Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:I'm not sure where this should go, but Chris Finch and Gersson Rosas sat down with Dane Moore on his podcast to discuss the Wolves heading into this next season.

Obviously, there was a plethora of platitudes thrown around, mainly by the used car salesman Rosas, but I liked enough of what I heard that I would suggest others here to give it a listen. The main takeaway for me and something that has been discussed here ad nauseum was that the Wolves are built to be good offensively, but they want to improve to be at least middle of the road defensively. They figure that if they can do that, and score the ball with the best teams in the league, then they should come out to be a positive.

No shocker there, but Chris Finch talked about how he thought that was achievable without any personnel or scheme adjustments -- ie. by just upping the "give-a-shit" of this team, and those were his words. He specifically mentioned being better on the glass and much better in transition defense. He noted that far too often last season he would see guys picking up teammates off the floor or arguing with referees instead of hustling back on defense. Finch continued on saying that cleaning up those areas would reduce the number of easy buckets the team allows defensively. I would also add that if your offense is better, and more efficient, that there will be less transition opportunities for the opposition and more times where you can actually set your defense. Common sense stuff here, but I appreciate that Finch is verbal about it. He also correctly said that making players give a shit about defense and establishing that environment will be his job.

Overall, Finch sounded like a coach that really wants to win and that came across in the podcast. Hopefully we can get further away from the nonsense of "creating a family" and focus on actually winning basketball games. No more trips to the Bahamas or Glen Taylor's villa for spaghetti.

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:I'm not sure where this should go, but Chris Finch and Gersson Rosas sat down with Dane Moore on his podcast to discuss the Wolves heading into this next season.

Obviously, there was a plethora of platitudes thrown around, mainly by the used car salesman Rosas, but I liked enough of what I heard that I would suggest others here to give it a listen. The main takeaway for me and something that has been discussed here ad nauseum was that the Wolves are built to be good offensively, but they want to improve to be at least middle of the road defensively. They figure that if they can do that, and score the ball with the best teams in the league, then they should come out to be a positive.

No shocker there, but Chris Finch talked about how he thought that was achievable without any personnel or scheme adjustments -- ie. by just upping the "give-a-shit" of this team, and those were his words. He specifically mentioned being better on the glass and much better in transition defense. He noted that far too often last season he would see guys picking up teammates off the floor or arguing with referees instead of hustling back on defense. Finch continued on saying that cleaning up those areas would reduce the number of easy buckets the team allows defensively. I would also add that if your offense is better, and more efficient, that there will be less transition opportunities for the opposition and more times where you can actually set your defense. Common sense stuff here, but I appreciate that Finch is verbal about it. He also correctly said that making players give a shit about defense and establishing that environment will be his job.

Overall, Finch sounded like a coach that really wants to win and that came across in the podcast. Hopefully we can get further away from the nonsense of "creating a family" and focus on actually winning basketball games. No more trips to the Bahamas or Glen Taylor's villa for spaghetti.

The only other takeaway I got from the pod that resonated with me is one of them (I forget who) stated they need low usage/high impact guys to surround KAT, DLO, Edwards, and Beasley. I agree!!!

FNG wrote:I like Finch too, and got a lot out of his portion of the podcast. But I found myself shaking my head at times as I thought about the tough job Finch has with the roster Rosas has given him. Finch says he values guys who give a shit on defense and consistently hustle back on defense. Perhaps he can mold Ant into one of these guys, but how do KAT, DLO and Beasley fit into this mold? Does he think he can transform guys who have been in the league for 5+ years, or is he hoping that Rosas can still pull a rabbit out of his hat to get him guys who fit the profile he wants?

Who can convince me that a team that features KAT, Ant, DLO and Beasley can be "middle of the road defensively" as Finch desires? I agree with Rosas/Finch that we are going to have a lot of offensive firepower...perhaps even a top 5 offense if everyone plays to their ability. But I think the roster as currently configured is destined to be in the bottom five defensively. Next year might be fun to watch, but I don't see playoffs in our near future if our defense is in the bottom five.

Q12543 wrote:As others have pointed out here previously, it is possible to be a playoff team with a bottom 10 defense. Ultimately, the goal is to outscore your opponent.

Dane did another pod with Jon K. and Britt Robson. Jon K. basically thinks they need to get to about #19 or 20 defensively to have a shot at a playoff spot.

Adding a vet big that can mix it up inside and keep KAT from emotionally melting down every other game would certainly help the cause.

monsterpile wrote:The Wolves announce a bunch of coaching hires most significantly Elston Turner was hired to replace Blair and lead the defense. I think that's a solid move.

https://www.nba.com/timberwolves/minnesota-timberwolves-announce-coaching-staff-additions

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:The Wolves announce a bunch of coaching hires most significantly Elston Turner was hired to replace Blair and lead the defense. I think that's a solid move.

https://www.nba.com/timberwolves/minnesota-timberwolves-announce-coaching-staff-additions

Thanks for posting, Monster. Here's an excerpt from an old article about Turner's coaching just as he was starting his second stint with the Rockets:

That being said, what defines coach Turner?

"My style is (to) get into the basketball," Turner explained. "Everything starts with pressure. All the football fans -- you can't let the quarterback sit there and just survey; he's gonna pick you apart. It's the same way with a ballhandler. Most ballhandlers, you have to show some interference. Get up in him. If somebody is open, he may miss him because he got his back to him because of the pressure you apply. So I'm a pressure guy, if that's what you're asking. So get into the basketball. And then there's some reality stuff that comes into play because the 40-minute guys that you're expecting to get 50 (points), I don't know if anybody pressures for 40 minutes. You have to pick and choose your situations to be aggressive without hurting."

It's this explanation that allows Turner to resonate so deeply with players like Westbrook and P.J. Tucker. Both veterans take extreme pride in defending. At 34, Tucker might not be the quickest or shiftiest forward out there anymore, but he's certainly still savvy. And he can still be a pest in the halfcourt, no matter how big or small his opponent is. It's almost Patrick Beverley-like how Tucker can stick with his matchup during these situations, using his hips, hands, feet and IQ to move like a veteran running back, doing his best to cause disruption.