Minnesota Timberwolves interim head coach Sam Mitchell didn't like what he saw on Friday. Early in the third quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks, he removed the Wolves' three biggest names -- Ricky Rubio, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns -- from the lineup and never put them back in. Minnesota lost 116-101 and Mitchell didn't take any questions afterward, only offering a 30-second criticism of the team's effort on defense, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Kent Youngblood:
“I thought the guys who played in the second half played hard,” he began. “Played together, played with a type of intensity and energy we needed to. I thought some of the guys in the first group didn’t play that way. And they have to understand, every single night you have to earn it. You don’t get to sleepwalk your way through 20, 25 minutes of the game and then decide you gotta play. … So the guys that didn’t play in the second half, after we pulled ’em out, hopefully they understand that there’s two sides on the court. You have to play both sides.”
For much of the third quarter, Mitchell went with a lineup of Tyus Jones, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Damjan Rudez and Greg Smith. Gorgui Dieng replaced Smith for most of the fourth. That bench group held its own, but the outcome was never in doubt. Bucks forward Khris Middleton went 8-for-9 from 3-point range for 32 points, and point forward/positionless wonder Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 27 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
If you're a fan of the Wolves, this was obviously no fun. They've lost six of eight games since all the young guys were dominating All-Star weekend, and they haven't kept an opponent under 100 points since January. And here's what the last two No. 1 overall picks had to say about the benching, again via the Star Tribune:
Asked about Mitchell’s decision, Towns merely praised the second unit. Wiggins, one of the last players out of the locker room, said: “If that’s his plan, that’s his plan. … I played hard.’’
Minnesota's future is still as bright as ever. Its present, though, is clearly a different story. With 20 games left, it looks like it is going to be a challenge to make the rest of the season mean anything.
The good news: On Saturday, the Wolves host the Brooklyn Nets, one of the four teams with a worse record than them. You can't ask for a better opportunity to bounce back.
