It was one of his great signings out of season. Minnesota Timberwolves he mortgaged his future on a belief, which Carl Anthony Towns it could reach its best version next to another interior. And not just any: Rudy Gobert. The Frenchman is perfectly qualified for the current state of the game in his position. Moves very well laterally for his height, has long arms, is agile, understands the defense well… However, all the good things he does defensively do not translate in the same way on offense, where he tends to be a “nuisance”. times. The complete opposite of CAT.
This combination of characteristics, virtues and limitations produced a strange cocktail for them wolves. On paper, what is expected is that they will become one of the best defenses and one of the most versatile attacks. But throughout the month of the season they were unable to achieve that goal. They’re in the same spot they were a year ago, stuck in the middle of the West and in the middle of the Play-In race.
With all that in mind, it’s time to review the pair’s performance Karl Anthony Towns-Rudy Gobert so far and try to answer the question whether the transfer was an error or not.
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Towns and Gobert under the magnifying glass
More than a month into the season provides a large enough sample to begin to draw some conclusions about aspects of the game. Although nothing is definitive and only the passing of the weeks will confirm or deny what the data reveals, some trends are now beginning to be sensed.
In this period of time Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert have shared the court 390 minutes, which translates to the ninth most common pairing on the Minnesota Timberwolves. A fact that has made them the fourth most effective duo. Although to tell the truth +0.2 from net score It is not for Chris Finch to be overly happy as the scope for negatives is minimal.
What is it? Mainly due to Minnesota’s poor defensive performance when the two were on the floor at the same time. Theirs offensive percentage set is from 106.6, which would translate to the third-worst offense in the NBA, surpassed only by the Hornets and Lakers. While in defense (105.1) the data is good, but not crazy.
The reasons things aren’t going well for the Timberwolves at this stage of the game is because Gobert greatly affects distance. The French has no shooting range, which reduces its scope in the area itself. Additionally, he doesn’t have optimal passing ability, so offensively his contribution is limited to block placement and offensive rebounding.
When you consider that the vast majority of the offense of the likes of Towns or Anthony Edwards is based on the outside-in attack (splits, half-advantages, etc.), it’s understandable that their effectiveness with Gobert on the court is so low .
A visual example:
Here you can see that, after a direct block between Russell and Gobert, Towns gets a header, but the entire paint is crowded with opposing players. However, he decides to go against the rim, the Frenchman’s pairing jumps in aggressively to help and no one replaces him because they know Gobert is not a threat. The result? Loss of ball.
At worst, given the offensive limitation the French player can offer, he tends to place a blind block (hammer) before dividing by the opposite side. The problem is that the distance around him is terrible and his synchronization nor does it help:
All this becomes clearer by observing the table below:
| Condition | Minutes | offensive percentage | defense ratio | Net Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towns and Gobert on the court | 370 | 106.7 | 105.2 | +1.5 |
| Cities in court; Gobert out | 286 | 116.8 | 116.8 | 0 |
| Gobert on the field. cities outside | 117 | 103.2 | 108.1 | -4.9 |
The balance is what she felt at the moment when the TRANSPORT. When the two share the field they are not effective. If it’s just Towns, the defense falls apart. And if there is only Gobert, the opposite is true.
The question they should be asking themselves in the Timberwolves front office is if it was worth the risk So many elements of the Draft that they end up in a similar position to last season. All this with a clear shooting deficit (32.6%, 4th worst) and a defense that is in the top 10 but very close to league average.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
