It wasn't a heavyweight fight, but a clash between two men blessed with incredible reach to punish opponents. At rest, their hands hang alongside their knees. At best, their palms and lanky fingers block the sightline of shooters rising to fire. And Mikal Bridges saw plenty of Jaden McDaniels' outstretched arms when Minnesota topped Brooklyn on Tuesday night, keeping the Timberwolves' playoff aspirations alive and well.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels and center Rudy Gobert double-team Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday, March 4, 2023. The Timberwolves won 138-134. It wasn’t a heavyweight fight, but a clash between two men blessed with incredible reach to punish opponents. At rest, their hands hang alongside their knees. At best, their palms and lanky fingers block the sightline of shooters rising to fire.
“Defense, for me, is kinda like second nature,” McDaniels told Yahoo Sports. “I just need to watch film, for real.” He scanned footage of Bridges with Wolves assistant coach Joe Boylan just after his pregame warmup, sitting on Minnesota’s bench with a laptop, pointing out his tendencies and cramming for that imminent test.
Before each contest, Timberwolves coaches label certain opposing players as “flush guys,” shooters dangerous enough that Minnesota needs to force them clean off the line and send spiraling down the drain toward Rudy Gobert waiting at the rim. “I treat everyone like a flush,” McDaniels said. “Make them play inside the arc. Make them make tough twos and stuff like that.” He relishes swatting shots off the backboard. He is always hunting for opportunities to poke steals.
All this, while McDaniels has handled a higher shooting volume and great usage rate during his third season, averaging 12.2 points per game on 51.7% shooting and 39.9% from three. “I think Jaden’s responded to more and more usage this year, whether it be just with the ball in his hands in the flow or in actions,” Minnesota head coach Chris Finch said. “You gotta have the ball skill that’s required to make the pick-and-roll reads with it being such a heavy pick-and-roll game right now.
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