Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch is a basketball junkie and an all-around sports fan. Those two facts might make you think he is devouring what has been an entertaining NBA Finals series between the Thunder and Pacers.
But at the start of a wide-ranging and entertaining appearance with KFAN’s Paul Allen on Tuesday, Finch revealed that he is truly one of us.
“I’m going to tell on myself here. I haven’t watched a single minute of it,” Finch said of the finals. “It’s very hard to watch the round after you are eliminated. You are still emotionally involved.”
Ask a Vikings fan if they watched the Super Bowl after any number of NFC title game losses, and they might tell you the same thing.
Finch said he is aware OKC is up 3-2 and added that he will go back and watch the series sometime this summer, but the fact that he was not watching in real time does reveal just how much the Western Conference finals loss to the Thunder still stings — something I talked about on Wednesday’s “Daily Delivery” podcast.
“There’s no doubt about it, we got beat by the better team,” Finch said, specifically mentioning the Wolves’ Game 5 blowout loss as a frustrating moment. “Maybe going back into that series, like anything else you’d like to do things differently, and maybe that’s where the lack of peace comes from.”
Here are nine other things you should know today, including several more from Finch’s radio appearance:
- As someone who looks for clues as to what a team might do in the offseason, I found Finch’s comments about the importance of depth in the modern NBA and his assertion that nobody should assume OKC will stay dominant to be interesting. “It’s about getting to the table enough times,” Finch said of how teams can break through and win a championship. That suggests to me that the Wolves are looking at a long timeline of contention and won’t do anything hasty this offseason.
- Finch addressed the news that the Knicks asked for (and were denied) permission to speak with him about their head coaching vacancy. “It’s certainly flattering, I’m not going to lie. It’s flattering to be recognized and to be wanted,” Finch said. “It’s also weird just because I’m extremely happy here and love what we’ve done and love everything about it.”
- Finch was asked whether he thinks Julius Randle and Naz Reid, who both have player options, will be on the team next year. “Yeah, absolutely yes,” he said. “Both players want to be there. We certainly want them there. Tim Connelly is working hard to make sure they get some sort of deals done that make them happy and want to stay.” Finch also had some interesting thoughts on Randle’s transition to the Wolves and how fitting in Randle and Donte DiVincenzo probably delayed Jaden McDaniels’ offensive breakout until later in the season.
- Finch said in response to a listener question about the Wolves needing to play with more pace, “100 percent that has to be an objective of playing faster” and noted that rookies Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham were drafted to help with that. Of Shannon specifically, Finch said: “What we love about TJ is that he has a very well-defined game. He knows who he is. ... Next year obviously he’s going to be a significant part of our rotation.”
- Of Dillingham, Finch said defense is where he made the biggest strides as a rookie and added: “There’s no doubt Rob is going to be a very good player in this league for a long time. ... We do feel like his playmaking is something we desperately need.”
- Finch said Anthony Edwards will work on postups this offseason but there is a bigger challenge in his mind. “For me, the priority for him this offseason is kind of going back to who you were a few years ago. Getting back to playing a little more in the open floor, playing faster, get your finishing back to where it was. He had a subpar finishing year. That’s probably an outlier, but you have to put the work in and sometimes get back to the foundation that gave you the opportunity to be who you are.” During the regular season, only 17.5% of Edwards’ field-goal attempts came at the rim (0-3 feet from the basket). Earlier in his career, that number was closer to 30%.
- Switching gears, the Twins have now lost seven consecutive one-run games following a 6-5 loss to the Reds on Tuesday. That’s a big reason they have slipped back to a .500 record at 36-36.
- The Lynx get to face Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at home on July 1 with the WNBA’s in-season championship on the line. They earned that right with a 76-62 win over Las Vegas on Tuesday, though star Napheesa Collier’s back injury bears watching.
- Jon Marthaler was my guest on Wednesday’s podcast as we looked at Minnesota United at the midpoint in the MLS season, while La Velle E. Neal III will join me on Thursday.
