kekgeek wrote: ↑Wed Jan 29, 2025 11:29 pm
Chris Finch's emotions tonight was apparently a carry over from a diatribe of a film session today.
Julius Randle: "You should've seen him this morning."
Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "He woke up choosing violence. ... Everybody was getting yelled at."
-Chris Hine
Apparently it worked. I’m sure Finch was fuming over Ant’s comment after the Atlanta game that the third quarter collapse was just poor shooting. Yes, but it was also (and more so) sloppy play and lack of intensity. So I’m not surprised Finch woke up mad this morning and let them all have it. Note that Randle’s turnovers went from 5 in the Atlanta game (totally unacceptable for a PF) to zero against the Suns. Finch certainly got Randle’s attention. Ant was aggressive attacking the rim. He crashed the boards and moved the ball tonight. Finch must have gotten his attention. If the players don’t generated their own intensity I guess the head coach has to create it for them. But that’s not sustainable. These players have to clean up stop the sloppy play. They need to play with focus and intensity on both ends every minute of every game if they want to be a contender. Playing with focus and intensity will rein in the sloppy play turnovers.
I like our talent level but not our mix of talent. We have the talent to finish strong this season even though the mix isn’t optimal but only if we play every game with focus, purpose and intensity. And as Finch suggested the other night, it starts at the top with the best players - Ant, Randle, Rudy and Jaden.
kekgeek wrote: ↑Wed Jan 29, 2025 11:29 pm
Chris Finch's emotions tonight was apparently a carry over from a diatribe of a film session today.
Julius Randle: "You should've seen him this morning."
Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "He woke up choosing violence. ... Everybody was getting yelled at."
-Chris Hine
Fun to see the post game locker room comments by our guys, kek...Finchie must have been in rare form during the film session. This was a great win against a healthy team that had won 8 out of 10. and our coach deserves some of the credit. I think he sees what this roster can do, and he found the Atlanta game unacceptable. I wasn't optimistic going into this game missing 2 of our best bench options, but Finchie was not going to lose this game. I give him an A for his performance.
Really fun to see Clark on Booker...his intensity and footwork are elite. I don't know that he will ever be an average offensive player (he's not a PG...he's a shooting guard that doesn't shoot well), but there's always room in a rotation for an elite 1-way player. It will be interesting to see if this game was just a one off, or if Finchie trusts him to seethe court again this season.
AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Wed Jan 29, 2025 10:53 pm
Abe's "I can't wait until the end of the game to start my DVR Review" DVR Review:
- For the 2nd time this week I'm going to write "That was the best game of the season."
- This one hit different. I thought Denver played terrible on Sunday. A lot of little things went against the Wolves early in this one. A call here. A bounce there. Another call there. But something was different about the vibe, too. Edwards played with extra energy, but he wasn't the only one... including the head coach.
- I was going to write for most of the 3rd quarter about "getting over the hump." They'd get close, but not quite there for a ton of different reasons.
- The defense was phenomenal. As Jim Pete said, the Wolves were competing in the first half. They just hit tough shots. The Wolves got even better in the 2nd half. Incredible defense.
- Great defense... sans one guy. Josh Minott. I assume they talked about backdoors specifically... because that was a crazy quick hook. That's a confidence shaker there...
- NAW is playing for millions of dollars right now. So good for him to have games like this. Bad for the Wolves salary cap total next year if they try to keep him.
- Play of the Game... 7:40 of the 3rd when the Wolves were battling and battling to get over the hump... I thought to remember it for later... Edwards has Gobert under the rim. He throws it just a bit off, but it's catchable. Gobert fumbles it out of bounds. Edwards throws up his arms. Mad at Gobert? Or Himself? Edwards goes right back to Gobert next time down for a dunk. After that, the Wolves just kept coming strong. I like to think it was amazing leadership from Edwards. Maybe it was?
- I was never a huge fan of Durant. He's fine as a superstar goes. But damn... I think I'm going to miss that guy. He's just a professional scorer in every way. He's so cool. Smooth. A truly unique, and magnificent all-time talent.
- The entire 3rd quarter was incredible.
- Another fun game!
[Note: The officiating was... ummm...well... ummm... errr... "uneven" and "inconsistent." They were rough for both teams, but a Wolves fan would probably find a few examples.]
Good review Abe!
On Durant - All time talent for sure, but generally seems like a difficult personality and meh leader. I feel like that takes a bit of shine off his otherwise incredible career.
On NAW - Do we even need to re-sign him? He may need to be a tough but necessary sacrifice to the CBA gods. We have some talented guards/wings on rookie contracts that just pop off the screen when they enter the game. And I keep saying this, but the best may be yet to come in Terrence Shannon Jr.!
On Minott - Love that he really kept grinding and showed the results of his work ethic and development in pre-season. But it's been kind of downhill ever since. I think the Wolves will move on from him, but that doesn't mean he won't re-appear somewhere else as a solid role player. We just need to make way for other guys as we're in a dogfight for playoff positioning.
kekgeek wrote: ↑Wed Jan 29, 2025 11:29 pm
Chris Finch's emotions tonight was apparently a carry over from a diatribe of a film session today.
Julius Randle: "You should've seen him this morning."
Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "He woke up choosing violence. ... Everybody was getting yelled at."
-Chris Hine
Fun to see the post game locker room comments by our guys, kek...Finchie must have been in rare form during the film session. This was a great win against a healthy team that had won 8 out of 10. and our coach deserves some of the credit. I think he sees what this roster can do, and he found the Atlanta game unacceptable. I wasn't optimistic going into this game missing 2 of our best bench options, but Finchie was not going to lose this game. I give him an A for his performance.
Really fun to see Clark on Booker...his intensity and footwork are elite. I don't know that he will ever be an average offensive player (he's not a PG...he's a shooting guard that doesn't shoot well), but there's always room in a rotation for an elite 1-way player. It will be interesting to see if this game was just a one off, or if Finchie trusts him to seethe court again this season.
It’s just one game. He could stink going forward. He was passable in the G League from 3. 36% on 4 attempts per game. Obviously nba is didn’t but it is a good sign he was not garbage from 3 in the G League
AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Wed Jan 29, 2025 10:53 pm
Abe's "I can't wait until the end of the game to start my DVR Review" DVR Review:
- For the 2nd time this week I'm going to write "That was the best game of the season."
- This one hit different. I thought Denver played terrible on Sunday. A lot of little things went against the Wolves early in this one. A call here. A bounce there. Another call there. But something was different about the vibe, too. Edwards played with extra energy, but he wasn't the only one... including the head coach.
- I was going to write for most of the 3rd quarter about "getting over the hump." They'd get close, but not quite there for a ton of different reasons.
- The defense was phenomenal. As Jim Pete said, the Wolves were competing in the first half. They just hit tough shots. The Wolves got even better in the 2nd half. Incredible defense.
- Great defense... sans one guy. Josh Minott. I assume they talked about backdoors specifically... because that was a crazy quick hook. That's a confidence shaker there...
- NAW is playing for millions of dollars right now. So good for him to have games like this. Bad for the Wolves salary cap total next year if they try to keep him.
- Play of the Game... 7:40 of the 3rd when the Wolves were battling and battling to get over the hump... I thought to remember it for later... Edwards has Gobert under the rim. He throws it just a bit off, but it's catchable. Gobert fumbles it out of bounds. Edwards throws up his arms. Mad at Gobert? Or Himself? Edwards goes right back to Gobert next time down for a dunk. After that, the Wolves just kept coming strong. I like to think it was amazing leadership from Edwards. Maybe it was?
- I was never a huge fan of Durant. He's fine as a superstar goes. But damn... I think I'm going to miss that guy. He's just a professional scorer in every way. He's so cool. Smooth. A truly unique, and magnificent all-time talent.
- The entire 3rd quarter was incredible.
- Another fun game!
[Note: The officiating was... ummm...well... ummm... errr... "uneven" and "inconsistent." They were rough for both teams, but a Wolves fan would probably find a few examples.]
Good review Abe!
On Durant - All time talent for sure, but generally seems like a difficult personality and meh leader. I feel like that takes a bit of shine off his otherwise incredible career.
On NAW - Do we even need to re-sign him? He may need to be a tough but necessary sacrifice to the CBA gods. We have some talented guards/wings on rookie contracts that just pop off the screen when they enter the game. And I keep saying this, but the best may be yet to come in Terrence Shannon Jr.!
On Minott - Love that he really kept grinding and showed the results of his work ethic and development in pre-season. But it's been kind of downhill ever since. I think the Wolves will move on from him, but that doesn't mean he won't re-appear somewhere else as a solid role player. We just need to make way for other guys as we're in a dogfight for playoff positioning.
Minott will be on the team next year. His contract is still lower than the vet min and that is super valuable to a team that will be close to the 2nd apron next year. It’s another reason why a guy like Leonard Miller is safe for 2 more years even without development.
Hopefully he takes another step up and possibly fight for a rotation spot next year however he is not a good defender, especially on ball. Makes it really hard to play him
AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Wed Jan 29, 2025 10:53 pm
Abe's "I can't wait until the end of the game to start my DVR Review" DVR Review:
- For the 2nd time this week I'm going to write "That was the best game of the season."
- This one hit different. I thought Denver played terrible on Sunday. A lot of little things went against the Wolves early in this one. A call here. A bounce there. Another call there. But something was different about the vibe, too. Edwards played with extra energy, but he wasn't the only one... including the head coach.
- I was going to write for most of the 3rd quarter about "getting over the hump." They'd get close, but not quite there for a ton of different reasons.
- The defense was phenomenal. As Jim Pete said, the Wolves were competing in the first half. They just hit tough shots. The Wolves got even better in the 2nd half. Incredible defense.
- Great defense... sans one guy. Josh Minott. I assume they talked about backdoors specifically... because that was a crazy quick hook. That's a confidence shaker there...
- NAW is playing for millions of dollars right now. So good for him to have games like this. Bad for the Wolves salary cap total next year if they try to keep him.
- Play of the Game... 7:40 of the 3rd when the Wolves were battling and battling to get over the hump... I thought to remember it for later... Edwards has Gobert under the rim. He throws it just a bit off, but it's catchable. Gobert fumbles it out of bounds. Edwards throws up his arms. Mad at Gobert? Or Himself? Edwards goes right back to Gobert next time down for a dunk. After that, the Wolves just kept coming strong. I like to think it was amazing leadership from Edwards. Maybe it was?
- I was never a huge fan of Durant. He's fine as a superstar goes. But damn... I think I'm going to miss that guy. He's just a professional scorer in every way. He's so cool. Smooth. A truly unique, and magnificent all-time talent.
- The entire 3rd quarter was incredible.
- Another fun game!
[Note: The officiating was... ummm...well... ummm... errr... "uneven" and "inconsistent." They were rough for both teams, but a Wolves fan would probably find a few examples.]
Good review Abe!
On Durant - All time talent for sure, but generally seems like a difficult personality and meh leader. I feel like that takes a bit of shine off his otherwise incredible career.
On NAW - Do we even need to re-sign him? He may need to be a tough but necessary sacrifice to the CBA gods. We have some talented guards/wings on rookie contracts that just pop off the screen when they enter the game. And I keep saying this, but the best may be yet to come in Terrence Shannon Jr.!
On Minott - Love that he really kept grinding and showed the results of his work ethic and development in pre-season. But it's been kind of downhill ever since. I think the Wolves will move on from him, but that doesn't mean he won't re-appear somewhere else as a solid role player. We just need to make way for other guys as we're in a dogfight for playoff positioning.
Minott will be on the team next year. His contract is still lower than the vet min and that is super valuable to a team that will be close to the 2nd apron next year. It’s another reason why a guy like Leonard Miller is safe for 2 more years even without development.
Hopefully he takes another step up and possibly fight for a rotation spot next year however he is not a good defender, especially on ball. Makes it really hard to play him
That may be the case Kek, but I think he needs a change of scenery for his own sanity as well. I'm not sure Finch is going to give him another chance. I feel kind of bad for him if he has to languish on the bench again next season, as I think there are better options with guys like Shannon playing SF behind Jaden.
On Durant - All time talent for sure, but generally seems like a difficult personality and meh leader. I feel like that takes a bit of shine off his otherwise incredible career.
On NAW - Do we even need to re-sign him? He may need to be a tough but necessary sacrifice to the CBA gods. We have some talented guards/wings on rookie contracts that just pop off the screen when they enter the game. And I keep saying this, but the best may be yet to come in Terrence Shannon Jr.!
Yes. Durant is lacking something. I thought of it while he was shooting a random free throw yesterday. He just looked so comfortable in that environment. He was talking to someone, grabbed the ball, shot it... all like it was second nature, like he could do that for another 12 years, or even while sleeping. He doesn't even have to really try to score 25 points. He just oozes 25+ ppg at all times. But that coolness and ease can also come off as cold and mercenary. I hear ya.
As for NAW (and Reid). They're being paid a combined $18M right now. That's a huge reason WHY we dig them and enjoy them on the team. But even with them at those salaries... the team hasn't been good enough. So why would we think $40-$45M moving forward is great value? They're both in their 6th seasons... while we can expect some possible growth, it's much more likely the Wolves are looking at very similar production that they get now only at 2.5x the price.
On Durant - All time talent for sure, but generally seems like a difficult personality and meh leader. I feel like that takes a bit of shine off his otherwise incredible career.
On NAW - Do we even need to re-sign him? He may need to be a tough but necessary sacrifice to the CBA gods. We have some talented guards/wings on rookie contracts that just pop off the screen when they enter the game. And I keep saying this, but the best may be yet to come in Terrence Shannon Jr.!
Yes. Durant is lacking something. I thought of it while he was shooting a random free throw yesterday. He just looked so comfortable in that environment. He was talking to someone, grabbed the ball, shot it... all like it was second nature, like he could do that for another 12 years, or even while sleeping. He doesn't even have to really try to score 25 points. He just oozes 25+ ppg at all times. But that coolness and ease can also come off as cold and mercenary. I hear ya.
As for NAW (and Reid). They're being paid a combined $18M right now. That's a huge reason WHY we dig them and enjoy them on the team. But even with them at those salaries... the team hasn't been good enough. So why would we think $40-$45M moving forward is great value? They're both in their 6th seasons... while we can expect some possible growth, it's much more likely the Wolves are looking at very similar production that they get now only at 2.5x the price.
Naz is a guy I don't want to lose because it's still pretty unique in today's NBA to have a guy his size being able to hit 3's in volume while also having enough of a post game to punish small ball. He's also a really good fit with...practically everyone. And you're right, he's no longer a great value on his next contract, but it is market value.
NAW on the other hand seems more easily replaceable with guys already on the roster on rookie deals.
So my thought is we sort of split the baby and NAW is the one that has to be let go.
I actually am a fan of Finch getting tossed in this one. He needed to show fire to his players. Might he have watched Hoosiers when Gene Hackman gets tossed on purpose to get a desired result? She seemed to flip the game when he did it. Just like Popovich replacing the entire starting 5, Phil Jackson with his hippie shit, the Wolves needed a catalyst and Finch played the pissed off coach. Sure he cannot do it every game, but maybe this team needs a father figure with the belt instead of a hug.
