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Finch’s fix it list

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Finch’s fix it list 

Post#1 » by winforlose » Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:52 pm

I thought we could use a thread to talk about Finch’s to do list to make this team ready for next season.

1. Get Towns more involved in the offense.
2. Get Beasley open for more catch and shoot opportunities.
3. Figure out how to get Vando more productive offensively.
4. Figure out how to get Jaylen Nowell going more consistently.
5. Get Edwards to take more efficient shots.


This is by no means a comprehensive list. In fact I left off of a bunch of my ideas because I want this to be a discussion instead of a rant. Please feel free to respond to anything I said as well as add what you would like to see and what you think Finch’s priorities should be.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#2 » by AbeVigodaLive » Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:10 pm

- Get Edwards to be a plus player as soon as possible.
- Help Towns improve defensively.
- Figure out if Towns + Russell can play together.
- Pray for more luck for yet another #1 pick.

Don't know what else can be more important than that on the players' side of things.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#3 » by SCTwins » Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:17 pm

Make Vando and Okogie carry a basketball with them and dribble it every waking moment from now on.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#4 » by Baseline81 » Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:24 pm

What the OP has at the top of his list is most important. I would also add, unless Rosas trades for a PF, start McDaniels.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#5 » by thinktank » Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:31 pm

Restrict Rubio’s decision-making in crunch time. No risky passes. Maybe just tell him not to shoot. Maybe don’t play him at all in crunch time!

This team needs a hierarchy for all the basic things:

-Who can shoot
-Who can create
-Who can switch

I believe that this is some of the basic structure Finch was talking about.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#6 » by Calinks » Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:30 pm

Stop telling players who can't shoot to shoot and stop putting them in position to shoot. Okogie was able to be played for every season until this one without his shooting being as badly exposed has it has been now. Stop forcing a square peg into around hole.

Try to lessen small ball as much as possible, play with some size and ask Rosas to find you a PF (trade, J-league, Free Agency, anywhere, get me a decent skilled body at PF, preferably with some experience).

Get a lot more creative on offense.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#7 » by Klomp » Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:44 pm

Towns is No. 1, and really not much else matters. Build the offense around him. I know I've tried to look past it before for various reasons, but those that have brought it up do have a point. Towns should be leading the team in shots. I give him somewhat of a pass if mentally he's not in a specific game overall (first half against Charlotte after COVID outbreak), but to go from involving him to zero field goals in the fourth quarter of the same game cannot happen.

Other pieces will probably change over the next month, so I'm not as worried about fixing everything else in personnel. But Towns is the fulcrum of this franchise, and it seems like Finch knows this. Does he put it into practice? We'll see.

The other thing is the fourth quarter offense. That needs to improve. We need to close games out.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#8 » by Sugarless » Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:46 pm

Implement offensive and defensive schemes. Stop the ISOs and the free-for-all.

Promote and reward player and ball movement on offense.

Put each player in a position to succeed. Don't make Rubio a spot-up corner shooter. Use KAT inside. Don't have ANT running the offense or let Nowell hijack it. Don't run plays through Beasley at the end of the game, run them *for* him (and KAT, obviously).

KEEP. PEOPLE. ACCOUNTABLE.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#9 » by Norseman79 » Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:57 pm

1. Somehow turn Kat into a legit leader/star player (that means a complete mental shift and actually playing defense the entire game every game).

2. Turn DLo into a complete two way player that understands his limitations and role.

3. Balance effective minutes and rotations for young players.

4. Not hold back Edwards or McDaniels by pandering to pampered "stars" or veterans.

5. Find a successful role for Jarret Culver.

6. Get this team to be a top 10 defensive team.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#10 » by packforfreedom » Tue Feb 23, 2021 6:29 pm

We need to see a fully unleashed KAT. Finch wants to make him the center of everything and he's right about that. KAT needs as many touches as possible on every possession on offense. This has to be the starting point of our offensive approach.

We also need to play to the strenghts of our players not make them into something they are not. If Rosas wants more 3 pointers, he should get more 3 point shooters. simple as that.

We need accountability. If someone doesn't play within in the team concept, he needs to take a seat on the bench but likewise, if someone's playing good, he needs to get playing time.

My goal for the season would be to finish strong kind of like the Suns did last season. Show the league, that we're no easy pushovers anymore and are only getting better. The problem with his goal is: Are we still tanking for our 40% pick chance? If yes, why change the coach? If not, then we can expect trades before the deadline.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#11 » by Dewey » Tue Feb 23, 2021 6:34 pm

Establish Team Identity...
1.). KAT as centerpiece ... the Hub
2.). KAT/DLo duo ... walk the walk
3.). Beasley/ANT hinge off of KAT/DLo ... priorities
4.). Establish the 5th man ... chemistry
5.). Establish bench ... role identity

Finch wants to streamline, and while this list Is obvious, it is necessary for him to succeed.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#12 » by Heimdal » Tue Feb 23, 2021 6:56 pm

*First and foremost, implement a real offense with real plays, with real motions by all 5 players, so I can quickly forget Ryan's "offense": 3-4 players just standing on their expected spot watching what the ball carrier comes up with.

*Directly related to that, run 2000 plays for Towns and tons on catch and shoot for Beasley (JJ Redick/Kyle Korver style).

*Transition defense.

*React when a unit is getting killed on the floor. Don't wait 6 minutes to get somebody in or out. Stop runs with a timeout.

*Draw a play after a timeout. Incredible concepts, I know.

*Act like a veteran coach in end of game situations. Call timeouts like you've been there before.

*Play Jaden McDaniels 30 minutes/game.

*Get Layman to contribute. He's got a much needed skillset.

*Teach Anthony Edwards how to play team basketball, offense AND defense.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#13 » by AbeVigodaLive » Tue Feb 23, 2021 6:59 pm

Calinks wrote:Stop telling players who can't shoot to shoot and stop putting them in position to shoot. Okogie was able to be played for every season until this one without his shooting being as badly exposed has it has been now. Stop forcing a square peg into around hole.




To be fair... if you can't shoot... you're basically unplayable in today's game.

There's still a place (sometimes) for energy bigger guys like Vanderbilt. But a wing player who can't shoot is a dinosaur and often worthless for a team trying to win games.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#14 » by AbeVigodaLive » Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:03 pm

Dewey wrote:Establish Team Identity...
1.). KAT as centerpiece ... the Hub
2.). KAT/DLo duo ... walk the walk
3.). Beasley/ANT hinge off of KAT/DLo ... priorities
4.). Establish the 5th man ... chemistry
5.). Establish bench ... role identity

Finch wants to streamline, and while this list Is obvious, it is necessary for him to succeed.


I agree. Team Identity is key. And it's been tough without Towns for most of the season. And with so many new guys and unproven guys.

The rub is that after Towns... it's tough to figure out an identity for everybody else.

Right now, you have a team where there's only marginal differences between #3 - #12 on the depth/talent/importance chart. And it can change daily. Even with a veteran like Rubio... they usually get certain minutes at certain times... but should they on this team if they're struggling?

That's up to Finch to figure out. Because he's explicitly Rosas guy, maybe he has more clout to be unconventional with this stuff?
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#15 » by jpatrick » Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:06 pm

1. Makes Towns a superstar. That includes not only running plays through him but also playing guys that space the floor and compliment him.

2. Try to salvage DLo. The only way this franchise doesn’t completely implode is if DLo becomes a positive on-court player, which is difficult given his horrific defense and propensity to pound the ball without making others better.

3. Try to keep the coaching staff together mentally and keep the defensive improvement we’ve seen the past few weeks continuing.

4. Find a balance where Edwards has some Freedom on the court but he isn’t the most inefficient player in the league. Can’t have a player shooting 37% from the field, 31% from three, taking that many shots.

5. Develop at least a couple of the young players on the roster so they can be contributors to a good team in a few years.

Honestly, outside of Towns, DLo, and Edwards, does the rest really matter. It’s a stars league. If they don’t work, the team is pretty much doomed. Especially, since odds say we won’t have our lotto pick this year.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#16 » by Sugarless » Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:11 pm

packforfreedom wrote:We also need to play to the strenghts of our players not make them into something they are not. If Rosas wants more 3 pointers, he should get more 3 point shooters. simple as that.


This is an aspect that I'm worried about. I just hope Finch is not here to bring the Wolves even closer to Rosas' idea of small-ball, 'free-flowing' offense and countless 3s. I want him to be his own NBA HC, not the NBA version of the guy who turned Morey's dream into reality with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The Wolves just don't have the tools right now to be that team.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#17 » by Mcfale313 » Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:18 pm

Bench Okogie for the remainder of the season
Or trade him for some Gatorades
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#18 » by NebWolvesFan » Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:46 pm

We need to go from a team that's trying to perfect a system to a team that sees and takes advantage of what the other team gives them. Ryan and to a lesser extent Rosas wanted to put in system where you drive to the basket or shoot the 3. They probably tried to perfect it and acquire players who could run it well, but teams knew what Ryan was going to do and they just defended it. If someone like Beasley went crazy, the Wolves would score but for the most part, Ryan and the Wolves became predictable. We forget but Ryan started his career with a 27-33 record. Not bad for the Wolves. But teams figured out his offense and the Wolves were never good defensively.

It's time to become unpredictable and take advantage of what the other team gives you.

MORE BALL MOVEMENT.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#19 » by Merc_Porto » Wed Feb 24, 2021 12:19 am

Starting by trading this scrub would be a great first step...

via John Hollinger @ The Athletic

Minnesota has been outscored by a whopping 14.1 points per 100 possessions when Russell plays — by far the worst figure on the team. When he sits, the Wolves are nearly a break-even proposition, and that includes several hundred minutes without Towns. You could dismiss this as a statistical fluke more easily if last season’s Warriors weren’t also better without him.
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Re: Finch’s fix it list 

Post#20 » by Klomp » Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:55 pm

Not necessarily a "fix it," but I think it's gonna be interesting to see how he likes to structure lineups. Not only rotations of the guys on the court, but I don't know if Finch will be as tied to the full small-ball. I still think movement is going to be the top requirement at PF, which lends itself more to smaller guys, but I think he'll be willing to stretch things a little more.
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