Beating the second product syndrome
Steve Jobs talked a great deal about what he called the “second product syndrome” - companies that created hugely successful first products, but didn’t understand what made them successful. So when they went to create their second product, it failed miserably because the company couldn’t recreate the same magic on command. With the first product, it just sort of…happened.
That was the Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Bursts of wild chemistry isn’t uncommon when a team throws a brand new set of players on the floor out of nowhere. Guys who have never played together before often find their games click in ways they didn’t know about. The problem is, because they haven’t played together before, they don’t know why their games click. So when they’re asked to recreate that chemistry, they don’t know where to start.
Minnesota trounced New Orleans in the first 24 minutes. Then halftime happened. And when the team took the floor again, they couldn’t find that first half chemistry because they didn’t know why they had it in the first place. And that’s fine. They’re new to each other as teammates.
So -
1. First things first: the chemistry is there somewhere.
The Covington/Saric version of the Wolves showed a cohesiveness that was rarely displayed by the Jimmy Butler Wolves, and showed it at a level that the Jimmy Butler Wolves never quite achieved. That’s good news. The chemistry exists. They just have to take the time to understand what creates it.
Part of it is Cov and Dario ‘get it’. They’re high IQ players who understand the whens and wheres and whys of basketball on an instinctive level. With that comes a natural ability to play off of and for their teammates, even if their teammates are new to them. Just by understanding the game, they understand what their teammates are likely to do and can plan for that accordingly.
It also helps that Cov and KAT have history together. They share an agent and have shared workouts. And Towns is clearly ecstatic to have Covington here.
Finding and understanding the chemistry they got a that fleeting taste of will be the key to how far and how high this team can go. It will take time, and that’s okay. It always does. But it will also take dedication - a commitment and concerted effort towards working together in a way they never quite did with Jimmy around.
2. They need to commit to pace and space.
First, it’s the sort of system Jeff Teague is best in. The difference between Good Jeff Teague and Bad Jeff Teague is really a difference in style. He cut his teeth in Atlanta’s five-equal-parts scheme - Teague, Korver, Carroll, Millsap, Horford. They spread the floor, shared the ball, and were constantly on the move. Good Jeff shows up when the game is fast and fluid, letting him be opportunistic in picking his spots. Bad Jeff shows up when the game is slow and static, and the opportunities stop creating themselves.
But now, there’s an even bigger reason to play modern basketball: it’s the only way to maximize Dario Saric. Covington is straightforward in his effectiveness. He’s a kickout three target on one end, and a lock down defender on the other. Simple and to the point. But Saric’s game is much more expansive. That comes with benefits and challenges. He can do a great deal more on the court. But enabling his full game takes a lot more subtlety and craft.
Saric’s is a pinpoint facilitator, which is a marvelous and incredibly valuable gift in a 7-footer (I absolutely REFUSE to believe he’s only 6’10” I mean….)
Bigs who pass are great….and rarer than you might think. Take a look at Hassan Whiteside’s assist totals. Woof.
But bigs who pass off the dribble are freaking gemstones. They confound opposing defenses with their mobility and vision, opening up entire areas of the floor just by being on it and thus opening up entire playbooks their teams otherwise would not have access to. Draymond Green. Nikola Jokic. Giannis. Luka. Those are the doors Dario can open for this team.
But for the Wolves to get this from him, they have to play a system that enables those passes to happen. That means spreading the floor to create passing lanes, moving bodies to give him targets….and of course, simply trusting him with the ball.
This is the complicated part of empowering Dario. Thibs tends to put players in very strict positional boxes. Point guards to point guard things. Centers do center things. The concept of a power forward/center doing point guard things seems to elude him. Ask Bjelica. But if the Wolves are going to make this Jimmy Butler trade pay off, they need to do this. Saric is the guy who can make it all worth it.
3. KAT doesn’t want to commit to team leadership. And for now, that’s fine.
First, Towns is coming off the heels of one of the messiest divorces in NBA history. His teammate…a guy who’s a surrogate son to his head coach and was supposedly here to mentor him….set up a practice scenario intentionally to humiliate him, and then went on national television and trashed his character. Not his game. But him, as a person. That’s going to take time to sort out and he deserves to have that time.
But second, and more importantly, because Thibs never once stood up for KAT at any point in that ordeal, KAT now knows his coach doesn’t have his back. And, quite frankly, probably doesn’t respect him all that much. Who would want to assume leadership under that circumstance? When Towns gets asked about being the team leader, his first though it probably “well, if I say anything other than I’m a team player, Thibs will probably say something critical about it as soon as someone sticks a microphone in his face.”
Towns does need to lead at some point. And he has a lot to learn about leadership. Particularly since he’s been given almost nothing but bad examples of it so far. But this is not the time or situation to be testing that out. Thibs took Jimmy’s trade demand as something tantamount to treason, and would probably take KAT trying to control the locker room as something akin to mutiny.
For now, KAT is not just okay, but probably justified in choosing to demur on the mantle of leader. His best course for the time being is to listen and learn, and he fortunately now has someone who can be a true, positive mentor for him: Covington.
Leadership is as much service as it is command. Thibs and Jimmy fail at leadership because they believe it’s only about telling others what to do and punishing them when they don’t do it. That’s a very narrow view of being a leader. It’s not just about enforcing rules. Teaching is leadership. Encouragement is leadership. Setting a good example is leadership. And forgiveness is leadership too. It’s not bits and pieces of that. It’s all of that.
In his very short time here, Covington has already subtly stepped into a leadership role for the team with a patient outlook and quiet dignity akin to Steph Curry or even Tim Duncan. It doesn’t have to be loud and abrasive. Show respect, uplift your teammates and take a personal stake in their success. Cov is already trying to teach it. If Towns is willing and able to learn from his example, he’ll be just fine as the team’s leader when his time comes.
