Finch lack of PnR

[kekgeek]

I know Cam has been on this for awhile but it's crazy how little we run PnR. Small sample size but the Conley Gobert PnR sample size is small but also effective. Also wolves are 20th in PnR attempts.

Mike Conley & Rudy Gobert ran a season-high 9 direct pick & rolls last night which resulted in 12 points.

In 5 games together they're averaging just 6 PNR/g but their 1.276 PPP has been elite -- would rank 1st in NBA.

[Phenom]

Maybe we will see an uptick with it as the season comes to a close. I'm assuming they will play most of their minutes together. It could possibly loosen things up for Ant if it remains effective.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Unfortunately, pick-and-roll isn't utilized that much in a Chris Finch-directed offense, especially in Minnesota. There's sufficient evidence of that at this point in his tenure with no one else to blame. I've also noted repeatedly that the Timberwolves have personnel that thrive in pick-and-roll play, but they're not being encouraged to operate there as much as their effectiveness suggests they should be. Notice I said encouraged and not micromanaged because while Finch does not dictate on a play-by-play basis the team naturally takes on his style, personality, and preferences. That's obvious by their elite, near-elite, and above average points per possession values paired with their mediocre or below average frequencies. Frankly, this team has the pieces to be spamming pick-and-roll until defenses are forced to take it away. It's also really simple action to get into, especially late in games where structure is needed more now than ever with the change at point guard.

I genuinely thought Finch would adapt to all of this once Rudy Gobert was acquired, but here we are still asking for it. We traded the moon and stars for a known flawed player and remain unable or unwilling to shift the team's identity to take advantage of things he's actually good at. We are a team that funnels players into a system rather than building the system around the players. There's no other way to respond to that than to say it's damning and just plain odd.

[AbeVigodaLive]

That's the rub with coaches. They're awesome... until they're not.

Some of them are more system guys. Heck, look at two of the greatest coaches in NBA history... Phil Jackson and Steve Kerr. Would either of them thrive running a PnR-heavy offense? It's up for debate considering each made their marks with very specific types of offenses.

Finch agreed to join a team with certain players out there. It worked pretty well offensively... with last year's squad finishing #8 in offense (but arguably the best in the league for the past 20 or so games). They're running slightly more PnR this season... about two more possessions per game.

_______________

Tim Connelly arrives and immediately forces every single player on the team to change their preferred style of play... and the coach... all to accommodate an offensively challenged big man who can really only do one thing offensively.

I truly understand those who will say that the best coaches adjust to the talent they have and not force their system when it's a bad fit. And it's fair. But I don't think Finch is alone among NBA coaches if he's slow to adjust, especially when his preferred system had proven to work.

So once again... this "bad fit" with the coach falls squarely on Tim Connelly.

By the way... Sacramento and Denver run the fewest PnR in the league... they're #1 and #2 in offensive rating.



[Note: Finch has been more willing to adjust defensively. He also had to completely change how the team played on that end to accommodate the new big guy, too.]

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Just to be clear, I'm not hinting or arguing that a heavy dose of pick-and-roll is required for an NBA offense to produce at a high level. As Abe mentioned, there are teams in the NBA who don't lean on that action and still yield elite results.

However, when your offense is sputtering or inconsistently effective and your roster has a number of players that have been highly-efficient in pick-and-roll play, but the coach willfully fails to make that adjustment and incorporate more of that into the game plan, I do think there's legitimate blame deserved for that. Even without Karl-Anthony Towns this team should have been higher than 15th in offensive rating overall and one of the worst scoring teams when Rudy Gobert is on the floor. What player did they think they were acquiring? There's no chance they were unaware of his strengths and weaknesses along with the rest of the roster's. Ignoring them to the degree they have is basketball malpractice.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Just to be clear, I'm not hinting or arguing that a heavy dose of pick-and-roll is required for an NBA offense to produce at a high level. As Abe mentioned, there are teams in the NBA who don't lean on that action and still yield elite results.

However, when your offense is sputtering or inconsistently effective and your roster has a number of players that have been highly-efficient in pick-and-roll play, but the coach willfully fails to make that adjustment and incorporate more of that into the game plan, I do think there's legitimate blame deserved for that. Even without Karl-Anthony Towns this team should have been higher than 15th in offensive rating overall and one of the worst scoring teams when Rudy Gobert is on the floor. What player did they think they were acquiring? There's no chance they were unaware of his strengths and weaknesses along with the rest of the roster's. Ignoring them to the degree they have is basketball malpractice.

Sure.

And yet again that might go back to the disconnect between Connelly... and literally everybody else.

[FNG]

It certainly does seem like the Wolves employ PnR fewer than many teams, but I'm not convinced of the reason. I suspect that Finchie is building an offense around KAT and Ant as he should, and neither has shown me that they are particularly adept in the pick and roll game. We know Conley and Rudy are, and especially in the "empty corner" pick and roll they used so effectively in Utah, and I would be happy if they ran more of that. But I'm not convinced that it is the best way to utilize the two offensive players who will be our primary scorers going forward. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but despite having played for several coaches, I haven't seen KAT excel in the PnR game. And not Ant either.

[Monster]

I'm curious is there a way to look up the frequency of pick and roll plays run this season compared to say even 10 years ago? I'm not good at looking up the play type stuff but if someone could point me in the right direction I would like to check it out.

[kekgeek]

I'm curious is there a way to look up the frequency of pick and roll plays run this season compared to say even 10 years ago? I'm not good at looking up the play type stuff but if someone could point me in the right direction I would like to check it out.

If you type in Pick and Roll frequency into google. NBA.com has the numbers for like the last 6-7 years