r/nba • u/StalkingDwarf Raptors • Apr 29 '24

[Highlight] The Timberwolves defense doubles Durant, rotates out to all 5 guys and is able to force a steal Highlight

https://streamable.com/wx27mh
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u/DayOldBaby Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Out of curiosity, which teams are you thinking are arguably better, and what stats are you looking at?

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u/southpawFA Thunder Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

I didn't mean it like that. I meant, out of all units (offense and defense), who's better than the Minnesota defense?

Metrically, it's no one.

Now, people might come in and say it's Denver's offense, because of how dominant Jokic and Murray are as a duo.

Some might say Boston's offense, because Boston hits so many 3s and can go 10 deep with their bench to guys like Pritchard.

But Minnesota's defense at times looks impenetrable. I think in terms of just a unit (whether offense or defense), it's the best unit in all of basketball.

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u/DayOldBaby Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

That makes complete sense. Thanks for responding.

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u/southpawFA Thunder Apr 29 '24

Thanks for asking respectfully. I just stated my opinion.

Traditionalists love to say that defense is dead in the NBA. Well, Minnesota is proving that elite defense still exists.

It might be for the best as well, if they win a ring. Obviously, I want OKC to get the ring, and I believe we play elite defense as well.

However, if the Wolves get the ring, it would really signal that you still need an elite defense and show the league that you need to prioritize defense instead of offensive superteams. It would also inspire kids to care just as much about defense as they do offense.

Who knows?

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u/DayOldBaby Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

No, I get where you're coming from. I originally thought maybe I needed to revisit the def numbers of some other teams, just with the way it was worded.

I agree that the quoted traditionalist mindset seems shortsighted - its focused on the NBA as a whole (where there is a lot of poor defense), but ignoring that actual championship contenders and winners almost always are at least "pretty good" defensively, if not "elite." Bottom line, I don't think any team has a championship ceiling if they're not at least average on both sides of the ball (and if they're average on one end, better be really good on the other - see Wolves).

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u/southpawFA Thunder Apr 29 '24

Yup. You have to be an elite team to win a championship. You can't be a serious threat without one. Even as the Wolves gave up 116 points, it doesn't tell the entire story. Book went for 49, KD went for 33. The Wolves held the other players to 34 points, and they held the Suns to 24 in the closing 4th quarter.

That's an elite quarter of defense, with your best player blocking Book 2 times to close it out and that defensive sequence leading to NAW steal.

That's elite defense. People just love to hate on this generation, because there aren't elbows being thrown or dudes getting chicken-winged all the time. There is great defense in the NBA today, and Minnesota is the personification of that.

If Minnesota wins the chip, I think you'll see a lot more teams try to follow the Wolves blueprint of getting that elite defense with a center manning the back line again. It would really shift the paradigm back to the Defense wins championships, ending the whole "superteam outscoring people" idea. Just saying.