Nemanja Bjelica. No, I am not drunk or just mashing the keyboard. Yes, that is a real name and the name of the Timberwolves role player who has stepped up in a major way since Jimmy Butler went down. To help you out, here is the pronunciation: NEH-mahn-yah BYELL-eet-sah. That didn’t help did it? Well for the sake of readability and ease I will refer to him by his nickname Belly. I’m tempted to go with his other nickname Professor Big Shots, yes that’s on Basketball Reference, but could see that getting old quickly so we’ll just stick to Belly.

Minnesota fans have been familiar with the stretch-four from Serbia since he joined the team in the 2015 season after playing overseas and winning the EuroLeague MVP. He immediately filled the role of the foreign, white guy off the bench who specializes in outside shooting and isn’t allowed to do too much else. Regardless, he quickly became a solid piece to the rotation as he provided outside shooting help, something the Timberwolves are greatly lacking, and the ability to space the floor for Towns to work in the post. After a down shooting season last year with a three-point percentage of just .316 and a true shooting percentage of .526, Belly came back strong this year and was a true weapon off the bench.

This year Belly saw a similar role as previous seasons coming off the bench and averaging about 19 minutes a game but was far more effective. His shooting accuracy increased as he has a three-point percentage of .432 and a true shooting percentage up to .614. A big part of the rise in these percentages is his shot selection this year being almost exclusively in the paint or from three. Out of his 304 shot attempts, 139 of them have come within nine feet and 146 have been from three. He has entirely bought into the trend of eliminating the mid-range jumper and focusing on maximizing each shot attempt. More impressively though has been his shot selection. Despite having a high-efficiency season, he hasn’t been forcing his shots. He knows he is better off of catch-and-shoot opportunities as 64.8 percent of his shot attempts come off of zero dribbles and he has an effective field goal percentage of .671 in these scenarios. He also doesn’t force shots. He knows he isn’t a prolific scorer so instead of forcing up a shot every time he gets the ball he is patient and waits for his open opportunities as 59.5 percent of his shot attempts have come when the defender isn’t within six feet of him. This year Belly has been a very important weapon off of the bench and one of the best stretch fours in the league.

Despite all of that, his role was to come off the bench with limited minutes. I was certainly skeptical about how his numbers would translate with starting lineup minutes and honestly hoped I wouldn’t have to find out. I have gladly been proven wrong as Belly has stepped up in a big way without missing a beat since the injury to Butler. Since Butler went down Belly has been inserted into the starting lineup and has averaged 36 minutes per game, a requirement for any Tom Thibodeau starter. Not only have his minutes doubled but he has also been playing out of position at the three instead of his usual role as the stretch four. This has required him to go up against more versatile defenders and guard a quicker, more elusive opponent which sounds like a bad idea from the start.

Well, the sharp-shooting Serbian scoffs at these concerns as his numbers have done nothing but improve. His box score stats have doubled across the board as he has been averaging 12.1 points, 8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1 steal, and .4 blocks per game. I know your immediate thought is well no shit captain obvious, his minutes doubled so obviously his stats will too. Fair but I counter your condescension with the fact that few players transfer their performance like that coming off the bench and his efficiency hasn’t dropped off despite the increased workload.

Increasing minutes and usage should lead to an increase in box score stats but it often leads to diminished numbers among the advanced stats which really tell the story. This isn’t the case with Belly at all though. When Belly was coming off the bench the team had an offensive rating of 109.9 and a defensive rating of 110.7, not good. In the Timberwolves last ten games with Belly as a starter, their offensive rating has risen to 112.4 and their defensive rating dropped to 107.8. It makes sense that Belly’s offensive and defensive ratings would improve because he is playing with the better players on the team instead of their bench so how do these compare to when Butler was starting? When Butler was healthy the Timberwolves had an offensive rating of 112.5 and a defensive rating of 104.3. Yes, the defensive rating has gotten worse, not by a lot, but they have been able to remain the fourth best offense in the league. This is incredible after losing the best player who was having a quiet MVP campaign.

Belly clearly has been able to help keep the high performing offense running smoothly but he has also had an impact on defense. The team defensive rating is worse with Belly than Butler but what do you expect to happen when you lose one of the best wing defenders in the league. Belly hasn’t been forced to guard the opponent’s best players all of the time but his shot contestation has improved dramatically as his overall defensive field goal percentage has dropped from .464 to .413. He has clearly worked hard at altering the opponent's shots; most notably from outside the arc as opponents have been shooting just 25.5 percent from three. By no means is Belly a great defender but over the last ten games, he has outperformed his previous performances.

Belly has been a huge piece in the Timberwolves efforts to stay alive in the playoff hunt since Jimmy Butler went down with an injury. He has improved his numbers across the board and looks to be a solid starter while Butler recovers. He isn’t just that random foreign guy who shoots from three coming off the bench anymore. He is an impactful starter on a playoff team and his name is Nemanja Bjelica. It is about time we know his name, he’s earned it.