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One thing I am very curios to see is how Finch vision can affect roster construction going forward. It will be his first full offseason, after full season + playoffs. He had enough time to evaluate players, to get some experience as HC in NBA. Basically current roster was assembled mostly under Rosas vision AND fast rebuilding need, i.e. talent over fit. I should admit that evaluation and development of talent during Rosas management was top level. Now I think we might see some shift, because from what I read Gupta has another type of personality and leadership, so I'd expect some shift in paradigm where Finch plays bigger role in roster construction. For example, what if MCD develops a reliable offensive game and we draft another 6'10" big wing who can handle the ball and shoot the ball (and ideally defend). Guys like Jovic, Ousmane Dieng, Sochan. What if in a run of 2-3 years, we make a complete transition from two PG lineup (DLo-PatBev-JMac) to more Towns-centric offense like DEN (Towns-MPJ-Murray), or with development of MCD and Jovic/Dieng/Sochan to a wing-centric offence like LAC.

minimus wrote:One thing I am very curios to see is how Finch vision can affect roster construction going forward. It will be his first full offseason, after full season + playoffs. He had enough time to evaluate players, to get some experience as HC in NBA. Basically current roster was assembled mostly under Rosas vision AND fast rebuilding need, i.e. talent over fit. I should admit that evaluation and development of talent during Rosas management was top level. Now I think we might see some shift, because from what I read Gupta has another type of personality and leadership, so I'd expect some shift in paradigm where Finch plays bigger role in roster construction. For example, what if MCD develops a reliable offensive game and we draft another 6'10" big wing who can handle the ball and shoot the ball (and ideally defend). Guys like Jovic, Ousmane Dieng, Sochan. What if in a run of 2-3 years, we make a complete transition from two PG lineup (DLo-PatBev-JMac) to more Towns-centric offense like DEN (Towns-MPJ-Murray), or with development of MCD and Jovic/Dieng/Sochan to a wing-centric offence like LAC.

I think this is a big key. Not only does Finch have a bigger say (it was already bigger than Ryan had when Gersson was here, but has grown even more since), but he also has a clearer idea of the roster strengths and weaknesses.

One rumor I found noteworthy from the deadline was the interest in Marcus Smart. Talented player, but more importantly it's about the type of player. I think we will be getting away from the true PG-centered offense. In some ways, I could see a player like Smart be slotted in at PG.

We already have that player. Patrick Beverly is basically a beefier Marcus Smart.
But it is a good point about Finch finally having input in roster construction. He basically made lemonade out of Rosas' lemons.

The one thing that bothered me in the Memphis series was his stubbornness in sticking with the small lineup.
Maybe it was lack of practice time with anything other than one true big, but his inability to adjust to the way Memphis was attacking us, particularly with Clarke and Bane, and on the offensive glass, was disappointing.
Especially after seeing both essentially disappear against the Warriors.

younggunsmn wrote:The one thing that bothered me in the Memphis series was his stubbornness in sticking with the small lineup.
Maybe it was lack of practice time with anything other than one true big, but his inability to adjust to the way Memphis was attacking us, particularly with Clarke and Bane, and on the offensive glass, was disappointing.
Especially after seeing both essentially disappear against the Warriors.

I think it says a lot about how he/they view these players and about how he wants to play. He values switching 1-4. Not just for a play or two but the whole game. I think that's why we haven't seen much Towns at PF, Reid at PF, Monroe at PF, Knight at PF, etc. Because I don't think they have the skill set our PFs are essentially asked to do especially on defense. This is why I still strongly believe we will see certain lineups more than some fans want...unless we see a drastic shift in defensive system.

younggunsmn wrote:We already have that player. Patrick Beverly is basically a beefier Marcus Smart.

And we see the impact of that type of player on the team's performance. Wins.

younggunsmn wrote:We already have that player. Patrick Beverly is basically a beefier Marcus Smart.
But it is a good point about Finch finally having input in roster construction. He basically made lemonade out of Rosas' lemons.

The one thing that bothered me in the Memphis series was his stubbornness in sticking with the small lineup.
Maybe it was lack of practice time with anything other than one true big, but his inability to adjust to the way Memphis was attacking us, particularly with Clarke and Bane, and on the offensive glass, was disappointing.
Especially after seeing both essentially disappear against the Warriors.

It's a mistake to start Bev. He needs to come off the bench if for no other reason than injuries. His body can't take starters minutes. Smart would be a great choice. He's on a decent contract too. Boston isn't going to move him.

younggunsmn wrote:The one thing that bothered me in the Memphis series was his stubbornness in sticking with the small lineup. Maybe it was lack of practice time with anything other than one true big, but his inability to adjust to the way Memphis was attacking us, particularly with Clarke and Bane, and on the offensive glass, was disappointing.
Especially after seeing both essentially disappear against the Warriors.

It’s our roster construction, right? What would you have liked to see?

shrink wrote:

younggunsmn wrote:The one thing that bothered me in the Memphis series was his stubbornness in sticking with the small lineup. Maybe it was lack of practice time with anything other than one true big, but his inability to adjust to the way Memphis was attacking us, particularly with Clarke and Bane, and on the offensive glass, was disappointing.
Especially after seeing both essentially disappear against the Warriors.

It’s our roster construction, right? What would you have liked to see?

1. A better option to counter Brandon Clarke and his offensive rebounding and easy paint buckets. As soon as Vanderbilt left the floor, our rebounding and paint play collapsed. He knew going into the series Memphis's offensive rebounding and second chance opportunities would be a problem. If Vanderbilt was played off the floor because of his trouble finishing, Monroe should have been an option next to KAT.

2. McDaniels should have been locking down Bane on the wing, not getting thrown around like a ragdoll by Clarke and Tillman.
It was a huge mistake playing the lineup with him at the 4 while we were trying to hold a lead.

Nick K wrote:

younggunsmn wrote:We already have that player. Patrick Beverly is basically a beefier Marcus Smart.
But it is a good point about Finch finally having input in roster construction. He basically made lemonade out of Rosas' lemons.

The one thing that bothered me in the Memphis series was his stubbornness in sticking with the small lineup.
Maybe it was lack of practice time with anything other than one true big, but his inability to adjust to the way Memphis was attacking us, particularly with Clarke and Bane, and on the offensive glass, was disappointing.
Especially after seeing both essentially disappear against the Warriors.

It's a mistake to start Bev. He needs to come off the bench if for no other reason than injuries. His body can't take starters minutes. Smart would be a great choice. He's on a decent contract too. Boston isn't going to move him.

I think Bev as a starter makes sense. He doesn't offer much punch and his defense is valuable, just stagger his minutes more. Dlo the same way, I wouldn't mind seeing him come in to run the 2nd unit, and feast on backups.

Putting specific rotations aside for one second, Finch now has a new tool in his tool box for the 22/23 season. Assuming we move on from JO, Finch now has a stud defender at every position.

Beverly at the PG
Moore at SG
MCD at the SF
V8 at the PF, Minott could also become this
Kessler at the C

Finch also has a dynamic scoring threat at each position with

Dlo or Nowell at the PG
Ant, Beasley, or Nowell at SG
MCD or Ant at the SF
KAT or MCD at the PF
KAT or Naz at C.

We have range, we have size, we have spacing, and we have defense. If Finch is a master painter, he must be happy to have such a wide variety of brushes now available to him. Now he and his staff just need to develop these young players and make them paint us a masterpiece.

winforlose wrote:Putting specific rotations aside for one second, Finch now has a new tool in his tool box for the 22/23 season. Assuming we move on from JO, Finch now has a stud defender at every position.

Beverly at the PG
Moore at SG
MCD at the SF
V8 at the PF, Minott could also become this
Kessler at the C

Finch also has a dynamic scoring threat at each position with

Dlo or Nowell at the PG
Ant, Beasley, or Nowell at SG
MCD or Ant at the SF
KAT or MCD at the PF
KAT or Naz at C.

We have range, we have size, we have spacing, and we have defense. If Finch is a master painter, he must be happy to have such a wide variety of brushes now available to him. Now he and his staff just need to develop these young players and make them paint us a masterpiece.

I like your optimism I hope we add full size PF or at least a big wing who can rebound better than MCD

I guess the only one who can make it work is Finch. I liked horns action with DLo-Ant-Towns. But I guess now it will be a lot of spread PnR with motion offense?

minimus wrote:

winforlose wrote:Putting specific rotations aside for one second, Finch now has a new tool in his tool box for the 22/23 season. Assuming we move on from JO, Finch now has a stud defender at every position.

Beverly at the PG
Moore at SG
MCD at the SF
V8 at the PF, Minott could also become this
Kessler at the C

Finch also has a dynamic scoring threat at each position with

Dlo or Nowell at the PG
Ant, Beasley, or Nowell at SG
MCD or Ant at the SF
KAT or MCD at the PF
KAT or Naz at C.

We have range, we have size, we have spacing, and we have defense. If Finch is a master painter, he must be happy to have such a wide variety of brushes now available to him. Now he and his staff just need to develop these young players and make them paint us a masterpiece.

I like your optimism I hope we add full size PF or at least a big wing who can rebound better than MCD

We added the rebounding.

Can we all agree that if Finch makes this work the way all hope it will, then he should be COTY?

winforlose wrote:Can we all agree that if Finch makes this work the way all hope it will, then he should be COTY?

A candidate for sure. It's very hard to say what makes a coach CotY. Usually when his team wins more than the media expects them to. I think the over/under for wins expected this year will be 50. We win 60 I will expect coach of the year accolades for Finch.

KGdaBom wrote:

winforlose wrote:Can we all agree that if Finch makes this work the way all hope it will, then he should be COTY?

A candidate for sure. It's very hard to say what makes a coach CotY. Usually when his team wins more than the media expects them to. I think the over/under for wins expected this year will be 50. We win 60 I will expect coach of the year accolades for Finch.

The media keeps saying this isn’t the 80s or 90s. The media have their heads so far up their own ****** they missed Clevland steam rolling people last year with a 7 foot SF, PF, and C. Had Garland and Sexton, and Rubio all been healthy Clevland’s story would have been very different. If everyone says KAT and Rudy cannot play together and Finch makes them compliment each other the way we think they will, isn’t that a testament to his coaching and leadership?

Saw this on a min post interview with Britt interviewing Finch. This is from part 3. Even though this is a question, the facts within the question speak volumes about Finch’s coaching style and philosophy.

“ MP: And there are times when you guys are going to need his shooting from outside. What’s amazing is that every one of your perimeter players was below the NBA average in true shooting percentage last season and yet you guys were still seventh in offensive efficiency because of your shot selection leaning into at-the-rim and three-pointers. But a lot of that was because your bigs were so highly efficient, and that is likely to increase this season.”

https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2022/09/how-will-the-revamped-timberwolves-meld-on-the-court/

winforlose wrote:Saw this on a min post interview with Britt interviewing Finch. This is from part 3. Even though this is a question, the facts within the question speak volumes about Finch’s coaching style and philosophy.

“ MP: And there are times when you guys are going to need his shooting from outside. What’s amazing is that every one of your perimeter players was below the NBA average in true shooting percentage last season and yet you guys were still seventh in offensive efficiency because of your shot selection leaning into at-the-rim and three-pointers. But a lot of that was because your bigs were so highly efficient, and that is likely to increase this season.”

https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2022/09/how-will-the-revamped-timberwolves-meld-on-the-court/

I thought his response was great too!

CF: I think we have the most-efficient rolling big and the most-efficient popping big in the league, so between those two we should be able to figure something out.

Klomp wrote:

winforlose wrote:Saw this on a min post interview with Britt interviewing Finch. This is from part 3. Even though this is a question, the facts within the question speak volumes about Finch’s coaching style and philosophy.

“ MP: And there are times when you guys are going to need his shooting from outside. What’s amazing is that every one of your perimeter players was below the NBA average in true shooting percentage last season and yet you guys were still seventh in offensive efficiency because of your shot selection leaning into at-the-rim and three-pointers. But a lot of that was because your bigs were so highly efficient, and that is likely to increase this season.”

https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2022/09/how-will-the-revamped-timberwolves-meld-on-the-court/

I thought his response was great too!

CF: I think we have the most-efficient rolling big and the most-efficient popping big in the league, so between those two we should be able to figure something out.

Absolutely. The whole interview is great, I recommend it to the board. That said, I love that Finch doesn’t flinch when asked uncomfortable questions. He doesn’t trash his players but he doesn’t blow smoke. He is honest about his assessments and clearly has a deep understanding of the game. Where has he been all our franchises life? (Rhetorical, I know the actual answer.)

Please friend wake up. Don't be stubborn with the starting five ... sooner or later it will work. Give minutes to those who deserve it. Make those who deserve sit seated. You will see that when he returns to the field he will give more. We have a longer roster this year. Use it. Make them stop playing hero ball. Give yourself time to make the team work don't force it now.