CoolBreeze44 wrote:Can we be real here for a minute? If the Wolves had mature adults, players who are winners and are willing to sacrifice for the team, this cast of characters would work. But we don't have anything close to that, at least not at this time. I can see the potential of a coaching change, and maybe someone else could make it work. But the first thing that has to happen is the implementation of much more structure. These morons don't need less direction, they need a hell of a lot more. If we continue to struggle, make the coaching change after Christmas and if the new coach can't turn things around, we need to look at reshuffling the deck chairs. I'd be open to just about anything.
I generally agree with your overall take, Cool. But I'd modify it just a bit. You said that this cast of characters would work "if the Wolves had mature adults, players who are winners and willing to sacrifice." What that boils down to for me is that we don't have the right cast of characters. That's been my concern from the beginning. When your coaching staff has to repeatedly call out the team for a lack of effort and toughness as well as failure to move the ball, that tells you a lot - and nothing good - about your team's cast of characters. Finch didn't suddenly become a bad coach. But he was handed a different blend of players that doesn't add up to the sum of its parts.
Towns has always been questioned appropriately for his relatively poor basketball IQ and lack of toughness. Edwards and McDaniels are young players with a lot to learn and Edwards had motivation questions surrounding him when he came out of college. Gobert's never been known for toughness and putting him alongside KAT is a challenge for both of them. Meanwhile, we've lost all three of our high-motor, intensely competitive, tough players - Vando, Pat B and Okogie. Actually, I'd put Beasley in the high motor/highly competitive category. The Wolves went all in on Gobert, but failed to bring in players who can provide what Vando, Beverley, Okogie and Beasley provided. Failing to replace those attributes combined with the questionable fit between Gobert and KAT has set this franchise back in my view. And we're left with a cast of characters that aren't going to take this team very far.
That takes me to your point about the need for more structure. I think you're right. Snyder implemented a very structured system in which Gobert flourished (until playoff time). And while I'm not where some others are at in blaming Finch, perhaps the move this team should make is to replace Finch with Snyder if that's possible. I"m not there yet, but that might be where this ends up if the team is still chugging along at a .500 clip or worse after Christmas. My preference would be to shake up the cast of characters before bailing on Finch.
