Thibodeau still preaching discipline at the end of a disappointing Timberwolves’ season

The arrival of Tom Thibodeau, coupled with the expected growth and development of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, made expectations high for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Thibodeau had transformed the Bulls into an elite team in his first season in Chicago and with the type of talent available in Minnesota, it seemed quite plausible that he could duplicate his success with the Timberwolves. For once, making the postseason, something which the Timberwolves have not done since 2004, seemed like an actual reality instead of a fantasy.

But now we are nearing the end of the season, and those expectations have not come to fruition. Once again, the Timberwolves will finish under .500 and miss out on the playoffs.

The Timberwolves have shown plenty of promise though. In early March, Minnesota beat playoff teams like the Jazz, Clippers, Warriors and Wizards. Towns was sensational during this stretch and won Western Conference Player of the Week honors with a three-game average of 29.0 points and 12.3 rebounds per game on 63.3 percent shooting.

Read More: The delusions of tanking teams, and the virtue of effort

Parlaying their strong play after the All-Star break (Minnesota went 6-3 after Feb. 23), the Timberwolves were even in the mix for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. They were a few games back and everything had to break their way. Everything went off the rails instead — the Timberwolves lost six straight games, which included an overtime loss to the Lakers, the worst team in the West.

Yet perhaps it was naive to think that Thibodeau could work his magic in his first season in Minnesota. And maybe, making the playoffs in a tough Western Conference was simply not possible for the Timberwolves this season. After all, with an average of 25.7, Minnesota is one of the youngest teams in the league, so their youth can both work for and against them.

For Thibodeau though, Minnesota’s struggles and inconsistencies are just part of the team’s learning curve and process. He is ultra-focused on getting the Timberwolves to have better habits moving forward and in turn be a more disciplined team.

“The big challenge is to establish how you are going to build habits,” Thibodeau said before the Timberwolves lost 112-100 to the Blazers on Saturday. “So it’s how you practice, how you prepare your meetings, your pre-game, walkthroughs and [weight room]. Practices are critical for us. You try to teach, you have repetition and then you go into the game and see exactly where you are.”

Thibodeau acknowledged that the Wolves had been making progress and that this was not something that could happen overnight.

“A big part of learning is the trial and error of it. So to be [in] game situations, where you have to execute and [be] under more duress than [practice]. Understanding the difference between the first three quarters and fourth quarter and how it requires discipline and everyone knowing what the other person is doing. So you can’t randomly make something up, we have to be able to count on each other. So I think that part we are still learning.”

One player that is clearly still learning is rookie Kris Dunn, who has been quite inconsistent and at times, has struggled with the adjustment from the college game to the NBA one. This season Dunn is averaging paltry numbers — 3.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals in 17 minutes a game. He is also shooting just 39.3 percent from the floor and 30.3 percent on 3-pointers. This is a far cry from what was expected of Dunn after he was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Shortly after getting drafted, Dunn was immediately viewed as the heir apparent to Ricky Rubio. The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski even reported in October, that after the first 20 games of the season, Dunn would be starting and the Timberwolves would move Rubio to a bench role or possibly trade him. The rumors surrounding Rubio persisted until the February trade deadline but with him playing some of the best basketball of his career, it wouldn’t have been prudent to move the Wolves guard and promote Dunn, who has only shown brief flashes of promise.

But Dunn is still just a rookie and Thibodeau sees growth, especially on the defensive end. Dunn’s length for a guard allows him to hinder opposing guards and he is part of the Minnesota’s top defensive lineups.

“When he’s disciplined, he’s got great anticipation,” Thibodeau said about Dunn. “He does so many good things for us defensively because he’s got toughness and a multiple effort mentality. He reads the ball extremely well. He can cover a lot of ground. The big thing is, as he gets accustomed to playing more minutes to just have that discipline of knowing when to go and when not to go.”

There’s that word again — discipline. Thibodeau demands it and Dunn knows it, which is why he too is focused on the process of getting better.

“Everyday I’m just trying to learn and improve,” Dunn said. “[Coach Thibodeau], he preaches defense so I’m out there trying to give it my all.”

Next: Frank Kaminsky finds his rhythm in Charlotte

Dunn and the Timberwolves giving it their all, and maximum effort is the primary thing Thibodeau wants and is asking for them to do. And while the Timberwolves have shown signs of putting it altogether, they are still in the learning phase of Thibodeau’s turnaround. Next season likely could be different, especially if the Timberwolves became more disciplined and learn to play together like a true team.

“There’s ups and downs in an NBA season and so, the thing to establish is the consistency in your approach,” Thibodeau said.  “We got to make sure we do it together. We do it together, we can get out of it.”