Game 43: MIN vs MEM

[Klomp]

No one thing lost this game - It was a culmination of bad coaching, bad players and terrible IQ. Wolves DNA

Agreed, people should be clamoring to trade Ant just as hard as they want to trade Finch.

[RazorC]

I'm sick of seeing last plays of the game like that. I'm just done with Finch.

Switching coaches isn't going to turn this team into a Western Conference contender. They need to make some roster moves.

Disagree in part. The team might have 9 more wins with a better coach. If you use that number and take 22-21 and turn it into 31-12, that is a contender.

No guarantee any coach is going to do any better than Finch and I doubt even a better coach would have 9 more wins. maybe 5 or so....which I admit does look a WHOLE lot better than basically 500 but this team isn't a contender even if they had those 5 or 6 more wins.

[Klomp]

That team is injured. Stop glazing finch

It's sickening how Klomp does this. It was the exact same way with Ryan Saunders. Everyone and their mother knew he had to go, but there's Klomp with his excuses.

Notice how the Wolves actually took a step forward after moving on from Saunders. It's like Klomp doesn't believe a better coach exists when it couldn't be farther from the truth.

I might be wrong, but I don't think that's actually an accurate assessment.

I spoke more to what I believed was the likelihood of it happening more than it was about whether I thought a change needed to happen. To the best of my memory, it had more to do with not having valid replacements on staff that would move the needle. Rosas obviously agreed, or he wouldn't have went outside the organization to make the hire.

[WolfAddict]

No one thing lost this game - It was a culmination of bad coaching, bad players and terrible IQ. Wolves DNA

Agreed, people should be clamoring to trade Ant just as hard as they want to trade Finch.

You're being a little disingenuous brother and to be honest you're strawmanning the crap out of this.

Coach is probably the easiest thing to fix right now (imo) - We're somewhat stuck with the roster we have (we MIGHT be able to trade Randle) but we can change the coach - Is he solely responsible? No. But would a slightly harder and more structured coach have any benefit with this team? Maybe. If we could get a coach that would have the mettle to bench players straying away from a game plan and stick with hot players instead of playing the "stars", I think we have, at the very least, a few more wins on the board this season.

[younggunsmn]

Losing to one of the best teams in the league is absolutely a fireable offense and not at all irrational thinking

I would actually say constantly backing the Wolves regardless is what's irrational. Try taking off the blue glasses ever so often.

The Wolves are 22-21. That's why he should be fired, especially coming off last year's WCF appearance.

Dallas is only one game better, coming off last year's Finals appearance. Should Jason Kidd be fired?

What an idiotic statement. The only 2 guys who matter on that team have missed like half their games.

Finch has not been good but he's dealing with the hand of hot garbage that Tim Connelly dealt him.

This team finally turned the corner into a playoff caliber team when Finch took over as head coach, after a decade and a half of sucking. Way before TC was hired.

Tim Connelly inherited one of the most promising future situations in the league and has turned it into a complete and utter dumpster fire. He needs to be fired WAY before Chris Finch does.

If he hasn't turned Julius Randle into at minimum an expiring contract or useful player on a net positive contract by the trade deadline, he should be relieved of his duties along with all the jabronis that he hired that were yes men for all these terrible moves.

[shrink]

I would actually say constantly backing the Wolves regardless is what's irrational. Try taking off the blue glasses ever so often.

The Wolves are 22-21. That's why he should be fired, especially coming off last year's WCF appearance.

Dallas is only one game better, coming off last year's Finals appearance. Should Jason Kidd be fired?

Klomp this is an exceptionally bad take. You know as well as I do how healthy we have been up until the last few games. Dallas has had Luka miss very real time, and Kyrie has missed real time as well (some of it with Luka.) Luka has played 22 games, Kyrie 32. If you want to compare apples to apples, maybe don’t use eggplant.

MIN has been healthy, but they made a massive change to its roster, right before the season started. In both cases, you end up with players unfamiliar with who they anre playing next to, and teams need to figure it out. Ironic to use WCF DAL too, since they may have had a similar record at this time last year to what we do right now.

Which kind of brings me to why I came on to post. I didn’t expect to have a good record early in the season. Continuity matters. You could see the Lakers and Warriors start strong with continuity, but slide down the standings as the season progressed, and the rest of the division learned to goes better. I didn’t let our early season struggle bother me too much, because contenders should care how we are playing at the end of season and on the playoffs.

The problem that I see though, is that while we have talent, we continue to have the same problems we have had for three years. I think I heard the announcers say that MIN has been in more close games than any team in the NBA. This happens when you play up to good competition, and down to bad competition. When we get to the end of these games (we are like 12-16 in close games), the ball is always put in Edwards hands. Ant may be our best player, but the offense works when we pass, not have him take a contested one-on-two.

I have always heard if you are a superstar player, you have to demand the ball at the ends of games. I question whether that’s true, or whether Ant isn’t a late game superstar.

[Baseline81]

MIN has been healthy, but they made a massive change to its roster, right before the season started. In both cases, you end up with players unfamiliar with who they anre playing next to, and teams need to figure it out. Ironic to use WCF DAL too, since they may have had a similar record at this time last year to what we do right now.

Which kind of brings me to why I came on to post. I didn’t expect to have a good record early in the season. Continuity matters. You could see the Lakers and Warriors start strong with continuity, but slide down the standings as the season progressed, and the rest of the division learned to goes better. I didn’t let our early season struggle bother me too much, because contenders should care how we are playing at the end of season and on the playoffs.

The problem that I see though, is that while we have talent, we continue to have the same problems we have had for three years. I think I heard the announcers say that MIN has been in more close games than any team in the NBA. This happens when you play up to good competition, and down to bad competition. When we get to the end of these games (we are like 12-16 in close games), the ball is always put in Edwards hands. Ant may be our best player, but the offense works when we pass, not have him take a contested one-on-two.

I have always heard if you are a superstar player, you have to demand the ball at the ends of games. I question whether that’s true, or whether Ant isn’t a late game superstar.

And you would think the coach would learn and/or adapt, no?

[moretins]

Read on Twitter

?s=61&t=XG9p6vs5U9Fu-rK_ykd7qw

[shrink]

I have always heard if you are a superstar player, you have to demand the ball at the ends of games. I question whether that’s true, or whether Ant isn’t a late game superstar.

And you would think the coach would learn and/or adapt, no?

What do you do if you were coach, and Ant demanded the ball at the end of every close game?

I’m with you, I’d have preferred Naz tonight. But there is so much we don’t know. Would Ant be OK with that? If he wasn’t, can Finch still do it anyway? Coaches are always the first to go, especially if you piss off your team’s superstar.

[Araxen]

Finch drew up a play that got Edwards isolated on a player who is not Jaylen Wells. He missed the shot. It happens.

Was it perfect coaching? Of course not. But I don't think about firing coaches for not being perfect.

He chucked up a contested shot with two people on him. Naz was lighting it up today. A good coach would have drawn up a play to make the other team think about Naz.

[_AIJ_]

Look at the other teams and tell me how old their coaches are. These old heads are done. Put Micah in already

Despite changes in the pathway to becoming a head coach, the average age of NBA coaches has remained steady over the past several decades, generally hovering between 49 and 52 years old. The average age of current NBA head coaches is 50.

https://www.sportico.com/leagues/basketball/2024/los-angeles-lakers-head-coach-jj-redick-coaching-experience-1234785089/

Finch is 55, only slightly older than average,

Cool. Take a look how young the coaches are amongst the best teams in the league. Thibs probably is the oldest.

[Baseline81]

What do you do if you were coach, and Ant demanded the ball at the end of every game?

As a coach, if you give in to your players, be it star or not, you are never going to succeed.

[m2002brian]

This team is well set to fire their coach. Micah would be able to step into the interim role quite well following what happened last year.

[Baseline81]

Read on Twitter

?s=61&t=XG9p6vs5U9Fu-rK_ykd7qw

Clearly, he does not.

[shrink]

What do you do if you were coach, and Ant demanded the ball at the end of every game?

As a coach, if you give in to your players, be it star or not, you are never going to succeed.

High school coach, I agree. Probably college coach too.

But I don’t know if an NBA coach can risk alienating a team’s superstar. Superstars are adults who hold the power in the franchise.

[moretins]

Read on Twitter

?s=61&t=XG9p6vs5U9Fu-rK_ykd7qw

Clearly, he does not.

Big mistake by Finch

Read on Twitter

?s=61&t=XG9p6vs5U9Fu-rK_ykd7qw

[Baseline81]

High school coach, I agree. Probably college coach too.

But I don’t know if an NBA coach can risk alienating a team’s superstar. Superstars are adults who hold the power in the franchise.

Are you telling me Pops would put up with Ant's performances?

Note I know that's an extreme, but there must be some semblance of power as the head coach.

[winforlose]

Switching coaches isn't going to turn this team into a Western Conference contender. They need to make some roster moves.

Disagree in part. The team might have 9 more wins with a better coach. If you use that number and take 22-21 and turn it into 31-12, that is a contender.

No guarantee any coach is going to do any better than Finch and I doubt even a better coach would have 9 more wins. maybe 5 or so....which I admit does look a WHOLE lot better than basically 500 but this team isn't a contender even if they had those 5 or 6 more wins.

Last 2 Memphis games and Cleveland is 3 by itself. You really don’t think we can find 6 more games where bad rotations and poor end game of coaching (not to mention failing to call good timeouts, bad scheme work, and poor effort in the first,) cost us. 9 is generous to Finch.

[shrink]

High school coach, I agree. Probably college coach too.

But I don’t know if an NBA coach can risk alienating a team’s superstar. Superstars are adults who hold the power in the franchise.

Are you telling me Pops would put up with Ant's performances?

Note I know that's an extreme, but there must be some semblance of power as the head coach.

Pops is also the de facto GM, his own boss, and a long tenured career with the organization. I appreciate you mentioning this was an extreme case.

But I’m going to say that if Wemby demands the ball at ends of games, and Pops doesn’t give it to him, that’s a big risk for a small market Spurs team. Coaches CANNOT alienate superstars on this era of player empowerment. Coaches these days have to manage egos, and coaching games has to be a collaboration between coaches and players, rather than the authoritarian rule we are used to.

Supposedly Finch coaches Ant hard, and Ant says he likes it. But I suspect Finch can coach him hard ONLY because Ant likes it. I don’t know what end of games relationships are.

[shrink]

I really enjoyed watching Dillingham today, but I don’t think for a second that he wouldn’t have been attacked defensively. And if I remember right, Conley got a late game strip off Ja?

Let Dilly savor all the good things he did this game.