Charles Barkley adamant that Wolves will struggle against 'little munchkins'

Just days after admitting that he might be wrong about the Minnesota Timberwolves, Charles Barkley doubled down on his belief that Minnesota will be exposed if they match up with a smaller, 3-point shooting team in the playoffs. 

The Wolves improved to a Western Conference-leading 30-11 on Thursday night, erasing an 86-81 deficit entering the fourth quarter en route to a 118-103 blowout win over the Grizzlies on the second game of a doubleheader on TNT. 

"That's my concern. From a basketball standpoint, those big guys ... they would've been great in my day, but against the way the NBA's played today where they just put a bunch of little munchkins out there and just running around and shoot 3s, those guys gonna struggle," Barkley said. 

Kenny Smith then went to the video board to reveal why Minnesota has the No. 1 defense in the NBA. 

"We talk about all the things that they can't do, this is what they can do," Smith said. "Defensive pressure. Everyone's within arm's length. This is like college defense. Most NBA teams don't put this type of pressure, they don't have this type of YouTube energy, which leads to steals, which leads to easy transition baskets."

Barkley agreed with a caveat. 

"See, this is where I disagree with Kenny," he said. "I think they're great on the perimeter. I honestly think the weakness is the big guys because they don't guard like that. No big guy can guard – very few big guys – can guard guys on the perimeter. They can't move their feet fast enough. [Smith] showed where they are great on the perimeter with those little guys. To me, their bigger weakness is those big guys trying to play defense out on the floor."

According to Cleaning the Glass, Minnesota's opponents shoot 4.8% better from mid and long range when Gobert is on the court compared to when he's off the court. On the other side, Minnesota's opponents shoot 2.8% worse from mid and long range when Towns is on the court compared to when he's on the bench. 

Zooming in further the narrative changes, making Barkley's point less valid. 

With Gobert on the court, Minnesota's opponents shoot 8.4% worse on corner 3s, which ranks in the 90th percentile, according to Cleaning the Glass. And on non-corner 3s, Gobert ranks in the 86th percentile and Towns is in the 81st percentile. 

Overall, the Timberwolves' defense is elite from top to bottom. 

• Effective field-goal percentage: 51.2% (#1 in the NBA)
• Rim field-goal percentage: 63.5% (#5 in the NBA)
• Short/mid field-goal percentage: 40.4% (#3 in the NBA)
• Long/mid field-goal percentage: 37.5% (#2 in the NBA)
• 3-point field-goal percentage: 35.6% (#6 in the NBA)

When you look at lineup combinations that have at least 400 possessions played together, Minnesota's starting five of Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Towns and Gobert ranks seventh in the NBA in opponents effective field-goal percentage at 52.2%. 

The only five player lineups that are better (with at least 400 possessions) are: 

• 76ers: Maxey, Melton, Harris, Batum, Embiid – 48.4%
• Celtics: Holiday, White, Brown, Tatum, Porzingis – 50.3%
• Bucks: Lillard, Beasley, Middleton, Giannis, Lopez – 50.8%
• Clippers: Harden, Mann, Leonard, George, Zubac – 51.3%
• Rockets: VanVleet, Green, Brooks, Smith, Sengun – 51.5%
• Nets: Dinwiddie, Bridges, Johnson, Finney-Smith, Claxton – 52.0%

More importantly, when you look at points differential, Minnesota's starting five is third in the NBA (for lineups with at least 700 possessions played together) at +13.2 points per 100 possessions. Only the starting lineups of the Celtics (+17.8) and Nuggets (+15.0) are better.