Should the Wolves fire Finch now or wait?

[FNG]

To be honest, the coaching malpractice of pairing Rudy and Anderson together should be a firable offense. Finch has done that in every game Kyle's been available since he join the team and they have -33 net rating.

And to be honest I think that is emblematic of Finch's offense- consistently putting ill fitting pieces together and asking them to do things they're not best at.

Jaden McDaniels has been with Finch for 6 years and the guy still hasn't figured out how to get him consistently involved in the offense, and he really doesn't even care to.

I think that is outright stupid, the kid is an outright weapon waiting to be unleashed, and all Finch wants him to do is catch stray corner 3 opportunities and transition dunks. It's inexcusable at this point

I think it's too small a sample size to conclude on whether Rudy and Kyle can play together...I rely more on their season-long positive net rating in 2023-4. Kyle's net numbers are bad in his few games this season with almost everyone: Jaden -29, Ant -22, Bones -13, Randle -11, Naz -13, Ayo -13...I think he's only positive with Donte, but Donte might be positive with everyone this season! I agree Kyle and Rudy make for a clunky offense (85.5 rating!), but their excellent defensive rating for the entire 2024 season more than made up for the poor offense.

[Wolvesfan21]

To be honest, the coaching malpractice of pairing Rudy and Anderson together should be a firable offense. Finch has done that in every game Kyle's been available since he join the team and they have -33 net rating.

And to be honest I think that is emblematic of Finch's offense- consistently putting ill fitting pieces together and asking them to do things they're not best at.

Jaden McDaniels has been with Finch for 6 years and the guy still hasn't figured out how to get him consistently involved in the offense, and he really doesn't even care to.

I think that is outright stupid, the kid is an outright weapon waiting to be unleashed, and all Finch wants him to do is catch stray corner 3 opportunities and transition dunks. It's inexcusable at this point

I think it's too small a sample size to conclude on whether Rudy and Kyle can play together...I rely more on their season-long positive net rating in 2023-4. Kyle's net numbers are bad in his few games this season with almost everyone: Jaden -29, Ant -22, Bones -13, Randle -11, Naz -13, Ayo -13...I think he's only positive with Donte, but Donte might be positive with everyone this season! I agree Kyle and Rudy make for a clunky offense (85.5 rating!), but their excellent defensive rating for the entire 2024 season more than made up for the poor offense.

My only issue is how it looks right now, which I guess supports the numbers. It is a small sample size though.

[AussieWolf3]

To be honest, the coaching malpractice of pairing Rudy and Anderson together should be a firable offense. Finch has done that in every game Kyle's been available since he join the team and they have -33 net rating.

And to be honest I think that is emblematic of Finch's offense- consistently putting ill fitting pieces together and asking them to do things they're not best at.

Jaden McDaniels has been with Finch for 6 years and the guy still hasn't figured out how to get him consistently involved in the offense, and he really doesn't even care to.

I think that is outright stupid, the kid is an outright weapon waiting to be unleashed, and all Finch wants him to do is catch stray corner 3 opportunities and transition dunks. It's inexcusable at this point

I think it's too small a sample size to conclude on whether Rudy and Kyle can play together...I rely more on their season-long positive net rating in 2023-4. Kyle's net numbers are bad in his few games this season with almost everyone: Jaden -29, Ant -22, Bones -13, Randle -11, Naz -13, Ayo -13...I think he's only positive with Donte, but Donte might be positive with everyone this season! I agree Kyle and Rudy make for a clunky offense (85.5 rating!), but their excellent defensive rating for the entire 2024 season more than made up for the poor offense.

My only issue is how it looks right now, which I guess supports the numbers. It is a small sample size though.

It's not just how it looks, it's an obvious and avoidable tactical error

Anderson is a wonderful and useful Swiss army knife, but the thing about Swiss army knives is that they're not that great a tool, you're just really happy to have it when you need it.

[BloopOracle]

I'm in the camp of never firing coaches during the regular season unless there is a team mutiny. He is out the door if we get knocked out in the first round though

[Wolvesfan21]

I think it's too small a sample size to conclude on whether Rudy and Kyle can play together...I rely more on their season-long positive net rating in 2023-4. Kyle's net numbers are bad in his few games this season with almost everyone: Jaden -29, Ant -22, Bones -13, Randle -11, Naz -13, Ayo -13...I think he's only positive with Donte, but Donte might be positive with everyone this season! I agree Kyle and Rudy make for a clunky offense (85.5 rating!), but their excellent defensive rating for the entire 2024 season more than made up for the poor offense.

My only issue is how it looks right now, which I guess supports the numbers. It is a small sample size though.

It's not just how it looks, it's an obvious and avoidable tactical error

Anderson is a wonderful and useful Swiss army knife, but the thing about Swiss army knives is that they're not that great a tool, you're just really happy to have it when you need it.

My main issue is the lack of spacing on offense. You can see Ant struggle on offense because neither are threats behind the arc. The defense just clogs the paint, presses Ant on the 3 (no room) and let's Ant go into the crowded midrange. Then he has no outlet. I imagined before the signing that we'd have only Kyle or only Rudy on the court at the same time.

Defensively sure, should be fine even great. But you still got to score too.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Can we maybe not crown Wemby yet until we see it in the playoffs? Maybe he's one of the rare superstars that wins a championship before the 26-28 age range where most win their first. Until he does it, he still needs to win a playoff game, a series, multiple series. Ant continues to change and adapt his game based on the playoff results. He couldn't beat the Dallas bigs so he learned to shoot threes, he couldn't get off his threes against OKC's defense so he learned to shoot from the mid range. Wemby hasn't been to the playoffs yet, lets see what happens when he gets there and if he falls on face in his inexperience. Lets see how that failure evolves Wemby's game as he changes his game to improve in one area or the other. Right now Ant's focus has bee mostly on improving his shot making from all parts of the court, and he has worked on his dribbling as well (although he still dribbles it off of his foot too often) He also works on his playmaking lobs to Joan in the summer, which could be huge for future seasons in the Ant 2.0 timeline. Until I see it in the playoffs, Wemby isn't on any list yet.

I think we're discussing two different things. I'm not talking about proven success or even the playoffs.

I'm talking about the best players on good teams who put out consistent effort. The kind of "give a shit" effort (or attention to detail) that gets teammates to follow. Edwards is an amazing player. He does things we've never seen from a Timberwolves player before. He does things very few (if any) NBA players can match. I'm extremely happy to root for him on the Timberwolves player. I enjoy it immensely.

But his inconsistency (often, inconsistent effort) is well documented at this point. As the leader of the Wolves, it seems that some players have followed his lead, making the Wolves one of the most inconsistent teams in the League.

I guess what I meant to say was lets see what playoff failure does to Wemby's idea of the regular season. Ant has decided the path after losing to Dallas was that the regular season doesn't mean as much, and he can turn it on come the playoffs. I don't think that is true, but I also also don't think you need to kill yourself in the regular season to be a top 2 seed and find yourself injured and unable to win a title like Indiana ended up doing in the finals. I want to see what a playoff failure or two does to Wemby's mindset regarding consistent effort in the regular season. Does he realize that his body size is incredibly unique and something he needs to take easy during the regular season to make sure he has a long career.

Ok. I can see that take.

[60WinTim]

Here's my guy on the Wolves recent play as of late (with a hoarse voice). He's frustrated with Finch as well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwyGlm3Uzz4

[AbeVigodaLive]

It's been four games since Edwards has been out.

And at the very least... the defensive intensity (sans a blip here or there) has been kicked up a couple of notches. The Wolves are also playing a balanced style on offense. Honestly, they look like a different team. Granted, that's often the case when the best player is out. Only in this case... it's a welcome change.

Does this make people wonder if Finch might just be the scapegoat for star players making a lot of money refusing to listen? Is this staff actually pretty good? Too small of a sample?

Just curious if this very small sample has anyone thinking differently from Finch.



[Note: Personally, my thoughts on him are the same. I think it's a good staff. But this franchise is all about Anthony Edwards. So, if the coach can't get the star to buy in, he's gotta go in favor of a coach who can.]

[Q-is-here]

It's been four games since Edwards has been out.

And at the very least... the defensive intensity (sans a blip here or there) has been kicked up a couple of notches. The Wolves are also playing a balanced style on offense. Honestly, they look like a different team. Granted, that's often the case when the best player is out. Only in this case... it's a welcome change.

Does this make people wonder if Finch might just be the scapegoat for star players making a lot of money refusing to listen? Is this staff actually pretty good? Too small of a sample?

Just curious if this very small sample has anyone thinking differently from Finch.



[Note: Personally, my thoughts on him are the same. I think it's a good staff. But this franchise is all about Anthony Edwards. So, if the coach can't get the star to buy in, he's gotta go in favor of a coach who can.]

Too small of a sample to draw any firm conclusions, but I look at it as a good thing that the team can maintain a winning record while it's star is out. Both OKC and Denver (somewhat to my surprise) have maintained winning records this season when SGA and Jokic missed time. It allows others to get more usage and provides a learning opportunity for the coaching staff that may inform changes once the star is back.

That being said, I have no problem if we move on from Finch this offseason, as I think it can be healthy to just get a fresh voice and new ideas. It's really Tim Connelly's job to figure out the best way to cover for Ant's weaknesses and that does include determining if a new coaching staff is needed, although I have absolutely no ideas on who that might be or should be.

[BeenLurkin]

This thread is stupid, you guys lose so much credit when you spin your wheels on this lame knee jerk take bull caraaap