David Levine
Posts: 76611
Joined: 7/14/2007
From: Las Vegas
Status: offline
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More: After Lillard drew plenty of fouls in a switch-heavy defense, Finch reverted to the strategy he used in Monday’s win over the Denver Nuggets. Anderson guarded Nurkić while Gobert roamed as a free safety low man on the back line of the defense. When Nurkić would come to set a screen for Lillard, Minnesota showed hard and brought two to the ball to get it out of Lillard’s hands. Simply put, Gobert dominated the paint defensively down the stretch. In the fourth quarter, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year collected five defensive rebounds, blocked two shots, and helped hold the Blazers to shoot just 4/11 (36.4%) in the paint. Although it’s a small sample size, this defense (similar to last year’s high wall, in a way) maximizes Gobert’s defensive impact with the Wolves better than any other scheme Finch has deployed so far this season. It unlocks Gobert more as a playmaker while also keeping him near the rim to fight on the glass for rebounds. It also helps wings stay attached to the corners, which works to prevent catch-and-shoot opportunities. But when offenses do get those catch-and-shoot looks, the Wolves wings can x-out with their close-outs, just like they did last year. “It’s dope because most of the time, like last year, we like, ‘We got to rotate. Low man, X out.’ Now, we just like we just got to X out because we know he’s the low man. He’s got the rim,” Edwards told Canis Hoopus in the locker room. “So, it’s kind of fun to have him out there, for real, especially when he’s playing at his best.”
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