Pels at Wolves GDT

[FNG]

The only smart thing I did last night was to head for the parking lot with 8 minutes left in the game...it was an awful performance by our guys. Even more alarming to me, I think it is the 5th consecutive game where we have played poorly. Somehow we won two of those games, but how we are playing is more important to me. The rebounding was absurdly bad with Jaden leading the way with his goose egg. But Rudy was just as bad...there's no way someone with his size usually playing within 5 feet of the basket should only have 5 rebounds. He seemed disinterested last night.

If I had to name one good thing last night, it would be the same positive Finchie named postgame...ball movement. When Conley and McLaughlin were allowed to run the offense, our offense actually looked like something that can work. Together they ended up with 13 assists and no turnovers, despite their teammates missing a lot of wide open looks and layups.

But on the other side of the coin was Ant, as I am becoming increasingly frustrated with his game and his personality. Casual fans will look at the box score and say "Well, at least Ant showed up with his 35 points". Yes, he can score, but he does not make us better on offense. I am so tired of his dribbling for ten seconds at the top of the key, and then driving into a congested lane with 3 defenders waiting for him. He's such a great athlete that sometimes these drives result in a spectacular basket, but just as often they result in a turnover. The box score said he had 6 turnovers last night, but I think he had at least 10...I can remember 4 times he should have been credited with another turnover, but it wasn't reflected on the scoreboard. And so often Ant's turnovers end up as 2 points for the opponent...he seems to whine every time the all is poked away from him, and we are forced to play 4 on 5 while he complains to the ref. It's frustrating to watch. He has taken the whining that we used to see from KAT to a new level.

My gal asked me on the way home if Finchie was tough enough as a coach, and I had to answer no. I want to see a lot more Pop in him...i.e. yank players off the court when they don't play the way he wants them to play. Our offense is fluid when a PG brings the ball up court and initiates the offense, but stagnant when Ant, NAW and SloMo are allowed to initiate. This is on Finchie...he needs to insist that we move and protect the ball, and it starts with PGs controlling the offense.

[Q-is-here]

They have definitely come back down to earth and look like a highly flawed team. But this has been a grueling stretch of games against (mostly) healthy .500+ teams. This dip in play either turns into a series of bad habits that put a damper on the rest of the season or it serves as a spark that things need to change. The proverbial fork in the road, if you will.

[thedoper]

We’re a good team. Our record is better than we actually are. Ultimately we are the 4th or 5th best team in the West with the ability to punch way above our weight when everything aligns. As far as I can tell that is pretty much where most of us thought we would be. Were a few moves away and still another Edwards/McDaniels bump from us being great. Ill enjoy any noise we can make this year. More playoff reps for Edwards and McDaniels (if he can stay on the court) is a good thing.

[Q-is-here]

We’re a good team. Our record is better than we actually are. Ultimately we are the 4th or 5th best team in the West with the ability to punch way above our weight when everything aligns. As far as I can tell that is pretty much where most of us thought we would be. Were a few moves away and still another Edwards/McDaniels bump from us being great. Ill enjoy any noise we can make this year. More playoff reps for Edwards and McDaniels (if he can stay on the court) is a good thing.

Agreed.....Ant has made a step forward, at least in pure counting stats like usage, assists, points, etc. He has more maturing to do as a decision maker and hopefully that comes along with time.

Jaden is the one that I worry about, as Wildwolf has pointed out. During his first three seasons, his improvement curve was gradual, but linear in an upward direction. This year his man defense is as good as ever, but the other stuff seems to have stagnated or gotten worse in the case of rebounding. On offense, it seems like he has upside as a scorer and play maker, but it just hasn't materialized this year. How much of a future cornerstone is a 4th year player that averages 10 PPG, 2 RPG, and 1 APG?

Progress often isn't linear, but we are getting closer and closer to the "they are what the are" phase with Ant and Jaden. They aren't there yet, but we are within a couple years of it now.

[FNG]

We’re a good team. Our record is better than we actually are. Ultimately we are the 4th or 5th best team in the West with the ability to punch way above our weight when everything aligns. As far as I can tell that is pretty much where most of us thought we would be. Were a few moves away and still another Edwards/McDaniels bump from us being great. Ill enjoy any noise we can make this year. More playoff reps for Edwards and McDaniels (if he can stay on the court) is a good thing.

Doper, I'm probably as frustrated with the last 5 games as anyone here, but I still think we are a great team rather than a good team. Any team that leads (or is close to leading the Association) in defense most of the year, has 2 20 point scorers in the starting lineup and a potential 6th man of the year candidate in Reid, ranks 5th in the league in 3-point percentage and 7th in overall shooting, and has steady veteran leadership at PG, is great in my opinion...especially when you add they have led the West most of the season despite a difficult first third of the season schedule. But we have not played like a great team the past five games...far from it. But I think the issues are fixable, or not as bad as they looked last night. Take rebounding for instance. We were pathetic on the boards last night, but rebounding has actually been a strength this season...we have the 6th best rebound differential.

But Finchie nailed the most important area that needs to be fixed in his post gamer last night...moving and protecting the ball. We rank 26th in assist to turnover ratio, and three of the four teams behind us suck...Memphis, Portland and Detroit. I'm not absolving Finchie of some of the blame here...I think he needs to do more than just talk about fixing this issue, he needs to do something. Benching a player after a careless or stupid play sends more of a message than lamenting turnovers in a post game presser. I need Finchie to be tougher, and I'm still wondering if he is the right guy to be coaching this club. I suspect that new ownership is going through the same evaluation.

[Q-is-here]

We’re a good team. Our record is better than we actually are. Ultimately we are the 4th or 5th best team in the West with the ability to punch way above our weight when everything aligns. As far as I can tell that is pretty much where most of us thought we would be. Were a few moves away and still another Edwards/McDaniels bump from us being great. Ill enjoy any noise we can make this year. More playoff reps for Edwards and McDaniels (if he can stay on the court) is a good thing.

Doper, I'm probably as frustrated with the last 5 games as anyone here, but I still think we are a great team rather than a good team. Any team that leads (or is close to leading the Association) in defense most of the year, has 2 20 point scorers in the starting lineup and a potential 6th man of the year candidate in Reid, ranks 5th in the league in 3-point percentage and 7th in overall shooting, and has steady veteran leadership at PG, is great in my opinion...especially when you add they have led the West most of the season despite a difficult first third of the season schedule. But we have not played like a great team the past five games...far from it. But I think the issues are fixable, or not as bad as they looked last night. Take rebounding for instance. We were pathetic on the boards last night, but rebounding has actually been a strength this season...we have the 6th best rebound differential.

But Finchie nailed the most important area that needs to be fixed in his post gamer last night...moving and protecting the ball. We rank 26th in assist to turnover ratio, and three of the four teams behind us suck...Memphis, Portland and Detroit. I'm not absolving Finchie of some of the blame here...I think he needs to do more than just talk about fixing this issue, he needs to do something. Benching a player after a careless or stupid play sends more of a message than lamenting turnovers in a post game presser. I need Finchie to be tougher, and I'm still wondering if he is the right guy to be coaching this club. I suspect that new ownership is going through the same evaluation.

I have absolutely nothing against Finch, but it isn't unusual at all for teams on the ascendant to make a coaching change and subsequently go from "great team" to "NBA Champion" within a season or two after the change:

Early 80s Boston Celtics - Bill Fitch to KC Jones
Early 80s Lakers - Paul Westhead to Pat Riley
Late 80s/Early 90s Bulls - Doug Collins to Phil Jackson
Late 90s Spurs - Bob Hill to Greg Popovich
Early 2000s Lakers - Del Harris to Phil Jackson
2010s Warriors - Mark Jackson to Steve Kerr

In all of these cases, the stars of the team were mostly in place and they were really good before the coaching change.

The bottom line is that sometimes a good team gets sort of stuck or stagnant and a coaching change is one of the easiest levers for the front office to pull. With the exception of us getting to the Finals this year, it wouldn't surprise me at all if we made a change this offseason now that ARod and Lore are majority owners.

Again, it's not about Finch being bad. It just might mean he took us from Point A to Point B. We may need a jolt of new thinking and style to help us take the next step.

[FNG]

Very good post, Q. I feel the same way about finchie as you did, except maybe a little dissatisfied with his inability to fix our biggest issue. I’m not saying I’m advocating for a change, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if new ownership pulled the trigger.

[AbeVigodaLive]

We’re a good team. Our record is better than we actually are. Ultimately we are the 4th or 5th best team in the West with the ability to punch way above our weight when everything aligns. As far as I can tell that is pretty much where most of us thought we would be. Were a few moves away and still another Edwards/McDaniels bump from us being great. Ill enjoy any noise we can make this year. More playoff reps for Edwards and McDaniels (if he can stay on the court) is a good thing.

Doper, I'm probably as frustrated with the last 5 games as anyone here, but I still think we are a great team rather than a good team. Any team that leads (or is close to leading the Association) in defense most of the year, has 2 20 point scorers in the starting lineup and a potential 6th man of the year candidate in Reid, ranks 5th in the league in 3-point percentage and 7th in overall shooting, and has steady veteran leadership at PG, is great in my opinion...especially when you add they have led the West most of the season despite a difficult first third of the season schedule. But we have not played like a great team the past five games...far from it. But I think the issues are fixable, or not as bad as they looked last night. Take rebounding for instance. We were pathetic on the boards last night, but rebounding has actually been a strength this season...we have the 6th best rebound differential.

But Finchie nailed the most important area that needs to be fixed in his post gamer last night...moving and protecting the ball. We rank 26th in assist to turnover ratio, and three of the four teams behind us suck...Memphis, Portland and Detroit. I'm not absolving Finchie of some of the blame here...I think he needs to do more than just talk about fixing this issue, he needs to do something. Benching a player after a careless or stupid play sends more of a message than lamenting turnovers in a post game presser. I need Finchie to be tougher, and I'm still wondering if he is the right guy to be coaching this club. I suspect that new ownership is going through the same evaluation.

I have absolutely nothing against Finch, but it isn't unusual at all for teams on the ascendant to make a coaching change and subsequently go from "great team" to "NBA Champion" within a season or two after the change:

Early 80s Boston Celtics - Bill Fitch to KC Jones
Early 80s Lakers - Paul Westhead to Pat Riley
Late 80s/Early 90s Bulls - Doug Collins to Phil Jackson
Late 90s Spurs - Bob Hill to Greg Popovich
Early 2000s Lakers - Del Harris to Phil Jackson
2010s Warriors - Mark Jackson to Steve Kerr

In all of these cases, the stars of the team were mostly in place and they were really good before the coaching change.

The bottom line is that sometimes a good team gets sort of stuck or stagnant and a coaching change is one of the easiest levers for the front office to pull. With the exception of us getting to the Finals this year, it wouldn't surprise me at all if we made a change this offseason now that ARod and Lore are majority owners.

Again, it's not about Finch being bad. It just might mean he took us from Point A to Point B. We may need a jolt of new thinking and style to help us take the next step.

Actually, Pat Riley could be on there twice. He took over the 2006 Heat team midseason. Although, he and Popovich should have an asterisk next to their names.

Both guys essentially took over 59-win teams... by firing the coach themselves and stepping in on the sidelines.

Crafty, crafty. Finch better watch his back if Tim Connelly is lurking around practices with a clipboard.

[Q-is-here]

There is also the David Blatt to Ty Lue change in LeBron's second Cleveland stint, which happened right in the middle of the season that they won the Finals!

[Jester1534]

There is also the David Blatt to Ty Lue change in LeBron's second Cleveland stint, which happened right in the middle of the season that they won the Finals!

I feel like Q is going to manifest Doc rivers and then we’re all fucked