Minnesota Lacks A Plan Late
Last night against the Dallas Mavericks, the Minnesota Timberwolves found themselves down five points with 56 seconds left in the game with possession. If the Timberwolves were able to get a basket here, it would be a one possession game they would be able to put pressure on the Mavericks with the hope of getting a stop. Instead, the Timberwolves didn’t run much of a play and it resulted in a turnover:
This play starts with a double pindown screen to get the ball in Wayne Ellington’s hands. However, after that there is nothing else happening. You have the remaining three players standing around the perimeter and Anthony Randolph standing at the high post. Eventually the ball gets to Jonny Flynn in the corner, and Flynn attacks the rim and makes a terrible decision to kick the ball out, leading to a turnover.
My problem here is this, what are the Timberwolves running? It isn’t a straight isolation because Anthony Randolph is standing at the top of the key. Was the ball supposed to go to Randolph? Was there supposed to be a drive and kick? We don’t know, and I think it is safe to say that the players don’t know either, and that is a problem.
What it comes down to is coach Kurt Rambis and his inability to draw up a play in late game situations. To me, it almost seems like he lacks a plan late in games. Sure he doesn’t have the best players in the world (that decision to make the pass by Jonny Flynn was terrible), but I still put this on Rambis. As the coach, it is his job to put his players in the best position to succeed, and time after time it just seems that Rambis just has his guys go out there and play. If you get a shot and a miss, I am ok with that, but to come away with nothing (mainly because of the poor play design – if there was one – combined with poor decision making by Flynn), that just can’t happen.
I hate to keep writing about Rambis and his poor coaching decisions because it sounds like bashing, but over the course of this season we have seen this become a trend. From running the same play twice in a row late despite it not working the first time to poor clock management late in games, Rambis simply struggles with his decision making late in games. It is as if he doesn’t know what he wants to do. I know that Rambis is a young coach (still just his second season as a head coach), but his experience with Phil Jackson should have taught him one thing, you develop a plan and stick with it. Right or wrong, your players are going to know what is going to happen late if you have a plan that you are executing over and over. Right now, Rambis just seems to be making each decision independently when he is faced with it, and that is hurting his players’ performance. This play against Dallas is just the latest example.
