Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns slyly criticized by Austin Rivers for Warriors loss: "Their big man was Draymond"
The Minnesota Timberwolves gave up a fortune to acquire Rudy Gobert in the 2022 offseason, and to say that their bet hasn't paid off would be an understatement.
The Timberwolves went down 114-137 on Sunday as the Golden State Warriors took home just their second away-win. Stephen Curry logged a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double, whereas Draymond Green rallied behind with a 17-point, 11-assist double-double of his own.
Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins added 24, 21, and 17 points, respectively.
Despite a fourth-quarter rally led by Anthony Edwards that cut a 20-plus point lead down to 10 and brought the Wolves within striking distance, a nine-point swing led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson sent the Wolves packing.
The Warriors outscored the Wolves in the paint 50-44, despite playing Kevon Looney, their traditional center, for only 22 minutes. Every Timberwolves starter had a rough defensive night and gave up no less than 1.29 points per possession.
On the offensive end of the ball, Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert combined for just 30 points, with Towns shooting one-for-five from three-point range.
With less than four minutes to go in the game, this offensive possession rounded up the night for the Wolves, as Gobert and Towns failed to go past significantly undersized Kevon Looney and Draymond Green.
There’s no way you guys thought this would work.. Utah really robbed Minnesota blind https://t.co/t1MOrc3MbO
To Looney's credit, neither Towns nor Gobert, both of whom are listed at seven feet or taller, could go up against him without eventually fumbling the ball. The turnover culminated in a transition 3-pointer from Klay Thompson, completing the nine-point swing.
After the game, Austin Rivers covertly commented on Gobert and Towns' performances in the game:
“If we are going to play (big), we’ve got to dominate in the paint,” Rivers said after the 137-114 loss, “If we’re going to play big, we’ve got to be big. Their big man was Draymond today."
“If we’re going to play big, we’ve got to be big.” — Austin Rivers on what has been an existential problem for the Wolves, who have looked a lot bigger than they play. theathletic.com/3941569/2022/1…
A severe lack of discipline is undoing the Rudy Gobert trade
A big part of the Timberwolves' struggles is the disorganized way in which they defend with Rudy Gobert. This not only holds the Timberwolves back from being an elite defense, but also creates issues for Gobert.
Rudy Gobert's defensive rating so far this season is 108, the worst of his career. While part of it could just be that we're only 20 games in, part of it is a lack of discipline from their starters when they're on the floor with Gobert.
Putting Rudy Gobert in positions where he has to contest a shot all the way out on the perimeter or switch to a smaller guard creates an unnecessarily imbalanced defensive scheme, where Gobert is left shouting defensive coverage while remaining in drop.
The Timberwolves finished 13th in DRTG last year and are currently the 14th best defense in the league. With 20 games in the books, the "superteam" in Minnesota leaves a lot to be desired.