The Official Chris Finch Thread

[Klomp]

Just think, now that Finch lost the All Star Game, a whole conference worth of fans will be starting fire finch threads

Look at the smile, he totally slacked off yesterday and was happy about it!

Watch on YouTube

[winforlose]

Just think, now that Finch lost the All Star Game, a whole conference worth of fans will be starting fire finch threads

Look at the smile, he totally slacked off yesterday and was happy about it!

Watch on YouTube

What does it say that the coach of the number 1 defense in the league (by a mile,) coached a team that gave up 211 points in 48 minutes. Rounding up that is 4.4 points per minute.

[KGdaBom]

Just think, now that Finch lost the All Star Game, a whole conference worth of fans will be starting fire finch threads

Look at the smile, he totally slacked off yesterday and was happy about it!

Watch on YouTube

What does it say that the coach of the number 1 defense in the league (by a mile,) coached a team that gave up 211 points in 48 minutes. Rounding up that is 4.4 points per minute.

He was given a team full of all stars and still lost giving up 211 points. Fire his a$$ right now.

[winforlose]

Look at the smile, he totally slacked off yesterday and was happy about it!

Watch on YouTube

What does it say that the coach of the number 1 defense in the league (by a mile,) coached a team that gave up 211 points in 48 minutes. Rounding up that is 4.4 points per minute.

He was given a team full of all stars and still lost giving up 211 points. Fire his a$$ right now.

If this thread was on the general board, how many people would know we were joking/being sarcastic?

[shangrila]

Yes, own it. Reading defense transcend positions and so is make game deciding decisions. He was bad at it. We all hope he can improve and be better in the future. Maybe take the ball out of his hands in those situations for now and we been talking about that.

Final note on this since you've inexplicably tripled down on it; the responsibilities that a guard has for initiating offence compared to a big aren't comparable. You want to compare him to his peers? Try other shooting guards.

And no, you shouldn't take the ball out of his hands in those situations. We want him to learn to make the right reads, the only way that happens is with on-ball reps. If the team was fighting for a play-in spot you might have a point but we're top of the West, we can afford for Ant to make mistakes while he's growing.

So, since we are 1 game ahead in first place, it's OK to make mistakes and take us down a couple spots? Isn't there better ways to learn? No need to continue this discussion. Ant is the perfect 22 year old.

Agreed. I have neither the time nor patience to deal with clowns.

[TimberKat]

Final note on this since you've inexplicably tripled down on it; the responsibilities that a guard has for initiating offence compared to a big aren't comparable. You want to compare him to his peers? Try other shooting guards.

And no, you shouldn't take the ball out of his hands in those situations. We want him to learn to make the right reads, the only way that happens is with on-ball reps. If the team was fighting for a play-in spot you might have a point but we're top of the West, we can afford for Ant to make mistakes while he's growing.

So, since we are 1 game ahead in first place, it's OK to make mistakes and take us down a couple spots? Isn't there better ways to learn? No need to continue this discussion. Ant is the perfect 22 year old.

Agreed. I have neither the time nor patience to deal with clowns.

Now that is something we could agree on. Nice self reflecting statement.

[shrink]

Ant is so fun-loving! I loved seeing him sneak in as a fake reporter!

It makes me happy to see him enjoying his experience.

[Sealab2024]

At 211 points I believe that means that in the aggregate Finch's team allowed every opposing player to average 17.5 pts per game.

Are we really comfortable with that going forward?

[shrink]

At 211 points I believe that means that in the aggregate Finch's team allowed every opposing player to average 17.5 pts per game.

Are we really comfortable with that going forward?

I am not! I know most people would say that firing the top coach in the West after an All Star game is extreme, but Finch did not get on his players’ asses about locking down on defense, and I don’t want this new lax Finch infecting our outstanding defense.

Fire him, before it starts a trend!

[TimberKat]

At 211 points I believe that means that in the aggregate Finch's team allowed every opposing player to average 17.5 pts per game.

Are we really comfortable with that going forward?

I am not! I know most people would say that firing the top coach in the West after an All Star game is extreme, but Finch did not get on his players’ asses about locking down on defense, and I don’t want this new lax Finch infecting our outstanding defense.

Fire him, before it starts a trend!

This conversation reminded me of how Gophers fired Glen Mason. The team end the season in a meaningless Insight Bowl against Texas Tech that no one cares about. They blew a 31 points third qtr lead and that was the last straw.

Could the all star game be the last straw for Finch?

[winforlose]

At 211 points I believe that means that in the aggregate Finch's team allowed every opposing player to average 17.5 pts per game.

Are we really comfortable with that going forward?

I am not! I know most people would say that firing the top coach in the West after an All Star game is extreme, but Finch did not get on his players’ asses about locking down on defense, and I don’t want this new lax Finch infecting our outstanding defense.

Fire him, before it starts a trend!

This conversation reminded me of how Gophers fired Glen Mason. The team end the season in a meaningless Insight Bowl against Texas Tech that no one cares about. They blew a 31 points third qtr lead and that was the last straw.

Could the all star game be the last straw for Finch?

I don’t know man. I mean sure he improved everyone’s efficiency and got us to the playoffs basically 3 years in row (I don’t see us missing it this year,) but his style is just so messy. No I am not talking about basketball, I am talking about his HAIR. What was it Jim Pete said, something like “the messier his hair the worse the team does.” I mean damn man with that much at stake get some gel, get a comb, and get to work. I bet if he had a salon day the West win by 50! SMH

[m2002brian]

Is Chris Finch our Doug Collins?
The semi-successful coach who gets his team to the playoffs but never gets over the hump?

[TimberKat]

Is Chris Finch our Doug Collins?
The semi-successful coach who gets his team to the playoffs but never gets over the hump?

If the team doesn't get pass the 1st round, he will be gone. So, yes.

[winforlose]

Is Chris Finch our Doug Collins?
The semi-successful coach who gets his team to the playoffs but never gets over the hump?

Finch is to coaching what Dlo is to basketball. You can tell both are smart and fundamentally sound. But the inconsistency in their performance, and the obvious weak spots in their repertoire make you furious when they are exposed. Finch was brought in as an offensive minded coach, and he ended up with a defensive reputation. The ultimate question that will haunt Finch for as long as we are good, is whether we are good because of Finch’s leadership, or in spite of it?

[winforlose]

An interesting topic that might come up as Karl’s injury details come to light is whether the culture of playing every possible game and late into games with big leads might have contributed to Karl’s injury. Don’t forget Ant is dealing with Knee issues as well (though unrelated to Karl’s.)

[shrink]

I wrote this on the General Board about the Top Five Coaches in the NBA, and I thought somebody here might like it.

While he gets lots of love from other coaches, I don’t think Chris Finch gets enough credit from casual fans.

Chris Finch was hired into a mess. The previous coach Ryan Saunders had a horrible record and was loved by their star Karl-Anthony Towns. Stephen A Smith called his hiring “Racist and because of white privilege,” over David Vanterpool, who had been the Associate Head Coach in Minnesota for two years and had relationships with players on the team. Despite that, the straight-shooting Finch stepped in and took the 7-28 Wolves to 23-53.

The next year, the Wolves continued to over-achieve, and he got them to the playoffs with guys like Beverley, Vanderbilt and Beasley playing major roles with Towns and DLo. That summer, they brought in Gobert, and many people here that said that no coach could find a way for Rudy and KAT to work together. He has created tremendous team unity, even with a young superstar supplanting the old one, and so many role players stepping in to contribute seamlessly. This will be his third full season, and he’s taken the woeful Wolves franchise to the playoffs all three years.

I get that he doesn’t have the playoff accolades that some of these other coaches have, but he didn’t have the team until this season to really make noise. I agree with respected announcer Jim Peterson that he is the best coach in Wolves history, even over Flip Saunders, and the work he has done in Minnesota would have me put him on my Top Five list.

[m2002brian]

I love how Ant was completely left out of that whole post.
Two reasons.
Ant was doing nothing under Ryan
Our leap to the playoffs coincides with BOTH drafting Ant and hiring Finch.

[Klomp]

I love how Ant was completely left out of that whole post.
Two reasons.
Ant was doing nothing under Ryan
Our leap to the playoffs coincides with BOTH drafting Ant and hiring Finch.

I'm honestly conflicted with how I'm supposed to read this post. Finch should get some credit for getting this out of Ant, no? That might be exactly what you are saying, but I simply can't tell right now.

[m2002brian]

I love how Ant was completely left out of that whole post.
Two reasons.
Ant was doing nothing under Ryan
Our leap to the playoffs coincides with BOTH drafting Ant and hiring Finch.

I'm honestly conflicted with how I'm supposed to read this post. Finch should get some credit for getting this out of Ant, no? That might be exactly what you are saying, but I simply can't tell right now.

We are not where we are without both of them.

I’m complimenting Finch for his work while not forgetting how much of an impact Ant has had to our success also. Finch deserves a lot of credit for helping Ant be where he is. Good coaches know that sometimes you have to bend the system a little when enough talent challenges the boundaries. (ie: Pop and Manu)

[frankenwolf]

I love how Ant was completely left out of that whole post.
Two reasons.
Ant was doing nothing under Ryan
Our leap to the playoffs coincides with BOTH drafting Ant and hiring Finch.

I believe this quote refers to Ant:

He (Finch) has created tremendous team unity, even with a young superstar supplanting the old one,