This past season was a nightmare for both the Houston Rockets and the Minnesota Timberwolves, as they both underperformed. The former was a reigning Western Conference finalist, but an early coaching change, several locker room disputes, and two stars that would butt heads forced them all the way down to the eighth seed and an early exit at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. The latter was predicted to surprise the league with a core of eventual Rookie of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns, dunking master and scorer Zach LaVine, the 'Canadian version' of LeBron James in Andrew Wiggins, and playmaker Ricky Rubio. However, inexperience and a bad head coach led them to, once again, one of the worst records in the league.
A major problem that both teams had in common was defense. The Timberwolves and Rockets allowed 106 and 106.4 points per game, good for 23rd and 26th in the league while scoring 102.4 and 106.5 points, good for 15th and 4th best in the league, respectively. While barely making the top half in the league in scoring is not all that impressive, it is important to take into account that the Timberwolves were a very young team; this shows that they had the potential to become a great scoring team just because of the many scorers on the roster. Still, both teams turned out to be overall disappointments last season and looked to their coaching staff to try turning things around. Their eventual decisions and records so far this season suggest that teams may have to look at coaching hires differently: instead of trying to patch up the weaknesses, it may be better to improve even more on the strengths.
Splitting Paths
This is where the paths of both teams begin to split. The Timberwolves, recognizing that defense and experience were their eventual downfalls, hired Tom Thibodeau, a coach known for instilling discipline and great defense into his team. Timberwolves' management tried addressing the weaknesses of their team, as they had such natural talent at scoring that they believed they would be fine on that side of the ball. On the other hand, the Rockets baffled everybody by hiring Mike D'Antoni, a coach that had not done well since his glory days with the Phoenix Suns and would do nothing to improve a piss poor defense. The Rockets' management tried something new in embracing their identity as an offensive powerhouse and hoped that their offense can overcome their inability to defend the basket. Most liked the Thibodeau hire while bashing the D'Antoni one and, at the time, it was easy to see why.
The different opinions were only proven with nearly everybody's season predictions (yours truly included), as they had the Rockets in one of the bottom playoff spots and the Timberwolves competing for one. The Rockets were supposed to be slowly sinking while the Timberwolves were supposed to be rising to the top, peaking whenever the Warriors' 'megasquad' has to separate because of cap restrictions and Lebron finally chooses to become human again.
Spoiler: Everybody was Wrong
Fast-forward to the present: the Rockets are shocking the league, sitting at third in the Western Conference and have an astounding record of 24-9 while the Timberwolves have just gotten their tenth win and are 13th in the conference. The Rockets are scoring in staggering quantities, averaging a crazy 113.8 per game best for second in the league while allowing 106.4 per game, good for 22nd in the league but still nothing compared to their offensive output. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves are scoring 103.8 per game while allowing 105.9, good for 19th and 20th, respectively. Comparing the statistics from this year and last season shows virtually no change on the defensive side in both teams, but varying levels of increase on offense.
Closer Look at the Timberwolves
The slight increase in scoring can be attributed to the extra year of experience for the young team. Thibodeau prides himself on his defensive knowledge and would have minimal to even negative impact on a team's offense. If he is such a defensive guru, then why have the Timberwolves not been able to stop teams any better than they did last season?
The players and coach have been unable to mesh so far. It's pretty normal to see Thibodeau angrily walking back and forth on the sideline, barking at his players. Towns constantly blames himself even though he's having one heck of a season, and it's only his second year in the league. The young players go for steals too often and, as a result, expose the rest of the defense to be picked apart by any point guard. Things may improve with more time, but the Thibodeau does not seem like a good fit so far.
Closer Look at the Rockets
The difference between the past two seasons is like night and day. The Rockets and D'Antoni are a match made in heaven. The players seem a lot happier playing right now, they speak highly of their coach D'Antoni, and the record speaks for itself. All worries that D'Antoni and the players wouldn't gel together have gone out the window. James Harden is having a career and possible MVP year as the main ballhandler and distributor for the team. It could not have gotten any better for the Rockets, as they now possess one of the most explosive offenses in the league and a defense good enough to result in a lot of wins.
Why Does this Matter?
The different approaches have led to very different results so far. What seemed logical (attempting to patch up the weaknesses) has not worked while the risky decision (building on their strengths and saying "to hell" with their shortcomings) has. While the Timberwolves will improve with time, as of now, this suggests that coaching hires should be looked at differently. Instead of fixing what's wrong, maybe teams should start learning to embrace what they do well and excel so much in those areas that they overcome their weaknesses. Another example that supports this is the Indiana Pacers, who fired defensive-minded head coach Frank Vogel in order to try to improve their offense. As a result, they are outside the playoff spots so far and, while not horrible, are not doing nearly as well as expected. Time will test the theory and see if this approach shows merit, however, at least so far, the Rockets and Timberwolves have shown that there may be some truth to it.