Ten games into the Tom Thibodeau era, the Minnesota Timberwolves are as confusing as any team in the NBA. They hired the premier defensive mind in basketball, and yet they are 28th in the league in defensive rating. On the other end of the floor, they've been spectacular -- only the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors have a higher offensive rating.
The Wolves are 3-7, but within just about every game, they show signs of being a playoff-quality team. Then, usually after halftime, things fall apart. Guard Ricky Rubio is tired of this.
"It's one quarter every game that keeps us far from where we want to be," Rubio said after the Wolves' 115-108 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, via the Associated Press' Jon Krawczynski. "I don't know what it is, but I'm telling you, it's not fun.
"This is the best team I've ever been around," Rubio continued. "I get mad thinking that we're wasting time. We're not learning. It's time to change."
Thibodeau sang a similar tune, saying that "the commitment to improve and to learn" has to change. That sounds worrying, but there's a big, obvious fix: simply not being the worst team in the league in third quarters. Look at how Minnesota has performed this year, quarter by quarter:
| Quarter | Offensive Rating (rank) | Defensive Rating (rank) | Net Rating (rank) |
| 1 | 127.8 (1) | 108.4 (20) | 19.4 (3) |
| 2 | 122.2 (1) | 99.3 (8) | 22.9 (2) |
| 3 | 78.9 (30) | 115.9 (30) | -37 (30) |
| 4 | 110.7 (8) | 106.1 (19) | 4.6 (12) |
Against the Hornets, for example, The Wolves went into halftime with a 12-point lead on the road. Then they were outscored 36-17 in the third quarter. You couldn't ask for a better microcosm of their season.
When Thibodeau coached the Chicago Bulls, he helped injury-riddled teams overachieve because they were disciplined, well-prepared and able to limit their mistakes. This is a much different situation -- Minnesota has tons of talent, but it struggles to put together a full 48-minute effort.
Last week in Brooklyn, Thibodeau ripped his team's defense after a rough loss, and the locker room was littered with players saying they had to figure things out quickly. That hasn't happened yet.
If you're looking for optimism with the Wolves, it shouldn't be hard to find. Andrew Wiggins is averaging 26.6 points on 47.1 percent shooting, including 54.1 percent from 3-point range. Zach LaVine has picked up where he left off in the second half of last season offensively, averaging 19.7 points and making 46.7 percent of his 3-pointers. Towns continues to look like a future megastar. This hasn't translated into wins, though, and you can understand Rubio's lack of patience. It's his sixth year with the franchise, and he's never been to the playoffs. The longer this inconsistency continues, the more difficult it will be to end that streak.
