Q12543 wrote:It is a bit interesting that we've had to hire an offensive guru when the main theory heading into the season was that we'd be OK offensively and horrible defensively. Thanks to the likes of McDaniels, Vando, and DLO being out, our defense has been somewhat passable lately.
We've talked about a roster that is largely bifurcated between defensive role players that can't shoot and offensive role players that can't defend. It will be interesting to see how Finch deals with this dilemma when deploying his rotations.
Q, I've mentioned the likelihood of some personnel moves. Do you see anything happening there?
Q12543 wrote:It is a bit interesting that we've had to hire an offensive guru when the main theory heading into the season was that we'd be OK offensively and horrible defensively. Thanks to the likes of McDaniels, Vando, and DLO being out, our defense has been somewhat passable lately.
We've talked about a roster that is largely bifurcated between defensive role players that can't shoot and offensive role players that can't defend. It will be interesting to see how Finch deals with this dilemma when deploying his rotations.
As long as Finch doesn't start Josh Okogie at the four, he'll be a welcomed upgrade. The bar truly isn't that high when it comes to what we'll have versus what we had. At least Finch gets to come here without the pressure of replacing a quality head coach.
But changes like the one you mentioned had already been getting implemented, albeit more slowly than perhaps any of us would like. Okogie has been slowly getting phased out. Vando is starting. We see some occasional Reid/KAT combos, etc.
While I'm not against the firing of Saunders, I'm skeptical a new coach is going to be able to change the trajectory of this team much with this roster. Rubio is much worse than anticipated; Edwards hurts way more than he helps just as predicted by many of us; KAT is still a 2nd tier star and clearly has fallen behind other bigs like Embiid and Jokic, and the rest of the piece parts are almost all purely one-way players.
But good luck to him! As you stated, the clock has now started with Rosas. I think he handed his guy a half-baked roster of mostly his own making.
Q12543 wrote:It is a bit interesting that we've had to hire an offensive guru when the main theory heading into the season was that we'd be OK offensively and horrible defensively. Thanks to the likes of McDaniels, Vando, and DLO being out, our defense has been somewhat passable lately.
We've talked about a roster that is largely bifurcated between defensive role players that can't shoot and offensive role players that can't defend. It will be interesting to see how Finch deals with this dilemma when deploying his rotations.
As long as Finch doesn't start Josh Okogie at the four, he'll be a welcomed upgrade. The bar truly isn't that high when it comes to what we'll have versus what we had. At least Finch gets to come here without the pressure of replacing a quality head coach.
But changes like the one you mentioned had already been getting implemented, albeit more slowly than perhaps any of us would like. Okogie has been slowly getting phased out. Vando is starting. We see some occasional Reid/KAT combos, etc.
While I'm not against the firing of Saunders, I'm skeptical a new coach is going to be able to change the trajectory of this team much with this roster. Rubio is much worse than anticipated; Edwards hurts way more than he helps just as predicted by many of us; KAT is still a 2nd tier star and clearly has fallen behind other bigs like Embiid and Jokic, and the rest of the piece parts are almost all purely one-way players.
But good luck to him! As you stated, the clock has now started with Rosas. I think he handed his guy a half-baked roster of mostly his own making.
I said that tongue in cheek, but there's really no excuse for starting Josh Okogie at the four for as long as Ryan Saunders did -- 18 of 31 games -- and that's what I was getting at. What's more unsettling is that in lineups that D'Angelo Russell started Saunders would start Okogie, but when Ricky Rubio started he would run a more traditional frontcourt with Vanderbilt. That never made any sense either.
But I think what's in the past is in the past. It was painful watching this team under Saunders and I expect there to be more organization and direction with Finch. I think Karl-Anthony Towns is right there with Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid in terms of talent, but the other two have been given much better supporting casts and coaching to work with. I'm hoping Finch squeezes everything KAT has to offer out of him.
I wanted Ryan to work out but it was clear he wasn't getting the job done. I will hold off judgement on Finch for a while, he's got a lot on his plate with very little time to implement it. Finch has won overseas and in the G league, so give it some time. Progress and player development should be the focus at this point. I have come to expect the worse but will try to give an unbiased evaluation the rest of the season.
I'm watching the press conference introducing Finch right now. If you ever need to get to sleep, watch a Rosas/Finch presser. Somebody get those guys a coffee or two!
I like what I heard from Finch. I'm in. If he actually does what he said he's going to do, then the Wolves will be what I thought they'd be heading into the season and not this albatross we've watched a lot of the year. He wants Towns to be involved in everything. Check. He wants to unlock more of Russell's playmaking and passing ability. Check. Play together. Defense turns into offense. Everything that's common sense but wasn't executed well under Saunders.
1. Things can't get any worse.
2. Rosas has one less life raft... that's not saying I hope he fails... only that maybe it's finally time for the organization to commit to winning basketball games.
[Note: The feed KAT more (up to 30x more per game) sounds awesome on a computer. But the trick is getting Edwards, Beasley and Russell to buy in. I think Towns is potentially a good-enough passer that it could work.]
