Aaron Gordon Is The Lynchpin That Could Decide The Denver vs. Minnesota Series
The Tim Connelly Bowl
If a team were ever explicitly built to slow down Nikola Jokic and Denver, it would be this version of Minnesota, assembled by lead architect Tim Connelly, whose fingerprints remain all over the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
If you’ve ever built something before, you know one simple truth: when you create it from scratch, you know its ins and outs intimately. You understand what’s underneath the surface, the backend, in a way that no one else can.
Connelly built the core of the Denver machine; he knows what piece unlocks it, so conversely, he also knows that piece can be the one to shut it down.
The Gobert Funnel:
Nikola Jokic is an enigma wrapped inside a riddle.
No one can guard Jokic one-on-one for a whole game, let alone a seven-game series. He always figures it out.
The best that any team can hope for is to slow him down, and the most effective strategy (if you can call it that) for that has been to put your best help defender on Denver’s weakest outside shooter (Gordon) and let that player play in the Ray Lewis middle linebacker “spy” role.
Rudy Gobert, the soon-to-be four-time defensive player of the year, is the ultimate help defender and could very well (in concert with Towns and Reid) hold the key to solving the riddle of slowing down Jokic enough to win four out of seven games.
Minnesota uses the same “funnel” strategy with Gobert as Boston uses with Porzingis (click here to read about how Boston does it). The idea is simple: attempt to funnel the ball to the opposing team's worst shooter by allowing Gobert to roam free and become the ultimate spy defender.
The effectiveness of the “funnel” strategy depends on three main questions:
Defense:
How good is your funnel defender as a helper?
Can the primary defenders present enough resistance to allow your funnel defender to shine?
Offense:
3. Can the offensive player, the funnel's target, create enough havoc to turn the funnel off?
None of these questions exist in a vacuum; like Logan Roy said, “Everything, everywhere is always moving, forever,” but these are the main questions being asked at the epicenter of this funnel strategy.
The Los Angeles Lakers tried this strategy on Jokic in Round One of the playoffs and failed. The reason wasn’t that the funnel defender, Anthony Davis, is one of the best in the game, but rather the lack of resistance Los Angeles's primary defender could present.
LeBron James was capable in spurts, but all the banging with Jokic can deplete anyone's energy quickly. So, Los Angeles tried Rui Hachimura, but he was paper mache for Jokic, forcing Los Angeles to return with Davis as the primary, eliminating the funnel defense.
The Trade:
On May 23, 2022, Connelly was announced as the President of the Minnesota Timberwolves; 51 days later, he traded for Rudy Gobert.
Connelly knew precisely who Minnesota would have to beat to win a championship and went and got the one player they would need to do it, no matter the cost or the outside noise. He knew what everyone else didn’t—he built the machine.
I'm not sure there is a better help defender than Rudy Gobert; if he’s not the best, he’s certainly in the top three.
Connelly had one chance to make a big move while Edwards and McDaniels were still on their rookie deals, and he targeted Gobert. With Minnesota's package to Utah, he could have gotten a lot of players in the league, but he specifically wanted Gobert.
Connelly got Gobert because he saw the blueprint executed before during his time as the Denver Nuggets' POBO. The last time Jokic and Denver lost a playoff series at full strength in the 2020 bubble.
The Los Angeles Lakers defeated Denver in the Western Conference Finals 4-1 by deploying double big lineups that provided enough resistance to Jokic from primary defenders like Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee while allowing two of the game’s best help defenders, Anthony Davis and Lebron James, to fly around and contest everything in sight.
Jokic had a pedestrian series by his lofty standards, finishing with averages of 22 points, seven rebounds, and five assists per game.
Jokic was a minus 17 throughout the five games, recording no triple-doubles and only one double-double.
The difference between the current Minnesota team and every other team that has tried this strategy on Denver and Jokic since the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers is their big-man versatility. Towns and Reid have 12 fouls per game. They can provide a respectable baseline resistance level as primary defenders on Jokic while stretching the floor offensively with their shooting and ball handling.
Leaving Gobert, the best help defender in the league, to roam, clog the lane, and contest any shot within a 12-foot radius of the rim.
Jokic and Murray vs. the Gobert Funnel:
Jokic and Murray will win some possessions. They’re fantastic, and you can’t completely stop them.
But compressing the space and being able to challenge everything with Gobert gives Minnesota a chance to slow them down.
(In the summer of 2019, I was at the UCLA runs when Gobert was there. I’ve been around many footers, but none quite like him. He’s massive and moves with such efficiency on the court. Allowing him to roam as a help defender changes every angle and severely compresses the space available.)
Aaron Gordon:
Denver and Minnesota split their season series 2-2. Here are Aaron Gordon’s stats across the four games Minnesota and Denver have played this year:
109 minutes (27.25 per)
37 points (9.25 per)
17 assists (4.25 per)
14/29 FG
2/7 Three
7/11 FT
-23
He only had one game (Game 80) where his minutes resulted in a net positive (+9). This game also happened to be his season-high in assists (nine).
Some of the assists were in transition; while this doesn’t solve the funnel in the half-court, it’s an excellent way for Gordon to attack the Gobert crossmatch. More of Gordon pushing the ball off a miss is always a good thing; he’s a beast in transition.
The half-court assists from that game are interesting to focus on, as Gordon found success vs. the funnel in spurts, usually as a cutter or by getting into quick handoff actions for shooters.
To combat the negative gravity, a player can do a few things:
Make open shots:
This is the most straightforward way to beat the funnel. However, I do not believe that Gordon will shoot enough volume for this to be a solution. Minnesota will have the fortitude to see this strategy through until the end, win or lose.
Gordon shooting open shots. The block by Gobert here comes the play after Gordon made a three-point shot.
2. Be a great cutter:
Space and timing are essential here. Gordon’s timing must be perfect, and most importantly, he must have enough space for a running start to create maximum explosion into his finishes; if he doesn’t, Gobert will still be able to erase shots.
Utah solved a similar funnel problem with Walker Kessler this season by ensuring his cuts came from the weak side.
This angle of attack will leave Gordon enough space to be effective vs. Gobert.
3. Play like it’s a zone:
Gordon found success in the half-court of the final game by finding soft spots, which is not unlike what you would want to do vs. zone defense. This mindset helped him get soft spot catches that gave him advantage opportunities (inside the three-point line). He does an excellent job of reading the floor and getting the ball to the open player. More of this will be needed.
4. Quick Handoff and screening actions:
I doubt Denver will make Gordon a primary ball handler (Jokic and Murray have that under control). But Gordon can quickly get into handoff actions after finding soft spots that give shooters like MPJ and Murray open looks.
Gordon at the five with the bench unit is fun and a really exciting lineup for Denver; they’re fast and athletic, and all play together nicely. He can be more of a primary ball handler in this lineup. However, lineups that don’t feature Jokic will not play much together in this series or swing it.
Tyson vs. Holyfield:
Every year, a series happens early in the playoffs, and you can see the arc of a champion emerging.
This one has that type of potential. It will be a bloodbath, and I can’t wait to watch it unfold.
Aaron Gordon is the lynchpin of the series; his effectiveness vs. Minnesota’s Gobert funnel will decide who moves on and who is going to Cancun.