AP Photo/Jim Mone
The Golden State Warriors (20-32) will head to the Target Center tonight (tip off 5:00 pm PDT) to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves (25-30) in a rematch of a March 19th loss at the hands of this very same team.
In that game, Kevin Love was his usual terrorizing self, putting up 36 points and 16 rebounds on 13-for-23 field goal shooting. Nikola Pekovic made a quick appearance, logging in a mere 11 minutes, due to a bad ankle.
Make no mistake though, the Timberwolves big man duo is one of the best and most fiercest in the NBA because of how well they complement each other. Kevin Love gets most of the publicity given his scoring, rebounding and shooting prowess; but Pekovic is also quite important to Minnesota.
Indeed, the Wolves’ starting center is as strong as they come and one of the most physical players in the league. Pekovic often sets screens and rolls to the basket and brings an extra defender with him. Once the helper gets back to his initial assignment, the big man is often left in a one-on-one situation down on the block with the center guarding him. This may not sound like much, but once that happens, the Wolves’ offense is now operating with an advantage.
The Wolves center is so strong that once he establishes deep post position, he becomes immovable. Consequently, he is able to seal off defenders, catch entry passes and finish or get fouled. This explains why the big man is converting 57.2 percent of his field goal attempts this season: he gets a lot of attempts at the rim. On the season, he is averaging 9.4 field goal tries per game, and according to Hoopdata, out of those 9.4 shots, seven of them come directly at the basket on average.
The big man’s ability to get shots at the rim is impressive but so is his conversion rate. According to MySynergySports, he is making 69.4 percent of his attempts when he rolls to the rim in the pick-and-roll and 72.5 percent of his shots when he cuts to the basket.
The end result is that opposing defenses are often forced to at least keep an eye on Pekovic on the block to make sure he isn’t routinely getting lay ups. When that happens, Kevin Love has the opportunity to basically toy with his defender.
The UCLA product can take out his defender to midrange and bury jumpers from the high post, or he’ll camp out at the 3-point line and wait for Pekovic to roll to the basket in the pick-and-roll action and go towards the ball for a quick open look because his defender tried to help out in defending the screen-and-roll action and was late coming back out on Love. Sounds tough right? But wait there’s more.
Love isn’t just a spot up shooter; he will pump fake defenders out of their shoes and take the ball to the hoop where he will finish and draw fouls. In addition, he can punish opponents on the low block with turnaround jumpers and hook shots. And if that fails because the big man is having a bad shooting night, he still has the ability to crash the boards and get second chance opportunities as evidenced by his 4.1 offensive rebounds per game (second in the league to DeMarcus Cousins).
Last month, in a feature with Warriors World, Zach Harper of ESPN.com echoed these sentiments about the Wolves tandem:
“Pekovic is the strongest man in the NBA. That’s not even hyperbole; he’s the strongest. A month ago, he had Andrew Bynum thanking god for the invention of foul trouble. It was the only way to get Pekovic to stop bruising him. The thing about Pekovic is he isn’t just your run of the mill Ben Wallace brute. This guy has incredible touch around the basket, he has any post move you need, an unstoppable drop-step to the baseline that lands like a sledgehammer against your thigh, and once he establishes post position, you’d have an easier time budging Oracle Arena. His presence inside allows Kevin Love to pick-and-choose when he wants to play inside and outside. Give Love the space to operate with his skill set and it’s easy to see how he’s fourth in the NBA in scoring and second in free throws made. The inside-out duo of Love and Pek might be the best in the league. Lucky for you, Pek hasn’t been his normal indestructible self.”
The pair can inflict damage and put just about any frontcourt into foul trouble, which makes them quite dangerous. They may not be David Robinson and Tim Duncan or Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol given their diminutive size and obvious defensive shortcomings in comparison, but they are quite effective. What they lack in terms of their ability to stop opponents, they more than make up for with their offense.
Both players are constantly in movement, setting screens, cutting to the basket, attacking the glass and scoring. They are able to wear down opposing big men and get them to commit mental mistakes because of their nomad ways.
Pekovic has been limited as of late because of his ankle, but the matchup tonight should undoubtedly be an interesting one when they take on the Dubs.
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