Chris Finch - The Real Deal?

[Lipoli390]

I thought I'd start a thread for some thoughts on Chris Finch early in his Wolves tenure. We haven't exactly been winning a lot since he arrived. But I don't attribute the losing to Finch. To the contrary, I'm really pleased with what we've seen from Finch so far. Watching this team the past month, even with all the losses, has convinced me that Finch is the real deal - a truly competent, NBA caliber head coach. It's early, but I think he's going to end up being one of the better head coaches in the League. His rotations and in-game decision-making have been impressive. He looks and sounds like a leader. It's hard to explain, but when I watch Wolves games now, I no longer worry about the coaching. Now it's solely about the players.

Another thought is that you can see Finch developing some favorites based on what they bring to the game. Those favorites include Ant and McDaniels. I think appropriately sees the future of this team in those two.

[thedoper]

Finch has put us in a position to be more competitive in games. That is something to be said for a mid season change. Upon reflection I really cant say how low the bar was with Ryan. Finch will have as much pressure to win as anyone next year. I cant see anyone in management/coaching keeping their jobs next year if we're not in the playoff hunt. Finch is going to need an innovative approach to make that a reality.

[Coolbreeze44]

I'm cautiously optimistic about Finch. I like the way he is distributing the minutes. I like that he doesn't feel compelled to play Culver, Vando, and Layman. For some reason he has stuck with Okogie, and Josh may have gained some confidence from it. But our defense hasn't improved and may have even taken a step backward. Unless we can get stops on a more regular basis, wins are going to remain elusive. But the job certainly doesn't seem to big for him.

[Lipoli390]

I'm cautiously optimistic about Finch. I like the way he is distributing the minutes. I like that he doesn't feel compelled to play Culver, Vando, and Layman. For some reason he has stuck with Okogie, and Josh may have gained some confidence from it. But our defense hasn't improved and may have even taken a step backward. Unless we can get stops on a more regular basis, wins are going to remain elusive. But the job certainly doesn't seem to big for him.

Yes, Okogie seems to be one of Finch's favorites. But you're also right that our defense hasn't improved and unless we start getting stops on a regular basis, this team isn't going anywhere. Okogie is a terrific defender, but as you know, one guy won't cut it. Okogie and McDaniels are our only good defenders as I see it. And our top players, KAT and DLO, are poor defenders.

I think you nailed it with your observation that "the job certainly doesn't seem to big for him." That captures my sense of Finch and the contrast between him and Ryan Saunders.

[FNG]

I'm high on Finch. I've talked a lot about accountability, something I thought was sorely missing during the Thibs/Saunders era. He yanked Rubio out of the game last night after an ill-advised errant shot, and we have seem him put Ant on the bench at the end of a few games when he didn't like what he was seeing from him. I like the fast pace he favors, and his insistence that we run the offense more through KAT. Three of our highest-scoring guards (DLO, Beasley and Nowell) have missed more minutes than they have played during Finch's tenure, so it's fair to give him somewhat of a pass on wins/losses. Still, despite missing these three scorers, Peterson pointed out that the Wolves have the second most efficient offense in the league since the All-Star break...that's pretty unexpected, and very good. I give a lot of credit to Finch for that...his reputation as a very good offensive coach appears to be well deserved.

To Cool's point, this team is not going to win many games if they continue to struggle on defense, and Finch needs to find a way to improve that. I think there are two areas that are killing us...transition defense and defending the perimeter. The Wolves rank third from the bottom in fast break points given up. Transition defense is mostly effort, and this is where accountability comes into play...Finch needs to use the quick hook as a teaching moment if he sees a player not getting back.

Perimeter defense is more complicated, but I do think Finch can do something about it. The Wolves are only .3% away from giving up the highest percentage of 3-point makes at an astonishing 39%, and that number is closer to 50% the past two losses. I pick on DLO's perimeter defense, but you need to focus on it to really appreciate how bad it is. Sometimes it's effort, but more often it's a lack of awareness. Go back and watch last night's 3rd quarter if you have access to it, and you will quickly see what I mean. On the defensive plays where DLO is engaged, you can see he is focused on providing help defense when an opponent gets into the lane. But two things happen when he correctly moves off his man to help. 1) 2 or 3 times he was in position to take a charge or help out in some way in the lane, but did nothing...I honestly don't know why, but it was painful to watch. 2) More commonly, his focus seems to be too much on help defense, and consequently he puts himself in a position where he is too far away from his man to provide any meaningful challenge to his shot.

What can Finch do to help DLO become a better defender? Probably nothing about the first issue. But I think he can review film with DLO and at least try to correct the second issue...show him all the times that DLO puts himself in a position where he has no chance of getting back to his man. Last night showed how much DLO can help us when he is locked in on offense, so Finch needs to and will continue to give him 30+ minutes. But Finch's success getting adequate defense out of DLO that his other coaches have not been able to get is going to be a key as to whether this roster, and ultimately Finch, will be successful.

[Carlos Danger]

While I'm admittedly not actually watching many games, it seems like similar results from my perspective. We lose a lot. Ryan was fired after going 7-24. And KAT only played in 11 of those games. Finch is 6-16 (with KAT). Granted, we all know this year doesn't matter (for Finch). But still, he has the same roster as Ryan and it's not like the team suddenly turned it around. Same thing happened when Thibs took over for Mitchell. His first year was pretty much the same as Mitchell (who was fired) and used the same main players. It wasn't until Thibs got Butler that the needle moved and I assume it will be the same for Finch. Sucks for guys like Ryan and Mitchell though....they just had to play the hand they had.

[Wolvesfan21]

While I'm admittedly not actually watching many games, it seems like similar results from my perspective. We lose a lot. Ryan was fired after going 7-24. And KAT only played in 11 of those games. Finch is 6-16 (with KAT). Granted, we all know this year doesn't matter (for Finch). But still, he has the same roster as Ryan and it's not like the team suddenly turned it around. Same thing happened when Thibs took over for Mitchell. His first year was pretty much the same as Mitchell (who was fired) and used the same main players. It wasn't until Thibs got Butler that the needle moved and I assume it will be the same for Finch. Sucks for guys like Ryan and Mitchell though....they just had to play the hand they had.

Coaching is overrated. I'll take the best players with a bad coach versus the best coach with bad players. :D

[TheGrey08]

Man would it be nice if Finch is the guy to turn it all around. I haven't watched a ton of games, but certainly sounds like there are at least some good signs with him so far. Sure would be nice to see some good player development the rest of the season and some good moves this summer to really give this team a shot to prosper. We need some competitive winning basketball for once.

[Monster]

Let's be honest this team was built on being an offensive team and it really was even before Rosas took over. Under Ryan Saunders they couldn't score...although to be fair a chunk of that time they were missing key offensive players. Still Chris Finch has seemingly lived up to his rep as a good offensive coach. I'd rather have a guy that at least knows how to get the most out of a team at one end of the floor. If you are actually good at offense then it helps being able to play some defense at the other end. How many teams have been able to hire the right defensive assistant and improved in that area? Remember when Denver sucked at defense for years under a defensive coach then somehow ended up becoming ai I've average? It will be interesting to see what Finch's staff looks like next year. Who will leave and who will stay?

I've only seen a couple games but it feels like Russell has picked up the pace a little. I feel like a coach getting the most out of Russell which sometimes means getting him getting up the floor quicker is a key for this team. I think Russell can be a really good all around offensive player but I'd questioned if that was going to happen here under aryan but it was still early. I bet Flip would have LOVED coaching Russell.

[Lipoli390]

Let's be honest this team was built on being an offensive team and it really was even before Rosas took over. Under Ryan Saunders they couldn't score...although to be fair a chunk of that time they were missing key offensive players. Still Chris Finch has seemingly lived up to his rep as a good offensive coach. I'd rather have a guy that at least knows how to get the most out of a team at one end of the floor. If you are actually good at offense then it helps being able to play some defense at the other end. How many teams have been able to hire the right defensive assistant and improved in that area? Remember when Denver sucked at defense for years under a defensive coach then somehow ended up becoming ai I've average? It will be interesting to see what Finch's staff looks like next year. Who will leave and who will stay?

I've only seen a couple games but it feels like Russell has picked up the pace a little. I feel like a coach getting the most out of Russell which sometimes means getting him getting up the floor quicker is a key for this team. I think Russell can be a really good all around offensive player but I'd questioned if that was going to happen here under aryan but it was still early. I bet Flip would have LOVED coaching Russell.

Monster - I agree with your observation that Russell seems to have picked up the pace and I also agree that getting Russell to get up the floor faster is a key for the team. I would add that moving the ball around more quickly and readily in half court will be another key to success with Russell. You probably saw the same reports I've seen that Russell and Ryan weren't getting along and that Russell didn't respect Ryan. That's probably true. I think Finch has Russell's respect and that helps. I also think Finch knows how to play to Russell's strengths on the offensive end. I totally agree that Flip would have loved coaching Russell.