The official fire Chris Finch thread

[Klomp]

Sam Cassell or James Borrego would be my choices as of now, particularly Cassell. Borrego is a Popovich guy and an offensive schemer.

Also, an obvious choice (not saying good or bad)... Tom Crean....

I was just wondering if there could be more behind bringing him recently. If Finch were to go, would he be next up due to his relationship with Ant??

Allowing him a chance to get a good look at the roster to assess needs, etc…

Crean is a FDSN hire, not a Timberwolves hire. He also helps them out on Bucks broadcasts.

[Guest84]

Also, an obvious choice (not saying good or bad)... Tom Crean....

I was just wondering if there could be more behind bringing him recently. If Finch were to go, would he be next up due to his relationship with Ant??

Allowing him a chance to get a good look at the roster to assess needs, etc…

Crean is a FDSN hire, not a Timberwolves hire. He also helps them out on Bucks broadcasts.

Gotcha, wasn’t aware.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

At that stage, Fire Finch, put Micah at top position and move Mike to be assistant coach. Internal solution.

[Note30]

At that stage, Fire Finch, put Micah at top position and move Mike to be assistant coach. Internal solution.

How do you know Nori will be better than Finch?

What's Finch's rep with the players? What's Nori's?

[Loaf_of_bread]

Nori should not be considered. New blood, and if new guy doesn't like any assistant for whatever reason, gone.

[Klomp]

Nori should not be considered. New blood, and if new guy doesn't like any assistant for whatever reason, gone.

95% of midseason changes are interims promoted from within. And even just minimal growth often results in keeping the interim in place.

[Loaf_of_bread]

Nori should not be considered. New blood, and if new guy doesn't like any assistant for whatever reason, gone.

95% of midseason changes are interims promoted from within. And even just minimal growth often results in keeping the interim in place.

So in your mind, if Nori were to take over, we MAY see growth.

Are you advocating for him, or just telling me what has happened historically?

[FrenchMinnyFan]

At that stage, Fire Finch, put Micah at top position and move Mike to be assistant coach. Internal solution.

How do you know Nori will be better than Finch?

What's Finch's rep with the players? What's Nori's?

I don't know. But we can tell the same about Malone, Jenkins.No guarantee. It depends on how far Nori is involved in the late game situation and how people listne ot him or not. Theyu don't think to listen Finch a lot at times, which i personnaly find stupid as Finch seems to know his job well. But sometimes, your speech just not efficient anymore.

[shrink]

I struggle knowing where you draw the line for the failures this week.

Do I believe Finch understands the game? Yes. Upset victories in the playoffs and a history of post-halftime surges lead me to believe Finch knows what is needed. Finch isn’t telling players to miss free throws or commit turnovers.

Do I believe the players listen to Finch? Probably. Ant is probably the biggest culprit for going off script, but it must be difficult to balance how hard to come down on him in today’s NBA. Still, we always hear how Finch coaches everyone hard, and they all seem to appreciate it, even Ant.

Personally, I think the bulk of the blame for this week’s tragedies lie mostly at the feet of our players. The players need to develop more mental toughness, and I don’t believe removing Finch would likely improve the team.

[shrink]

I don’t blame Finch for not considering this crazy idea, but in hindsight, but do you think inserting Joe Ingles would have helped secure those late blown leads?

[shrink]

My other thought was;

Who most put us in position to win? Coach or players?

Who most lost the game? Coach or players?

[winforlose]

I don’t blame Finch for not considering this crazy idea, but in hindsight, but do you think inserting Joe Ingles would have helped secure those late blown leads?

Can he defend anyone? Do we have reason to believe he would make shots others missed? I think Jingles is on the roster because he is a minimum and because he doesn’t expect to play. Others do. You bench them in favor of him and it doesn’t work out, that costs a lot of good will.

[shrink]

I don’t blame Finch for not considering this crazy idea, but in hindsight, but do you think inserting Joe Ingles would have helped secure those late blown leads?

Can he defend anyone? Do we have reason to believe he would make shots others missed? I think Jingles is on the roster because he is a minimum and because he doesn’t expect to play. Others do. You bench them in favor of him and it doesn’t work out, that costs a lot of good will.

Yeah, it’s probably a crazy idea. I meant for the last 90 seconds of those first two losses, when we needed someone to inbound the ball and not make turnovers. Maybe he’d settle people down, but you probably wouldn’t want him out there unless the other team needed to foul to keep the clock from running.

[Guest84]

My other thought was;

Who most put us in position to win? Coach or players?

Who most lost the game? Coach or players?

It starts with the coach's game plan BUT the players have to execute said game plan. So it falls on both parties.

For example, idk what the ato play was when the score 101-101 againt OKC, but the players executed it poorly w/ back to back turnovers. Also, why is DDV bringing the ball up in a critical situation when it's been proven he's not good at doing so against pressure defenses? This would seem to fall on the coach BUT the players should've identified it as well once on the court.

The Finch tenure has shown us that in game adjustments aren't a strength of the coaching staff. Slow starts, blowing big leads, playing down to the comp, and closing games consistently has also been an issue.

However, the team has shown great resilience and mental toughness overall during his tenure. The biggest issue is player IQ paired with a lack of teaching the fundamentals. Which shows up at the worst times.

I honestly don't know what will help. Smarter players or a different coach?? If they do consider firing Finch, I personally would wait until the offseason when they can go after the actual coach they want to replace him vs an interim on the same staff.

I do have to give Finch credit as he's done great with a poorly constructed roster over the years. So maybe you have to give TC some of the blame as well.

[Dewey]

My other thought was;

Who most put us in position to win? Coach or players?

Who most lost the game? Coach or players?

It starts with the coach's game plan BUT the players have to execute said game plan. So it falls on both parties.

For example, idk what the ato play was when the score 101-101 againt OKC, but the players executed it poorly w/ back to back turnovers. Also, why is DDV bringing the ball up in a critical situation when it's been proven he's not good at doing so against pressure defenses? This would seem to fall on the coach BUT the players should've identified it as well once on the court.

The Finch tenure has shown us that in game adjustments aren't a strength of the coaching staff. Slow starts, blowing big leads, playing down to the comp, and closing games consistently has also been an issue.

However, the team has shown great resilience and mental toughness overall during his tenure. The biggest issue is player IQ paired with a lack of teaching the fundamentals. Which shows up at the worst times.

I honestly don't know what will help. Smarter players or a different coach?? If they do consider firing Finch, I personally would wait until the offseason when they can go after the actual coach they want to replace him vs an interim on the same staff.

I do have to give Finch credit as he's done great with a poorly constructed roster over the years. So maybe you have to give TC some of the blame as well.

Very confusing … one paragraph it all finch criticism and the next it’s praising finch for doing great with a apparently a poor roster

[Domejandro]

I don’t blame Finch for not considering this crazy idea, but in hindsight, but do you think inserting Joe Ingles would have helped secure those late blown leads?

Yes, but I genuinely think that people would lose their minds.

I keep advocating a few minutes for Joe Ingles and Joan Beringer just to limit the horrific Naz/Randle minutes (and cut back on Mike Conley’s minutes). It isn’t an ideal (or even good) solution, but just 6-8 minutes a night would help:

[Guest84]

My other thought was;

Who most put us in position to win? Coach or players?

Who most lost the game? Coach or players?

It starts with the coach's game plan BUT the players have to execute said game plan. So it falls on both parties.

For example, idk what the ato play was when the score 101-101 againt OKC, but the players executed it poorly w/ back to back turnovers. Also, why is DDV bringing the ball up in a critical situation when it's been proven he's not good at doing so against pressure defenses? This would seem to fall on the coach BUT the players should've identified it as well once on the court.

The Finch tenure has shown us that in game adjustments aren't a strength of the coaching staff. Slow starts, blowing big leads, playing down to the comp, and closing games consistently has also been an issue.

However, the team has shown great resilience and mental toughness overall during his tenure. The biggest issue is player IQ paired with a lack of teaching the fundamentals. Which shows up at the worst times.

I honestly don't know what will help. Smarter players or a different coach?? If they do consider firing Finch, I personally would wait until the offseason when they can go after the actual coach they want to replace him vs an interim on the same staff.

I do have to give Finch credit as he's done great with a poorly constructed roster over the years. So maybe you have to give TC some of the blame as well.

Very confusing … one paragraph it all finch criticism and the next it’s praising finch for doing great with a apparently a poor roster

To clarify, multiple things can be true. You can give someone credit for doing a good job while simultaneously pointing out areas of improvement.

For example, how many of the complaints on this board are about how the players on the roster don't necessarily fit the best? But yet, Finch was able to coach them to consecutive WCF (praise/credit).

On another note, how often do we see complaints about poor game management, timeout use, rotations, etc (critique)?

If it was confusing, I apologize for bouncing around in the initial post. While I don't agree with some things Finch does, I do respect the things that he's been able to accomplish with the rosters he's been given.

I also cited that it's not just on Finch but the players as well. They have to be able to execute the game plan but also learn from their previous mistakes and experiences. If they don't/can't learn, is that on Finch or the player?

[m2002brian]

When a team consistently looks disorganized in the final two minutes — struggling to inbound, turning the ball over, rushing possessions, or settling for low-quality shots — it reflects a lack of structure and discipline that should come from the bench. Great coaches elevate a team’s basketball IQ in crunch time; the Wolves instead look panicked and reactive. The fact that these mistakes repeat across multiple games suggests a coaching problem not of one bad night, but of systemic late-game mismanagement.

[Neeva]

Finch is the WRONG coach for our low iq players or his schemes and coaching are making them all seem low iq?? Ant looked so much better on team usa and NAW looks way better and playing smarter under Snyder.

[Note30]

Finch is the WRONG coach for our low iq players or his schemes and coaching are making them all seem low iq?? Ant looked so much better on team usa and NAW looks way better and playing smarter under Snyder.

Ant looked better on team USA because he was playing with a bunch of other all stars against scrubs.

NAWs usage has been through the roof and he's playing the role he's supposed to be playing SG.

He's not having to do the BS I try to setup the offense garbage he initially had to do here.

Finch isn't perfect but he isn't exactly given the conventional tools to succeed.

I think we could probably win a few more games with a better coach if that coach existed (which is possible but unless it's a college or foreign coach I think unlikely).

Finch isn't the first one who needs to be fired.

It's TC.

We don't have a real PG rotation and we're the only team with a real shot at the playoffs without a halfway decent PG.

That's a management issue not a coaching one.