Wolves 2026 Preseason Preview Podcast
Abhinav Bethi joins Sew:YKnot? to discuss his Substack Wolves Analysis & Coming Season
Background
This podcast is to celebrate the coming season, and is sort of the corollary to last week's preseason analysis post, Wolves' Ball Addition Signals Renewed Focus On Transition, Pick'n'roll And Movement.
We were inspired to invite Abhinav Bethi by a very good initial Substack post analyzing the Ball addition in the Wolves sub-Reddit. Though he's in India, he was quick to respond to our entreaties and sharp in his basketball analysis by and large. While we hope to have a variety of guests discussing the Wolves this season, we're almost assured to have Abhinav back.
During the podcast we discuss LaMelo Ball's addition, his impact on the offense, and how this reduced responsibility might help Anthony Edwards. We discuss the makeup of the frontcourt and especially the "4" in the absence of Randle & Reid, and how Williams, Lyles and Kuminga bring length, quickness and athleticism that was missing from the position, and for all three, this is a bit of second bite of the apple after disappointing starts to their careers.
We also discuss how these moves might reflect the Wolves post-season struggles and specifically what kind of offensive sets this represents and how this increased efficiency will help, alongside what their main issues were in the playoffs last year defensively and how these new additions help to address that. Finally we talk about the issue of spacing, how the added ballhandling will allow the Wolves to take better advantage of it, and how the challenge will be to find a "4" that can consistently hit their threes.
We finish by discussing our takes on potential finals teams.
Transcript
SewYKnotPublishing:This is So Why Not, and I'm your host, Chris Parker. discussing the upcoming Minnesota Timberwolf season today with Abhinav Bethi, AB, as I'll call him, to ease my linguistic challenges. did a great inaugural post on Substack and posted it in Reddit's Wolves section. I was intrigued enough to invite him on. we're gonna be talking, across maybe a dozen time zones right now. Hello AB,, how you doing this morning?
Abhinav Bethi:actually it's not morning for me. It's, 10:30 PM right now, so it's completely fine.
SewYKnotPublishing:There we go. Great, great. So, , let's just get right into it. Let's talk about your stack. You feel the Wolves' playoff offense was inefficient and maybe Edwards was carrying too much load. Why don't you, , tell me, what your thoughts were and your feelings are about that?
Abhinav Bethi:Yes, I do believe Minnesota has an offense problem because what I've seen was Minnesota never had this defensive problem because they had great defense with Rudy Gobert and Jared McDaniels. But what happened last season specifically was edward's injury and the way he was double team most of the time.
The stats say that in regular season he was double team almost 20% of the time. So what I assumed was, was taking too much pressure on himself with the injury itself. So that shows that a good amount of attack of Minnesota relies upon, Anthony Edwards. So that's what I thought.
So now with addition of Le Melo, they expand their, attack way more because there is more space now and there is a lot of players who are play making now.
SewYKnotPublishing:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, while Randall and Reid could play outside, they inevitably were at least half the time, getting into the paint and, on some level clogging things up because you have Gobert in the dunker position and there's just too many guys putting too many defenders down there. In addition, Edwards was a primary ball handler. So, , do you feel that taking away some of those play making responsibilities is going to, , help make the offense a little bit more, , efficient?
Abhinav Bethi:For sure, for sure. Because what happens when you take play making, abilities, you have to also think about the teammates around you, you have to create space, and then you have to also think about your own scoring because when it comes to scoring, specifically for Minnesota, it's mostly Ant doing it. So for now, for example, we also have, Jared McDaniels who can also...
Actually, the previou season Jared McDaniels was the one who did most of the play making. But at the end of the day, right now when we have an actual playmaker, like Lamelo Ball, we can see that in preseason that he's trying to find space. We are trying to find Anthony Edwards, if not, they're trying to find La Mello ball.
Even in preseason when Lamelo Ball is not on the court, it's Jaden McDaniels and Ant taking up the playmaking, task. With this, I think they have changed their offense a little bit, trying to find space more now. I think they're just trying to find more space now.
SewYKnotPublishing:. I agree. subsequent to, , reading AB's piece, I already had planned to, but I definitely, followed his lead a little bit in looking at the efficiency of the Wolves offense in the playoffs. And one of the things that I noted was that some of the sets and ways of scoring, isolation, spot up transition being the main ones, translating those into the playoffs, they lost efficiency and they couldn't create enough opportunities.
Now obviously some of that, , is just in the style of play. , if you, , when you visit the site, you can see the, , piece. And one of the things that I break down is you can see, that the number one way of utilizing their possessions, was spot up shooting. And they were very good at it during the season, , getting 1.12 points per, , possession, which was third in the league. , but when you came to the playoffs, , they even got more possessions of spot up, but efficiency dropped and they were 11th out of 16 playoff teams with 0.98 per possession. Similarly, their transition, which had been, , pretty efficient, , dropped off again during the playoffs. They were eighth during the season, 1.17 points per play. By the playoffs, it was 1.05, they were ninth. , interestingly, their ISO was just as good, was actually even better during the playoffs. They went from 0.96 to 1.03, but you just can't create enough ISO possessions. They had 11 per game during the season, almost 12 during the playoffs, but you're getting 27, , 25 possessions a game of spot up.
, you're getting 20 transition possibilities during the, even during the playoffs. And, pick and roll, teams are running about 20 of those a game. So ISO's just not a way to go, not to mention the fact that it gobs up movement and stops the ball from moving around.
So part of my thesis of my piece was that, by adding, , Lamello Ball, it was, changing the dynamic by creating, by having kind of long lean power forward guys like Kominga and Cody Williams and Lyles, , they were gonna be able to play a little bit more open and a little bit more perimeter and the ball's gonna be able to move and they're gonna be able to be more of a slashing kind of offense than post-up and isolation.
, AB, what's your take on that?
Abhinav Bethi:I agree with it actually. Beringer and Rudy add more muscle to the attack near the rim, in the finishing, in the paint also while covering the defense in their rotations. I've seen when Rudy is not there, they have both come to the, , court where in the rotation when Rudy was not there and they have added a lot more muzzle and we can see they're finishing at the rim.
I think Beringer needs a little bit more strength, but it's perfect. Actually, I think they're doing excellent when it comes to defense when, , in these rotations because it's not one single person that's doing it.
The only person I'd say is not doing that much in the defense is Lamello, but actually everyone is doing excellent, here.
And McDaniels, Cody Williams, those moves. All of these guys were at the pain trying to stop the players and their defense has been excellent. So defense has, has always never been a problem. But now, what we have seen, more of a transition is they're trying more and more to put Rudy Gobet to be that finisher at the rim.
So when Rudy Gobet is not available, there is Boehringer and also Lyles who can finish there. Now they not only have an offensive advantage of that, trying to find that space and try to hit those threes, but they also have people who can finish at the rim. This is an actually very good advantage for Minnesota.
Now they have a lot of different options in offense and defense.
SewYKnotPublishing:Yeah and it's an interesting point that they, they definitely can change things up when, when Gobert, , leaves the floor. They're gonna have to, , defensively because they just aren't that big. And we saw that a little bit, , in the game, , yesterday. , but at the same time, it opens up the floor.
, one of the things that was really fascinating watching Beringer play was that he's a pretty big guy and when he sets a pick, , like Gobert, that really opens up the, the ball handler and that o - that space in the floor, you know, with the guys now at the corner with these kind of more spacing, there's a lot of opportunity and obviously adding ball, , to McDaniels.
And, , as it turns out, Cody Williams and Kuminga both have good handles. So you really have a whole set of guys, four guys on the floor very often who can attack the close out and who are good in, , initiating out of some kind of pick and roll or some kind of, dribble, , advance.
Abhinav Bethi:And these guys are also great at hitting threes, Doshmu, Jalen McDaniels, and Cody. These guys can actually hit those threes. So now when you're, an opponent for Minnesota, you have to think about literally everyone right now, because now everyone can hit those threes, so all they gotta do is find some space.
And if you do somehow go near them, there are some two guys who can finish at the rim. So I think this is excellent for Minnesota when it comes to offense. I mean, the change in offense.
SewYKnotPublishing:point about at the rim, I haven't looked at that as much. I was, , I think it's an interesting point. What I looked at, , was how Lamelo Ball can also improve three point shooting. And one of the things I looked at in my post was the idea that, , if you looked at, let's say, Doncic or, Cade Cunningham,, , with the Pistons, you could see that they, they improved their players' three point shooting somewhat. It's very thorny to figure out how many baskets they're getting guys at the rim, how they're helping them with that. But, you can certainly look at how they are helping people's three point shooting, and you can see that LeMelo was adding four to five points to people's three point shootings from where he was getting them the ball.
He was getting them maybe two or three shots a game, and they were shooting five or six points above their, above their average, some of them. We're talking about, , Bridges and, , Brandon Miller and Knueppel.
And even Knueppel, who was shooting 41% for the season, shooting 49% on the passes he receives from Lumello Ball. So that the idea that he's giving people passes in good places, in good situations that's only gonna extenuate this kind of effect that we're talking about, , the spacing and the ability to drive closeouts.
Now, I wanna bring up one thing. Cody Williams really has not demonstrated his ability to hit the three yet. He's a 25% shooter in the NBA. He did, when he was at Colorado, shoot about 40% on low volume, so it might be there. He has a nice mid-range shot, , still remains to be seen. He's hit a couple during the free season. , Kuminga hit a couple last night. He's also been kinda sketchy down there by the 32s, 33s, still more playable than a 25. , but I think that that is going to be a weak spot and people are going to challenge those guys to hit threes. What do you think, AB?
Abhinav Bethi:Exactly. I think that is a very good point. But I believe it more depends on how much space do they have.
If you are creating Lamelo that he's finding, his spaces and makes their teammates better when they, it comes to threes. I think it's more or less on that space he finds. For example, we're talking about, cody Williams doesn't make many threes But if we were to find a space for him, I'm sure he can take that time and then he can hit those three. That is the kind of thing Lamelo is trying to do here. And that's what I've tried, I tried to see. But Cody, although we can talk about his three hitting abilities, I think he does a very good job when it comes to defense.
And he tries to move around the court very well that, and he's a very good asset actually, but if he were to, I understand that he hasn't been that, impressive when it comes to three point shooting, but if we find good enough space, I think La Melo can actually make anyone hit those threes.
It's just about the finding the right space. And Ant has always been that guy who can always hit those threes at very great accuracy. Ant has always been that guy.
SewYKnotPublishing:And one of the things that doesn't really get talked about or thought about with three point shooting, but is particularly an issue with big guys, and in particular Cody Williams and Kuminga, is that the load time for big guys with a three point shot is a lot longer in general. So they need that open space to kind of get the ball up there and get their shot through its mechanics.
, while Williams has a very smooth two point shot, his three point shot is a little rougher and it's the same issue with Kuminga. Kuminga's also, , a lot better at driving the, closeouts. he did it last night and then had a nice feed, to Gobert. And that's the other thing we're gonna see. If these guys can drive the closeouts, they're gonna have to rotate a defensive player, and Rudy's gonna be able to get a lot of easy cherry-picking buckets right there at the rim because his guy's gonna have to come over to handle these kinds of drives.
Abhinav Bethi:Exactly, that's the point. And now this will allow a lot of variety in their attack. , and , I completely, , agree with that ju - Rudy's point. I mean, he's going to be a very good, , offensive advantage for now Minnesota.
SewYKnotPublishing:Yeah. . And, the other thing that I, looked at, in my piece was that the defense has been very efficient during the season and somewhat efficient during the playoffs with a couple of exceptions. And as it turns out, their transition defense during the playoffs has been a little sketchy. And we saw that actually last night. , I feel personally that there's an aspect where the team, probably because it's a little young, does not really get back on defense as effectively when they aren't making their shots. And last night it led to a number of runs and it's an issue in the playoffs. This team, usually there's less opportunities to run during the playoffs, but somehow teams against the Wolves during the playoffs got two more opportunities a game to run than they did during the season.
That was number one in the, , playoffs, most allowed transition opportunities, and playoff, it was number sixth lowest or 10th, you know, 10th best, , 1.09 points per play on those kinds of situations. So it's a real tough situation, to be given up the e - one of the easiest, , kinds of scoring opportunities.
And the other problem was that they've had a continuing issue all year. Well, they always do. It's a Gobert, it's a Bigs issue with the pick and roll. And I think that the, , the choice of getting rid of Randall and Reid on some level was also a way of addressing this by getting more athletic players at the four position at least, who theoretically are going to be able to handle and, and, , move laterally a little better and provide more relief.
And to some extent, just watching Beringer, , out there so far, he is incredibly athletic and does look like he has the ability, to recover and, and make plays. So, , there's some reason to believe that what they're looking to do, , get longer, get quicker, , get into the passing lanes where all of their guys are very long.
I mean, you know, ball, Ayo, the very long guys, obviously Edwards, , Hylands, 6'10" arm length. So , it's possible. , , and it gets to another thing that I bring up in my analysis, which is that, , the team has some problems creating additional, , possessions. , they do very efficient with their possessions that they get by and large, but they need to create more.
And if you look at the four factors, which is something that you'll find on the NBA.com and is something people will talk about, it's about the four ways you create, kind of situations. , free throws, offensive rebounding, turnovers, and your own, , efficiency. And the team just does not create a lot of turnovers yet, and they make a fair amount of, which is another thing we saw.
So if you're gonna create more possessions, you're gonna have to either stop people from shooting, which they do very well, but they aren't creating the shots and they, they aren't, they aren't, , getting the offensive rebounds or stopping people from getting the offensive rebounds. , and that's gonna be another thing that we're gonna have to see because they could potentially face a lot of problems with teams bang the boards against them and these, , long athletic guys don't get in there.
Now, the big thing, , and something I noted, and we're gonna see it, everybody's al- already commenting on it, is that the guards on this team are really good rebounders. And obviously, the, , all of the wings and the guards are gonna have to crash down to make up for the fact that Kuminga and Williams are very midling, rebounders.
That said, again, these guys are very good rebounders. Ball's always been, , Hyland since has been, since he first came into the league. Is very good. And Ayo really a three in a point guard's mentality. And then, you know, Edwards is a physical masterpiece, , who can get boards if he really wants to.
So, that's one of the things , we're certainly going to be watching. , AB, what's your take on the, on the challenges that we're gonna face rebounding, now without the... I mean, not like Randall or Reid were great rebounders, but, , obviously, this is still even a step down.
Abhinav Bethi:Obviously they would need more position. Actually, when I've seen these preseason matches, I've noticed that Lamelo isn't exactly near the paint trying to get those rebounds. Lamelo actually is going to those spots where they're trying to hit the threes, not letting them. Actually,
I observed was in the more specifically the next match, I didn't see Rudy Gobert that much at the paint also. he was at the beginning starting to stop that threes. I've seen more, jared McDaniels, Cody Williams at the paint. I think this could perhaps show up to be a disadvantage because you need the, the tallest man to be there to find those rebounds and Rudy Gobert is going to be that guy. But when I've seen and Trey Lyles be there, they've actually been near the paint.
Now they are trying to actually take that more po take more position now.
And I do agree with that position point. Even when, the only times we see Minnesota holding the ball is when the opponent misses it and they again get their position.
Them creating a new position has been kind of real. The only steals they get are like, probably lucky they don't find that good of a turnover when it comes to defense.
SewYKnotPublishing:Yeah. No, I think that we're gonna see, with, the Pistons game last night, , Duran just went off, but he hasn't played all preseason, and you can get the idea that there's a little bit of a statement game. On the other hand, allowing the other team's center to score 24 points in the first half is a little dispiriting.
And, you know, we've seen that at times that Gobert, can have issues with people who are - very physical. , but I think that, , Beringer i- is probably going to be a answer or the counter for that to some extent. And unfortunately, we didn't get to see too much of it because Duran didn't play in the second half when, Beringer was out there much more. , but I think that's gonna be something we're gonna be looking at. And the Pistons are a good example of a team that is the type of team that are probably gonna give the Wolves a little bit of fits in that they're so physical. I mean, , for, for all of Wemby's size, he's really not that physical of a player. And the Joker plays the high post, so he's not going downhill as often as somebody like Duran. I think it's an interesting situation. What do you think, AB, about the kind of physical challenges that the team's gonna be facing now, , without those kinds of... Well, you know, Randall was... Not a great defensive rebounder, but he could get the offensive boards.
Abhinav Bethi:I agree. Actually, we need more agility at right now because when we also talk about Rudy Gobet, we have to also understand that he's letting a lot of, , shots in the threes. Actually, he's, I think he's giving more space to the defenders and not going there at a exact point, but we can't always rely on Rudy Gobert just because he, you know, he's been the
SewYKnotPublishing:Yeah.
Abhinav Bethi:years a lot of times.
We have to search for, , younger guys right now because we need that transition. We need offensive and defensive one because we just can't rely on defense as that has not worked the past three seasons or so. I think Beringer and Lyles could be the guys who would actually replace, , Rudy Gobert, and I think we should play them more, even though they're not the starters.
I think if they, if we play them more, we could see what they could actually potentially be.
SewYKnotPublishing:And I'll tell you what, I've been following Connelly for a long time. , I was very impressed with the work that he had done with the Nuggets and putting together , his bench and the players that he got. A lot of guys that people didn't see. Christian Braun, for an example, really doing well now.
And so I think that there's a reason to feel out these kinds of players, give this kind of the bench a lot of, , run and, and develop them. They have one of the youngest teams in the league, and if you're playing, , you know, NBA , live, you would go for a young team like this with all of these guys, 24, 25 with still, , their primes ahead of them, but you have to give them run.
So I think this is gonna be a season where we're gonna see what this bench really is, these guys. , you know, you got a couple... , Williams was a 10th pick in the draft, you know, high, highly rated Kuminga. he three? Top five, I know. You know, so you have guys who are on their second teams as happens within the NBA.
Timing and placement, being in the right place with the right role is a big thing. And sometimes guys don't prosper because they're just not in the right place, not because they aren't talented enough. So I think that there's a good point that AB makes that there's a lot of young guys who may be able to show something, especially if we're gonna be playing a more open kind of game, a lot more up and down. , and we might be able to see something. Obviously, people did not appreciate Jayden McDaniel before he really showed out last year, but he's been a good player for a very long time. , and it's, again, , the kind of roles and opportunities that players get. So we'll see. Cody Williams, , you know, he started 41 games last year.
He has, the physic - well, I won't say he has the physicality because he's like 190 pounds dripping wet and he's 6'9". So he's a, he's a string bean and he hasn't put on very much weight, but he's fast, he's quick. , watching the Detroit game last night, , I saw him really bite badly on a back door cut and got really humiliated. He's got some size of the quickness though. , Kuminga's probably more advanced and, he's been in the league a little longer. That's to be expected. He's like, I think, sixth year now. , also like 24, you know? , but he showed some, some stuff. , his defense is still not good. , he drew a couple fouls, , didn't seem to, , utilize his athleticism very well, but the offense looked great last night and, , he's passing the ball.
He used to be a straight line driver who couldn't pass the ball. He got two dimes each of the last two games. One, a really nice baseline drive, feeding, , Gobert at the rim when people went up against him. Then he had a couple head fakes on another drive. He really was able to, do something and also do something that we're gonna be missing with Randall gone.
We're gonna need to get guys to the free throw line. Obviously, Edwards can do that, but we're gonna need some of the tertiary scorers, , to draw some fouls. And, I don't know... I think that, uh, TJ can do that fairly well, but I'm not sure how much everybody else can. That's also gonna be something to look at, is watch how well they're doing in the, , free throw, , competitions against the other team. , I don't know. What struck out to you, , in the game last night?
Abhinav Bethi:I think that the whole total preseason, Jared McDaniels, I think his role is going to be way bigger. Actually, the last season, on paper, Playmakers was supposed to be Mike Conley because he was a, PG. But, the problem was Jared McDaniels was the one with the most assist because he was the one taking the ball and trying to make those plays.
I think Jared McDaniels has a lot of potential when it comes to offense, and he has shown that he could, , add a lot for the defense in the past few matches. I'd say this season, I would rely a lot on Jared McDaniels. He would add a very much, to the squad of Minnesota.
SewYKnotPublishing:I think that's a really canny kind of comment. I haven't thought about it too much, but in the back of my mind, you can see where McDaniel's skills are kind of Scotty Pippin-like. And he could be, in some ways, a Pippin to Edwards' Jordan. He's got the athletic, he's a very good passer. He can score on his own, but he's not a, he's not hungry to score.
He really picks up his points in the regular flow of the offense, which is so important to an offense because not everybody can do that.
Abhinav Bethi:I agree, actually. And right now that, now that the squad has La Melo, I think it would be even harder for him to think about that, you know, natural scoring. But it depends on the rotation we are, , running too. But I think if we don't have Lamelo on the court, I think it, has to be Jared McDaniels who has to make those plays and LeDan do the work or else he, it's all about finding the right space.
I think Jaden McDaniels, could if he actually locks in, , it's going to be a real good season for Minnesota, but it depends on how much the team is giving him the kind of freedom, because right now, I think most of the freedom sits with LaMelo for making those plays. But I think Jared McDaniel should be given a good amount of freedom, considering that he's a very good score...
I think he's a very good player on his own. But obviously, we have to sit around the team's tactics considering that LaMelo is the one now making the plays, and obviously he's the one who we will look at when he's making those threes. So, yeah. I think it's going to be hard to say, but I, I'd say it depends on how he thinks, obviously, as you mentioned.
I think the team should allow him more freedom, considering that he should be the one also taking an initiative when it comes time.
SewYKnotPublishing:Well, I think that's true. And, and one of the things that we're gonna see, I think a lot more mentioned in the, headline of my piece, and, , AB kind of alluded to it, that there's the team over the offense over the year last year was using a lot of these kind of tertiary, , offensive moves that you can pick up a handful, five or six times a, a game, screens, cuts, that kind of thing. They were one of the top teams in doing these kinds of tertiary, , forms of, , offense. And with these kind of more movement-based, less , post-up and spot up and that kind of thing, you're gonna be able to utilize that more effectively. , and the thing that comes out from what, , AB was just talking about is that, , the number of ball handlers the team has now, , to be able to, go to the other side and reverse the ball and, and attack pick and rolls from that side or attack, , drives from that side, attack closeouts, is going to be, is tremendous now ...
It's gonna be a very interesting thing to see how Finch staggers these guys, because you're always gonna have a couple guys who are able to initiate the offense out there between Ayo, Edwards, and, , Ball and McDaniels. , so I think that can get guys moving... And early in the season, one of the things that's been going on is I've noticed that there's been a lot more off the ball movement by all of the teams in the NBA.
You're seeing a lot more cutting and a lot more, , backdoor plays and this kind of thing. And I'm wondering if we're going to see people taking up, this is another, ,way to increased offense. The NBA is such a, a dog sniffing another dog's butt kind of thing. Everybody follows each other's leads.
So, , seeing a lot of teams doing that this, during the preseason leads me to believe we're gonna be seeing that in the regular season. That's something the, , wolves can do effectively with their, ,secondary playerss that got a lot of speed, some size, and cutting to the basket with the kind of ball handling that they have should be a good way to score some easy points here and there out of the offense. , we're gonna have to see, , how they handle these rotations, how they can get enough size and rebounding out there and get out, get out and run because when they get out in the open floor, the kind of athleticism and scoring going to the rim that they have, as AB noted, , is really tremendous.
And it is going to be hard for people in situations where they're not in a set defense to keep from being broken down and taken to the rim, which is just gonna open up those three point shooters. So what do you think this year? Do you think, , they're going to, , set some kind of records in, in number of shots?
I mean, Ball shoots a lot of poor three pointers. I'm hoping that his quality goes up because he's only like a 36% shooter, but it does seem like this offense is going to have the potential to shoot a lot of them. AB?
Abhinav Bethi:Exactly. I'd agree actually. Lamelo has hit the most amount of, , attempts when it comes to threes. Well, we can't actually ex- expect that, but the problem is we do have a lot of, , three point shooters. Right now we have Ant Lamelo, and also McDaniel, as I mentioned, is trying to hit those three. So we do have a lot of shooters.
So we have to make sure the efficiency is up. For that, we are going to obviously need to find space. I think, as you've mentioned exactly, agility is the way Minnesota has to thrive. Or else we are going to find the same problems they have found the last few seasons.
they got young guys and they have to use them. You know, the agility is the only way that speed. These are the only things that would work out right now because that's the way NBA is moving right now. It's all about the speed.
SewYKnotPublishing:Yeah, no, absolutely. As a martter of fact, you saw last night, , Oklahoma City, I was seeing they started, they played three guards. They played three guards and they're big, you know? That's what you're gonna have to do.
And the fact that the wolves have such physical and long and athletic guards is going to, I think, make a tremendous difference. You already see it when they defend guys because those arms make it a lot harder for teams at the point of attack to get around our guards. Now, you know, there's obviously a lot of picks, screens, everything goes on.
But, , it does seem like this kind of physical and, I mean, this kind of long and athletic and movement oriented thing is the direction the NBA's going. And with the threat of the three-pointer, , you have to stop the drives, but you have to get back to your guys and you have to rotate. And, quite honestly, that's something the Wolves have been very good at doing defensively over the years.
So they seem prepared to deal with the way the NBA is going. , the question is, , is somewhat, , execution to me. I don't think they're gonna be able to get the chemistry and everything together. I still don't know if Kuminga is going to rebound enough, if Williams is gonna shoot threes well enough. I, Lyles may be the guy who turns out because he's got a lot of experience and skill at all , at both of those things. , he may be the guy that they use more, at least early in the season as these young guys figure it out. It remains to be seen. I feel like they don't have... gonna take time for them to get it together and that when teams add a key piece like this, it's hard to maximize them.
Obviously the Raptors did when they got, , Kawhi. So , it can be done, but I think they're still a year away. I think the Spurs and, , OKC are still too good. What do you think, AB? What's your, what's your take? Can they go all the way?
Abhinav Bethi:Oh, no, no, it can't go all the way. I'd say, it's either gonna be OKC or San Antonio, but , what I'd say is they, yeah, they do need more chemistry for their team. They need to find that kind of rhythm. And we also have to think about the possible injuries. When we talk about this agility, these guys are young and these, I mean, they are prone to injuries.
We have seen what happened to Ant the last season. So we have to be also careful about it.
My concern is going to be Rudy Gobet. How much are we going to depend on him when it comes to defense? Because what I believe is, if we wanna show that agility, we need to keep rotations going on.
And if we are to still rely on, rudy Gobet too much, I think we might not get that kind of, what do you call it?
Agility. I think Rudy Gobet does a great job when it comes to screens and trying to finish in the rim when it comes to offense. But when I try, when we are trying to, you know, get that speed going, I don't think Rudy Gobe will add that much.
But, yeah, I don't think Minnesota is going to win this season, maybe they can do, conference finals and maybe lose to San Antonio.
SewYKnotPublishing:Yeah. I agree with you. , I think it's gonna be a challenging season for Rudy Gobert. One of the things that was fascinating about the game last night is you saw them trap ball right around half court.
And so Gobert comes up and makes the pick for him and then slips the pick and he has the ball at the top of the key. You know, Rudy's like, "That's more than two dribbles. I don't know if I could do that." think that we're gonna see teams trying to take the ball out of Ball's hands, trying to take the ball, out of Edward's hands and, and making them throw to the roll guy.
And, , it's gonna be upon, - Beringer and, if they pick with Kuminga and, and obviously Rudy to see how, , far they can get, in that mid-range area if they, if they, if they double team him or, you know, make the picks so much higher.
Abhinav Bethi:I agree , but I don't think we are going to see much double teaming when it comes to regular season, because when you do double team, whether it could be Edwards or Lamelo, the other one is just going to be finding that space.
I think in playoffs it's inevitable that people will get double team and depending on the rotations, the double team is going to be inevitable.
Double team does affects Edwards that we have seen last season. So Lamelo, I think, yeah, it will affect him way more because he also also has to find the play and the way of shooter he is, I think he might just shoot it, you know? ...
SewYKnotPublishing:Yeah. No, and, and I think that something that we, really get spoken about, but you kind of, , obliquely alluded to was the fact that, , Edwards having had that experience with the point guard, , now he's off the ball, which is really on some level, a more natural place for him. , it's going to be, I think, helpful for the team to have had that and have Ball to be able to take on that mental capacity of, like, getting the ball to everybody.
He's something he's used to doing. He's a distributor by nature. He was always, , among point guards. Even though he shoots a lot of threes, he's always been a pass first point guard, which is rare. And I think that that's going to be a nice mesh for the team. He is in some sense that kind of old school bail out point guard where, you know, nothing happens you throw him the ball with six seconds left, and he's gonna get a decent shot
Abhinav Bethi:I agree. And he might also make it, that's the kind of Man Le Melo is. The offense obviously has been increased a lot. But I think, Lamelo would affect Ant's performance a little bit. I don't know if Ant's going to be better than last season.
I mean, he averaged 28.8 in regular season. I don't know if he'd make the same amount of points. But Lamelo can give him way more space. Lamelo can take all the pressure he had about play making and et cetera, because right now, the previous event, it was all about Jared McDaniels and, , Anthony trying to make those plays,
We can see, even if it were to see the playoff matches, we can always see Anthony picking up the ball and trying to make that play as much as possible. I don't think he has to do it anymore. I mean, they got LaMelo right now.
SewYKnotPublishing:Yeah, , I agree. And allowing him to pick a spot even just a little bit more makes him so much more explosive. And a guy like Ball, who is a pretty good decision maker, I think just increases that. So people are going to feel that energy. You know, when the ball, they say the ball has energy.
And when, when it moves, it has energy. And adding a guy like Ball who is going to move the ball and give it added energy, I think makes everybody better from that standpoint. And then my other hope, because Ball, nobody's talking about it, but he's not a great defensive player. He's kind of a little slacky. , he's got good size. He's got the tools. And my hope is that being around a guy like Jayden and being around Ant, I saw, I've noticed that Ant this year has been playing much more aggressively, defensively and giving it more energy. And I'm hoping that all of that will be kind of contagious because I think Ball's capable of it.
, you know, especially the fact that they, the, , Hornets have kind of kept him on a leash at 30 minutes, 28 to 30 minutes. It's hard to tell right now, but it looks like the Wolves might do the same. So that gives him kind of you'd think that it gives him the potential to go out and play a little harder on defense in those minutes that he's out there.
Obviously, ,Ayo h- hass that ability. Uh, Bones, I, I'm still waiting to see, you know, I, I'd like to see him be a little bit more aggressive defensively. But he gets the steals, not like he did early in his career, but he gets the steals. , we'll see. , they have the capability. It's really about, getting it together.
and I do agree. I think, , probably the , conference finals is their top, but, you never know how this is going to mesh. , and there is this energy about, , Ball and Edwards. They're young. All of these guys are about the same age. They're kind of same cohort. , and that might work better, you know, , than having a, a bunch of veterans and some young guys , or whatever. There might be an energy to that that will kind of... I mean, you look at the Thunder. They're a very young team , and they were able , to get very far, , in the last few seasons, even though they were young.
So, , it doesn't have to be an impediment. I, obviously, that's something, , we'll be watching to see how immature as players they are. , but at the same time, that's what you trade when you go for that kind of youth and it's athleticism. You, you're gonna have a few more mistakes. Last night during the game, we saw a lot of mental mistakes and lack of focus, but that's what the coach is there for. , anyway, , that's kind of my wrap, , that's gonna be, , this for today. I wanna thank AB for coming on and, , and giving us his take. If you were to pick the, , finals, you're saying you don't think the Wolves are gonna make it. Who do you think will
Abhinav Bethi:Wow. , finals, I think it's gonna be San Antonio and OKC and I have... I, must say it was this time because of MB. But it could also be OK. I think, I'd say yes, San Antonio.
SewYKnotPublishing:And, and, , from the East, who do you think's gonna make it? Do you, do you see LeBron, , taking the Sixers there or, , or do you see someone else coming
Abhinav Bethi:I don't think LeBron is going to take them there. They do have a lot of great players on the, on the paper, but I don't know if they would work that great. We have also seen how, uh...
SewYKnotPublishing:Indeed?.
Abhinav Bethi:, we've also seen how Embiid has been performing the preseason. It's not as impressive. Terrance Maxey and is their best player, but I don't think that far. I'd say Knicks have a good chance and also, , Heat. Yeah.
SewYKnotPublishing:Celtics, yeah. The Celtics are always a, a real interesting team. I see the Spurs. I, I really, I liked what they did this off season. I liked adding, Tobias. , we'll see. I think Wemby , is incredibly insane and, and like early LeBron betting get, , or Shaq betting against him is a dangerous thing.
I don't think the Spurs will win at all. I think it might come from the East again. , I really like the Celtics. I think the Sixers could put it together, but I do worry what you talked about. They're an old team. There's a lot of injuries. And when you have that many... I mean, they have some young guys, obviously Edgecombe and, and Maxey, but, , they're so heavy in, in the rotation on, , backcourt players.
They don't have a lot of front court guys, nobody backing up, , Embiid. And I think that's ultimately going to be a problem. Embiid can't be relied on physically. Maybe this will be the year he can be, but the history re certainly indicates that's a huge thing. LeBron has arthritis in his foot and, , you've got to have questions about that. , he's not the guy he used to be. He's 42, and want him really to play front court when he's really always been a back court player. And, , it's gonna be a challenge for him to compete physically with these younger guys, , at, at his age, even given his incredible physical specimen. So I like the Cs and the Knicks.
It's gonna be interesting to see how the Knicks do. I think it's very hard for teams to come back and do it the second season just from the mentality required. And, it's a long season. Some teams punt the regular season, just come out for the playoffs. I can see the Knicks doing that to a certain extent. I do love their front line. I mean, they're five guys. They're very good defensively, very good all the way, and I like Mike Brown. So, , don't wanna go against them, but I just don't see them repeating. And I don't see the West winning. So I guess that leaves the Celtics or the Sixers. , I don't know.
I don't know. , something could come up. Maybe the Cavaliers. Maybe this is the year of the Cavaliers. I really do love, , Donovan Mitchell. I think he's a very, very good player. And Harden,
Abhinav Bethi:Don't think we can forget the Heat.
SewYKnotPublishing:I'd never wanna bet on Hardin in but, you know, maybe this is the year he finally turns it around.
Who knows? Who knows? It should be a fun season. And I think maybe we'll do this again at some point during the season. AB, really liked having you on here. Thanks a lot. And , we'll correspond, , online and that and, and in Reddit and whatnot. And, see how the season
Abhinav Bethi:Thank you, man. It's been, it's been a great time, and let's see what, how the season goes.
