After watching the Timberwolves continually fail to get the ball to Karl-Anthony Towns when he was matched up with smaller Houston defenders on Sunday night, Charles Barkley called them “one of the dumbest teams” he’s ever seen.
"They've got to be one of the dumbest teams I've ever seen in my life."
Tell us how you really feel, Chuck… 😬 pic.twitter.com/M5Rw9xg8cF
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 16, 2018
“They gotta be one of the dumbest teams I’ve ever seen in my life,” Barkley said. “The Houston Rockets switch every pick-n-roll. There’s mismatches all over the floor. They never take advantage of any mismatches.”
Shaquille O’Neal then interrupted: “They don’t want their coach to get mad and start yelling.”
Barkley continued: “There was five or six times where they switched Chris Paul to big KAT, and he cleared out instead of him getting Chris Paul or James Harden down in the box. That’s not good basketball.”
Here’s some video proof of what Barkley is talking about.
Here's a compilation of KAT getting a mismatch on the switch and then either slinking to the corner or not getting the ball. Sometimes the guards don't even look at him. I'm not even a Wolves fan and I'm heated about this. pic.twitter.com/hgyYKcjB7F
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) April 16, 2018
“The fact that Karl Towns fans out to the corner when he has a mismatch, I don’t get it,” Chris Webber says in the video.
Related:
Towns, who averaged 21.3 points and 12.8 rebounds and had a league-high 68 double-doubles during the regular season, finished with 8 points on 3-of-9 shooting in 40 minutes.
“If they’re going to switch, we have to make the right reads,” Thibodeau said, via ESPN. “If we’re making the right plays, the game will tell you who’s going to get the shots. And as long as we take good shots, then I think we’re going to score.”
It was the 11th game this season that Towns has had fewer than 10 field-goal attempts.
“I know he’s young, but he’s the man on the team. He still needs to demand the ball,” Shaq added. “When they switch and the little guy plays him, all the guards telling him to clear out. No, you don’t move. You say ‘no, give me the ball, throw me the ball’ so he can score or create for other players.”
Game 2 is Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in Houston.
