It has already been three weeks since the Wolves have had to deal with Karl-Anthony Towns, who recently underwent surgery to tear a meniscus in his left knee. After nine matches played without him, they are holding up pretty well with a record of 6 wins and 3 losses.
But has the absence of “KAT”, the team’s second best scorer behind Anthony Edwards, changed Minnesota’s style of play? A little, even if it's obviously unconscious.
“We didn't make a deliberate decision to say: we need to shoot more 3-pointers because Towns isn't there. This is a consequence of our spacing”, analyzes the coach Chris Finch.
Yes, the Wolves are shooting more from behind the arc since the interior is no longer there. His 5.3 attempt average has more than made up for it, and players like Naz Reid, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jordan McLaughlin are benefiting.
“Guys try to fill that role by doing different things. They find spaces and gaps,” explains Mike Conley. “There are formations where there are five of us behind the arc, spacing and no one is in the racket. We do pick-and-rolls with outsiders, with Edwards or Kyle Anderson. »
Wolves used to playing without “KAT”
The figures confirm the coach's words. Before the All-Star's injury, the team was taking about 32 penalty shots per game. Since his injury, they have gone to 35 shots on average. And this inflation of shots has not damaged the percentage: they have a nice 39% success rate.
“I haven’t asked for low post action in a while”says Chris Finch. “I always thought that shots came from spacing. If the spaces are good and we have the good duels, then we have the good 3-point positions. »
We must not forget that the Wolves played a lot without “KAT” last season. The latter had been absent for almost four months between the end of November and the end of March and had, in the end, only played 29 matches in 2022/23.
“We play a little faster in transition. We have several ball carriers to start the game and the ball passes into everyone's hands a little earlier. We played a lot like this last season so we are comfortable,” remembers the coach.
