Mega Thread Minnesota Timberwolves Thread - The Finch Era begins

[Upgrayedd]

Kat's the biggest one, A lot of the defense and offense is surrounded by him and the ONE part we couldnt afford to be tested in, was the Forward/Center spot

Guess whats happening? However Vanderbilt has been great, interesting to see him being paired with KAT

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Overall a much better game but still some clear issues. Really couldn't stop DeRozan and that OT was baaaaaad.

Big yikes at Edwards' decision at the end of OT, but he played well. Good experience, won't do that again.

KAT was great, very active on both ends. We desperately need him to stay fit.

DLo needs to be better. Much better. He needs to buy in and trust those around him, not just hold the ball and chuck contested 2s. He looked like Wiggins at times out there. At the very least, ******* use KAT out of the PnR if there's no shot there for you. Jesus.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Can live with that

KAT is outstanding on D compared to Ed Davis and Naz Reid

 

[Upgrayedd]

We have been without a doubt the worst defensive team on average in our existance. Not sure whats happening but the B grade squad of Memphis just got to the paint every time they willed it

 

[power09]

I dont think Dane Moore sees the game very well at all but he gets Britt Robson on every two weeks or so and its a must listen, this pod inparticular was very good.

The Dane Moore NBA Podcast: Britt Robson On The 3-8 Timberwolves Feelin' A Little Heat on Apple Podcasts

Show The Dane Moore NBA Podcast, Ep Britt Robson On The 3-8 Timberwolves Feelin' A Little Heat - Jan 14, 2021

podcasts.apple.com

 

[Upgrayedd]

I know it's Orlando, but Jaden Mcdaniels looks like he should be playing 10-15 mpg. Played very well so far

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

I know it's Orlando, but Jaden Mcdaniels looks like he should be playing 10-15 mpg. Played very well so far

I really do think the rotation there is Vanderbilt/McDaniels with Juancho and Layman outside the rotation. Okogie to play a little 4 too.

 

[Upgrayedd]

I really do think the rotation there is Vanderbilt/McDaniels with Juancho and Layman outside the rotation. Okogie to play a little 4 too.

Layman is situational

Juancho has been horrific this season, Hasnt shot well, Disaster both sides and we've given him enough time to play out of it

We have no PF, as listening to Jon on the podcasts, We went for PJ tucker/Millsap/Favors/Green/Gallo, But were either outbid in terms of the guys who went to average teams, or guys like Jamychael ect. went to good teams

Our biggest weakness has been the PF spot, everyone says it's dead but a LOT of teams have been playing a PF, We simply have Vanderbilt whos realisticly the 5th best starter on an ok side right now.

Ild have McDaniels playing 20MPG, he guarded well and looked great, Layman and Juancho have been hot trash,

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

I'm fed up with him. Saunders' obsession with line-ups that are proven to not work towards the end of games, too, is a constant frustration.

 

[mockingbeat]

Questioning my love of KG and the Timberwolves last few years. Getting beyond a joke at how this organisation continues to * up and disappoint their fans continually.

 

[AngryRanga]

The team is unfollowable right now.

I sincerely hope KAT leaves because I want to see him win.

 

[Upgrayedd]

I'm fed up with him. Saunders' obsession with line-ups that are proven to not work towards the end of games, too, is a constant frustration.

Duel PG lineup hurts, As Rubio cant consistently score by himself and we dont have the talent for D'lo to really get the screen and pick and roll action he needs to score

We were rolling with Beasley and Ant

 

[power09]

The team is unfollowable right now.

I sincerely hope KAT leaves because I want to see him win.

why? he has a lot to do with the current situation

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

What does everyone think our rotation should look like if/when we ever get DLo and KAT together?

PG: DLo / Rubio / (McLaughlin)
SG: Beasley / Culver / (Nowell)
SF: Edwards / Okogie
PF: McDaniels / Vanderbilt / (Layman)
C: KAT / Reid / (Davis)

Those in brackets are situational.

Okogie should be closer to out of the rotation than starting but Saunders loves him. At the very least his nonsensical "let it fly" license needs to be revoked, thrown in the bin and set on fire.

We desperately need to better stagger Rubio / Culver / Okogie / Vanderbilt / Davis. Our offence just absolutely falls apart with more than two of these guys on the court simultaneously.

The less said about the DLo/Rubio pairing obsession the better.

McDaniels is outstanding.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Saunders out, Chris Finch in. Anyone have any details?

 

[mockingbeat]

Saunders out, Chris Finch in. Anyone have any details?

Renewed interest in team again for me, that's all that matters!

 

[Messenger]

Saunders out, Chris Finch in. Anyone have any details?

About bloody time. Nice guy, not clear he should be a coach.

Finch was interviewed last time and has history with Rosas in Houston.

 

[Cyberdyne]

lost faith in Rosas, I have no idea what the strategy is.
Going into the season very thin at PF was idiotic.
team cant shoot or defend
at least we will keep the pick but Im sure they will stuff it up
its tiring being a wolves fan, worst franchise NBA history

 

[Messenger]

lost faith in Rosas, I have no idea what the strategy is.
Going into the season very thin at PF was idiotic.
team cant shoot or defend
at least we will keep the pick but Im sure they will stuff it up
its tiring being a wolves fan, worst franchise NBA history

I wouldn’t assume we’ll keep the pick.

The roster management is mistakes on top of mistakes, some pre-Rosas.

Wiggins max deal, pick protection on the GSW trade
Trading up for Culver when Herro was on the board.

but

the haul for Covington and the trade for Denver was good work and the trade with OKC to get McDaniel was excellent work. He’s the PF of the future.

They’ve found Naz Reid, J-Mac

The issue is they have a lot of guys and it isn’t clear many of them are particularly good. And they had a coach who everyone liked who wasn’t any good.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Have faith still in Rosas. It's clear Finch is who he wanted


W Saunders. We had some critically bad end game plays and lack of time outs to help. O understand playing and learning, but call time outs when we give up 8/10 points.chenwould often make us play though it


Roster construction right now is ****ed

Issues
We are playing/were playing a posotionless basketball
Which means we were playing Edwards/Culver at PF and got exposed.badly.
Naz is ******* terrible defensively. He's going to be a 6-7 year good backup big. Not here.

We have far too many one dimensional players. Okogie/Culver/Vanderbilt/McDaniels/Rubio cant get a shot up in NBA level. All 4 can be carried on good teams as a hustle guy. We need to get rid of 3.

Rubio for vet presence. McDaniels because he's a top 10 rookie and looks ultra talented

Lack of talks hurts. Kat coming back has been huge. But offensively we have a horrific IQ as a team

We need to play
D'lo-Beasley-Ant-McDaniels-Kat and see what happens. That's a dynamic offensive team where Dlo has a screener. Ant can develop.

Bench. McLaughlan with 25MPG McLaughlan. Ed Davis. Where my boy at. Nowell played s**t today but he's ok.

McDaniels will be a good prospect. Just hit open 3's. I'm pretty high on him.
Other options

Wacky ideas

***Go back in time and TRADE WIGGINS FOR BUTLER SND KEEP LAVINE LIKE I SAID BACK THEN.

***Trade KAT to the Celtics for 5 future firsts and Pritchard

***2023 pick swap or first for Horford/Tucker

5 first round picks for LeBron, with the under the table agreement Glen Taylor will sell the franchise to him when he retires

We utterly Ballsed up this offseason. Shouldn't of kept Juancho. Needed to land Millsap/Tucker/Crowder for balance. We didn't.

So heading forward the dynamic Dlo Beasley Ant. Get a defensive 4. Which hopefully McDaniels grows into one.


Rosas has ****ed up the Culver pick and some signings (who wants to play with the wolves though) so Finch is his guy


Where we are at
Bad team
Edwards looks legit
Top 5 Center in Towns who plays D now
MIP candidate in Beasley
Dlo can't play unless with another ball handler who can create OR a great PNR forward.
Culver can't play offended
Reid can't play defense
Okogie can't play offense and fouls too much
Rubio cant play offense with this group and bad fit
Vanderbilt can't play defense. Offense but at least is a PF
Ed Davis, free my man
McDaniels is a great defender but can't play offense yet
Nowell can sort of play.
Layman can't
Hermangomez might be the NBL MVP in 2 years and is the streakiest player ever
McLaughlan needs to be our 6th man.

Next few games you'll see some horrid rotations.

 

[Upgrayedd]

lost faith in Rosas, I have no idea what the strategy is.
Going into the season very thin at PF was idiotic.
team cant shoot or defend
at least we will keep the pick but Im sure they will stuff it up
its tiring being a wolves fan, worst franchise NBA history

They touched on they tried Millsap/Harrell/Tucker/Crowder and all knocked them back or in Millsaps case. Offered more money

Market was thin so we resigned Juancho which was horrific

 

[Upgrayedd]

I wouldn’t assume we’ll keep the pick.

The roster management is mistakes on top of mistakes, some pre-Rosas.

Wiggins max deal, pick protection on the GSW trade
Trading up for Culver when Herro was on the board.

but

the haul for Covington and the trade for Denver was good work and the trade with OKC to get McDaniel was excellent work. He’s the PF of the future.

They’ve found Naz Reid, J-Mac

The issue is they have a lot of guys and it isn’t clear many of them are particularly good. And they had a coach who everyone liked who wasn’t any good.

The roster pre.Rosas was ****ed. I don't think people understand how bad it was. We took on what was perceived bad contract. For the Wiggins deal AND a pick known to be a top 10 pick
That's how bad the Wiggins deal was

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

We have a lot of issues, but this imo is the biggest one:

We have far too many one dimensional players. Okogie/Culver/Vanderbilt/McDaniels/Rubio cant get a shot up in NBA level. All 4 can be carried on good teams as a hustle guy. We need to get rid of 3.

(Though I think this is harsh on McDaniels, he's certainly more defensively sound right now but he's one of few I see projecting as two-way guys)

Our roster is stacked with solid or better role players but they all play at one end of the floor. KAT aside the only guys that consistently play defence on the roster are Okogie, Culver, Rubio, Vanderbilt, Davis, McDaniels, and Layman, and none of them are currently offensive threats. Again, KAT aside, the only guys that are threats offensively don't play at the other end of the floor, or do so inconsistently: DLo, Edwards, Beasley, Nowell, Reid, Hernangomez, McLaughlin.

We just can't put together any balanced lineups with this group. Our all offence groupings (e.g. DLo / Beasley / Edwards / Hernangomez / KAT) give up as many points as they score and our all defence lineups (e.g. Rubio / Okogie / Culver / Vanderbilt / Reid) are so horrendous offensively that there is no possible way to defend well enough to end up with a positive net rating.

On paper, offence-leaning hybrid lineups like Rubio / Beasley / Edwards / Vanderbilt / KAT are good, but we still end up playing 3-4 v 5 on the defensive end most of the time and you just can't win like that. Defence-leaning hybrid lineups like DLo / Okogie / Layman / Vanderbilt / Reid have the opposite problem where the opponent helps so far off Okogie, Layman and Vanderbilt that we just can't get any open shots, unless they're taken by someone that we don't want taking them.

The roster looks better than we are performing on paper but the group just doesn't mesh. Big decisions need to be made before the deadline on which of DLo/Rubio/Beasley/Okogie/Culver/Layman/Hernangomez/Reid we're sticking fat with, because we can't carry all of them. Keep KAT/McDaniels/Vanderbilt/Edwards, but outside of that, significant roster reconstruction is needed.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Harsh on McDaniels yes, 29 games in and he's the last thing that needs to be changed, But he cant really provide much offense. Honestly the last issue we have, but it's still if we look on the on-court product, Having him play minutes with the one sided guys does nothing.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

So. Deadline. What do we do?

It's clear we need to do something, but it's kinda hard to know what. We're in a weird position where I don't really want to give up talent, but they don't mesh at all and something's gotta give.