what about Finch's rotation?

[FrenchMinnyFan]

I really wish we could get a 3-5 game stretch without Randle just to see how the team looks with Naz starting and Minott/Miller getting rotation minutes off the bench. I don't know that we'd be better, but the style of play and energy would be so much more enjoyable.

Agree! I would add that i'm pretty convinced that we will be better. Randle score 20 per game but cost us much more by not defending, running back after TO. NAZ is not perfect but he fight a lot and will score 20 every night if he start.
At that stage, Finch is going to lose his job sooner or later so i do hope he try something before TC show him the door.

[RazorC]

Why are we so worried about Finch’s rotations right now? This is barely a playoff team regardless. A bunch of puzzle pieces that don’t fit together.

[LSWF]

I played around with the lineups tool at NBA.com and found some interesting things.
The top two five player lineups that have played over 15 minutes with the best NETRTG are as bipolar as you can get.
Rudy, Mike, Ant, Jaden and Naz have only played 17 mins over nine games. Over that time, they have an OFFRTG of 110.5 and DEFRTG of 47.4 giving a NETRTG of 63.2
JR, DDV, NAW, Naz and Minott have only 32 mins over seven games. OFFRTG 137, DEFRTG 104.2, NETRTG of 32.8.
Can Finch get to these lineups more?

[shrink]

Everybody plays well with our bench mob of NAW, Naz and DDV, but Dane’s pod about the Christmas win really hit hard that Finch used to have Gobert leave early in the first and come back to play with those guys (100th percentile four man line up), and now does it with Randle and Minott!

They point out that this gets Randle running, and may activate him, and credit Finch for going away from something that worked to try to get something more. Randle has been very good these last five games or so.

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

This is a popular sentiment everywhere. But I wonder if making a change could actually make things worse. There's something special about that three-man group. Breaking it up by moving one of the into the starting lineup could jeopardize it.

Naz and NAW are playing the same minutes load that they played last season. DiVincenzo is down from what he got in New York, but Finch obviously trusts him as much as almost anyone on the team, playing 71 minutes over the last two games.

[wolves_89]

It's a bit of a risk to mess with the success the Wolves are getting from their bench group, but right now the starters are so bad that it seems like something needs to happen. I think a pretty solid case can be made that Donte/NAW are playing significantly better than Mike/Jaden and a move at either position would be justified (assuming that on court production matters). There is also a strong case for Naz replacing Julius as a starter, not because Naz is a better player but because him replacing Randle could massively improve the offensive flow and spacing. I'll be curious to see just how long Finch holds out before at least trying an adjustment to the starting group.

[Danimals]

I don’t know how to look up lineup data, but does anyone know what lineups Jaden plays best in? 3 man or 5 man would be interesting.

[wolves_89]

One of the most surprising things about the Wolves this season is the almost complete lack of injuries. In most seasons that would be the ideal scenario, but this year I think the team could benefit from the shakeup that comes when regular rotation guys are out for a week or two. I would be really curious to see how the team plays without Randle and/or Jaden for 4-5 games.

[winforlose]

One of the most surprising things about the Wolves this season is the almost complete lack of injuries. In most seasons that would be the ideal scenario, but this year I think the team could benefit from the shakeup that comes when regular rotation guys are out for a week or two. I would be really curious to see how the team plays without Randle and/or Jaden.

The only Wolves whose injuries would improve the rotation are Ant or Randle. Both have been terrible in different ways all season.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

One of the most surprising things about the Wolves this season is the almost complete lack of injuries. In most seasons that would be the ideal scenario, but this year I think the team could benefit from the shakeup that comes when regular rotation guys are out for a week or two. I would be really curious to see how the team plays without Randle and/or Jaden for 4-5 games.

Mike miss a couple of games .If I'm not wrong we went 0-4 or 1-5 during his absence.

[Klomp]

One of the most surprising things about the Wolves this season is the almost complete lack of injuries. In most seasons that would be the ideal scenario, but this year I think the team could benefit from the shakeup that comes when regular rotation guys are out for a week or two. I would be really curious to see how the team plays without Randle and/or Jaden for 4-5 games.

Mike miss a couple of games .If I'm not wrong we went 0-4 or 1-5 during his absence.

Correct. Those four games within a six-game stretch are the only games missed by the top eight players in the rotation.

[Klomp]

One of the most surprising things about the Wolves this season is the almost complete lack of injuries. In most seasons that would be the ideal scenario, but this year I think the team could benefit from the shakeup that comes when regular rotation guys are out for a week or two. I would be really curious to see how the team plays without Randle and/or Jaden for 4-5 games.

Gotta say, you kinda nailed it on the head here....

Now the question is...what's the rotation when Julius and Donte get healthy?

I wouldn't be surprised if Jaylen has passed Rob. I know everyone loves Rob, but I think with the defensive identity of the team, I'm just not sure they'll be able to trust Rob out there game in and game out without him getting hunted. I also think that we've still seen quite a few lineups out there without both Mike and Rob, even with such a depleted lineup. I think they trust and lean on the defensive versatility of the bigger lineups even if they occasionally have to sacrifice turnovers. Also, the last few games, they've gone to PG-less more down the stretch. Last night, it was that group that built the lead in the 4th once they came in around 8 minutes left and brought it most of the way home.

As for the Naz/Julius situation, I have no clue. I tend to think they'll make a permanent change going forward, but I could see it go either way.

Here's the group I am penciling down for once everyone is back healthy.
Donte / Ant / Jaden / Naz / Rudy
Nickeil / Julius / Mike / Jaylen

[winforlose]

One of the most surprising things about the Wolves this season is the almost complete lack of injuries. In most seasons that would be the ideal scenario, but this year I think the team could benefit from the shakeup that comes when regular rotation guys are out for a week or two. I would be really curious to see how the team plays without Randle and/or Jaden for 4-5 games.

Gotta say, you kinda nailed it on the head here....

Now the question is...what's the rotation when Julius and Donte get healthy?

I wouldn't be surprised if Jaylen has passed Rob. I know everyone loves Rob, but I think with the defensive identity of the team, I'm just not sure they'll be able to trust Rob out there game in and game out without him getting hunted. I also think that we've still seen quite a few lineups out there without both Mike and Rob, even with such a depleted lineup. I think they trust and lean on the defensive versatility of the bigger lineups even if they occasionally have to sacrifice turnovers. Also, the last few games, they've gone to PG-less more down the stretch. Last night, it was that group that built the lead in the 4th once they came in around 8 minutes left and brought it most of the way home.

As for the Naz/Julius situation, I have no clue. I tend to think they'll make a permanent change going forward, but I could see it go either way.

Here's the group I am penciling down for once everyone is back healthy.
Donte / Ant / Jaden / Naz / Rudy
Nickeil / Julius / Mike / Jaylen

Let’s break this into two time periods.

1st time period is post all star break to early March when we hopefully get both guys back. At this point I expect Mike to take some time off to heal. He dislocated his thumb last night and played through pain. He is dealing with pain in his wrist. He has been playing A LOT of minutes for someone his age. If Mike takes a week, or two, or three, then DDV and Rob can split those minutes the same way Mike and Rob did. If not then I would expect DDV to eat into the Mike minutes and Rob to be a 7 minute a game type semi rotation player. I fear Randle gets put back in the starting lineup and that hurts Naz’s production. I think if that happens we see less of Clark but he will still get something. TSJ probably doesn’t sniff the court again, nor does Minott or Jingles.

Time period two being the playoff rotation. I don’t see Finch going more than 8 deep unless of foul trouble or injury. I think Ant plays 40 minutes per game. Jaden probably gets 35-40. The 3 big each probably around 30 with the extra going to the best two of the three during any particular game.

[winforlose]

On the verge of getting everybody back. Some on the board love how we play without Rudy and Randle, with Naz as a small ball 5. Others think more size is better. In either case we started this season with a top 8, we saw young players rise and fall in the rotation, and now we need to get everything ready for a final push and for the playoffs. So I figured let’s start by laying out the questions.

1. How many people should be in the rotation?

2. How do we distribute minutes?

3. Do we add anyone to spot 15?

4. Do we expect a smooth reintegration?

[Klomp]

On the verge of getting everybody back. Some on the board love how we play without Rudy and Randle, with Naz as a small ball 5. Others think more size is better. In either case we started this season with a top 8, we saw young players rise and fall in the rotation, and now we need to get everything ready for a final push and for the playoffs. So I figured let’s start by laying out the questions.

1. How many people should be in the rotation?

2. How do we distribute minutes?

The biggest thing this stretch of injuries taught us is that we have options. I think for the past two seasons we've had only one style that we could play, so once an injury happens or once a team finds an exploitable advantage, our team would fold.

I am not naive enough to believe that everyone will stay in the rotation. Finch isn't going to run out 11 guys now on a nightly basis. But what he has now is information. Against some teams, you could see him turn to the young, smaller group when there is an infusion of energy needed. And against other teams, a bigger lineup is necessary where you see them run out a stronger, more physical group where stops are paramount.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

We have to name a run. Play 10 players as much as we can to make sure key players are healthy when PO come. Let’s see when Randle back how Finch will manage it. If he put back NAZ on the bench or not. NAZ is on the market we have to show him we want to keep him and im still think Randle is better coming from the bench. Him and Ant together kill the ball movement.

[frankenwolf]

On the verge of getting everybody back. Some on the board love how we play without Rudy and Randle, with Naz as a small ball 5. Others think more size is better. In either case we started this season with a top 8, we saw young players rise and fall in the rotation, and now we need to get everything ready for a final push and for the playoffs. So I figured let’s start by laying out the questions.

1. How many people should be in the rotation?

2. How do we distribute minutes?

3. Do we add anyone to spot 15?

4. Do we expect a smooth reintegration?

1) 11

2) Ant 30, Mike 15 (and one of a back to back off), McD 30, Naz 30, Rudy 25, Randle 25, DDV 25, NAW 15, Clark 5-15 depending on matchup, Rob 15-20,TSJ 5-15 again matchup dependent. Checking my math, that is 11 guys, playing no less than 15 min. I didn't figure out rotation, but that's my idea.

3) Only if that person is a playable C similar to Rudy, with more offense

4) I would like to say yes, but it is the Timberwolves and history has shown me that the answer is absolutely not.