despite playing most of the time with 2 “legit bigs”, Minnesota was one of the worst rebounding teams in the league on both ends of the floor.
2023/24 OUTLOOK:
The Wolves decided to maintain the same structure that they formed last season. They are betting again that Towns will find a way to play well alongside Gobert. Last season, the team’s numbers on offense when they shared the court were putrid, so coach Finch will have to make adjustments so this kind of lineup can function.
Anthony Edwards is now clearly their franchise player, but how will he coexist with KAT? The challenge of making these players fit well offensively was a big problem last season and it will be again the team’s biggest challenge in this new season. On the other hand, Minnesota will once again be a good defensive team: both Gobert and McDaniels are elite defensive players and with the size that they possess, the Wolves will remain elite on defense.
However, their lack of focus and discipline (they committed a lot of turnovers, bot5 in opponent’s FTs and bad rebounding) has hurt the team in the past, but maybe they will be mature now? If that doesn’t happen, then they will remain an inconsistent team by randomly alternating good performances with poor ones.