Game 17: Houston at Minnesota (8-8), 7 pm

[Calinks]

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[FrenchMinnyFan]

Why go away from the spark (Rob) that brought you back???

Explain the mistakes and get him back in when OT starts.

Exactly! Specially without Mike. Sometimes Finch management does not make sense.

[winforlose]

1. DDV needs an exorcist, because demons have possessed him and taken away every shred of talent he had last year. Dude is flat out unplayable.
2. Finch benched Dilly when he should have benched Ant in OT. Ant in the last 4-5 minutes of regulation just went ISO mode and killed all the offensive flow. They were leaving Jaden open and Jaden instead of driving and finishing (maybe through contact for 3 the old fashioned way,) continued to let it fly and let the game die.
3. You cannot say a game is good when the first half is that bad. The beginning of the 3rd quarter was Wizards or Pistons level of bad. I mean honestly do these guys have no motivation or pride until they are so deep in the hole that they have no choice but to scratch and claw their way out. If you give 48 consistent minutes you beat Boston, you beat the Rockets, you beat the Blazers in both those games, and god knows what other loses are wins. There are failures of leadership, coaching, individual players, and effort up and down this roster. What is it gonna take to convince these guys that they are not good enough to only 24-26 minutes and sleep walk the rest and expect anything but a losing record.

[winforlose]

Why go away from the spark (Rob) that brought you back???

Explain the mistakes and get him back in when OT starts.

Exactly! Specially without Mike. Sometimes Finch management does not make sense.

Ant and JR want to play iso hero ball BS. Instead of letting Dilly throw Ant open, Finch prefers to let Ant drive into triple coverage and kick it to the cold handed MCD. Never mind the fact that Houston is deliberately leaving him open and praying we are dumb enough to settle for that shot. Finch is a bad coach who lost the locker room. He couldn’t keep the guys motivated and he couldn’t manage the rotations properly so far this season. He hasn’t had a true offensive scheme these last few years, and his defensive scheme is effort based with a team who only wants to play 24-26 minutes. Maybe it’s time to bench Ant and JR end of game and have Micah Nori or someone else take over Finch.

[shrink]

You know has Rob has had so many games with a bad -/+?

Tonight he was +26. Next closest was Naz at +6.

[Movics]

I get the strong impression that Finch is terrified of hurting the feelings of our vets. He doesn't appear to be watching the same game as the rest of us.

We are 17 games in and it seems all we really might have is a chance to watch the young guys develop and see what we have.

Trade everyone not named Ant for cap space and picks or let the vets sit and earn every minute of playing time.

C Garza
PF Minott
SF Shannon Jr.
SG Edwards
PG Dillingham

"And with the 1st Pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz (Acquired from MIN) select Cooper Flagg from Duke University."

Sent from my N152DL using RealGM mobile app

17 games in and you’re suggesting tanking. We’re so back to being the Minnesota Timberwolves

[winforlose]

You know has Rob has had so many games with a bad -/+?

Tonight he was +26. Next closest was Naz at +6.

This is the 1/1/1 Finch talked about before the season. Tonight was the good Dilly game and Finch benched him for ISO ball with Ant and JR. It leads to a losing record. Failure of leadership, coaching, and scheme all at once is pretty hard to overcome. No matter how talented your players may be individually.

[Loaf_of_bread]

Why go away from the spark (Rob) that brought you back???

Explain the mistakes and get him back in when OT starts.

Exactly! Specially without Mike. Sometimes Finch management does not make sense.

Ant and JR want to play iso hero ball BS. Instead of letting Dilly through Ant open, Finch prefers to let Ant drive into triple coverage and kick it to the cold handed MCD. Never mind the fact that Houston is deliberately leaving him open and praying we are dumb enough to settle for that shot. Finch is a bad coach who lost the locker room. He couldn’t keep the guys motivated and he couldn’t manage the rotations properly so far this season. He hasn’t had a true offensive scheme these last few years, and his defensive scheme is effort based with a team who only wants to play 24-26 minutes. Maybe it’s time to bench Ang and JR end of game and have Micah Nori or someone else take over Finch.

There is too much freedom allowed, but yes I do think he is losing the locker room. Some of the positivity in pressers following losses is ridiculous...

[Domejandro]

Just really sad to see that Anthony Edwards' iso-ball at the end of games is killing Minnesota this many years into his career. We've been seeing it since his rookie season.

[winforlose]

Just really sad to see that Anthony Edwards' iso-ball at the end of games is killing Minnesota this many years into his career. We've been seeing it since his rookie season.

It comes down to coaching. You saw Dilly build a small lead and inject flow to the offense. Then Ant starts playing on ball waiving guys off and driving one on three, or just no pass shooting. Worse, Jaden is firing from deep when he is ice cold. He should be getting the ball sooner and attacking. This offense is just plain bad because it lacks scheme and discipline and Finch is to blame.

[winforlose]

I get the strong impression that Finch is terrified of hurting the feelings of our vets. He doesn't appear to be watching the same game as the rest of us.

We are 17 games in and it seems all we really might have is a chance to watch the young guys develop and see what we have.

Trade everyone not named Ant for cap space and picks or let the vets sit and earn every minute of playing time.

C Garza
PF Minott
SF Shannon Jr.
SG Edwards
PG Dillingham

"And with the 1st Pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz (Acquired from MIN) select Cooper Flagg from Duke University."

Sent from my N152DL using RealGM mobile app

17 games in and you’re suggesting tanking. We’re so back to being the Minnesota Timberwolves

We don’t own our pick. Jazz fans would be thrilled, but Wolves fans would riot.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Few bad things and few good things tonight :

The bad :

- Coaching for sure. RD should have play in OT .
- Forget the golden rule : Feed the hot guy when it matters, not Jaden who couldn't hit anything all night.
- Be a strong coach with guts : Letting ANT and Randle do what they want is not acceptable. I understand you have to manage EGO but what Finch will get is to get fired.... and he will probably deserve it if he don't show he is the boss.

The good :
- If Finch stop to stubborn, we find our team tonight : Play Mike 28 min, RD 20 min at primary PG, Put NAZ and DDV instead of Randle and trade Randle for whatever you can get.
I know some people thing we need Randle offense but we don't. I can bet half my savings that NAZ will score 20 points each game if he start.
IF we don't trade Randle at the deadline i will start to think TC and Finch are out for their mind.

- RD has a fantastic potential . Let him play 20 min per night and next year, he is the starting PG and Mike can come from the bench.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Oups just see that starters shoot 4-25 from 3. Hard to win when you shoot that bad. Hard also when you team make 14 Assists-14 TO when RD sit. A rookie with 30 min of NBA in the leg being our best playmaker ( except Mike) show where we are...

[TimberKat]

I am traveling and didn't watch the game. Looking at box scores, Gobert played 44 mins. How is it possible he only took 3 shots? It really is time to bench Randle and start Naz. Let Randle take the 6th man scorer role. The only bright spot seems to be Dilly maybe legit. Ant cannot be your #1 star. It seems that having Towns keeps him somewhat in check, now is just the me-Ant show, let's play one on five and get my 30 pts to night. Ant played 43 mins with "1" assist. Some of it sounds like it's due to JMcD's poor shooting but still...

[FrenchMinnyFan]

I am traveling and didn't watch the game. Looking at box scores, Gobert played 44 mins. How is it possible he only took 3 shots? It really is time to bench Randle and start Naz. Let Randle take the 6th man scorer role. The only bright spot seems to be Dilly maybe legit. Ant cannot be your #1 star. It seems that having Towns keeps him somewhat in check, now is just the me-Ant show, let's play one on five and get my 30 pts to night. Ant played 43 mins with "1" assist. Some of it sounds like it's due to JMcD's poor shooting but still...

Agree with you. The way we play actually, Rudy don't see the ball much. RD pass him the ball twice but ANT and Randle play so hero ball most of the time. As long as Finch don't fix that, no chance to improve.

I disagree with you on one point , 'im reaching a level where just seeing Randle on the court is causing me vomiting.....trade this guy will be the best who can happen to the team.

[Neeva]

Just really sad to see that Anthony Edwards' iso-ball at the end of games is killing Minnesota this many years into his career. We've been seeing it since his rookie season.

It comes down to coaching. You saw Dilly build a small lead and inject flow to the offense. Then Ant starts playing on ball waiving guys off and driving one on three, or just no pass shooting. Worse, Jaden is firing from deep when he is ice cold. He should be getting the ball sooner and attacking. This offense is just plain bad because it lacks scheme and discipline and Finch is to blame.

it was a blessing when Finch got injured in playoffs last season and the reason wolves went far, Finch is a terribly overrated coach that belongs as an assistant.

[minimus]

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Wonder also if players still listen to Finch anymore. I look closely all TO in the fourth and in OT and mostly players were talking to each others, or Mike was talking but Finch was quite invisible. Another TO who drive me crazy. Mike was talking with AND and Rudy, RD was clearly listening and the only guy who were not listening and seems not feeling concerned was Randle..... This guy will kill our team.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

For the people who thought Mike was the problem :

Even though Conley (out because of a left great toe strain) has struggled scoring, the Wolves still have an 8-5 record when he plays. Their offensive rating is 115.9 when Conley is on the floor; that would rank fifth in the league. When he doesn’t play? It’s 111.2. That would be 19th....

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Another interesting stat :
Wolves have lost their last 2 games by combined 8 points, and McDaniels in those two games is -31 with 19 points on 29 shot!