The Timberwolves went 13-4 over their final 17 games of the regular season in the spring, with Rudy Gobert serving as a major reason why.

The French center averaged 15.4 points and 12.5 rebounds in that span. Zero in on the final 10 games, and those numbers balloon to 18.8 points and 14.9 rebounds in 36.4 minutes.

Minnesota’s success largely centered on its man in the middle.

Then came the playoffs, and everything changed. With one massive exception — Gobert’s 27 point, 24 rebound performance in Minnesota’s decisive Game 5 victory in Round 1 against the Lakers — the big man was largely an afterthought in the postseason.

He played 30-plus minutes in just two of Minnesota’s 15 playoff games. He scored in double figures just thrice and had double-digit rebounds only four times.

That’s not even to say Gobert was ineffective. In fact, he sported Minnesota’s best net rating in the West Finals, with the Wolves out-scoring the Thunder by five points per 100 possessions when the center was on the floor.

It didn’t matter. By that point, Minnesota was firmly leaning into more offense-first lineups that worked effectively in earlier playoff matchups in which the Wolves had a large talent advantage. Gobert didn’t fit that script. Come the postseason, teams chronically ignore the center, knowing Anthony Edwards and the Wolves won’t find him enough to make them pay for the tactical decision.

It was far easier for Minnesota to put in five scoring threats to simplify the reads for the likes of Edwards and Julius Randle.

While Gobert is a grand ceiling raiser for Minnesota, his role in the grand scheme of the 2024-25 season more closely resembled an innings eater than a high-leverage closer. The Gobert-heavy identity Minnesota formed late in the regular season was seemingly null and void, though Finch disputes as much.

“I think the identity of the team is a little more multi-faceted than that. Certainly, Rudy is a big part of what we do and when he’s playing at a high level like he did the last 20, 30 games, it makes all the difference,” Finch said. “We need him to do that for the whole 82, irrespective of what happens in the playoffs.”

Finch cited Oklahoma City as an example of a team that changed the roles of players throughout its rotation depending on matchups, noting the minutes for Thunder Isaiah Hartenstein fluctuated. Hartenstein was invaluable for the Thunder in the conference semifinal victory over Denver, and dispensable at other points in the postseason.

“They’re extremely flexible in their approach on what the series is dictating from them,” Finch.

Of course, when Hartenstein wasn’t on the floor, Oklahoma City was still thriving. That wasn’t the case for Minnesota in the West Finals, as the Wolves were wiped off the floor when Gobert wasn’t out there.

But it seemed the Wolves had already determined they couldn’t score on that stage if Gobert was on the court. And yet the version of the Wolves without him proved in that matchup that it was not a title-tier team and was better suited to beat up lesser foes.

The question facing Minnesota this season is do you attempt to better integrate Gobert into the offense so it can succeed regardless of the looks provided by the opposing defense? Gobert has mentioned the need to be more decisive, aggressive and poised with the ball in the middle of the floor so teammates trust him in those situations. Randle noted he understands Gobert’s offensive game better now. Time and chemistry could lead to incremental gains that may solve a few of the postseason problems.

But should the Wolves also put more of an emphasis on developing the non-Gobert lineups so those can be better prepared when they’re thrust into high-leverage playoff battles?

“I think you probably get to enough different things in the regular season, I don’t think you have to make a seismic shift through the regular season to prepare yourself,” Finch said. “Right now, winning every game is so important. Finishing between sixth and third (in the West) can be a two-game spread. … Right now, we’re comfortable enough to go whatever direction we need to.”

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President Donald Trump’s executive order designating antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization” was never really about antifa. It was about building a template for repression. Now, with his latest order on “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” the blueprint is clear: free expression, political dissent and municipal autonomy are in the crosshairs.

I’ve argued in the past that the antifa order was legally flimsy and practically unnecessary. Antifa is not a structured organization. It’s more an idea than an entity; a loose coalition of individuals dedicated to countering fascism. And while some have crossed the line from peaceful protesters to violent agitators, violence already has ample legal remedies under state and federal law. The danger of the order is in its symbolism, as the administration begins to stress-test just how far it could go in labeling domestic opponents as enemies of the state.

This new executive order goes much further. Cloaked in the language of protecting Americans from terrorism, it opens the door to weaponizing federal law enforcement against the right’s political rivals. The Justice Department is now directed to treat broad swaths of dissent in Democratic-led cities, from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore., to Chicago, as “organized political violence.”

In practice, this could mean turning Joint Terrorism Task Forces— entities designed to track designated foreign terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and Islamic State — inward on Americans, investigating protest organizers, city officials, charities and journalists whose views run counter to the administration’s agenda.

That should alarm every American. The task forces bring the full investigative powers of the FBI, Homeland Security and state and local law enforcement together under one umbrella. Using those tools to surveil political opponents would chill lawful protest and erode civil liberties.

Imagine federal prosecutors wielding “domestic terrorism” charges against activists accused of creating disorder at a rally. The line between protest and terrorism, already blurred by the Trump administration’s policies and disinformation, could vanish entirely.

Moreover, the weaponization of the task forces to go after domestic political enemies of the president may result in governors pulling their resources out of the units. This would put Americans more at risk of actual threats — such as those posed by homegrown violent extremists who subscribe to Islamic State or Al Qaeda doctrine.

During these early days of Trump’s second term, we’ve moved beyond rhetoric and social media missives. What was once rhetoric has now hardened into executive action. The effect could be to criminalize opposition under the guise of counterterrorism. Today it’s antifa; tomorrow it may be climate activists, immigrant-rights groups, even political parties.

The risks extend beyond free speech. By equating political opposition with terrorism, the administration is also militarizing America’s domestic landscape. In a speech last month in Quantico, Va., the president told senior military officers he would not hesitate to deploy U.S. armed forces against “the enemy from within.” This was no off-the-cuff remark. It signals a willingness to use troops — trained for foreign battlefields — in American streets to quell political dissent.

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, a bedrock safeguard, restricts the military’s involvement in domestic law enforcement. But Trump’s recent rhetoric suggests he sees it as little more than an inconvenience. If such deployments are carried out, it would mark one of the most dramatic expansions of federal military power in modern times, risking both bloodshed in our cities and the further erosion of democratic norms.

Supporters of these orders and maneuvers argue that they’re necessary to fight political violence. But assaulting opponents and law enforcement, rioting, arson, conspiracy — all can be and are prosecuted under existing statutes. What this administration seeks is not more tools but more latitude: the freedom to conflate protest with terrorism, to investigate and interrogate critics under the cover of counterterrorism and to silence dissent through fear.

History offers warnings. Governments that criminalize opposition rarely stop at the margins. In Turkey, the label of “terrorist” has been used to decimate civil society, shutter newspapers and jail academics. In Russia, counter-extremism laws have become blunt instruments for crushing democracy. We must be honest: America is inching down that path.

This is not about protecting antifa, a decentralized movement with no formal leadership or structure. It is about protecting the Constitution. The 1st Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, assembly and association. If these rights to free expression can be recast as terrorism by executive fiat, then they cease to be rights at all.

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The antifa executive order was the test case. The new domestic terrorism order is the escalation. And Trump’s comments at Quantico may be the preview of an even more dangerous militarization to come. If pushback fails now, whether through courts, through Congress or through public protest, the bulwark that exists between national security and political repression may collapse entirely.

We should all be clear-eyed about what is happening. The president is not just fighting crime. He is probing the strength of our democratic institutions, searching for weaknesses. Each order, each speech, each threat against democratic norms is a stress test. The question is not whether Americans will passively endure it — but whether we will stand together to defend the freedoms that define us.

Jason M. Blazakis, a professor of practice at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, was director of the State Department’s Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office in the Bureau of Counterterrorism from 2008 to 2018. He wrote this column for the Los Angeles Times.

The Minnesota Department of Education launched an online tool Friday that Minnesotans can use to learn more about federal funding for public school districts as the federal government shutdown enters its third week.

With the site, viewers can see estimated annual allocations from the federal government for each Minnesota school district, including money for food, broadband Internet and busing, as well as classroom support.

“Minnesotans deserve clear information about how federal investments support the students and schools in their neighborhoods,” Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett said in a statement. “This tool helps families, educators and community members see where their tax dollars go.”

The education department created the tool amid concerns with the ongoing federal government shutdown and budget negotiations, as well as reports that the U.S. Department of Education has permanently laid off a large number of its special education staff and others.

“These layoffs are troubling and add to the uncertainty at the federal level,” the Minnesota Department of Education said Friday in a weekly letter to school superintendents.

Federal allocations to school districts range widely and are driven in large part by the income of students’ families. For example, St. Paul Public Schools is the state’s second-largest district but gets more than four times as much federal money as the largest district, Anoka-Hennepin.

The state provided the following estimates of annual federal funding for these 10 East Metro school districts, based on 2023-24 cost reimbursements and direct allocations:

• St. Paul: $190 million or 22.4% of the district’s total budget

• Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan: $27.9 million or 5.2% of the total

• Burnsville-Eagan-Savage: $20 million or 11.2% of the total

• North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale: $19.1 million or 9% of the total

• Roseville: $14.39 million or 9.3% of the total

• Mounds View: $13.3 million or 6.3% of the total

• South Washington County: $11.9 million or 3.4% of the total

• White Bear Lake: $7.6 million or 4.8% of the total

• Lakeville: $6.9 million or 3.2% of the total

• Stillwater: $5.8 million or 3.7% of the total

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Today is Saturday, Oct. 18, the 291st day of 2025. There are 74 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 18, 1977, Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in Game 6 of the World Series to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-4 win and a 4-2 Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers; his success in the Fall Classic earned him the nickname “Mr. October.”

Also on this date:

In 1867, the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia.

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In 1898, the American flag was first raised in Puerto Rico, shortly before Spain formally relinquished control of the island to the U.S.

In 1931, inventor Thomas Edison died at his home in West Orange, New Jersey, at the age of 84.

In 1954, Texas Instruments unveiled the Regency TR-1, the first commercially produced transistor radio.

In 1962, James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.

In 1968, American Bob Beamon shattered the previous long jump world record by nearly two feet, leaping 29 feet, 2 1/4 inches (8.90 meters) at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, overriding President Richard Nixon’s veto.

In 1977, West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 87 hostages and four crew members and killing three of the four hijackers; the Lufthansa flight had been hijacked five days earlier by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and made multiple stops before the rescue raid.

In 2007, two bombs exploded near a motorcade carrying former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi hours after her return from eight years in exile, killing more than 130 people; Bhutto herself was unhurt but would be assassinated in December 2007.

In 2018, President Donald Trump threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico if authorities could not stop a caravan of migrants from Central America.

Today’s Birthdays:

Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka is 86.
Composer Howard Shore is 79.
Actor Joe Morton is 78.
Author Terry McMillan is 74.
Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova is 69.
Boxing Hall of Famer Thomas Hearns is 67.
Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 65.
Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is 64.
Musician Ne-Yo is 46.
Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn is 41.
Jazz singer-musician Esperanza Spalding is 41.
Actor Freida Pinto is 41.
Actor Zac Efron is 38.
WNBA center Brittney Griner is 35.
Actor Tyler Posey is 34.
Actor Barry Keoghan is 33.