Visionary Tim Connelly: Building Champions in Minnesota – An Unforeseen Journey

Tim Connelly had a vision that no one else could have believed in. And it wasn’t about the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team he currently manages. It was he who drafted Nikola Jokic in 41st position for the Nuggets in 2014. He who picked Jamal Murray a year later. He who brought Michael Malone, thrown by the Sacramento Kings, onto the Denver bench. And it was again he who put in place the transfer of Aaron Gordon, a player he imagined as the perfect complement to Jokic and Murray. He built this group of champions. Then he left a year before the first coronation of the Colorado franchise.

Because he accepted a new challenge in the meantime: taking to the top an organization that had only won two playoff series (before this season) in its 34 years of existence. That’s how he ended up in Minneapolis. The challenge is immense and the GM did not hesitate to take risks upon his arrival. He was looking for a third star to surround an emerging Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Players of this caliber don’t deliberately sign for Wolves. And they are rarely on the market. Connelly therefore jumped at the first opportunity by letting go of five players and four draft rounds to recover Rudy Gobert in the summer of 2022.

Big trade, big pressure, big disillusionment

Except that the French pivot, who will undoubtedly be a Hall Of Famer after winning a fourth DPOY trophy this year, is not a conventional star in this league. He can’t score 25 points with his eyes closed while making complicated shots night after night. He shines in a completely different register, nevertheless very important: defense. The manager saw that. Once again, he imagined what seemed unimaginable: a team that wins with two seven-foot players at a time when coaches want as much space as possible on offense and as much mobility as possible on defense.

As expected, or almost, the experience did not really bear fruit. In any case, not right away. The Wolves, who dreamed of the top 4 in the West, won only 42 matches and qualified for the playoffs at the last minute as eighth through the play-in. The combination of the two interiors did not seem to work: Towns missed 53 games due to injury and Gobert struggled to adapt to his new environment. His blood shot – a right towards his teammate Kyle Anderson at the end of the season – demonstrated the frustration and lack of chemistry between the player and his new partners.

Rudy Gobert

Credit: Getty Images

Denver won the first three games of the first round against Minnesota. Tim Connelly’s bet was strongly criticized, the transfer for the France team being sometimes even defined as “the worst in history.” Then the T-Wolves won Game 4 before making the future champions sweat profusely during Game 5. Something was created in these two matches. But no one saw that. Except them. Except him, who already knew.

A year later, the two squads found themselves in the Conference semi-finals. But the statuses are no longer the same. The team coached by Chris Finch earned everyone’s respect by winning 56 matches while being in the lead in the West for a long time (third at the finish). Suddenly, everything clicks. The chemistry is much better, the players trust each other fully and everyone knows their role perfectly and excels at their task.

“I have never played for a team where the guys understand each other so well, support each other and want to see others shine,” underlined Rudy Gobert. And you can feel it on the ground. If the Wolves have the best defense in the league, the one that is precisely suffocating the Nuggets, it is not only because they can count on the genius of the native of Saint-Quentin or on extraordinary athletes that are Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. They’re not just good on man or individual defense. They shine collectively, with perfectly executed rotations and a common desire to shut down the opponent.

Winter is already here

It all starts with Gobert. It is only logical that he feels better settled within his new team. He was able to move into his own house, develop a deeper relationship with his coaches and partners. They trust him – especially Edwards, the superstar whose leadership rubs off on everyone – and they understand how much he can bring them.

The Timberwolves limited the Nuggets to 80 points, their lowest total this season, and 34% shooting success in Game 2 largely in their favor (80-106). “Gobzilla” was however missing since his partner gave birth to their first child. However, from the end of the game, Finch wanted to highlight the influence of his pivot. “Rudy is the originator of our defensive culture. This game exemplified the impact he had on others, how he showed how important defense is and the level that the “We can achieve when we defend seriously.”

Nikola Jokic Rudy Gobert

Credit: Getty Images

Great teams are not built in a day. Tim Connelly, architect of the Nuggets who took eight years to reach the Holy Grail from the moment Nikola Jokic stepped on an NBA floor, knows something about this. The irony is that he built the Wolves precisely by keeping in mind all the ingredients to destroy the puzzle he had assembled in Denver. His players dismantle him piece by piece. They are built to annihilate all the forces of Jokic and his comrades.

For the first time in two years, the Serbian virtuoso finds himself without a solution. He’s shooting 42%, so, so, so far from his standards, and he’s already lost 11 balls in the first two matches of the series. Because he constantly has a big guy facing him, whether it’s Towns, Gobert or Naz Reid. “I would have to clone myself,” he admitted helplessly. The observation is even more striking for Murray, the other playing master. The Canadian is in great difficulty against the golgoths of the Minnesota back line. He is averaging 12 points and 28% shooting.

The Wolves still have some limitations, such as their half-court offensive play, which may prevent them from going all the way. Gaps that Connelly was perhaps thinking of filling later. His team still seems already ready. She is even still undefeated in these playoffs after six matches. Few could have thought that before the start of the season. But he had seen all that.

2024-05-10 02:38:35
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