Frederick: Don’t read too much into Timberwolves’ preseason results
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch responded with a joke when demanded about Minnesota s excellent ball movement in its exhibition opener against Denver earlier this month This is passing and cutting season Finch quipped The evidence of that mounts with each season A year ago Minnesota s offense was majestic in the preseason slate with a high volume of ball and body movement and players passing up good shots to generate great ones for others It s the purest form of offensive basketball one that s easier to play when stats don t count Finch warned a year ago that it all could come to a crashing halt when the ball tipped for real He was proven prophetic as Minnesota inched out of the gates with a bogged down offense in its season opener in Los Angeles The story heading into the exhibition slate was the high level of buy-in from D Angelo Russell coming off a productive offseason He was dealt ahead of the contract deadline Josh Minott was last year s camp darling He finished the year with minutes played th-most on the association Donte DiVincenzo played brilliant basketball in the exhibition slate in then struggled mightily over the first third of the season All that is to say little in the preseason can be presumed or taken seriously That s not to suggest fans shouldn t consume or enjoy their first taste of the season Just don t use any breadcrumbs from preseason basketball as hard evidence to draw meaningful conclusions It s rarely predictive of what s to come The Dallas Mavericks were blitzed twice by the Wolves in Abu Dhabi then lost to Real Madrid to open the preseason Dallas went on to win the Western Conference The Nuggets looked entirely lost during their exhibition slate then came as close as anyone to knocking off Oklahoma City in the playoffs Rob Dillingham lit up a Chinese Basketball Association squad Monday at Target Center six days after looking unplayable in a loss to Indiana There isn t much reason to put stock into either performance The Timberwolves have seen Dillingham play in NBA regular-season games They watch him compete in camp every day That s all far more valuable evidence than what can be gained in preseason or Summer League competition Meanwhile Mike Conley has played minutes total this preseason as Minnesota preserves its veteran floor general for when the games start to count The Wolves use training camp to attempt to establish habits they can carry throughout the ensuing eight months of basketball But exactly which ones take hold won t be clear until Minnesota plays Portland in the regular season opener a week from in the present day and beyond That s when the real evidence will be collected When the real storylines will unfold When the impact players will determine the trajectory and outcome of the Timberwolves season Everything until then is entirely subject to change Related Articles Timberwolves Joan Beringer embracing the rookie s advance process Conley s Corner Turning the page on heartbreak LeBron James likely to miss two Timberwolves meetings in October Frederick Jaylen Clark key to Timberwolves restoring defensive dominance Chris Finch drops a hint about the Timberwolves rotation
