The Timberwolves Have A Kyle Anderson Problem…
Welcome to another hows and grows postgame breakdown today we’re going to weave what was a strange performance by the Minnesota Timberwolves into what has been a consistent issue for them this season it’s all about turnovers and Kyle Anderson the two biggest issues in their offense right now they ended up winning
This game against the Dallas Mavericks and that’s obviously a very positive sign even without Luca donic and Kyrie Irving playing in this game but once again those two issues cropped up up and became really obvious Minnesota turned the ball over on a massive 22% of their possessions which equals their worst
Performance of the season and they’re now 28th in the lead for turnover percentage coughing it up on 15.6% of their possessions with Anderson Well he was a lifesaver for the Wolves last season but as his three-point shot has fallen off a cliff so has his Effectiveness Minnesota
Was outscored by 11 points in his his 27 minutes in this game meaning they won the 21 minutes he didn’t play by 18 points this game was another example of how his downfall and the turnovers are related so let’s start with how that went down right away you’re going to see
How far his man is going to creep off him on this Edwards Drive the defense is not paying him any mind in the corner and that’s become a problem so when ant drives Anderson wants to lift out of that corner to have more driving space
If he does get the ball Edwards has to pass out to avoid Anderson’s man and he ends up throwing it to nobody again they are loading up on the driver and ignoring Anderson here Lively is camped out in the paint and when Conley starts to get downhill he has no problem coming
All the way over here and trapping Conley on the Baseline Conley steps out of bounds but even then he was still going to whip a tough pass around the corner to avoid passing it to Anderson beyond the AR so they going to try and use him as a screener but the defense is
Far too happy still to leave Anderson alone as soon as cat starts to make his move Jones Jr steps into his path to take away the drive happily allowing Anderson to be alone there’s things that towns here or Edwards and Conley before could have done better in these situations but Anderson’s presence
Offensively is making their decisions much harder again there’s too much willingness to leave him and stunt Minnesota options look how far Tim Hardaway Jr is in help here in relation to Anderson over in the corner that’s completely taking away this pass to go so they have to recycle the ball and
When it swings to the other side of the floor Hardway is in here in gap help again it’s clearly not Anderson’s fault that McDaniels fumbles this ball but he blows up the original action with his inability to space the floor and he allows Dallas to throw another body at
That McDaniels drive again Jones is happy to sit in here to crowd the drive leaving Anderson alone to roam in behind him now you’ve got three bodies surrounding Edwards and both Anderson and goar clogging up the lane again Edwards needs to make a better decision
Than this pass but it’s a lot of heavy offensive lifting to do with such poor spacing around him it’s just hard to survive non-shooter minutes in today’s NBA and Anthony Edwards thrives in Space the floor when Anderson is out there really seems to be shrinking around him
Just look how far Dwight pal is from Anderson here there’s no threat there at all so when towns drives pal can just roam into here and build a wall in front of him Anderson’s back cut doesn’t do anything to prevent what’s going to happen and towns bumbles his way right
Into the defense giving up an offensive foul in the process there are so many great things that Anderson does as a Defender but his offensive issues aren’t making up for them right now and it hasn’t just been in this game on the season Minnesota scores 6.8 points fewer
Per 100 possessions when Anderson is on the floor ranking in the 24th percentile League wide they also turn it over 1.1% more often which doesn’t sound too bad but it ranks in the 25th percentile and it’s a big deal for a team who already turned it over way too much as a
Collective that’s what happens when you have a guy shooting 133% from three playing the small forward position this is becoming a nightly issue for Minnesota even if they run him as the point guard they can mitigate some of those issues but eventually they’ll crop up in some way shape or form he’s
Running the pick and roll with towns here but as soon as towns catches Anderson’s Man is leaving him to join the crowd that’s going to surround cat I’ll keep saying it the player committing the turnover needs to do better than this weird sling pass from towns but they’re playing four on five
Offensively and that’s just playing into the defense’s hands they’re running him up top on this possession too but that’s just allowing Joel MB to Sag off him here to double Nar Reed still Anderson doesn’t want to shoot so he tries to touch pass lob into Reed anyway and
That’s a killer live ball turnover again here they’re running him at point to try and circumvent some of those spacing issues he gets off the ball early but when Reed drives his man is digging in here immediately that means Reed is stuck operating in traffic and Anderson
Is in 10 ft of space out here again that’s four on five basketball and it’s hard for any scorer to get off when they’re going to be swarmed by that floating Defender so Anderson is d driving up turnover percentage as a spacer and as a pseudo point guard but
He’s also just driving up those turnovers by committing them himself so far this season Anderson is turning the ball over on 15.9% of his possessions the third worst percentage among all non-point guards who have played at least 500 minutes so far this season even if the Wolves could
Survive the accidents that his spacing issues cause it’s hard for the offense to survive him coughing it up at an ungodly rate as well I’m not going to sit here and profess to have the answers as to how to fix this I’m not sure a rookie like Leonard Miller or a young
Player like Josh Mino is going to be the answer but it’s very obvious that right now Kyle Anderson is a problem for Minnesota’s offense and for their turnovers and in general Minnesota has a problem with their offense and their turnovers in terms of the League’s best
The Boston cel are one of the most well drilled defenses in the league and watch how they treat him here the entire team is happy to let him curl through here to the open corner while his man is a roaming double team here the wolves do
Well to pass out of the defense and swing it around the horn to find Anderson in the corner but when he beats the close out cornette isn’t coming up here to stop him he’s just going to linger in the paint and then cut off Anderson’s pass when it comes
Again the kings are hard helping on the ball and leaving him alone in the corner so the rim is blocked up the Wolves swing it around again to find the seam and then Anderson’s confusion within the offense starts to show he’s in here cramping up the spacing the ball comes
To him because Shake Milton can’t score either but not even an open mid-range shot is scaring the defense they’re not coming up here he’s not going to shoot it and he ends up yering back into traffic where the ball gets poked away and really this might be the most common
Possession we’ve seen from slowmo this season it’s an isolation scorer trying to get into their bag Anderson’s man is here and he’s shading over a ton so Anderson is the obvious Outlet when he gets the ball his man doesn’t budge he’s giving him all of this space and then
When Anderson tries to get into his drive and kick game he ends up rushing and passing the ball out of bounds and turning it over without really making the defense have to think or work at all and that’s kind of just where we are at right now with Anderson a player who I
Really loved watching last season and he’s still a plus Defender and a plus leader but his turnover proone nature right now is further weakening Minnesota’s weakest Point offensively thanks again for watching how and GRS Please Subscribe for more
The man who saved them last season is doing … not that.
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42 Comments
Finch is a clown if he continues to play him
KAT and ANT need to learn to give up the ball BEFORE they get fully doubled or tripled.
their turnovers are a result of selfish play. both are very selfish, resulting in charging calls (KAT) and terrible passes/shots (ANT).
these two nearly cost the game last night due to their selfishness……
This is so disrespectful. We have held the best record and best defense in west/nba by multiple games for weeks now. Kyle is a factor of that. He’s an extremely versatile wing that switch on guard 5 positions. These new wagon wolves fans are so spoiled
we need to trade him. He is slow and can't shoot. His teammate literally celebrated like they won a world championship ring whenever he makes a 3 LOL
Wow, dude got 27 minutes !
I do agree that he has a confidence issue going on. And that the wolves need to help him out somehow however number 1 in the NBA while he is struggling ain't bad. He will pick it up.
Looks like part of the problem is that the team doesnt like him
Just pass him the stupid ball when nobody guards him
Playing TBJ instead of Slomo is the obvious answer. I don’t think it will happen tho, Finch is too attached to Slomo
If you're telling me Josh Minott or Leonard Miller couldn't camp out on the corner there and knocked down a few wide open 3's and crash the glass a little better than Anderson could then you're a finch apologist. Are you really telling me the only reason these 2 insane athletic freaks haven't seen the floor is because the coaching staff is worried about them messing up defensive rotations? That's why they have jobs. Your job is to get these players to know and learn these things on the floor and off.
For god sakes Anderson still blows his assignments all of the time and Edwards and Towns basically do whatever they want on offense. Maybe it's time for finch to earn his paychecks and start coaching up these young guys. His "Free flowing" offense is 17th best in the league and a turnover machine. It's time to make some changes. That's what good coaches do. Rudy is already enough of a liability on offense for this team at times. You can't have another clone of him offensively that doesn't play DPOY level defense.
That's exactly what i noticed last night, wolves were refusing to pass the ball to kyle when he's in the corner leading to bad play making and turnover
I kept wanting to say he’s worth it on the floor defensively, but if you could get somewhat similar defense from Minott or Miller, maybe it’s worth it to at least get them out there for a few minutes and see what they can do. The offense has been terrible with Slowmo out there. Sucks because he was such a good player overall last season.
Weird time to bring the point up, Kyle made his biggest steps tonight of all season, and NOW? Is the time it’s an issue?? Wholly disagree. If Kyle starts to take and make the three at even a 1/3 rate when wide open, we’ll be fine.
Ooohh thank god ! I thought it was just me that thinks this about him…..
Those against this guy… he s literally showing footage of how other teams are adjusting when Kyle is on the court… it’s a 4v5 situation… Finchy needs to either readjust or Kyle needs to hit 3s so defender stays wide…
Isn’t this the same guy verbally abusing Gobert?! The potential DPoY or a buster the other team laughs at? 🤔
You think Timberwolves will offer Towns for Kevin Durant?
I'm not even a TWolves fan, but your breakdowns are so well done, I don't want to miss them. If only someone were doing this at the same level for the Thunder. Kudos for terrific videos.
if KA could hit even 40% of 3s, and give up half as many TOs MN's offense would be very scary.
Love the breakdown. The stats and film support it, SloMo has to go.
Anderson has obvious problem and while I dont want to throw accusations, I wonder if his ego is not to blame. The way he celebrate whenever he is able to score a 3 pointer, the way he smiles sometimes when he has a defensive breakdown. I dont like that, and its a big problem for a team that could pose as a contender this season.
It doesn't make sense to have him and rudy and slo mo on the court at the same time
Kyle brings great length and experience on the defensive end and is one of the few guys that can get a pass to Gobert. Kyle also hit two shots from the corner. The only problem them wolves had last night was bad turnovers.
I keep wondering if the eye injury last season and the resulting surgery has affected him.
We need Miller in if Kyle is not hitting shots
I thought it was really weird how the Wolves on offense kept running into groups of guys and not passing to open man. Then I also saw Anderson who was in the corner except far away from the corner, get passed the ball but because Anderson wasn't in the corner or in a spot that was easy to get a pass to, he missed catching the ball and it went OB.
They have some issues here with some of their decisions making, spacing and passing. They have been making poor plays and turning the ball over.
Anderson seems like a contributor to this.
I think Slo Mo may need to be traded for a back up PG
Get em tf outta here now ! 💯😂
Only Kyle Anderson and kat could find Rudy before we got mike conley Kyle Anderson also gets clutch blocks n steals
Great Video Jake.
Could this be solved if Anderson plays solely as a back up point guard?
He's the best defender but worst offense in the team, last year his offense one of the best, the eye injury really effect him now.
Also the two man btw anderson and gobert was effective last year, its non existant so far.
You nailed it. 👍
noticed this ALL year. anderson is really 'slo-mo'!
he's unfortunetly the weak link.
he's slow, takes forever to aim his shot, only really decent weaving to the basket, and his def is suspect.
i'd much prefer anyone else out there.
only benefit…is he's a vet! and maybe has good exp.
dude needs to be at the end of the bench or retire.
The amount of times this year that Kyle has the ball in his hands when the shot clock is running down infuriates me.
Makes a lot more sense now. Felt we ran into a lot of crowds especially during this game. Good to see Anderson hit a 3 (could have been 2 if his foot wasn’t on the line) but needs to be more consistent for the team and probably his future at the wolves.
I think Miller is next up. Hard to see him replacing Anderson this year unless something drastic happens. Be good to see him get some decent game time against more talented players and different actions, so we can see if he ready for that next step.
Yep he needs to go really hurting the team
Give more time to troy brown
The overall answer is more get action. Just all over the place.
SloMo in the high post, ball-handler passes it to him, then runs past SloMo, treating him like a screen. SloMo then makes a read on whether to hand-off, to the runner, pass it to them as they curl, or drive it himself. What this does is it puts SloMo in a stationary position, which is a strength for him as a player, but it makes that spot useful to the team on offense AND it forces the defense to guard him. If they play off him, the ball-handler now has an easy run to the basket. This is essentially how Golden State made Draymond his most effective the past 5 years, and there's some good clips of him rolling to an open basket every time the defense forgot he had the ball.
Combine that with a cut and/or Reid/Kat on the weakside corner waiting for an open 3 (I'm not looking to just put them in the corner, but rather a good spot for the team when running this play in order to keep teams honest on SloMo)
The wolves also need to be running this constantly with Edwards+Kat. Edwards with the ball, passing to Kat, then using him as a screen. If the defense doesn't double Edwards, there is likely an opportunity for him to either drive or get an open shot. If the defense doubles Edwards, then KAT has an open path to the basket or shot. Where Draymond Green had to go to the rim in order to score, KAT also has the option of knocking down distant shots.
TL/DR: I agree, they need to find ways to force the defense to defend SloMo honestly, and punish them when they don't. The easiest way is designed movement going around Anderson, it's the best way to "hide" a weak offensive player.
Kyle needs to go. Other contenders are going to make trades to get better. Wolves BETTER not stay pat.
I love that we can be this upset even in losses now.
Hey man! I’m a huge twolves fan and a big fan of what you’re doing on here! I make hip hop beats and other music that I think could fit really well into the production of these videos. I’d be happy to help just for the fun of it if that’s something that’s interesting for you!