Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:This has got to be TC's worst nightmare. It wasn't working before and now we have injuries. What makes anyone think it will work once we get healthy again?

I agree with Cam that Finch seems to do the same thing over and over, hoping it starts to work out.

I also agree with Cam's point. On the other hand, what else can Finch do? He's constrained by the roster TC gave him. Finch is a highly respected coach who got this team to overachieve last season. So I'm not prepared to send him packing for failing to get a lot more from what I consider to be a pretty poor blend of players.

Lip, I don't think it's the blend. It's the maturity of the elements. Rick Carlisle could make this team work. I'm not bashing Finch, he is a good coach. But he needs to change his approach before it's too late.

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.

Abe's Late Night DVR Review:

- I made it to late in the 3rd quarter vs. Charlotte. Early 3rd quarter vs. the Warriors. I didn't make it to halftime tonight.

- This is bad basketball.

- It's not a fun team to root for. And there's nothing out there that makes it seem like they like playing together. At one point, Anderson was scolding Towns on a free throw. Does it say more about the new vets (Gobert and Anderson) or the holdovers that they don't seem to like each other much?

- If not for a cakewalk of an early season, with a bunch of games vs. bad teams, and an inordinate amount of home games... people would be freaking out a lot more.

- They're getting worse. These games are not competitive in any way. Getting blowouts to within 10 in the 2nd half means nothing in the NBA. Teams are toying with the Wolves right now.

- Obviously, we've seen worse Wolves teams. But at least those teams offered something. Hope? Promise? Laughter? This team is really scuffling.

I'd concur it's not a fun team to root for, or even watch. I don't even like watching Ant.

crazysauce wrote:This team is full of mental midgets. They have not improved at all through 20 games. Nothing has changed. Same shit every single game. At this pace our first pick going to the jazz will be a lottery one. This team is a damn joke. They should be booed mercilessly or better yet nobody should show up to watch them. Fire Tim Connelly immediately.

Yep, our key players are damn idiots, and our rocket scientist pbo made the dumbest trade in the history of basketball. Not sure how other posters can point the finger at finch first? Finch is the least of our problems... granted he might get fired, but he gets the least blame in my book.

Q-was-here wrote:

Duke13 wrote:One time I'd like to read a post from Cam calling Dlo out for poor play like he will every other wolves player. Plenty of opportunities to do so..,

One time I'd like to see you add value to a thread, perhaps add an insight other than just showing up to take shots at other posters. Weren't you the one who drove LST out off this board? So you basically just sit there and take in all the content folks like Cam and others produce, then only post to take shots at folk. Nice.

Stop being such a snowflake. Bad posters deserve to get ripped on. Anyone who gets driven away from an online board is a sally... sorry to break that to you.

This is an irrational, knee-jerk reaction, "what if" type of post so bear with me, but there's a part of me that really wants to see what this team does in Karl-Anthony Towns' absence, assuming he'll need time to recover from his presumed calf strain injury.

To be clear, I don't think Towns has been anywhere near the problem for this team, but I think it could be interesting and potentially enlightening to see what life without him -- with this roster -- could look like. I say "with this roster" because they've been awful without him on past teams that didn't have an All-NBA center to replace him.

Specifically, I'm intrigued by what a Russell-Edwards-McDaniels-Anderson-Gobert lineup looks like with bigger minutes. In theory, I see a cohesive, two-way unit there with defined roles that has a little bit of everything. Perimeter shooting would likely remain a problem, but the defense is likely much better while playing in a consistent scheme, and Gobert has looked more comfortable from my view as the lone big on the floor (obviously).

Again, it won't matter if they still can't make shots, move the ball, make timely rotations, and turn the ball over, but this could be an opportunity to see if a different blend makes a difference. What if Towns misses multiple weeks and the team starts rolling... What happens then long-term?

Camden wrote:This is an irrational, knee-jerk reaction, "what if" type of post so bear with me, but there's a part of me that really wants to see what this team does in Karl-Anthony Towns' absence, assuming he'll need time to recover from his presumed calf strain injury.

To be clear, I don't think Towns has been anywhere near the problem for this team, but I think it could be interesting and potentially enlightening to see what life without him -- with this roster -- could look like. I say "with this roster" because they've been awful without him on past teams that didn't have an All-NBA center to replace him.

Specifically, I'm intrigued by what a Russell-Edwards-McDaniels-Anderson-Gobert lineup looks like with bigger minutes. In theory, I see a cohesive, two-way unit there with defined roles that has a little bit of everything. Perimeter shooting would likely remain a problem, but the defense is likely much better while playing in a consistent scheme, and Gobert has looked more comfortable from my view as the lone big on the floor (obviously).

Again, it won't matter if they still can't make shots, move the ball, make timely rotations, and turn the ball over, but this could be an opportunity to see if a different blend makes a difference. What if Towns misses multiple weeks and the team starts rolling... What happens then long-term?

Yes, good post. Might be time to trade Kat this offseason if he continues to suck. He and Ant have been almost as bad as your boy so far this year... that's unacceptable. Ant is still young, Kat is out of excuses.

TheFuture wrote:

KG4Ever wrote:

60WinTim wrote:This has got to be TC's worst nightmare. It wasn't working before and now we have injuries. What makes anyone think it will work once we get healthy again?

I agree with Cam that Finch seems to do the same thing over and over, hoping it starts to work out.

Well, TC has been a nightmare (so I don't mind him feeling the pain he brought upon the franchise), but Rojas and Thibs were nightmares too. If only Flip had gotten that tumor checked out sooner, maybe the franchise would be in good shape. If the Wolves implode and somehow Utah lucks into the top selection courtesy of the Wolves, this will go down as one of the worst NBA trades ever.

The Wolves nearly advanced against the #2 seed last year. The big dip was supposed to catapult them beyond that thought. That trade stripped all depth, all cap, and all future maneuvering.

Last year was fools gold and TC is the fool

FNG's way too early in the morning crabby Covid analysis:

The Wolves came into the season after making a blockbuster trade that left them with the only roster with three top 25 players on ESPN's list. They also had a max player at PG and a promising 6'11" third year player starting at SF, as well as a solid supporting cast. They had jettisoned an immature team leader who has since been suspended for more on-court antics, a gun-toting felon, a 27% career 3-point shooter, and a young fan favorite with bad hands and a 61% career free throw average. The future was bright.

But now they are 10-11 despite a soft schedule in which they have either been heavy favorites or a pick 'em in at least 17 of those games, despite their starting five being quite healthy. In addition, we have a new ownership pair about to take over the reins...neither of whom is known for their reticence or patience.

Take all those elements together, and tell me what is imminent?

I have been a Chris Finch advocate since day 1. He has a good pedigree, talks a good game, and seems like a really good guy. But I don't see him still coaching this team by the time Santa comes down the chimney this year. We can be comfortable that Lore/ARod were involved in the TC hiring, so his job is safe for awhile. And I don't see it as likely that any major overhaul is going to happen with the roster their guy put together. So the fall guy has to be Finchie. And as much as I like him, I would support the move, because this team is significantly underperforming and the coach isn't doing anything to change things.

So here is my prediction. Absent a significant immediate turnaround (not likely with KAT out), Finchie will be fired in the next week or two, and Micah Nori will be named interim coach. (Frankly, his halftime bits with Katie Storm have been the highlight of many games- "Our defense is running around like they're in a Tom and Jerry cartoon!"). Nori seems to be a guy with no tolerance for lack of effort or stupidity on the court, so we will see some significant changes. Ownership will give him the season to see if he has the goods to be a head coach, but will simultaneously be seeing who else might be out there.

Something has to change, and this seems like the most likely scenario. Ownership will take a big financial hit, because Finchie signed a multi-year contract last spring. But I just don't see them willing to wait any longer with this roster.