The Wolves picked up a great win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night. There was a lot to love about the way the team played, but a few things stood out. Here are three things I noticed:
Okogie’s Instant Impact
Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau has a reputation for being fairly tight with his rookies’ playing time, so it’s understandable that some fans were worried that Okogie’s minutes would take a hit with Minnesota getting closer to full health and bringing in two rotation pieces via trade. However, Okogie is making it near impossible to keep him on the shelf. Even if he only sees the court for a few minutes, he can make a difference.
Okogie simply makes plays that change games. There are plenty of clichés to turn to—call him a “spark plug,” or an “instant energy guy,” but however you choose to characterize it one thing is for sure: the Wolves will win more games when Okogie is on the court. The athletic guard finished with 11 points in 14 minutes of action. He also picked up three steals and five rebounds.
In his most impressive sequence, Okogie sniffed out a loose-ball for a steal and changed course in mid-air for an acrobatic layup on the break. Next possession, he wrestled down a rebound in a crowd of Pelicans players and was fouled before hitting a three on the other end. All this came at a time when the Wolves had started to lag and it looked like the game might slip away. Okogie brought them right back.
The Best Of Both Wiggins’
Much has been made about Andrew Wiggins’ lack of aggressiveness and the Wolves’ desire for him to act as more of a floor spacer. After Jimmy Butler was traded, Wiggins expected to move back to shooting guard, a prediction that bore itself out last night. He talked pregame about looking to attack the rim more, and in a position where he was more able to better take advantage of his length and size, Wiggins played very well. He put together several impressive finishes at the rim including a driving dunk on a feed from Karl-Anthony Towns, and he just barely missed a put-back slam that would have been the highlight of the season. The Wolves want Wiggins to attack, and when he does it, the reasons behind that desire are obvious. He’s an impressive athlete and he can finish over even the biggest rim protectors in the league.
Here’s the thing though: while Wiggins was more aggressive last night, he didn’t give up the three-point shooting that he’s been working on for the past few years. Wiggins attacked the rim, but he also shot confidently from range, finishing 4-of-9 from deep. Wiggins is in the midst of a career year shooting the three; he’s averaging 41.7 percent from beyond the arc.
There’s no reason the Wolves can’t have the floor spacing Wiggins and the aggressive Wiggins. The two facets of the talented forward’s game complement each other beautifully.
His shooting opens up driving lanes and his ability to get past guys forces opposing players to give him space on the wings. Wiggins has been a source of frustration at times for Wolves fans, but the early returns on bringing him back to a larger role on offense are very promising. Oh, and he had three steals and a block too.
New Blood… New Game
Robert Covington and Dario Saric, both brought to the Wolves in a trade with Philadelphia early this week, looked great in their debut outings. Obviously, neither has a full grasp of the Wolves’ playbook, but even just looking at the few actions they were able to run after a brief crash-course during shootaround, it’s clear Covington and Saric not only fit with what the Wolves do now, but will also open up new possibilities for the team.
Saric is the best playmaker and passer the Wolves have had at the power forward spot in years. He’s a creative player with a great feel for the game and he’s capable of guarding multiple positions on switches. Though he didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, the variety of shots he took is a cause for celebration. He took threes, posted up, drove and finished at the rim and constantly kept his head up, looking around for teammates. Off the ball he moved well—Saric is a lot bigger than you think, and he can either roll or pop after screens. He’s also a good enough dribbler to execute pick and rolls as the ball-handler. Imagine Towns setting screens for Saric! It will take some work to figure out how to best utilize Saric’s skills, but his addition to the team raises the ceiling for what this squad can execute on offense exponentially.
Covington fits nicely into the role vacated by Jimmy Butler. Though he isn’t the same type of physical on-ball defender that Butler is, he’s a better shooter from deep and he clearly knows what he’s doing playing defense inside a team scheme. He has a great sense for predicting and intercepting passes, and his understanding and communication on the defensive end will be incredibly valuable. He will teach players like Okogie and Wiggins so much about defense and will certainly be drawing some of the Wolves’ more difficult defensive assignments on a nightly basis.
Covington offers a ton of lineup flexibility, too. The Wolves trotted out a lineup of Tyus Jones, Okogie, Covington, Saric and Gorgui Dieng for stretches. When I saw those five on the floor I was initially worried by the lack of a go-to scorer in the bunch, but instead we got a ton of ball movement and real team basketball. It was fun to watch. Take that same group and substitute in Jeff Teague and Towns and you’ve got an extremely dangerous defensive group and a ton of shooting around Towns.
The Wolves showed yesterday that their team can be much more than the sum of its parts. Covington and Saric are two great pieces for Thibodeau to play around with. It’s going to be a ton of fun to see the results.