Chris Finch gives his detractors another reason to shout loudly about his coaching

After the Minnesota Timberwolves’ loss on Friday to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans, Rudy Gobert asked for players to be held accountable and be taken out of games when the defensive effort isn’t there. Many thought he was talking about Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, and saw this as another reason to speak negatively about Chris Finch.

The team didn’t look any more motivated on Sunday in a 19-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The deficit was larger prior to garbage time, and with Minnesota playing again on Monday against the Atlanta Hawks, this time, the fans are wondering why Finch left his starters in for so long. 

Left the starters in during a blowout

It wasn’t until 4:25 remained in the fourth quarter that Finch decided to empty the bench. The Timberwolves called a timeout at that time when they were trailing by 25. Up until then, four starters were on the court along with Bones Hyland (Donte DiVincenzo fouled out about halfway through the fourth). 

Now, usually in the first outing of a back-to-back, coaches will look to rest the key players if given the opportunity. This is to allow them to head into the following day’s game as fresh as possible. Finch waited quite some time, and many questioned why he took so long to do so.

The starters didn’t necessarily play huge minutes. Three of the five played 30 or more, though (Edwards 35, Randle 33, Gobert 30). They’ll be facing a Hawks team on Monday that had Sunday off.

Sometimes, the coach just needs to recognize that the team doesn’t have it, and that was the case for the Timberwolves on Sunday afternoon. In the outing, Minnesota scored only 19 points in the first quarter, had 42 at halftime, and 59 through three. It was an offensive slog all game as they totaled more turnovers (20) than assists (17).

Detractors have another talking point on Finch

Finch has had his detractors (as nearly every head coach does) throughout his Timberwolves tenure, but it seems like the number has increased this year. After back-to-back conference finals appearances, Minnesota is just a half-game up on being a Play-In Tournament team.

With those two conference finals appearances, Finch is arguably the best coach in team history. Prior to that, the franchise reached a conference finals just once. I believe many of the fans who were old enough to see the Flip Saunders era prefer him, though.

Playing your main guys late in the midst of a blowout is just another talking point for those who want Finch gone. It will be even more of one if the Timberwolves get off to a slow start on Monday against Atlanta.