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Looks like the team might have faith in Finch as well .

So I just read that the Pels 30 turnovers tied the franchise record. The game before the Rockets had 31 turnovers. With a defensive turnaround like this it is hard not to look at the dichotomy between Ryan Saunders and Chris Finch.

Finch has been great. He has a very cool and calm demeanor and doesn't panic. His offense is very good and he is seen as a high calibre offensive coach by people around the league.

Our new defensive coordinator, Elston Turner is looking to be a big upgrade so far. Hopefully the level of intensity stays high for the whole year.

Towns really, really undermines the effort level though when gets too whiny. They had some very easy fast break points where he was out of the picture for nearly the whole possession. This happened at least 5 times.

Hopefully Finch pulls him up on it in the film room, cos it's ridiculous. We wont win many games with that going on.

I heard a lot about the Pat Beverly effect on the defense, and I agree it is real. But I also felt that Finch was a little under appreciated in this massive defensive turn around. Between hiring the DC, changing the scheme, and motivating these guys to focus on defense first, Finch has built a culture which I hope endures long after Beverly leaves or retires here (a man can hope.) I have faith in Finch, and this team, we just need one more damn beef bus or at least a big PF to take us to the promised land.

Finch has the team playing defense with high energy and players putting in effort on that end and its the first time I have seen this from a Timberwolves team since Garnett Era.

The team has also found their secret sauce--Jared Vanderbilt. He is the perfect compliment as a special rebounder on the offensive end and a terrific defender in the way he moves his feet. He has an "old school" way of affecting the game which, instead of being a shooter, is a terrific cutter and more important, as mentioned above, offensive rebounder.

If you look at all the 2-man line-up data, the team is crushing it with Vanderbilt.

Towns-Vanderbilt: +11.6
Edwards-Vanderbilt: +16.4
Russell-Vanderbilt: +20.3
Beverley-Vanderbilt: +18.7

If you scroll through basketball reference 5-man line-ups for the Timberwolves, each one that pops includes Vanderbilt.

Statistically, he is the only non-center in the top 27 of all NBA players in OREB%, where he ranks 7th.

Colbinii wrote:The team has also found their secret sauce--Jared Vanderbilt. He is the perfect compliment as a special rebounder on the offensive end and a terrific defender in the way he moves his feet. He has an "old school" way of affecting the game which, instead of being a shooter, is a terrific cutter and more important, as mentioned above, offensive rebounder.

If you look at all the 2-man line-up data, the team is crushing it with Vanderbilt.

Towns-Vanderbilt: +11.6
Edwards-Vanderbilt: +16.4
Russell-Vanderbilt: +20.3
Beverley-Vanderbilt: +18.7

If you scroll through basketball reference 5-man line-ups for the Timberwolves, each one that pops includes Vanderbilt.

Statistically, he is the only non-center in the top 27 of all NBA players in OREB%, where he ranks 7th.

Bump!

Klomp wrote:

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I agree. You can see it in guys like KAT and Beasley who have reputations for poor defense, but are playing much better D this year. That is before we even talk about guys like Dlo and Ant who are night and day.

I’m a fan.

28 and 25, one game back from 6th and in striking distance of 5th. Is Finch perfect, of course not. Is he a damn fine coach and arguably top 3 best wolves coach ever, you bet your ***. Faith in finch will see us returned to the playoffs.

Finch has demeanor that doesn’t scream a-hole like thibs if you F up. Looks like a true professional coach. So much better than who he replaced

D1SGRUNTL3D wrote:Finch has demeanor that doesn’t scream a-hole like thibs if you F up. Looks like a true professional coach. So much better than who he replaced

They had a nice little story during a recent game, that I think speaks very well of Finch.

Sometime back in early January, Taurean Prince approached Chris Finch and asked what he needed to do to get back in the rotation. Finch listed 3-4 things he wanted to see. Prince did those things, Finch was a man of his word and found opportunities for minutes that gave Prince a pathway to become this valuable bench piece over the last few weeks.

We mentioned earlier in the Ben Simmons thread how difficult it is to keep people happy. For those of us who have coached a team, or run a business, or had any leadership position, we know how difficult it is to find opportunities for talented workers who all believe in themselves and want more. Finch treated Prince honestly, directly and fairly. Employees respect that, and even though it’s a tough balancing act, I think it shows that Finch is a big reason our team chemistry is so good right now.

shrink wrote:

D1SGRUNTL3D wrote:Finch has demeanor that doesn’t scream a-hole like thibs if you F up. Looks like a true professional coach. So much better than who he replaced

They had a nice little story during a recent game, that I think speaks very well of Finch.

Sometime back in early January, Taurean Prince approached Chris Finch and asked what he needed to do to get back in the rotation. Finch listed 3-4 things he wanted to see. Prince did those things, Finch was a man of his word and found opportunities for minutes that gave Prince a pathway to become this valuable bench piece over the last few weeks.

We mentioned earlier in the Ben Simmons thread how difficult it is to keep people happy. For those of us who have coached a team, or run a business, or had any leadership position, we know how difficult it is to find opportunities for talented workers who all believe in themselves and want more. Finch treated Prince honestly, directly and fairly. Employees respect that, and even though it’s a tough balancing act, I think it shows that Finch is a big reason our team chemistry is so good right now.

Jaylen Nowell being told his minutes depend on his defense. Jaden McDaniels being told he is a basketball player not a shooter, and that he should not base is his confidence or self worth on his 3 point percentage. Saying publicly he is more worried about Bev wearing him out than wearing out Bev. These are the kinds of things that change a culture. When you hold guys accountable, when you have their backs against the critics, and when you show them the respect they have earned, it builds loyalty and creates an atmosphere of trust and camaraderie. The team was mostly the same last year, but were not nearly as close last year. Some of that is the leadership of Bev, some of that is the culture of Finch.

Go Finch Go! I'm a fan. The biggest thing he's done is he's got us winning the games we should win. Not so many upsets of teams above us. That said if we stop winning fans will turn on him quick.

KGdaBom wrote:Go Finch Go! I'm a fan. The biggest thing he's done is he's got us winning the games we should win. Not so many upsets of teams above us. That said if we stop winning fans will turn on him quick.

That is half true. When Ryan lost almost every close game fans asked why. When we never ran plays out of the timeout and got bad shots that spoke poorly of the coach. When he never adjusted the rotations and didn’t have the guys feed the hot hand that spoke badly of the coach. When the guys didn’t seem to care about winning that spoke terribly of the coach. Winning is definitely important in evaluating a coach, but it is only part of the story. For example last season Finch didn’t have the best record after taking over, but at that point the playoffs were already out of reach, and it was really about gearing up for this season. Also, if Finch keeps things well oiled (so to speak,) then the winning tends to take care of itself.

You never saw anything like this after a win with Ryan.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/chris-finch-remains-unhappy-timberwolves-000300015.html

Best coach we've had in a long time

I think Finch is incredible. I love that Rosas knew this was his guy from day one. I still remember hearing Finch being talked about when we hired Rosas but we stuck with Ryan. I will continue to give Rosas credit for the position he has put us in. Too bad he had some flaws that derailed his career and family because the dude has some talent.

winforlose wrote:

shrink wrote:

D1SGRUNTL3D wrote:Finch has demeanor that doesn’t scream a-hole like thibs if you F up. Looks like a true professional coach. So much better than who he replaced

They had a nice little story during a recent game, that I think speaks very well of Finch.

Sometime back in early January, Taurean Prince approached Chris Finch and asked what he needed to do to get back in the rotation. Finch listed 3-4 things he wanted to see. Prince did those things, Finch was a man of his word and found opportunities for minutes that gave Prince a pathway to become this valuable bench piece over the last few weeks.

We mentioned earlier in the Ben Simmons thread how difficult it is to keep people happy. For those of us who have coached a team, or run a business, or had any leadership position, we know how difficult it is to find opportunities for talented workers who all believe in themselves and want more. Finch treated Prince honestly, directly and fairly. Employees respect that, and even though it’s a tough balancing act, I think it shows that Finch is a big reason our team chemistry is so good right now.

Jaylen Nowell being told his minutes depend on his defense. Jaden McDaniels being told he is a basketball player not a shooter, and that he should not base is his confidence or self worth on his 3 point percentage. Saying publicly he is more worried about Bev wearing him out than wearing out Bev. These are the kinds of things that change a culture. When you hold guys accountable, when you have their backs against the critics, and when you show them the respect they have earned, it builds loyalty and creates an atmosphere of trust and camaraderie. The team was mostly the same last year, but were not nearly as close last year. Some of that is the leadership of Bev, some of that is the culture of Finch.

A great point, brought up on the Jonny K show...

Chris Finch has a lot to do with his guys getting out of slumps, keeping confidence high. McLaughlin, Beasley, Prince, McDaniels, Reid, Nowell (aka the who bench) have all gone through slumps at some point. In years past, that's cause for concern in a search for more dependability at the trade deadline. But I don't worry anymore that guys will figure it out with Finch at the helm.

We just got to 30 wins before we got to 30 losses. I don’t know how many coaches for the wolves hit the milestone, but it is nice. 30-27 is a nice achievement for Finch in his first full year. Now we just need to finish strong and get to that 6th seed.